Kass wore a weird expression as he read the messages from the Realm's Will. It felt like they had just been transported into some scripted scenario or something. Was someone filming this right now?
He shook his head and focused on his status panel, his so-called soul record.
— ✦ —
[ SOUL RECORD ]
Name: Kassian Darvish
Age: 19
Race: Human
Spirit Core: Stage 0 – [ Dormant ]
( Awaken to evolve your Dormant Spirit Core.)
Spirit Essence: —
Archetype: Fighter [ Basic ]
[ Archetype Gifts ]
◆ Active Gift: [ Aether Arc ]
◆ Passive Gift: [ Basic Sword Instinct ]
[ Note: Awakening is required to unlock additional details and abilities.
Awakening Condition: Successfully complete a Scenario. ]
— ✦ —
After reading it for a while, he understood a few things, but not enough to make sense of any of it.
Name, age, and race were basic stuff anyone could guess.
The Spirit Core seemed to be his main center of power, though it was currently marked as Dormant. Spirit Essence? No clue.
The Archetype appeared to be his class, and he'd gotten Fighter. But why Fighter? Was he some Great Sage, Heaven's Equal in his past life or something? like Sun Wukong, maybe?
And finally, Gifts — they were simple. They were the skills he gained from his Archetype. He had two, both basic but still useful for a bum like him.
Kass slowly unsheathed a longsword hanging from the leather belt around his waist. He thought it came free with the outfit, but it looked like it had manifested as part of his Fighter Archetype.
His gaze shifted to Sera and the dagger strapped to her waist. For a second, he was tempted to steal it but decided against it. If she found out when she woke up, she'd eat him alive.
A sudden shout from the front of the bus pulled him back to reality.
"Everyone! Get off the bus immediately! Grab whatever you can and get down!"
It was the senior professor, Marcus, yelling from the front. That's when everyone noticed the smoke rising from the front of the bus.
Then chaos broke out. Everyone rushed to grab their bags and help the unconscious or injured out of the bus.
Most knew the smoke wasn't enough to blow the bus up, but panic didn't care about logic.
Especially Kass — the first thing he did was snatch his bag from the luggage rack.
Then he darted toward the door, only to stop midway.
It felt like he forgot something.
He turned back and cursed under his breath. "Shit… Sera."
As he rushed to grab her, a hand clutched his shoulder.
"What the hell do you think you're doing to her, bastard?!"
Kass turned to see Damian, a brown-haired guy with a handsome face, though not as handsome as him, glaring at him.
"What do you think I'm doing, dumbass?!" Kass snapped. "I'm trying to get your crush out before she gets roasted!"
He shoved Damian's hand away and crouched to lift Sera by her thighs.
But Damian quickly stepped in, worry written all over his face. "Y-You! What happened to her? Why didn't you protect her? You were sitting right next to her! If you couldn't even do that, you should've moved!"
Kass stared blankly as Damian touched Sera's cheek like some lovesick puppy.
"Here," Kass muttered flatly. "You carry her out while I grab her bag. The prince should carry his future princess himself."
Damian flushed slightly. "I–Alright… I knew you were a good guy, Kass."
He hoisted Sera onto his back and hurried out of the bus.
Kass sighed and rummaged through the luggage rack for her bag.
By now, everyone else had already evacuated. Only he remained.
He finally found the bag and slung it over his shoulder — when suddenly, glowing runes blinked in his mind.
A new message from the system.
[ Your role in the Scenario has been assigned. ]
[ Complete the Scenario successfully to awaken fully. Good luck, Wanderer. ]
"What the hell is going on? What role?!" Kass couldn't make sense of any of it, so he reopened the panel showing the Scenario and noticed a small arrow beneath it.
He focused on it, and more details unfolded; rules, objectives, and everything else.
— ✦ —
[ 'Unique' Scenario: The Attempt on the Shogun's Life. ]
[ Description ]
The Shogun of Nihara, his twoheirs, and their escort traveled in secret, disguised as a humble merchant caravan.
Their path led them through the silent forests of Kurotani, where shadows whispered and death lingered in the air.
When Evil beings struck, the caravan sought refuge in an abandoned village hidden among the trees.
Yet within their ranks hid betrayal. Two among the escort were shinobi, bound to the Daimyo of Kurotani, carrying his command to end the Shogun and his bloodline.
[ Objectives ]
◆ Escort Objective: Identify and eliminate the shinobi assassins before they locate the Shogun's family.
◆ Shinobi Objective: Discover the identities of the Shogun and his children… and assassinate them.
[ Rules of the Scenario ]
◆ All 35 Wanderers are bound to the caravan, each bearing a role.
◆ Every 6 hours :
◇ A vote shall decide who pays the price.
◇ The one with the highest votes will be punished.
◇ Abstaining from the vote will be counted as a vote against yourself.
◇ If two or more Wanderers share the highest count, judgment shall be nullified.
— ✦ —
Kass had one thought after reading all that bullshit.
Who the hell created this stupid scenario? It was basically telling them to find the impostors or die.
He checked his role and glared at the words as if the Realm's Will were a person. If the Will were a beauty, he'd fuck her senseless and then cut her head off for giving him such a ridiculous role.
"Hoo… calm down, Kass," he muttered, breathing deep. He decided to get off the bus first and sort his anger later.
At the door, he noticed something everyone else had either missed... or just chosen to ignore.
The driver still sat slumped in his seat, unresponsive and bleeding, a thick tree branch jutting straight through his right chest and out the other side.
For a second, Kass almost blanked out at the absurdity of it all.
It finally hit him — unlike in novels where the MC and his girls always made it out alive, in reality, a simple tree branch was enough to take his life.
He had seen death in movies and even in real life, but seeing someone impaled like that felt wrong in a way that made his chest tighten.
Kass moved slowly toward the driver and put a hand on the man's shoulder. He grimaced at the warmth of the blood and the terrible silence around them.
Then his expression hardened into resolve. He needed to get used to this if he wanted to live from now on.
* * *
Outside, the students had gathered a short distance from the bus, clutching their bags and tending to the injured.
The forest was unnervingly silent, a thin fog drifting between the trees and blurring the distance.
Moonlight was their only source of light, faintly illuminating the wreckage. The crack they'd entered through had already vanished, making it impossible to return the same way.
Kass joined them shortly after.
"Is everyone here?!" Professor Marcus called out.
No one answered. Fear and confusion kept most frozen, while the rest were busy checking the strange runic panels in their minds.
Professor Sheila, holding a staff almost as tall as Gandalf's, approached Kass and grabbed his hand. "You're bleeding! Are you hurt?"
Kass shook his head with a strained expression. "No, miss. It's the driver's blood. He…" He trailed off, but she understood.
Marcus walked up next, his tone tight. "Did you see Fred?"
Kass nodded. It looked like the professor hadn't noticed the driver while helping the others. "Yes, sir. You should check on him, make sure he—"
Marcus placed a hand on Kass's shoulder and went back to the bus.
A short while later, he returned, his expression dark and complicated.
Everyone understood that the driver, Fred, was dead. But no one really cared. He'd just been hired for the trip.
Only Professor Marcus even knew his name. And it wasn't like they could give him a proper burial out here, not when they were stuck in the middle of a forest with no idea what was waiting for them.
Then a shout came from a short distance away.
"Guys! You should come here! There's a village!"
Somehow, the gamer guy, Rai, was already waving a glowing blue orb of energy at them, like a wizard from Harry Potter, his wand crackling with faint energy.
A few students gawked at the display, whispering in disbelief. But Kass, and the others who'd played enough games to understand, knew what it meant.
The guy had probably gained some kind of Mage Archetype and was just showing off.
One by one, they followed Rai deeper into the forest, toward the mysterious village.