"I finally did it!"
I shouted in excitement after finally reaching Grandmaster 100 stars in the game HOK. I had spent the entire night grinding stars, and thankfully, I made it. If I hadn't, I was sure I wouldn't have been able to sleep at all.
My stomach suddenly growled loudly. Hunger hit me hard.
"Right… I only ate once yesterday," I muttered. "I should eat something before sleeping. Otherwise, I'll just wake up starving."
I left my room immediately. But the moment I stepped outside, I squinted as bright morning light poured in through the window.
"Argh… I didn't expect it to be this bright already."
I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge.My brows immediately furrowed.
"Why is it full of vegetables?"
I didn't hate vegetables, but anyone knew you needed protein to actually feel full.
"Forget it. I'll just buy some instant noodles outside."
I went to look for my shoes.
They were gone.
I searched the entire house, checking every corner, but found nothing. After all, I rarely went out, so I only owned one pair of shoes.
In the end, I stepped outside and checked the yard.
And that was when I saw it.
A rooster standing proudly—
wearing my shoes.
This wasn't the first time, so I wasn't too surprised. But my eyes widened when I noticed chicken droppings smeared all over them.
"You damn chicken! Not only did you steal my shoes, you even shit on them?!"
Disgust filled my chest. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, and now I really needed those shoes to get food.
I rushed toward it. The rooster ran, but because it was wearing shoes, its movements were clumsy. I caught it quickly.
"Today, you'll learn the consequences of messing with me."
…
The sound of oil sizzling filled the air. I was frying the chicken, already coated in flour.
"Fried chicken really is good. Good thing I used to work at KFP."
Not long after, I drained the chicken and placed it on the table. After preparing a bowl of rice, I started eating.
"Delicious… if only I had some sauce or something."
Suddenly—
"BANG!"
The door slammed open.
"The drunk's home," I muttered quietly.
Heavy footsteps followed, mixed with incoherent mumbling. The smell of alcohol grew stronger as the figure approached.
"You dare eat without waiting for your father?"My drunk father spoke angrily.
"If you want some, just take it," I replied coldly.
He grabbed a chicken wing and started eating it."Hm… this is pretty good."
But suddenly, tears streamed down his face.
"No… I know this texture. The thickness of the wing, the density of the meat… this belongs to Rembo."
He began crying and hugged the chicken wing tightly.
"You—!"His face twisted in anger as he approached me."You cruelly killed and ate Rembo!"
The bottle in his hand lifted.
"No! That's not Rembo! I bought it from the minimarket!" I said nervously.
"No! The shape of the wing and the thickness of the meat—this is clearly Rembo!"
He went berserk and swung the bottle at me.
I blocked it with my hand.CRASH!The bottle shattered.
"You bastard! How can you be so sure?! You don't even remember my age or my birthday!"I shouted, overwhelmed by anger.
"A blood debt must be paid in blood!"
He attacked again, this time with the broken bottle.
"Wait! It's just a chicken! Didn't you raise it to eat it anyway?!"
"No!" he screamed."Rembo went through countless battles with me! Thanks to him, I earned so much money! And you—"
He stepped closer, eyes full of hatred."A useless child who only knows how to laze around. How dare you eat my precious Rembo!"
Damn it. This man was completely insane.
"Calm down, okay? We can just find another chicken to replace it."
"No!!"He screamed hysterically."Rembo was special! And you have to pay for eating him!"
He swung the bottle at me again. I could only shield myself with my arms.
SLASH!
"ARGH!"
A burning pain tore through my arm. Blood began to flow.
"You damn bastard! Are you really going to kill me over a chicken?!"I screamed in despair.
"Rembo is more valuable than you."
The next swing struck my neck.
My body convulsed. I couldn't say a single word as blood poured from my throat.
It hurts… it hurts so much…
I looked up and whispered weakly,"Damn you… father…"
My vision slowly faded to black.
…
I opened my eyes in shock. My breathing was heavy. My hands instinctively grabbed my neck.
No wound.No blood.No pain.
"Was that… just a dream?" I muttered.
"Unfortunately, it wasn't a dream. From now on, the engagement between you and me is terminated. The Morvellan family will no longer provide special services to the Valcaryn family."
I looked toward the voice.
A girl with bluish-white hair sit there. Her expression was cold, her blue eyes staring at me without emotion.
In an instant, I remembered her name.
Calista Morvellan.
Foreign memories flooded my mind. Fragment after fragment connected, and from all of it, I came to one conclusion—
I had reincarnated.
But… where?I had never read a comic or played a game set in a world like this.
Still, I suddenly felt grateful.Deeply grateful.
I had been given a second life.And most importantly—I was far away from that damn family.
I made a promise to myself.
In this life, I would live properly.I would do whatever I wanted.I would obtain success, wealth, and power—everything I failed to achieve in my previous world.
My gaze returned to the girl in front of me—the cold girl, looking indifferent and detached. The owner of this body didn't have any deep impression of her, except that her family was made up of merchants.
And that girl herself was also a capable merchant who had built her own wealth. Even if it wasn't that great in scale, the achievement was still impressive. And perhaps, if I wanted to dominate this world, the girl standing before me would be a huge help in reaching that goal.
'I can't let her go.'