I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15. The Golden Onion… No, the Armor’s Owner
Nashu Shumel.
Nickname: Shusu.
The sixteen-year-old girl was an unremarkable orphan-born servant.
Ever since she was sold to a slave trader in her childhood, she had lived as a maid.
The only distinguishing features were her dwarf heritage and the fact that everyone avoided the Laundry Room and Warehouse where she worked all manner of odd jobs—places they refused to go because of her unusual strength.
‘But… I’m just a maid? This is real…? Why would I become a knight? Why?’
And so Nashu was genuinely bewildered.
When the head maid summoned her with a sickly pale face, claiming the lord had called for her, she thought it was a joke.
Even when she entered the luxurious Office, reality didn’t quite feel real.
It was the same when she beheld the lord’s face—so beautiful it seemed impossible such a person could exist.
Everything felt like a dream.
Even when she heard the words about becoming a knight.
This must be a dream. Right?
Thinking so, she pinched her thigh secretly, but the lord did not vanish.
Instead, with slender, beautiful fingers, she pointed to a golden breastplate that resembled an onion.
“This is your armor, Nashu Shumel. You must wear it.”
‘I don’t understand what you’re saying…’
Was she being punished for doing such a terrible job?
If so, wouldn’t it be simpler to just cast her out? Why would she need to dress her in this strange armor and take her to The Tower?
Nashu suppressed her rising tears and stammered hesitantly.
“L-Lord, I don’t know what this is, but I’ve done everything wrong. From now on, I’ll eat less and sleep less, so p-please don’t take me to The Tower?”
But the lord didn’t even raise an eyebrow.
“This is not a suggestion. It is a command. You will naturally obey.”
“S-sob…!”
Nashu finally couldn’t hold back and burst into tears.
Yet the lord remained utterly cold.
“Stop crying and answer. Will you obey my command?”
She didn’t want to, but what choice did a mere maid like Nashu have?
She nodded while trembling.
[Nashu Shumel’s loyalty has increased significantly.]
[Nashu Shumel’s affection has decreased significantly.]
[Nashu Shumel has submitted to your command!]
Duration: Permanent
Loyalty: 60/100(…)
Affection: -30/100(…)
Camilia gazed at the system window with satisfaction.
Though it was coercive, she had nonetheless succeeded in recruiting Nashu Shumel as a companion.
‘The loyalty is higher than I expected. Why is that?’
Camilia opened the details section with curiosity to confirm the reason for the loyalty increase.
-Disobey the Lord and face death! +30
‘…I won’t kill you, Shusu.’
Even by my own assessment, it was a somewhat forced recruitment, so I understood her feelings.
But neither she nor Nashu Shumel had time to spare.
As Camilia became an ally and appeared on the list, I glanced sideways at Nashu Shumel’s character window.
The source of her reluctance was right there.
[Golden Bloodline Curse]
(Active)
‘All blood of House Baldur shall be cursed!’
The curse born from the dragon’s dying words had not yet lost its power.
Should you neglect your training, your soul will be consumed by madness.
Activation Condition: Below Level 10
Time Remaining Until Activation: 26,280 hours 30 minutes 10 seconds
※This curse cannot be lifted.
This was it.
A curse that turns you into a berserker if you don’t reach Level 10 before coming of age.
In the game, the Golden Bloodline Curse activates early in the third year.
Right after the Lord returns from entering a dungeon.
‘That’s where most players quit.’
By the third year, the game enters a stable phase.
The Territory’s internal affairs run smoothly enough, and the party is maintained quite well.
The essence of dark fantasy, a betrayal game—people made such a fuss, but at this pace it’s actually manageable?
Everything flows so smoothly that one could think such thoughts carelessly.
So I go to The Tower without a second thought, as always.
I grind levels diligently and acquire some decent equipment.
Then when I return, the Castle is somehow wrong.
Instead of the daily BGM that always played, an eerie song echoes through the halls.
The NPCs who were always bustling about are gone, and the waiting allies who would normally appear in the Reception Room or the halls are nowhere to be seen.
A cinematic plays in that situation, and since it can’t be skipped on the first playthrough, all a player can do is watch while trembling.
The cinematic camera moves very slowly, toying with such a player.
First it shows empty corridors, then bloodstains and battle scars scattered on the second-floor stairs, and finally the corpses of NPCs and the allies left behind.
‘Damn it….’
Around the time I’m tearing at my hair with such curses, the camera mimicking a pursuit documentary suddenly whips around to show the Lord’s back.
Standing there is a maid covered in blood, holding an axe and laughing ‘hehehehe’.
It’s a situation where you can’t help but curse at the third-rate horror movie direction, but suddenly the cinematic ends.
And immediately combat begins.
‘I just finished a dungeon so my health is barely hanging on, my spell slots are empty, and my equipment durability is a mess—forced combat? I thought the developers were insane when I first experienced it.’
If you’re really unlucky, it’s a total wipe. Even winning meant heavy losses.
Wouldn’t it be fine if you just save-loaded?
Didn’t I mention it?
It was an event that occurred after returning from a dungeon.
If you loaded a previous save point to recover the losses, the dozens of minutes to several hours spent conquering The Tower would literally evaporate.
It was a malicious event that left you no choice but to rage-quit, cursing the game developers.
‘That’s why some players would kill Shusu beforehand to skip the event.’
Camilia had also tried various methods to skip that problematic event.
Turning Shusu into a zombie before each dungeon run, then resurrecting her upon return.
Casting soul preservation and then triggering the event.
Locking her in the Underground Prison to fight monsters and level up, and so on.
‘None of it was particularly efficient. In her maid state, no matter what I did, she wouldn’t join as a party member.’
In reality, it was as simple as saying, ‘Become my ally,’ and it was done.
It felt almost too easy to believe this was acceptable.
‘Well then, let me check Shusu’s stats now that she has a soul.’
Camilia opened Nashu Shumel’s status window with anticipation.
[Nashu Shumel]
Level: 1
Class: None
Strength (16) Stamina (14) Dexterity (12) Intelligence (6) Wisdom (4) Charm (10)
‘Strength of 16 at level 1!?’
Dexterity, which governed accuracy and manual skill, was also a remarkable 12.
There were some stats that lagged behind, but those were only necessary for the weak and feeble.
With the strength to tear apart a bear and the terrifying stamina to back it up, most tasks could be managed somehow.
‘Traits… are they still the same?’
Camilia rolled her eyes and opened another window.
Fortunately, this one was also laden with curses.
[Troublemaker (Tolpatsch)]
(Active)
It is truly sorrowful to try hard only to fail repeatedly.
However, a troublemaker can cause not only themselves but others to fail as well.
Sometimes they become a whirlwind that creates change.
-Fixed 50% chance to receive status ailments.
-Fixed 100% chance to inflict status ailments.
Isn’t it beautiful?
A 100% chance to inflict status ailments.
In this world full of dice manipulation, how great a 100% probability is cannot be overstated.
Silence, fear, stun, sleep—whatever it is, if Nashu applies it, it always lands.
So there’s no point in crying, Nashu.
You absolutely must level up.
That’s how you survive, and how I survive.
Camilia declared this with that thought in mind.
“Are you done crying? Then let’s get to work now.”
“H-hiccup…!”
Camilia left the girl hiccupping as she tried desperately to stifle her sobs, and looked up at Rohengreen Ashen.
“Can you teach her?”
Rohengreen Ashen answered with a troubled expression.
“If you wish me to take her as a trainee, I shall do so. However, if we admit someone with no verification to the Knight Order, there will be resistance…”
“Are you saying you cannot follow my orders?”
“My lord, do you truly intend to bring that child into The Tower? And moreover…”
Rohengreen Ashen glanced toward the golden-haired girl, then squeezed his eyes shut. Not from despair, but because sunlight streamed in and his breastplate gleamed so blindingly bright.
Camilia likewise made an effort to avoid looking at the breastplate as she replied.
“Yes. That will be the case.”
“…I understand. If that is your will, I shall obey.”
Rohengreen Ashen appeared to have much he wished to say, but ultimately bowed his head.
Zehar Al Rashid did not object either. To be precise, he seemed to lack the presence of mind to do so.
“…My, so there was a child.”
His voice trembled despite his efforts to maintain composure.
As a mage and puppet master, he seemed to have discerned the secret of Nashu Shumel’s bloodline.
‘It’s certainly bewildering.’
The Golden Clan was one of the oldest dwarf houses.
A family with authority exceeding even the royal house, and with heirs so precious that no cadet branches existed.
What did this mean?
It meant there was an extremely high possibility that “a lowly maid was actually the duke’s daughter.”
‘Though in reality, she’s the duke’s granddaughter.’
Thanks to that, the Quest difficulty related to the Golden Clan skyrocketed if I killed Nashu Shumel.
‘If I raise Nashu Shumel well, will the Golden Clan Quests change somewhat?’
Camilia planted this variable in her mind and opened her mouth.
“How could you, the Steward, possibly know every single servant in the Castle? You might not know. There is no need to concern yourself.”
“But for me not to know what the lord knows…”
Zehar Al Rashid, who had begun to continue with a complicated expression, closed his mouth.
Rohengreen Ashen was watching with suspicious eyes, and Netanel Fragma wasn’t even hiding his curiosity, his eyes sparkling.
After a long moment, he spoke with a tone of resignation.
“…It is my duty to accomplish what the lord wishes. I shall do my utmost to assist the Knight Commander.”
Thus, Nashu Shumel’s fate was decided.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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