LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 21
Of course, I also espouse ‘virtue’ and ‘loyalty,’ but being a character who is calculating when necessary, I am not truly altruistic.
Especially when compared to Aleon.
In this competitive game, a game where you must kill your opponent to survive.
Aleon’s mere existence has implanted a strange way of thinking into the field.
It’s absurd that I find it ridiculous, yet the crowd is even more astonished? As if following Aleon is unquestionably right and those who don’t are the strange ones?
Are they trying to corner me like this to make me revere him and politically defeat me?
If all of this is Aleon’s scheme…
But then I saw Aleon’s eyes and realized that I had been mistaken.
Aleon… was flustered. He genuinely didn’t know what to do, feeling terribly sorry that I was being criticized because of him.
His radiant eyes were trembling helplessly.
In the end, I couldn’t retort with any words and just turned around.
He is literally ‘virtue.’
A guardian with elegant grace like a white horse. A pure character who doesn’t even know what scheming is.
If he were a bad or selfish character, I could exploit that and eliminate any place for him to stand.
‘How should I deal with Aleon?’
How can I rightfully gain the viewers’ support and rise above that virtuous character?
I’ve learned once again that to gain the popularity of viewers, I must hold superiority not only in strength and charm but also in the political aspect.
I recalled Aleon’s status window that I had looked at earlier.
[Name] Aleon / [Level] 1
[Gender] Male / [Age] 24
[Intelligence] Medium / [Murderous Intent] Low
* * *
[Ability Group] Pure Nature
[Unique Ability] Ice
[Potential Rank] S
There should have been a ‘Lowest’ classification below ‘Low’ for the murderous intent stat. In that case, Aleon would have been the lowest.
Reading through it all, his basic stats for health, strength, and agility were at least B. Despite being only level 1.
Why are there so many silver spoons in this world? Or is it just that only the silver spoons catch my eye? Probably.
When I returned to the hideout, the sun had set, and I was able to review the results of the eighth day.
Having read my results several times, I thought carefully even as Lilith, Gio, and Unahar went to bed one by one.
As expected, today’s popularity poll results are not good.
It’s not that it has drastically decreased, but for someone like me who wants a steady growth curve, it was a disappointing result.
‘It’s probably because in front of Aleon, I couldn’t confidently assert myself and lost the logical battle.’
I admit it. Compared to Aleon, my impact was lacking.
Even considering that he is a new face who appeared for the first time today, and a new character with an unprecedented concept…
Aleon single-handedly captured the beast I struggled to catch and instantly gained many followers.
In my view, Aleon is currently ranked first.
There can’t be two characters who have been trapped in ice and then awakened, so that ranking will likely hold until the end of the first round.
I turned my gaze towards my companions.
I remembered how Unahar had almost frozen to death sleeping alone this morning and checked to see if they were sleeping well, as if I were their mother.
First, I glanced at Unahar, who was sleeping on his side, and then I noticed Lilith lying at the very edge of her pillow, so I pushed her back onto it a bit more.
I kicked Gio. Despite that, he continued to sleep soundly with his mouth open.
Beside Gio’s head, I planned for tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I would unlock Gio’s unique ability.
* * *
**Reality World,
“Aleon’s vibe is insane… Like an ice flower.”
“I’m a guy, but is it normal to fall for Aleon?”
“Rudel couldn’t say a word to Aleon.”
“Did Rudel fall for him too, lol.”
“Lol.”
“Honestly, Rudel isn’t exactly good. In the end, she was a bystander when weaker characters were dying.”
“Isn’t that why she couldn’t say anything to Aleon?”
“But Rudel is right, why should she care about other characters in a survival game?”
“Am I the only one who thinks Aleon is a bit of a pushover? It’s frustrating.”
“He’s super strong but gets dragged around by weaker ones, all flustered.”
“It’s because he’s kind…”
“But why is Rudel always underrated?”
“She is cunning and lukewarm, that’s true.”
“She seems to use her companions a bit.”
“True, but I see her as smart, so I don’t mind.”
“She manages to keep all jer companions alive like that.”
“Plus, Rudel is the only character among the popular ones who started with D-rank stats.”
“Oh, right.”
“All the currently popular characters were high-stat from the start, but Rudel clawed her way up.”
“Aleon was born a silver spoon too… Yeah.”
“Aleon and Shemarin are good, but honestly, I want to see how far Rudel goes. I feel like she can rise even higher.”
“Shemarin, please use me as a doormat.”
“Shemarin, please use me as a rag.”
“Shemarin, please use me as a cleaning cloth.”
“Lolololol.”
“Who brought up Shemarin?”
* * *
Last night, I stayed up devising a plan to unlock Gio’s unique ability.
Gio’s unique ability is Pure Nature.
The condition to unlock Pure Nature is ‘life reaching its brink or something equally desperate.’
Hmm.
However, no matter how annoying Gio was, I didn’t want to hurt him until he was on the brink of death.
Since the method to unlock Pure Nature had become well-known, it should be fine to use desperation equivalent to ‘death’ to awaken it.
But what does Gio consider as desperate as death?
…Food?
Should I starve Gio?
But would he actually starve if I deprived him of food? He’d probably turn me upside down and shake me for food or go out and hunt a beast himself.
Since food alone wouldn’t draw out Gio’s ability, the only thing left was Lilith…
Thus, now awake, I alternated my gaze between Lilith and Unahar, who were both soundly sleeping.
I woke them up quietly, making sure not to alert Gio.
“What’s the matter…?”
Unahar’s face, though puffy from sleep, was still as beautiful as a painting, with his eyes drooping sorrowfully due to drowsiness.
“Both of you, keep quiet. This is something we need to discuss without Gio knowing.”
Unahar withdrew his hand and opened his eyes sleepily. Lilith soon sat up, rubbing her eyes after pushing away her sleeping bag.
“You both know that Gio is the only one whose unique ability hasn’t been unlocked yet.”
That fool had completely forgotten that he didn’t have a unique ability, sleeping soundly without a care.
“I can’t hunt the beasts alone, so I’m thinking of unlocking Gio’s unique ability soon.”
I explained to Lilith and Unahar the conditions to unlock Pure Nature.
And that Gio had told me about his unique ability being Pure Nature after seeing his status window.
“But why are you telling us this instead of Gio?”
“Because I need your help.”
I continued explaining more details to the two beautiful characters who looked at me quizzically.
* * *
Meanwhile, a man who had gotten used to the extreme cold and slept with his chest muscles exposed woke up.
Upon opening his eyes, he saw Lilith looking down at him.
The character with shining silver hair, who had once brought even bears to their knees.
Seeing her clear green eyes and full lips, Gio blushed automatically and jumped up.
“Where’s Rudel?”
“He went outside with Unahar to check on something.”
Lilith fidgeted with her hands on her knees, seemingly uneasy about being alone with him.
In truth, her anxiety wasn’t because Rudel wasn’t there but for another reason.
Gio glanced down at Lilith’s small, soft hands.
He desperately wanted to hold those hands.
“Gio, let’s go outside together.”
Lilith’s sudden suggestion to go outside was awkward and out of context. She was terrible at acting.
She recalled the conversation she had with Unahar and Rudel a little while ago.
“Rudel, will this really work?”
It was already the fourth time Unahar had asked this question. And their leader had responded with confidence each time.
“It will. Gio is much more of an idiot than you imagine.”
“Right!”
As the leader predicted, Gio didn’t notice Lilith’s awkwardness at all. He just eagerly nodded when she suggested they go outside.
He didn’t even ask why she wanted to go out.
The two dressed warmly and stepped out of the cave, where more snow had accumulated overnight.
Gio walked ahead, clearing the snow so Lilith wouldn’t trip.
His actions were naturally considerate, as if making sure she was safe was his life’s goal.
Shh-shh-shh.
Suddenly, an ominous sound reached them. Gio instinctively turned to shield Lilith.
A massive beast was sliding towards them.
“Kyah!”
Lilith let out an awkward scream, thinking to herself, ‘I’m so bad at acting!’
But Gio’s face went pale.
“Lilith!”
He reached out to grab her waist, ready to carry her to safety if necessary.
But before he could, the beast’s mouth snatched Lilith.
The beast took off with her in its jaws.
“Lilith-!”
Gio’s shout echoed across the field. His face twisted in horror as he started running after them.
The beast could chew through humans, putting Lilith in grave danger!
“No-!”
With a desperate scream, powerful energy erupted from Gio’s body.
Boom-boom-boom-boom.
The ground roared. The earth split with a deafening noise, releasing a massive shockwave.
The crack was like a lightning bolt splitting the sky, and the sound was like thunder, a heavenly punishment.
It was a breathtaking spectacle that made even the most inattentive viewers gasp and widen their eyes.
[Congratulations! Unique ability has been unlocked…]
Gio didn’t hear the broadcast.
[Ability Group] Pure Nature
[Unique Ability] Earth
[Potential Rank] S
He didn’t see his status window either.
Gio ran wildly. He pulled Lilith from the beast’s half-buried mouth.
Then he held her in his arms.
Lilith was touched by Gio’s reaction, but she also had to suppress a smile that kept threatening to break through.
She quietly pretended to be unconscious in Gio’s embrace.
[“I can change everything to protect Lilith.”]
His awakening line resonated throughout the area.