IVPCB 03

Chapter 03

[Realizing how to survive only on your 3rd attempt… you’re quite the fool, Player.]

Until now, the system had never conveyed its own thoughts to me so directly. It had only ever sent me indirect messages like, ‘~Such villainous actions are truly befitting of a villainess!’

Normally, I would have been offended that the system’s first direct opinion of me was that I’m stupid, but right now, I didn’t hear that part. Only the words ‘method to survive’ stuck clearly in my mind.

“What? This was really the right answer?”

The hardships I’d endured flashed through my mind like a lantern slide, and a sense of futility washed over me.

[Did you, an interloper who arbitrarily barged into the story, unable to even utilize the fact that you’re a possessed person and lacking a proper ‘job’ of your own, truly expect to live long?]

It was a harsh and sharp remark, but upon reflection, it wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t argue. And right now, it was more urgent to figure out how to survive than to get upset over such things.

“Enough talk. If there’s a job change window, show it to me quickly.”

[Viewing the job change window costs 200 million gold. Please pay.]

“There it is!”

I was overjoyed at the thought that a way to live a normal life had finally opened up.

The fact that I had to pay 200 million gold, my precious allowance for three months, stung a bit, but considering it the price of my life, it was rather cheap.

[Job List

1. Villainess

2. Head of the Posha Merchant Guild

3. Crown Princess

4. …….]

The list of changeable jobs, which I viewed after paying 200 million gold, contained far more jobs than I had expected.

I scrolled down and carefully examined the list.

‘First, jobs that tie me too closely with the main characters are high-risk. I’ve already accumulated too much bad karma; I’ll be hated just for breathing. Is there a job that keeps me as far away from the main characters as possible, letting me live quietly and safely? And one that I might be somewhat good at, at that.’

After eliminating them one by one, I soon arrived at a purple window titled ‘Hidden Jobs.’

“What are Hidden Jobs? Like special classes?”

True to the name, most of the hidden jobs were marked as ‘???’ with barely any visible information.

A few were readable, though: ‘King of the Demon Realm,’ ‘Head of the Dark Organization Serpent Branch,’ ‘Black Magic Sorcerer,’ ‘Master of Poisons,’ and so on.

“These are all abnormal!”

It was obvious that choosing any of these would lead to a tumultuous life.

‘Please, at least one normal one.’

As I continued scrolling, one job title caught my eye.

[299. Groundskeeper of Heliweka Castle.

A hidden job you can view due to high relevance from your past life.

Literally, a gardener at Heliweka Castle, where the Duke of Aldebaran resides. Highly recommended if you want a peaceful life tending gardens in the romantic North!]

“This is it!”

After reading the description, I cheered inwardly.

It had to be this. The workplace was none other than the castle of ‘Duke Aldebaran.’

One of the male lead candidates, ‘Juran del Aldebaran,’ had a kind personality and a clean private life.

Moreover, his status was so high that he couldn’t be trifled with in the political world, and the castle was located in the North, far from the capital, reducing the chances of entanglement with the main characters.

Thanks to this perfect background, he was criticized by players as a ‘boring, model student, perfect man,’ but that wasn’t the important point.

‘Juran del Aldebaran’ always survived the story’s ending, no matter what.

Amidst the various crises that would later befall the Bergen Empire, Sidony, where the Aldebaran family was located, always suffered the least damage.

This was because they possessed a powerful military force called the ‘Heliweka Knights,’ and were far removed from the capital where major events took place.

The only thing that bothered me was that, every winter, a gate would periodically open in the ‘Shetani’ region, a permafrost area adjacent to Sidony, causing waves of monsters to emerge.

Usually, these waves were handled by the Heliweka Knights alone, but four years later, when Juran’s father, the current Duke Aldebaran, passed away and Juran ascended to the dukedom, a massive wave occurred that forced the Aldebaran family to seek help from the Holy See and the Imperial Court.

‘It’s probably an episode added as a device to connect Luna and Juran in the game’s progression.’

In that massive wave, Heliweka Castle suffered considerable damage, and many of its household members died or were injured.

But I was a possessed person, and I knew how to survive that massive wave.

‘Then problem solved!’

There was nothing more to see. It was such a perfect job.

“System. Tell me how to change my job to ‘Groundskeeper of Heliweka Castle.'”

[To view the method for changing jobs to ‘Groundskeeper of Heliweka Castle,’ please pay 500,000 gold.]

‘Damn system.’

I had only 700,000 gold left.

Anais had been extremely extravagant, having squandered most of her allowance on impulsive shopping.

With trembling hands, I paid 500,000 gold.

When you’re thirsty, you dig a well, what else can you do? This system sure knows how to do business.

The system presented two ways to become the ‘Groundskeeper of Heliweka Castle.’

[There is an orthodox route and a shortcut.]

[The recommended orthodox route is to complete a 6-year horticulture course at the Bergen Imperial Academy, then submit an application when a vacancy arises for the groundskeeper of Heliweka Castle, or when a recruitment notice for an apprentice groundskeeper is posted.]

“Hmm, rejected.”

First of all, the Anais I possessed wasn’t smart enough to attend the Bergen Imperial Academy, which gathered the empire’s brightest minds, nor did she have any interest in studying.

Moreover, my remaining lifespan wasn’t that long.

The time it took to exceed 100 proficiency in my previous life was only two years. Of course, in that second life, I had struggled desperately to commit villainous acts.

However, even in the original game, Anais mostly lost her life before reaching adulthood at 19.

“The shortcut?”

[The shortcut is more difficult.]

“I don’t care.”

This world had never been kind to me, and in every attempt, I had struggled to survive. So I was prepared to take some risks to live.

[First, you must infiltrate the gardens of Heliweka Castle. If you succeed in infiltrating the garden, you must then infiltrate the Glass Greenhouse again.]

The Glass Greenhouse.

I remembered seeing an illustration of it in the game.

It was used as a date course for Juran and Luna in Juran’s route, and the greenhouse, with dozens of flowers in full bloom, was as large and beautiful as any modern botanical garden.

[After that, break a branch of the Sacred Tree Nebula located in the center of the Glass Greenhouse.]

“That’s basically telling me to die!”

I was appalled.

The Sacred Tree Nebula was one of the three great sacred relics protected as a national treasure by the Bergen Empire.

According to legend, after creating this world, Um, the Goddess Agnes sent the Celestial God, Earth God, and Sea God to care for the world in her stead.

As time passed, the age of mythology ended and transitioned into the age of history; Um entered a stable period, and the gods vanished.

However, the relics they left behind still possessed unique powers and were protected at the imperial level.

Among them, the Sacred Tree Nebula, left by the Earth God, protected and enriched the surrounding land. As evidence, until the reign of the current Emperor, the Sidony region, ruled by the House of Aldebaran, had flourished as the ‘Kingdom of Aldebaran.’

For about 200 years, they had maintained their status as a kingdom, despite the monsters of Shetani above and the constant invasions of the Bergen Empire below.

Although the House of Aldebaran had come under the Empire’s rule due to complex political circumstances by the time of the current Emperor, even that process was relatively peaceful, achieved through a marriage alliance between the current Duke Aldebaran’s sister and the Emperor’s younger brother.

As proof, Sidony was recognized as an autonomous region, granting them the right to directly judge all crimes occurring within Sidony, except for treason.

The people of Sidony attributed this history to the grace of the Sacred Tree Nebula, and as such, it was known that the Sacred Tree Nebula was under strict surveillance and protection by the House of Aldebaran.

[Don’t worry. Surprisingly, once you infiltrate the Glass Greenhouse, there are no guards protecting Nebula.]

“The problem isn’t just stealing it. You have to think about what happens after. I know that if you break a branch of the Sacred Tree Nebula, you get your wrist cut off!”

[You have at least the minimum common sense.]

It felt like the system was being sarcastic.

Actually, I knew this because Count Posha had taught me about what would happen if I touched a sacred relic, constantly warning me not to, even as he let my other misdeeds slide.

But I pretended not to know and pressed on impatiently.

“That’s common sense that even a five-year-old in the Empire knows. I’m not in the mood for jokes, so tell me the method quickly.”

[There is one more way to be forgiven even after committing the grave crime of breaking a branch of Nebula. That is to work as the groundskeeper of Heliweka Castle for 10 years.]

This was the first time I’d heard this. And I was suspicious.

“The conditions are too good, don’t you think?”

If the choice was between losing a wrist and 10 years as a gardener, most people would probably choose the latter. Of course, they wouldn’t even dream of touching the sacred relic in the first place.

[It’s an exception clause created by chance. A long time ago, the child of a common knight accidentally broke a branch of Nebula while exploring the gardens of Heliweka Castle.]

[At that time, the King of Aldebaran took pity on the child’s ignorance and created this clause. There also happened to be a vacancy for an apprentice groundskeeper at the time.]

[However, as a nominal punishment, they added the condition of confiscating all property and status.]

Ah. Hearing the background, I finally understood perfectly.

‘Originally, a sensible person would know the punishment clause of having their wrist cut off, and they’d be brainwashed from childhood about the importance of the sacred relics, so they wouldn’t even touch them with their hands. That’s why this exception clause didn’t need to be known, and no one knew about it.’

After hearing the system’s full explanation, I fell into thought for a moment.

Ten years. I’m fifteen now, so in ten years, I’ll be twenty-five. Still young.

Most endings of ‘S.H.D’ (Saintess, Hero, Duke) occurred when Luna reached adulthood, between nineteen and twenty.

Since Luna is a year younger than me, to avoid execution, I’d need to lie low for a few years after the ending of ‘S.H.D’. If I’m working in the Sidony region, I wouldn’t be involved after the ending, so the ten-year period was perfectly suitable.

[I have given you all the necessary explanations for the job change. Will you change jobs?]

Just as I made up my mind, the system asked.

“Yes.”

[Alright. Then I will grant you a ‘Job Change Quest.’]

“Hold on a moment before that.”