The sun was shining bright, the birds were merrily singing, and a crippled young man was creepily smiling to himself in bed. It was just another typical day in the Falazar Household—a large family with thousands of cultivators and an illustrious history spanning over a thousand years.
And today, the eldest young master of the Falazar family—the ultimate disgrace—was doing what he usually did. Nothing.
Well, to the outside world, it seemed like nothing. To those in his family, he was merely a cripple, one unfortunate enough to also appear mentally unsound. In fact, those who knew him had long since started mourning, convinced his mind had begun its slow departure from his already useless body.
A fortunate thing, however, was that they had yet to consider putting him out of his misery. Well, at least most of them hadn't…
This meant that Knox Falazar still had some time to continue his Attribute Farming.
The system he had awakened upon finding himself as an eerily quiet baby in this world—the Attribute Farming System.
Although it had taken an extremely long time to efficiently farm attributes, after fifteen arduous years, Knox was finally nearing the goal he had been striving for.
*Ding!*
{[Main Quest #1]} - [True Start]
[997/1000 Mind Attribute]
—[Reward for achieving: Full Body Reconstruction]
"The only reason it has taken me so long to reach this point is because the System has been really stingy with how often it dropped Attribute Orbs," Knox muttered, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "But no matter. Now that I'm so close to the finish line, I'm not even mad anymore."
His light gold eyes flicked around the room, using the brightness of the light streaming in through the window to estimate the time of day. The servants only checked on him at specific times to confirm he was still alive. Keeping track of their schedules was crucial to avoiding another awkward encounter during his Orb Farming sessions.
"Now that it has come to this," he said, a determined fire burning in his gaze, "I'll tough it out and race to the finish line! Time to become un-crippled!"
*Wham!*
Just as those words left his lips, the door to his simply adorned room was slammed open. A haughty young man strode in, his medium-length black hair tied into an old Eastern-style bun. His garments were clearly woven from expensive fabrics, yet they failed to suit him at all.
"You crippled piece of trash!" the young man bellowed, his voice grating to the ears. "Because of you…! Because you're the eldest, Father has decided to pass on the title of Count to you!! You—a fucking cripple!!"
*Bam!*
The young man's foot slammed into the side of Knox's crudely carved wooden bed, his face as red as a tomato, his fury near palpable. Knox simply stared at him, unmoved. He had long since grown used to being the target of others' frustrations.
'In all my hundreds of lifetimes, people always blamed me for my inability to be able,' Knox mused idly, his gaze resting on the relatively handsome yet thoroughly enraged young man standing over him.
"Why have you come here, younger brother?" he asked, his tone as calm as a gentle stream. "Did Father twist your nipples or something? Do you require the warm bosom of your big brother?"
The young man's face contorted with rage as he transitioned from kicking the bed to kicking Knox himself. Each strike landed with brutal force, sending sharp waves of pain through Knox's ribs and legs.
"Kuk! L-Little Brother, your cultivation has improved once again, I see," Knox wheezed as blood trickled from his parched lips. "Oof! S-Say, while you're up and active, why don't you get this older brother of yours something to drink? I get quite thirsty this time of year."
"Shut the fuck up, crippled trash!!" the young man hollered, his strikes becoming even harsher. "If not for you…! If not for you, Yennefer and I would be wedded by now! But because of your existence, Father wouldn't allow me to propose to her! He said that you and she had already been promised to one another at birth!! It's all your fault!!!"
"J…Jeez," Knox muttered through bloodied teeth. "I had no idea… To think… To think that I stole your woman without even lifting a hand. Wow… Just wow. I didn't realize I was so awesome until you brought this matter to my attention. For this, I thank you."
"You…!!" The young man's entire face seemed to be made of pulsing veins as his blood pressure skyrocketed. Then, with a sickening pop, a vessel in his forehead ruptured. Blood gushed down his face like a fountain, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
And then, down he went.
*Thud!*
Knox sighed, watching his younger brother collapse to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. "Oh, Alden," he said, shaking his head. "Poor, poor Alden. You really must learn to better pick and choose your enemies. All that cultivation of yours, and what did it get you? Failure."
Even unconscious, Alden Falazar was not spared from his elder brother's sharp tongue. As the second eldest son, he had always envied Knox for being the firstborn. He wanted to be him—just without the being crippled part.
"Some people just want it all and yet aren't willing to pay the price," Knox mused, his expression one of mild disappointment. "Well, whatever. The attending servants will stop by soon for their routine rounds, so he'll be fine. It's not that I care about him personally; I just don't want to be blamed for murder and executed on the spot. Had that happen one too many times before."
His gaze shifted back to the empty space before him, anticipation flickering in his eyes.
It was time for the Ding he had been waiting for.
Come on, give Daddy a new pair of shoes! Be the one!
*Ding~!*
[An Attribute Orb has dropped beca
use of the burn-out a Mind near you has endured!]
[Mind +3]
Finally!