NOVEL WEB Chapter 1
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If I had to sum up my life for the last 20 years after my previous life, I could say, <I became the dumpster fire of the House of Prophecy.>
“Your prediction skills are really terrible. Can you even survive with that ability?”
“You can’t take over the family’s fortune-telling business!”
“Predictions about luck can be vague, but misfortune must be crystal clear! It needs to be extremely specific! You’re really useless!”
The Jericho family I was born into had a long line of renowned predictors. They saw the future of people and lived off the fees they collected.
The problem was, due to the nature of their profession, my parents were the worst kind of spendthrifts.
They would drown in debt just to chase after fancy events and banquets, always dreaming that they could become part of the upper class.
As if being wasteful wasn’t bad enough, they also had a terrible habit of treating their children with strict favoritism based solely on talent.
“It’s a waste to give bread to someone as useless as you!”
Growing up, being hungry was a daily routine.
While my brother and sister effortlessly predicted fortunes and enjoyed the finer things, I had to shiver in a chilly attic wearing old clothes and uncomfortable rags.
For 20 years, I served my family more like a servant than a child, subjected to all kinds of tedious tasks.
My siblings could predict good luck while I could only foretell misfortune, which I could barely manage to see clearly, and no matter how much I strained, all I could glimpse would be a brief second or maybe three at most.
Predictions about misfortune needed to be specific and exact to be meaningful, but with my skills being this pathetic…
When it came to predictions, I really was a failure.
How much of a failure was I?
Even on the day my parents and siblings met their sudden demise in a car accident all at once.
I had no clue that such a thing would happen.
Just like that, my whole family vanished, but I didn’t feel particularly sad.
Given how they treated me, wouldn’t it be weirder to feel sorrow?
The problem was.
“Jericho Amael? My condolences. Your parents left behind a significant amount of debt. Were you aware of this?”
Even in death, my family had me shackled.
The debts were substantial.
So substantial that I had to sell off our house, the fortune-telling business, and all the inheritance just to keep afloat.
In the blink of an eye, I became completely broke.
And on that very day I became destitute,
[You have confirmed your adulthood after your 20th birthday!]
[Congratulations!]
[You have acquired 4 skills: <Body Modification>, <Absolute Hypnosis>, <Time Stop>, <Sensitivity 3000 Times>!]
[Feel free to train your flesh slaves at will!!]
For the first time in 20 years, I witnessed the phenomenon of a status window appearing before my eyes.
I had skills from my previous life, but I couldn’t use them as a minor because they were all adult game mechanics?!
***
Having honed my survival skills over 20 years of menial labor, I was able to get a job at a small restaurant near the fortune-telling shop.
I spent the whole day serving food and wiping tables, and by night, I would collapse into a small employee bed provided by the restaurant to wrap up my day.
Lying there, a strong desire would hit me repeatedly.
Now that I had adult game skills, wasn’t it time I could enjoy a good life?
Why not approach some wealthy, lonely widow and use my previous life skills to turn her into my personal sex slave, living the life of a gigolo?
Doesn’t sound too bad.
If I combined my long legs and handsome looks inherited from my trashy parents with my adult game skills, living as a gigolo would go from a mere fantasy to a realistic plan.
But of course,
Just thinking about it is impossible to put into action.
All thanks to a particularly eye-catching poster stuck on the wall of the restaurant where I worked.
[Using unregistered illegal magic is a serious crime!]
[If you witness illegal magic being used, report it immediately!]
[Regularly reporting illegal magic will make the Empire and your life much safer!]
If I went ahead with my plan, seducing the wealthy widow and fully claiming her with my skills, what if one of the servants overheard her saying something like <I can't live without Amael's massive member!>?
That moment, I’d be swinging from the gallows.
Even if I somehow managed to get the servants on my side, there’s no such thing as an eternal secret.
Having some guy suddenly latch onto a wealthy widow, performing strange magical acts while blowing through her money is bound to come out eventually.
Then I’d have to prove that my abilities weren’t illegal magic, but do I have permission from the Mage Tower or the Temple for that?
No? Well, once it comes to light, it’s inevitable death for me.
Why not just register those skills to use them legally?
Well, registering magic is tough.
You have to explain how the magic manifests to the picky mages and witches at the Mage Tower…
How the hell would I explain the activation triggers for adult game skills?
If I could do that, I’d already be a wizard!
And look at the skills I have.
If I explain to people about skills that sound like what an incubus uses, how do you think they’ll see me?
And even if, by some miracle, I manage to register my skills and can use them, isn’t it ethically wrong to force a perfectly innocent woman into being my cash cow?
In conclusion, a gigolo lifestyle using adult game skills is impossible to attain.
“Damn it, if you give me adult game skills, shouldn’t you set up an appropriate environment for me to use them?”
With a sigh, I pull the blankets over my head.
If you’re going to give me adult game skills, create a scenario where I can actually use them.
Throw me into a country where I’ll swing from the gallows if I get caught using them—what the hell am I supposed to do?
Grumbling like that didn’t last long.
Working at the restaurant is tiring.
Fatigue began to weigh down on me, and before long, I fell asleep.
***
The Arcal Empire was burning.
Mountains of corpses piled up everywhere, and rivers of blood flowed along the streets.
The screams of people being burned alive created a horrifying symphony that echoed endlessly all around.
In the center of all this stood a witch.
This witch, with four arms, boldly displayed her naked form to the world.
Cackling with madness, revealing her sensual body, the witch unleashed her powerful magic, endlessly slaughtering people over and over again.
The flames she spread loomed closer.
Just before the flames consumed me,
I met the witch’s gaze.
With blood-stained hair raised high, she asked me,
“Do you think I’m ugly?”
One side of the witch’s face was breathtakingly beautiful.
But the other side was the complete opposite.
Twisted skin with over ten eyes glued to it, blinking irregularly like a spider.
An utterly grotesque sight that made me want to vomit.
As the witch grinned while gazing at me with terror in her eyes.
“You think I’m ugly too! Hahaha!!”
The witch poured out more magic.
The flames that engulfed the Empire didn’t stop there; soon it began to consume the entire continent.
The world was on fire.
And I too was caught in the flames.
In torment, I had to add my voice to the screams of people around me.
There was no longer any happiness in this world.
Only ashes, flames, screams, and twisted beasts that couldn’t die were left, howling away.
***
As I popped up from the ground like a spring, the first thing I felt was my sweat-soaked clothes.
It felt like I had just taken a bath; my clothes and blankets were drenched in sweat.
Damn.
My prediction ability may only be able to accurately predict catastrophic events.
Predictions about the end of the world, huh!
The problem is when it’s going to happen.
And who the witch from my dream was.
Even if I knew who the witch was, I have no clue how to stop it.
I put my head in my hands, slumping back onto my bed.
“What am I supposed to do with this… what should I do?”
All I have is the adult game skills that finally opened up after 20 years and that pathetic predicting ability that even my blood relatives disregarded.
You want me to stop a witch who’s capable of unleashing enough magic to obliterate the Empire?
I mean, how do I even go about doing that?
Wasn’t this supposed to be an adult game?
How do I suddenly find myself in a dark fantasy scene that smells of post-apocalypse?
Sleep doesn’t come.
Tugging at my hair, I tried to think of what to do.
They say your brain works faster when you’re facing death.
Like a lightning bolt.
A single idea sparks in my mind.
The witch had one incredibly hideous side to her face.
Eyes glued everywhere, a sight that I dread might appear in my dreams.
And she had clearly asked me, “Do you think I’m ugly?”
I don’t know what’s what, but could it be that a witch driven mad by her ugly face is the reason for this chaos?
Then what if?
What if I could treat her face before she goes on a rampage and destroys the Empire?
It’s a decent idea.
But how?
How am I supposed to treat that twisted, ugly face of hers?
I’m not a priest nor a doctor who studied treatment methods.
If I had been a med student back in Korea, maybe I’d know what to do.
But no, I’m just some science major…
“Body Modification.”
One of the four adult game skills I acquired.
This! This could work! I can turn that ugly half of the witch’s face beautiful!
“Status window.”
I quickly called up the status window and read the explanation for Body Modification in more detail.
In summary, the skill description is so basely written that even Sejong the Great might shed tears and stop creating Hangul.
In the end, it means I can alter other people’s bodies into whatever form I desire!
This is possible.
I could change the witch’s ugly half to beautiful, potentially stopping the end of the world and allowing her to live happily.
My face brightens.
And then it quickly crumples back down.
[Using unregistered illegal magic is a serious crime!]
[If you witness illegal magic being used, report it immediately!]
[Regularly reporting illegal magic will make the Empire and your life much safer!]
The poster stuck boldly on the wall of our restaurant flashes back into my mind.
Illegal magic use.
What am I going to do about that?
Even if I manage to treat the witch and save the day, I’d still hang for using magic.
What a terrible conundrum this is.
If I don’t heal the witch, she’ll go on a rampage, taking the Empire with her and dragging me down too.
If I heal her, I’ll still face execution for being an unregistered illegal magic user.
Why is this happening to me?
Why is this happening to me, for real?
Is there any way I could use my skills without being executed?
To use my skills without gaining permission from the Mage Tower or the Temple.
I pondered this question deep into the night.
“Amael! Are you awake?! It’s time to get the restaurant ready for opening!!”
Around the time the restaurant owner called my name, that ongoing dilemma finally found a solution.
There is a way.
A way to use my skills and not be executed as an unregistered illegal magic user.
“I’ll only work until today!!!”
“What are you talking about? Why is that coming out of the blue?”
“I have something I absolutely must do!!!”
After working just that one day, I settled my payments and bought a train ticket heading to the capital with the money I earned.
The only way I could use illegal magic while dodging execution?
Pretending to be a saint.
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