The Last Legendary System

’Did I... really... in a novel? THAT NOVEL?!’

That meant something painful. His fate depended not solely on him anymore, but on whatever higher power was assigned to his existence the moment he came here. Except he never met a higher power.

"No, no, no." He paced, digging his fingers into his hair. "Not that book. Ashold Creeve."

A book with a chaotic premise involving an idiot trying to find the lost island of a girl he met in the second Chapter. That journey took the whole book.

While the protagonist had found a way to bring back her realm, he never ended up with the werewolfess who also liked him. He married a princess of an opposing kingdom instead and buried his legendary weapon in a cave.

Completely wasting the emotional involvement and expectations readers had for six hundred Chapters.

The protagonist avoided all major fights due to the author’s consistent use of plot armor and only killed a minor villain. Ashold’s rating was the lowest, with Benign being bitter enough to create multiple accounts to keep on downvoting him.

’Is this karma, Ashold? You aren’t even alive in this time period.’

Vergil lowered his scroll and stared curiously at the soldier pacing about. He nodded slowly. "Yes, yes, that was his name. Ashold Creeve. A very peculiar name, that is."

Looking back at his scroll, his eyes narrowed. "I never heard anyone pronounce his name like that before. We always said ’A-shold’ ’Criv-e.’ Not ’Ash-old’ ’Criv’."

Benign stopped pacing, staring down at the sand.

"You didn’t even tell me about it? Is there a reason?"

[To stop the glitches.]

"Don’t fuck with me. I mean, is there a reason I was transmigrated in this book?"

[Does it really matter that you are in a book? The problem remains. The lives at stake remain. What makes it different?]

"The difference is that I’ll be surrounded by 2D characters. That’s very different from if I somehow transmigrated into a fantasy world. Here, the characters will be tied to how they were written. There’s no flexibility."

No response came on the screen, heightening Benign’s annoyance. ’How unlucky can I get?’ He turned back to the elves.

A blue screen popped up again.

[Look at them. Do they look like 2D characters, having no internal motivation or sentience, to you?]

The soldier stared at them. The elf men, having no idea about his mental conflict, watched him back.

The quirky way Vergil hummed while playing with his featured pen. Stun quietly stood like a statue, yet lines grew on his forehead because of Vergil’s humming.

"Yes." Benign’s response came with a sigh. Characters from a book can have internal motivation and a sort of sentience. That was what made them feel alive. In the book, Lost in Cicada Kingdom, it was the interesting cast of characters involved with the protagonist that made those reading push through.

’But... that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.’

The lives are truly still at stake. Even if in a webnovel.

As someone who believed everyone deserved a good death, he couldn’t just ignore it.

’The only problem being...’

He was uncertain to share this with Lego either. The plot of the original book greatly differed from the current situation. That was why he couldn’t have had the slightest clue that he was in that book.

There were no glitches, the other realms weren’t involved, and protectors of the realms... ’Ah, yes, that was the book that gave me the idea.’ He rubbed his face. ’If this is after Ashold died, does that mean the world fell into chaos after the hero’s death?’

What did that mean for him, who had been brought into the book?

"Well," Vergil spoke up after the silence stretched to uncomfortable lengths. "If the sun has drained all your fervor, we can find the nearest place to rest."

A sigh left Benign. His fate had been set in stone the moment he arrived in this world. Whether it was a novel or not. People still bled. People still died. That was enough.

He rolled his shoulders once. "Let’s go."

Vergil blinked. "That is all?"

"What do you mean?"

"You looked surprised to learn about Ashold Creeve. I hope you recollected something to share and help us solve the glitches?"

Benign rubbed on his face. The only information about that protagonist that could be narrowly useful would be finding his legendary weapon.

Or attaining his special SSS system that granted him impressive skills or weaponry.

But no. He already had Lego, a proud, one-of-a-kind system.

His only weapon could be a revolver he stole from a creature he killed. These were his only cards, currently.

"Let’s start with the clue you found out about, Vergil. Where is it?"

Vergil studied his expression before reopening his scroll. "A cave about three days walk. Across the desert too, so we better get to walking."

Benign started first. The three of them walked through the dunes, the afternoon sun scorching overhead, bleaching the world with shades of gold. No one spoke for several minutes. Mostly because speaking meant swallowing sand.

Their pacing slowed by the third hour. Vergil’s, to be exact. Even breathing felt dry.

With the sand shifting beneath every step, his footing gave way, planting his face in the sand.

Stun noticed Benign trudging ahead. He hauled the elf upright by the waistband. The journey continued, with Vergil tailing behind.

The sun slowly lowered its golden gaze over the dunes.

Benign kept his head down, breathing from his mouth. Numerous thoughts crossed his mind, and since he was far ahead, he addressed them.

"Lego."

The screen popped up, at the same time, he heard the voice in his head.

"I’ve been wondering." He paused, waiting for the elves to catch up before he continued again. "What are the SPs used for?"

[SPs are used to upgrade your Rank and purchase Legacy Skills.]

[You are currently Level One, the Chosen. You need 1000 SP to reach the next.]

"That will definitely take a while. I only have 110 SP."

[Exactly. You awakened a Legacy System so your current level doesn’t really matter.)

[However, to get access to more skills, you would need to level up. To access more SPs, you need to use more unique skills.]

"So how do I already have unique skills if I needed to level up first?"

[Your true advantage is the Legacy System itself. You can unlock a unique skill randomly based on its preference and your mission performance. All other skills are tools it provides.]

Benign exhaled. Now he had another task. Get enough SP to choose a better combat skill. Which also meant finishing all his missions cleanly.

"I can do this."

[You can.]

A faint smile flashed on Benign’s lips. Those were probably the nicest words Lego ever said to him.

Unexpectedly, another blue screen appeared.

[Mission: Recruit Elf Empress.]

The smile vanished from his face. "No," he muttered before reading the next line.

[Mission Result: Failed.]

Benign sighed. He couldn’t bring himself to ask the girl to follow him while she acted protectively towards her sick father. "So, what happens now? Am I getting punished?"

[Naturally.]

[Rewards are granted upon success.]

[Likewise. Failure results in punishment.]

[Loading...]

[Loading...]

[In ten minutes, Special Treatment privileges will be temporarily withdrawn.]

Benign stopped walking. He couldn’t tell whether the system was bluffing or not.

He had no idea what "special treatment" even meant. That made losing it worse.