Chapter 5: Smiling Through the Pain.

Chapter 5: Smiling Through the Pain. I’m fucked either way. That realization settled in my gut like a cold stone. Still... I couldn’t help but laugh. "Ha ha ha." I curled my lips into a grin. "The world really is interesting." Not in a good way. But I’ve never been one to take it easy anyway. Sure, I might’ve had a minor breakdown earlier—you know, the usual transmigrator panic. Oh no! I reincarnated as the worst character! What should I do? Yeah. That was me. But screw it. I’m not going to sit around while some Duke or an intergalactic alien viper decides to off me. If I’m going to die, I’ll at least die doing something—anything—rather than rotting like discarded trash. And yeah. Before I go out, I need to punch that bastard Noah. That guy built this world. He created this hellhole. He made the protagonist after himself—same name, same personality and same annoying moral compass. How could I not punch the clone of my best friend in the face? Especially after giving himself a Unique-Rank Class straight out of a power fantasy wet dream. And what did I get? A Jester class. Nope. I’m not letting him win. I’ll surpass him. I’ll find whoever brought me here. And maybe... just maybe... If that bastard Noah is still alive— I’ll get my answers. But that’s for the endgame. Right now? I’ve got a Class Quest to survive. Specifically—The Forest of Unmasked. I dug through my memories. The book didn’t give much detail. Barely a paragraph. But the game? That I remembered. I asked Noah lots of questions before designing the game. And unlike many lazy worldbuilding authors, Noah had everything. Even the small details. He gave me a whole file which included all kinds of details about the world. From small monsters to God level threats. His worldbuilding went beyond normal. It was too complicated and detailed. I didn’t change anything about the forest from the details he gave. We kept it brutal. People hated it. "Unbalanced." "Unfair." "Sadistic." I called it... fun. And because of that, I remember a lot more than I probably should. So I have the upper hand. _ After having some more villainous monologues, I decided to check information about my current class. Jester. I need to check my skills and flaws. The first thing was obviously a flaw. _ [Flaw] → Trickster’s Face Description: Whenever the Trickster experiences fear, anger or grief—they smile—regardless of what they’re truly feeling. _ Ah. So that’s why I’ve been grinning like a maniac all day. Still, it’s not that bad. Just some smiling. Great. So I’ll be smiling while bleeding out and they’ll just assume I’m enjoying the pain. Perfect. Well at least I ain’t turning into some Gorilla or something. So that’s a plus. I just hope my flaws don’t evolve with my class. Now for the main part. Let’s see what skills I have. __ [Registered Skills] ∟Flexible Frame → Type: Passive Effect: Increases muscle flexibility and joint responsiveness. Grants minor resistance to restraints and body locks. __ ∟Poker Face → Type: Passive Effect: Conceals emotional state, heartbeat and micro-expressions from most detection skills. Makes the lies more believable. __ ∟Minor Strength Enhancement Type: Active Rank: F Effect: Boost the strength by a small amount for 5 minutes. Cooldown: 3 Minutes. __ Okay. So, useless again. None of the skills I had were really useful. The last one seemed just barely useful. Minor Strength Enhancement. Five minutes is a long time if I’m clever about it. Maybe enough to kill something before it kills me. Still, it wasn’t something on the level of overpowered. So how the hell was I supposed to survive the Forest of Unmasked like this? My lips curled into a smile unconsciously. It wasn’t because I was happy. Nope. Instead I was boiling with rage against this fucking world. But my flaw was activated, making me smile. I have three months. I will think about something by then. First, let’s settle my first death flag. I had an idea why my father called me. It was probably to check what kind of class I awakened. It would save me from immediate execution but assassination was a completely different subject. I need to take care of that. One problem at a time. Let’s go meet the old man. __ I pulled myself up from the massive bed. I felt strange. First order of business? Freshen up. I entered the door towards the far end of the room. It was the bathroom. And honestly it was absurd. Marble floors. Floating crystal lights. Even the goddamn soap looked expensive. I stood in front of the massive mirror and for a second—I just stared. ...Well, shit. This is me. This is me now. Black hair, a little messy but perfectly so, like I paid a stylist to make it look accidental. Red eyes—deep and blood-colored, glowing faintly. Sharp jawline, smooth pale skin and zero acne. And tall. So much taller than I used to be. I was—dare I say it—handsome. Like a punchable protagonist-level handsome. If I saw myself walking down the street back on Earth, I’d assume I was either an anime villain or a K-drama lead who owned five companies and secretly fought demons on the weekend. I was handsome in my previous life as well. But this? Another level. "Rael Von Ashborn, huh," I muttered, turning my face left and right. "You smug, stupid bastard. At least you have good genes." Honestly, this body was the one thing the universe got right. Shame it came with a death timer, assassination targets and a personality flaw that made me smile while dying. I washed my face in silence, ran a towel through my hair and glanced at myself one last time. My expression? A calm and confident smirk. Perfect. "Alright," I muttered. Time to negotiate my death. One last deep breath and I left the bathroom. Time to face my father. Time to bluff for my life. ____ Author’s Note: So yeah. Our boy Rael’s got a Class no one’s heard of, a flaw that makes him smile while suffering and skills that scream background character #12. But he does have sarcasm, trauma and just enough brain cells to bluff his way into a promotion or a grave. Next stop: negotiation with the old man. Expect tension, manipulation, and maybe a little sibling chaos. Also yes, the Jester class isn’t useless. Not entirely. (Just misunderstood. Like most clowns.) See you next Chapter~ P.S. If you’re enjoying the story, do drop a comment or power stone so Rael doesn’t cry alone in a corner. He’ll still smile but... you know his flaw.