“What are the hidden conditions…?”

What could that be?

[Special item ⟨Will of the Pioneer⟩ will be granted!]

[Your existence has been recognized in the ⟨Heavenly Realm⟩!]

[Your existence has been recognized in the ⟨Spirit Realm⟩!]

[Your existence has been recognized in the ⟨Demon Realm⟩!]

[With the appearance of the Pioneer, they each show different reactions.]

[Whether this will be a good omen, a bad omen, or nothing at all to the reader, is unknown.]

[They have only recognized your existence, but they are not yet paying attention to you.]

 

[If you want to avoid attention, you must act carefully from now on.]

[On the other hand, receiving attention could also be a way.]

[Fate solely rests in the hands of the Pioneer.]

I fell silent for a moment, overwhelmed by the countless messages that came to mind.

The talk of the Heavenly Realm, Demon Realm, and Spirit Realm, things that are currently unknown.

But one thing is certain: my decision has caused something significant to change.

I swallowed nervously.

“First, let’s check the item.”

⟨Will of the Pioneer⟩

A treasure born from the embodiment of the will that grasps fate.

Despite the countless pieces of advice from guides, only those who stick to their own path can become the owners of this treasure.

Will there be foolish regrets at the end of that path, or abundant joy?

Those who possess the Will of the Pioneer are not swayed by random probabilities and number games.

You can directly choose whatever you desire according to your will.

You only have one chance.

The ambiguous words made me hesitate, but soon I understood their meaning.

‘It means that it won’t be randomly drawn, but that I can personally choose it!’

In other words, it means that instead of random cash appearing from a 10,000 cash lottery ticket, I can choose the cash that comes out.

‘Isn’t that amazing?!’

How much have I suffered because of random draws?

Sometimes 5,000 cash would turn into 100 cash, or I would vomit blood in frustration.

But if I use this, I won’t have to deal with such things anymore!

‘Only a fool would use this for a cash lottery ticket.’

I only have one chance.

‘Well then…’

I decided where to use it.

“I want to check the additional rewards first.”

[Checking additional rewards.]

[There is an item available for reward confirmation. Would you like to use it?]

It asks if I want to use ⟨Will of the Pioneer⟩.

I firmly shook my head.

“No.”

[Calculating additional rewards… Calculation complete.]

[⟨Potion of Luck⟩ has been granted.]

[⟨20,000 Cash Lottery Tickets⟩ have been granted.]

[⟨30,000 Cash Lottery Tickets⟩ have been granted.]

[⟨20,000 Cash Lottery Tickets⟩ have been granted.]

I didn’t get any unique items like the Hermes chirpie, but strangely, I was more satisfied with this.

I’m going to unequip the equipped ability and summon a new novel.

‘A Potion of Luck and cash lottery tickets. That’s a good combination.’

I’m lucky.

First, I should use the Potion of Luck.

[Using ⟨Potion of Luck⟩.]

A window appeared with Hermes chirpie and the Potion of Luck drawn on it.

As I reached for the Potion of Luck, the bottle materialized and landed in my hand.

A green potion!

Just looking at it made my mouth water.

Without hesitation, I drank the potion in one gulp.

The refreshing taste that leaves a sweet aftertaste in my mouth!

As expected, it’s Mint Chocolate!

Truly the best taste created by the British royal family!

Satisfied, I used all the cash draw tickets I received, as well as the remaining ones.

After checking my remaining cash, I had:

— Available Cash: 72,800 Cash.

I am tremendously rich with cash.

Great. This should be enough.

“Unequip equipped ability.”

[Please specify the ability you want to disable.]

” ⟨It Wasn’t There, but Now It Is⟩.”

[Using 5,000 Cash to disable the ability ⟨It Wasn’t There, but Now It Is⟩.]

Then, a crystal heart slipped out of the heart on the cover of Architus.

I stored it in the ability storage.

Alright, now I have secured an empty space.

“Summon a novel!”

[Please specify the ⟨novel⟩ you want to summon.]

“⟨Lady Baby⟩!”

[Using cash to summon the novel ⟨Lady Baby⟩.]

As the pages of Architus turned, the existing text disappeared and new text began to be engraved.

[Using the attribute ⟨Rush and Cash⟩ to extract the abilities of the protagonist in the ⟨novel⟩.]

[There is an item available for ability extraction. Would you like to use it?]

“I’ll use it.”

[Using the item ⟨Will of the Pioneer⟩.]

[Stopping random extraction.]

[With the effect of ⟨Will of the Pioneer⟩, you can extract the desired ability.]

With that message, light emanated from the book and rose up.

Unlike usual, the light did not combine to become a crystal.

It just leisurely floated around me like a butterfly fluttering its wings.

White butterflies, black butterflies, silver butterflies, golden butterflies… Countless clusters of light.

Although there were no words written about what ability it was, I could intuitively sense what was what.

 

When I found what I wanted in the midst of it all, I reached out without hesitation.

The light butterfly that was caught in my hand turned into a heart crystal.

[You have selected the ability ⟨With Only This Singing Skill, You Can Only Go So Far⟩.]

Hmm.

No matter how you look at it, their naming sense is terrible…

[Equipping the ability.]

⟨With Only This Singing Skill, You Can Only Go So Far⟩

— Empathetic Text:

“Why does Aether come out of Calliope Rustichelle’s song!”

The words of the High Priestess were right.

Aether is the source and origin of mana, aura, and divine power.

The essence of all life flowed through Calliope’s song.

The waves created by Calliope’s voice enveloped people.

Like rain falling on dry land, it moistened the hearts of wounded individuals.

Not only mages who manipulate mana, knights who wield aura, and priests who control divine power, but even ordinary people could feel this immense power.

The song that contained that power awakened those captivated by the song of the saint with its undeniable weight.

This is the moment when the protagonist of ⟨Lady Baby⟩ awakens her ability.

She possesses the ability to generate Aether through her singing.

With only this singing skill, she can only create miracles at best.

How to use this ability is entirely up to the reader’s discretion.

— Ability Effect: Generates a massive amount of Aether through singing.

— Available Uses: 0/3

‘That’s enough.’

It was an incredible stroke of luck to obtain <Will of the Pioneer> when there was only one ability left to extract.

If I didn’t have it, I would have had no chance to choose and the ability would have been equipped as soon as it was extracted.

I summoned the status window and examined it.

— Extractable Abilities: 5/5

Two abilities were stored in the ability storage of the set I just equipped.

The number of extractable abilities was full.

This meant that I couldn’t draw new abilities unless I completely used or unequipped the abilities I had or threw them away.

I clenched my fist.

‘I hope my hypothesis is correct.’

 

***

 

Endless pain consumed the child’s body and mind.

It felt like a bug with sharp teeth was crawling around inside his head, gnawing at his brain.

Amidst the seething pain, the child had to face even more excruciating memories.

“I will offer this child to Your Majesty! Please spare my life and allow me to live as I want! I will live quietly.”

“Let’s see. Is this really the monster?”

“Yes, it’s that mother’s throat¹sorry i don’t know what this means.”

“Your mother sold you to me, saying she would live alone. Are you still sad? It’s not even funny.”

“Hmm? A tough-born creature can endure well. You might be able to draw the picture the Queen wants.”

“Kill, kill, kill, kill!”

“It is a sin for a lowly thing to be born with the powers of an emperor.”

“Please save me! My tongue, spare me!”

“I look forward to seeing you writhing in eternal pain like a maggot.”

All sorts of people came out and criticized the child, spitting on him.

Memories that won’t go away.

Even if he wanted to escape, he couldn’t.

Because that damn curse keeps showing the worst memories.

Whether this was a real event or just a fantasy, he couldn’t tell anymore.

This eternal nightmare was even more vivid than reality.

Even at this moment, the memories shown by the curse filled his vision and ears.

This, just like this—.

‘I want to die.’

The moment he thought that,

Pink hair fluttering in the sky came into view at the edge of his sight.

Blue irises that looked like the sky that couldn’t be reached no matter what.

The girl’s face appeared before him in an instant, dispelling his hallucination.

‘Is this a dream?’

There was no way this girl could be here.

But he had never dreamed of anything other than nightmares when the curse was active.

The child, who was pondering, soon understood.

In some sense, this girl was a nightmare worse than anything he had seen before.

The girl reached out her hand to him.

 

After brushing back his hair, she opened her mouth.

 

He couldn’t hear what she was saying clearly because of the pain.

The child focused all his attention on hearing the girl’s voice.

Finally, he could hear it.

She was singing.

She was humming a melody, tapping her chest to keep the beat and singing along in a soft voice.

‘….. She’s not a good singer.’

But for some reason, his tightly blocked heart began to feel more comfortable little by little.

The feeling of suffocation and difficulty breathing slowly faded away, like wiping a cold towel on a feverish place.

As he regained his senses, a more intense desire than ever before arose within him.

That desire moved his parched lips.

“Kill me…please.”

An intense longing for death surged within him.

When he had lost consciousness, he couldn’t even properly think about wanting to die.

But now, he finally obtained the freedom to think.

That freedom was beckoning him towards death.

He wanted to end his life just like this.

And if possible, by the hands of this girl.

Even though he knew that the girl in front of him was nothing more than a dream, he pleaded with a desperate voice.

The girl lowered her head and looked at him.

Her face was completely shrouded in shadows, and his expression was indiscernible.

“It’s okay.”

A very gentle and soft voice.

Then, a cold drop of water touched his cheek.

It was a raindrop falling from the girl’s face.

“You don’t have to die.”

Those words could never be salvation.

But for some reason,

His eyes slowly closed.

“Live.”

The child fell into a deep sleep without even realizing it.

A small singing voice stood guard by his side, so that the bad nightmare wouldn’t disturb his rest.

 

* * *

 

‘It’s working.’

I tightly clenched my fist.

The number of vivid red lines wriggling on the child’s body had decreased.

 

There were still many lines remaining, but it was still a significant change.

‘The key is to help that child’s innate power overcome the curse.’

For that, it’s important to provide support by generating aether from the side.

‘And eating well is also important!’

I grabbed some food and went to the child’s room.

After he collapsed, he was moved from the prison to an empty room.

‘Sorry, Dad, brothers.’

I promised not to go near the child, but I couldn’t help it.

Besides, surprisingly, I discovered a secret passage, too. What’s up with that?

Well, it’s more like I secretly searched Dad’s office and found a part of a map.

Anyway, if there’s a secret passage, we should make use of it, right?

I pulled the lever of the passage.

Then, the wall silently opened.

I saw the child lying weakly on the bed.

“Grandma’s here. Let’s have some food.”

I deliberately spoke cheerfully, but there was no response.

He didn’t have the consciousness to be aware of his surroundings because of the fever and pain.

As I approached, the child looked at me with a blank expression and then suddenly recoiled.

“Don’t come near me.”

“It’s okay.”

“Don’t touch—.”

“It’s okay. I won’t make it worse.”

I tightly held the child’s hand.

The red lines wriggled on the back of his hand, but it didn’t spread on mine.

The child looked at our hands clasped together and slowly lifted his head.

His gaze at me was strange, as if he was looking at an unfamiliar creature.

“You want to touch this kind of thing?”

“Why wouldn’t I want to touch you. And don’t call me ‘you,’ it’s Grandma. That’s more of a problem.”

“…Is this still a dream?”

No, it’s not a dream.

But it doesn’t matter what he thinks.

If he realized it was reality, he might resist again, so I didn’t deny it and pulled a chair over.

I took out a hot soup from the basket and offered it to him.

“Let’s eat a little bit. That will help you feel better.”

“I won’t eat that.”

“If it’s hard to eat alone. Grandma will feed you.”

“No, ugh…”

The child tried to sit up but bent his back.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

I was surprised and supported him.

It ended with him just slightly staggering instead of experiencing intense pain.

‘Phew, thank goodness.’

Then, I felt a hot breath on my hair.

When I lifted my head, the child was looking down at me.

As his eyelashes lowered, it cast a shadow on his pupils and created a subtle color.

While I was thinking they were pretty, our eyes met.

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  sorry i don’t know what this means