TRPG Rule Breaker

Chapter 8 : Curled Up in the Darkness - 1

Chapter 8: Curled Up in the Darkness - 1

Every character in a TRPG had to be acted out by someone.

Until now, I had completely forgotten this obvious fact.

Because of the vivid sensations I felt here, the thought that other people—other than myself—might just be pretending, acting out fakes, had never once crossed my mind.

‘Then the one behind Galanuel is…’

“Hm? That’s a language I’ve never heard before. Which race uses it?”

The words I had just spoken were not converted into Elvish or the common tongue, but were instead spoken in Korean.

It seemed that out-of-game speech was not allowed.

Then, was this guy just pretending not to understand, or was he telling the truth?

§§…

Immersion: 58.8% → 13.1%

…§§

The immersion I had worked so hard to raise plummeted in an instant because of that one remark.

‘Damn it, do you know how much effort I put into building that immersion?!’

On my first day in this world—

When my immersion dropped to zero, my dice roll was a massive failure, and I had nearly lost my life.

Ever since then, I had worked to raise my immersion, and I had discovered that the higher my immersion, the better my dice rolls tended to be.

To reach my target of 100% immersion, and to avoid a dangerous situation like before, I’d better keep my mouth shut about anything unrelated to the game from now on.

“Anyway, I came to make you a proposal. According to my plan, I want you to take down the other Paladeltion succession candidates. Then I’ll consider the damage you caused me as never having happened. On top of that, I’ll guarantee you a key position in my company. How about it?”

Of course, it was an offer not worth even considering.

If Galanuel succeeded in inheriting the succession, she wouldn’t come along for dangerous adventures.

In other words, it would become practically impossible to clear the chapter.

Still, if I wanted to play between Achelian and Galanuel and adjust the balance, I had to at least pretend to consider it.

“Rather than that—”

[Notice. Persuasion blocked by opponent’s ability.]

“Negotiation’s over. I’ll take that as a no.”

‘You hopeless bastard.’

That was a reaction stemming from the Galanuel trait I had created, .

was basically just a boring setting that allowed her to assign the most reasonable economic value—recognized by causality—to all phenomena and materials.

But if applied well, it could be used to propose economic transactions to any character—

And furthermore, it could even be used to force or guide certain actions.

For example, the main reason I was able to clear the campaign with a low-level Galanuel was because I hired countless knights and mercenaries with massive amounts of money.

But it also played a big role in that I could make a campaign boss—some monster that didn’t even know the value of currency—act as I wanted during battle by striking deals in real time.

Of course, the trait had a balancing penalty.

Just like now, Galanuel had the side effect of being unable to engage in any kind of negotiation.

Because of that, she ended up becoming such a self-righteous, uncommunicative character.

But originally, she wasn’t so utterly closed off.

I had left some leeway for bypassing the penalty.

That was why I had tried to counter her proposal.

‘Don’t tell me… my characters’ concepts have been strengthened even further?’

“Since we’re busy, let’s move to the next matter. Yesterday, you caused a disturbance in Alvheimton, didn’t you? I already know you’re plotting something with Medes and Achelian. Your attempt to target my company in Alvheimton was part of that, wasn’t it? You’ll have to compensate for that. And since it’s now clear you won’t be on my side…”

No way.

No, impossible.

The Galanuel I created wasn’t that kind of character.

If even a fragment of me was in her, there’s no way she’d see something like that and just let it slide.

“…You, you knew a little girl was being abused by that gang of beggars, and you still associated with them?”

“……”

But if it was true—

I would restrain this one’s entire body, keep her barely alive, and use her as nothing more than a living tool to spit out summons.

That alone would fulfill the “Recruit a Party Member” chapter clear condition.

“…I didn’t know that. Consider the compensation settled. I’ll take care of what happened yesterday myself.”

Galanuel turned and left the library.

Her original purpose had been to recruit the freshman, but now a far more important matter had arisen.

Thus, the moment she left the library, Galanuel headed straight for Alvheimton.

With each step she took, a dimensional gate formed beneath her footprints.

From within, familiars leapt out, flying toward various parts of Alvheim and Alvheimton.

The business she had established in the slums was a debt collection agency.

Compared to the work she usually did, they were such an insignificant partner that she had left them alone as long as they stayed within their assigned tasks.

But they had dared to defy her.

She had three rules she always made clear to all business partners.

First, never think of negotiating with her.

Second, accept immediate losses for the sake of greater future gains.

Third, never harm children or families.

I couldn’t remember why I had created that last rule, but—

The displeasure at seeing my own principles violated was still vivid.

‘Breaking my principle is about the same as losing a million gold coins.’

Her principles were the source that had allowed her to reach her current position.

It was also why she hadn’t demanded compensation from Dicendel.

The moment she accepted compensation, she herself would be breaking her own rule, and that would soon lead to long-term losses.

Clop, clop — screech.

“Welcome! Lady Galanuel.”

When the carriage carrying Galanuel arrived at the northern slums of Alvheimton, over a dozen gang leaders from across the northern slums came out to line up and greet her.

Except for the one who had died yesterday, every single one was present.

It was as if they had walked themselves to the execution grounds.

Vwoom—

Dozens of dimensional gates formed around Galanuel.

“W-wait—! Why, why are you doing this?”

Creatures leapt out from within and began a massacre.

“We’ve gathered them all, Galanuel.”

Just as the shutdown of the business was almost finished, several executives from the Investment Club appeared with over a hundred orphans from the northern slums.

Galanuel pulled two money pouches of different sizes from midair and handed them over.

For a moment, the gem in the ring on her finger seemed to glint.

“The small one—throw it to the Alvheimton vigilante corps. Say it’s consolation money for all the noise just now. And the big one—take it to the temple along with those orphans.”

“This much money?”

“Yes. The current value of each of them averages about minus ten gold coins. Once their price rises to a decent level, I’ll put them to work as labor.”

“Ah, the second rule! Truly, Galanuel.”

“Lastly, gather the employees from the old company and set up a new service agency. After this example, they won’t try any foolishness like this again.”

Behind the departing Galanuel lay only the scorched ruins of the slums and a dozen or so corpses.

Another day passed, and it was finally the first day I would participate in Medes’s research.

After finishing breakfast, I headed to Greenhouse No. 12, tucked away in a secluded corner of campus.

There were several greenhouses on campus, but I’d heard this isolated one was like Medes’s personal research lab.

“Welcome, Student Dicendel. Isn’t this greenhouse beautiful?”

When I arrived, Medes greeted me with a sly smile, his entire body draped in a parasitic plant creature known as a Root Mistletoe.

Around him, dozens of carnivorous plant creatures called Jar-Tooth Flowers bared their cold teeth at me.

“……!”

Normally, a Root Mistletoe—about combined level 18—controlled its host to lure in others of its kind before planting its own seeds in them.

A Jar-Tooth Flower, usually level 15, sprayed a fragrant digestive fluid from the mouth formed by its petals, inducing the status effect “Charm” before devouring its prey.

‘Was this Medes’s trap? Or did someone get to Medes first?’

Startled, I raised my staff.

Medes laughed and waved me off.

“Hahaha, no need to worry. These are weakened breeds I developed myself, so they’re not dangerous at all. Of course, if you get too close to the Jar-Tooth Flowers, you might get bitten, so be careful.”

My chronic paranoia made me suspect Medes, but it was a reasonable conclusion.

Getting called out to a secluded spot, only to be greeted by a crowd of monsters—wasn’t that the classic cliché?

And honestly, why was he even wearing those creatures all over his body? I couldn’t understand it.

“My apologies, Instructor. I thought those creatures were attacking you.”

After flattering him so as not to offend, we headed to a spacious clearing within the greenhouse.

The path there was lined with all kinds of plants.

There must have been hundreds of different varieties.

“Did you plant all these yourself, Instructor?”

“That’s right. Aren’t they all lovely? Whenever I have time, I bring one back from outside, and before I knew it, it became like this. Especially in the forest outside Alvheimton—perhaps by the blessing of Mother World Tree—there’s an incredible diversity of plants. Unfortunately, there are some I can’t bring here.”

“Are there any more dangerous ones than those near the entrance?”

“Haha, in a way, yes. One of them is the poppy. Ah, but don’t misunderstand—while I can’t grow or harvest them, simply observing wild ones isn’t illegal. And just as a warning, don’t ever go too deep into that forest. The master of the forest wouldn’t like it.”

After listening to his rambling, we arrived at the wide clearing.

“Let’s begin right away. First, we’ll measure the size of the you summon, Student Dicendel. Please proceed with the summoning.”

[Player’s Dice: 60, 2]

[Notice. Dice roll result: 62, Success.]

[Notice. Skill successfully activated.]

Swoosh—Bang!

“Still splendid, even now. Ah, I forgot to mention—don’t use for the first test. Please try casting again.”

“Uh…, Instructor. I didn’t use .”

“……?”

“I really mean it.”

“O-ohhh! Splendid!”

Medes suddenly raised his voice to a strange pitch in admiration, then used to summon several .

I had wondered how he was going to measure such massive vines, and the method turned out to be completely unexpected.

Using the he had summoned himself, he began to bind, pull, and wrestle with my in various ways.

“Circumference: 4.4 meters. Length: 30.8 meters. Tension is…”

While jotting down measurements, Medes gave me various instructions, and I followed them—moving my around, attacking targets, and so on.

“By the way, Instructor, is it really possible to do things like measurements with ?”

“Don’t you also feel a connection between yourself and your summons, Student Dicendel? That’s called ‘Soul Assimilation.’ The more you refine your summoning skills and deepen your bond with your summons, the stronger this assimilation becomes. And the spiritual senses that manifest from it are as delicate and accurate as if you were experiencing them yourself. Given your exceptional talent, I believe you’ll be able to feel it before long.”

“Aha! Thank you for the advice and encouragement, Instructor.”

In the rulebook, all it said was: “You will exchange spiritual communion with your summons.”

“That’s my role as your instructor, haha. Now, this time, summon again while using .”

‘.’

[Player’s Dice: 30, 0]

[Notice. Dice roll result: 30, Success.]

[Notice. Skill successfully activated.]

[Player’s Dice: 50, 5]

[Notice. Dice roll result: 55, Success.]

[Notice. Skill successfully activated.]

Swoosh—KRRRAAASH!

It was as if heaven and earth had collapsed.

The that appeared were more than twice the size of the previous ones.

“Ah—aaah.”

Medes, as if entranced, approached the .

Then he hugged their massive trunk and began stroking it.

‘Wait, is this guy a plant fetishist?’

Goosebumps ran all over my body.

“The circumference is… an astounding 6.3 meters!”

“Wait, was that… actually just to measure the ?”

“Ah, when you handle a particular type of creature extensively, you sometimes awaken to this sort of ability. Even without any special bond, you can form a faint soul assimilation with other creatures. The length is… 50.3 meters. Truly marvelous!”

So, I guess the plant-fetishist part was a misunderstanding.

For the record, what Medes had just explained was something that didn’t exist in the original game at all.

Of course, since I already had , it didn’t mean much to me—it was already something I could do.

“Incredible! Then what’s the advantage of measuring directly with your body instead of your own , Instructor?”

“Why, you get to hug the dear thing, of course. Isn’t that advantage enough?”

Yeah, this elf was definitely not normal.

“…Let’s move on. I have an experiment I devised, and I’d like your help with it, Instructor.”

“Yes! Just say the word. I promised to help with whatever I can, haha!”

The main reason I agreed to participate in this research in the first place was to explore ways to make use of my abilities—in other words, to find opportunities for Rule-chicken play.

So, I planned to test out the ideas I had come up with over the past few days.

“Alright then, please attack my . Start weak, and gradually increase the strength.”

“T-that’s absolutely unaccept—!”

“Shall we just cancel my participation in your research, then?”

“Ghh…!”

The experiments we ran for the entire day resulted in improvements to my combat ability that I could confidently say multiplied my strength several times over.

Today marked the end of the second week of the schedule.

To summarize what had happened so far: I had attended the common subject “Theology” and my first elective, “Marksmanship.”

The reason I had chosen marksmanship among the many electives was to have insurance for battles where I might lack MP or control over my summons.

Besides, my chosen secondary weapon at character creation was a sling, so it made sense.

However, since the course evaluation criteria didn’t include slings, I had ended up using a bow from day one.

I chose the bow over a crossbow or a gun because once I leveled up, there was a Rule-chicken play I could combine with summoning.

For now, though, my pathetically low Strength and the trait made even pulling the string a struggle, causing the strange phenomenon of my HP dropping each time.

And after all that effort, the arrows I fired would just lose strength midair and drop to the ground with a “thud.”

Thanks to my low Dexterity and , they usually flew in completely the wrong direction from the target.

The only reason I managed even that much was because my trait gave me some support.

Fortunately, the instructor, unable to watch my pitiful attempts any longer, handed me a mechanical crossbow with a winch, which at least brought me up to a level suitable for a practical skills evaluation.

Anyway, today was the second Healing Studies class.

Our class, led by Eleina, arrived at the stables attached to the “Dangerous Creature Breeding Grounds” on campus.

“In today’s class, we’ll be examining and caring for livestock. As you all know as clergy, one of our duties in a community is to improve productivity. And since there are many patients who can’t explain their symptoms, the experience you get here will be useful.”

I’d been needing a subject to test on anyway, so this was perfect.

Against animals or creatures with low Intelligence and resistance, I could attempt it without worrying about failing a dice roll.