Nine Star Burden - Chapter 21: Where’s My Knife?

Fate, a gatekeeper who had been working for the castle, is beset by a few burdens.

He was not a human since no human is aware of himself even before his birth.

He has no blood and no heart, but emotions?

He does have feelings, but can he express them?

Why was he called a Devil’s Spawn at his birth?

Why did they cut away his arms and a leg?

Why did no one ever visit him for years?

And why does this emptiness... feels so... just so familiar?

Why does the Void feel so... full?

Who is he? Or rather... What is he?

Our straight (?) bottom woke up ten years into the future and found himself on the bed of his childhood friend… At the start, the bottom was shocked to his very bones, but he soon quickly accepted this premise and found the whole situation to be rather amusing. Precisely then, the bottom once again went back to his timeline — back to when he and the top were just platonic childhood friends.

The royal bastard of House Vasquer, Argrave, changed after his stay studying magic at the Tower of the Gray Owl.

The sickly man's awkward posture and cruel behavior have been replaced with a neat dignity and acerbic wit.

Though once listless, he now strives towards his goals with a life-or-death tenacity.

Most come away thinking he seems to know too many details about too much. Few can claim to know his motives or his goals.

Yet behind that confident appearance, the primary contributor for an open-world RPG's wiki battles existential dread and things far beyond his ken as he struggles to adapt to a grim, gothic fantasy world mirroring his favorite game.

The prospect of fighting against a world-ending calamity loses all of its appeal when it transitions from entertainment to reality.

Argrave is spurred towards unwanted heroism to preserve his life as he struggles desperately to keep this sinking ship afloat.