First Career

「Welcome [Prince] to Carnation Village.」

「Forge your path and conquer the bosses of the Royalties.」

「Your career now is an orphan. Your first task is to get rid of that career and be someone remarkable!」

「Increase your rank and reputation through mastering your careers.」

「The higher your rank in your career will give you the highest chance to meet the subordinates of the bosses.」

「Remember: Your goal is to fight away the loneliness in their hearts and lit the passion of love hidden deep in them.」

「Do your best [Prince]. You are a flower that will bloom and stand side-by-side with these bosses.」

「Good luck.」

Frinces blinked her uneven yet alluring eyes.

Those reminders quickly dissipated into thin air. The familiar feeling made her frown. The reminders were akin to a sailing boat already far away, slowly merging into the horizon.

Frinces rubbed her nose and observed the place where the System transported her.

A bustling village met her eyes. The people go here and there with different emotions on their faces. She saw an old lady, who seemed to be an NPC, approaching her direction. Concern and worries were evident on her wrinkled face.

"Prince! You child… Are you really not taking the knight's examination? You are already 20; this is the last chance for you to take an examination."

"Poor child. I know you've been alone all your life, but it's not right to waste your life into nothingness."

Frinces blinked. Why would she need to take an examination to be a knight?

"Ah," she gasped in astonishment. Is this where the story starts? But for a girl like her, isn't it unrealistic to be a knight?

She's not discriminating.

The usual plot would always put the females on a weaker side, like being a concubine, a maid, an idol, or anything that embellished the feminine side of the character. Characters could also be a strong-willed woman who was actually fragile and needed protection from the leading men.

Is this really a dating game?

The thought that has been appearing in her mind resurfaced.

Frinces was oblivious of the fact that player's appearances needed to coincide with one of their ready-made vessels.

Unfortunately, for a handsome lady like her, only a male vessel, with a bit of modification to suit her gender, was available.

Maybe even female players would doubt their gender identity once they saw her.

Frinces saw a bar floating on her head. The color was yellow with the number 55. Below was the word "Affinity."

She awkwardly smiled, "Can girls join the knights?"

Since it's already there, she might as well try joining it.

The old NPC, whose name was yet to be known, looked at her suspiciously. She acted way too realistic; it would be hard to consider her as a random NPC.

"Are you looking for your prospective wife, boy?"

Boy? Did she misheard it, or did the old lady intentionally called her a boy?

"No." She shook her head as she waited for the old lady to answer.

The yellow bar blinked and showed the affinity had gone down to 51.

「Don't let your affinity drop beyond 50.」

A warning appeared in her eyes. It stayed for three seconds, then dissipated.

That's all? It did not even tell her what to do.

The old lady disappointingly sighed. "The Chief has already decided. You shall live on your own now. The village has been raising you for 20 years. Forge your path, young man."

"But I'm not a boy," Frinces mumbled in a low voice. She bitterly bit her lips.

The game was too realistic!

Recalling the events that took place in her home this morning, she realized she's been too hasty with her decisions.

Maybe it was not easy to let go of her passion.

She tried games with different genres before, but she always found herself at the bottom. Then, an otome game appeared before her eyes when she was at her lowest.

It was like a light that showed her the way out of the endless tunnel.

She just followed the light, and later on, found herself completing the game one after the other. She found herself smiling and complimenting the developers.

She drowned in the ecstasy of reaching greater heights. Once again, she fell into the pit, never able to climb back up. The light was still there, but she could not find her way out.

Maybe she was too blinded by the light. She put all her hopes to that light, neglecting the wonders that she should be able to see if only she looked around her. She only realized that the light could also be a trap that would lead her to a pit and fall.

The light was still there, seemingly telling her that it would wait for her to meet it again. But she didn't have an iron will; she's an impatient person. She would do everything she could to save herself.

That light may have been just a dream, and maybe she was sleeping. She needs to wake up.

Her way of waking up was separating herself from the game and forgetting it. She would find something practical. It was her time to face reality.

Unbeknownst to her, some people were willing to dig from the top to save her. She was just impatient. She forgot how she made a lot of people happy after following that light.

The light was there all the time to remind her not to give up.

Frinces looked into the distant nowhere. The way the old NPC talked to her depicted her life and her character's story.

'I should disappoint no one anymore. NPCs may be a program, but I'll let their aspirations come true. I can't be too bitter with life. At least I can change my life here.'

Frinces caught up to the old NPC. With a determined tone, she declared, "I'll be a knight!"

「Congratulations! You unlocked the first chapter of route no. 117: The Female Knight of Carnation」

Frinces was baffled seeing the achievement she accidentally accomplished.