I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 40

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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There is a saying that people may not know where a person sat, but they quickly know where an unoccupied seat is. However, even though Inerma had left, the atmosphere in the knighthood didn’t sink too much.

Iris and Erica did express some worrying remarks once or twice, but that was it. According to them, since it was her own choice to leave the castle, she must have had her reasons, and they respected that.

When I lightly teased them, asking why they didn’t show such respect when I said I would go subjugate the Headless Armored Cavalier alone, Iris’s cheeks flushed bright red.

‘Well, the case with me and Inerma is a bit different.’

I focused on leveling again. For now, the top priority was reaching level 20 and unlocking the rune slots.

Even now, if I wanted to, I could progress the main story or fight bosses and mobs, but I chose the safe path over the quick one.

This wasn’t a speedrun, and even if I cleared it faster, there was no one to praise me. Moreover, I only had one life. I didn’t want to take unnecessary risks when there was a safe path laid out.

After that, I counted the days until the mobs respawned, and only after a full day had passed was I able to reach the long-awaited level 20.

I used the stat points to raise Magic Power to 10, and with the remaining one, I raised Endurance. There was no need to invest much in this, and I just needed to raise it to 7 later to wield the weapon I wanted.

Now all that was left was to wait for Iris to mention the dungeon where the runes were located. Even if I went to the dungeon before she mentioned it, it wouldn’t be open anyway.

This was almost like a forced event where the player had no right to refuse.

Considering that the Silver Dawn Knights route itself was a story for newbies who were just starting Brightest Darkness 4, it was better to have such guidance on what to do one by one.

“Sister, please don’t bother Mr. Newbie. What are you doing clinging on to him since this morning?”

On the evening of the day I reached level 20, Erica sighed deeply, seeing Lizé tightly clinging to my side as we headed to the dining hall.

Lizé, unconcerned, poked my cheek with her finger.

“Cling on to him? I’m servicing him with my whole body. Look. The newbie likes it too. Right, newbie?”

“Yeah, yeah. I like it, so let’s hurry to the dining hall.”

They say humans are adaptable creatures. Fortunately, I had also developed some resistance to the physical contact Lizé had been doing.

Regardless of my true feelings, I had reached the point of being able to respond nonchalantly, pretending to be unfazed, unlike before when it was evident that I was flustered.

‘I still can’t get used to the difference between her appearance and personality though.’

Lizé had a cold and aloof impression, as if not a single drop of blood would come out even if pricked with a needle, as long as she kept her mouth shut. Rather, such behavior seemed to suit Erica more.

‘If I said that to Erica, she would hit me.’

In fact, the way Erica treated me like how she treated her sister was also a sign that we had become quite close.

Lizé’s actions, a mixture of aegyo and seduction, continued all the way to the dining hall. Erica, as if embarrassed by her sister’s behavior, groaned and tried to separate the two of us somehow.

Of course, it had no effect at all.

“Wow, newbie! You already have two women clinging to you? You’ve got skills?”

As we entered the dining hall, Claudia, who was chugging beer from a mug larger than her head, waved at us. Next to her were two more empty beer mugs of the same size.

‘That part is the same as the game.’

The NPC that was the original for Claudia was a huge figure whose height alone easily exceeded 2 meters according to the setting, and she had a carefree and hearty personality, always accompanied by alcohol.

Although her appearance had changed from a muscular middle-aged man with a thick beard to an androgynous beauty with slender arms and legs, unlike the other knight commanders, her personality seemed to have remained the same without any changes.

Despite that, her hair was a cute, round bob cut in a light pink color, her pupils were also light pink, and even the dolphin pants she was wearing were light pink.

“Knight Commander Claudia!”

Erica, who suddenly received the same treatment as Lizé, let out a squeal. Claudia laughed heartily, saying it was a joke, and chugged her beer again.

‘I wonder if she’s aware that’s how it really looks to other people.’

The person involved didn’t seem to notice at all, as she was too busy trying to pry Lizé off, but it was true that if someone saw the three of us from the side, it would really look like I was simultaneously with Lizé and Erica.

Lizé had noticed that long ago and smiled meaningfully while keeping quiet.

“Drink in moderation and lower your voice, Claudia. And Lizé, you should get away from the newbie now.”

Iris, who had been silently chewing on bread at the head of the table, spoke up.

The head seat was originally the seat where Claudia, the rank 1 of the Silver Dawn Knights, should sit. But she herself said that if she sat there, she felt uncomfortable and couldn’t swallow her food, so she yielded it to Iris.

Perhaps unable to refuse Iris’s words, Lizé obediently stepped back a little. Erica made an astounded expression seeing that.

‘Not eating food leads to starvation, but not eating anything doesn’t make you hungry. I wonder what kind of harmony this is.’

I picked up a piece of bread and a bowl of soup and headed to the table. Lizé had already brought seven pieces of bread and three bowls of soup and was sitting at the table, munching on them.

I also sat next to her. Our seats were almost fixed. Iris was at the head, Lizé and I were on Iris’s right side, and Erica and Claudia were on the left side.

It wasn’t specifically set for us to sit like this, but since Iris was at the head and Lizé always sat with me, it had become a rule that was taken for granted at some point.

“Ah, newbie. Wait a moment before getting up, I have something to say.”

As the mealtime, which wasn’t boring thanks to Lizé and Claudia, was slowly coming to an end, Iris suddenly spoke up. Wondering what it was, I turned my eyes to Iris.

“Do you happen to know about something called runes?”

‘Finally, it has come.’

As soon as I heard the word “runes,” I straightened my posture.

“Judging from that reaction, it seems you know.”

“To some extent.”

“Then the conversation will be quick. We plan to head to a dungeon tomorrow. A cliff on a mountain collapsed, revealing a hidden dungeon, and based on the form of the mana waves felt, there is a very high probability that runes are there. Aurora requested us to investigate.”

Iris spoke indifferently.

It was the story of the “Vitality Enhancement” rune, the first one obtained in the Silver Dawn Knights route. Because you could only enter inside after the mountainside collapsed like that and the dungeon was revealed, I had been waiting for Iris.

Runes could be considered the passive concept in Brightest Darkness 4.

Once equipped, they provided a semi-permanent buff to the character until they were replaced or removed, and the difference between having runes and not having them was truly enormous.

Even for combat fatigue alone, there were countless enhancement effects, such as increasing the total gauge, reducing the accumulated value per hit, increasing the natural recovery speed, and so on.

Especially in the Darkest Light Mod, where bosses appeared with all sorts of unreasonable patterns, the appropriate utilization of runes was practically essential.

“So, if there really are runes there, the knight commanders have already discussed and decided to give them to you.”

“To me?”

It was an unexpected statement.

In the game, of course, the player enters alone, and the knight commanders don’t move from the castle.

But here, it was obvious that we would act as a group, so I had been worried about how the ownership of the runes would be determined later, but unexpectedly, it seemed to be resolved simply. Honestly, I was a bit surprised.

Iris nodded.

“Didn’t I tell you before? We intend to provide you with the maximum support we can. This time, it can also be considered a part of that support. I can’t guarantee it will be useful since we don’t know what type of rune will appear.”

‘Ah, right. They don’t know what will come out of there.’

I had it all memorized, but there was no way they would know about concepts like consecutive playthroughs, so naturally, they would think it was random.

“Why aren’t you surprised at all? Don’t tell me you already knew what runes were too, newbie?”

Lizé, who had already devoured all the bread and soup that had been piled up, looked at me with a clean face.

I wondered how she could eat like that. She was short and had a figure with no excess fat to be found, yet where did all the things she ate go?

─Jiggle.

“……”

Somehow, I had a guess. I quickly turned my head before Lizé noticed my gaze. Judging from the giggling sound next to me, it seemed I was already too late.

Iris, who had finished speaking, got up from her seat with her empty dish and added one last thing.

“Do you have any questions, newbie?”

“No, I don’t.”

There was no way I would have any. I picked up my empty bowl and stood up.

Now it was time to go and defeat the boss that had been cursed the most in Brightest Darkness 4.

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