Spirit Vessel - Chapter 18: A Song That Wrenches The Heart

The royal bastard of House Vasquer, Argrave, changed after his stay studying magic at the Tower of the Gray Owl.

The sickly man's awkward posture and cruel behavior have been replaced with a neat dignity and acerbic wit.

Though once listless, he now strives towards his goals with a life-or-death tenacity.

Most come away thinking he seems to know too many details about too much. Few can claim to know his motives or his goals.

Yet behind that confident appearance, the primary contributor for an open-world RPG's wiki battles existential dread and things far beyond his ken as he struggles to adapt to a grim, gothic fantasy world mirroring his favorite game.

The prospect of fighting against a world-ending calamity loses all of its appeal when it transitions from entertainment to reality.

Argrave is spurred towards unwanted heroism to preserve his life as he struggles desperately to keep this sinking ship afloat.

Superpowers descended upon the world. This was a world where everyone awakened to superpowers.

Some people awakened to abilities at the lowest F rank. They could only work the most difficult jobs for their entire lives. Meanwhile, some people started off with S rank powers and skyrocketed to fame.

In this age where talents determined everything, Ling Feng awakened the clone ability, which was ranked second last in the F rank powers.

The crowd mocked him, “That is one of the most useless talents. After one awakens this ability, they can create a clone of themselves. However, their strength is halved in the process. Aside from running errands and making deliveries, it is useless.”

However, very soon, Ling Feng discovered that something was off. That was because his talent could level up from the lowest F rank up to the SSR rank! He had unlimited clones and unlimited evolution!

Many years later, half of the superpower users in the world were Ling Feng’s clones.

Broken-hearted and drunk, Yoshida, a 26-years old salaryman, stumbled upon a runaway-from-home high-schooler on his way back from the bar.

“Hey, you. JK.”*

“What the heck are you doing out here. Go home already.”

“Uncle, let me stay at your place for the night.”

“You can do ‘that’ to me if you let me stay.”

“If you meant that as a joke, it’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking. It’s fine by me.”

“Then allow me to tell you that I have no interest in brats.”

“Hmm?”

“Then, just let me stay.”

Notes:

[*] JK is slang for Joushikousei (high school girl)

Sure, the world is ruined, but I’ll live my own way. Of course, luxuriously and gorgeously.