The Impact of the Author's Intervention on a Blank Page - Chapter 13
It made sense – it would only be a few years at most, and using a temporary body meant no harm would come to his original body.
Even if the plan failed, it would be fine. They said he could return here if the set time passed or if he showed the will to return. It was pure profit. The deal seemed almost too good to be suspicious.
‘I won’t get backstabbed later, will I?’
But the offered reward was too tempting to resist.
Ja-hyun dismissed his doubts. Somehow, it felt unnecessary to be suspicious.
Besides, there were things he wanted to try by modifying the world settings. Coincidentally, he had been digging through the data connected to the Akashic Records. The Universe’s proposal seemed so perfectly timed, it was as if they had seen his research.
‘I’ll tell brother I accepted this to add inventory to a blank star, to modify the world settings for that…’
But that wasn’t the truth.
When they announced their marriage, many people criticized his brother. He wanted to prevent that, even just a little. It wasn’t just because they were both men, but since he couldn’t fix the other reasons, he thought changing at least this might reduce the criticism his brother faced. Though his brother didn’t seem to mind much, it hurt Ja-hyun to see him become the subject of such rumors.
‘If possible, I’d like to be able to show off openly too….’
Embarrassing, but that was his true feeling.
There was something even more important too. His brother, who had started having ‘nightmares’ and showing strange behavior for the past few months. Ja-hyun had noticed his brother’s problem but stayed quiet, not wanting to upset him when he was already struggling.
The modification points were absolutely necessary to solve that problem too.
* * *
Ja-hyun looked at Grand Duke Izatrix who had come close to his side.
“I heard you collapsed right after waking up.”
The Grand Duke asking this with a cool, composed face was truly his brother Kyung-woo.
A servant standing nearby hastily answered.
“Yes, you did fall beside the bed a moment ago, but there are no other injuries… However, before that… you were coughing up blood.”
Though the Grand Duke slightly furrowed his brow, he reached out and placed his hand on Ja-hyun’s cheek as he leaned against the large pillow. Even such a simple touch felt calming.
He’d never imagined his brother as a Grand Duke, but seeing him now, it suited him perfectly. The auto-recommendation system must have gone all-in on his brother.
“The doctor?”
“They just left.”
His brother gave instructions to the servants. Perhaps due to his naturally ingrained noble posture and attitude, such behavior seemed remarkably natural.
Ja-hyun inwardly marveled at his brother Kyung-woo. Although they’d discussed preparing for this kind of world setting beforehand, he hadn’t expected him to adapt so well.
Even if Ja-hyun had woken up later due to his illness, his brother could only have awakened a few hours or days earlier at most.
‘…But isn’t he too natural at this…?’
However, that question was soon answered.
Ja-hyun tried to grab his brother’s wrist. But his paper-weak gesture merely brushed past the wrist. He had no control over his strength. His original body had been so strong and sturdy that he usually lived while restraining his strength. That made it even harder to adapt to this current body. Having to use so much energy just to grab a wrist….
But seeming to understand Ja-hyun’s intention, he extended his arm to be grabbed.
“Brother. Um… your ear…”
As Ja-hyun reached out saying this, the Grand Duke hesitated but obediently bent down. Ja-hyun spoke in a small voice near his brother’s ear so others couldn’t hear. His hoarse voice scratched his throat.
“I thought you had gone somewhere else….”
Just as Ja-hyun, relieved, was about to open his mouth to joke about being worried and lament his situation, a warning window appeared before his eyes.
[Warning! This action violates the ‘Character Settings’.]
As soon as the startled Ja-hyun closed his mouth, a system window followed.
[‘Character Settings’ guide will be automatically activated.]
Simultaneously, settings about ‘me’ and appropriate behaviors for ‘me’ flooded his mind. Unable to handle the sudden influx of information, Ja-hyun closed his eyes and lowered his head.
“Wait a moment. Is this right?”
Ja-hyun inwardly gasped as he read through the character settings.
The fake role of ‘Rijin El Izatrix,’ which this world had generated based on himself, contained some rather disagreeable settings.
Being born as an illegitimate child outside the Grand Duke’s residence, taken in as family 10 years ago, and completely trusting and depending on the affectionate Grand Duke Izatrix who treated him kindly… Well, that part was fine. It seemed to have automatically aligned with his own past.
