[You tried to recall the circumstances, but nothing came to mind.]
‘…That’s not true.’
Contrary to what this ‘mysterious voice’—whether it’s in my head or coming from somewhere else—was claiming, I definitely remembered up to the moment I pressed the appearance settings button.
[And to begin with, who are you, anyway?]
So naturally, I also knew exactly who “I” was, and what kind of existence the “Hero of the Ominous Star” was.
[The only thing that faintly came to mind was your name.]
‘…My name?’
If anything didn’t come back to me, it was that.
Or more accurately, I never had a memory of it in the first place.
The name is usually created last, after finishing the appearance settings, but my consciousness was cut off before that point.
So the only name I remembered was “Yubin”—my… original name.
[There were a lot of other questions, but first, it seemed like you needed to assess the current situation.]
The ‘voice’ kept spouting tutorial lines, but I had already figured out that I was being transported in a carriage.
Still, there were a few things I definitely needed to figure out.
For example, this thing the voice was currently suggesting—[Observe].
In the game, whenever you take a specific action like this, you first roll a die to determine success or failure.
How that process would play out now…
[Observe]
Difficulty 2
‘…Hmph.’
At that moment, with a familiar alert, the die I’d seen throughout the game ‘appeared.’
In the world setting, it’s called the “Soul Stone.”
[An object said to be carried by all who possess a soul in this world—a tool that determines the fate of one’s soul.]
That’s the lore, anyway, but to put it bluntly, it’s just a six-sided die.
I couldn’t see it or touch it physically, not with my hands and feet tied and a sack over my head.
Still, the Soul Stone definitely existed.
[It’s proof that you, too, have a soul.]
If I had to describe it, I’d say it appeared inside me.
I couldn’t see it, but I could see it. I couldn’t touch it, yet I could feel its texture and weight.
There was no better way to explain it.
Apparently, just like in the game, I’d have to roll a die whenever I made an important move.
But there was one difference from the game.
Yeah. One more thing.
‘There are… two dice?’
Normally, there should only be one.
Well, I had a guess as to why that was.
As the ‘voice’ mentioned earlier, the Soul Stone is proof of one’s soul. You could even call it the soul itself.
In that case, maybe one of these dice—the jet-black obsidian one I’d seen all through the game—belonged to the original soul of this “Hero of the Ominous Star.”
[The Soul Stone will guide your path.]
And the other—an ordinary white plastic die, a material that shouldn’t even exist in this world—might belong to me, “Yubin.”
If so, it wasn’t strange for both souls to coexist.
‘Interesting.’
Whatever the logic, if I could really roll an extra die, that would be a huge advantage.
So how do I roll these dice?
As I wondered about that and made up my mind to [Observe] my surroundings—
The dice were cast.
‘So that’s how it works.’
INT Modifier +7
This [Observe] was basically a practice roll to show how the game mechanics worked.
So as long as I didn’t roll a critical failure—a 1—I’d be fine.
Result: 12
Judging by the result, it seemed the higher of the two dice was chosen, not their sum, but in any case—
[Observe]
Success
That meant the [Observe] action had succeeded.
[You feel something blocking you with every breath.]
[The irregular jolts. The hard wooden floor beneath you. The clatter of hooves and occasional snorts.]
[It definitely felt like you were being transported in a carriage, hooded.]
“At the end of the day, no matter how much this sells for, we’ll get the same cut anyway.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
[Also, the ones driving this carriage clearly saw you as “cargo.”]
Of course they did—they were working under slave traders.
In short—
[One thing had now become clear.]
[You’re being sold off somewhere. No telling where yet.]
I had to escape.
Otherwise, I’d end up sold as a slave.
I needed a plan.
‘Status’
On a whim, I tried it.
Yubin
Lv. 1
Race: Human
Class: Bard
STR 04 (-2)
DEX 04 (-1)
INT 07
MEN 06 (-2)
CHA 20 (+5)
Traits:
「Attention Seeker」
「Shut-in Artist」
「Face That Could Ruin Kingdoms」
I wasn’t sure how it worked, but just like with the dice, the so-called ‘status window’ appeared in a conceptual form.
Apparently, simply deciding to see it triggered its appearance.
But maybe because I hadn’t chosen a name yet, the first thing that stood out was that my original name was still written there… but that wasn’t important right now.
Skill List
[Class Skills]
Bard’s Song (Valor / Speed / Wisdom / Divinity / Charm)
Encourage
Mockery
[Unique Skills]
???
‘…Just as I thought.’
That eliminated any possibility that I was someone else.
This was definitely the bard build I had created before I lost consciousness.
That meant I had to formulate a plan based on that.
First off, I needed to avoid any option that required physical ability.
For example, trying to tear the rope with [Strength], or jumping off the carriage with [Stealth].
My physical stats were well below average—not just for adventurers, but even compared to regular people.
What the hell did I think I could do to survive with this?
I was practically pathetic.
There wasn’t anything I could do properly, and the only thing I could rely on was my looks.
But now that my head was covered with a sack, that didn’t even help.
How was I supposed to protect the world like this?
Honestly, maybe it was better to just get sold as a slave, at least that way I’d get fed every day, and if I was lucky, maybe even be liked by my master…
‘…Wait, what?’
Hold on.
What the hell was I just thinking?
‘No way… is this…’
[The moment the owners of the voices lost interest in you, a wave of depression hits.]
[You’re alone.]
[No one is paying attention to you anymore.]
[Attention Seeker] Trait Activated
Current Status: Depressed
‘…There it is.’
Apparently, this “depression” debuff directly affected my emotions.
It took over so fast I was drowning in negative thoughts before I even realized it.
But seriously, how pathetic is it to get that depressed just because someone stopped talking about how much I might sell for?
‘What kind of annoying attention-seeker am I?!’
I was the kind of person who’d be a total nuisance to be around.
Definitely top of the “avoid at all costs” list.
Even I found myself annoying, so who in their right mind would care about someone like me?
Who would take someone this exhausting as a companion?
So maybe I really should just be a slave…
…Gasp!
No.
This wasn’t okay.
I had to do something—anything—to get attention again.
“HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA—”
“—Hey! Shut up!”
Smack!
“Ow!?”
The sound of something slicing through the air rang out, and I instinctively straightened up.
A whip had landed on the floor at my feet.
“What the hell is wrong with this guy all of a sudden?”
“Is he insane…?”
Still, for a moment, it felt like the depression debuff had been lifted.
But it was only for a moment.
‘Wait, no! Please! Talk about me some more!’
The whip strike had only been a warning, and the shocked reactions weren’t enough.
As soon as I felt like I wasn’t getting attention again, the depression returned and swallowed me whole.
In this situation, singing probably wasn’t going to help much.
At least not when I couldn’t see.
Even if they were looking at me, if I couldn’t see them, I wouldn’t realize I was being seen—and the trait wouldn’t activate.
I could keep singing nonstop… but there was no guarantee the next whip would hit the floor instead of me.
If that thing came at me, with my 2-point Constitution, it wouldn’t just hurt—it might kill me.
That was the sad fate of someone with only 2 in Strength—basically a glass cannon.
Which meant there was only one answer.
First, I had to deal with the sack over my head.
***
Not long after, the rattling of the carriage started to settle, and then it came to a stop.
We’d arrived.
The slavers’ camp.
And if the prologue story played out as it should, the slave trader who hired these guys wouldn’t arrive until evening.
This was basically the last chance for players who hadn’t escaped or taken control of the carriage yet.
In other words, I had to escape before that guy got here.
Miss this chance, and I’d really become a slave.
“Of course, becoming a slave didn’t mean a ‘game over.’”
There was still plenty of story to play, even after being sold.
People called it the ‘Slave Route.’
And it was thanks to these diverse story routes that Ominous Star was considered a masterpiece.
However, once you got branded with the trait [Slave Mark], it was incredibly difficult to remove.
You’d need to reach at least the mid-point of the story to erase it.
Until then, everyone would treat you like a former slave, and your Charm stat would take a hit.
Sometimes bounty hunters would chase you thinking you were an escaped slave.
That’s why it was best to avoid the slave route if at all possible.
Not just because Charm was my only viable stat right now—but more than that, I just didn’t want to be a slave.
“Hey, out you go.”
One of the mercenaries dragged my bound self off the carriage.
Then he took me somewhere and said—
“Don’t even think about doing anything stupid.”
With that, he shoved me hard.
I collapsed onto a hard floor.
Most likely thrown into a cage.
Sure enough, I soon heard the creaking sound of an old metal door being closed.
[If you just sit here and do nothing, you’re going to be sold off and end up as someone’s slave.]
At the same time, the “voice” began to warn me again.
[If you don’t want that, then it’s time to do something.]
It’s time to act.
If I had been a warrior with points in Strength, I would’ve broken the rope using [Strength].
If I were a mage, I would’ve used [Magic] to burn through the rope.
If I were a rogue, I’d have pulled out a hidden blade and used [Dexterity] to cut the rope.
But none of those applied to me.
Right now, I was a bard.
And the only option left to me was—
“Uh, excuse me!”
“…Hmm?”
—my silver tongue.
“What is it?”
“Uh, well…”
I managed to get his attention before he left, which was already a success in itself.
“Um… so…”
‘Is it the depression debuff?’
I just couldn’t get the words out.
What did I say in the game to get him to untie me?
I couldn’t remember a single line.
My mind had gone completely blank.
“…What is this, some kind of joke?”
The mercenary finally shouted, like he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Are you messing with me right now?!”
“T-The sack!”
Startled by his voice, I accidentally blurted it out.
“What? Sack?”
Yeah, I’ve come this far—might as well go all in!
“P-Please… t-take this off of me!”
“…What?”
I could practically feel his dumbfounded expression, even if I couldn’t see it.
I mean, I’d just randomly asked him to take it off without any build-up. Of course he’d be confused.
“Why?”
“I-It’s suffocating…”
But only for a moment.
Suddenly, dice appeared and began to roll.
[Persuade]
Difficulty 15
CHA Modifier +25
Status: Depressed
Even with a -5 penalty to my Charisma from the sack over my head, as long as it wasn’t a critical failure, the odds were decent.
So—
‘As long as it’s not a 1…!’
‘!?’
The die showed a 1.
But thanks to the second die rolling a 3, I still passed the check—luckily, the dice began rolling again.
I had been wondering how two dice would work under the depression debuff, and it seemed the system just picked the higher of the two and treated that as the result.
The next roll came in: both dice showed 4.
A safe success, far surpassing the difficulty of 15.
“U-Uh, okay?”
Result: 29
[Persuade] – Success
[Your words have struck a chord with your target.]
[It seems your appeal has reached him.]
It was awkward, sure, but it worked.
I saw the silhouette beyond the sack drawing closer.
“No funny business…”
Then the presence crouched down in front of me and gently lifted the sack—
—“Ugh.”
The sudden burst of light made me instinctively squint with one eye.
Which, from his angle, might’ve looked like… a wink.
“…!”
I only realized what had happened when I saw him freeze in place, staring at me, eyes wide.
He was caught.
Completely entranced.
Gulp—
I could hear the sound of him swallowing hard.
“Would you mind… taking the rest off?”
“H-Huh? Oh—uh, yeah!”
Feigning as much modesty as possible, I looked away slightly and made my request.
He nodded like he was hypnotized and immediately pulled off the sack completely.
And just like that, the sack was gone.
‘Yes…!’
It worked.
It actually worked!
All I’ve got is my face?
Then I’ll use my face!
My plan was right after all!
‘I’m… gorgeous!’
My build was not wrong.
With this face, I will save my life—and maybe even save the world.
No one can stop me when I’ve got this stunning face.
‘I’m a visual genius!!’
[You feel an indescribable joy as you sense the intense gaze directed your way.]
[You’re being noticed.]
[Attention Seeker] Trait Activated
Current Status: Happy
‘Applaud me!’
Applaud my divine beauty—the very incarnation of the goddess of beauty herself!
Cliche Novel 
lol…
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