After waking up from the strange dream, I first went up to the mirror and checked myself. Instead of my face, though, my eyes immediately went to the room's reflection around me. A giant bed, great golden chandeliers hanging down. A wide berthed painting spread above my bed and lavish chairs and tables made of intricate woodworking from the medieval eras. It reminded me of the fine details focused in the new-gothic era with the focus on shape and form in the renaissance era.
Of course, as one of the strongest people in the world, being knowledgeable about architecture and carpentry was natural.
"Strongest?"
My head tilted to the side.
Did I want to be the strongest in the world?
Yes. Of course? Then why did it feel like a distant flame instead of the ever-burning inferno that used to seep into my bones and drive me ahead?
How strange.
I walked a step closer to the mirror and placed a hand on my reflection, the jade-like skin on my hand in clear view. Despite that, I couldn't see my face all that well. I could SEE it, but I couldn't UNDERSTAND it. I never knew what my reflection was about. I never knew how I looked.
"Did I lose some muscles, though?"
For some reason, I felt slightly lethargic, almost estranged from my own body. What a difficult emotion.
I walked over to the window next and pulled back the lavish blinds. Outside the sight of a wide garden welcomed me. Small animals like rabbits and squirrels danced about in the yard while the garden's fences merged with rows after rows of trees. When I pushed the windows open as well, the rays of the early morning sun greeted me along with the sweet song of chirping birds.
Judging from the sun, it was about 5:30 AM.
I woke up late.
I should have woken up by 4:30 and taken a hundred rounds around Pantheon's perimeter—Ara?
Pantheon? What was I talking about?
Slightly confused at my own thoughts, I tilted my head to the side and quickly moved to the attached bathroom in my room to wash my face and freshen up. After taking a light shower, I came out of my room and changed into a black tunic and white trousers that matched my white hair and red eyes. Completely changed, I went up to the mirror again and brushed my hair carefully, parting them in the middle and swerving the locks to the back. It was necessary to take care of my looks as the one aspiring to be the strongest in the world. Strength was in aesthetics too, after all.
I looked at the sun again. 5:49. My ability to tell the time like this was accurate to a range of 15 seconds, so I wasn't worried.
I disliked being late, but that didn't mean I had to dwell on it. It was time to go out for a run.
Pushing the door of my room open, I stepped out.
"Ah... AH?!"
At that moment, the maid who had entered my room a while back turned to me with a wide open mouth and widened eyes. The white and the red stood out too much. I couldn't tell what she looked like, but for some reason I felt she was a pretty person. It was just a feeling, though. Now then, why was a pretty person (felt) looking at me like this?
I tilted my head to the side again.
"What?" I asked.
"Y-y-y-young masterrrr?" The maid reeled back while waving her hands and giving me an absurd reaction. What was this?
"Do you have a problem...?"
"H-how are you awake so early...? And? Did you just completely change and fix your hair yourself??"
What the heck?
"Why are you so surprised about an adult changing his clothes—?"
"Adult? Ahaha, Young Master, 8 year old are not adults... before that... you never wake up even after so many tries and sleep deep into the noon!"
Wait.
Wait wait wait.
Take a step back right there.
I slowly looked down at my hands and feet. Then, I carefully observed my skin and muscles.
I didn't just lose some bulk... all of it was gone. My height was reduced to that of a shrimp...
"oh no..."
In a fluster, I pulled up my tunic at which the maid let out a loud kya while covering her face. I ignored her and stared at my stomach.
"M-my abs.... My abs are gone..."
My knees wobbled and I feel to the ground.
My proud 6-pack abs. My great cuts made after amazing amounts of pain, all of them... all of them were gone.
"No. My magic, my magic!"
I screamed out loud like a madman and closed my eyes.
"Y-young master! Are you alright?! Please put on your clothes again!"
Ignoring the maid's words again, I focused my consciousness on myself. I felt my soul moving at my command and showing me the state of my core. A black silhouette of my body appeared in front of my eyes and there, in the dantian, swirled a mass of purple.
Unrefined.
Wasteful.
All the effort I had put into making my mana as fine as the dew drops formed on the petals of a spirit tree, all of it, gone. Only replaced by an amount that was incomparable to before.
But what good is a large amount of bad mana and ki anyway?
"This... can't be..."
My arms lost strength too and I fell flat on the ground.
"Oh my!" The maid screamed and covered her face. "The son of the Hall family has fainted! What will I do!?"
She screamed and crouched down, her hand moving above my face as she hesitated to touch me.
Hall?
Did she say Hall?
Eugene Hall... that was my name, yes. It sounded familiar, yet too distant. Where else had I heard it...?
[Hey, Yujin. So there's this minor villain that's super annoying. He tries to assault the girls but gets sacked by them without even needing the MC. His name's Eugene Hall, lmao. Very funny character, a waste of good looks. At least he gets them in compromising clothes!]
No way...
I am.
I am that Eugene Hall?
The Eugene Hall from the world of the Eroge that Albert used to speak about?
The very Eugene Hall, who didn't even have my amazing abs or wasn't even the strongest character in the world?
"I-I'll call the doctor!" The maid yelped and turned around. She got on her feet, ready to set off. At that moment, I pushed myself up.
A new fire started burning in my eyes.
This shitty situation.
This shitty Eroge...
I will definitely crush it all.
No matter what happens.
"No matter what happens... I will get my abs back!!"
"..."
"Eh? What...?"
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