Chapter 2
I decided to swallow my lamentations and figure out the situation first.
My possessed body, 'Ailet Rodelaine,' was said to be the daughter of a servant working for an abusive noble.
But that alone wasn't enough to narrow it down; there were one or two villains who abused the protagonist, after all. I needed to at least know the name of the noble house...
"Huh?"
Right then, a structural map of the grand mansion unfolded before my eyes like a game map.
[
The castle of the Gillette Earldom, located in the far east of the Winchester Kingdom.
Note: The Earl couple's son is a scoundrel, so be careful!]
"Ah!"
I remembered immediately. The prodigal son of the Gillette Earl's household!
Originally the son of a renowned swordsmanship family, he lacked talent and bought his knight title with money.
He almost died while ransacking a dungeon under the guise of knight training, but the good-natured protagonist saved him.
The protagonist expected no reward, but the scoundrel promised compensation and made him accompany him to the earldom.
A scoundrel with the makings of a malicious employer meeting a pushover protagonist—the aftermath was obvious.
The scoundrel used the protagonist like a mercenary, then once they arrived at the territory, he wiped the slate clean and kicked him out.
And the moment the protagonist left the Earl's castle, a 'Dungeon Burst' occurred nearby, devastating the Gillette territory with monsters.
Compared to the refreshing catharsis, it was an episode with a truly long frustrating stretch.
'Ugh! Just recalling it makes the frustration I felt back then rise up all over again!'
The disaster that would befall the Gillette territory could be avoided by simply running away, but the problem was that such disasters could happen anytime, anywhere.
Across the continent, dungeons were spreading like tumors.
It wouldn't be strange for a Dungeon Burst to occur anytime, anywhere.
'Sob, once the original story begins, I'm destined to die before long. If only I had at least memorized the original content...'
The map disappeared, and a screen resembling a grand library surfaced.
[
Books are food for the soul! It stores all books the possessor purchased or read during their lifetime.
Note: However, this is limited to officially distributed books.]
"Wow, jackpot."
It was real. From the elementary school textbook 'Proper Living 1-1' to the 19+ tragic reverse harem novel purchased the night before my death, everything was perfectly archived.
I quickly sorted them in alphabetical order.
'It's there, it's there!'
Admirably, even the complete ending of SeGuHoe was there. With this, my survival probability increased significantly.
Still, if possible, I wanted to guarantee my safety more definitively.
It would be nice if the body I possessed had some special ability lying dormant within it.
"System, anything else?"
Since it had already spoon-fed me what I needed twice, I harbored a slight expectation. A message popped up as if in response.
[
"Cash?"
I rolled the capitalistic nuance around in my mouth.
[
Life insurance payout based on the insurance policy the possessor subscribed to before death. 120 million, all in cash.
Note: You can additionally recharge Cash using the currency of the possessed world.]
"..."
The feeling of receiving my own death insurance payout as cash was bizarre.
'Wait, the fact that there's Cash means...?!'
The screen changed, and my doubts soon became reality.
[
Special items that increase the possessor's survival probability all in one place! If you have money, you can live it up even in an S-rank difficulty novel!]
Figuring I might as well get scammed, I sorted by popularity.
[
An essential item for possessors of fantasy and wuxia worldviews. You can choose and awaken one combat ability that fits the work's worldview, such as Aura, Magic, Divine Power, or Martial Arts.
Price: 10,000,000 Cash]
"Gasp."
What? An item that can make me an ability user?
My instincts cried out.
'Oh my, I have to buy this!'
In an S-rank difficulty worldview, ability awakening is essential. I bought it without looking back. However, I postponed using it.
In SeGuHoe, the abilities are Aura, Magic, and Divine Power.
Magic and Divine Power were abilities that clashed with each other, but Aura could be used alongside them.
Instead, depending on the order of awakening, they were divided into a main ability and a sub-ability.
I decided to reread the novel before deciding what to awaken first.
There was another popular item that caught my eye.
[
A blessing from the gods of the Possession Management Bureau that doubles the achievement rate of all abilities.
Price: 1,000,000 Cash]
My instincts cried out a second time.
'Oh my, I have to buy this too!'
But.
[
[
A blessing from the gods of the Possession Management Bureau that raises the achievement rate of all abilities by 5 times.
Note: It was deemed overpowered, but was configured as a limited special perk for the Possession Life Insurance Full Package.
Price: Not for Sale]
'Wow, a limited special perk that can't be bought even with money!'
I wanted to praise the finger that pressed 'Yes' on the spam message before I died.
After thoroughly examining what other items were for sale, I closed the window.
Thanks to the Class Change Package, the Blessing of Ultra-Rapid Growth, and the Unified Library, I was in a highly motivated state.
'With this momentum, let's read this frustrating novel!'
I boldly opened volume 1 of SeGuHoe. For now, I planned to skim through it quickly from beginning to end with speed reading.
However, after focusing intently for four hours, I screamed without having reached the ending.
"Aaaah! He regressed up to the 77th iteration and it's still not over! And it's so frustrating!"
Fitting the title 'Regression Until the World is Saved', the protagonist repeats regressions to an agonizing degree.
As is often the case with the crowd on a sinking ship, the humans of a perishing world engaged in betrayal and trickery.
In such a place, a moderately bad personality would rather be a good spec condition, but the setting given to our protagonist was 'a good and faithful holy knight who serves God and walks the path of chivalry.' It was optimal for becoming a Path of Frustration.
Of course, our Path of Frustration, no, our protagonist is also human, so as he goes through all sorts of hardships in every iteration, he gradually becomes corrupted.
His good alignment, which was firm until the early stages, leans toward a neutral alignment due to the loss and betrayal of trusted comrades, respected superiors, people the protagonist saved, and reunited family members.
Then, starting from the incident where he is struck on the back of the head three consecutive iterations by the Saintess heroine he loved and trusted more than anyone, he begins to be tainted by evil.
What I'm reading right now is the 77th iteration, and it's a total field of frustration.
If someone asks which iteration was the least suffocating, I would pick the 17th iteration without hesitation.
Because.
'The protagonist was killed by the passing final boss right after regressing!'
Without even giving the reader time to choke on frustration, the protagonist died and the 18th iteration began immediately. It was an unprecedentedly futile iteration.
'Still, since it's around the 77th iteration of his life, I can see some hope for saving the world.'
It was when I gathered my wits and tried to finish reading the original work.
[
Right! It's an infinite regression story, so which iteration the protagonist is on is important!
According to what the system told me earlier, this is currently the tutorial period before the original story begins.
The original work begins only when the tutorial ends, and the protagonist, who has turned twenty, regresses only when the original work begins.
In other words, right now, the protagonist is in the fresh state of the 1st iteration!
'Maybe the protagonist is a kid like me!'
Among the countless timelines created after the regression began, which iteration will I be assigned to?
I can only survive if the protagonist saves the world. Therefore, the more the protagonist has rolled around and grown stronger in an iteration, the higher my survival probability becomes.
'Ah, oh God! Please, a high iteration!'
The message refreshed.
[
Was this the price of carelessly saying the 17th iteration was less frustrating? Or the price of deceit for calling upon God despite being an atheist?
An iteration where the protagonist dies like a bug at the hands of the strongest final boss in the worldview right from the start!
Of all things! Of all things!
There aren't even many iterations where the final boss appears on the front lines, and to think I got stuck on the 17th iteration of all things!
I grabbed my head and screamed in despair.
"Waaah!"
It should have come out as an "Uwaaak!" sound, but since I became a little kid, a cute sound came out instead.
Our Path of Frustration only becomes somewhat usable after the 70th iteration, so the 17th iteration was no different from a fledgling.
There was no way he could stand against the final boss, described as a god-level transcendent in the work.
I realized early on.
'Let's assume the protagonist doesn't exist. The only one I can trust is myself! To survive, I must become strong myself!'
The system's subsequent requirements also indicated that this was the correct answer.
[
[
To survive when the original work of terrifying S-rank difficulty begins, the answer is specing up. Let's polish intellect, virtue, and physique to become a powerhouse within the top 100 of the worldview.
Time remaining until tutorial completion: 3392 days 2 hours 15 minutes
Current Ranking: Displayed from 1,000th place.
Success Reward: ???
Failure Penalty: Death]
The word 'Death' was terrifying.
I, It's fine. There's plenty of time!
It was when I clenched both fists and steeled my resolve.
Bang!
"Oh my gosh, you scared me!"
The attic door suddenly opened, and some girl discovered me and her eyes sparkled.
"She's here! She's in here!"
Privileges for the Possessor