Am I going to be controlled by the players too?

"You have reached the first level and received the initial blessing 'The Fool.' You can choose one of the following three blessings."

"Embark on a journey: Upon entering combat, immediately gain one stack of 'Exhilaration' (Attack Speed ​​+30%) for 5 seconds, then enter Fatigue (Attack Speed ​​-10%)."

"Random Miracle: Each of your attacks has a 5% chance to trigger a random effect (dealing 1.5x damage, restoring 5 health, or applying Freeze)."

"All or Nothing: The lower your health, the higher your critical strike chance. For every 1% of health lost, your critical strike chance increases by 0.5%."

Cheng Cheng: "..."

Isn't this a roguelike game?

I know that all too well.

For example, the Simulated Universe, Paradise of the Past, Watermoon and the Deep Blue Tree, the Explorer's Silver Edge, the Sarkaz's Endless Whispers, Rune Brawl, and the Golden Spatula were all things that Cheng Cheng had seen before.

I wonder what the roguelike gameplay is like in Fate/Immortal Crown.

It's important to understand that making a good roguelike game is very difficult. Even a masterpiece like "Gen Shen" has its flaws. For example, "Fantasy True Realm Drama" is a complete mess.

With that thought in mind, Cheng Cheng decided to "go all in" and headed towards the door on the first floor.

The bodyguard quickly followed and whispered in his ear, "Miss, the first floor is very safe, but... it's also very dirty. Please be prepared."

"dirty?"

"Yes." The bodyguard's voice carried a complex emotion. "You'll understand soon enough."

…………

After passing through the heavy steel gate, Cheng Cheng entered the first level of the underground city.

The first thing you smell is a strange sweetness mixed with the stench of urine, saccharin, rotten food, and cheap alcohol.

It was much larger than he had imagined. Instead of a gloomy maze, monsters, and treasures, it was a huge underground plaza made of cement and steel, with sparse fluorescent tubes hanging from the ceiling and puddles of water on the ground.

Under the dim light, there were tents everywhere, covered with all sorts of messy graffiti. Not far away were piles of garbage, discarded furniture and appliances, and various humanoid creatures huddled in corners.

Cheng Cheng saw a group of men standing in a circle, injecting medication into each other's arms with syringes. After one man finished, his body convulsed violently, he foamed at the mouth, and then collapsed. The people around him didn't even glance at him, continuing to pass the syringe around before collapsing as well.

They were twisted and folded at bizarre angles, motionless, as if they were about to break at any moment.

It is unknown whether they are dead or alive.

A group of people dressed as adventurers dragged a corpse past Cheng Cheng, chatting and laughing. The people queuing for free food just glanced at them coldly and then ignored them.

Just outside the gate, in the world beyond the underground city, neon lights of various colors shimmer on towering skyscrapers, and people flow by, chatting and laughing as usual.

Garbage was piled up like a mountain, with flies buzzing and circling on it. A crow landed near Cheng Cheng, tilting its head to stare at the dilapidated tent, its black beak stained with streaks of scarlet.

The bodyguard followed behind Cheng Cheng, waiting for the young lady's reaction—perhaps shock, perhaps sympathy, perhaps fear, perhaps anger.

Anyone with a conscience should be moved by this sight.

The bodyguard thought to himself.

Even if it was the young lady's request, he dared not act on his own and bring her to such a dangerous place. So he secretly contacted the master on the way—Lord Vilette, the highest judge of the kingdom.

But to everyone's surprise, the master not only didn't object, but also strongly supported the young lady coming to see such a place.

"The master said, 'Miss, you've been protected too well; you've never seen the dark side of the world. A true judge must know what suffering, despair, and injustice are.' The bodyguard thought to himself, 'Miss, I hope you see these things. I hope you understand what the 'justice' you will be upholding in the future truly is.'"

Justice is not just empty talk in aristocratic salons; it concerns the life and death of everyone.

The bodyguard believed he knew the young lady fairly well. Although her rabbit-killing incident today was a bit unexpected, she was essentially a kind and gentle girl. At this moment, she must be feeling sad and shedding tears for these miserable people at the bottom of society.

The bodyguard quickened his pace, stealing a glance at the young lady's expression—

"Wow, this is truly a fantasy world..."

Cheng Cheng looked around excitedly.

bodyguard:"???"

Bodyguard: "No, Miss, what's with all the excitement?!"

"Orcs, dwarves, goblins, centaurs, naga, trolls... how could I not be excited to see these things in person!"

Those lying on the ground, on drugs, sleeping, and being carried away, only a portion of them are human; the majority are demi-humans that only appear in various Western fantasy works!

"But where are the elves?"

In all the isekai manga I read, female elves love to sneak into the lairs of orcs and goblins, so why aren't they here?

“These are all people who have gone bankrupt and are homeless for various reasons. How could the elves of the Empire live in a place like this?” The bodyguard shook his head. “They are noble, long-lived, and healthy. They have miraculous medicines. If they go bankrupt, they can always return to the Empire. How could they possibly end up in a place like this?”

That makes sense.

Cheng Cheng continued walking forward with curiosity, while Sylvia, unusually quiet in his mind, remained as still as a block of ice.

Several orcs squatting by the roadside looked up at him—their eyes seemed to be surprised that such a beautiful young lady had come here, but then immediately turned malicious, greedily scanning Cheng Cheng from head to toe. They only lowered their heads in a hurry and continued to stare blankly at the ground after their burly bodyguard glared at them.

“We’ve been walking for so long, and all we see are homeless people and corpses. Isn’t that strange?” Cheng Cheng asked.

“The original monsters on the first floor have been cleared out,” the bodyguard said. “There are no monsters, no treasures, only these people abandoned by society. They live here and then die here—and because of the dungeon’s magic field, sometimes the dead don’t truly ‘die.’ Their corpses rise up and become the lowest-level monsters, such as zombies, slimes, sugar apples… The real ‘threat’ on the first floor is actually these.”

He paused, then looked at Cheng Cheng: "Miss, seeing all this, don't you... feel sad?"

"Sad?" Cheng Cheng was slightly taken aback. "Sad about what?"

Cheng Cheng sighed softly.

He really didn't feel anything. After all, he had seen many tragic inhabitants in games, such as the Kanriyans in "Genius" who were all cursed with immortality and turned into Hilichurls, the residents of Heguan who were cursed and trapped in an endless loop of mist, the Sarkaz in "Tomorrow's Weekly" who were infected with Oripathy and gradually turned into ore, the dead in "The Ring of the Dead" who could not truly die because the Golden Tree stripped them of their blessings, and the residents of Hallownest in "Hollow Knight" who were twisted into monsters... Did he have to feel sad for every single one of them?

This isn't reality.

Besides, the people here were only killed by the kill line. I can't even sympathize with the people in real life, let alone sympathize with game NPCs.

These people are not his compatriots. This is just a plot, a scene, a dungeon used to grind experience.

"What's there to be sad about... Look at all these people suffering here. As children of the Amber God, shouldn't we feel compassion and want to help them or something..."

“Then let me ask you,” Cheng Cheng said, “you said before that these people moved here because of bankruptcy and the Kingdom City Management Act, right?”

"Yes."

Why did they go bankrupt?

The bodyguard thought for a moment: "According to court statistics, four out of five people are there because of divorce, medical bills, student loans, and drug abuse."

"Is it just these superficial things that led to their bankruptcy? Who made the laws, who opened the hospital, and who issued the loans?" Cheng Cheng pointed to himself, "It was Sylvia...it was me, it was us nobles."

He stopped, turned around, and looked at the bodyguard. His pale red eyes seemed to hold the power of a lion.

Even though he stood in the slums of the underground city, his noble posture was like that of a king:

“Hypocritical sympathy won’t change anything. Even if everyone here is saved, as long as the system remains the same, new homeless people will keep coming here.”

"So I need to become stronger. Strong enough to overturn all rules, strong enough to eliminate all injustice—if I want to."

The bodyguard was speechless.

"Sir, you also said that Miss has been too well protected by you, that she doesn't know what hardship, despair, or injustice is." The bodyguard thought to himself, "Sir, Miss has grown up to be even more remarkable than we imagined..."

After a moment of silence, the bodyguard put aside his earlier contempt and said sincerely, "As expected of the young lady, not only is she a cultivation genius that comes along only once in a millennium, but she also sees more of this kind of thing than ordinary people. If you inherit the family, you will surely be able to make the people of the kingdom live a better life."

"No, I can't." Cheng Cheng murmured to himself in a voice only he could hear, "As long as there are people inheriting the family, as long as there are people who can remain high above for generations, the people of the kingdom can never live a better life."

He simply forgot that Sylvia could hear everything he said.

Upon hearing these words, the Sylvia in her mind seemed to understand something. The bitterness she felt when she saw those homeless people vanished, and she firmly said to Cheng Cheng, "Mr. Mambo, I understand!"

"Huh? What did you realize...?"

“The original intention of the ‘Kingdom City Management Law’ was to create beautiful and clean cities so that people could live and work in peace and contentment, but it drove the poor into dangerous underground cities,” Sylvia said. “Nobles are always like this; they seem to issue benevolent decrees, but they are nothing more than a means to exploit the people.”

“Mr. Mambo, the abilities of nobles are truly limited… From my short life, I have learned that the more nobles pretend to do good deeds, the more disaster they will bring to their people. One must become someone who surpasses the nobles.”

Wait, what? What are you trying to say...?

"I'm not going to be a noble anymore, Mambo!" Sylvia shouted in her mind, raising her little hand. "I want to transcend nobility! Hmm, it'll start by joining the Cult of the Primordial God!"

Cheng Cheng: "???"

Chapter 17, Why is it that only humans cannot be killed and eaten?

Cheng Cheng: "Wait a minute... Sylvia, do you even know what you're saying?"

If you stop being an aristocrat and run out of money, what will we eat?

“Mr. Mambo! I understand now! That’s wonderful! I’m starting to understand everything!” Sylvia exclaimed with delight, as if she had suddenly gained enlightenment. “Father’s justice is only justice in the courtroom, but the doors of the courtroom are always closed to the poor! Lawsuit documents need to be transcribed by lawyers, and court hearings also require money. The fees add up to at least three thousand credits!”

“The church gives out food to the community every week, but they also issue loans at the same time! Just like Sister Hannah that Mr. Mambo and Brother Cicero talked about, she just wanted to study, but when she signed the contract, she couldn’t understand any of the technical terms… By the time she realized she could never pay off the interest, it was too late!”

Cheng Cheng was still a little stunned: "That's true, but the Primordial God Cult..."

“Yes, the cult of the Primordial God is a bunch of lunatics. They sacrifice living people and summon demons—” Sylvia felt something burning within her. “But Brother Cicero… until the very last moment, he thought I was his ‘adopted sister.’ He told me stories of those cultists by the campfire. Many of them were retired soldiers of the Kingdom’s army, who fought monsters in the abyss, only to return to find their homes annexed, their wives divorced, their children sold, and the kingdom utterly indifferent to their plight…lunatics.”

She took a deep breath, her voice filled with resolute determination:

"What if I join them?"

“They are united by their hatred for the kingdom and the church, hoping for the arrival of the primordial demon to destroy their enemies—but this is wrong.” Sylvia said, emphasizing each word. “I have decided to reform them, to turn their attention to the real enemy—those corrupt nobles. There is no savior in this world; only they themselves can save themselves!”

Cheng Cheng: "..."

Sigh, do game characters awaken so quickly? You're a nobleman too, how can you betray your faith of over a decade in just a few words? Is that reasonable?

The game development team secretly added some side projects in this conversation, didn't they? They're really getting more and more popular.

No, that's not right.

After years of honing his skills, Cheng Cheng finally discerned the hidden information in Sylvia's words: Sylvia suggested joining the Primordial God's Cult, and in the save file from his first slaying of Cicero, Cicero left an address before his death, telling him to go to 13 Mink Street, where he could find information about the Primordial God's Cult...

Looking back now, this was a hint to trigger the next stage of the main quest!

I was wondering why there were no more main quests after the first level; turns out I had to go to the quest location to trigger them myself!

Thank you, Sylvia, thank you for reminding me of the quest.

In just two seconds, he weighed the pros and cons and his lips curled up slightly: "Since you are so aware of this, then I will lend you a hand."

"Favorability +3"

"Yes!" Sylvia nodded emphatically in agreement. "Thank you, Mr. Mambo!"

…………

What's wrong with the young lady lately...?