"I'm.....I'm Wen Hanzhi...."
I was in disbelief.
Wait...Wen Hanzhi may have had a horrible reputation, but if I play my cards right, I could live this rich my whole life! Considering how Wen Hanzhi and Wen Shouyi are still at the dukedom, the main storyline hasn't started yet! I can change my fate! After all, anything is better than my past life...
Just as Wen Hanzhi started feeling optimistic about his situation, Wen Shouyi started her abuse.
Although a reputable noblewoman, Wen Shouyi was not so kind to her older brother, unlike how she is with others.
"YOU FUCKING LOSER, MOTHER AND FATHER HAVE GIVEN YOU SO MUCH TIME TO GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, AND THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT THEIR KINDNESS! YOU WENT OUT AGAIN DRINKING WITH THOSE HOOLIGANS, HAVEN'T YOU? DO YOU HAVE NO SHAME? IF I COULD HAVE MY WAY, YOU WOULD'VE BEEN OUT OF THIS HOUSE SINCE...since..."
Wen Shouyi trailed off, her eyes mixed with a sense of regret and grief, which allowed Hanzhi to finally say something.
"H-hey, Shouyi, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to go out drinking again. I totally understand my actions now, and after much time reflecting, I will now be different."
The best course of action here is to apologize to Shouyi. She's a powerful character, and she hates me enough as it is. I need to get on her good side if I want to live a comfortable life here. Everything should be fine, after all, I was able to easily gain her favor in the game!
"...."
"S-Shouyi?"
Shouyi glared at me, sending shivers down my spine. I tried to smile, but it may have come out wrong, as she then immediately went to punch me in the face.
BAM
I could feel Shouyi's anger in her punch, as my jaw was hit, with it feeling like it was dislocated. My entire body flung to the ground, hitting the ground hard, with intense pain everywhere, despite only being hit in the face.
My head pounded, vision swirling, and ears ringing like crazy. My face was also starting to become numb.
Wh-What's happening? Was Shouyi always this strong at the beginning of the game? She shouldn't be this strong yet...unless...Am I just this weak?
Hanzhi's hypothesis was very much confirmed after looking down at his body and seeing how skinny he was. No muscle at all. And it wasn't much help that he was a certified alcoholic.
Shouyi looked down at the now shriveled-up Hanzhi. She laughed, an ear-piercing laugh that echoed throughout the room.
"I had wanted to do that for so long! Look at how pathetic you look now, getting a taste of your own medicine? I should have done this a long time ago, but I didn't want to go against Mother's or Father's wishes."
Hanzhi tried to talk, but nothing came out of his mouth.
"You reek of alcohol. If I were you, I would immediately change out of those disgusting clothes and actually wear something proper. Mother and Father would like to talk with us in an hour, so if you come in wearing those... I might actually end you."
Shouyi then glared at me one last time before confidently leaving the room, leaving the doors wide open. Her heels clacked on the ground, sending even more shivers down my spine...
That...had not gone to plan...at all...
***
After some time contemplating whether or not this life was better than his last life, Hanzhi concluded that he'd rather be rich and abused, rather than dirt-poor in a shed with wifi.
Okay, maybe I should just ignore Shouyi for now and just focus on getting on Hanzhi's mother and father's good sides. They seem to still hold a lot more patience for their little boy after all. Even in the game, when Hanzhi ends up dying at the player's hands, his parents still tried to throw him a lavish funeral, which only didn't happen because of Shouyi's recommendation to have that money be given to the player instead, saying that sponsoring the player would bring in great benefits for the family. Hanzhi's funeral was postponed, and it just ended up never happening.
Hanzhi was basically completely fucked over by his sister and the player.
"I wonder why she hates me so much though...I don't believe it was ever mentioned in the game's storyline, and even if you maxed out her affection levels, she barely talked about it."
Just then, I realized that I still had to get dressed in a proper outfit before meeting Hanzhi's parents. I very much so did not want another beating.
Walking over to Hanzhi's...or...more now like my wardrobe, I opened the doors to see dozens of expensive-looking outfits. The outfits were all super flashy, with gold embroidered on everything.
"Gee, these all look like something a pretend mob boss would wear, where the hell are any of the normal clothes?"
I rummaged through the outfits, trying to find something decent to wear, until I finally landed on what seemed to be an okay outfit.
It was a black suit with a red tie that had the family's crest on it. I quickly stripped and hastily put on the suit. I never really wore these types of things before, as I never had the opportunities to, but considering all of that, I was able to fit them quite alright. I luckily saw the scattered Oxfords on the ground that the original Hanzhi had thrown on the floor the night before, and put them on my feet, and then, I hurriedly left out through the door.
***
The hallways were beautiful, yet extremely empty, but they still showed off the power of the Wen's household.
The white marble floors shone brilliantly, with large curved windows showing off the estate's massive land. Looking outside, the flowers were still blooming gorgeously out in the garden.
If the flowers are still blooming, this means that I still have at least a couple more months before the main story starts, which takes place at the beginning of the fall. And considering how Hanzhi's parents summoned both Hanzhi and Shouyi, knowing full well of their poor relationship, they must have something extremely important to say. Even looking at myself and Shouyi, we both also seem to be around eighteen....eighteen....I was also eighteen before I transmigrated here...does this have anything to do with my situation? Anyway, putting all of this together, I'm certain that the main game should start soon, likely in a couple of months.
Lost in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed that I had walked into an unrecognizable hallway.
"Huh?.... Where am I? This hallway definitely wasn't in the game before..."
Because I was so obsessed with 100% the game, I knew maps and important locations of this world like the back of my hand, and the Wen's household was no exception.
To max out Shouyi's affection level and side story rewards, I was constantly navigating the Wen household. Was this hallway an area that the original player wasn't allowed to see or something? Why did the game expand?
"Uhhhh, hello? Is anybody here?"
.....No reply...what was I expecting? But....were the hallways always this quiet? I mean, I know most servants avoided Hanzhi's room, and even the entire floor before his death and months after, but this has to be an over-exaggeration.
"If this keeps going on, I'll get a beating again for being late!"
I swiftly turned another corner, and just then, I had finally found a maid!
She was a bit shorter than the last maid, but she also had her hair up in a neat bun. Not only was she shorter, but also younger; in fact, she looked even younger than me! She hummed distractedly while cleaning the windows that were more than triple her height.
"Uhhh, hey, so do you-"
"Hm? UhHahHHHhAhH"
I had tried to ask her as politely as possible, knowing my reputation and my messed-up face that only had Shouyi to blame, but she still screamed and tripped over her own feet. It seemed that my efforts were in vain.
She gawked at me, obviously scared out of her mind.
"Ummm, so, do you know where the dining room is? I need to get there, like, right now. You can just point the direction out for me."
She looked at me, her eyes full of confusion and caution, and then she slowly pointed straight ahead towards another hallway that turned to the right, her hands still shaking.
"Okay, thanks...So like, go straight and then take a turn? Does that lead me to the stairs?"
She quickly nodded, and then scrabbled away like a little mouse, forgetting the rag and bucket of water she was using to clean the windows.
Although she didn't lead me directly to the dining room, I knew how to get from the stairs to the dining room, so I quickly walked down the corridors and stairs to the first floor, where the dining room was.
It's.... weird. The manor felt so much more full and lively when I was playing as the main character.
That was one of the reasons why I was so obsessed with the game. Even NPCs felt like real people, and although a fictional character, their warmth still reached my heart. I then wondered if I would recognize any of the other servants of the manor.
My heart ached a bit as I thought of all the people I had met so far, their eyes full of negative emotions, but I suppose these things weren't very different from my old life.
I should be used to these things by now.
My thinking stopped right after I stood in front of the dining room's doors.
So this is it, huh...I have to do well here and make sure that Hanzhi's parents know that he's turned a new leaf.
"hahhh..."
I took a deep breath...and then opened the large, towering doors.