The day started with a rotten apple to the face.
Not metaphorically. An actual apple.
It thudded off my temple while I was hauling a barrel of carrots.
I froze, blinking in shock as the offending fruit rolled across the dirt floor like it hadn't just assaulted someone.
Laughter broke out near the vegetable racks. Three boys, maybe sixteen, all in the same rough tunics as me. They were newer, from the grain storage wing. I didn't know their names. Didn't need to.
"You dropped this, Reed," one of them snickered.
Oh good. Hazing. I was starting to feel underwhelmed by this place's sense of tradition.
I set the barrel down gently and picked up the apple.
"Thanks," I said, smiling faintly. "Bit bruised though. Like your sense of humor."
He blinked.
Then I bit into it. Loudly. Chewed. Stared him down as juice ran down my chin.
The snickering stopped.
I walked away without another word, chewing slowly, making a mental note of who laughed first.
Back in the kitchen, the ovens were roaring. The late-morning stew was behind schedule, and Maela was on the warpath.
She passed me a burlap sack. "Onions. Chop fast, chop fine."
I pulled out my knife and got to work. The system pinged just as I sliced the first one.
[Task Assigned: Tear-Free Chopping]
Objective: Chop 100 onions in 30 minutes without losing focus.
Reward: +1 Dexterity / Unlock Hidden Trait Progress
Tear-free? Are you insane? I'm not a cyborg.
The tears came fast. My eyes stung. But I pushed through, counting under my breath, rhythm in the blade. It was almost meditative. Almost.
Ten minutes in, Tarn hobbled over and slid a bowl of water toward my elbow.
"For your fingers," he muttered. "Dulls the sting."
"Thanks," I said, blinking through the blur. "Didn't know you doubled as a herbalist."
"Don't flatter me. I just hate wasting onions."
Halfway through the task, Livia appeared again. Just… wandered into the kitchen like it was a hobby.
She watched from the doorframe, arms crossed. Her golden cloak was gone — today, she wore a hunter-green riding tunic. Somehow still clean.
She tilted her head. "Why aren't you crying?"
"I'm dead inside," I said without looking up.
Maela almost choked on her ladle.
Livia stepped closer, lips pursed in amusement. "You like saying strange things, don't you?"
"Only when I have an audience."
She looked at the growing mountain of onions, then back at me. "You're fast."
"Fast learner," I muttered, letting the system ping on cue.
[Task Complete: Tear-Free Chopping]
[Reward Acquired: +1 Dexterity / Hidden Trait Progress: 2%]
[Dexterity increased to 4.]
She raised a brow, like she heard the ping too. "Reed, was it?"
"That's what they call me."
"You don't act like the others."
"That's because I'm not like the others."
She smiled, faint but sharp. "Prove it."
Before I could ask what that meant, she was gone.
After lunch, Maela passed me a basket of spoiled fruit.
"Trash heap," she said. "Compost pile behind the stables. Go."
I took it and left, grateful for the silence. The walk through the servant corridors gave me a breath of air that didn't smell like onions and sweat. Out near the compost pit, the world stretched wider — trees, gravel paths, even a sliver of sky.
I dumped the fruit, but something caught my eye behind the stables — a faint glint in the wall.
Curious, I stepped closer. A brick out of place. Looser than the others.
I looked around.
No one.
I pulled at it. With a rough twist, it popped free, revealing a narrow, empty space behind. Nothing inside. Just a cavity in the wall.
But someone had hollowed this out.
A hiding place? Smugglers? Notes?
I replaced the brick and made a note of the spot.
[Location Discovered: Hidden Cache Slot]
[Update: World Awareness +1]
I headed back to the kitchen, but a flicker of movement near the barn caught my eye — a young girl in gray rags, barely ten, struggling to push a water bucket twice her size. Her arms were shaking.
This place breaks people early.
I walked over, took the handle without a word, and helped her drag it to the washing area.
She didn't say thank you. Just stared like no one had helped her before.
That was enough.
Later, I found Tarn sitting near the kitchen steps, mending a torn shoe.
"You been here long?" I asked, sitting beside him.
He didn't look up. "Long enough."
"What was your name, before?"
He paused.
"Doesn't matter. Names don't follow you here. You wear the one you're given."
"That ever bother you?"
"No," he said. "But it should bother you. That's how you stay human."
We sat in silence for a minute.
Then he added, "Keep your real name close. Even if no one else knows it."
I nodded. Jeong Dae-Hyun. I'm not giving it up.
That night, while scrubbing pots, one of the new servants tripped and spilled a bucket of dishwater.
Bran saw it. And stormed over, belt already unclipping.
The boy flinched.
And I—moved before I could think.
"I knocked the bucket," I said.
Bran froze, eyes narrowing.
The boy looked at me like I was mad.
Bran grabbed my arm. "That true?"
I nodded. "Clumsy. Sorry."
He stared me down. Then shoved me back.
"Clean it. All of it. And the next ten."
Could've been worse.
The boy mouthed "thank you" later. I just shrugged.
Keep the favor. I might need it.
Before sleep, I lay on my cot and checked the system menu.
[Status Update – Reed / Jeong Dae-Hyun]
Strength: 4
Dexterity: 4
Willpower: 6
Stamina: 3
Endurance: 3
Intelligence: 5
Favor (Maela): 3
Favor (Bran): 0
Favor (Livia): 2
Perks: Fast Learner I
Hidden Traits: 2% unlocked
I closed the screen.
Today was nothing. Just a few onions, a noble's attention, a hidden brick, a small kindness, and a tiny choice that made someone else safer.
But tiny choices add up.
And this world? It's starting to notice me.
That's exactly what I want.