TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 100

Although he didn’t know why, Albin’s subconscious was telling him that he was supposed to click “I am an adult.”

It was obvious, wasn’t it?

That option would definitely come with fewer restrictions.

He wanted to see the world of adults!

Filled with anticipation, Albin pressed the button.

A new screen immediately popped up in front of him.

[Youth Mode has been enabled for users under 18 years old]

*[To disable Youth Mode, please enter a 4-digit password]

[□□□□]

Damn it.

He had clearly clicked “I am an adult”!

Was this app malfunctioning?

He was sixteen years old. If you rounded up a little, that was basically twenty.

How could that not count as being an adult?

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing Albin puff up like an angry pufferfish, Gold asked in surprise.

How could a crystal possibly make someone this angry?

Sulking, Albin puffed out his cheeks and handed the crystal to Gold.

“Gold, can you see anything when you hold this?”

The moment the crystal left Albin’s hand, its golden glow immediately dimmed.

Gold examined it carefully and even tried channeling demonic energy into it, but found nothing unusual.

“It seems to respond only to you,” Gold concluded as he handed it back. “Looks like it really does belong to you.”

He paused before adding,

“Perhaps it has something to do with your mother?”

Albin fell into thought.

Looking at the dazzling variety of illustrated works inside the comic library, he decided he would study it carefully later.

---

For the next period of time, Albin remained at the castle, handling various responsibilities as city lord as well as matters related to the construction of the magic academy.

Thanks to his experience as the Holy Child, he picked up these duties quickly.

The red-haired youth sat at a desk, wearing fitted black leather gloves and writing rapidly with a quill pen. His crimson eyes were full of concentration, and every movement radiated confidence and control.

His long hair spilled across a black-and-gold shoulder cape, whose golden embroidery shimmered beneath the sunlight.

His actions were precise and composed.

Occasionally, he would pick up a document and ponder it for a moment before asking a subordinate a few questions.

His tone was never cold.

In fact, he often offered words of encouragement.

Once he finished reviewing a document, he organized it neatly and delegated instructions to the butler and various agents in an orderly fashion.

“That will be all for today.”

He set aside several invitations.

“As usual, just forward these ballroom invitations to Gold.”

His current identity wasn’t particularly suited for appearing in noble social circles.

With work finished, Albin let out a silent cry of relief.

Administrative work wasn’t difficult for him.

His father, Padma, and Sutanlai had personally taught him these skills.

The work was simply tedious and time-consuming.

Still, it allowed him to better understand everyone involved in each stage of the process, so he actually enjoyed it.

The butler acknowledged the instructions, then hesitated before asking,

“Lord Ross, do you intend to stay in the tower room again tonight?”

The room atop the tower was extremely plain.

The butler couldn’t understand why the new city lord refused to stay in the luxurious master bedroom.

Aside from this strange preference, the new lord seemed almost impossibly perfect.

Looking at Albin’s somewhat exhausted appearance, he carefully suggested,

“Would you perhaps like us to renovate it?”

“No need.”

Albin shook his head.

“Leave it exactly as it is.”

Then he added:

“And don’t let anyone enter while I’m away.”

Leaving the study behind, Albin headed toward the isolated tower.

According to what he had learned, this was where he had lived as a child.

The letters he had exchanged with Little Black also mentioned this place.

Albin fell backward onto the bed and let out a long breath.

Staring up at the high vaulted ceiling, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.

That lingering emptiness had been making it difficult for him to fall asleep lately.

Reaching beneath his collar, he pulled out the golden crystal and continued exploring its contents.

---

Within the so-called Youth Mode, he found many picture books, fairy tales, and all-ages works.

Many of them were fascinating.

Some contained words he didn’t recognize, but illustrated books with pronunciation guides and explanations helped him learn them.

There were also excellent educational works that often absorbed him completely, teaching him many principles of nature and science.

Yet the more he learned, the more curious he became about the works intended for adults.

Once, someone had tried to give him an adult storybook.

His father had intercepted it immediately.

To this day, Albin remained intensely curious about what could possibly have been inside that book.

His father’s face had turned absolutely black when he saw it.

He hadn’t allowed Albin to read even a single page before destroying it outright.

This comic app was even more infuriating.

After ten o’clock at night, Youth Mode wouldn’t let him read at all!

He couldn’t even secretly play with the crystal under his blanket.

How annoying!

As he continued reading picture books and learning new things, Albin also kept trying to decipher the four-digit password.

Finally, after an entire month of attempts, he entered 2222.

The interface instantly switched to a completely different screen with a much richer navigation menu.

Albin froze.

Then he nearly exploded with joy.

He had finally entered the world of adults!

Now he could see what kinds of comics grown-ups were reading!

Without much thought, he clicked on a fantasy comic called Fatum that appeared on the homepage.

He liked fantasy settings.

Comparing the worlds depicted in stories to the world he lived in was always fun.

Unlike the colorful picture books he had been reading, this was a completely black-and-white manga.

The cover was unusual as well.

Instead of featuring characters, it showed only a hand and an apple.

The apple was falling downward.

A hand wearing a fingerless glove stretched desperately from above, trying to catch it.

Between the hand and the apple was the title:

— Fatum —

There was nothing else.

Even the author’s name, Warrior of Love, appeared only in the upper-right corner.

Before Albin could figure out what kind of comic it was, speech bubbles began appearing one after another.

By now he was familiar with the app.

These bubbles were comments sent by other readers.

[The remake is finally here!]

[It’s been years! My remake is finally out!]

[Please, author, give us a happy ending this time!]

[Waaah, Daddy Zeman…]

[Wait, what’s going on? Is this comic super depressing?]

[Come on, welcome newcomers! Don’t worry—it’s a passionate action-healing series! The author’s called Warrior of Love. How could it not be healing?]

[The comment system must be bugging out again. JJ always glitches and throws my comments into the wrong series.]

[Does anyone know what was changed in this remake? Will it matter if I haven’t read the original?]

[Not at all! I’m reading from later chapters. The plot’s been adjusted and the art is much prettier. Starting with the remake is totally fine.]

[Don’t worry. Spoiler comments get deleted by moderation, and if they aren’t removed quickly enough, we’ll report them.]

[I always felt like the original left too many loose ends. Hopefully the remake will finally resolve them.]

Albin skimmed through a few of the comments. Before all the speech bubbles could even finish appearing, he immediately flipped ahead.

The manga’s protagonist was a seventeen-year-old black-haired boy named Black. He wore a strange muzzle-like restraint over his face, making it impossible to see the color of his eyes, but there was a tear mole beneath his left eye.

According to the introduction in the first chapter, he had set out on a journey to seek revenge for his deceased adoptive father and best friend, searching for clues about the people responsible.

After becoming involved in an incident caused by monsters, he was hired as a bodyguard by a girl named Lina, who was also driven by a desire for revenge. The two of them began traveling together.

The moment Albin saw him, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

He stared blankly at Black’s face in the manga.

Only when the flood of comments obscured his view did he finally continue reading.

As the story progressed, Black met two more companions.

One was a mage named Arthur who possessed beast-taming abilities.

The other was a miraculous Samoyed dog with healing powers.

For some reason, Albin felt a strange sense of familiarity toward all three members of the protagonist’s party—and the dog.

[Wow, the remake’s doggo has a collar now! Doggo isn’t a stray anymore!]

[But it still made its entrance like a stray dog.]

[The drawing on the collar tag is both hilarious and heartbreaking. Doggo and Grandpa… sob… don’t stab me with pet tragedy.]

[The old man had dementia, but he actually remembered Doggo before he died. I’m crying.]

[At least that’s better. In the original version, Doggo was treated as a hellhound that brought misfortune. It made me so angry.]

[Our Doggo is clearly a divine healing dog!]

[Spoilers for the original are forbidden too. Reported.]

[After seeing the sea-urchin drawing on the tag, the protagonist confidently called Doggo “Sea Urchin,” and got barked at for ages. I laughed so hard.]

[Not a single one of the three humans is reliable. Somehow Doggo is the most dependable member of the party!]

[Doggo, the true head of the household.]

[The author really loves drawing moles on characters. Black’s tear mole, Lina’s beauty mark beside her lips, Arthur’s mole near his temple.]

[Black-and-white manga makes it impossible to tell hair and eye colors. Moles are great for face-blind readers like me. This technique should be promoted.]

[The whole protagonist squad is assembled now. Revenge Avengers, assemble!]

Albin enthusiastically followed the manga alongside the comments.

He liked all of these characters.

Especially Black.

He felt happy whenever Black made new friends.

He worried whenever Black got injured.

Even with Doggo’s healing abilities, he still felt distressed, to the point that he wanted to grab Black by the shoulders and shake him while telling him to take better care of himself during battles.

After reading the comments, he realized he qualified as what people called a “main-character fanboy.”

Eventually, after the party was fully assembled, the story reached its true main plot.

After helping a village defeat two humanoid monsters, the protagonists discovered that these creatures weren’t naturally high-level monsters.

Someone was clearly creating them deliberately.

There had to be a larger conspiracy behind it all.

Interrogating the two monsters revealed the name of the organization responsible.

—The White Apostles.

[Oho, the villains have finally appeared.]

[My favorite character is about to show up! So excited.]

Albin’s eyes widened instantly.

What?

The mastermind is me?

The smile gradually vanished from his face.

Was this just a coincidence of names?

Or had some hater who could also access this app created a comic specifically to slander them?

How outrageous!

Calling them the villains was going way too far!

The adult world was truly a dangerous place.

Feel free to buy me a coffee/show your support on ko-fi! Thank you ❤