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Chapter 1: The Brainwasher is too kind (1)

I am a mind controller.

A deceiver who twists and manipulates people’s hearts.

With this wicked power, I…

[Brainwash Activated]

[Target – Mother]

[Command – Do not harm the child]

Stopped my stepmother’s child abuse.

This kind of magic doesn’t exist on Earth, of course.

This is another world.

A world where a game has become reality.

That’s why I, who would’ve died from domestic violence in the real world, survived here.

“You ruined my life.”

“You ruined everything.”

My stepmother, glaring as if she’d kill me, couldn’t contain her anger and turned to drinking.

The child abuser switched professions to drunkard.

Unable to direct her violence at her children, she seems to have chosen to take out her pent-up rage on her liver.

‘No wonder the protagonist ran away from home.’

The game’s protagonist.

The character controlled by the player.

No one remembers the name Ian.

The mind controller abandoned their family and ran away.

A declaration to forget the old name and live a new life, as the player inputs a new .

The drunkard mother is the same.

In the game, she’s merely the first target to test the brainwashing ability.

You can’t expect her to act like a parent.

[Live with regret for abusing your child.]

Some players used brainwashing to punish the child abuser.

[I am your husband.]

Some lustful players used brainwashing to satisfy their desires by violating the mother.

Back when I was a player.

Before I was transmigrated into this world.

What was I like?

Honestly, I didn’t think much of it.

Starting a new game, I skipped the annoying prologue like hitting a skip button.

[Forget your memories of your child.]

I used this brainwash often.

Even if they were just prologue parents, I didn’t want to cause them pain.

So I granted the wish of the mother who kept screaming that her life was ruined because of her child.

If the child was such a burden, I’d let her live a life without one.

But no matter what brainwash you use, the tutorial’s child abuser meets the same fate.

– Would you like to become a staff member at the Adventurer’s Guild?

– You’ve got a face young women would love, a perfect Shota type. Work as a clerk for our guild.

– Hey, kid. Want to earn money chatting with pretty ladies?

Not an adventurer, but a staff member at the Adventurer’s Guild.

A heartthrob who charms women with his pretty face.

The protagonist gets hired as a shady Shota clerk the moment they step into the streets.

Title: Let’s Run an Adventurer’s Guild

Genre: Growth, Management, Revenge, Politics

But the Shota’s mother, Ian’s mother, a former child abuser and current drunkard, can’t witness that life.

The day the protagonist visits the Adventurer’s Guild and gets their first job, the main story begins, and she dies at the hands of local thugs.

Quest Objective: Eliminate the thugs who killed your mother.

Quest Guide: Train a capable adventurer to accept an assassination contract.

The first enemy to take down using brainwashing.

Local thugs with powerful backers that ordinary adventurers hesitate to touch.

You train an adventurer yourself and, if needed, use brainwashing to ensure their cooperation.

A role sacrificed for the game’s progression.

That was the only purpose given to this damn mother.

“Waaah, big brother!”

And the little sister who comes as a bonus?

Kind players leave her at an orphanage run by a nun, since they can barely afford rent, let alone food for another mouth.

Cruel players sell her for money or commit vile acts against her.

‘Either way, she follows her mother’s fate.’

As the story progresses, the sister dies too.

To serve as an example for the protagonist, showing what happens to those who dare challenge the organization.

Quest Objective: Avenge your little sister.

Quest Guide: Recruit a powerful adventurer or train multiple adventurers to destroy the organization.

That’s what family is in this game.

I’m not sure which is worse compared to real-world families.

‘Maybe reality was worse.’

In reality, I lost my parents too.

My newlywed parents went bankrupt due to a housing scam.

My father paid child support for a few months after the divorce but, tired of a life spent only repaying debts, enlisted in a gate to start anew.

In other words, he fled to another dimension, free from all debts.

My mother, offered a deal by a factory manager to sell her body for living expenses, took her own life that day, despairing at her fallen state.

I grew up in an orphanage, only to be scammed out of my entire savings by a friend from the same orphanage.

The money I earned struggling through society was stolen by someone I thought would be my wife, taken by her scam.

More painful than the money was the loss of relationships.

Parents, friends, lovers.

I lost every connection I cherished.

Not having a little sister might be the one thing better than Ian’s life in the game.

This kind of hell is enough for one person to endure.

It’s too cruel for two.

‘Maybe dying quickly is better.’

Living longer only means seeing more misery.

Without money, people’s hearts turn bitter.

I don’t want to see a heart go bankrupt.

Losing kindness and leeway changes a person.

It’s no different in a game.

It shouldn’t be different, but…

‘It’s not a game anymore.’

A staff member at the Adventurer’s Guild.

A mind controller who toys with people’s hearts.

A Shota with an innocent face but the impure desires of a player.

Even if that’s who the game’s protagonist is, it’s not the life I wanted.

‘I’m done with running away.’

My mother fled to the afterlife.

My friend fled to desire.

My lover fled to stability.

Everyone chose their own happiness, even if it meant trampling others.

That’s why I was hurt.

I locked myself in my room and played games alone.

I used brainwashing to control hearts and betray others before they could betray me.

At the end, I cleared the hardest ending, only to be transmigrated into the game.

In short, I fled into the game.

I know how to play the game efficiently.

Abandon the mother and sister, and a bright future awaits.

But now that the game is reality.

My mother lingers in my mind.

My sister’s cries echo in my ears.

‘How is that different from the father who abandoned his family, the mother who abandoned her child, the friend who betrayed me, or my ex-girlfriend?’

So I decided.

“Hey, kid. Want to earn money chatting with pretty ladies? Work hard, and you can wear proper clothes instead of those rags and live in a safe central district instead of the slums.”

It’s time to take the first step in training adventurers.

Join the Adventurer’s Guild as a staff member and achieve your first milestone.

Reward: Enhanced Brainwashing Ability

A golden opportunity to strengthen my weak brainwashing ability.

An easy tutorial event that practically hands out rewards to beginners.

A prosperous life in the central district and a thriving career as a guild staff member.

The purpose of this game’s existence.

The life the god or devil who transmigrated me into this world would want.

“I’m sorry.”

I gave it all up.

No, I chose something more valuable than all of it.

“Think it over. This kind of opportunity doesn’t come often.”

“I have a mother and little sister to take care of.”

“Wouldn’t earning lots of money make your family happy too?”

If I work for you, my mother dies on the first day.

As my achievements pile up, my sister dies too.

Knowing that future, how could I possibly work for you?

‘I don’t want to run away anymore.’

Even if I lived as a mind controller, abandoning my family, the deep emptiness carved in my heart wouldn’t fade.

I realized that’s not the life I truly want.

Even if I succeed by betraying others before they betray me, there’s no family to share that prosperous life with.

The world betrayed every bond I had.

Even when my family fell apart, I dreamed of reuniting.

Thrown into harsh society after leaving the orphanage, I dreamed of success with my best friend.

Even when my lover took my money for hospital bills and never mentioned family on social media, I dreamed of a happy future together.

Yes, I always dreamed.

Of a happy life with the people I cherish.

Now a way to make that dream reality has appeared.

[Brainwashing Ability]

[Basic – This ability can twist and control a person’s heart.]

I have a choice now.

If I don’t become a guild staff member, my mother won’t die.

With brainwashing, I can make her not a child abuser or a drunkard, but an ideal mother.

You just need to change.

So change.

[Brainwash Activated]

[Target – Mother]

[Command – You love your children more than anyone.]

Not every brainwash succeeds.

The less the target desires it, the lower the success rate.

It doesn’t work on those with strong minds.

If you deeply hate your children.

If a brainwash to forget your child takes hold without resistance.

I know this brainwash won’t be easy.

But time is long.

As long as I don’t start the tutorial, there’s plenty of time to share.

“You love your children more than anyone.”

Unlike the game, no notification pops up to confirm a successful brainwash.

I don’t know the success rate.

I don’t know the failure rate.

I don’t even know if this brainwash has a chance.

But I won’t stop.

If I fail today, I’ll try again tomorrow.

If I fail tomorrow, I’ll try again the day after.

If three days aren’t enough, I’ll try for a week.

If a week isn’t enough, I’ll try for a month.

If a month isn’t enough, I’ll try for a year.

I can fully seize the opportunity I never had in reality.

“You love your children more than anyone.”

I repeat those words like a mantra at the start and end of each day.

I am a mind controller.

A deceiver who twists and manipulates people’s hearts.

With this wicked power, I…

Like a rain-making ritual that prays endlessly until the rain falls, I begin a brainwashing ritual, repeating it endlessly until it succeeds.