Episode 2: The Chosen One

"Ciel Ashwyn?"

"Yes."

"That's my name?"

"Indeed master."

'Who is that?' He thought. Ashwyn... That surname is familiar. Why does he have a bad feeling about this?

"Autumn, you said I'm now into the world of a novel. Which one is it?"

He tried to guess but he had truly read too many novels to predict anything. He looked at Autumn who was sitting on his head, while he himself ran like crazy. Of course, he was only running at normal speed, but due to excessive bleeding and exhaustion caused by this sudden transmigration, his body was in terrible condition. Not to mention, his right arm was not only bleeding but also seemed to be poisoned, seeing as the wound had turned purple.

'It's just keep getting worse and worse.'

"Master, you are in the novel world of, 'The Chosen One'. Please turn right, then forward."

"I see... What?!"

He was frightened. Is that not the same novel with the main lead like Seo Jihan? Why does it have to be this world of all novels?! Of course, he remembered the story pretty well, since it had left such a deep impression on him. But it still felt weird. An even more weird thing is that he did not recall anyone named 'Ciel Ashwyn' in the entire novel. Was he just a side character? But Ashwyn... He finally recalled. That's the surname of the Female Lead of 'The Chosen One' novel.

The world in the novel of 'The Chosen One' was a Fantasy world where mana was the source of everything. All living beings in 'The Realm of Eldoria', as this world was called, have mana inside them. Although the amount varies from person to person. Those with high capacity for mana are the minor part of the population, mainly the nobles. Magicians among commoners are very rare.

The Realm of Eldoria has three continents: The Northern Continent, Vaelthar, The Central Continent, Solmire and The South-Eastern Continent, Nyxara. The Realm of Eldoria was named after the God of Creation, Eldoria, that the people of this world worship.

There is one person in this world which is known as the proxy of the God of Creation, known as 'The Chosen One'. In the novel, the chosen one was also the female lead of the novel. Her name was Celine Ashwyn. Celine was said to be the strongest person in the entire story because the god's chosen one is supposed to be the most blessed person in the entire world. People, nobles or commoners, would do anything to get in their good graces.

"Hey, Autumn. I don't remember a character like that in the novel."

He said. He could slowly feel his strength dripping away. It would not be surprising if he fell unconscious right here and now. Sweat tricked down his entire body and his arm was a mess. Autumn looked at him worriedly and decided to refrain from explaining now as he would not be able to hear anyway.

"Master." The voice seemed lower than before. "I am connected to you. If you fall unconscious, so will I. If you fall sick, so will I. And if you die,,,so will I. I am connected to your soul, therefore I am very happy that you are the person who became my master. I want you to have a good life this time around and take back everything that was yours. For that, I would not hesitate to interfere and change the story."

"What are you...trying to say?"

His voice was getting weaker and weaker. He stumbled into a small alleyway, held the wall to slowly walk forward. But his legs gave away and he fell down to his knees. It seems he had hurt his knees somewhere as well as he felt pain climbing up his spine from his knees. It was unbearable and he collapsed to the floor.

"I can't...go any further..."

"Master, please do not give up. It is just up ahead."

It took him a bit of time to register through his foggy brain what Autumn has said. He responded almost subconsciously.

"What is...up ahead?"

He did not know where Autumn was leading him, but he was somehow compelled to go there, almost like a calling from destiny. He thought, 'I should go there. I need to. There is something... I must see what it is. What is calling out to me...'

He almost crawled on the floor to cross the alley. His head and body felt numb at this point and he did not even feel the unbearable pain from a moment ago. Autumn saw this and walked beside him. But it knew that he would not make it there with his current strength left so it decided to use a cheat.

'Cheat'. It is a special privilege given to high ranking systems. Although Autumn was only a mid-ranking system, his current master was 'The Chosen One' of this world, therefore, it somewhat elevated his own status. When he was first assigned to 'Lee Hyunwoo', he was really reluctant to have this master. An orphan person who is often bullied. But as time passed, Autumn became attached to Lee Hyunwoo, so much so that he even took the form of a human and became his classmate, even his roommate, Kim Minjoo.

Autumn had the task of guiding Lee Hyunwoo back to this world. This task was assigned to him by the God of Creation, Eldoria, of this world. Ciel Ashwyn was too kind for his own good, therefore he ended up being cheated by his own twin sister. Thankfully, he was no longer a gullible person to get tricked and killed like before.

Cheat is a skill like its name suggests. It can be used to cheat the 'Rules', rules that made up the world. Autumn activated cheat and tricked the rules into thinking of this alley being the one next to it. This naturally came at a price. Autumn would be unconscious for atleast a month and one hundred of its merit points would be deducted. Autumn activated the skill. A light enveloped Ciel and Autumn disappeared into an eye mark on Ciel's forehead. The mark of the Chosen One.

Ciel naturally did not know what Autumn did but he panicked when Autumn suddenly disappeared into his forehead. Ciel gripped at his head, shaking.

'Autumn...what...?'

Ciel wanted to open his mouth and yell but it proved to be useless. Not a sound escaped his throat. It felt like his throat was choked up. His gripped his throat with one hand and fumbled around the floor with the other to try and keep moving, after all he did not want to die here.

Suddenly, he felt something catch his fumbling hand. Whatever it was, it was pretty cold. But Ciel still felt that compared to his current body, it still felt slightly warm. He wanted to feel more warmth so he held on to that thing tightly and realised what it was.

'A hand'.

"Are you all right?"

The voice seemed familiar, yet unfamiliar. It was a deep and calm voice, but he felt as if there was a tremor hidden within, almost unnoticable. He raised his head slightly to try and look at the man whose palm he was gripping. It was useless as his vision had long become a blurred mess. Ciel could not even feel the tears streaming from his face but he knew they were there. He must look pretty unsightly. Ciel did not want to be abandoned here just because he looked bad so he held the hand tighter.

The man seemed to have sensed his plea as he moved to lift him up. Ciel felt those hands move and settle around his waist and legs. Finally, he was lifted up from the floor. He was cold, yet felt warm. How can that be? How can someone feel cold yet warm at the same time? Ciel wondered but he did not have the luxury of time to think further as his consciousness gave away. Right before closing his eyes, he seemed to have heard a comforting voice saying something yet he regretted that he could not hear those words.

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