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Chapter : 69
Something felt off. Way too off.
And I knew exactly why I felt that way.
It was because… things were going too well right now.
Sure, I could’ve just enjoyed this smooth sailing, but as someone who’s played Ark since its stagnant, early days, that wasn’t so easy.
Ark was a game full of absurd and unfair hardships!
The current lack of pain and struggle? Way too un-Ark-like. It felt ominous.
“Am I worrying for no reason?”
Even the most intense games have occasional calm periods. Maybe I was just freaking out during one of those quiet stretches?
‘Yeah. Let’s go with that.’
I should just get some sleep.
But even so, the uneasy feeling wouldn’t let me rest easily.
It wasn’t until much later that I finally managed to drift off…
“H-Huhk!”
…only to jolt awake in the dead of night, before even the faintest hint of dawn lit the sky.
“What the—what is going on…?”
It was a deeply chilling sensation. If I was experiencing sleep paralysis, it felt like I was being crushed by a pair of giant scissors weighing a ton.
Sleep had completely abandoned me.
The only small relief—if you could call it that—was that I quickly figured out the source of that disturbing feeling.
[SYSTEM] Warning! Night labor by minors is illegal!
Honestly, anyone with eyes would’ve known instantly why I woke up.
A glaring red warning message was flashing right in the center of my vision.
[SYSTEM] Warning! Night labor by minors is illegal!
[SYSTEM] Warning! Night labor by minors is illegal!
The message kept popping up, horror-game-style.
And from the message alone, I had no idea why it was being shown to me.
Night labor by minors is illegal. Okay, and? What’s that got to do with me?
‘Wait a sec.’
A sudden thought crossed my mind, sending a chill down my spine.
‘…Could it be Marco?’
No, no way.
I shook my head.
What could I possibly have him doing at this hour? I hadn’t given him any tasks.
The last time I saw Marco was just a few days ago, and all I’d told him was to make sure rumors about Vanessa’s true nature spread before the Spring Queen contest.
[SYSTEM] That’s exactly it! The pitiful underage worker “Marco” is wandering the back alleys at this very hour to carry out your stern command!
…What? You mean he’s still working on that right now?
[SYSTEM] Under Bregenz Empire law, the hours between 9 PM and 5 AM are considered nighttime labor. Employment of minors during this time is illegal!
I didn’t know! I didn’t make him do it!
I felt seriously wronged, but the system wasn’t interested in hearing my side of the story—it just kept spitting out messages.
[SYSTEM] As the top villainess of the Bregenz Empire, you should refrain from exploiting the weak! Karma +50
What the—! This is so unfair!
Still reeling from that figurative sucker punch, the system delivered one final blow.
[SYSTEM] Oh dear, you show no signs of remorse! Cowardly behavior unbecoming of a proud villainess will damage your infamy. Additional penalty applied! Gullibility +30
Excuse me???
I nearly popped a vein at how absurd the situation was.
But no matter how many times I reread it, the conclusion didn’t change.
‘This was never in the script!’
The betrayal hit hard—and yet, what pissed me off even more was how I was already resigning myself to it.
Things had been going suspiciously well in this trash game.
Seeing how my karma and gullibility stats shot up in a matter of seconds made my neck stiffen with tension.
‘My gullibility stat…’
That one hurt the most. I had painstakingly lowered that stat, practically digging up ancestors’ graves to do it. Damn it.
‘Status window.’
Just in case, I opened it—only to have my hope stomped into the dirt.
Name: Adelheid Ulmer
Age: 19
Occupation: Adopted daughter of Duke Ulmer
Titles: Elder-beater, Devil’s Smile, Evil Employer
[Base Attributes]
· Core Power: 18/100 (↑1)
· Intelligence: 17/100
· Dignity: 20/100
· Charm: 15/100
· Stress: 20/100 (↓5)
[Special Attributes]
· Infamy: 300/999 (↑40)
· Karma: 160/999 (↑111)
· Persuasiveness: 15/100
· Gullibility: 40/100 (↑30)
Are you serious?
I knew I’d been stacking karma bit by bit, but seeing that it jumped by 111 since I last checked made me feel physically ill.
Sure, a karma score between 150–200 was still within the “normal” range… but the fact that it jumped so fast, and for no good reason, scared the hell out of me.
If my karma went over 200…
[SYSTEM] Karma has exceeded 200! Penalty applied!
· Enemy of the Temple
Clergy will now antagonize you. Tithes increase by 200%.
So not only would I be spending more money, I’d have to constantly watch my back around priests too?
I was already dealing with enough crap just from being the so-called “top villainess” of the Bregenz Empire—random injustice was basically my normal.
Now my karma was nearing the danger zone?
And my gullibility stat got boosted too?
‘This is 100% a red flag.’
The results for the Spring Queen contest were only a few hours away.
I had poured so much effort into that quest—I had no doubts about completing it successfully.
But with the way things were going now, even that felt uncertain.
Would the system, which delighted in screwing people over, really let me have the reward?
Seeing my gullibility stat spike made me even more suspicious. At this rate… I could totally imagine something like this happening:
“Oh dear, what should I do? I was going to give you a date ticket as thanks for helping me become the Spring Queen… but I ended up needing it myself!”
[SYSTEM] Due to high gullibility, you did not receive the full quest reward!
Ah, how unfortunate…
Damn it. Just imagining it was making me mad.
Even if I couldn’t reduce my gullibility stat right away, my gut told me I had to do something—anything—to deal with this situation.
I cursed under my breath and threw on clothes as fast as I could.
This mess had to be cleaned up now.
