“Sang! Sang! Sang!”

At that very moment, Lillian, dressed in a nun’s habit, was still nearly a hundred meters away from Sang, Luna, and Adolf. Even so, she kept calling out to them urgently, as if something terrible had happened.

It was around two in the afternoon.

The sky had been perfectly clear before they went to sleep. Somehow, it was now blanketed in dark clouds, with a storm brewing and an ominous atmosphere settling over everything.

Sang, Luna, and Adolf had only just woken up, and all three still looked groggy. Seeing the orphanage director, Lillian, rushing over in such a panic left them confused.

Sang asked, “Big Sister Lillian, what happened?”

By then, Lillian had reached Sang. Without a word, she grabbed his hand and dragged him back the way she’d come. “Sang! You… you need to come back to the orphanage with me right now!”

She was already panting, but she kept talking as she hurried him along.

In his previous life, An Xiguang had lived to eighteen and reached adulthood. In this life, Sang was fourteen, and had come of age too. His mental age was nowhere near thirty-two, but he was still a fairly mature thinker.

At that moment.

Seeing Big Sister Lillian, usually so gentle, looking this serious, he seemed to realize something. A bad feeling settled in his heart.

Sang asked again, “What exactly happened?”

At his words, Lillian’s body trembled. She stopped, her back to young Sang, and spoke in a complicated tone. “Sang, listen carefully— you’ve been chosen!”

“Chosen for what?” Sang asked.

“You’ve received [Favor]. People from Central are on their way. Get yourself ready!”

As Lillian held Sang’s hand, it trembled. Sang could tell she was both upset and heartbroken, with even a trace of helplessness.

When Sang heard those words, he froze. Like a computer that had crashed, he sank into a long silence.

At the same time.

Luna and Adolf had followed behind Sang, so they’d naturally heard what Lillian said. For a moment, they stared in utter shock.

What did it mean to become the Blood Servant of a Blood Clan noble?

Luna and Adolf both knew all too well.

Still, Luna grasped at a sliver of hope. “Big Sister Lillian, which noble chose Watermelon? If it’s one of the few rumored to be friendly toward humans…”

Mm.

That was right.

There were only a handful, but a few Blood Clan nobles really were kind to humans… If young Sang had been chosen by one of them, perhaps he could still have a decent life.

But then—

Before Luna could finish, Lillian cut her off harshly, her voice unusually stern. “Enough! Don’t ask! Sang… Sang… Sang was chosen as the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant…”

Those words struck everyone like a bolt from the blue, hitting them right in the heart.

Luna, whose nerves were especially fragile, went deathly pale in an instant. She stared at young Sang with a dazed, vacant look.

Many years had passed since the Blood Clan’s True Ancestor fell into slumber. The people who’d once been chosen as Blood Servants were now nothing but history. Since they had served the True Ancestor, their endings had been erased without a trace to protect the Blood Clan’s reputation. They’d vanished like thin air.

According to the countless rumors going around, the Blood Clan’s True Ancestor was a merciless, blood-soaked being. Those chosen as the True Ancestor’s Blood Servants could hardly even be called servants—they were living sacrifices.

Just as the air grew heavy, young Sang suddenly turned to look at Luna and Adolf. Wearing his usual carefree, devil-may-care grin, he flashed a peace sign and said, “It’s okay… Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine!”

I may never have won at rock-paper-scissors, but this time, I won.

……

The truth was—

Young Sang’s calm and composure just now had been an act. He was an optimist, sure, but that didn’t mean he felt no fear or awe.

Even with a little cheat-level power, he was still an ordinary person of flesh and blood.

He was scared too. He claimed he could take on ten grown men by himself, but he’d heard that some Blood Clan nobles could fight a thousand opponents—or even ten thousand—alone.

The difference between them was like heaven and earth.

And yet—

To reassure Luna and Adolf, he had no choice but to put on a fearless front. In truth, he was scared out of his mind.

About half an hour later.

With Director Lillian leading the way, the three returned to Kahn Town. People lined both sides of the streets, staring at young Sang with sympathy and sorrow, as if he were someone about to march nobly to his death. Voices rose all around them.

“Look! That’s the kid…”

“Poor thing. Being chosen as a Blood Servant is bad enough, but he’s the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant, too.”

Sang was an orphanage kid, but he’d also grown up in Kahn Town. He’d spent his whole childhood running wild around town, so everyone knew him.

He could be a troublemaker and a lazybones, but the townspeople didn’t actually dislike him. Somehow, with that kid always making a racket, even the hard days felt a little more alive.

That was exactly why everyone in town felt such regret and heartache over Sang being chosen as the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant. All they could do, besides that, was secretly feel relieved that their own children hadn’t been caught up in it. That was all.

Soon after.

Sang returned to the orphanage. The lord, Baron Ben Loren, was already waiting there with a group of knights. They had surrounded the usually quiet, out-of-the-way orphanage, while a large crowd of onlookers gathered outside.

“Look, look! My little hero’s here…” Baron Ben Loren exclaimed delightedly, clapping his hands.

Unlike the heavy mood on the streets, Lord Ben Loren was more delighted than ever. He’d never imagined anyone from his remote backwater could be chosen as the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant.

To him, this was a tremendous honor, too.

If everything went smoothly, the Loren family’s baronial title might even rise a rank, making them viscounts.

At the thought, the potbellied Baron Ben Loren looked Sang up and down with greedy eyes, like a ravenous jackal ready to devour him whole. Fighting down his disgust, he gave Sang’s shoulder a light pat and put on a warm smile. “Oh, my! The chosen one—truly, the chosen one! I’m so envious of you. To be chosen by that great person despite your lowly human body… You must have done a great many good deeds in your previous life…”

Sang thought to himself, This idiot—what the hell is he talking about?

But Sang couldn’t say what he was really thinking. The others from the orphanage still lived here, for one thing, and for another, he just didn’t feel like it.

He simply kept quiet.

After a while, Baron Ben Loren continued, “The knights from Central are already on their way. Go bathe and change at once, and prepare to greet this sacred moment!”

“Oh, got it,” young Sang replied absentmindedly.

Honestly.

If he’d been chosen as the Blood Servant of some other Blood Clan noble, at least he would’ve had time to prepare and say goodbye to his family. But Sang had become the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant. The significance was obvious. The moment the news arrived, the knights were already close at hand.

In two lifetimes, he’d never been treated with this much importance. And to think it would happen under these circumstances. What a joke.