"Welcome back, Host."
The monotonous female voice woke Naomi from her sleep. Eyes of gray slowly opened, long eyelashes fluttering like the soft tremble of butterfly wings.
The world was white. No matter where she looked, she could not spot a speck of color, giving it a rather calm but dull atmosphere. Eyebrows knitting, she realized with a confused frown that she was floating mid-air, her feet touching nothing solid beneath.
Contrary to other people's reactions, she wasn't alarmed. Rather, she only felt disoriented. It was as if the entire world shifted under her feet but left her unmoved, creating a sense of unease as the things surrounding her felt strange and familiar at the same time.
Opening her chapped lips, she asked through a dry throat, "Where am I?"
"After successfully completing the Eleventh circle, known as 'The Monster Duke Who Loved Me', you are now eligible to enter the Twelfth circle."
Naomi blinked her eyes, her head tilted, eyebrows furrowing. Eleventh circle? The Monster Duke Who Loved Me?
Suddenly, different scenes flashed through her mind. Like a dam breaking through, the memories rushed to her head as if it was water flooding everything in its vicinity, unapologetic and tremendous. Naomi could not do anything but allow herself to be drowned, heart lodged in her throat.
The Monster Duke Who Loved Me was a popular novel that centered around the love of the female lead, who was the precious princess of the empire. She was in love with the Crown Prince of the neighboring kingdom. However, at that time, the princess was engaged to the Duke of the empire—known as the Monster Duke of the North—which had caused a hindrance to her love for the Crown Prince.
The Duke's unsavory reputation led the princess to believe he was a cruel and ruthless man. From the very start, she had been opposed to her future marriage to him, so she didn't feel guilty when she fell helplessly in love at first sight with the Crown Prince. It wasn't long before the princess successfully broke her engagement with the Duke and married the Crown Prince instead, but her marriage to him was not a happy one.
Although the Crown Prince treated the princess with utmost kindness, so did he treat everyone else. Meaning: he never treated the princess with special regards, and only treated her with utmost courtesy one befitting a royalty. The worst part was the Crown Prince having countless of lovers despite being married. He didn't take an official mistress, but he constantly and shamelessly cheated on the princess to the point he caused many scandals throughout their marriage.
The princess was devastated when she found out about his infidelity and soon after, died of a broken heart, filled with nothing but regrets, sorrow, and vengeance. But then, to her surprise, she suddenly found herself waking up to the past after her death.
By some miracle, she had returned to the past, and with that, she gained the power to make things right in her second chance at life. During this time, she noticed the Duke's sincerity and love for her, and so, she chose to marry him instead.
Naomi grimaced to herself the moment the memories slowly trickled into a stop.
The book was highly recommended because of its cheesy, romantic (read: cliché) scenes, and the Duke's rather dashing appearance. Of course, no woman could resist the allure of a man who was loyal and sweet to them, but cold and curt to everyone else. It was the biggest selling point of the novel.
Naomi would be lying if she said she hated it because she did enjoy reading the book. Living in it though, was a total nightmare.
"Glad that's done and over with," Naomi muttered to herself, wiping her face with the palm of her hand.
Clearing the Eleventh circle had been a pain to deal with, but it was worth clearing it to reach the Twelfth circle.
Eleven—eleven lives she had to live, eleven bodies she had to take, and eleven identities she had to play.
Naomi thought she'd gotten used to being a Traveler—a being capable of entering into the world of novels and becoming one of its characters.
She hadn't always been this way. She used to be an untethered soul, an existence without a body and without a world to tether herself to. It made her a phantom with the ability to wander through countless of different realities and different times, neither dying nor living—just existing for the mere sake of it.
She did not know how she came to be or why she had been created this way. She did not even know what she was until the System popped into existence.
"Compute the rewards of the Eleventh circle, please," Naomi called out, yawning tiredly.
"Computing the Reward Points in the Eleventh circle for the Host," the System complied to Naomi's request.
The System was fair and generous; it awarded her points for every circle she cleared, and gave her penalties for the rules she broke. It gave her missions and tasks to complete. After completing said tasks, it even gave her the option to live through a world until the body she inhabited died a natural death.
A series of flashing words and numbers popped up in front of her, shining brightly like neon signs. Naomi squinted her eyes as she read the following statements.
[MAIN MISSION: Seduce the Male Lead (NOAH CALLISTO) and stop the engagement between him and the Female Lead (AURORA NELLIS) | COMPLETE: 50,000 REWARD POINTS]
Naomi's grimace dug deep as a series of unnamed emotions surged up within her, making her heart swell uncomfortably inside her chest. She closed her eyes and attempted to steady her breathing, painstakingly ripping those emotions apart to throw them behind a wall she erected firmly around herself.
It took a moment for her to recover from the sudden onslaught of feelings, and remember everything in an objective lens.
In the book, she transmigrated into the body of the Crown Prince's younger sister, the princess named Naomi Constance.
For some reason, Naomi only transmigrated into the bodies of novel characters who had the same name as she did. She called them the Original, referring to their original character designs. It was a way for her to separate herself from them, since upon transmigration in the circles, she would not only be able to inhabit their bodies but also inherit their memories as well, as if the bodies and identities were her own.
Naomi didn't want to confuse herself with the original character written in the books. She was herself before she transmigrated. She would remain as such afterwards. She wasn't some ordinary human or character in the circles, she was a Traveler. There was a difference.
It was also out of respect for the original characters—the original Naomi in the novels—as they, too were their own persons before she entered the circles, possessed their bodies, and "stole" their identities.
It felt much like being an actress. Naomi was the person behind the character while the Originals were the characters she portrayed.
In the Eleventh circle, the Original had been vain, impulsive, and spoiled. She was considered as the kingdom's most beloved existence because not only was she the first princess born in nearly a century, but she was born sickly as well, so they often indulged her nasty and spoiled attitude.
In the female lead's first life, the Original constantly instigated fights with her in public to lower her reputation among the nobility. She would also often make plots and schemes where the female lead would catch the Crown Prince with other women, making her suffer even more.
The Original disliked the female lead because she was in love with the male lead, the Duke, who constantly rejected her due to his "pure love" for the female lead. As such, when the female lead came back to the past, she plotted against the Original. Since the princess was the female lead, she succeeded, causing the Original to retreat from the nobility and upper-class society.
The Original never appeared after her defeat. It was implied at the end of the novel that, after her older brother's failed attempt of a rebellion against the empire, she fled to the Monastery to escape for her life and died there of old age.
To be frank, if it weren't for the fact she had to complete the main mission, she would rather she stayed away from the main leads—the male lead in particular.
Considering what happened, maybe it was better to stay away from him and ignore the mission, although it wouldn't be possible. She wouldn't be in a mess inside, her emotions causing havoc and her heart torn apart, if it weren't for him.
But no, she wasn't going to think about that. It was a road she refused to dwell on.
[SIDE MISSION: Prevent the war between the Empire of Strava and the Kingdom of Honorelia. | COMPLETE: 20,000 REWARD POINTS. BONUS: 10,000 REWARD POINTS]
Naomi's grimace dug deeper as she remembered the painstaking politics and plot maneuvering she had to do in order to stop that disaster from occurring.
Unfortunately, The Monster Duke Who Loved Me was not only about a princess torn between love and revenge. There was also war and bloodshed involved.
In the original story, after her death in her first life, the princess came back to a time when she already broke her engagement with the Duke and agreed to marry the Crown Prince. It was for the sake of an alliance between the empire and the kingdom.
Knowing the outcome of that marriage, the female lead made dozens of attempts to break the engagement, even enlisting the help of the Duke, her ex-fiancé, who eventually agreed since he had always loved her (albeit quietly, according to the novel). Both of the main leads were successful with their schemes, falling in love with each other in the process, and they got married at the end.
But it was at the cost of the empire.
The Crown Prince—who had been spurned countless of times by the female lead—grew obsessed with her as a result. Propelling him into the role of the novel's villain, he began coveting and possessing the princess, which made him more despicable to her eyes. So, after the princess and the Duke got married, the Crown Prince promptly lost his mind and decided the next course of action was to simply declare war against the Empire of Strava.
It was a war lasting for nearly three years with countless of meaningless and pointless deaths.
Of course, since the princess and the Duke were the main characters of the book, they survived. The Duke even managed to kill the Crown Prince, earning him the title of a hero among the people, which made him lose the reputation of a monster. Afterwards, his and the female lead's love flourished and they became the leaders of a new nation.
A beautiful end, right?
Not.
So many people lost their lives because of the princess' fickle nature and in the end, while the main characters won, thousands of people didn't.
It was no wonder the System gave her such mission.
[HIDDEN MISSION: Prevent the awakening of the Villain (KENJIE CONSTANCE) | INCOMPLETE: ZERO REWARD POINTS]
Naomi stared at those words.
Ah, the Crown Prince, her older brother in the Eleventh circle. She tried plenty of times to divert his attention from the princess using different women. She planned coincidental meetings, dates, events, and festivals. She had done what she could to turn his destiny around and prevent his obsession with the female lead.
At first, it worked, but when the princess showed her intense dislike for the Crown Prince—when it had been an open secret she was in love with him—Naomi could not stop his obsession that soon followed. It was almost instantaneous, as if it was written in the stars.
In the end, Naomi resorted to do the extreme, which meant enlisting the help of the female lead, regardless of their frosty relationship. She figured, with the princess' main lead halo, the princess would have no problems handling her older brother.
Who would've thought the female lead would conspire to kill him in the end?
The Crown Prince truly did a number to the female lead's psyche. With no Duke to counter the poison filling the female lead's heart, she no longer felt guilt and hired professional assassins to kill the Crown Prince. She succeeded, which meant Naomi had failed the hidden mission.
Naomi didn't really care for the Crown Prince although she played the part of his sister. As harsh as it might've sounded, she could hardly care when the Crown Prince had treated her like shit. They might be siblings, but they hardly had a good relationship due to the Crown Prince's inferiority complex and her "spoiled" attitude.
So, she wasn't sad when he died; she was sad she lost the points. Although it wasn't as important as the main mission, the points she lost were still great. It was such a waste.
[MINOR QUESTS COMPLETED: 8/20 | 800 REWARD POINTS]
Minor quests were simply small missions that would earn Naomi the favor of the minor but impactful characters in the novels. She knew this was as important as the main mission, since completing quests meant earning the characters' loyalty. It meant she had allies to trust and friends to conspire with. With their loyalty ensured, she could basically do whatever she wanted considering the connections she formed with them.
In the Eleventh circle, Naomi only completed quests relevant to the main mission. To do that, she needed a lot of the novel's key players on her side, hence the eight completed minor quests. They were part of the reason why she had succeeded in completing the main and side missions in the first place.
[TOTAL POINTS AWARDED: 80,800 POINTS. NO SPECIAL ITEMS GIVEN.]
Naomi frowned as she looked over the notification. No special items this time? That was a bit disappointing. Hopefully, she would reap better rewards in the next circle.
"Congratulations for completing the Eleventh circle, Host," said the System.
"Couldn't have done it without you," she replied, watching in satisfaction as the points were added to the ones she already acquired from the previous circles.
As always, she used these points to increase her attributes—where one point was equivalent to a thousand reward points—and buy special items from the Store, so she could bring something in the next circle.
She didn't like to enter a new circle without being prepared. There were so many things that could go wrong when entering a new circle. She learned the hard way when she'd been nearly poisoned in the Fifth circle, causing her to nearly die. The System told her later she almost failed if she hadn't pulled through and lived.
If she died without finishing or completing the main mission, it was simply Game Over for her. The other missions, she could disregard, but never the main mission. She didn't even want to think of what would happen if she had truly failed.
Would she be punished? Would the System revoke her privileges and rewards? Would she go back to being a phantom, forced to be in the sidelines and never become a human again?
Naomi simply did not want those likely scenarios to happen. Once she was finally done completing her main mission in the Fifth circle, she bought a bundle of points just to increase her attributes and bought special but affordable items to enhance her own skill set.
"Hm, should I increase my attributes for the next circle, System?" Naomi wondered out loud, looking up as if a physical body of the System would manifest to answer her.
She had the urge to save the points she was awarded, considering this was the first time she'd ever been given such high payment. When she first started, she was only awarded a thousand points. As she progressed to higher level circles, the more missions and rewards were given to her. She wasn't going to lie, it felt good to know her efforts were being rewarded.
"It is recommended," the System helpfully answered her.
Naomi pursed her lips. "Increase my luck by 5 points."
[-5,000 REWARD POINTS]
[LUK: 58/100]
[CURRENT REWARD POINTS: 88,600 POINTS]
"Also add 10 points to my charisma."
[-10,000 REWARD POINTS]
[CHR: 78/100]
[CURRENT REWARD POINTS: 78,600 POINTS]
"Buy 10 health potions and 10 strength potions."
[-2,500 REWARD POINTS]
[ADDED 10 (HEALTH POTIONS) and 10 (STRENGTH POTIONS) INTO THE INVENTORY]
[CURRENT REWARD POINTS: 76,100 POINTS]
"Hmm... add 10 points to strength as well."
Since it was the part of her attributes that was clearly neglected. Naomi hadn't obviously meant to. To compensate her lack of strength, she often resorted to Strength Potions. However if she wanted to upgrade her attributes and survive high-tier circles, she had to increase all of them.
She knew she couldn't afford to be physically weak. If she was, there was a possibility she would put her life at risk. She didn't want to endanger herself, but there would be risky situations she would have to go through.
[-10,000 REWARD POINTS]
[STR: 44/100]
[CURRENT REWARD POINTS: 66,100 POINTS]
Naomi looked through her current attributes and nodded her head, content with her current numbers. As much as she wanted to spend more points, it was better to save some. What if another item was available for her to buy? Most of the items were quite expensive.
If she wasn't spending real money, she would've accused the System of being corrupt.
"Close the Information Panel, and open the Store."
Once her Information Panel disappeared, another holographic panel opened in front of her. She hummed lightly under her breath, one finger tapping her chin, while her other hand touched the panel and scrolled down the lists of items.
Most of them were a variety of potions, from temporarily increasing one of her attributes to detoxifying poisons. Some were one-time purchase skills she could only use in one circle; while others could be used permanently. There were also special abilities she could buy and add to her roster, except their prices were ridiculously high.
Once Naomi determined there wasn't anything new to buy—or at least, ones she could afford anyway with the points she had right now—she closed the Store panel.
The box faded, the glowing letters disappearing. Naomi hadn't realized she was staring so much at the letters that once it vanished, it left her vision with black spots she blinked away. Once her vision cleared, she looked around her for a moment.
Once she finished a circle, Naomi always returned to this white plane. All alone in a world of white, and she remained the one with color.
Accepting the System meant she could no longer carelessly and freely wander to the living realm whenever she liked. Now, there were limitations to her movements. Therefore, her only access to the living was accepting the missions in the circles.
She didn't mind. Before the System, she could not talk or interact with others. She couldn't feel even the slightest bit of happiness, nor sorrow. She could only watch as others lived, as empty as a barren of land. At least with the System, she could truly live.
She was able to talk to someone and walk on her own feet. She was able to feel the warmth of the sun on her skin and the drops of rain as it poured. She had the chance to live, to find joy, and to feel sorrow. She had no empty space to fill when she was now full.
She could even choose to grow old in a circle, even with no more missions to complete.
But Naomi hardly chose the option to stay, immediately deciding to leave once her missions were complete.
The only time she was tempted to stay was...
Naomi sighed quietly to herself, tucking the flash of his image with care behind the firm wall in her mind.
Well, there was no point staying in those circles to grow old there and die. It was better to move on and never look back, refusing to give an opportunity to form connections for herself.
Forming connections meant creating attachments. It meant that Naomi would have a harder time working in the other circles when she was constantly reminded of the people she loved and left behind in her previous lives.
She retained the memories and experiences she had of all of the circles she went into, and being constantly reminded of the people who were once precious to her, but could no longer see again, was devastating. This way, it would be easier for her to work in new circles if she no longer had lingering attachments to the previous ones.
What was the point of staying to love someone when she could not see them after they died and she lived forever? What was the point when she could no longer meet them again regardless of how many lives she'd go through? What was the point of making memories when it would only serve to hold her back? What was the point of making a family when she was the only one who could move forward?
"I made the right choice," Naomi spoke quietly to herself, steeling her soft heart. There was no point dwelling in what-ifs. She had work to do. Breathing deeply through her nose and ignoring the hollow ache in her chest, she looked up and ordered, "System, give me the information about the Twelfth circle."
"Very well, Host," said the System, always so polite and calm.
Not a moment later, there was a flash of white that nearly blinded Naomi.
The glow faded and revealed a nondescriptive book floating in front of her face. The cover was a woman looking straight at the viewer with large doe eyes of sea green. Waves of blond hair framed her oval-shaped face, which aided her in looking youthful and demure.
She was undeniably attractive; therefore, she was, without a doubt, the female lead of the novel.
Naomi took the book and flipped it open to begin reading.