I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 38

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

#38
Now, finally, the pieces were beginning to fit together.
“So this ‘Old Gods’ you all speak of—they’re something above Perenustus, right? Like, a concept of elders?”
“In simple terms, yes.”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis seemed eager to elaborate further, but I had heard enough. What mattered was that there existed a force capable of handling Perenustus—someone who appeared to answer to no one else.
“In my previous world, my body’s original owner said something had happened to Perenustus. His voice kept echoing in my head, but there were moments when it would vanish completely… I think those were the times he was captured by the Old Gods. When he directly interfered with the Worlds—oof!”
“Hey! You can’t just say things like that!”
Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike clamped her hand over my mouth. Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis raised his index finger to his lips and nodded solemnly. Once I nodded in understanding, Bilateia finally withdrew her hand.
“Anyway, in the previous world, he directly… well, that’s what happened. You’re saying we can’t do that, right?”
“Absolutely not.”
“So he breaks the taboo and gets captured and punished each time.”
“Then… we’ve been deployed into a world where the administrator has vanished.”
“I was worried about that too, honestly. But it doesn’t seem like anything major will happen. I was assigned as a simple, peaceful girl from a modest household living an uneventful life. You know the type—someone who can’t fill either comedy or tragedy?”
Bilateia’s eyes swept up and down my attire, and she let out a hollow laugh.
“A girl from a modest household wouldn’t be dressed like that.”
“Aurelia. The clothes you’re wearing are silk with embroidery work. Only a young lady from a Nobility family with considerable means could afford to wear such garments.”
I looked down at my clothes in confusion.
“Huh? What?”
The texture felt entirely different from what I’d worn before—luxuriously soft and rustling. The golden thread embroidery densely stitched along the sleeves gleamed even in the Dark Space.
“I was definitely wearing worn, soft cotton just moments ago… the kind with faded hems and skirt edges. Did the world change? Was I thrown somewhere else?”
“What are you talking about? We all regressed because of you. It’s the second cycle of that world!”
The moment Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike responded dismissively, I shook my head firmly.
“I know what regression is—I’ve done it in Rowan and Estella’s bodies. But this time it’s not just the clothes that changed. My body itself feels different. Just moments ago, I was definitely a simple, wholesome girl from a peaceful home!”
Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike and Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis exchanged a grave glance.
“It’s not entirely unheard of to regress into a different person’s body immediately after death. But such cases are extremely rare in a Training Stage like this…”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis trailed off, then his eyes widened as if struck by sudden realization.
“Wait—did you all check the stage title when you were deployed into the world?”
At Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s question, neither Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike nor I could answer. The three of us stared at each other in stunned silence.
If none of us had seen the title, it meant one of two things: either something catastrophic had happened to Perenustus—so severe he couldn’t even set a title—or the world had been formed haphazardly without any theme at all.
“Is that massive hand making the world progress however it wants? Without theme or consistency? Changing roles?”
“No, no. Let’s not jump to conclusions so hastily. I don’t want to assume the worst-case scenario…”
“Then maybe we should go out together and check the title first, just to be safe? It could be hidden anywhere.”
I simply nodded, caught between Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike’s denial of reality and Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s more rational suggestions.
‘Something has definitely gone very wrong. This time, I need to do my absolute best—live quietly and carefully, staying beneath notice—and gather information about what’s happening.’
As I followed Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis out of the enclosure, a well-maintained Stone Floor came into view. Before I could even react, a massive carriage came barreling toward me at full speed and struck me down.
Crack—
My vision inverted violently, and the sound of my bones shattering pierced through my eardrums and into my brain. I couldn’t even scream as I was hurled into the air. In that brief moment suspended above the ground before I crashed back down onto the Stone Floor, a wave of agony so intense it felt eternal washed over me.
“Aurelia!”
Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike and Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis’s faces, drained of all color, blurred before my eyes. Each time my body convulsed, my face scraped against the cold Stone Floor with painful clarity. As my consciousness faded, tasting the metallic bitterness of blood filling my mouth, I clenched my teeth and was certain of one thing.
This pain was definitely not normal.
“You! Don’t my words make sense to you? Everything was going fine, so why did you just die again and come back here?!”
My third life began with Bilateia’s furious shout, her face flushed crimson with rage. She seized me by the collar and shook me relentlessly. The sensation of being trampled beneath the carriage just moments ago still felt vivid, and being rattled as if my very soul might scatter left me completely disoriented.
“Bilateia. Calm down.”
“Calm down? This is the second time I’ve been covered in blood because of you! How am I supposed to stay calm?!”
“Hey, I’m frustrated too. A crazed horse charged right at me—what was I supposed to do about that?”
I brushed away Bilateia’s hands and grumbled. Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, who had been standing beside her with folded arms making only a show of restraint, furrowed his brow and spoke softly.
“So you really couldn’t avoid it?”
“What are you saying? Are you implying there’s such a thing as pretending not to avoid something?”
“You’re a former hero, aren’t you? I thought you’d naturally be able to dodge a carriage.”
“…I’m not quite that extraordinary.”
Even as I said this, my pride stung inexplicably.
That was right. I was supposedly a hero who had severed a dragon’s neck. While suffering this punishment for that very deed, the fact that I couldn’t dodge a mere carriage and was crushed to death felt newly shameful. As I clicked my tongue at myself, a thought suddenly struck me and I froze.
“Wait. I think I’ve figured it out! Silpi’s curse.”
“Could the Silverdragoon’s curse manifest in such a way?”
“I thought about it before dying. This time, I decided I’d do my absolute best to survive and conduct every investigation I possibly could.”
“And?”
“The curse is that nothing goes according to my will, right? So when I resolved to ‘do my best to survive,’ it just killed me instead.”
Bilateia’s mouth fell open in disbelief. While fully sympathizing with her sentiment, I nodded. Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, who had been pondering, rested his chin on his hand and offered a serious analysis.
“If the core of the curse is that things don’t unfold according to your will, then when you intended to ‘die and meet the Professor,’ shouldn’t you have lived instead of dying?”
“Uh…”
“Strange, isn’t it? Then there are three possibilities. The curse doesn’t apply to every situation. The curse is currently malfunctioning. Or a power superior to the curse is intervening.”
“…None of those options are good.”
Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis and Bilateia both agreed vehemently with my words. As I was piecing together the logic, I reached out and tapped the last of the three fingers Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis was holding up.
“I think the third hypothesis is probably correct.”
“The Ancient Gods are intervening…?”
“Yes. In the previous world, Perenustus blocked me from feeling pain. But this time, every time I die, it hurts so much.”
“So the Creator broke a taboo and intervened directly, and as a consequence, they’re punishing him.”
Bilateia murmured as if speaking to herself, then glared at the empty air once before gently tapping my shoulder. Realizing this was her way of offering comfort, I smiled wryly. Bilateia blinked slyly and began explaining as she drew a triangular hierarchy diagram on my palm.
“The Old Gods are the primordial creators who designed the foundation of the system. They are the highest authority in this world. Just as the Professor teaches us, the Old Gods are beings who taught the world’s administrators like the Professor.”
“I see.”
“If such beings have taken the Professor away… then the Professor’s serious deviation from their management authority has been completely exposed.”
“In simple terms, we’re now stranded without a guardian in a world whose title, purpose, and escape method we don’t know. And you, Aurelia, are experiencing maximum pain sensitivity.”
I looked at Bilateia and Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis, then examined the hierarchy diagram drawn on my palm once more.
Bilateia, following my gaze, pressed her finger firmly at the tip of her middle finger, far removed from the triangle.
“I don’t want to admit it, but now you’re the only one we can trust. We’re inside this triangle, but you’re here.”
Here, Bilateia said, pressing the tip of my middle finger once more.

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