The loud bell from the kingdom's square— Signifying the fact that it was morning and that start of a new day, echoes through Masaki's room, making him jolt awake, he raises his head but it falls back on his pillow.
Masaki felt a bad headache, he hadn't felt this way since the last time he had alcohol with some of his friends when the clock strike 12 on New year's day in his past life and the worst part was that he got it from attempting to eat a decent meal.
Masaki groans loudly, in frustration.
"What a drag!!" He yells, wanting to stand up and just throw a tantrum.
In the books he read this isn't how the main characters had always turned out, once they died and they managed to get reincarnated in a different timeline or life, they were usually very overpowered but his— it felt like life wasn't done taunting him.
Masaki having laid on his bed for a while finally summons the energy to stand up, he starts to proceed to his study table and chair at the corner of the room to continue with investigations when
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
A blue holographic screen appears in front of him.
[NEW TASK: CLICK OPEN TO PROCEED]
Masaki raised a brow at what the message read.
"New task?" Masaki thought and proceeds to click "YES" out of curiosity.
[CONVINCE PARENTS TO LEAVE THE KINGDOM]
[DURATION: 30MINS]
[PENALTY FOR NON COMPLETION: DEATH]
Masaki's eyes widens with fear.
What did Sozo mean he should leave his kingdom??
To where?
Why??
Suddenly the time on the Holographic screen still in front of him starts ticking, Masaki diverts his gaze to the door, hurriedly stepping out even without changing out of his Night garment.
Masaki forgets the state of his health and his fragility and dashes down the stairs, he zooms past maids and guards, who couldn't believe their Prince was running— and that fast too.
"-Did you know His Highness could run like that?" One maid, whose hand was filled with laundry asks the other and they all shrug.
"-I've never even seen him Jog, let alone run"
They all give each other confused looks before going about their daily activities.
The throne room felt too large for Masaki, considering the state at which he had came in.
He had forgotten for a moment that he was a frail prince and he had just ran in, like he had been able to do that for years.
His parents wanted to ask questions but he avoided them by promising to "give details later"
They trusted their son, so they didn't push further.
Masaki turned his head and noticed the sunlight spilled through the high arched windows, but it didn't warm anything. It painted the marble floor in pale gold, stretching all the way to the dais where his parents sat— immovable, like they were born ready to pass judgement.
He stood halfway across the hall.
That was as far as his legs would allow— He didn't mind though, after all that sprinting he did, he expected to have broken down and coughed up blood.
A servant hovered somewhere behind him, tense as a drawn bowstring, ready to catch him if he collapsed. He ignored it. If he fell, he fell. That, too, could be useful for this task he was about to do.
The queen spoke first.
"Come closer."
Her voice was gentle as always, making the burden on Masaki's chest fall lightly.
He smiled faintly. "If I come any closer, I may not make it back."
They smiled— Signifying they were in good moods, or at least he had a chance at convincing them.
"You asked for a private audience," the king said. "You have it. Speak."
Masaki cleared his throat and inhaled slowly, saying silent prayers.
"When I died," he said, "it wasn't the end."
The Royal couple squinted, They share a look wondering what their son was on about again.
His mother's fingers tightened against the armrest. "You shouldn't speak of it."
"I should," he replied softly. "Because it didn't feel like death. It felt like… interruption."
Masaki replies carefully, remembering Sozo's words from when he went to the Prince's study table.
Now his father leaned forward, just slightly, as curiosity of what his son meant peaked his interest.
"Explain."
"I can't," Masaki says. "Not completely though and that's the problem…" Masaki paused "But I need to leave"
The king raised a brow at his son's words.
"I remember… pieces and No, not dreams or illusions" His gaze drifted, the countdown on the holographic screen reminding him of what limited time he had.
Masaki prayed.
"Something brought me back. I'm certain of it."
His mother rose halfway from her seat.
"Masaki,Enough!"
There was fear in her tone, she began to wonder if something truly had possessed her son like the rumors said.
"You're alive," she continues. "And that is enough…whatever happened—whatever you think you remember—it changes nothing."
"It changes everything," Masaki retorts.
The King's voice cut in, colder. "Or it changes nothing at all, and you are chasing ghosts because you fear the stillness of your recovery."
There it was. The first counterstrike, Masaki took a breathe.
He smiled— His signature tired smile. "If it were fear, I would stay."
"Then stay," his mother said immediately and carefully,he turned his head toward her.
"I died," he said, the words cutting through the heart of the queen "And you couldn't stop it."
The queen's chest rose.
The King's expression hardened. "That is enough."
"No," Masaki states— more firmly this time and he continued to glance at the countdown in front of him. "It isn't."
Tension was starting to build up.
"I was surrounded by guards, by physicians and everything you thought could protect me" His gaze meets the King's directly.
"And I still died."
The queen's eyes turned glassy as her voice trembled. "We did everything—"
"I know," he said in a softer tone "That's why this matters."
He took a step forward and his legs buckled lightly. He almost falls.
The servant moved, but the prince lifted a hand, stopping him. He steadied himself and almost cusses but he took a breathe and continued.
"If something could reach me here, past everything we have… then what stops it from reaching further?"
His father's eyes narrowed. "You're building fear out of uncertainty."
"I'm recognizing a threat," Masaki corrected, a smirk almost forming on his face.
"A threat you cannot define," the king shot back. "Cannot locate, and cannot fight."
"Yet," Masaki adds making the king pause with disbelief.
Then the king leaned back, folding his arms with a smirk.
"And you believe wandering the kingdom in your condition will solve this?"
There it was. The question Masaki had been waiting for to win his argument and again a smirk almost crawls up his lips.
"I don't believe staying here will."
"Deflection," his father said sharply. "Answer the question."
"Fine," Masaki said. "No. I don't believe I can solve it… like this."
The queen blinks and The king raised a brow but Masaki pressed on before they could seize it.
"I believe I must try anyway."
There was silence, The king stared at Masaki while Masaki prayed they don't press things further.
The King's voice lowered. "You're asking to leave this palace, in your state, wthout a clear objective based on visions of a near-death experience."
"When you say it like that, it sounds invalid and reckless," Masaki admitted.
"It is reckless."
"But it's necessary."
"No," the king snapped. "It's indulgent."
Masaki couldn't believe the king would be this insistent, for a second when he paused to look at the Holographic screen, he thought..
Maybe I should have stayed dead..
Masaki too a breath.
"If I were stronger… would you still say that?"
The king raises a brow, pondering on his answer to the question.
The queen answered immediately. "If you were stronger, you wouldn't need to go."
"Then I will never be allowed to go," Masaki said, playing his last card and their reactions showed that maybe, just maybe he had won.
The king exhaled slowly. "Strength is not the issue. Judgment is."
Masaki deadpans at the king when he beings up a new form of argument.
"Then trust my judgement"
"You're assuming purpose where there may be none."
"And you're assuming safety where there clearly isn't."
They locked eyes.
Masaki wasn't going to die today—Not again and certainly not by some system.
"I will not gamble your life on a theory," the king retorts.
"You already did" Masaki snaps back, almost chuckling "So many times, and of recent when you let me be the war strategist of , you really thought I wouldn't or couldn't get killed" Masaki let's out a frustrated laugh.
His mother stepped down from the dais now, closing the distance between them.
"You are not a piece on a board," she said. "You are our son." She cups his cheeks.
"And I am still alive," he said softly,as his eyes met her gaze. "Which means I still have a move to make."
"And if that move costs you everything?"
Masaki smiled faintly.
"We can't say for sure" She let's out a defeated sigh, when she sees that Masaki wouldn't be changing his mind, and the King standa up firmly.
"No!" The king said sharply
"You will not leave this palace chasing shadows," the king said. "You will recover. You will regain your strength. And then, if there is still something to investigate, we will send people far more capable than you and this is my final say."
Masaki's heart dropped and for a moment, it looked like defeat. Then—
"Six months."
Masaki says with more desperation in his voice.
The king frowned. "What?"
"Give me six months," Masaki said, lifting his head again. "If I find nothing… if I return with nothing… then you can call it indulgence, recklessness or Failure even"
The king's expression didn't change. "And if you don't return?"
"I will."
"That is not an answer."
"It's the only one I have."
"Six months is too long."
Masaki smiled internally.
"Three," the prince said immediately, signifying the start of a bargain.
"Three months," the prince continued. "I'll take Minimal escort, I'll send regular letters and If I fail to report, you can drag me back in chains if you like."
The queen lets a small laugh at this but the King's frown remained.
"You're bargaining like a merchant," the king said.
"Don't give up till you get what you want" Masaki says after a random memory played in his head "You told me that"
And with that the king let's a small smile
"…Three months," the king said at last.
Masaki didn't react outwardly but inside, relief filled him.
[TASK STATUS: COMPLETE]
[REWARD: SLEEPING POTION X1]
The blue holographic screen finally disappeared and Masaki let's out a sigh of relief.
"But you must go with guards that will be chosen by me and a physician."
"Fine."
"Anywhere outside the capital requires prior notice."
"Agreed."
"And if at any point I deem the risk unacceptable," the king finished, "you return immediately." The king finishes and Masaki inclined his head.
"I understand."
The queen hugged him, tears streaming down her face "You always were stubborn."
Masaki smiles a small smile.
"I had good teachers." He stared directly at his father who looked away first.
Masaki left the throne room feeling very fulfilled and when he's sure the doors behind him had clicked he jumped in victory but immediately regrets it when he falls to the floor and starts to cough.
Masaki had learnt to carry a towel on him now, so he quietly coughed into it.
Mid cough, Masaki sees the blue holographic screen in front of him again.
[NEW TASK ALERT: CLICK TO VIEW]
Masaki groaned and spread himself on the floor heaving a sigh as he clicked it.
[SURVIVE ONE NIGHT BLOODHOUND PACK]
[DURATION: 3 DAYS]
[PENALTY FOR NON COMPLETION: DEATH]
Masaki sits upright, blinking like he didn't see what was displayed in front of him well.
"Hey Sozo!" Masaki calls out, helping himself from the floor as he began to walk to his room.
"What is it?" Sozo asks, boredom lacing his voice and Masaki's face twists into a deep frown.
"Where the heck am I supposed to find a Bloodhound Pack to survive? Huh?" Masaki query's and Sozo let's out a laugh.
"Figure it out" Sozo says and Masaki let's out another frustrated shout.