ATP 2

Chapter 2

I swallowed my frustration and decided to get a handle on the situation first.

The body I had possessed—“Eyelet Rodeline”—was supposedly the daughter of a servant in an abusive noble household.

But that alone wasn’t enough to pinpoint who she really was. After all, how many villains in the game had ever tormented the protagonist? I needed at least the family name…

“Hmm?”

At that moment, a layout of the mansion appeared before my eyes like a game map.

[Location: ‘Gillette Count Estate’]
Situated in the far eastern region of the Kingdom of Winchester.
Note: Be cautious—the Count’s son is a spoiled brat!

“Ah!”

I remembered immediately. Gillette Count Estate’s spoiled heir!

Originally, he had been the child of a famous swordsmanship family but lacked any real talent. So he had bought a knight’s title with money.

He had nearly died while poking around a dungeon under the guise of knightly training—but the kind-hearted protagonist saved him.

Though the protagonist didn’t expect any reward, the spoiled heir insisted on accompanying him to the Count’s domain as compensation.

As you can imagine, it was a disaster waiting to happen: a tyrannical, entitled heir meeting a too-trusting, naive protagonist.

The heir treated the protagonist like a mercenary and, upon arriving at the estate, promptly washed his hands of him and kicked him out.

No sooner had the protagonist left the Count Estate than a ‘Dungeon Burst’ occurred nearby, laying waste to the land with monsters.

Compared to the brief, satisfying “payback” moments, this episode dragged on frustratingly long.

Ugh! Even thinking about it now makes my chest tighten!

Escaping the disaster in the Gillette estate would have been easy—but the real problem was that such disasters could happen anywhere, anytime.

Dungeons were spreading across the continent like tumors.

A Dungeon Burst could happen at any moment, in any place.

Sniff… looks like I’m doomed to die shortly after the original story begins. If only I had at least memorized the plot…

The map vanished, replaced by a screen resembling a grand library.

[Menu: ‘Unified Library’]
Books are nourishment for the mind! Stores all the books the possessed individual bought or read during their life.
Note: Only officially published books are included.

“Wow… incredible.”

It was real. From the elementary school book Good Habits 1-1 to the 19+ dark harem novels purchased the night before death, everything was neatly cataloged.

I quickly sorted them alphabetically.

Yes! It’s here!

Even the Seguh Society series was complete. My chances of survival had just skyrocketed.

Still, I wanted to guarantee my safety even more.

I wished there were some special ability hidden in the body I had possessed.

“System, is there anything else?”

Having already fed me two helpful features, I felt a flicker of hope. A response popped up.

[System: Receive the ‘Possession Life Insurance Full Package’ bonus, one-time cash payout.]

“Cash?”

I mused over the term, the capitalist in me stirring.

[Misc: ‘120,000,000 Cash’]
Life insurance payout according to the policy purchased before possession. 120 million, all in cash.
Note: Can be recharged with the world’s currency if needed.

“….”

It felt weird to be receiving my own death insurance in cash.

Wait… having cash means…?!

The screen changed, and my suspicion was confirmed.

[Menu: ‘Cash Shop for Possessors’]
Special items to increase a possessor’s survival chances—all in one place! With enough money, you can thrive even in S-rank difficulty novels!

I decided to sort the items by popularity, just for fun.

[Item: ‘Class Change Package (Combat)’]
Essential for possessors in fantasy or martial arts worlds. Choose one combat ability (Aura, Magic, Divine Power, Martial Arts, etc.) according to the story’s universe and awaken it.
Price: 10,000,000 Cash

“Gasp.”

Wait—this lets you become a power-user?

My instincts screamed:

Oh my, I have to buy this!

In an S-rank difficulty world, awakening abilities was mandatory. I purchased it immediately, though I decided to save using it for later.

In the Seguh Society, abilities included Aura, Magic, and Divine Power.

Magic and Divine Power could conflict, but Aura could be used alongside either.

However, the order of awakening determined the primary and secondary abilities.

I decided I would re-read the novels to determine which to awaken first.

Another popular item caught my eye.

[Item: ‘Blessing of Rapid Growth’]
Doubles all ability progression rates, blessed by the gods of the Possession Management Bureau.
Price: 1,000,000 Cash

My instincts shouted again:

Oh my, I have to buy this too!

But…

[System: Cannot purchase. A superior version is already applied.]

[Misc: ‘Blessing of Super-Fast Growth’]
Increases all ability progression rates fivefold, blessed by the gods of the Possession Management Bureau.
Note: Considered overpowered, but part of the Life Insurance Full Package bonus.
Price: Not for sale

Wow, a limited bonus I couldn’t buy even with money!

I silently praised the fingers that had hit “Yes” on a spam message before death.

After browsing other items for a while, I closed the shop.

Thanks to the Class Change Package, the Blessing of Super-Fast Growth, and the Unified Library, my motivation was through the roof.

Let’s dive into the Seguh Society novels with full force!

I opened volume 1 and planned to skim through it quickly.

But after four hours of focused reading, I couldn’t even reach the end before screaming.

“Ahhhh! I’ve reached the 77th cycle and it still isn’t over! And it’s so frustrating!”

True to its title, “Reincarnating Until the World is Saved”, the protagonist endlessly repeated cycles.

As humans on a sinking ship, people in a doomed world betrayed, schemed, and conspired.

In such a place, being moderately unscrupulous would have been advantageous—but our protagonist was set up as a virtuous and devout paladin who served God. Perfect for endless frustration.

Of course, even our virtuous protagonist gradually deteriorated after enduring betrayal and loss: trusted comrades, respected superiors, people he saved, even family—each loss chipped away at his alignment.

After being betrayed three consecutive cycles by the saintly heroine he loved and trusted most, he began leaning toward evil.

I was now reading cycle 77—a full field of frustration.

If anyone asked which cycle was the least aggravating, I’d point to cycle 17 without hesitation.

Why?

Because the protagonist was killed immediately by the final mastermind as soon as the cycle began!

There was no time for reader frustration; cycle 18 began instantly. It was tragically short but shocking.

Still, after 77 cycles, I can finally see a glimmer of hope to save the world.

I steeled myself to continue reading when a message popped up.

[System: Allocation of original story cycles completed.]

Right! In an infinite reincarnation story, the protagonist’s cycle matters!

According to the system, we were still in the tutorial period before the story officially began.

The story only started after the tutorial, and the protagonist only began reincarnating as a twenty-year-old once the story began.

That meant the protagonist was a fresh, first-cycle rookie!

Maybe the protagonist is as young as me!

Among the countless timelines generated after reincarnation, which cycle would I end up in?

The protagonist had to save the world for me to survive. The stronger the protagonist became through repeated cycles, the higher my chance of survival.

Oh, gods! Please, let it be a high cycle!

The message updated.

[System: The story after the tutorial will begin at cycle 17.]

Was this my punishment for daring to wish for a higher cycle? Or the cost of invoking gods as an atheist?

Cycle 17 was when the protagonist was immediately killed by the strongest villain in the story!

Why? Of all cycles, why this one?

I clutched my head and screamed in despair.

“Uwaaaah!”

Normally, it should have been a terrifying scream—but I was a little patch-child now, so it came out as a cute squeak.

Our perpetually frustrated protagonist only started to become competent after cycle 70, so cycle 17 was still tiny and weak.

There was no way to compete with a god-level mastermind depicted in the story.

I realized something crucial.

The protagonist is gone. I have to rely on myself! If I want to survive, I must grow stronger on my own!

The system’s next instruction confirmed this was the right course of action.

[System: Tutorial inspection complete. Tutorial quests will now commence.]

[Quest: ‘Mandatory Education for Smart Possessors (S-Rank)’]
To survive an S-rank difficulty story, the only answer is to level up your stats. Hone your mind, virtue, and body to rank among the top 100 in the world.
Time remaining for tutorial: 3,392 days, 2 hours, 15 minutes
Current rank: Displaying from #1,000 onward
Success reward: ???
Failure penalty: Death

The word “Death” was terrifying.

It’s okay—plenty of time!

I clenched both fists and steeled my resolve just then.

Bang!

“Ah! You scared me!”

Suddenly, the attic door burst open, and a girl spotted me, her eyes flashing.

“Here! I found you! Over here!”