Chapter 6: Awakening to a Bloody Choice

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[Loading… *crackle*… Loading… *crackle*… Load failed]

[System load complete, initiating reboot.]

[Ding!—Reboot complete. Welcome, Master!]

‘So noisy…’

‘Ever since a moment ago, some voice has been incessantly chattering in my ear. Isn’t it annoying?!’

‘Can’t a guy get some decent sleep around here?!’

Su Mu’s eyelashes fluttered incessantly. His handsome face was marred by a deep frown, his thin lips pressed tightly, and his heavy breathing betrayed his profound irritation.

That mechanical voice in his ear continued its tireless chatter, repeating obscure and incomprehensible words again and again.

‘What the hell is it even saying?’ Su Mu grumbled internally.

He had already woken up, but he kept his eyes closed. Rest was a luxury, and the chance to lie comfortably in bed with his eyes shut was even rarer.

From the moment he lay down, no disturbance could possibly rouse him from his closed-eye state.

Except for his alarm clock.

‘Speaking of which, where is this mechanical voice coming from?’ he wondered. ‘Is it my phone’s ringtone? No, that can’t be right. All my ringtones are Kafka’s voice lines from Honkai: Star Rail, which sound nothing like this incessant, crackling gibberish.’

Suddenly, the mechanical voice grew sharp and piercing.

A jolt of pain erupted in his eardrums, and an intense sensation invaded his brain, making Su Mu feel as if his head were about to explode.

He instinctively reached out and pressed his hands against his head, attempting to alleviate the inexplicable agony through pressure.

In that fleeting moment, he felt a soft sensation on his hands, as if something had enveloped them.

The piercing pain slowly receded, though his eardrums still trembled. The lingering aftershock transformed into a ringing in his ears, blocking out all external sounds.

“Hiss… It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”

Su Mu couldn’t help but grimace, his voice hoarse. What on earth was happening? Why did his head suddenly ache so intensely, as if it were about to burst?

At this point, even if he wanted to open his eyes, he was powerless to do so.

Convulsions in his nerves forced him to keep his eyes tightly shut, seeking relief from the throbbing pain in his brain.

“*Crackle*…”

[System reboot complete. Master, please prepare yourself.]

After the ringing in his ears subsided, Su Mu realized that he could actually understand that damned mechanical voice.

His brain, slowly recovering from the pain, strenuously pondered the content it had just heard.

‘System? What is that?’

In an instant, many conjectures flashed through Su Mu’s mind. He had watched countless anime and read numerous novels; when ‘system’ was mentioned, his first thought was, ‘Holy crap, my cheat is here?’

His second thought was, ‘Hmm, probably not. Where would a cheat come from in this scientifically abstract real world?’

His final thought was, ‘Damn it, when I find out who’s pranking me, I’ll beat the crap out of them!’

Su Mu muttered curses under his breath, considering the identity of the culprit.

Besides the mechanical voice, he vaguely heard some chaotic noise, resembling crying, but Su Mu paid it no mind.

The throbbing pain in his head was slowly receding, and his furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

Driven by curiosity about the unusual situation, Su Mu finally opened his eyes.

However, the sight that greeted him caused his heart to seize.

A bloody woman’s head lay on the steps, her eyes streaming with blood and tears, her expression terrifying, glaring at him with a hideous face.

Su Mu’s eyes numbly shifted. Not far below the steps, he saw the body belonging to the head.

From the severed neck, blood continued to gush like a fountain.

The floor was paved with resplendent gold-inlaid tiles. Blood splattered upon them, staining the golden edges black and gleaming with an eerie light, all of which exuded an indescribable strangeness.

Beside the woman’s corpse stood another woman, dressed entirely in black, with a cold expression and a sharp sword in her hand.

Undoubtedly, she was the culprit who had decapitated the woman on the floor.

Around them, several maids knelt on the ground, trembling in fear before the sole standing figure in the sleeping quarters.

A chill arose in Su Mu’s heart, plunging him into an abyss of coldness in an instant.

Su Mu never would have imagined that simply going to sleep, closing his eyes and opening them again, would lead him to witness such a shocking scene.

He didn’t even have time to ponder why he was in this unfamiliar place, or who these people before him were.

He simply stiffened his body, slowly sitting upright from the soft bed like a robot, and then, he raised his gaze.

Naturally, his eyes met those of the woman holding the sword.

The woman’s gaze was calm, without the slightest ripple, as if what she had just done was merely an insignificant trifle.

Noticing Su Mu’s gaze, the woman finally reacted.

She slowly bent into a perfect Western court bow.

Her voice, clear and cold like a spring deep within a dark forest, uttered two words:

“Your Highness.”

Su Mu knew she was addressing him.

There was no time to ponder, or perhaps he had already grasped the meaning behind that address.

Facing the bloody scene and the grotesque image of a lost life, Su Mu’s voice trembled as he asked, “Why did you kill her?”

After her bow, the woman resumed her standing posture. Hearing Su Mu’s question, she calmly replied, “This person harmed Your Highness. She deserved to die.”

‘She harmed me? When?’

Su Mu was somewhat bewildered. He had no memories whatsoever of this place.

Seizing the opportunity provided by his question, he tried to glean more information.

Given the current situation, Su Mu could only think of one possibility: transmigration.

Otherwise, in reality, where could one find such a magnificent, golden palace to live in? Moreover, casually killing someone and acting self-righteous about it—such an act would lead to a death sentence in the real world.

Yet, if it was transmigration, Su Mu had not a single memory of the event itself.

Su Mu had never considered transmigration a pleasant experience. He deeply understood the importance of a lawful society. Once transmigrated to another world, even a trivial matter could become an opportunity for his demise.

Although he disliked reality, he disliked a non-reality where his life was unprotected and he could die at any moment even more.

Therefore, Su Mu displayed no actions or emotions. In this situation, all he could do was obtain enough information to avoid suspicion from others through as little communication as possible.

Facing Su Mu’s confusion, the woman tilted her head, counter-questioning, “But, just now, while she was attending to Your Highness, didn’t you clutch your head in pain and repeatedly cry out?”

Su Mu froze.

‘Uh.’

He seemed to understand the reason now.

‘So, I had already transmigrated here when I first heard the mechanical voice?’

‘Damn it! This conniving system!’ Su Mu’s face darkened, and he was just about to say something to brush it off.

Then, a ‘ding’ sounded in his ear.

A holographic screen abruptly appeared before Su Mu, startling him greatly.

The system’s voice resounded at the opportune moment:

[Master, congratulations on successfully triggering your first critical choice node, earning the achievement: [First Time in Life].]

[Reward: 10 experience points.]

[Current Level: Lv1.]

[Experience Bar: 10/30 Exp.]

The voice faded.

Next, an option panel appeared before Su Mu’s eyes.

After observing Bai Ji and the others’ reactions, he confirmed that only he could see this light screen. Only then did he feel at ease checking the contents of the option panel.

“Facing Bai Ji’s unauthorized killing, you choose—”

“Option One: Reprimand Bai Ji and banish her from the sleeping quarters.”

“Option Two: Comfort Bai Ji and let the matter pass.”

“Option Three: Praise Bai Ji and command her to kill all the maids in the sleeping quarters.”

Beside the options was a beautiful illustration of Bai Ji, dressed in a black attendant’s robe.

Su Mu was stunned.

‘Holy crap, why does this feel like a visual novel dating sim?’

‘And it’s a classic damn three-choice scenario?!’