"Igh…"
His eyes opened, rays of light blinding him which made him cover his eyes with the blanket. Wait, blanket? After adapting to the light, he fully opens his eyes. He stared at the ceiling. A ceiling he hadn't seen before but felt like he did.
He sat down and found himself staring at an interface.
[ Congratulations for escaping the dungeon without going over the time limit. Rewards will be sent to your inventory, but first… wanna see your character interface~? ]
Nash smirks.
"You read my mind. Character Profile, open!"
A long, lengthy interface appeared. His eyes widened, filled with shock.
<••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••>
[ Character Profile ]
Name: Cliff Carmesi
Level 17
Age: 16 years old
[ Personal Skills ]
[ Intermediate Archery Lvl.4 ],
[ Athleticism ], [ Negotiator ],
[ Adrenaline-Rush Lvl.1 ],
[ Craftsman Lvl.1 ], [ Hunting Lvl.2 ],
[ Intermediate Cooking ], [ Trap-Maker Lvl.1 ], [ Club Mastery Lvl.1 ].
[ Overall Status ]
STR: 15 (E5)
CON: 15 (E5)
AGI: 20 (40) (C0)
INT: 18 (-9) (F9)
WIS: 25 (D5)
CHA: 15 (E5)
LUCK: 28 (D9)
Curse:
Curse of Mana Depletion [ Mana Deficiency ]
Short Background:
Born from the [ Carmesi ] family, considered a defect after getting cursed with Mana Deficiency. Limiting his ability to use magic. However, his uncle took him and taught him archery.
After working hard to gain his parents' approval, he was allowed to enter [ Aria Academy ]. A prestigious academy for people who want to become the best versions of themselves and become powerful.
During his travel to [ Aria Academy ]. he stumbled upon the Infinite Dungeon and entered inside without any allies. Upon entering the fourth floor, he was ambushed by a goblin and died. The player's soul went inside his body, and it became yours. You are now Cliff Carmesi.
You must arrive at Aria Academy within a week, or else you'll miss the opportunity to do the entrance exam.
<••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••>
"W…what?"
Out of all the things that were listed on the character profile, what surprised him the most was that he had a curse placed upon him. Mana Deficiency is a temporary debuff that you can get inflicted with in-game. It halves your mana points, making the player more conscious about using spells to not overuse mana, or else they'll bleed from every single orifice and effectively kill themselves.
Yet, the curse he has is a permanent one. The body that belonged to Cliff Carmesi, who has a permanent curse, now belongs to Nash. Unlucky.
Nash stared down, currently in a state of shock. His Mana usage has been halved? No wonder he couldn't use magic no matter how many times he invested status points on INT. It didn't matter at all, the fact that it halves the original number due to the curse is so goddamn frustrating. He bit his lip, gritted his teeth and sighed deeply.
"No use wallowing about it right now. My other statuses are stable, which is fine. Everything is fine... Alright, let's look closer at my status."
The lad scrolls down to his statuses, which shows him how many points he has on every status.
"Strength, Constitution, and Charisma have the same amount of points, that's not bad..."
"My AGI is high, thanks to the Goblin's Footwear side effect doubling my AGI stats."
"My WIS is certainly high, thanks to the amount of points I've been investing in it."
"LUCK is unbelievably high. No wonder I kept hitting critical points on the enemy and getting lucky during rough scenarios. It's like a roulette wheel, it's either I get extremely lucky or the opposite."
The lad tried to ignore the backstory section, yet he couldn't. He continued to stare at it, reading every single word and sentence that was written on it. The life of the Original Cliff is a person who tried his best to prove himself despite being burdened with his own family disowned him due to his mana curse.
Cliff didn't give up, he worked hard to earn his parents' approval. Yet, he died and got his body taken by somebody who is a disgrace in society. A person who isn't that worthy of being given a second chance in life.
"...He worked hard to achieve his goals, but he died just like that and wasn't given a second chance? He had a life! And I took it away from him because I wanted a second chance to live…"
Nash covers his face with both of his palms, tears flowing out of his glands uncontrollably. He sobs, letting out sounds he hasn't released ever since he failed college.
Why? Why would I get a second chance when I was a disgrace in my previous life? Why not give Cliff a second chance? He had something to live for! He was supposed to be at the academy, meeting new people and befriending them, he was supposed to undo his curse!
Yet… I took that opportunity away… from him… by taking his body… Irgh…!
I'm unworthy… of this second chance… I don't deserve this… new life.
"It's…my fault…"
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸…
Across the room is a door, it creaks as it opens. A figure enters, a female wearing formal clothing attire with glasses. She is holding a book. Nash immediately wiped his tears with the blanket and looked the opposite way, trying not to show his teary face.
"Was I interrupting-? I should've probably given you more time, I'll get out imm–"
"N-no no! It's fine! I'm just… shocked."
"Because you're alive? I'm surprised too, that a low-level adventurer, who is also a student, managed to climb back up during a Crimson Moon. Not only that, you've defeated an extremely powerful monster."
The woman lifts her book and slowly walks towards the bedridden teen. Then, he looked at her, awkwardly gesturing with his hands to try and explain what had happened.
"Ack– I know that it's suspicious but…!"
He wanted to take a closer look at her because she somehow looked familiar. Suddenly...
"Don't you know how reckless your actions were?! Not only did you enter at night, but you violated the rules of not going anywhere deeper than floor 1 as a rookie adventurer!"
The lass exploded, scolding the brat who had recklessly explored the dungeon. The lad puts both of his fingers on his ear, blocking the loud sound of scolding, yet he can still understand what she's saying.
"We had to grab our best adventurers that were nearby just to get you, it was an inconvenience for both me and the party that rescued you!"
I know… I don't deserve to be rescued, Cliff should've been the one that got rescued. I don't want to talk about this anymore, It's suffocating…
"Who even are you, miss? So that I could apologize and end this immediately!"
"Hah! The audacity! You don't even remember the woman who allowed you to enter the dungeon in the first place??? It's me! The Dungeon Receptionist, Clarissa!"
Oh… The woman that you see on the menu when you want to start a new game… She had a name?! I didn't remember that. Her face, compared to the portrait in the game, looks very beautiful
"Now I rememb–"
"Don't you dare lie to me, I know a liar when I see one. You forgot, didn't you? Ugh…! Why are younger adventurers so reckless and bratty these days?!"
Wow... She's venting her frustrations at a random person, won't this damage her reputation? What if I file a complaint? Not like I'll do it but what if I did?
"Ugh…! Anyways, tell me your name. I have to write your name down so that I can ASK you to pay fines for VIOLATING one of the rules. So, go ahead. Spit it out."
"I'm…"
It reminded him that there is no person named [ Taylor "Nash" Talon ] in this world. He is now living in a body that should've lived, that should've survived. But, it was "Nash" that took over the body instead. The "Nash" that had no worth in life, that didn't even take care of himself.
"Cliff Carmesi, that's my name."
From now on, I will live my life as Cliff Carmesi.
I will follow in his footsteps, I will live his life.
I will continue his dreams and I will do it for him.
Because I don't deserve this life, and the only way to respect the way he lived is to become him, to live the life Cliff wanted.
My life as Cliff Carmesi begins.