Side Character Who Became the Pseudo-Protagonist

Chapter 3: Pseudo-Player System

The game had to be pulling my leg.

Haha! That’s a pretty funny joke, system! You really got me with that one!

[Initializing Pseudo-Player System]

[Complete.]

[Name: Nolan Midgard]

[Eidolon Structure:]

‣Control: D

‣Processing: C

‣Output: B

‣Projection: F

‣Storage: EX

[Spell Drive Data]:

‣[Firebolt] — Tier 1 Offensive Ignition Type

‣[Boost] — Tier 1 Physical Enhancement Type

‣[Push] — Tier 1 Kinetic Displacement Type

Wha—what the hell is all this? Where the hell is the experience bar...? The stat points?!

No, screw that...if you were going to make me the protagonist, then where the hell is my overpowered starting kit?

I don’t know what any of this means!

And as if it couldn’t get any worse, the blue panel in front of me flickered, changing into a new screen.

[Pseudo-Player System does not support standard EXP acquisition.]

[Monster EXP cannot be obtained.]

[Level function unavailable.]

Then what was the point of risking my life to kill monsters?!

Ahhh...I’m so screwed...

"Gghhk—! Nolan, we need to get out of here!"

Ruby winced from my side, just barely managing to snap me out of my haze.

My eyes managed to find the wound on her leg, which was now bleeding even more badly than before.

Shit...it’s not possible to take the piece of metal out now. Just have to hope that it doesn’t rust and cause complications later.

Well, if we survive until later, that is.

"Alright, hop on my back. I’ll carry you."

I crouched down onto the floor with my back facing her. Ruby flinched, but didn’t question the decision.

She climbed up quickly, and when I made sure she was secured to my back, I started sprinting towards the staff-only corridor.

When I opened the door, the corridor on the other side led to so many branching paths that the entire place felt like a labyrinth.

Even worse, the entire place was a mess.

Debris clogged the path with sharp metal and fragments of glass, and the faint smell of smoke lingered throughout the area.

’Damn it, where the hell are all the guards? Not even a single person here?’

Trying to dig in the depths of my memories, I barely managed to remember the path towards a point of interest—the security room.

Navigating the various corridors and just narrowly avoiding getting impaled by a hanging metal spike, I made it to the security guard’s office.

"Hello?! Is anybody inside!"

No response.

Guess I’ll have to help myself.

Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked and I was able to manage to find a brief reprieve inside the room. I placed Ruby down on the floor before making sure to go back to lock the door just in case.

"Ha...ha..."

Ruby heaved in and out, clutching at her leg.

I crouched down, but realized that her wound was getting worse by the second. The skin had turned a slight purple color.

’Shit, Gate contamination? I have to do something about this...’

"Nolan...are there any...Spell Drivers around...?"

Spell Driver? Oh, that’s right...it was Pink Flags unique word for the weapon equipment slot within the game. Why the hell did they name it like that, to be special?

Ahh, regardless, I remembered this room was where the protagonist was able to access the starting equipment.

And it should be...

’Ahh, right in that storage chest!’

I hurried over to the gigantic and obviously placed tutorial chest in the corner of the room. And within it, there were two options: a bracelet and some gloves.

As soon as I brought one over, Ruby reached for the bracelet, snapping them onto her wrist. Suddenly, a strange-looking pinkish-red particle emitted from her body.

’Is that...Logos?’

[Spell Driver Initiated — Model: Sentinel-3 Bracelet]

"What are you planning to do with this?" I asked hesitantly.

"I...I know how to use a Repair Type Spell, help me...pull out the fragment..."

"That fragment is the only thing keeping you from bleeding out."

"It’ll be fine...trust me..."

I really wanted to trust her, I did! But without any disinfectant or anything to wrap her wound, how the hell was she planning to treat this?

A named character dying in front of me would be way too horrific!

Still, the only thing I could do was have faith in her.

I placed my hand on whatever was left of the fragment sticking out of her leg, giving her a small nod to signal that I was ready.

She nodded back, pressing something on the small screen located at the top of her bracelet.

"Ready?"

"Go!"

[Spell Sequence Initializing: Tier 1 Construction Repair Type—]

[Heal]

I pulled the shrapnel out of her leg, causing the wound to immediately spurt out crimson red blood.

"Gghhk—!"

But just as quickly, the same particles that had been emitting from earlier arrived at her wound. Her skin started knitting itself together, stitching and connecting like some kind of magnet had been attached.

The skin still looked pinkish and soft, almost like a newborn baby’s.

’That’s not gonna hold...’

Quickly, I ripped a piece of my shirt off, wrapping it around the wound and applying just enough pressure before pulling out my shoelace to tighten the whole thing.

Some color returned to Ruby’s face, a stark contrast to the complete pale color that was on there a few seconds ago.

’What the hell did she just do? Was that some kind of magic? Whatever...one crisis averted for now...’

I let her rest, walking over to the large wall of monitors and security cameras that was somehow still running despite everything. But I didn’t question the obvious.

But what I saw made me gag.

There was bloodshed, so much bloodshed.

One monitor showed the main lobby, where bodies were scattered across the marble floor. Another showed a hallway soaked red, with a security guard lying against the wall at an angle no human neck should bend.

The last showed monsters prowling between broken desks and shattered glass.

If it had been a game, no one would bat an eye. After all, they were just a bunch of pixels, a few red smears to make the prologue look dangerous.

But now...they were really dead.

I scanned through all of the monitors one by one, just hoping to catch a glimpse of the protagonist’s white hair.

...He can’t really be dead, right? There’s just no way he can be dead when the story hasn’t even started yet.

But that was when I saw it.

Lying on the floor, lifeless and with a large hole in his chest, was a person that I knew too well. His iconic white hair was now stained with blood and his blue eyes were now rolled into the back of his head.

No...it’s not real...it can’t be real.

Leon was dead.

He really was dead.

Isn’t the protagonist supposed to have some kind of plot-armor?! How the hell can he be dead here! This has got to create some kind of plot hole...

Actually, screw that, there was already a hole. A gigantic one in the protagonist’s chest!

But in the midst of my despair, I suddenly remembered what the system had told me. It was just a small detail that I could’ve easily missed. Yet it stuck out like a sore thumb.

The Pseudo-Player System.

Pseudo—meaning fake, false, imitation...

So it was a bootleg recreation of the Player System. And if I was given the Pseudo System...

Did that mean Leon had the Player System?

Was he someone who transmigrated into the game like me? And if that was true...How the hell did he manage to die before the story even started?

Ahh, I know...it was one of those Players, the ones that think "Oh, I’m the main character, I can do whatever I want!"

’Damn it...why the hell did they transmigrate such an incompetent and useless guy?!’

Does that mean...I have to progress the main scenario now...?

Ahh...I don’t want to do it. It’s scary. I want to go home.

No...I can’t be thinking about that now. Let’s just focus on surviving this prologue scenario first and figure it out from there.

There has to be a reason Nolan Midgard was chosen as the Pseudo Protagonist.

That was when I noticed that my hands were still gripping onto the gloves from before. They were made of durable leather and had the same small screen on it like Ruby’s bracelet.

’I have to fight them now...don’t I? There’s no other choice.’

Slipping the gloves on, it was like something awoke inside me. A dormant power that had been sleeping until now.

[Spell Driver Initiated — Model: Sentinel-3 Gloves]

Suddenly, blue particles seeped from my skin, the feeling similar to adrenaline running through my veins.

Though it was weak, it gave me just the slightest bit of confidence. With this power, I’ll survive the prologue.

Then, once this was over, I’ll find a way out of this freakish game.

If there is no protagonist in this world...

Then it’ll have to settle for a fake one.