4 The Hater's Status
Covering my body with a bathrobe, I strolled out of the bath, but as I exited, I halted in front of the mirror.
Blond hair cascaded down to my neck, tangled and messy enough to warrant a half-hour wash. Gathering the strands, I tied them back with a band and scrutinized my face.
"Not bad at all," I grinned, touching my face, but it would look even better after a good diet.
-Thud-
Slamming open the door, I noticed my room was impeccably cleaned, devoid of any speck of dust, just the way I liked it. The windows nearly shimmered with cleanliness.
"You did an excellent job, Shana," I praised her sincerely and grabbed an apple arranged on a plate with a pyramid of diverse fruits.
"Thank you, Milord," Shana bowed her head.
I observed her as I took a bite of the apple. After a moment, I walked to the windows and gazed outside. I was on the first floor, with an amazing view of the sublime garden. Even now, gardeners were tending to it, along with the sculptures.
"Now tell me. How was I before my memory loss?" I asked her, taking another bite.
"...as I said, Milord, you were using the money given to you for night activities and organized banquets with other lords…"
"What kind of night activities? Be more precise," I asked with a sidelong glance.
Shana trembled at my gaze and lowered her head. "I…heard that you were spending time with different girls in bars, and some even complained to the House…"
"Sexual harassment and debauchery at its peak, huh?" I took another bite before aiming and threw the apple perfectly into the trash bag carried by one of the workers. When he looked up at me, I waved my hand, and his expression warped to fear as he hastily ran away.
"...Milord also treated the staff harshly. Someone even…committed suicide," she said, and I could see anger in her face without having to actually see it.
"Well, I don't care about that; thanks anyway, Shana," I headed to my large dressing room and picked a white shirt with blue pants and a blue coat before tossing it at Shana's face. "Get them ironed."
"But Sir, they have already—"
"Did you hear me?" I asked with a tired gaze. "I do not want even a single wrinkle on them."
"...yes."
"Good."
†††
Slipping into my coat, I went through the usual routine of checking my face, hair, and ensuring my clothes were wrinkle-free before stepping out. Shana awaited me with her head bowed.
"I don't like that. Raise your head," I instructed, my brows furrowed. It felt embarrassingly formal, even for me.
"But..."
"Enough with the 'buts,'" I clicked my tongue. "Listen to me. Raise your head. You're my maid, so don't embarrass me in front of others."
Shana met my gaze with surprise, but I ignored her and strolled out with my hands tucked into my pockets.
"When does Elysyphel start?" I asked as we walked. I wanted to pinpoint the period in the novel I found myself reincarnated into. If I had to hazard a guess, it was probably before the first day—standard fare for novel reincarnations. Not the most imaginative move, but hey, authors seemed to have a collective lapse in creativity.
They stumbled upon one successful novel reincarnation—something with "novel" and "extra" in the title, I think. And what did they do? They replicated it ad perfectum with the same scenarios. It's like they collectively decided not to invest in a brain and opted for a copy-paste strategy instead. Some succeeded though in creating amazing pieces of works, I won't deny that.
It's a real own goal for readers like me who find themselves stuck in the same narrative loop. Yet, what can we do? It's an addiction, plain and simple.
I mean, who wouldn't want to witness a reincarnated character, be it an extra or villain, completely shatter the conventions of the novel with their intervention? I sure as hell did, which is why I'm stuck in this cycle.
And of all the novels, guess where I end up? Maestro's novel. Can you believe it? I didn't sign up for witnessing the dumbass protagonist ending up with his hairy rival. Spare me that scene or, better yet, just delete the chapter before I reach that part.
"It starts in a week from now on, Milord," Shana replied.
A week, huh? Will that be enough time to get stronger? A quick look at my body confirmed that I was indeed hella weak, but I needed more concrete proof.
Unfortunately, I couldn't check my status without the watch. "Hey, butler, bring me a Status-Watch with Spatial-Storing," I instructed the previous butler.
"But your watch was in your room, sir..."
"And?" I arched my brow. "Am I the butler here?"
Ordering around people seemed indeed quite addictive and I was quite good at that.
"R—Right away!" He scurried past us, returning with my watch. It was an expensive-looking blue one, but more importantly, it could display my status, connected to my blood vessels with nanotechnology, and also had spatial-storing capabilities.
Slipping the watch onto my left wrist, I addressed the maids and butlers without lifting my gaze. "Do you want my photo?" I asked, noting their shocked expressions as they looked at my face and overall appearance.
They flinched but quickly resumed their work.
"I thought so," I muttered and tapped my watch twice.
…
｢Jykrain Kenel Von Starfrost｣
Bloodline: …
｢Core: Rank 3｣
➤Aura: Rank 3
➤Strength: Rank 2+
➤Agility: Rank 2+
➤Stamina: Rank 3
➤Mana: Rank 3
➤Charm: Rank 4+
➤Vision: Rank 4
➤Intelligence: Rank 5+
｢ATTRIBUT｣
…
｢ARCANA｣
…
｢SKILL｣
➤[Tier B] [360° Vision Pulse]
｢Trait｣
➤Family-Loving (Enhanced Charm)
➤Arrogant NEW! (Enhanced Aura) (Enhanced Charm)
➤Quick-Witted NEW! (Enhanced Intelligence)
…
"Pathetic," I muttered out loud, voicing my discontent with the mediocrity of my stats. It was unsightly.
Bloodline not awakened.
Core Rank 3.
Strength and Agility below 3, the basics even for an extra like I now found myself to be. Setting aside the charm rank, a seemingly useless feature, my highest-ranked stats were my Vision and Intelligence. I couldn't help but wonder if it was my influence now that I inhabited this body.
My suspicion arose from the two traits tagged 'New'—Arrogant and Quick-witted.
Something seemed really off and it was the trait 'Family-Love' without the the tag 'New'.
Interesting.
I will look at it later.
Next.
No Attribute nor Arcana, and just one skill.
At least it was a Tier B skill.
Are you kidding me?
I can't even blame his parents for casting him aside from their main household. With these dismal stats, he acted all high and mighty against the weaker but cowered against the strong, I presumed.
This was truly embarrassing. I felt second-hand embarrassment while being stuck in this body.
"You did well, Maestro. You picked the perfect body for me to rot in," I muttered under my breath with a smile that didn't reach my eyes, closing the window.
I can't watch this anymore.
