Chapter 3- Character Logs

 A relaxing bath never killed anyone… maybe. I sat in the tub while reevaluating my life. This was only my first day here and I already got involved in so much. My inner nerd wanted to hole up in my room, but since games didn't exist here, that would be pointless. I decided to pull up the charter logs for Anne and Luna. A blue screen popped up along with a full-body model. Talk about creepy. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I scrolled to the bottom of their pages.

"New Info…" I mumbled to myself.

New Info is information that you learn through iterating with different people. This would mainly contain information that deviates from the knowledge that you previously knew about each person. This tab is affected by how you interact with them.

The system's explanation was definitely useful… but the tab was kinda self-explanatory. I decided to read Luna's info first.

"She was shocked about your sudden proposal to break off the engagement. However, she now plans to win your heart over.

Warning: Possible outcomes:

Love Obsession with you

Heartbroken, yet dangerous maiden"

Great. I might have just possibly made a yandere. Just great. It seems my existence was already changing the fabric of reality. If that were the case, the game knowledge that I spent an unholy amount of time getting might become useless. It was a dangerous possibility, but it made me excited. Come to think of it, Jiji did say I could change the game. I smiled as I moved over to Anne's character log.

"Extremely taken back by your kiss on her hand… and was disgusted. She doesn't plan to say anything, but for some reason, she wants to feel that disgust again. The worse, the better.

Warning: Possible outcome:

Masochist"

My eyes widen as I reread the tab. She seemed like a sweet and innocent girl, but this was the most shocking thing of the night. I was expecting something like, 'has a small crush' or 'gold digger.' How do I even gauge this? I closed my screen and contemplated my life for a moment. I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

I got out of the bath, dried myself, and then got dressed. Despite my cool demeanor, I was still very much in shock. A masochist? I was sure there was some sort of misunderstanding like she didn't know what love is or something. Then again, I want her to keep her innocent aura. I shuddered at the thought of what kind of stuff she might be into. I went to the dining room and was met with Anne already sitting at the table. She rose from her seat and bowed again.

"Young Master, how was your bath?"

There's no way she's a masochist. 

"It was relaxing Anne. Thank you for preparing my meal."

"Of course, Young Master."

I took a seat at the head of the table while she sat to my right. I watched as she sat down, only looking at the plate that was in front of her. She shifted in her seat while her face progressively reddened. I grabbed my fork and knife and began to eat, and she followed suit. She ate in an elegant, dignified way. If I didn't know she was a commoner, I could have mistaken her for a low-ranking noble at the very least.

"So, Anne," I broke the silence. My gamer logic wanted to ask a meaningful question that may come in handy, but I couldn't come up with anything. It's different when I can't select from multiple choices. "You were slightly pale earlier today. Were you using magic?"

"Huh?" Her face was full of shock. Did I screw up? "I did Young Master! But I only used a little magic to clean the laundry, how could you tell?"

I raised my eyebrows in response. I can't just tell her that I was able to read her stats. 

"I, ah…"

"Can you feel mana radiating from people?" She leaned forward in excitement. "To what extent!? Can you sense mana in the environment?"

"Slow down… I could just tell, you know," I gave a nervous chuckle.

"I see," She placed a hand on her chin. "With your awakening coming up, it's only natural that you would be curious about magic… but the fact you could sense it…"

I never said that nor confirmed it. I actually just read it on your status page, but I'll let her cook.

"Perhaps it is a hint about what your class may be. After all, classes like Mages and Sages tend to be sensitive to the flow of mana in people and the environment," Anne became more focused on the conversation. 

She continued to mumble to herself. She wasn't even holding her silverware anymore. I finished my meal, but she was still mumbling to herself. I caught a few words but nothing worthwhile. It seemed like a lot of it was just theoretical. She appeared like she might be a genius with unfortunate circumstances. 

"Your food is getting cold," I broke her concentration.

"Oh, I'm sorry Young Master. I asked to have dinner, but I didn't eat anything," She turned red while apologizing.

She was really cute while she looked down at her lap and fidgeted with her dress. This was my chance to draw a line between us and break her hopes in chasing me.

"Indeed, it was a waste of time. Next time, I hope you'll be more mindful before you ask to me for my time. Don't let it happen again," I coldly told her as I stood up. She also stood up and bowed.

"Yes, of course, Young Master! I humbly apologize," She was as red as a tomato.

Ding! Anne's character log updated!

What now!? There's no way my scolding would've done anything. Wait, it could just be telling me that she lost interest or something. I turned around and walked to my room. I opened the character log and pulled up Anne's info.

"Was humiliated and embarrassed by her behavior. She was so self-absorbed that she forgot to actually hold a conversation with you. However, despite your scolding, she couldn't help but think one thing. She wanted to be scolded again. To be put to shame by you.

Warning: Most Probable outcome:

Masochist"

Nothing changed! If anything, it only got worse. I sighed to myself as I watched my plan fall to ruins. Why did a cute and innocent-looking maid have such a twisted mind? There was no hope. Come think of it, I'm technically not the villain, but someone that just looked like him. Since such a big part of the game was different, other minor things, like character features, would also change. This was definitely something I should be careful with.

I closed my tab and laid down on my bed. My engagement with Luna will be broken off, and I won't become a villain. How will the story turn then? When and if the DLC bosses come, will Ace be strong enough to fight them since he won't gain levels from fighting the villain's army? I only wanted to live my life how I wanted to, but I felt an unbearable weight of responsibility. I guess it would be my fault since I refuse to be a villain… Screw that! 

New plan. I'll just level up myself! If I become strong enough to make up for what the Hero lacks, then everything will turn out fine. Probably. How I level up will be heavily influenced by what class I get. I pulled up my own stats.

Smarus Dragonborne

Age: 15

Strength: 1

Intelligence: 2

Agility: 1

Charisma: 2

Magic: 0.5

Class: N/A

Mana: 100/100

Skills: Odin's eye, Character log, Spatial Inventory

My magic will be hard to level up for now, and how do I level up my charisma? Whatever, I'll just put them to the side for now. Strength, intelligence, and agility I had some control over. Whatever class I get will up my stats to some degree, but I should still try to level up before my awakening. Even if it's only by half a point. 

 Since this game only had a max of 10 levels, each level is cumulative. Each level is harder to get than the last. After level 5, it could take years before I level up again. I remembered using a lot of buffs, EXP boosts, and even cheats to level up each stat to level 10. That's one thing I hated about the game. Every tenth of a point counts, so I shouldn't slack off.

 I closed my tab and looked out the window. The town lights shone in the distance. I shrugged as I laid back down. I guess I can wait until tomorrow to start training. After all, I did have this body's memories, as well as the knowledge of the game. If I trained hard for the next month, maybe I would be able to get those three stats to go up by half a point. Anyway, that was tomorrow's problem.