Second Chance[1]-The Voice inside his head

[Location: Grasslands]

[{Tutorial Quest} Shall begin again in 24 hours]

Those were the last words Ruthven heard as he passed out in the grasslands.

Hours later, a gentle breeze could be felt in the grasslands, but as Ruthven, the only living soul that could be found in the grasslands showed signs of waking up...

The breeze disappeared allowing only groans of pain to be heard.

"Argh.. my head hurts." Holding his head softly, Ruthven found himself under the shade of the ancient tree, back in the grasslands.

"Wh-what happened? Why am I back here?"

[[Ohh.. so experiencing as little as over 50 deaths, can cause memory loss?]] A cold yet carefree voice responded in the form of a question to Ruthven's cries inside his head.

"Wh... who's that?" Ruthven asked.

[[Huh!? Have you forgotten me already?]] The voice responded.

Ruthven after slowly digesting the words of the voice inside his head, he then began to remember the events that had unfolded back in the dark forest.

He remembered every single detail, from the village to the quest window, and his body exploding numerous times. The pain, the smell, the screaming, he remembered all of them too well to the point where he might have thought that he was reliving them again.

His expression changed many times before a show of surprise could be seen in his eyes.

With reluctance, Ruthven asked terrified of the response he would get. "Are you the one who was planning on killing those villagers?"

As the voice heard Ruthven's question, a cold silence was soon delivered upon the grasslands.

The silence didn't last long as the voice responded with enthusiasm in its tone.[[You catch on quickly now, don't you? I thought it would take you a while to notice, but you noticed it almost instantly, am very proud of you.]]

Once more, Ruthven's face darkened as fear, disgust, and anger struggled to take root as the main expression he made.

"Who in the hell are you? and what are you doing in my head?"

An evil laugh soon echoed in Ruthven's mind as The voice sounded it in pleasure.[ Now now Ruthven or should I call you Hinata, Who said that this was your head, to begin with?]

Hinata. This is what the voice had called Ruthven, Though not completely familiar with the name, Ruthven felt a strange attachment to the name, It was as if it was his origin.

The familiarity Ruthven got when he was called Ruth had thrown him into a whirlwind of confusion and panic. "W-who Are you, Also why'd you call me Hinata?" He asked, and the response he got was a heart-shaking one.

[[Because of your stupid actions We died 54 times in the tutorial. Do you know what this means?]] The voice asked.

"W-what does..." Before Ruth could finish his question, The voice quickly interrupted[[ No wonder why you're called a failure, You don't deserve this body!!]]

"F- failure" That word had almost brought the downfall of Ruthven as He screamed at the feelings from the past. They weren't words he was completely familiar with, but they still caused him great pain.

[[Haha. Do you see that? You haven't changed a bit.]] The voice said in a scornful tone. [[ But You know what? am feeling generous today, after all, I am your elder brother. So you'll be getting a second chance to redeem yourself]]

Hate, anger, and familiarity were the emotions Ruthven felt as he tightly gripped his chest asking "What do you mean?"

His question wasn't only directed at the second chance he was to be given, it was also directed at the words of the voice being his older brother.

----

At a distance, The system was closely observing the actions of the voice and Ruthven as it had just confirmed the abilities of the special trait: Fake Persona.

[Fascinating, The special trait: Fake Persona seems to be in effect.]

°°°°

[Records of the host's action shall be taken as of this moment.]

The system continued to closely observe the conversation between the voice and Ruthven as it took many notes of the situation. Soon time was almost up, and the system was soon to begin the transfer.

----

As The Voice and Ruthven were still conversing, a system panel popped up before their eyes,

[Notice] 5 minutes left before the Tutorial Quest begins.]

As the system panel popped up in their face, The voice and Ruthven had to cut their conversation short.

[[Well would you look at that, Hinata! It seems the second chance we've been talking about has arrived.]]

"Wait what!?"

[[Why the surprised reaction? Since you can't stand violence and think that there's another way out of this. Well I say give it a shot, and of course, if you fail your existence shall be terminated.]]

" Wait. I didn't agree to this, what your doing isn't fair."

[[Huh. Fair!? since when has our relationship ever been fair?]]

"But you can't just..." As Ruthven was just about to speak, the system interrupted once more with [30 seconds left before the Tutorial Quest begins]

[[Our time has been cut short, so I hope the next time we meet will be at your victory. Anyways chat later... Ruthven]] a tone of approval was heard.

The system noticing this had halted at its countdown from ten, but that didn't last long as it soon continued again.

[3-2-1 *Ding* Commencing Transfer.]and with that, Ruthven was engulfed in holy light.

°°°°°°

<Transfer Complete>

[Location: The Dark Forest]

Standing up to the familiar feeling of being stared down by hundreds of predators, Ruthven let out a heaved sigh"Am back here again?"

Knowing the destination laid out for him, it didn't take him long before he proceeded in the direction of the village.

On the way to the village, Ruthven tried to communicate with the voice once more as it was the only one with answers to his questions, but his efforts were in vain as he never got a response.

Soon, sun rays could be seen and with them, the end of the forest path was in view.

Getting closer and closer to the end of the forest path, Ruthven began to hear the voices of the villagers ahead.

Hearing their cheerful laughter and conversations, Ruthven began to put a smile on his face as he continued to leave the dark forest.

The light soon pierced his vision and he saw the familiar and UN-guarded wooden gate.

And like last time, Ruthven still wasn't able to understand the language that had been used on the gate, but that didn't stop him from wishing that the people inside would be welcoming.

The only thing that would hinder his positive thoughts was the giant quest panel above the village. The panel hadn't changed much, the only change was the sentence that had appeared at the bottom of the panel.

The sentence read as < 2 attempts left before complete failure of the tutorial Quest> Ruthven had even more questions now as he read that sentence, but he thought it would be best he saved them for later.

Soon Ruthven began to walk towards the gate with hopeful wishes in his mind. The distance between the dark forest and the gate wasn't much as Ruthven soon entered the village.

As Ruthven entered the village, He saw many structures that weren't of the modern era, the structures weren't even close to that of the medieval era as they were far older than that.

Ruthven didn't see anyone the moment he entered the village, so he thought it is best if he explored more, and that's when he saw an old lady who was wearing nothing except a brown Cloth that was tied around her waist with nothing but a rope.

Ruthven then called out to the old lady in a respectful manner, but the response he got was uncalled for. The old lady hearing Ruthven's call turned around and as soon as she saw him Her expression went dark.

" Hey, miss," Ruthven said as he waved at the old Lady.

The lady heard Ruthven's words and she fell and liquid soon began to flow under her Cloth.

"Hey what's Wrong" Ruthven moved his hand to touch the lady and that's when it popped up.

-------

<[Name: Gleid (TARGET)

Level: 1

Gender: Female

age: 69

Occupation: Villager

Health : [ 100/110]

Status: Scared

Strength: 13

Stamina: 6

Mana : 0

Vitality 5. ]>

-------