《Clearing The World That&#x27;s Inside A Novel》


 Chapter 1: Prologue

    <h4>Chapter 1: Prologue</h4>

    (Third Person Pov)

    Not a vestige of life remained.

    Not even a microbe was left alive by them.

    Clouds of dust swarmed around.

    Monumental structures, houses, homes, and buildings all ttened. Worlds stretched as far as the eye could see.

    The sky was turned crimson, and rivers of blood flowed.

    Corpses of various races piled on top of each other. Some starting to rot and some which have been rotting for quite a long time.

    All that remained in the world was silence, endless silence.

    And thus, all the worlds came to an end. Worlds that had once collided.

    In the middle of these worlds stood 3 figures, they were the ones who brought ruin to everything.

    "Finally, now we can create a happy world," A young man said who appeared to be in his 20s, his features were masculine, his eyes were ck colored, dark ck, like an abyss. His ck hair swayed in the air as the wind hit him.

    "Hm"

    The young woman beside him gave him a nod. Her hair a mixture of ck and white swayed as she proceeded toy on the ground, and her mysterious eyes with countless shapes of euclidian geometry within them were both captivating and unsettling. Just looking at them was enough to chip away at the sanity of any mortal.

    Both of them were rxed.

    After countless days of battle, they had finally won.

    The worlds were destroyed. They had enacted their revenge.

    And so, after a long time, oh so long time, they had smiled. A gentle warm smile as if they were finally saved, finally free.

    "Amateurs, one shouldn''t drop their guard not until you are the only one left."

    A voice, devoid of any emotions said and the next instant before the young man and the woman could understand anything, their neck was pierced by theirrade, a boy whose face had feminine features with ck hair and ck-empty-looking eyes, like that of a void.

    "W-why..what are you doing.." The young man with dark-colored eyes asked shock and confusion etched onto his face.

    "The fuck do you mean by what I am doing? Aren''t you supposed to be like super smart or some shit? Duh, I am killing two psychopaths? I mean, what else can I call you? Who goes around fucking the entire world, no, worlds, just because they got some bad life."

    The boy said, his expression was utterly indifferent, his tone eerily calm.

    "Didn''t you agree with us? Why now??" The girl asked in disbelief

    "Actually, no. I am the weakest among us three. So, if I didn''t join you I would get killed so I decided to join you and honestly, I wasn''t going to kill you or interfere with your ns or anything. I was really okay with you psycho''s creating whatever world you want to for yourself but life''s unpredictable, whaddya know, I changed my mind at thest second. You see, I want that title The Lone Survivor, sounds dope, doesn''t it?"

    "There''s no such title! Agh!" The young woman shouted coughing the blood and anger etched on her face.

    "That''s why I am giving one to myself." The boy replied.

    The young man with ck dark eyes fell on his legs. Heavily breathing. He looked at the boy in front of them.

    The person before them has used a relic that is impossible to recover damage from, not only that it rendered them from using their abilities for a minute.

    A minute was all they needed to die from blood loss.

    And there was no point attacking physically or entering a brawl with him in their current state, they had after the final battle exhausted themselves.

    To begin with, if there was even a chance of them being capable of killing the boy, the boy would have probably sliced their head off instead of just piercing it, that was the type of person he is.

    Then why didn''t he not finish them off?

    In other words, he was giving them a chance to know the answers to the questions they wanted right now, the question of why he was betraying them after they had already killed everyone, and destroyed everything.

    At least they would die after getting an answer.

    A twisted logic, one with which he operated.

    "Why? Why change your mind?" The young man asked.

    The boy looked at them both and then began speaking.

    "A mother cried, holding onto her baby as she was crushed by a stray attack iprehensible to a human, she wished her baby could live, a father died as he stood to protect his children from the hordes of monsters that ran away from the cmities as he wished he could have spent more time with them, the corpses of two loversid beside each other, everything below their waist shredded, their hands joined together, intertwined with one another, a smile formed on their faces, they were okay since they were together they could face death but was a big fat lie, they had wished that other would live for more time, live happily and soon after not even their corpse remained."

    The apathetic voice continued

    "So, you see everyone out there made a wish but they didn''te true, they all died. We are the only ones remaining. We, who killed them all" The boy paused before continuing "But you see, it seems like their wishes weren''t futile."

    "Huh..."

    "What?"

    Their confused voices leaked out.

    "Their wishes turned into a miracle, a miracle that fell into thep of a little girl." Shaking his head, the boy uttered his next wordspletely shaking both of them.

    "This timeline is being erased. Soon enough, everything will disappear."

    "N-no..."

    "That''s impossible!"

    The young woman uttered and the young man shouted unable to believe what they just heard.

    "It''s the truth. The timeline is being erased, you still haven''t realized it because the changes have yet to reach you but it''s changing, the reason I realized it sooner than you is simply because ...well, I guess I am the one being affected the most with it? So, yeah. Anyways, that''s the thing. Since the timeline is changing, this one will vanish and disappear. After all, the future wouldn''t exist if the past changes itself."

    The boy shruggingly answered and without wasting time, he swiftly killed them both the moment they registered his words.

    They had processed his words, in other words, they got their answer, no reason to let them live.

    Left alone now, he looked up into the sky.

    "You know, there''s still time before I vanish along with the world? I don''t mind chatting up a little"

    "You are quite a troublesome child" A voice responded, the voice sounded sweet, intoxicating, soothing, and warm.

    And then ady appeared in front of the boy, her figure shrouded in fog making it difficult to discern her features.

    "Here''s a cheeseburger, want one world will-san?" The boy asked as he pulled the cheeseburger out of thin air.

    World''s Will, was a concept formed out of the wishes, desires, thoughts, beliefs, ideas, cravings, dreams, prayers, and other ambiguous stuff. It constructed the world, made itsws, regted them, and looked after the world, the universe.

    It simply came into existence one day, not even the World''s Will itself knew how long it had been alive.

    It simply lived and watched over everyone.

    It was omnipresent and omnipotent.

    And right now, he was talking to that very World''s Will.

    "I highly doubt I could taste it but I will indulge myself" The World''s Will replied sitting beside the boy on the blood-soaked ground.

    Silently, both of them continued to eat.

    It was afortable silence.

    Once they had eaten their cheeseburger, the World''s Will broke the silence.

    "Child, just know I am proud of you." The World''s Will said as it embraced the boy gently.

    It was quite sudden and unexpected but the boy didn''t seem to be surprised.

    "Let me get this straight. The world''s proud of me that I destroyed the world. Damn, now that''s some real achievement I acquired" The boy replied, his tone entirely dead.

    The World''s Will simply tightened its embrace around the boy and then asked the question

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yup, it''s the end of our story and time for their story to continue" The boy replied.

    The past was changing in other words, he would change too in ways he didn''t know about, or maybe there wouldn''t be any change in him, whichever the case, the boy believed that memories are what make a person who they are.

    Since the past was changing, he too will change, he and he will be different.

    So would be the same for everyone else.

    They will be all different and so their story.

    Their story had ended, they had killed, destroyed, and then died.

    "This isn''t the only way. There are other ways for you to do it."

    "I only know this."

    Even though World''s Will didn''t have any emotions, it acted as if it was hesitating and so it asked onest question.

    "Is there something I can do for you?"

    "...Make suitable stairs of him when the timees. That''s all"

    And with that, the boy''s body began to vanish. The evidence that the past has changed enough for this future to no longer exist.

    And with that, the World''s Will parted ways with someone whose essence among any other living was the closest to it.

    .

    .

    .

    It''s time for a new story... or should we say the continuation of the story.

    One that gambled everything upon a single girl.

    It''s the story of a girl who loved this one particr boy very much, oh so very much, and even though years, decades, millennials passed away, she never forgot about her love, an unconditional love, a crazy love.

    And while we are at it.

    It''s also a story of-

    Someone somewhere who wished to be saved.

    Someone somewhere who wished to be free.

    Someone somewhere who wished to be able to make a wish.

    It was supposed to be a fairytale of a story but it turned too ugly, too wretched, far too twisted to be called one.

    This is a story of wishes, regrets, dreams, hatred, and ...

    And?

    .

    .

    .

    And it''s all just a --

 Chapter 2: What A Hassle

    <h4>Chapter 2: What A Hassle</h4>

    As I woke up from slumber with my fluttering eyes, I saw the ceiling.

    I felt somethingfortable, soft, really soft, I mean he soft feeling behind my back.

    No matter how I slice it...I am sleeping on a bed.

    Hm? Weird, I think I took a small nap while sitting on my chair though...

    Pulling my body up, I started checking out the room that is clearly not mine.

    Whose room am I in?

    Where the fuck am I?

    Wait... It feels a bit weird.

    There''s something wrong with my physique. I don''t know how to put it into words but there''s definitely something wrong.

    I removed my shirt to check my skin out and what greeted my sight was surely a marvel.

    ''For the love of all that''s holy..''

    Where do these musclese from?

    Seriously?

    As far as I remember I didn''t have any sort of muscles. I have never done any type of physicalbor the heaviest thing I pulled is my freaking school bag.

    ''..I-I think I know the drill here.''

    I rubbed my eyes and decided to look for a mirror in this ce which belongs to who knows who. It''s never good to harbor suspicions, one should confirm them as soon as possible.

    Standing in front of the mirror I looked at my face...

    ''...Guess, what? I am handsome... I am right? It''s not just me being delusional? Right?''

    I shook my head purging myself of these thoughts, I need to focus.

    I touched my face. I wasn''t dreaming, the sensation felt too real to be a dream.

    ck eyes with dark circles, ck unkempt hair, and white pale skin. Same as my previous life. The difference between the person that stood in the mirror and I would be that this face has sharp features or should I say masculine features while mine were feminine... I resembled my mom.

    Anyways, guess ...transmigration it is.

    I have read enough novels not to fuss over it.

    But...

    Kidnapping and experimenting on how to put a brain in a different body? Well, if it''s possible then immortality for humanity might not be out of reach. Ridiculous as it may be I can''t throw the other possibility away.

    One thing that I am certain about is that it''s not my body and I am certain it''s not because of the relic either.

    For now, let''s look for more clues.

    Well then, I am in an unfamiliar room with no idea about what''s going on.

    As a gamer, it would be irresponsible of me to not inspect this ce.

    Shaking my head I walked towards the desk with lots of books. I picked the book up which has a weird title on it.

    "Monsterology for Dummies Volume 1"

    I looked at another book.

    "Wee to the world of Heroes: You can be one too"

    That''s one cringe-ass title we have got here.

    I shook my head, just how many times have I shaken my head in thest few minutes?

    I started to flip the pages of the book.

    ''Guess, thenguage isn''t gonna be a problem..''

    Imagine having a transmigration where you have no idea how to read or write.

    That''s not transmigration in another world, that''s straight-up hell.

    ''I will read itter...''

    Putting the book back in its ce I started looking through other things on the desk.

    A small card caught my eye.

    Identification card? Student-id card?

    I mused as I took a look at the card.

    ==========================================================

    Heroes Nurturing Highschool

    Id: 0412002303

    Name: Noah

    Age: 16

    Rank: G+

    Grade - First-year Student

    ==========================================================

    I rubbed my eyes and checked the ID again.

    ''Noah ..''

    Guess, that''s the name of this body.

    What a damn coincidence if it is one.

    Alright, we got the same age as well.

    It''s a bit unsettling.

    Getting transmigrated into someone having the same age, same name, same eye color, same hair color, and same skin color. I was grateful at least our features were different.

    But that''s something to think aboutter for now I have other things to worry about.

    I winced as I looked at the card again.

    Reason?

    There was no longer any reason to worry about the possibilities that might exist. It''s transmigration. After reading the name of the academy, I became sure of it. Transmigration in a novel I never would want.

    I take pride in the fact that I remember the plot of all the novels,ics, and web novels that I have read in my entire life. I may not remember the names of all the characters but I do remember their natures, the plot, and each arc of the story. I remember it so much that I would never confuse one story with another.

    That''s why after reading the academy name, I knew, I knew... I have been transmigrated into a dog-shit web novel!

    Hell would be preferable to this bat-shit crazy novel!

    Not really! I meant it metaphorically!

    Let me read the synopsis of the novel for you all to understand.

    ''Crackle!

    The thunderous sound of lightning rang.

    On a stormy night, a boy barely 9 years old stood in front of a mutted corpse. Its hands and feet twisted, chest ripped open, innards pulled apart. Eyes, ears, and teeth missing. If not for the ne that hung off its neck then it would have been impossible to tell that this corpse belonged to the boy''s mother.

    Tears streamed down his face as he choked, unable to speak. Struck frozen, terrified to even move. He coughed every time he breathed the smell of iron that swirled in the air. He convulsed again and again, surrounded by corpses. Soon after, he lost consciousness.

    ..and that was the day his journey began.''

    Reason for his mother''s death? Demons.

    Reason for all the corpses around him? Demons.

    ..Man, just what did demons ever do to these authors for them to bebeled antagonists all the time?

    Regardless, it''s a normal generic type of novel.

    We got to read about the protagonist''s struggles, how he ovees them, and finally the fight between the demon king and protagonist.

    Sounds simple and easy, right?

    Now here is the twist, just as the fight between them wasing to an end.

    BANG!

    A certain being called observer appears as it gives the quest to the people regardless of one''s race, as the so-called ''higher-beings'' observe them.

    The fucking novel changed its plotline!

    It was like characters got thrown into some other plotline, like those crossover fanfics!

    Just like how my transmigration could be considered ridiculous the plot change in the novel was the same and if that wasn''t enough the power level got screwed all over as well.

    Of course, I dropped the novel. It was after a year that I decided to pick it again. To my surprise, it has the tag plete'' on it. I directly went to thest Chapter, the epilogue of the story. I mean, what if the author changed the plotline again? So I decided to read the epilogue first and thements there.

    Oh man, that web novel definitely was one of a kind.

    Why?

    The epilogue starts with the world reaching peace. The protagonist with his friends goes and enjoys a peaceful day with everyone as everything finallyes to an end, then the day ends with the protagonist kissing his girlfriend.

    Smooth ending, right?

    But too bad, the author is bat-shit crazy.

    When the protagonist finally prepares to go to sleep, he reminisces about how he spent his day with everyone and then he tries to remember thest quest he cleared.

    That''s where the problemes in as he tries to remember what hisst quest was and how he cleared it but he can''t remember it. As he tries harder to remember it, the uneasiness in his heart grows, and boom!

    The world starts to shatter as he finds himself standing in a void. He can''t see anything in the darkness. His heartbeat kept slowing down, he felt his body bing weaker with each passing second.

    Then he hears a voice ''Hm? You woke up? How strange? It shouldn''t be possible... you are interesting till the end.''

    The protagonist remembered the voice, it belonged to an observer. So he asked the observer what was going on.

    I still remember the answer the observer gave to the protagonist.

    ''You failed to clear the quests and so did everyone else on your team. You were only able to clear 30 quests sessfully. For failing to clear your 31st quest everyone in your party has fallen into a slumber as they dream of the utopia they always wished to have while the reality is, their life force is being sucked as we speak and soon they will all die. They will die living in the utopia they always dreamt about except you, after all, you woke up. It is exceptional that you were able to wake up on your own. It wouldn''t be fair to not reward you for obtaining such a feat ..well, I will let you watch. You may have failed but there might be someone else on your who might clear the quest. So, I will let you watch the end of your world with your own eyes.''

    Our protagonist then watches, watches as everyone fails to clear the quests and dies on the.

    No one was able to go past the 25th quest except the demon lord who also failed the 31st quest.

    The world ends. The additional time the protagonist was given ends too.

    Then the protagonist dies.

    The novel ends.

    Seriously, it was the end. There was no other volume, no regression for MC, no turning back the time, nothing. Plot armor abandoned the protagonist when he needed it the most.

    This was the shitty end of the story and right now I am in this story.

    Oh lord, what crime did Imit?

    Actually, never mind. Wouldn''t wanna be reminded.

    Why do I have to be in such a shitty novel though?

    I threw the ID card on the desk and went towards the kitchen to drink some water while massaging my temples.

    Gulping down the water I wondered how this transmigration worked.

    I mean, my body isn''t mine but what about the brain? Everyone has different brain development, so does that mean I have either be dumb or my intellect has actually increased? Maybe this guy has the same brain development as mine...

    No, actually what if I am just a copy of my real conscious, real memories? A copy that just got transmigrated into a novel...

    Shit. If I go back to my world, would I even have a ce there?

    ..Let''s not think about it. I am real.

    I am real. Real consciousness.

    Yup, that''s rig-

    Wait?

    Until now I thought fiction was just that, fiction, not reality but now I am in a world that is a novel.

    I am in a world that was supposed to be a novel.

    Supposed to be a novel...

    For the characters of this novel, this world is real...

    What if ..what if, the world I came from is also just a shit-ass novel written by someone?

    What are the chances that I am just a character of a novel who is within a novel?

    My mind went nk. Frozen for a moment.

    If everything was pre-determined by someone else then ...

    I pped myself on my cheeks. Let''s not think about it besides how am I supposed to confirm whether I am just a character or not?

    Yeah, I will just go with I am not a character but a real guy, a real conscious not some copied one, a real one who got swept in some weird shit, that is, getting transmigrated into a web novel until proven otherwise.

    ..I don''t want to be proven though I would rather live without getting any answers to those questions. Let''s just forget about the matter and think about other things.

    ''Alright, Let''s do it.''

    The moment I realized I was in a novel, dog-shit it may be, I have been wanting to do this.

    "System: Status"

    The screen popped out in front of me as I started to read my status.

    ==========================================================

    Name: Noah

    Rank: G+

    Strength: G

    Stamina: G+

    Agility: G

    Perception: G+

    Mana proficiency: F+

    Luck: D+

    Intelligence: B+

    Charm: B-

    ==========================================================

    Luck is one of the two stats that can decrease or increase, in a sense, it really was luck. No one has any control over luck, it doesn''t matter how high-ranked you are. But with the help of the status window, one can definitely know when they might get screwed over. After reading my status I closed the system window.

    Well, the other stat is the charm which can decrease or increase depending on how much care one takes of their body.

    More importantly...

    What''s with that intelligence stat? B+? Goodness, gracious.

    No matter how you look at it my intelligence stat is too highpared to my rank.

    Holy crap. The guy''s a genius.

    And what''s with the charm? I mean, even the protagonist''s charm starts with a C rank, it does increase in the story as his rank increases which results in him getting a better body. I mean, when rank increases your body reconstructs itself, that''s how your strength and other stats increase. It''s a painful process.

    Shit. I will have to go through that process too.

    As a member of a normal, peaceful society, pain isn''t something I am used to. A single cut would be enough to make me cry and we are talking about a whole reconstruction of the body here.

    ..Who in the world did I piss off to get such a fate?

    I slowly sat down on the bed and looked around the room. I wondered about his parents so I took out his phone to check his contacts.

    ..Shit.

    Is this how those old folks feel when they are given a smartphone?

    How in the flying fu*k is this supposed to function? Damn, just how many generations of advanced tech does this world have?

    After spending a few minutes, I finally figured it out.

    Well, this guy is a loner. There are literally no contacts except some spam calls.

    I need information about him... I mean about me.

    The need for information about my situation as well as about this world should be my top priority. I mean, now that the world of the novel has be my reality, there''s more to the world than just the protagonist''s point of view and his struggles. Not to mention ..the protagonist fails, so I am not really betting anything on him.

    I don''t know much about the plot after the quest appears and knowing the plot before the quest... is there even a point in any of it? The whole plot line changes and so does the power level.

    At any rate, there was only one thing for me to do.

    That was to find a way back.

    Maybe if I be strong, strong enough like whoever sent me here I might be able to go back.

    One might think about how ridiculous it sounds about bing strong like this unknown person who sent me here but the thought of transmigration into another world, a world of the novel is itself ridiculous. I need to throw some of mymon sense out of the window if I want to have any hope of going back to my world.

    Why do I want to go back? Why would I not!? Imagine following a manga for thest 2 years and just when it was about toe to an end you are thrown into another world! A shitty one at that! Imagine reading a Chapter that ends on a cliffhanger! I need answers to all the questions!

    Thus, I needed to go back home.

    Haa~

    A sigh escaped my lips.

    "This is gonna be an absolute hassle"

 Chapter 3: History lessons are just info dumps

    <h4>Chapter 3: History lessons are just info dumps</h4>

    2 weeks passed by in the blink of an eye.

    I have finally sorted out most of the things.

    After looking through Noah''s smartphone andptop I found out he has 2 billion in his ount.

    ..This guy is loaded as hell. Why is he even living in a shabby apartment?

    I changed Noah''s password. How? Forget the password, duh.

    It took my retina scan and friggin mana signature or something. I don''t even understand the damn mechanics but eh, it works.

    Futuristic world for sure.

    Regardless, I used 20 million to find information, information about myself. It would be weird to ask someone to dig up information about myself so I told the guy I wanted to check his validity first.

    Who was this guy, you ask? Well, a character from the novel. His information-digging skills are top-notch.

    Am I going to form a connection with him? Hell no.

    I wanted to confirm if this is really the world of the novel. Eliminating any and all other possibilities that might have existed.

    I also needed information, so I asked the best guy I could. I have no intentions of being buddy-buddy with anyone. I n on going back home, the f*ck will I be buddy-buddy with anyone for?

    Back to the point, I asked him for information. He provided the information.

    What did I find?

    Nothing.

    Seriously? That guy is supposed to be top-notch?

    Apparently, he couldn''t find anything about me before the age of 14. It seems like I just popped out of nowhere at the age of 14. Started living in this apartment and since then has been living here. I also got admitted into a top academy.

    You know, heroes nurturing school.

    That''s all.

    Motherfu*ckerughed it off and said ''Seems like I failed your test''

    Useless piece of meat! My 20 million got wasted!

    Not really...

    Regardless, I don''t know about Noah''s parents, I don''t know Noah''s past, and I don''t know a damn thing about the guy I am in possession of.

    Noah is suspicious. The only thing I know about Noah is that he is an extra in the novel. There was no mention of him in the novel.

    But from my perspective, it was a jackpot. Being an extra is a jackpot, unlike the main cast or the side characters and viins of the story, my fate wasn''t decided by anyone. In other words, my life wasn''t in control of someone else or my thoughts being something that someone wanted them to be. I am an extra who isn''t influenced by any other being.

    I can be a main character, an antagonist, or an ordinary person. I could be whatever I want to be. I am kind of an unknown variable in this world. Well, there might be someone else too like me.

    Of course, being an extra, the perks of being the main cast such as plot armor weren''t by my side but I was okay with it. Plot armor is a bitch, it abandoned the protagonist during the most crucial moment.

    I looked at the pamphlet.

    Heroes Nurturing Highschool

    The academy provides free education as well as dormitories for students to live in. To begin with, that academy is like a cage. No outside contact is allowed until graduation unless some serious family issue arises, kinda like someone dying and stuff or special circumstances/reasons.

    This cringe-named academy is the top military academy humans have to provide.

    What military academy I am talking about?

    Oh,e on, heroes? Viins? let''s be honest, these so-called hero academies are nothing but military training academies that teach us how to deal with criminals so that we can protect humanity.

    Just because a soldier has supernatural power doesn''t make them a hero. A soldier is just that, a soldier, a criminal is just that, a criminal.

    That''s what I think.

    Well, it''s not just a military academy but also a ce for researchers, doctors, engineers, and other things you can learn about.

    I still don''t know what I want to do in this world (actually, don''t wanna do anything), but what I do know is that I need strength.

    It''s so that I can be prepared for the time when the quest begins and a new system will override the current one. The time when the plotline will changepletely and of course to find a way back home.

    Basically, gotta grind.

    And what''s the best ce to grind? One of the top military academies, duh.

    One of the top military academies? What happened to being a top academy?

    Well, it''s a top academy, a top human academy that is.

    There are other species in this world, Elves, Dwarves, Beast folk, Vampires, and Demons.

    Where did theye from?

    How did it happen?

    Later in the novel we finally get an answer to it, so it''s kinda confidential information. The thing is ..a mad scientist fucked up really bad with his experiment.

    And because of that mistake.

    The world cracked, like a pop.

    Afterward, the climate changed. urately 300 years ago.

    Like bang type change.

    Tidal waves, tsunamis, Lava eruptions, typhoons, earthquakes, and all types of natural disasters struck the earth.

    Lots of people died. Some continents were merged, some got wiped off the map and some were destroyed beyond recognition.

    As one would expect, many countries and the people there were wiped out too, and so was their culture.

    After everything calmed down, humanity began to organize things again, and guess what? They found newnds appearing, the change in gravity, and the size of the earth increased.

    The evolved and became capable of habitating it''s habitants.

    Floating ind where Elves live, a highly technologicalnd where dwarves live, an ind where beastfolk live, and and so cold that it should be impossible to live there but vampires do live there and dungeons started to appear.

    Finding the blue screen called system, a new element called ''mana'' that melded itself into the atmosphere, finding themselves able to perform some superhuman feats.

    Just as humans were confused, so were those species.

    Everyone thought the same thing Mommy, I am scared pick me up.

    That''s right. Everyone was scared to death. No one knew whether the other race was hostile or not.

    With time things were organized and harmony between all the races came.

    And just like that 60 years passed.

    Everyone got pretty much used to the changes that they faced. Humanity was getting back on its track.

    But things aren''t as simple as they may sound.

    Humans wanted to learn about these new species, I mean Elves got longer lives and they were adept at using magic more than any other species, brains of dwarves, the immortality of vampires, and the physical prowess of beastfolk.

    Humans wanted to know the anatomy of other species. So, they decided to kidnap some and experimented on them.

    Elves got very of some kind in their culture. They turned people from other species into ves. Not normal ves though, they put a mark on them, basically they have control over their lives and the ve can''t disobey their orders. How does this magic work? Only they know.

    At least back in the day, they were the only one.

    As for dwarves... those dumbasses seriously made some bomb that almost blew this world up. Fortunately or unfortunately, the bomb turned out to be a dud.

    I don''t need to exin why peace didn''tst long now, do I?

    At first, everyone understood, that they were different species, their nature was different and so was their culture. They decided to talk things out.

    ..But talk-no-jutsu failed, miserably so.

    Well, Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Beastfolk went to war. Beastfolk were angry with other species, humans for experimentation, elves for very, and dwarves for almost blowing things up, they didn''t really do anything wrong with other species. Poor beastfolk.

    What about vampires? Vampires are the chill type, they don''t really care about what other species are doing to theirs, Vampires are individual types of people and they are immortal. As long as they don''t catch a disease that doesn''t have a cure or someone kills them, they won''t die, not by aging or should I say their lifespan is just soo big that it feels like they don''t age at all.

    Vampires didn''t fight in the war, but they sure enjoyed watching it.

    World War 3 it was, and lots of people died in it with no sign of stopping, they did try to enter peace talk many times but ...it just didn''t work. War kept going on for years.

    What? Who was winning?

    Don''t know. Things were pretty even.

    You see, Elves are way too good at controlling mana. Dwarves have the best weapons one could ask for. Beastfolks have some serious physical prowess but they all have one problem.

    It''s that they have a level cap.

    Like not being able to rank up more than B or being stuck at SS, you get the thing.

    But humans don''t have a level cap. They can grow as long as they work hard. The only problem is age. Unlike other species that live longer, humans have a normal life span.

    So yeah, theoretically humans are capable of being strongest but ...they don''t have the life span to support it, so it''s practically impossible.

    The strongest the world has seen is the SSS-ranker human who is dead... add the fact that he seriously reached SSS- just a few minutes before he died of aging.

    So yeah, things were kinda even. Everyone has some special traits and limitations.

    Now as I said, vampires are immortal, they seek simtions, and new experiences because they are basically bored most of the time.

    As such, a vampire decided to y detective.

    Now here''s the plot twist.

    The corpses of people who died, a lot of them were disappearing. At first, everyone thought the beasts ate them.

    What are beasts? Basically, animals who after mana melded into the atmosphere became more scary and dangerous.

    Back on topic, corpses were disappearing.

    And one of the vampires decided to go into the detail of it.

    Well, fuck.

    It got found there''s another species as well, demons.

    And those demons feasted on the corpses.

    It was also found that the reason peace talks never worked was because of demons, they infiltrated other species, gaslighted things, and made everyone go to war.

    Bloody hell.

    Once the information was made public, things changed.

    Everyone immediately decided to cease the war. They thanked vampires for bringing such information to light.

    ...The vampire who actually solved the mystery started to cuss at every species saying It was Me who did it? Not those fuckers! Dumbasses! Why are you thanking them!?

    As I said, vampires are individual types. Achievement belongs to a person and a person alone not to its species, that''s their ideology.

    Back on topic.

    Finally, everyone found out about demons and also theirnd.

    These guys who were once fighting each other decided to join the alliance andunch an attack on demons.

    ..Poor guys, it ended badly for them.

    Apparently, demons are stronger, way stronger than anyone thought.

    You see, someone''s strength is determined by rank.

    Apparently, demons are all either S-ranked or above S-ranked.

    It would take hundreds of A+ rankers to do any damage on S-rankers... added to the fact that 100 people can''t really group up on a single person.

    So yeah, it''s a lost cause.

    Many died once again.

    Now it was Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Beastfolk vs Demons.

    Vampires were as always, chilling in the chilly weather.

    The futile fight continued.

    Finally, the Demon king came forward for the peace talk.

    Everyone was like ''After all this, you want to have a peace talk!?''

    Another bombshell was dropped over everyone.

    What happened?

    It seems like demons need the flesh of other species in order to live, if they go on without any after some time they lose their sanity and attack their own allies and foes.

    Sad lives.

    After learning this, no one was able to be as angry at them as they once were but it didn''t change the fact their species were clearly a danger to others.

    War was ceased, and everyone worked hard and found an alternative for demons. Demon king thanked them and also promised that they would iste themselves as a punishment.

    What? How did the protagonist''s mom die at the hands of demons?

    Well, it''s simple. You can''t control everyone. There exist humans who kill humans.

    We call those people bad people. Same with demons, even if most of them live in theirnds some still cause trouble.

    Anyways, the war finally came to a proper end after 20 damn years.

    Since then the world has been at peace and progressing

    For now...

    That''s the history of this world, anyway and it matches with the details of novel. In other words, I really am in the novel.

    The current poption?

    700 million Humans.

    250 million Elves.

    300 million Dwarves.

    400 million Beast folk.

    20,000 Vampires.

    No, I am not joking. That''s the poption of vampires.

    50 million Demons.

    Of course, these aren''t the exact numbers but you get the thing.

    Never thought I would see a day when my bank bnce would be more than the world''s poption.

    ..Well, there''s one more species but there''s no information about them. They weren''t involved in the novel either. I can''t do anything about it for now.

    Back on the topic. The thing is Noah got into Humanity''s top academy.

    The academy is also where the novel''s story begins. The protagonist attends this academy and from there we read his life.

    The academy will start from next month. So, I have 2 more weeks. I used thesest 2 weeks sinceing here to read all the books that his guy had and lots of the book avable on the inte.

    Surfing through online websites.

    I spent nights without any sleep, but it was worth it. I am sure my intelligence stat has something to do with how I have caught up with a lot of things in simply 2 weeks. My memorization seems to have improved. It''s almost photographic at this point.

    It was necessary for me to do all the study. I mean this world has different subjects than I used to have. Not to mention the advanced technology that exists in this world.

    The virtual reality games that I thought I would never be able to properly experience exists and with damn cheap prices too!

    I used the first two weeks of the month to gather enough knowledge through books and the Inte about this world.

    It was time to use thest 2 weeks of this month to gain experience before finally going to the academy starting next month.

    As much as I hated it, I had to go outside of my room now.

    No matter what happens, I am gonna go back to my world and find the answer to the cliffhanger that I have been left on!

    Just you wait..!

 Chapter 4: Abnormal Stat

    <h4>Chapter 4: Abnormal Stat</h4>

    "Been a while since I ate something good."

    I said as I looked towards the cheese hamburger, fries, and c that was in front of me.

    Duh, I am eating it at home. It''s a takeaway.

    ''Wonder how the burger of another world taste''s like...''

    I took the first bite.

    Taste''s normal. No, otherworldly taste.

    Sinceing to this world I have been busy with all sorts of stuff, I didn''t had time to eat or rest properly. Gaining the basic knowledge, trying to find about Noah. Learning the basics of elven, dwarven, beastfolk and vampirenguage and getting myself acquainted with how the tech works in this world.. Fortunately, I didn''t had to learn humannguage, it was the same as in my world. Unfortunately, I couldn''t learn demonnguage. How could I? There were no resources to.

    In my previous world it took me a year to perfectly be fluent in 10nguages but what about now?

    It only took me 2 weeks to learn 4nguages!

    ...Well, basics of 4nguages to not get scammed, but hey, I still did a pretty good of a job.

    Noah''s intelligence stat is surely a marvel all of it''s own.

    I am now a genius.

    A certified genius.

    Bow down to me peasants!

    When I achieved this feat, I felt like I was on cloud nine, seventh heaven, or whatever up there is, I was surely there.

    But all my happiness came crashing down.

    Why?

    Well, I will first have to exin other stuff to help you understand the reason for my distress.

    Apparently, it''s hard to increase intelligence stat after it reaches E. More urately, your intelligence stat increases alongside other stats when your rank increases but afterward it''s simply hard to increase your intelligence stat.

    I, like most of the readers, didn''t bother much with reading the individual stats of the characters shown in the novel. All I did was to look at their rank.

    In other words, I didn''t know how incredible Noah''s intelligence truly is until now.

    I learned about themon sense of this world, somewhat, and I learned something I didn''t know.

    There''s never been any human with a higher intelligence stat than D, not before the age of 20.

    And even after the age of 20, the best intelligence stat humans ever got is C. No, not everyone got C, those who got were just geniuses.

    What? Isn''t intelligence something that should be developing in the initial stages of growth? Well, I don''t know. That''s how this world works. Maybe, there''s a reason somewhere out there though I am not interested in finding it.

    About other species?

    Dwarves got C+

    Elves got C

    Vampires got C+

    Beastfolk got D+

    Demons got C+

    You also have to take into ount that these species live longer than humans but despite that, the best they have is just C+

    Noah is B+!

    Add the fact that he is only 16 years old!

    Basically, Noah is officially the smartest person in the world! Wait, that means I am the smartest person in the world!

    ..and if it gets out I am getting done for.

    Fortunately, there''s no way to look into someone else''s status. There exist some artifacts but they only tell the rank of the person, not individual stats rank.

    What? Then what is the guarantee about the information that I gathered? What if other species, humanity included are just keeping the best stat they have got a secret?

    Sure, there''s none.

    Anyways, if no one can find about my intelligence stat then what''s the problem?

    Well, you see I want to be strong and to do so I will have to go into a dungeon, a hidden dungeon, train myself, and whatnot.

    But doing all this will lead to pain.

    Fighting with a monster? I am definitely going to get cuts and bruises and that level of injury is normal in this world.

    But that''s not the case for me!

    I am a normal teenage high school boy! Ie from a peaceful society! Pain isn''t something I am used to! I am not interested in getting used to it either!

    I have never been even spanked by my parents!

    ..Okay! Fine! I might have been spanked when I was a newborn ch... That''s not the point!

    How the hell will I deal with the pain thates from fighting monsters?

    The answer is simple, I can''t.

    So then, how am I going to fight?

    You see, this world now revolves around mana energy. What is mana? Mana is an energy that came into existence after the great f*ck up by our mad scientist.

    What is the use of mana? You mana coat your weapon such as a sword, spear, or whatever to strengthen it. Don''t expect a normal scrap of metal to pierce monsters, it will be like a kid hitting a wall...

    No, the wall won''t break.

    Well, mana energy is the same as breathing. Your body absorbs mana from its surroundings, well not instantly. The recovery rate of mana is faster in those with magician ss.

    If you are low on mana reserves either drink the mana recovery potion or let it recover naturally(it would take a lot of time though).

    What happens if you exhaust your manapletely? Well, you go into a state where you feel you are dying.

    Regardless, what I want to say is mana revolves around one''s body from head to toe.

    It is possible to control mana inside of your body. Some people even use the mana-strengthening method.

    What''s mana strengthening? You control the mana inside your body to strengthen your muscles to increase your strength.

    It''s something everyone is taught in 2nd semester in school. The school I am talking about is the one I will be attending in the future.

    Average person after learning mana strengthening can see the increase in their strength!

    Why am I talking about it?

    Well, as I said I don''t like pain. So I wondered about using the concept of controlling my mana to strengthen my muscles but rather than muscles I will try to control my brain.

    Yes, since mana is all around one''s body I will use mana in my head and use it to control my brain.

    Utter control of my brain. Subconscious to conscious, everything.

    If I do that wouldn''t I be able to remove the sensation/feeling of pain entirely?

    Basically using mana to temper with brain. Brain tempering as I had like to call it.

    But I am not arrogant enough to think no one ever thought about this method. Moreover, this method wasn''t something used in the novel, so I did some research and I came across an article.

    I had to be damned.

    ording to the article, people did try brain tempering using mana but it ended up being a failure, more urately people died.

    At the end of the day, it was concluded brain tempering is simply impossible.

    They did a lot of experiments and research and they got some answers.

    Brain tempering using mana for anyone older than 20 is going to kill them. Reasons? It''s a delicate process to temper with the brain using mana, a single mistake and you are done.

    Also doing brain tempering after the age of 20 when your brain is mostly developed causes problems, since your brain has never done something like this, and the fact that it has mostly developed, messing with it is simply a no-no.

    After this, they decided to use kids for experiments.

    What? How could they use kids? This is all during the time when humanity was getting fu*ked, they didn''t have time to think about morals, and they needed anything that could help them. Humanity''s dark past, that''s what it was.

    They didn''t hide this dark past because if they did people might try brain tempering and die. History would simply repeat.

    Okay, fine. They did try to hide it but in the end they couldn''t keep it a secret.

    Anyways, the experiment failed, those kids didn''t die but ended with brain damage which was repairable to some degree notpletely.

    But all is not lost. ording to the data the higher the intelligence stat the better the results were.

    The brain damage was the lowest among those with higher intelligence stat.

    The problem is the highest intelligence stat for someone under the age of 20 is D.

    Thus they concluded, that it''s impossible to temper your brain using mana because there''s no individual with an appropriate intelligence level at the right age.

    Theoretically, it''s possible, I mean they did find less brain damage in kids with higher intelligence stat. Practically? It''s impossible.

    As for me? It''s clearly possible, the best intelligence stat those guys have to experiment on was D and my intelligence stat is B+.

    The difference in our stat is whooping 7 ranks.

    Now, we finallye to the reason why I have been troubled with Noah''s genius.

    What are the chances that some f*cker didn''t give up and still experimented? What are the odds of Noah being one of the experiments? A sessful one at that?

    What are the chances Noah annihted those f*ckers and erased his records?

    ording to the guy I asked for information Noah, there''s no information about him prior to these past 2 years.

    ..More than that it would also exin why Noah wasn''t mentioned in the novel.

    Noah had dark circles in his eyes when I looked in the mirror but ..there''s simply no reason for him to have that.

    There were no research papers in his room, the books in his room weren''t to the level that Noah had to forgo his sleep to study them all.

    What I am trying to say is Noah''s dying. More urately, there simply didn''t exist a way to reach such intelligence without any side effects.

    This would exin why there was no mention of Noah in the novel since he died already but it would also mean that Noah was the only sessful experiment because there was no one who got introduced with an absurd level of intelligence except one person... I will think about it when I meet her.

    It also exins why my body feels heavy, tired, and exhausted, a slight headache. I initially thought it was because I have been pushing myself but not anymore.

    What? It still doesn''t exin how I got into the academy.

    Why would Noah go and enter into a top academy knowing he is gonna die?

    For shits and giggles, of course.

    You don''t need grand reasons to do some stupid stuff sometimes. Not when you are about to kick the bucket.

    I mean, Noah erased his records, his past. Do you get what that means?

    Noah entered into top academy. No way in hell those guys didn''t try to check into Noah''s past. What did they find? Shit.

    Now imagine Noah dying and not attending the academy? No way, those higher-ups would let the matter go. In other words, Noah damn well affected some things, things not told in the novel.

    In other words, the moment I save my own ass butterfly effect will already be in motion.

    Not that I care, it''s inevitable. I don''t even know if there''s someone else like me out there.

    To begin with, as things are in this world, it''s fated to be doomed, so any change is better than nothing at all.

    Back on topic. The main point of all this is to say Noah is gonna die soon enough and that means I am gonna die, which is a problem.

    What?

    Why do I believe in this theory so much?

    Because that''s what Noah''s diary says! That''s what his medical reports say!

    I found his diary and read it!

    Goodness gracious.

    Give me a break.

    Haa~

    A sigh escaped my lips.

    What? Why did I give 20 million to that guy if I had Noah''s diary in my hands?

    ...Well, this diary, every single page in it is written in a damn code!

    I didn''t wanna go through the pain of decoding it! That''s why!

    What? Why not ask someone else to decode it for me? No way am I gonna give someone a diary that is coded!

    I am not dumb enough to not realize it''s a shit not meant to be shared. So, once I was done reading it, I burned it.

    And it''s not like I gave that guy all that money for nothing. There''s another job I asked him to do for me.

    I took out the phone to check on something while taking thest sip of my c.

    "Shit!"

    I shouted as I fell from my chair, hurting my butt.

    A blue screen greeted me that seemed to have emerged out of nowhere.

    "Don''t pop up like that. I assume you are done with the work?"

    [Yes]

    Damn. Didn''t think it had work.

 Chapter 5: Shopping

    <h4>Chapter 5: Shopping</h4>

    As you might have already guessed the screen in front of me is the system.

    You see, the system screen for all individuals could only be essed by them. In other words, no one can see my system window except for me and vice-versa.

    A system can tell the rank of artifacts, potions, and stuff but you have to touch them. It does tell the rank of monsters without needing to touch them. As for humans, dwarves, elves, demons, beast folk, and vampires? Yeah, the system doesn''t tell anything.

    The only one who has a unique system is the protagonist. His system has a shop, quest, achievement points, and rewards.

    Useless piece of meat still died...

    Whenpared to that my system iscking a lot, then again everyone has the same system as mine. It''s just the protagonist''s system that is built differently.

    Back to the point, the system screen is currently hovering in front of me saying it had done the job I asked it to do.

    "You seriouslypleted the job?"

    [I did. ^.^]

    In just half an hour? Holy hell.

    I shook my head recalling the time when I found out about it.

    You see, the system has a conscious.

    A damn conscious!

    Full-blown conscious.

    Why am I repeating it? Because it''s important!

    This information wasn''t something told in the novel!

    How did I find out? I tried talking to it.

    Who talks with their monitor? I do.

    I still remember back then when I tried to talk to it, there was never a reply. I tried to punch it and the only thing that happened was my hand passing through the system like with holograms. After that, I kept trying to talk to it, straight for a week and I never got any response. Not like I was looking for one. I just kept talking bullshit to it until one day it replied with an emoticon.

    It scared the shit out of me.

    Honestly, I thought my eyes were ying tricks on me but from that point on, it started replying to everything I said. Maybe it''s a requirement you have to fulfill that''s why no one ever found out about a system having a conscious? I don''t know the deal here.

    [I have prepared the map you asked for.]

    I looked at the map system created for me.

    That''s right. I asked it to prepare a map.

    Now, do you realize how much of a big advantage it is to know your system has a conscious?

    The system can almost go anywhere.

    I mean, literally, anywhere.

    Add the fact no one can see my system screen.

    Do you get it?

    That''s right!

    I can practically send the system anywhere and ask it to map things out for me!

    It''s the greatest scout!

    Hell, I can ask the system to stalk someone and it will!

    The map I asked for the system to create was simple.

    I asked it to go take the world tour!

    In other words, I have currently a map of the whole world. From humannd to Eleven, Dwarven, Beastfolk, Vampire, and demonnds!

    All the secret treasury that has been hidden!

    All the secret hideouts of all the criminal organizations/hidden organizations!

    All the hidden dungeons spread around the world!

    Everything!

    That''s the map right in front of my eyes!

    Op doesn''t even begin to describe it!

    "System-san, I love you."

    [Sorry, feelings are not mutual. I am not designed to feel such emotions :( ]

    That''s why I love you!

    It means despite having consciousness you are never gonna change! An AI who you don''t have to fear of taking over!

    And I am an absolute asshole who will make use of it.

    Ahem ahem.

    Back on topic, I looked at the map.

    "System-san, can you point all the hidden dungeons on this map with a red marker or something?"

    [On it.]

    Soon after, the red dots appeared on the map.

    Shit.

    33 dots appeared on the screen.

    33 hidden dungeons.

    What in the flying fu*k!?

    In the novel, the protagonist challenges 3 of them, 1 by a viin and 1 by ..an organization.

    In other words, a total of 5 hidden dungeons were all I know about, thanks to the novel.

    Each hidden dungeon gives a really good reward. I mean, overpowered one.

    But of course, they are only overpowered when you think about 1st half of the novel. In the second half, those rewards weren''t that great.

    And you are telling me there are 33 of them? It''s not that I didn''t expect more hidden dungeons to be avable but not to this extent. I recalled the information about them.

    Hidden dungeons. As the name suggests, they are hidden dungeons spread throughout the world. There have been 17 hidden dungeons found and challenged till now. 10 cleared. 2 by Humans and Dwarfs each, 3 by Elves and Demons each.

    7 resulted in failure. The consequences of it? The area where hidden dungeons were found was blown up into smithereens. Area of damage? Same as a nuclear bomb just a bitrger and instead of radioactive radiation and stuff, the mana in the surrounding area bes distorted and it bes far more dangerous to go near it.

    The government dered those who find hidden dungeons must report it immediately.

    But of course, hidden dungeons are hidden from everyone. So, it''s not like the government can control anyone from not reporting so they put a reward for those who report it.

    What makes hidden dungeons dangerous is that no one knows what sort of thing might be waiting for them inside it, even the humanity''s strongest ended uping all battered from clearing just a single one of them.

    If you put the risk of hidden dungeons away then the rewards are worth it.

    The rewards from hidden dungeons are treated as National Treasures.

    And I was nning on clearing these hidden dungeons. I needed those rewards to survive. I mean, I am seriously dying here.

    A desperate situation requires desperate measures. I don''t have any other choice.

    My death is approaching and there''s seriously nothing else I have to go along with to save my ass. So yeah, it''s a do-or-die.

    Not like I n to die, not before reading the end of the manga I have been following for so long!

    There was something else I needed to confirm as well.

    What? Why am I confident I can clear it?

    Well, remember what I said about one of the hidden dungeons being cleared by the viin? The viin was F ranked.

    This leads me to believe that hidden dungeons are based on the ranks of the individual challenging them or something along those lines.

    I am a G+ ranked. Sure enough, weaker than the viin but I can bridge that gap with my money!

    Walking towards the desk I opened myptop to look into my bank ount.

    I have a little over 2 billion.

    Nice~

    What? When did my money increase?

    Remember the 20 million I gave to the information gatherer? Yeah, I asked him to do some hardcore advertisements for my novels.

    You see before this world changed it was simr to my own.

    But after that day or as people like to call it ''The Great Disaster'' happened, things changed. Continents were destroyed, and so were the countries, the people there, and also their culture. It all happened 300 years ago.

    Now then, how many people do you think remember the masterpieces written from back in the day?

    Yeah, sure they know about Shakespeare but about other''s. More urately, the stuff that falls under the category of hidden gems.

    A tant giarism. I mean, there''s no guarantee that this world is really an exact copy of my world. The stuff I am giarizing are hidden gems from my world.

    Well, whether this world is an exact copy of my own or not doesn''t change anything about my giarizing.

    But who cares?

    In the future, there might even be some guys who would want to make a movie of my novels or manga.

    Ah, yes. My future self will surely be busy but that''s his problem.

    A sure-fire way of earning money without having to worry too much about it. I have already uploaded 2plete novels so people can binge-read them to evaluate my work. This way, my new novels will gain an audience easily and I can rack in cash.

    Rest of the my work will only slowly upload ording to the timer I have set for them.

    I really have been working hard for thest 2 weeks.

    Well then, time to put the money to some good use.

    I opened the website to buy materials needed to deal with the hidden dungeon. I knew what lies in the hidden dungeon and what to expect because of the novel.

    ''Time to put all the stuff in my cart..''

    I already had nned on the things I needed to buy, so all I had to do was simply search for them and buy them.

    First, let''s buy some potions.

    =========================================================

    Healing Potion (Low) - 15,000E x5

    Description - Heals small injuries such as cuts, bruises, sprain, strain, etc. Takes 5 minutes before it starts working, healing time depends upon the level of injury.

    =========================================================

    =========================================================

    Healing Potion (Mid) - 45,000 E x10

    Description - Heals injuries from small to mid-level such as cuts, bruises, sprain, strain, broken bones,ceration, internal bleeding etc. Restores stamina, and helps energize and sleep. Takes 3 minutes before it starts working, healing time depends upon the level of injury.

    =========================================================

    =========================================================

    Healing Potion (High) - 1,00,000 E x15

    Description - Heals injuries from small to serious ones such as cuts,cerations, bruises, sprains, strain, broken bones, squashed flesh, internal bleeding, etc. Restores stamina, helps energize and concentrate, dealing with many side effects of sleep deprivation. Takes 1 minute to start working, healing time depends upon the level of injury.

    =========================================================

    =========================================================

    Mana Recovery Potion (Low) - 10,000 E x5

    Description - Restores 10 percent of your mana in an hour.

    ========================================================

    ========================================================

    Mana Recovery Potion (Mid) - 40,000 E x5

    Description - Restores 50 percent of your mana in about 30 minutes.

    ========================================================

    ========================================================

    Mana Recovery Potion (High) - 90,000 E x10

    Description - Restores 90 percent of your mana in about 10 minutes.

    ========================================================

    ========================================================

    Poison (mid) - 400,000 x10

    Description - Lethal liquified poison. Takes effect in 5 minutes after entering the body system. Lethal to anyone below E+ rank.

    ========================================================

    ========================================================

    Elixir - 1,000,000,000 E

    Description - Restores all injuries and mana. Takes instant effect.

    ========================================================

    ..And there goes a 1,007,775,000 E.

    Healing potions and mana potions sure are expensive.

    What? What''s E?

    Another world. Another currency, more urately human currency.

    Sheesh, that elixir sucked 1 billion away. But in case anything goes wrong I really will need it. Better safe than sorry.

    Alright to the next section of stuff, we go~

    ========================================================

    Night vision goggles (E rank) - 80,000 E

    Description - Allows users to have better vision in ces with low-level light.

    ========================================================

    ========================================================

    Silence Boots ( F+ rank)- 50,000 E

    Description - Allows the user to suppress the sound of their footsteps.

    =========================================================

    =========================================================

    Dimensional Storage ring (D rank) - 500,000 E

    Description - Allows to user to put his belongings into it. Easy to carry around and takes a load off your shoulders. The capacity is 400 sq meters

    =========================================================

    Protection Ne (D- rank) - 10,000,000 E

    Description - Protects the user from attacks by forming a protective shield around him. The ne could with-held the strongest attack from an E+ ranked monster. Activates when mana is channeled inside the ne. Useable 3 times. The usability decreases when the shield shatters.

    =========================================================

    ..and 10,630,000 E.

    Sheesh, costs so much just to protect yourself.

    Finally fire-power.

    =========================================================

    Sleeping bombs (mid) - 200,000 E x 10

    Description - As the name describes, it puts one to sleep. Within 5 minutes of entering the body, the potion starts taking effect. Affects anyone below D+ ranked. Range - 30 meters.

    =========================================================

    =========================================================

    Acid bombs (mid) - 150,000 E x 5

    Description - The bomb once explodes releases liquified acid. Range -15 meters. Lethal to anyone below E+ ranked.

    ========================================================

    ========================================================

    Explosion Bombs - 1,500 E x 50

    Description - Explodes dealing damage to the person. Range -20 meters. Damages only those below F-ranked.

    ========================================================

    ========================================================

    Assault Rifle along with 100000 bullets - 30,000 E

    Description - Damages only those below F-ranked.

    =========================================================

    =========================================================

    Dark Dagger (D-rank) - 500,000 E x2

    Description - Sharp de made from a C-ranked monster''s ore. It could easily slice through any monster below E rank with little to no effort.

    =========================================================

    =========================================================

    Short sword (D rank) - 800,000 E

    Description - Sharp de weapon made from a C ranked monster''s ore. It could easily slice through any monster below D- rank with little to no effort.

    =========================================================

    This makes a total of 4,745,000.

    Adding all the previous amounts, it all totals up to 1,023,150,000.

    And here I click the button buy.

    Click~

    Alright, the delivery will be here by tomorrow.

    That takes care of one thing.

    I closed myptop as I stretched my hands in the air.

    Alright, it was time to start with another job.

    "System Status: Mana proficiency"

    =========================================================

    Mana proficiency: F+ =========================================================

    Yeah, Noah''s proficiency in mana is actually pretty good.

    It was probably because of this that in thest two weeks, I have managed to get the gist of the mana that flows inside my body.

    Now it was time to try to mess with my brain.

    I remember reading it being a delicate process. Hope, I won''t die so young.

    Here goes nothing.

 Chapter 6: Unexpected Stalkers(?)

    <h4>Chapter 6: Unexpected Stalkers(?)</h4>

    (A certain delivery girl''s POV)

    "Alright, Emmie! Time for your first delivery! Here take the key!"

    I caught the keys thrown in my direction.

    "Yes!"

    I excitedly replied. I am a 20 year old liberal arts student in college and this is going to be my part-time job. I just applied recently for it.

    I took this job to pay for my rent and other expenses.

    I feel a bit nervous..

    I pped my cheeks. This won''t do! The day''s just starting!

    "You sure are upbeat about it Emmie-san"

    "!"

    Startled, I turned towards the source of the voice.

    "I sure am Yamada-kun! I am kind of nervous but I am sure everything will work out fine!"

    "Sure."

    Yamada-kun said with a sigh. I have known him since childhood, when I told him I was going to start working part-time he immediately said he was going to join me as well.

    Sometimes, he is so cute.

    "I still don''t get why you chose a delivery job, it would be easier to earn as an adventurer"

    Adventurer, huh?

    "No! That''s a risky job. I know it has high pay but it''s really risky. I don''t want to endanger my life unnecessarily"

    Adventurers, the term belonged to people who decided to go and venture into the dungeon. They fought monsters and brought valuables from there.

    A high-risk, high-reward type of job.

    But I didn''t like it.

    Endangering your life for money didn''t sound nice to me. I would rather have this low-earning but peaceful job where I won''t have to risk my life.

    "It''s not really that risky if you stay on lower floors, you know?"

    "That''s just for people who are strong like you!"

    Why can''t this childhood friend of mine understand it?

    People who have something can''t understand the true value of it. Yamada-kun is C+ ranked, a really strong individual.

    On average people are around E+ ranked.

    Not only that, but in a dungeon there''s no certainty ofing back alive even if your rank is high.

    "Besides, it''s not only monsters you have to worry about. You know, right? In dungeons, there are nows, no security, and no cameras. You have to be wary of the humans too. What will you do when you face them?"

    It might be possible to somehow win against dozens of monsters as long as they are lower ranked than you but humans are different. Traps, tricks, deceit you name it.

    This is the biggest reason I didn''t choose adventuring as a part-time job even though I myself am stronger than average people.

    "Ah...right. That is troublesome."

    "Right? This job is much safer and also has good pay."

    "...But isn''t this job simrly troublesome?"

    What? Delivery job? How?

    Sensing my confusion Yamada-kun began to speak

    "I mean, what if you ran into a wrong customer? Some peoplesh out for no reasonining about how the delivery iste and all."

    "That''s for every job out there though. A manager gettingshed at, a doctor gettingshed at, a customer service gettingshed at, and how many more."

    "Yeah, I know. That''s not what I am talking about" Yamada-kun said shaking his head as he continued "I mean, in this job, you are probably gonna run into various types of people. You are going to their house, do you get it? What if you one day ended up having to deliver at a very shady ce or if that person is absolute crap?"

    "...You are worrying unnecessarily. If I remain this much concerned then even walking on a road is dangerous, you don''t know when you might get into idents."

    My childhood friend is such a worrywart. But I like how he cares about me so much~

    "Hmm.. It might be an unnecessary concern, sorry, if it bothered you but I don''t want anything to happen to you. You are like a family to me" he said in a low voice

    Uwaah!

    Don''t say such embarrassing things!

    "F-family"

    Why don''t you confess to me already?

    "Yeah, like a little sister"

    A sister...

    All of a sudden my shaking heart calmed down.

    "Yamada-kun, I will be going then. I can''t bete in delivering on the first day"

    I said while wanting to have an urge to punch his face real hard.

    "Sure. I will go and help Akatsu-san with the new stock that came today."

    Akatsu-san...

    Hmph! I don''t care!

    I stomped the floor before walking away.

    ''Idiot..''

    After a few minutes of walking, I arrived in front of a bike. There weren''t any boxes or packages that I needed carrying and that''s because of the dimensional storage device that is installed in the bike.

    It was the job of other staff to put the packages in these bikes and assign a number to them.

    I looked at the tag on my key and the bike number.

    ''Yeah. This is the one..''

    I inserted the keys and a small screen lit up. It contained the addresses of all the people whose packages were contained in the bike.

    And I have to deliver them all.

    Let''s get started.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In about a few minutes I arrived in front of the building.

    ''Looks pretty shabby...''

    I had expected a cool-looking building. It was because the person who I was going for the delivery had bought an Elixir.

    Elixir are expensive.

    I could live as a NEET for quite some time if I had that much money on me.

    I took out the package that I had to deliver from the dimensional storage.

    All I had to do was think of what I wanted to pull out of the device and it will. I started to think about the number assigned to the package.

    Two boxes came out.

    "Agh, I will have to carry them all the way..."

    I muttered. Thepany installed the dimensional storage devices in the bike and you can''t really take the bike into someone''s room now, can you?

    The bike is also installed with GPS, so no one can really run away with these bikes.

    Noah''s apartment room no. is 2506''.

    I am guessing it means, the twenty-fifth floor, room 6.

    "Yosh!"

    I said as I took both of the packages and started walking towards my destination

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    *Huff huff*

    ''Why..''

    I couldn''t help but ask myself.

    Why the hell does this building NOT have an elevator!?

    What kind of era are the people of this building living in!?

    Wiping of my sweat from my forehead I pressed the ringtone.

    Ding~

    I waited for the person to open the door with a business smile stered on my face.

    I am pretty proud of my business smile.

    The door slowly opened.

    Oh my god!

    My business smile vanished in an instant.

    This guy reeks!

    Absolutely disgusting!

    B-but!

    This guy''s face looks hot!

    He looked around 15, 16? ck unkempt hairs, ck eyes with deep dark eyebags, and white sickly pale skin. He is sweating a lot too.

    His clothes were all wrinkled and he smelled downright disgusting.

    Honestly, he looked like an absolute mess...

    But despite all this, he is looking way above average.

    Just how high is his charm to be looking handsome even in such a condition?

    "Um.. are you okay?"

    I couldn''t help but ask.

    The boy nodded.

    You don''t look okay though..

    He looked towards the packages in my hand.

    "Ah, I am from Dungeon Delivery, your delivery is here!"

    I said trying to act as much as normal as I could. He may be reeking but he is still a customer.

    He nodded his head as he took out a pen from his pocket understanding his intention I showed him my tablet.

    Looking at it for a few moments and confirming his order he gave his required signature and retina scan.

    Alright, only one thing left to do and then I am leaving ASAP. He may look handsome but the smell is unbearable.

    "!"

    He bent a little and picked up the boxes himself.

    Usually, after delivering the item our job is to leave but when the customer has made a big order like this guy''s two boxes, we are the ones to put the packages where ever the person wants us to inside the house.

    Guess, I won''t have to go inside his room.

    Actually, I was d. I have no idea how much his room might be reeking. Just standing near him was enough to make me want to run away.

    But..

    He is just a kid.

    I didn''t want to leave him like this. His condition looked horrible, one that is in urgent need of care.

    I know he has bought the healing potions but those healing potions are only good for healing injuries mostly caused by external factors.

    "Um, you should take care of yourself a bit more. How about visiting a doctor?"

    He is rich, that is a given.

    It shouldn''t be a problem for him to go to a doctor and take proper medication.

    He stared at me for a few seconds before

    ..shutting the door on my face.

    I stood frozen for a few seconds trying to process what happened just now.

    What if you had to make a delivery for a crappy person?

    I remembered Yamada-kun''s words.

    ...My first delivery on the first day was absolutely the worst.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s Pov)

    ''Ugh!''

    What was I doing? Vomiting!

    Oh lord, this is absolutely the worst!

    Since I started to try and control my brain using mana I have been having hangovers. I have been vomiting again and again.

    My head was hurting like hell. It was even worse than the time when I had a fever of 40.55 ��C.

    Honestly, the feeling was simr to how one would feel when someone''s twisting a knife inside your brain.

    That''s how my day kept going.

    I tried to control my brain with mana, and after a few minutes I felt absolute pain, then I lost control and started vomiting, and then I tried to control my brain with mana once again.

    And so the loop continues.

    At times, my consciousness felt hazy. I was sure my body was burning indicating I had sessfully caught a fever and a high degree one at that.

    But I didn''t stop!

    I persevered through it all!

    Now I can control my brain using mana for 5 minutes straight!

    Hahahaha!

    Fuuuuucck.

    At this rate, I will die before I even get to go to the dungeon.

    Now you must be wondering how was I even able to get the feel of mana when I have never felt it. That''s because of the body memory of the owner.

    Honestly, I was only able to achieve this level because when I tried to control the mana in my brain I was able to do it instinctively or should I say my body did it on its own?

    This body memory kinda serves as proof that Noah really was messing with his brain or has messed with his brain.

    Regardless, even with the help of body memory, I was only able to achieve this much.

    Done vomiting, I washed my face in the faucet.

    Making my way towards the living room while walking like a zombie I started to move the mana inside my brain again as Iy on the couch.

    Yes, Iy on the couch. There''s no need to take some grandiose position to move mana inside your body as long as you can concentrate properly, that''s more than enough.

    I started the process once again.

    Honestly, it was hard to do. Moving the mana in my hands felt far easier than moving the mana in my brain.

    If I have to describe the feeling then it was like moving some sort of murky substance that''s inside my brain and knowing that this murky substance resides inside of my body was enough to give me creeps.

    It was like I was trying to move some inky viscous swamp and if I didn''t do it delicately or made even a slight mistake I would start vomiting the next instant, feeling hazy and all the crap.

    The process felt disgusting and too hard.

    Ding~

    I heard the doorbell rang. I felt irritated. Just who the hell woulde here?

    ''Do I have to open the door?''

    ''But I don''t who it is?''

    ''To begin with would I even be able to deal with the person!?''

    ''Why are youing to my house!?''

    ''Maybe I should I just ignore they would leave if I don''t reply, right?''

    Various thoughts entered my brain when suddenly a thought crossed my mind. I looked at the clock immediately.

    Ah, fuck.

    It was noon.

    In other words, almost a day has passed since I have been trying to control my brain.

    I started the process yesterday and I have been at it non-stop without realizing the time at all.

    ''Must be the delivery for my products.. ugh''

    Grunting to myself I slowly stood up, having no choice but to go and take my delivery.

    I cursed this world. It was more advanced than mine but there were still no AI robots to work.

    Why do I have to deal with other people?

    Iined as I walked through the corridor drenched in sweat. Finally, reaching the door.

    Opening it, I saw a girl standing with two packages in her hand.

    ....

    ..Umm, why are standing still?

    Why aren''t you giving me my delivery?

    Please, give me my delivery!?

    "Um.. are you okay?"

    She asked me a question. Aren''t you a deliverydy? Why are you asking me such a question?

    Just give me my damn deliverydy.

    I nodded to her question albeit reluctantly.

    I was reminded, reminded of how pathetic I am when it came to dealing with other people.

    I just can''t bring myself to speak with others easily.

    I am an outcast. A loner. Social skills? What''s that? Is it delicious to eat?

    "Ah, I am from Dungeon Delivery, your delivery is here!"

    I know.

    Just give me the delivery.

    I quickly took out my pen from my pocket.

    Understanding my intention she took out the tablet.

    I couldn''t help but be thankful.

    She is smart. There''s no need tomunicate.

    Only dumbasses need tomunicate, smart people can understand everything through actions.

    I checked the contents of the delivery and gave my required signature and retina scan.

    Oh, finally we are done. Thanks for the delivery. Now shoo shoo~

    Picking up the packages I prepared myself to go back in my room.

    "Um, you should take care of yourself a bit more. How about visiting a doctor?"

    Just as I was about to go inside my room thedy spoke again.

    Why are you still here?

    Your job is done! Don''t you have a boyfriend or anything to spend your free time with? Any other deliveries you have to make?

    No, more importantly, why are you talking to me?

    How should I reply!? I mean, she looks concerned and that makes her a good person because I do look downright horrendous. I mean, I am screwing myself over so it makes sense.

    How many days do I have left to live? ording to Noah''s diary, 2 weeks or so.

    Regardless, how should I reply to her?

    Wait... I already got my delivery.

    All of a sudden, I felt peace.

    Yeah, why do I need to stress over her anyway? I already had my delivery with me. There was no need for this person anymore. I have given my required signature as well.

    That''s right, screw her.

    I turned around shutting the door. Our business was done. Who cares anymore? That''s right, no one.

    I walked towards the living room once again as I put down the packages and started opening them.

    I took out all the items and started to analyze them with my system to check their authenticity.

    As I have said if you want to check the description and rank of the artifact, potion, and stuff you gotta touch it with your own hands.

    After confirming that the contents were exactly what was written on the website when I ordered them.

    Good...

    I gulped down the healing potion, a high-grade one.

    The reason I drank a high-grade healing potion is because only high-grade potion restores your energy and takes care of your sleep.

    What I am trying to say is after drinking a high-grade healing potion you don''t need to sleep. You will still feel the wanting to sleep but even if you don''t sleep you won''t face the side-effects of not sleeping.

    Sinceing to this world I have been busy... and I have only slept like 12 hours or so...

    After a minute passed, the potion started to take effect.

    My head which felt heavy started to feel a bit lighter, it wasn''t like my headache disappeared but I could feel my concentration increasing and energy surging through my body.

    I felt a bit better than before.

    As for my fever not much changed but it got a bit better.

    Why didn''t I recover properly you ask?

    Healing potions weren''t for diseases to begin with.

    Healing potions mainly served the purpose of healing injuries.

    It was precisely this reason that Noah is dying and why people simply don''t use healing potions or Elixir to heal the brain damage incurred during the experiment. Because it''s not possible.

    Diseases, natural aging, fever, and stuff like that weren''t curable using healing potions. Well, if it''s a mild fever you can get better with a good healing potion.

    You might wonder what diseases might get to superhumans but just like how humans evolved, bacteria did too.

    So yeah, doctors are still in business.

    Alright, let''s start again.

    I started to move my mana inside my brain while I took out the poison and the dagger and short sword that I ordered.

    I started to coat the dagger with poison. I n on coating the bullets with poison as well.

    Why am I doing this while also controlling the mana in my brain even though it could be dangerous?

    Yeah, true. I am trying to control mana in my brain to control my brain with mana, a tricky process but a delicate and dangerous one too. I should be solely focusing on it instead of trying to multi-task.

    But you know inside the dungeon I will fight while having to do it!

    Life used to be hard and unfair but now it''s even ridiculous.

    I wanted to rest but I can''t. I didn''t have time for it.

    And so...

    I kept grinding until midnight arrived when I finally decided to move.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    I also thought back to the person who was staring at me from the distance when I was taking my delivery.

    I wasn''t like I saw the person himself but more like, I felt several gazes on me, watching me.

    The reason I kept myself locked up till now.

    Well, I will lose them today

    But still, who the fuck are these stalkers?

 Chapter 7: Hunting Slimes

    <h4>Chapter 7: Hunting Slimes</h4>

    I simply realized that I was being watched when I had decided to simply go and look out of the window.

    I mean, I am a new resident of this world so I did feel like wanting to see it for myself but I simply came back in the room the moment I felt those gazes.

    I confirmed that I was being watched when I ordered my takeaways. Every time I went to take my takeaway and stepped out of the room, I felt those gazes, scrutinizing me.

    And I have no idea who they are.

    Noah, just what kind of trouble are you in?

    Anyway, let''s forget about them. Losing those people would be easy.

    I have been doing stuff like that for a long time.

    Let''s get to the main point.

    So for you see, my condition worsened, or more urately, it seems like trying to mess with my already messed brain ended up being counter-productive.

    I still should have had some time left before my death at least ording to Noah''s prediction but guess I worsened it by trying to control my brain.

    I mean, what could have possibly gone wrong?

    It''s a given when you try to use damaged product, it bes even more damaged!

    Noah''s brain was like a fragile piece of ss which was on the verge of breaking and I like a dumbass grabbed that ss without any consideration and ...fu*ked up.

    Well, in my defense it was my first time using mana. So what if there exists a body memory? I myself have never done this shit. It was a given something wrong would happen.

    Besides, I am pressed on time. I have no idea about those stalkers, the academy is soon going to start and the main plot is along with it.

    And I am in a body that''s dying.

    My actions are justifiable.

    Ahem.

    Next time, I will do it right.

    Wearing the protection ne and the dimensional ring I had bought as I left my apartment, an apartment which looked like a mess, I hadn''t cleaned it sinceing here, and during the time I was inspecting the ce I turned this ce upside down. I mean, I found Noah''s diary thanks to that.

    Leaving the apartment, I made my way towards the car that was waiting for me.

    I booked a cab. Why? ''coz the ce I have to go is pretty far away.

    As I sat down in the car I looked at the driver''s seat. There was no one there.

    Yes! Finally, automated cars!

    You did one thing good fantasy world!

    No need to deal with other people!

    Besides, if not for the automated car I wouldn''t have been able to go to the hidden dungeon.

    You see, this hidden dungeon is located in a forest, a forest filled with beasts.

    Beasts, as I have once said are creatures who once used to be normal animals but became more dangerous and scary after ''The Great Disaster''.

    So the thing is, no one would want to go near that forest, more so, when it''s in the middle of the night.

    That''s right, it''s the middle of the night.

    Who said you can''t work during the night!? I sure am gonna!

    Oh, you may be wondering how could a forest filled with beasts not be a restricted area.

    Duh, it''s a restricted area.

    I am gonna trespass.

    As for what are beasts? Well, they are just animals, people just changed their names to beasts after they evolved thanks to mana. They be more ferocious, dangerous, andrger in size.

    I looked at the sky through the window.

    Oh, wait? Did I ever mention we have got 2 moons here? Typical fantasy cliche.

    But that wasn''t important, what is important are the 7 pirs that I can see, they seemed to stretch as high as the eye could see.

    That''s right, these 7 pirs were so damn big that I could see them from here.

    What are these 7 pirs? Well, they are dungeons located in 7 different ces in each domain of each race.

    Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Beastfolks, Vampires and Demons. Makes a total of 6 species. So you might be wondering what''s the 7th one.

    That''s still not clear.

    You see, there''s an ind. An ind where exists this 7th specie but no one knows shit about them. Why? Because anyone who went there never returned. Any cameras or drones used didn''t capture shit about the insides of the ind.

    There have never been any attacks from that ce. I mean, no one got caught leaving that ce. Of course, everyone was curious about the ind and tried many things until everyone finally gave up.

    So, yeah. It''s a mystery, no one knows what exists there.

    In the novel, the ind wasn''t explored either but that doesn''t matter to me!

    And as you might know, recently I asked my system to make a map of the whole world.

    That''s why, I know exactly what''s there.

    And man, am I gonna rob that ce to oblivion.

    Ah, but not now. Time is not right.

    Ah, sleepy...

    I stretched my hand into the air as I tried to stifle my yawn.

    I felt like I would really end up falling asleep if I didn''t keep my mind preupied with something. I had taken the potion before leaving so I should be fine even if I don''t sleep but the ''wanting'' to sleep emotion can''t be erased.

    Let''s think about something for now.

    ''When it''s not morning it''s night.''

    ''In every 60 seconds, a minute passes.''

    ''Why''s there a D in the fridge but not in the refrigerator?''

    ''How did I end up in this guy''s body?''

    ''How much time has passed in my world?''

    ''Has the manga already ended?''

    ''Will I be able to binge a lot of Chapters when I finally get back home?''

    I kept thinking about stupid stuff until I realized something even more stupid.

    Goodness, gracious...

    I mean, you know... I am going to go and kill some monsters.

    What? what''s the problem?

    Well...

    I know this world is different and values here are a bit different but still..

    I mean, I am consciously going into a hidden dungeon of my own ord to kill monsters. Let''s say, if you stumble upon a wild animal in a jungle, what do you expect it to do? Greet you. Duh, it will try to kill you.

    Basically, I am going to kill monsters for my own sake.

    Killing people for your own sake.

    What''s the difference between the two? Both sound like murder.

    What? In one case, it''s not human.

    Animal murdering is a thing you get arrested for, you know. Well, not like they are animals, so they don''t have animal rights, I think?

    Then again, it''s not like it mattered much to me. Except for the fact that this was going to be my first time killing a monster I didn''t really care for other things.

    To begin with, the answer to whether it''s okay to kill monsters or not is simple. As long as the world allows it who gives a damn.

    After some time passed I finally arrived at the destination.

    I left the car and it went away probably to its next customer.

    Now then.

    "System-san, can you go and look for a route to the hidden dungeon with no beasts and no people so that I can enter it."

    [On it! o7]

    In a matter of a few seconds, the system came back.

    [Here''s the map]

    "Alright, let''s go"

    I said as I took out one of my daggers.

    What? Why am I taking out my weapon on a secured route?

    Well, it''s because the system doesn''t make a real-time map. The once safe route might now have beasts there. So, just in case.

    I didn''t fail to notice the gazes watching over me.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    My worries proved to be unnecessary, nothing really happened. I didn''t have to encounter any beast on my way to the hidden dungeon.

    I stood in front of a blue-colored portal.

    My ticket inside the hidden dungeon.

    "Hey, system-san. You really can''t go inside it?"

    [Not unless you go inside first. This is the 5th time you have asked this. Why are you making me feel ipetent? TwT ]

    ..

    I ignored it.

    Apparently, the system can''t go inside it unless I go into this hidden dungeon first. Well, not like it matters since I knew what this hidden dungeon is like from the inside because of the novel.

    I put my dagger back in the ring.

    "Well, there are only two things that are happening. Either I am dying or I am living"

    I cracked my neck as I stepped inside the blue portal leading me to the dungeon.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As I entered the portal my vision blurred and I felt as if my body was being stretched and shredded into pieces.

    This is quite a peculiar experience...

    The feelingsted only for an instant and I was soon greeted with a sight of a purple screen.

    {You have entered a hidden dungeon! Congrats on finding it!

    To clear this hidden dungeon you will have to kill the monster located inside a hidden room in this dungeon. Good luck!

    Time remaining - 30 Days}

    Soon after, the screen disappeared.

    Yup, just like in the novel. It''s the same theme.

    What theme? Well, all hidden dungeons have different themes. It will be easier to understandter down the line rather than me exining.

    For now, let''s focus.

    Because right now, I am seriously in a dungeon that is crawling with monsters.

    Alright, I circted the mana inside my body and took control of it.

    It was easier to move mana in my bodypared to my brain and when I say easier, I mean way too easier.

    And you see, my condition is pretty worse. I can''t even move properly, more like my head''s hurting really bad.

    Honestly, I wouldn''t havee inside this dungeon with this body even if it''s a do-or-die. I mean, wouldn''t it be useless toe here if you can''t walk properly? How will you even fight?

    But themon sense of my world doesn''t work here.

    You see, I wanted to control my brain but it didn''t work out like I wanted but remember when I said it''s easier to control mana inside my body whenpared to my brain?

    Yeah, so I am doing that.

    I am using the mana in the form of strings attached to my body.

    Do you get that? No matter how much a puppet is damaged as long as it''s attached to its strings you can move it just fine.

    That''s what I am doing too.

    Like controlling a character of a game using your game controller.

    Usually, people move themselves consciously but here I am, moving the mana consciously to move my body.

    It kind of feels weird and ufortable.

    Okay, that was a lie. Feels he weird and ufortable!

    There''s eveng when I move.

    Not like I have a choice.

    You might think that using mana like this would drain me of all my mana pretty fast but that''s not true.

    Mana is like blood. As long as I don''t bring mana outside of my body it won''t drain.

    So, yeah I am fine in that department.

    ''Time to take a look around...'' I thought as I decided to observe my surroundings.

    What should I say? This ce needs some lightening maintenance. The only source of light in the dungeon is its walls which were emitting faint glows. The visibility here isn''t good.

    I pulled my night vision goggles and wore them.

    ''Yup, way better but..''

    Yikes.

    The quiet eerie silence that enveloped this ce definitely gave it the vibe of the haunted house except it''s more gloomy, more creepier. The air surrounding me felt cold and most of all, this ce gave me the feeling of being thrown into a detached world where life is almost ..bleak, exhausted.

    That''s all I can say about this ce.

    "System-san, check out the whole ce, find the location of the boss room, make a map, and mark the ces with monsters"

    [Got it!]

    The system left.

    That''s right, if you were wondering how the hell am I gonna clear this hidden dungeon which has a time limit of 30 days fast enough to not die, then it''s because now that I have entered the hidden dungeon, the system can go and scout the whole ce.

    Unlike the viin in the novel, who wandered all around the ce and stumbled across lots of monsters while trying to find the boss room, I don''t have to worry about that stuff.

    Truly, finding out about the system is the greatest thing I have done in my 16 years of life.

    ''Alright then, time to get to work~''

    I turned around to see an amorphous creature hiding behind a pir watching me. The name of the monster is slime. It''s sized around an elementary school kid''s bag. It started to run away.

    Without wasting time, I pulled my assault rifle to kill the running slime. Slimes are weak monsters, so they are cautious and only prefer sneak attacks, so when they are found, they decide to run away.

    Slimes are transparent globs of sticky gel that are small in size. No matter how much you try to cut or smash the gel it won''t die. The only way to kill the slimes is to damage the small brain you see inside their body. There are no other organs inside them except their tiny brain.

    Gross.

    [Done]

    Oh, you are back.

    "Wait a minute, system-san"

    I aimed toward the brain of the running slime monster and pulled the trigger.

    Swish~

    The sound of the bullet as it cut through the air entered my ears.

    The slime stopped moving.

    I looked at the monster''s corpse, I could sell it for money.

    The sticky gel is actually useful.

    But..

    Yikes, I ain''t touching it. If the fact that thing there is a corpse isn''t enough then its transparent brain which is visible and is gross as hell to look at is enough for me to not touch it.

    I am rich anyway!

    "!"

    Huh? What?

    All of a sudden I felt the sense of being watched, being watched from all the directions.

    I ran towards the nearest pir hiding behind it.

    "System-san, show the map" I ordered.

    Complying with my request system showed me the map of the dungeon.

    Figures..

    There were no monsters marked by the system around me except that one slime that I killed. I tried to take a peek by poking out my head a bit.

    Swish!

    A spike grazed past me and I hid behind the pir once again.

    Yikes. It''s a hidden dungeon for a reason.

    These monsters must have been summoned after I killed that slime. After all, the system made the map first and I killed the slime after. The system doesn''t make a real-time map either. So that''s the only possible exnation.

    Anyways, the spike that flew past me is a solid gel. Slimes are able to shoot it from their body not to mention they can stick themselves on walls at any angle and they are hiding right now. I don''t even know if it''s only Slimes that got summoned.

    It''s gonna be annoying.

    "System-san, mark all of the monsters near me again."

    [Understood]

    I waited for the system and it came back pretty fast.

    [Here]

    "And these are all monsters that are G-ranked, right?"

    [Cannot disclose the information unless you confront them.]

    "Name of all these monsters?"

    [Slimes.]

    Guess, the dungeon only called for slimes.

    It should have been clear by now but yeah, the system can''t tell me the rank of any monster not unless I see them for myself.

    I already had a talk with the system, so I knew about it. But I wanted the confirmation. It will tell me the name of the monster though and that''s more than enough for me.

    I reloaded my assault rifle.

    What can I say, it''s time to start hunting some slimes.

 Chapter 8: I am Screwed

    <h4>Chapter 8: I am Screwed</h4>

    "Goodness me, that sure was tiring" I said.

    In the end, I killed a total of 50 slimes including the very first one I killed.

    Right now, I stood around a bunch of corpses. Different colored corpses.

    You see, there exist different types of slimes. Poison slime, Acid slime, Water slime, Fire slime, and many more of them. All possessing a different color.

    "System-san, no more monsters near me?"

    [No more monsters near you.]

    That''s cool.

    Seems like monsters don''t just keep getting summoned and also the monster that will be summoned is most likely the one I kill.

    The spikes from slimes weren''t a clear hit but many of them grazed my skin. The injuries aren''t deep but I ended up getting a lot of cuts.

    But it''s an expected oue. After all, this is my first time in a fight against a monster.

    If anything I am actually impressed by myself. It''s true that I got injuries but there aren''t any deep ones.

    Now you might be wondering why am I not screaming in pain.

    The answer is simple.

    This body has a pain tolerance. I mean, Noah is the subject of an experiment.

    Thanks, Noah, for going through the pain and building whatever pain tolerance you did. Now, I won''t have to feel it. Of course, I understand there''s only so much that this body will be able to take afterward there''s no way that I wouldn''t feel pain.

    But I still don''t want to resort to brain tempering for reasons such as my condition that gets worse when I do it and the obvious headaches that I have to endure, not only that but I can barely keep the hold of mana in my brain for 10 minutes.

    I took out a low-level healing potion and drank it.

    There are two ways of using healing potion. One is to apply the healing potion on the injury directly. By doing this you will feel a lot of pain not only that applying a potion on injuries will be a waste. For instance, if I start applying potion on all my cuts I will need more one than a single healing potion to cover all the cuts I have on my body.

    The other way to use a healing potion is by drinking it. This way, you won''t feel any sort of pain not only that a single healing potion is more than enough to heal all the cuts on my body.

    The first method might be filled with only bad points but it has its own advantage and that''s the fact that directly applying the potion on the injuries results in the potion to start working right away while you have to wait for the potion to start working in case you drank it.

    "System-san, let''s leave this ce. Show me the map"

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Munch~

    Eating my cheese hamburger which I brought with me I thought about how I should deal with the goblins 500 meters away from me.

    The two goblins seemed to be chatting with each other, I saw them using my eyes.

    What? How could I see this clearly from this much distance?

    Well, here''s the thing. I have been trying to temper my brain with mana, I am moving my body using the mana as sort of strings.

    So what gives you the idea I won''t try anything with my eyes?

    Well, anyway. It seems my idea is working just fine except my eyes hurt.

    For fu*k''s sake!

    Why can''t a single thing work properly for once?

    I removed the mana from my optic nerves and closed my eyes trying to rx them a bit. I only did it for like few seconds and it already felt like someone''s stabbing my eyes with 100''s of needles.

    Rxing my eyes I continued on eating my burger and drinking my c.

    Apparently, things don''t rot or age in dimensional storage. So you can easily store foods and the like without having to worry about anything.

    After I gobbled down my burger and drank the c. I decided to again look in the direction of those goblins.

    As I slowly started ovepping my optic nerves with my mana to improve my vision, I took my assault rifle and aimed at the two goblins.

    "System-san, once I kill those 2 guys over there prepare yourself to revise the map with monsters around me."

    [Understood. o7]

    Alright, let''s focus.

    I was going to pull the trigger but.. screw them!

    They suddenly startedughing as they ate something, probably a monster meat.

    Stop moving so much!

    My eyes are already starting to hurt. Endure. Endure.

    I waited for the right moment again and it soon came.

    I pulled the trigger.

    Ratatatata!

    The gun''s noise reached my ears as my automated assault rifle bullets made a mess of the two goblins'' heads, making their faces unrecognizable.

    I quickly detached the empty magazine and pulled out a 100-round magazine from the bag attaching it to my assault rifle right after killing both the goblins.

    [Jobpleted.]

    "Gotcha, thanks"

    I said as I looked at the revised map that the system showed me.

    Alright, 50 goblins around 100 meters away from me.

    10ing from the right, 10ing from the left, 10ing from my back, and 20 from the front.

    Alright, bastards wouldn''t be able to get away.

    I looked at all of them, if it''s just this much it shouldn''t be a big problem.

    Those goblins looked at me as they rushed towards me.

    "Khakawku"

    "Khaiwa!!"

    "kHA KA!"

    ..Sorry, I don''t understand yournguage and I don''t have any interest in learning it either.

    Taking out one of the acid bombs I threw it towards the goblinsing from the front.

    The range of acid bombs is 15 meters and it''s lethal to anyone below E+.

    Bang!

    The moment the bomb exploded, the liquified acid scattered across them. Melting their skin, their faces, some of them writhing in pain, falling on ground screaming and some died while screaming.

    ''Eww, gross''

    Probably, because of my action the goblins who were once rushing towards me slowed down a bit.

    Too bad, you gotta be fast in situations like these!

    I thought as I turned to my back and pulled the trigger

    Ratatatata!

    The sound of bullets leaving the rifle entered my ears as I saw the goblins falling one after another.

    Soon after, goblins that were on my back, on my right and left were taken care of.

    The front crew is all that''s left and honestly, they looked gross thanks to the acid bomb.

    I aimed the gun at them and pulled the trigger.

    Ratatata!!!

    ...And it ended pretty fast with me being surrounded by goblin corpses.

    I looked at the empty magazine that was lying on the ground.

    I emptied a 100-round magazine to kill 50 goblins.

    Guns really are nerfed in this world.

    "System-san, revise the map again~"

    [I am not getting paid enough for this... On it. TwT ]

    Well, fair enough. I am asking the system to revise the map again and again.

    In my defense, the sound of the bullets or the screams of goblins might have attracted some monster so I needed to check.

    [Here]

    ''That''s good''

    I thought as I looked at the map. Seems, I am safe.

    This time, I didn''t get any injuries in the process.

    Forward we go!

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    BOOM! BOOM!

    "Shit!"

    I cursed jumping to my right avoiding the monster that came from beneath the ground. I pulled the pin from the grenade and threw it inside its mouth.

    BOOM!

    "Gyaaaugghh!!!"

    Its screeching sound made me wonder how are my eardrums still intact.

    Right now, I havepletely decided to rely on my instinct. The moment I sensed even a bit of danger I moved.

    Huff huff!

    Oh lord, I am running outta fumes, I have been running all over the ce. I took out an intermediate healing potion to restore my stamina and health.

    I gulped the potion down my throat. It''s my 3rd potion already!

    I looked at the 4 remaining monsters in front of me. They are G+ ranked. These guys were about 15 meters tall. They are called earthworms except the fact that they are anything but earthworm-like. Their outer skin is tough, I mean he tough, bullets ain''t gonna help.

    How do I know? Because I read the books beforeing here!

    The thing is from what I read in ''Tricks to Deal with Monsters'' this guy has a wide-ass mouth which he keeps open all the time except when it swallows its prey.

    With this piece of information from the book I realized that I could just throw a bomb inside his body, I mean the guy is asking for it!

    Damaging something from inside is always easier, it''s G+ ranked so it''s possible to damage him using bombs.

    What? What does rank has to do with it? Well, a high-rank monster or person both are capable of sustaining a bomb exploding even from inside their body...

    ''Whatever,mon sense died when I got transmigrated anyway''

    Anyways, the thing is, the bombs should be able to deal with this guy.

    But here''s the problem, this guy can go inside the grounds! I mean fucking ground! Then it appears from beneath me!

    Like, seriously dude!?

    Okay, fine! I ept it. I knew all this and still made a hasty decision. I thought it wouldn''t be hard to deal with this guy, I mean all I had to do was dodge him and throw bombs inside his mouth.

    Like in games!

    But the damn ground that shakes whenever they go underground disturbs my footing not only that but when they appear from beneath me the debris thates my way is also a damn problem

    This type of problem doesn''t happen when you y the game!

    Fuck! I forgot the real world is different

    In my defense, I have been a shut-in for quite some time

    Anyways, I am G+ ranked. This monster is the same rank as me.

    So why is it so hard to fight him!?

    I guess, this is my first straight-on fight.

    I could kill it with my daggers since they would pierce it''s skin easily but I decided against it as I ran around throwing bombs at it.

    Why?

    Because if not then when will I use the 50 explosion bombs I bought?

    4 more, just 4 more to go. I have already killed 6 of them. I can do it.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "System-san..haaa ..no one''s around me right? haa"

    I asked the system while panting.

    [No]

    My tensed body finally rxed as a sigh of relief escaped my lips. I took out and gulped down an intermediate healing potion.

    I won.

    It wasn''t that hard except for the debris that flew toward me and the shaking ground that kept disrupting my footing.

    Getting up, I started to move as I looked at the map.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Grrr"

    In front of me is an F-ranked monster. It looked like a wolf but it wasn''t a wolf. It has like 4 eyes!

    Four goddamn eyes.

    It also has 2 tails. The name of the monster ''Hound''

    Who came up with this name? Thinking so, I shook my head.

    Right now, I have a dagger in my hand. Do I have dagger skills?

    Well, I know how to use a knife to cut veggies. So, it wouldn''t be wrong to say I do have dagger skills.

    Alright, whatever. I will swing the dagger.

    The monster stared at me and I stared at him.

    The monster''s mouth curled up into a grin.

    What? Why is he... Son of bit*h!

    He thinks I am weaker than him!

    ording to ranks, that is true! But hey, it''s just a single rank! How much difference could there be between us?

    I tightened the hold on my dagger. The hound drove straight towards me as his paw hit the ground with immense force giving him a lot of speed.

    ''Fast..''

    That was all I could think as I ducked to my left, its w grazed my arm a little.

    I kicked upwards as I smashed the point of my foot into its stomach.

    "Grr"

    The hound let out a small grunt as it fell back.

    Seriously, dude? My kick did nothing?

    Guess, I can''t deal damage like this. Well, change of ns.

    I started to strengthen my muscles with mana. Rather than simply using mana as strings for my body, it was time to use the method called mana strengthening.

    I crouched down ever so slightly, as I started to ovep my feet with mana.

    I pushed off the ground, already running, and closed the space between us in bust of speed.

    I threw out a quick strike with my left arm that was holding the dagger.

    "!"

    The blow that was aimed at the monster''s head, cut through empty air.

    Fine, I underestimated it. I conceded.

    The hound with lightening fast reflexes dodged the attack.

    Gotta go for a spam attack.

    I whirled round and round like a spinning top trying tond a strike.

    But to no avail. The hound dodged each of them.

    Just when I regained my bnce itunched an attack of its own and before I could react its w tore through my skin as I got sent flying through the air.

    "Shit! That hurts!"

    Rather than falling on the ground, I tried to gain my footing and my bnce as I pulled the ''string'' of my body.

    The hound was instantly next to me, its sharp ws raised high in the air.

    "Gaaaagh!"

    It roared before bringing its hand down towards my torso.

    !

    I moved the ''strings'', ever so slightly escaping the strike zone, and instantly taking advantage of him being in midair I threw the dagger at the hound''s stomach with everything I had.

    "Gwaaaaaaaaaaar!"

    The hound staggered backward as it roared in pain.

    Gotcha!

    Alright, the de is poison-coated.

    The victory is mine.

    Not giving him any time I pushed off the ground once again with incredible speed thanks to mana strengthening.

    Driving my fist directly into the center of it''s face.

    Bam!

    The hound staggered backward and then shot me a death re.

    Once again kicking off the ground heunched towards me with his eyes shining with a clear murderous desire.

    I twisted my body to get out of his strike range.

    Why the hell is every damn time I dodge it''s always by a hair''s breadth? I am even reacting as fast as possible?

    Now I was realizing, realizing the difference between ranks.

    Fuck it. I can''t fight it. As I am right now I can''t possibly win against him in a fight.

    Well, not really.

    But I don''t wanna do that, so I will refrain.

    Alright, guess I will just try to buy time until the poison kills you, Wolfy.

    And so, began the game of tag between him and me.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Grr..."

    A small grunt reached my ears as I saw the wolfy lying down on the ground, unable to move. His eyes still ring at me murderously.

    "Aww, still resisting?"

    Too bad. The poison has taken the effect. I pulled out a high-ranking healing potion and drank it.

    I started approaching the wolfy and took out the dagger that was stuck in his stomach.

    His body shriveled.

    Finally some rest.

    I fell down on my butt as the exhaustion took over me.

    "System-san? All clear?"

    [It''s clear]

    Makes sense, after all the wolfy is still not dead, so there aren''t any monsters who are getting summoned. It''s still in the process of dying.

    That''s cool. I took out a burger and started eating it.

    I looked at my right arm.

    Yikes.

    The ws dug deep, like really deep.

    I had already taken the potion so it would heal but the blood I lost won''t being back to me.

    I took out the night vision goggles and threw them away, they were damaged so it became ufortable wearing them.

    ''Guess, I will have to use mana to have clear vision''

    After resting for a while, I stood up once again.

    "Guess, it''s time"

    I stretched my hands up in the air as I stood up my injuries all healed.

    I looked at the map, provided by the system as I started walking towards the hidden room.

    "Hey, you really don''t know what monster is inside the room?"

    [I can''t enter the room.]

    Sheesh.

    If only the system could enter the hidden room, I would at least be prepared for what type of monster I had to face.

    No, look. I do know the monster that the side-viin faced in the room but that doesn''t mean I will be facing the same opponent.

    Well, I would be d if I had to face the same opponent. The monster the viin faced was an E-ranked one. A total of 2 ranks higher than himself.

    Maybe, I might have to face an F ranked monster.

    Well, it will be fine. I got my acid bombs and sleeping bombs, they would work on anyone below D-ranked. In other words, they will work on me too, so I will have to stay out of the range.

    I can handle it. I already experienced fighting a monster a rank higher than me.

    After walking for a while I finally arrived in front of the hidden room.

    I avoided all the monsters to reach here. Slowly I opened the gate of the room. I instantly squeezed my eyes shut due to the bright light that greeted me.

    "Guess, I won''t have to worry about sending mana into my eyes"

    Slowly, I opened my eyes adjusting to the lightening. The visibility here is better.

    "What in the name of Murphy is this shit?"

    I couldn''t help but mutter as I saw the monster awaiting me.

    In front of me stood a Minotaur along with a broadsword, a D-ranked monster.

    No no, what kind of butterfly effect is this?

    "Hey, system status luck"

    ==================================================

    Luck : F-

    ==================================================

    Well, fuck me sideways.

 Chapter 9: Done Gauging Out

    <h4>Chapter 9: Done Gauging Out</h4>

    I looked at the monster standing 100 meters away from me.

    "I must have made a mistake, seems like I lost direction. Sorry. I will leave. Have a good day"

    Saying that I turned around to find the doors blocked.

    Damn. You can''t be serious.

    You want me to fight this thing? Goodness, gracious ..what sort of joke is this? What sort of damn butterfly effect is this?

    If anything shouldn''t I be fighting a weak monster? The side viin was F ranked! I am G+ ranked!

    Just what sort of twisted logic is needed for my opponent to be D-ranked!? A whopping 7 levels higher than me!?

    "Ghh"

    I looked at the monster in front of me once again after hearing whatever noise it produced. It stared at me.

    Then he smirked.

    I remembered how Wolfy had smirked at me as well.

    Just how high are these monsters'' egos?

    Anyway, it was clear that wants to toy with me, with the difference in our level so distinguishable he realized I was like an ant to him. Someone who posed no danger.

    Which is, of course, nothing but overconfidence that will cost him his life.

    "Ghaghk"

    Behold my intelligence, I know what he means. He wants me to attack first. Ah, he really is nning on toying with me.

    Bullying is bad you know! Didn''t your mama teach you!?

    Wait, is this something I should be saying, as someone who barged into someone else''s turf and started killing the beings of this residential area?

    Eh, who cares? I gripped the hilt of my daggers tightly. I am dual-wielding, though, all the knowledge that I possess amounts to nothing but just swinging my weapons.

    One might think I am taking the situation lightly but that''s not true. It''s not like I don''t understand the difference between us or the gravity of the situation.

    It''s just I have already started to temper with my brain.

    After all, it was time to do so.

    I was cutting off emotions that are rted to pain but I am not an expert. So, my brain is kinda weird right now.

    Sometimes, I felt happy and the next instant the feeling of sadness came over me.

    My emotions were fluctuating at a faster pace.

    I will need a few seconds before I have the proper control. This shit is hard!

    Alright, I am getting the hang of it but I feel like someone''s drumming my head.

    Agh, I need to focus on what''s in front of me.

    "Thanks for not attacking me"

    I said as I coated the mana in my weapons, I felt the mana leaving my body for the first time and rushed towards him.

    After closing the distance between us. I swung my weapons toward his chest, and he simply dodged. He didn''t attack me using his board sword but simply dodged, effortlessly.

    I attacked him again, he scoffed effortlessly twisting out of the way.

    Without a moment''s dy, I followed up, throwing my right hand towards the bridge of his nose, only to watch him again twist in dodge.

    Again.

    Again.

    Again.

    Again!

    Again!!

    Again!!!

    I pulled myself back.

    "Haaa...haaa..haaa"

    I panted heavily.

    The minotaur didn''t move. It simply watched me.

    His eyes looked at me, bored, as if saying ''Is this all?''

    You bastard.

    I couldn''t hit him even once.

    "Ggh!"

    Uh-huh.

    Fuck.

    It seems like he ran out of patience.

    In the next moment, his figure disappeared.

    Suddenly, a powerful blow connected to my left temple, and my skull rattled with the heavy impact, as if I had taken a hit from a metal bat in full swing. My body lurched over.

    "Augh!"

    Then came a follow-up attack. My head snapped around in the opposite direction as the strike to the right temple sent me flying. The thing that struck me felt so hard that I couldn''t believe it was just a fu*king fist!

    "Guh?!"

    Another attack, sting me from underneath the chin. The vibrations carried straight to my brain, and the world went white. My consciousness might have left me if not for the control I have over my brain.

    And with that I was sure.

    I will win.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Augh!"

    I let out a hoarse voice and rolled over, convulsing on the concrete. Lying on my back, as I gasped for breath.

    "Ggh"

    The minotaur approached me, cing his foot over my sr plexus and, without pause, set his full body weight on it.

    Crack! Crunch!

    The sound of my bones breaking was audible. My body squirmed.

    Tears came out of my eyes, a physiological reaction I couldn''t do anything about, and blood vomit leaking from my mouth.

    "Ggh!"

    The Minotaur grunted.

    And I knew why.

    Because I am not giving him the reaction he wants! Too bad! No screams for you!

    I am in control of my brain, any and all type of pain is blocked, try as you may I wouldn''t feel anything even if I got eaten alive!

    "Agh!"

    I coughed up more blood as I got hit in the stomach once again, his kick sent me flying through the air.

    The next instant he was again in front of me. It''s not just fast at this point.

    It''s like this guy is teleporting!

    Right now, I am simply a punching bag to him but I don''t feel any pain so, I guess, it''s fine.

    He sent me flying through the air once again.

    We aren''t ying ser and I am not the ball either!

    Bam!

    And I hit the wall.

    But just because I don''t feel any pain doesn''t mean I can''t die.

    My body was tattered, my bones broken, my weapons lying somewhere in this room.

    With the help of ''strings,'' I got myself back on my feet.

    I cracked my neck as I looked at the minotauring towards me with his broadsword, guess he wants to end it now.

    Despite that he didn''t appear towards me as fast as he had been, he simply started walking towards me.

    "Guess, ytime''s over" I muttered.

    I got my answers.

    This world is different from mine. A world where you are ranked but what did it actually mean to be ranked? What did it mean to have G-ranked strength, a G+-ranked perception, stamina, and all the crap?

    What''s the difference between ranks?

    Now, I knew it.

    The difference between a G- ranked and a G+ ranked is the difference between G+ ranked and an F- ranked.

    Apparently, it seems like a G- ranked can kill a G+ ranked. The difference existed but it wasn''t overwhelming.

    On the other hand, the difference becamerger when the ranks of individuals werepletely different alphabets.

    The difference between G+ rank and F- is greater than the difference between G+ rank and G- rank.

    Of course, I knew this, but I needed to know ''how'' much difference it actually means.

    That''s the reason I fought all those monsters beforeing to this room. I could have simply avoided them all.

    And I also learned about how hidden dungeon works.

    What could be the reason behind me having to fight against a D- ranked monster?

    The answer is simple, unlike the viin I have the right material to deal with even an E+ ranked monster.

    But will my bombs work as effectively on a D-ranked individual? No.

    Not only that, this monster won''t give me the time to pull things out from my dimensional storage and even if I throw my bombs at him, he will dodge them before they hit him, he is just that fast.

    In other words, goodness me, if I had brought some over-the-top materials with me then the monster I had to fight would have been of even higher rank.

    Regardless, it was time to end this charade.

    There''s no way I had lose. Not when he didn''t kill me. Not when he isn''t actually a D- ranked monster.

    The guy had the skin of Minotaur, something that''s hard to cut. But I had a short sword which could cut through anything below D- rank if I put in enough strength I should be able to cut this guy as well.

    This guy has the characteristics of a Minotaur but is his stats D-ranked? No.

    If his stats were really that high, I should be dead. When he punched me, it should have torn my stomach open, when he sent me flying I should have hit the wall with enough force to go st.

    That should be the difference in D-ranked and G+ranked.

    But none of the things happened, in other words, his stats aren''t that high, maybe an F ranked? or borderline F+ ranked?

    Same as it was for the viin.

    And that much is doable for me. To begin with, that is what I had been expecting from the beginning.

    Yeah, I finally understood how this hidden dungeon assigned the monster.

    Why is it doable for me, you ask?

    Simple, I can temporarily raise my rank to F-rank.

    The reason why people can''t raise their ranks is because rank is an overall measurement of strength, stamina, perception, and agility. That''s why even if you use mana strengthening you can only increase some of them and only to a certain degree.

    But I am different.

    I can control not only my body but my brain as well.

    Strength, Stamina, Perception, and Agility. I can increase all of them in a proper sense, unlike others.

    But it''s not going to be that easy, is it?

    It was time to put everything I had on the line. I pulled out the short sword that was in my dimensional storage as I bit the tablet that I had hidden inside my mouth, it was the Elixir that I solidified beforeing here.

    The minotaur noticed my injuries healing but it was toote.

    ying around too much with your prey is an amateur mistake~

    Too bad, mistakes can''t be undone.

    Heightening my senses, entering a hyper-focused state, increasing the secretion of adrenaline to the max, ovepping all my muscles and nerves with mana.

    The world around me started to fade only leaving the minotaur in my eyes, experiencing a slowed sense of time I kicked off the ground.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The minotaur after noticing the change around Noah hurried to kill him as he pushed off the ground swinging his broadsword towards Noah.

    Noah simply ducked.

    Normally, Noah shouldn''t have been able to dodge, he shouldn''t be able to react. But right now it''s apletely different matter.

    Noah has increased his optic vision with the help of mana and by releasing the required hormones inside his brain he also felt a slowed sense of time and a faster thinking process, with its help, Noah recorded all the information about the Minotaur''s movement and ..predicted where the attack wille from.

    The next instant, Noah moved away from the Minotaur as if in queue the Minotaur tried to move towards Noah but before he could do that...

    Bang!

    The acid bomb exploded. It was impossible for the minotaur to dodge it.

    The liquid didn''t do much damage to his tough skin but it certainly got in his eyes.

    "Gaaaaaghhhhh!"

    Of course, some of it was sprayed on Noah too but unlike the minotaur, Noah didn''t feel any pain nor did even his muscles twitch, taking advantage of the minotaur''s agony, Noah threw a sleeping bomb toward the minotaur as he himself got out of the range.

    Bang!

    The smoke from the sleeping bombs was released into the air surrounding the minotaur.

    As if his instinct kicked in, the minotaur swung his massive broadsword in the air causing the smoke to disappear.

    Noah closing the gap the next instant between him and the minotaur, swung his short sword through his chest.

    The sword stabbed through the minotaur''s skin as it slid through into his body.

    Bam!

    Noah''s body was sent flying through the air by Minotaur''s kick.

    But that didn''t matter, Noah''s sword was coated with poison.

    "Ghaygh!"

    The minotaur roared as he removed the short sword from his chest and threw it away.

    "Not enough.."

    Noah muttered as he bit his own palm, tearing apart his own flesh.

    The blood that dripped from Noah''s hand turned it into a short sword. Noah simply used the mana to coat the blood to give it a shape.

    It was topensate for theck of weapon.

    He realized after fighting the hound that even with a healing potion he couldn''t regain the blood he lost in the battle.

    And that could be fatal. To solve the problem, Noah simply decided he couldn''t afford to lose blood.

    Thus, he decided to control even his blood using mana.

    Utterly Ridiculous.

    "Gghaahhh!"

    Minotaur roared, his vision destroyed because of the acid that entered his eyes and movements a bit sluggish as the poison and the sleeping bomb both showed their effects.

    "Should have had killed me right away"

    With the short sword made of his own blood, Noah lunged towards the minotaur.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Noah stood in front of the minotaur''s dead body with his ragged breathing, his muscles contracted as he lost the control he had over his brain and his body.

    "Aghh!!!"

    He screamed.

    He felt nauseated, vomiting a mouthful of blood, his eyes feeling extremely sensitive to the lights present inside the room so he shut them close. He felt as if his head was going to burst at any moment. Blood started toe out of his eyes, ears, and all of his orifices.

    He rolled all over the ground screaming, and convulsing, his body spasming and twitching.

    It has been a very long time since Noah had registered something as truly painful.

 Chapter 10: Observers

    <h4>Chapter 10: Observers</h4>

    It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.

    "Let''s give him a potion~"

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes~"

    Amidst all the pain I experienced a warm liquid flowing down my throat.

    Right after, the severe throbbing in my brain started to dissipate, and my ruptured organs and blood vessels as well as the shattered bones of my hand all healed in an instant.

    The unimaginable pain that I was feeling just a second ago disappeared.

    The contrast between the feelings of the current me and the me of a moment prior felt so vast, that it made me wonder if it was all just a hallucination.

    Yeah. It was a hallucination. Let''s write it off like that...

    Like hell, I can!

    I clearly remember the pain! No way, I can forget it!

    Oh lord, that was so painful! I felt like I would die!

    I touched myself all over and yup, all my injuries are fine.

    .

    .

    .

    How long had it been since I felt such a pain? I shook my head.

    "Ahem ahem"

    I looked towards the 2dies about 30 cm in height, flying with the help of wings behind their back, their wings resembled that of a butterfly with intricate designs.

    "Are you feeling alright~ Did you like my personal reward~" The light blue hair asked

    "Ah, yes. Thank you."

    I replied. By personal reward, she must mean she is the one who gave me whatever that warm liquid was. I will just think of it as a potion.

    That was really helpful. My internal organs as well as blood vessels all ended up being ruptured. The throbbing in my head was so damn severe I really wanted to open my skull.

    How did I end up having internal injuries like that?

    I decided to ovep my mana with every single damn part of my body to increase my strength to the maximum, I raised my damn rank!

    Do you think there won''t be any repercussions? Yeah, if only life could be that easy.

    And it''s not like I am some mana expert so I forcefully moved the mana in my body. So yeah, my control was shit.

    The result? My body gotpletely screwed over.

    But I knew I would be fine as long as I cleared the dungeon. A potion as a reward will do the job. So even if I have to go home empty-handed I sure will be alive.

    Who cares about anything else? ...Of course, I do.

    Besides a single potion isn''t a big deal for them so my reward won''t get affected ...probably.

    "How long have you been watching me acting all pathetic?"

    "For about a minute or so."

    A minute or so? Felt like an eternity to me.

    "Let''s talk about your reward for clearing the hidden dungeon," The blonde one said.

    See? Told ya. I will get a reward. I knew these guys weren''t gonna be stingy over a single potion.

    Who are these guys?

    The observers that I talked about before, the one who appears and trashes the entire plotline of demon king vs protagonist.

    The hidden dungeons are connected to the damn plotline change. How? Because the higher-being actually watches us as we clear it.

    How do I know it? The side viin who cleared this dungeon was able to get the interest of one of the higher beings, so when our protagonist killed him he had to deal with another shitty problem. Poor guy.

    I mean, I did drop the novel in the second part but I did read it somewhat before doing so, you know.

    The blonde pulled out an ebony dagger from who knows where.

    Just how strong is she to be able to carry something bigger than her own size? This pipsqueak is the real deal.

    She didn''t look muscr but instead quite delicate.

    Logic be damned.

    Then again, it was already damned the moment I got transmigrated.

    "Here''s your reward."

    She showed me the dagger.

    "Don''t need it."

    "W-what!?" Blonde said flustered.

    "Are you deaf? I said, don''t need it."

    "Do you even realize the worth of this weapon!?" Blonde shouted.

    I didn''t even bother to look at the rank of this dagger using my system. I knew this dagger was probably SS+ ranked or even higher but I don''t need it.

    Mind you, any SS+ ranked or higher-ranked weapon is a pretty big deal. After all, even those dwarves haven''t been able to forge any weapon with SS- rank.

    "I don''t need it instead can I ask for something else?"

    Once you clear the hidden dungeons these guys appear giving you the reward and idiots being idiots go back home, all giddy.

    It was during the time when one of the protagonist''srades muttered something like ''Is this all, really?'' and the guy received the reply from these observers ''What do you wish for?'', he was pretty flustered when he got talked with.

    You might be wondering- for a guy who keeps calling the world a dog-shit novel I sure remember a damn conversation of someone being flustered but it''s not my fault. That guy''s character wasn''t one that got flustered easily. So yeah, it was weird seeing him being all flustered when talking to these observers.

    Back on point, that''s when it was found out that you can ask for rewards of your own liking as long as the reward you are asking is something worth the show you showed them.

    I looked at them. The blue one''s eyes are practically sparkling.

    "Oh oh! We finally got someone who has the guts to ask us for a reward of their own choice! It has been so boring for such a long time. What do you want? Ask me anything~" The light blue said.

    "Anything you say, what if I asked I want you?"

    They both looked a bit shocked. I was just kidding. Don''t be so serious...

    Yes. It was just a joke. A joke.

    "What insolence!" The blonde one shouted.

    "...Well, actually it is possible. But I will need to resign from my job and once I resign I will lose all my powers. I will end up being a tiny 30 cm girl who is powerless, oh but I will be able to provide a lot of knowledge to you. You are just a human, my knowledge will definitely be useful to you~" The light blue said while the blonde one looked at her baffled.

    Did I just hear her right?

    Isn''t it just a roundabout way of saying show me something incredible enough that could convince me to resign from my job and follow you or a girl asking why should I date you?

    And she is right. Even if she is powerless the knowledge an observer could provide me would be quite useful.

    Yup, decided. Gotta court her.

    "Are you serious?" The blonde asked the blue-haired girl.

    "I am. Oh, I have a question, why did you not use your bombs? You had a lot of them, right? You also didn''t use your ne. Why? It would have made the fight easier~"

    Look at this girl.

    "I will answer your question if you answer one of mine. Deal?"

    "Hmm? Deal!"

    "I didn''t want you guys to change the settings."

    I replied.

    That''s right. I didn''t want to die that''s why I refrained from using those as much as I could.

    How is this rted?

    Well, remember when I said the reason I got D-ranked monster assigned was to counter my bombs? The D-ranked minotaur had the same body characteristics, it should have. A tough skin and a good metabolism and stuff.

    But what was the reason the monster had its stats restricted?

    That''s right, if I used my damn bombs however I please or my protection ne the damn minotaur would have his restrictions changed.

    Basically, I will get fucked before I even had the time to deal with him.

    Remember, what I said about having a good chance of winning even if you fight against someone higher ranked than you as long as you are same alphabet as your opponent.

    Me, who got risen to F- rank and the monster who is around F or F+ rank.

    I won.

    If the restriction changed to him being E- ranked or higher I would have been screwed. The higher you go the stronger you be. E- would have been a pain in the ass to deal with.

    That''s why I refrained from using my bombs and kept it to a minimum.

    Also, the reason I ended the battle as fast as I could have.

    "You got us~" she said as she stuck her tongue out and hit her head with her right fist.

    Ew, cringe.

    Regardless, I have got to say, the working of hidden dungeons are fucking annoying.

    The level of difficulty not only depends upon the person''s rank but also the stuff they carry around with them along with how frequently they use them.

    That''s like ...

    Yabai.

    It constantly keeps on changing.

    "Well, it''s now your turn to ask the question~"

    "Yeah, so, why are guns and bombs are all nerfed?"

    That''s right!

    Why!?

    I realized it back then.

    Remember the story about dwarves almost blowing the whole up but the bomb turned out to be a dud?

    Now, if you think carefully about it, you will question howe the war went on for 20 friggin years?

    If dwarves really had the stuff that could blow the whole then can''t they also create something that would blow a country up or something like that? Once they made the bomb all they had to do was tell other species ''Guys, follow us or get nuked. Your choice.''

    See, so simple!

    But it didn''t work out. That''s why I couldn''t help but think whether those dwarves tried to blow the in their craziness or whether they were trying to test the limits of the things this world allows.

    And the same goes for guns, like why are they only effective against monsters below F-rank? Like, how the hell are archers better than gunners?

    Where is the logic?

    I know I said logic could be damned but I didn''t mean it so literally!

    I demand an exnation.

    "It''s because that''s what this World''s Genre is" The light blue said while the blonde looked at her bewildered but she changed her expression back to normal pretty fast.

    "You do realize that answer would get you 0.5 marks outta 5, right?"

    What did she mean by ''this world''s genre''?

    Like this world is fantasy so no tech allowed? Well, hate to break your bubble but there do exist some guns that work on even D- rank monsters.

    Yes, they do exist but you will have to find them in a dungeon. No one can make them.

    The point is, what are these loose rules?

    "I don''t know how to exin it myself, it''s the World''s Genre. We cannot interfere in that."

    "Basically, you are saying ''ept it as it is''. I see, logic truly is damned, huh. You know your answer is prettyckluster, how about you answer something else"

    Let''s try to milk out all the info I can.

    "Fair enough"

    "So, how does one level up exactly?"

    That''s something never exined in the novel.

    Our protag and his party just became S rankers in the next 3 years but why was their growth so much faster than others? How the hell does it work?

    I mean, the main cast is around gonna be E+ rankers right now.

    You know, they only achieved E ranks in 16 years of their lives. So, howe they became S rankers in just 3 years!?

    The same for everyone else in the world as well.

    Howe no one ever tried to raise their kids from early childhood to raise their ranks faster?

    What are the mechanics? There''s no concrete answer on the inte or anywhere. So, asking these guys seemed to be the only option.

    "We can''t a--mngh!"

    Before the blonde could say anything her mouth got shut probably by the blue-haired one.

    "Oh, I can answer that! You see there are two ways to grow one''s rank. But before that, you need to know, that rank is an indication of how strong a person''s soul is. One way to raise your rank is to simply let it be raised, as you grow your soul bes more strong. If you meditate and stuff, your rank will raise pretty easily, you simply call these people blessed, lucky, or genius but as you might have already guessed this method is too slow"

    She paused and I digested the information I was told and then with a vicious smile, she continued.

    "And the second method is by killing those who are higher ranked than you. You see, when you kill others you absorb the part of their soul albeit only a little bit. This method is much fasterpared to the other one~"

    "Um, so killing lower-ranked people doesn''t work?"

    What''s this discrimination?

    "Oh, it''s not like it doesn''t work but more like killing someone lower ranked than you won''t give you many parts of their soul, it won''t be an exaggeration to say it''s almost insignificant. Same with someone on the same level as you but when you kill someone higher ranked than you, the amount you absorb bes significant enough to help you to level up faster than usual."

    Basically, fights like the one I just had.

    Doesn''t seem dangerous at all.

    Yup, totally not.

    "So, why are people unable to rank up at an early age?"

    "Did you go through puberty when you were 3?" she replied tilting her head.

    Seems legit.

    "So, there''s a growth period. But that still doesn''t exin how people can still level up when they grow old or why their growth slows down a lot. Does that mean, there''s no end to this growth period"

    "That''s right. Once your soul starts to harness your ranking up speed increases exponentially but that remains for a certain period, when that time ends the growth rate slows down but that doesn''t mean it stops. That''s why, the second method is the best! You can grow without any problems!"

    Yeah, sure. Except the second method is dangerous.

    I like the second method but there''s still a question.

    "So what if I worked in a team to kill someone higher ranked than me?"

    "70 percent will go to the person who gave the finishing blow and the rest will be distributed among your team equally. So be sure to make thest blow~"

    I see.

    Guess, I gotta cause a war and steal some kills if I want to grow strong fast enough.

    I knew it, peace was never an option.

    I got answers to some of my questions I have been harboring and it also proved that I will need this little 30 cm girl. Her knowledge will help me a ton.

    "I will blow your mind so bad, you won''t be able to live without me."

    "Oh my~ That sure came out of nowhere, then I will wait for you to blow my mind~," she said in a suggestive tone.

    The light blue girl is a pervert, confirmed.

    "U-um, could you two stop ignoring me!"

    Guess, the blonde can talk again.

    "We aren''t ignoring you, my dear~"

    "Sorry, but why are you here again?"

    I asked as I seriously could not fathom the reason behind her being here. One of them is enough.

    Even in the novel, when the reward time came for the protagonist, there was only 1 of the observers. There was no need for 2.

    "How rude for a human!?" The blonde shouted.

    "How rude to raise your voice for a ..pipsqueak."

    "Y-you!"

    The blonde has her face flushed because of anger and quite possibly embarrassment. Height is always a pretty sensitive topic.

    "Alright you two, stop~" light blue said as she pped her hands.

    A second passed, another second passed...

    Phew.

    Nothing happened after she pped her hands. No cliche here, it seems.

    "She is here to see how it all works. She is new. So be good to her~"

    "Ah, I see. I will cooperate."

    I will be good to you blonde since you are new to the job and all. I know the hardships of being new to the job.

    I once had to work part-time just so that I could buy a new gaming console. I could have asked my parents for the money but I didn''t want to. I felt guilty for using their money even though I was just a kid.

    Ah, nostalgia. Such a bitchy thing.

    "How long has it been since she started working"

    I asked out of curiosity.

    "1300 years, I think?" light blue said as she put her fingers on her chin.

    What? 1300 years?

    "You are still ''learning''. Girl, I think you need to find a new job. You ain''t suited for it. Don''t be stubborn. Face the reality, there are things one can do and one simply can''t. No need to be so hung up on it."

    I decided to give Blonde some life advice.

    But still, 1300 years and still a newbie. Goodness me.

    "Don''t dare treat me like some idiot!?" The blonde said fuming with anger as she flew over my head and started to pull my hair.

    Hey, stop.

    I tried to get her off but couldn''t.

    "I think that''s enough~"

    The light blue said as she giggled and the blonde finally stopped with a ''hmph!''

    "Now now, let''s focus on the job at hand. So then, what would you like to have?"

    Oh, business mode activated.

    Guess, it''s time to get rewards.

 Chapter 11: Dungeon Rewards

    <h4>Chapter 11: Dungeon Rewards</h4>

    I had already decided on the things that I needed from this dungeon.

    "The potion or whatever you gave me earlier, what can it do?"

    "You should be grateful for tha-mgh!"

    Blonde got shut once again by the light blue. This time instead of a simple strap, it was a <i>''ball gag''</i> that covered the blonde''s mouth.

    Light blue is really a pervert.

    "That was a healing potion, it healed youpletely, be it your injuries or your illness. It also restored your blood and took care of your dark circles that you had, you look more handsome now~"

    Sheesh, you call that simple healing potion.

    Even Elixir doesn''t restore blood or cure illness, you know. These guys really have pretty high standards.

    "Just to be sure, I am not dying anymore, right?"

    That was the most important thing, that was the entire reason I came here to begin with.

    "Of course not! You are as healthy as you can be!"

    That''s good to hear.

    "So how many of those potions can I get?"

    "Mghgh!!!"

    Does this blonde think people can understand her? She looks ridiculous hovering around and shouting like that.

    "It was a bit of personal reward of mine to you, so I can''t really give them"

    ..I don''t get it.

    I can''t get that potion for clearing the dungeon? Why?

    I will think about itter.

    "So, what kind of potion can I get, and how many? What''s your rmendation?"

    ======================================================

    Potion - High Umon Grade

    Restore''s health, mana, stamina, blood, etc. in an instant on consuming.

    ======================================================

    Basically, something even better than an Elixir.

    "You can have them around a 1500 or so. They are pretty low-level potions, after all, oh but just so you know it wouldn''t help with regrowing your limbs~"

    "Was that intentional? You know how shitty the potions in the world are, right?"

    "Hahaha! That''s true! Even the worst of the rewards from hidden dungeons are a pretty big deal in your world~"

    "Alright, light blue. Give me 90 of those potions and give me another 10 potions of higher rank, something that could even regrow limbs."

    There doesn''t exist anything to help regrow limbs, you can reattach them using a high healing potion but you can''t regrow a lost limb.

    "..You want multiple things, is that it?"

    Hook, line, and sinker.

    Her words were a confirmation that I could get it, a potion like that. So, the question is what kind of potion did she give me earlier? A potion that is most probably even higher than what I am asking for but why, why did she give it to me?

    I will think about itter though...

    For now, focus.

    "That''s right"

    "But before that, these potions, if I turn them into solid meds will they still work?"

    I asked, you see the reason healing potions are potions is because they lose their effects when turned into solid.

    Even an elixir will lose its effect if not consumed within a day of turning it into solid from liquid.

    "Of course, they will"

    That''s good to hear, I can use them like I did in the fight with Minotaur. I mean, my opponent ain''t gonna wait for me to drink a potion during the fight...or will he?

    "What other things do you want?"

    "You see this ne I am wearing, I want you to change its settings. Make it so when I wish for it this ne will teleport me to a safe ce and if there''s any attack that could insta kill me then I want it to teleport me to a safe ce."

    For now, I don''t want any skills, weapons, or the sort, what I want is absolute safety.

    "At best 6. A total of 6 teleportation. Is that okay"

    "You can cut that 6 to 4. Upgrade this dimensional ring and change the way it stores things. Make it simr to a game inventory. Also, turn it into soul bound item."

    Soul bound.

    Anything that''s soul-bound cannot be used by anyone except the user not even if you kill the user. The item can materialize and dematerialize on the user''s will as well.

    "You are asking for too much!"

    The blonde shouted. Guess, she can talk again.

    "...It is possible."

    "What!?"

    I like light blue.

    "B-but how!? The change he is asking for his dimensional storage item is already pretty big but he wants it to be soul-bound as well!"

    "Well, it''s because of his achievement~"

    What achievement? I did clear the dungeon but I don''t think she is talking about that.

    "What kind of achievement?" The blonde asked with question marks floating on her head, not metamorphically but quite literally, this blonde used damn magic to make question marks float on her head.

    It irked me.

    Guess what? I hate the cutesy type.

    "You do know you won''t be cute even if you do that."

    "Huh.." Blonde showed a confused face at first then soon after following my gaze she looked above her head "I-it''s a mistake! I didn''t mean to do it! It just happens because my mana is a bit much so some of it leaks through my emotions unconsciously!"

    "Yeah, sure. I believe you."

    She did show her initial confusion but more than that.. just how much mana does this blonde have?

    "So, about the achievement. It''s rted to his system. He is the first person to unlock systems consciousness ~" The light blue said

    .

    .

    What?

    How does she know about it?

    "W-what!?" The blonde shouted perfectly showing my reaction, then she looked at me bewildered.

    I am bewildered too but because of a different reason. I looked towards the blue-haired girl and as if sensing what I wanted to know she began to exin

    "You see, we are the ones who designed the system. So, of course, we know about it. We designed it in a way so that once the required conditions are fulfilled it would form a conscious and help out the user tremendously, to the point one could call it a cheat but the required conditions are also simply that hard to fulfill"

    Just to be sure...

    "What are the required conditions? Just asking... feels good to hear your aplishments from other people''s mouths you see"

    "Hm? Sure. The first condition is to realize that the system might be more than what it seems to be. Many people have cleared this condition. The second condition is to give your blood to the system to register yourself as an ''absolute'' master. Not many have achieved it. The third is to teach the system, to help it form a personality. No one has done it except you. Fourth and thest condition is to talk with a system for a long period of time, around a week or so without any form of intentions. Again, no one has done it except you."

    Okay...

    I only cleared thest one.

    Those conditions are weird but...

    Noah, you damn bastard, couldn''t you have like written something about it in your diary!?

    I realized, just because I have a B+ intelligence meant shit. Even if you give a full-blown gaming set to a noob, he will still be a noob.

    This B+ intelligence might have increased my thought process, gave me almost photographic memory and all but I still think the same way I used to think.

    On the other hand, Noah sure was the real deal. He figured out those weird conditions with no clues.

    But ..from her words, it was clear she didn''t know that I was not that Noah.

    I kinda thought she would know about me because these guys have the absolute, highest authority in this world ording to the novel.

    And I deep down thought that''s why she gave me that personal reward of a potion

    But...

    So, whoever brought me here bypassed them.

    An entity who is even higher than them... why the f*ck did I drop the novel. Damn it!

    The fact that I am regretting not reading a dog-shit novelpletely is enough to make me realize my luck is shittier than I had thought.

    "Well, then. Time for your rewards~"

    The light blue hair snapped her fingers. A light enveloped my ring and my ne.

    "You can check your rewards~"

    I did exactly that

    "System Status," I said while grabbing my marine colored ne

    ==============================================================

    Protection Ne - Low-Grade Epic Artifact

    The item protects its wearer by teleporting them to a safe location in case an attack that would inevitably take the wearer''s lifees his way. It also teleports the wearer to a safe location if the user wishes for it.

    Useable - 4/4

    ==============================================================

    "Low Epic? Does that mean if I hadn''t asked for other things, I could have gotten legendary grade?"

    Legendary stuff sounds good. I want it.

    "Are you an idiot, you don''t get legendary grades that easily, actually you can''t get even a high epic item"

    The blonde trashed my dreams in an instant but it also made me realize that the potion I was given by light blue was at least a high epic grade.

    I wanted to ask why I was given such a high-ranking potion but I remembered her words. She has said about it being a personal reward rather than telling me the details, in other words, she doesn''t want to tell ..or she can''t tell me.

    Whatever.

    The thing that matters is that apparently, I have gotten more severe injuries than I had thought.

    "How do I get it?" I asked

    "If you want legendary grade or higher grade items, you will have to challenge higher level hidden dungeons"

    Is there a higher grade than legendary? Maybe, a mythical grade or something?

    "So, what do you mean by higher level hidden dungeon? Please do enlighten this mere mortal"

    Haha, I have a bad feeling.

    A really bad feeling.

    "There are mainly 3 types of hidden dungeons. Easy, Moderate, and Hard. Blue portal hidden dungeons are all easy, orange portal hidden dungeons are moderate, and red portal indicates hard. No one has ever tried moderate or hard-hidden dungeons, well, they never found them." She said in a disappointed voice but soon after changed her crestfallen expression into one of enthusiasm "But you can challenge them! You have discovered the system secret after all! It would be easy to find all the hidden dungeons because they are no longer hidden from you!"

    Pipe down, girl.

    You just dropped a bomb on me. A big one at that.

    Not only that just trying to clear easy one is already hard enough, what would happen if I tried moderate and hard? Well, it''s 100 percent death.

    ..I am gonna process this informationter. For now, I will focus on the matter at hand.

    "I understand"

    Saying so, I started checking my new modified dimensional ring.

    "System status"

    ==============================================================

    Dimensional Storage Ring - Low-Grade Epic Artifact

    Storage capacity - 17/25

    You have to touch the object to store it in the ring.

    Soul bound to the wearer.

    ==============================================================

    That''s right, the change I asked for was the way it stores stuff.

    With a simple thought, a screen appeared in front of my eyes showing 25 boxes of which 17 were full.

    One box shows, "High Umon Healing potion x90"

    One showing "Low-Grade Epic Healing potion x 10"

    They must be the potion rewards and other stuff that were the items that I had brought.

    In other words, a single box could contain as much amount of the same item as I want.

    This is cool!

    It''s better than the previous type where the amount of area was covered to store the items.

    And just with a thought, the item appeared and disappeared from my hands.

    Oh cool!

    "It seems you liked the rewards, well then, guess this is it~"

    I nodded. It was time to go back home. The light blue snapped her fingers.

    Soon after, I found myself back in the cave but this time there were no blue portals around anymore. Once you clear the hidden dungeon, they disappear.

    I came out of the cave and looked towards the sky. A sigh escaped my lips.

    "That light blue..."

    I couldn''t help but mutter as I shook my head.

    Time to head to another dungeon. My n is to clear 3 hidden dungeons before my academy days start. 1 down, 2 to go.

    And it seems like I can''t afford to be as reckless as I was before. I hoped to find the answer sooner but guess, I will have to wait.

 Chapter 12: An Oddity

    <h4>Chapter 12: An Oddity</h4>

    In the hall, there were two girls hovering in the air. One of them humming while the other had aplicated expression.

    "I know you have many questions to ask, so ask them~"

    The silence was broken by the light blue hair individual.. After hesitating for a while the blonde girl opened her mouth.

    "..You gave him a high-ranking potion. He can only get such a high-rank potion if he clears a hidden dungeon with a difficulty level of ''hard''. If that wasn''t enough you also told him about the ''World''s Will'', about how to rank up and how to distinguish between hidden dungeons. Didn''t you give him a bit too much information, it seemed like you were favoring him. Why, Lia?"

    "That potion was a personal gift of mine to him, my dear, Eliza. Besides, if I hadn''t given it to him he might have died, that would have saddened me." Lia said with a smile on her face, a smile so mesmerizing that could easily charm anyone as she continued "As for your other concern, yes, I am favoring him. Why, you might ask?

    Because he is interesting"

    "Interesting?" Eliza muttered, it wasn''t that she didn''t know. Shepletely realizes how incredible Noah''s fight with the minotaur was.

    Honestly, it was beyond incredible. It wasn''t the fight itself but what Noah did during the fight itself was something she had never expected. It simply left her baffled.

    This was the reason why despite the hidden dungeon with the mode of being ''easy'', Eliza was going to give Noah a dagger, a transcendental dagger, a weapon that went beyond SSS+ rank. With a weapon like that Noah would be able to cut through anything in his world, even the attacks of his opponents, at least as long as he doesn''t face someone who is also beyond SSS+ rank. This was precisely why Eliza was flustered when Noah refused the reward without even bothering to look at the rank of the weapon.

    Instead, Noah chose multiple rewards, which resulted in having a quantity over the quality situation. Since Noah wanted multiple rewards he can''t get high quality for them. That was one of the rules about how the distribution of rewards works.

    Eliza had instantly branded Noah as an idiot in her mind,pletely disregarding the fact that Noah has no way of knowing that such rules exist.

    "Eliza, did you truly fail to notice? Do you not remember his fight against that minotaur? You are focusing on his fight so much that you fail to notice the other things that transpired."

    "What do you mean.." Eliza couldn''t help but ask wondering what exactly she failed to notice. To begin with, was there anything worthwhile except his fight against the minotaur?

    "You know, even if we have restricted Minotaur''s stats, it wouldn''t change the fact that it was a D-ranked monster and he was G+ranked. You know what that means right? The pressure and fear that must have been exerted by that monster should have paralyzed him but ...nothing like that happened. He didn''t even flinch against that minotaur. "

    "That.."

    Eliza thought back on the fight she had seen between Noah and the minotaur. Lia was right. Noah in that regard was undoubtedly incredible, he warded off the pressure with no problem, as if it never existed.

    "That''s not all. Let me ask you, do you remember what happened back then? His bones were shattered, his blood vessels all torn apart, and his organs ruptured. Remember how his body was spasming and twitching? The pain he felt must have been excruciating but ..the next moment after drinking the potion he talked with us as if it never happened. That''s not normal. The potion I gave him doesn''t cure PTSD or anything of the sort. Those types of things need different methods to cure. My point being, it''s absolutely ridiculous how he seemedpletely unaffected and had a conversation with us."

    "Huh," Eliza looked at Lia as the sudden realization dawned on her "W-wait.."

    It was just as Lia had said. After going through such pain and agony, one can''t be in their right mind. They would need time but that wasn''t the case for Noah. After drinking the potion Noah got right down to the business, he did check his injuries but that was all.

    "It might be because he has high pain tolerance.."

    "That might be true, except how could he get such a high pain tolerance without going through it? And if he got that level of injuries then he would have died long ago. Such types of potion that could cure his level of injuries simply don''t exists out there"

    "T-that..."

    Eliza couldn''t retort.

    At that moment, Noah''s image in Eliza''s mind started to distort. Lia was right, it was ridiculous for Noah to hold a conversation with them as if nothing had happened.

    "Eliza, who are we?"

    "Huh"

    Eliza couldn''t understand what Lia meant.

    "You still don''t get it. It''s one thing to ward off pressure from a minotaur but we are different"

    "Ah.."

    Eliza understood. She understood what Lia meant as she gulped.

    "He conversed with us as if it was the most normal thing."

    At that remark, in an instant, Eliza''s expression crumbled as she realized what she had overlooked.

    There are only so few people who have challenged hidden dungeons, that''s why meeting others isn''t regr for her kind.

    1300 years, It was the first time in 1300 years that Eliza met another person.

    She had totally forgotten.

    "That''s right, my dear~. There have already been few hidden dungeons in this world that were attempted by the people, so it''s natural for the people in the world would know about our existence but ..the people who have actually seen us are few, very few. Our conversation back then with him was as unnatural as it could get. No greetings, no introduction, he showed no surprise towards us, no curiosity. From the beginning to the end his face remained indifferent, his voice devoid of any emotion and his eyespletely unconcerned."

    Eliza thought back and it was just as Lia has said. Noah had been too apathetic which should have been impossible. They are beings far above from mortals. Their charm, their words, their voice, their strength, everything about them is far above.

    Every person who has seen them has shown an emotion, mesmerized by their voice, charmed by their beauty, bowing their heads, showing fear as they realize the difference between them, respect.

    But no matter how many times Eliza reyed their conversation she couldn''t find it.

    She couldn''t remember a single trace of emotion from him. He remained apathetic, far too apathetic.

    Not only that she had talked with him! Eliza talked with a human, a mere mortal like she would talk with her friends!

    "Even a person who has given up on life would show some form of emotion towards us. Interest, nervousness, awe, terror, vignce, anything. After all, the difference between a mortal and us is far too big, our mere presence is enough to ignite emotions in those mortals and yet he didn''t show any emotion. He wasn''t tempering with his brain like he did during his fight either. Do you understand what that entails Eliza?"

    Eliza didn''t want Lia to finish, she wanted her to stop talking, it was ridiculous, totally ridiculous,pletely unheard of! But to Eliza''s wish, Lia spoke, in a very low voice but an audible one with a smile etched onto her face.

    "It means, from his view, we meant nothing to him. Absolutely nothing and you must know what that means, right?"

    At that moment, remembering Noah''s gaze, Eliza felt a chill run up her spine.

    She recalled something.

    <i>The rankings.</i>

    Mortals.

    Immortals.

    Transcendentals

    Constetions

    Celestials

    Primordials

    Observers.

    Deities.

    A God.

    And for Noah to not register their presence could mean only one thing, either he was a <i>deity</i> which he of course wasn''t, or ...the only option that was left, something Eliza couldn''t believe, something that couldn''t be anything less than absurd, that, <i>he had killed a deity</i>.

    "Do you understand now? He is interesting, so very interesting~" Lia said twirling around with a huge smile on her face with a simple question on her mind, a topic she hadn''t said anything about to Eliza.

    Why was Noah trying to kill himself? <i>It bothered her.</i>

    His actions were reckless but what Lia wanted to know, were they intentional or unintentional.

    If she had to give an answer then they were intentional.

    To her, it was like he was trying to force someone, something to happen but what exactly waspletely beyond her.

    And she wasn''t wrong.

    Noah simply had one question.

    If someone truly brought him to this world, would they let him die just like that or interfere?

    If they decide to directly interfere then Noah would be able to meet the person who brought him to his world.

    Well, in the end, Noah did get the help of Lia instead of the person he wanted it from.

    At any rate, no matter how much Lia tried to think about it, it wouldn''t matter. After all, she is missing a crucial piece of information and that was Noah''s transmigration.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s Pov)

    Sitting inside the cab that I booked a while ago to go to my next destination I ate my cheese hamburger.

    I recalled everything that transpired in thest few hours.

    I did it.

    I f*cking did it.

    I managed to have a proper conversation!

    I survived hell!

    Oh, man. That was so nerve-racking...

    I knew it. I can easily manage to have conversations when it''s rted to important stuff. I just can''t handle normal conversations since I don''t know how to reply in those situations.

    As an outcast, Ick social skills. I have no idea how to have a conversation but formal or business-type talks. I can deal with them.

    Phew.

    It was hard, incredibly hard but I managed it.

    I deserve some praise.

    Man, that sure was tiring but now I am not dying, so that''s good news.

    My body felt light, my headache waspletely gone, no nauseating feeling, and no trouble breathing. I feel like I am in bliss. I can concentrate way better now. Myplexion has gotten better as well.

    I can feel my body burning with life!

    Okay, that sounds weird as hell.

    Taking the final bite of my cheese hamburger and sip from my c, I decided to review some concerning news that I have learned about.

    Mainly, about the system.

    Apparently, Noah had found about system''s secret and he also cleared the conditions except thest one and I can see why Noah wasn''t able to clear thest condition.

    No way in hell that guy would bother talking with the system without expecting anything in return, while it can''t be said that expecting something in return is an ill intention it''s definitely isn''t a good intention.

    ...and at least from what I can discern about him from his diary he definitely isn''t the type to talk about his failure, so that''s probably the reason he never talked about system conditions in his diary.

    Asshole.

    Regardless, what came as the biggest surprise to me is the condition that makes me the system''s ''Absolute master''.

    It probably means it''s more loyal to me than its own creator.

    If not, then I don''t have a single clue what it''s about. Maybe, I can ask it?

    "Hey, system-san. Are you more loyal to me than your creator?"

    [..Please, don''t ask such difficult questions. TwT]

    So, you are just good for scouting, gotcha.

    Well, I guess, that''s that.

    But this isn''t all, the biggest news is the fact that I learned about systems origin.

    No one knows its origin, it was never revealed in the novel either but now I know the truth.

    The system is designed by them, those observers. When the second plot arrives, all of the system of all individuals gets overwritten with a new one, even, the protagonist.

    Right now, the protagonist has a system that is better than us average Joe''s out there.

    It''s just ..I can''t help but wonder if the protagonist is a damn beta-tester for the new system that will get introduced.

    No.. at least beta testers are aware of their job. In this case, our protagonist doesn''t know it, so he is a free beta-tester for those observers.

    Damn...

    The protagonist is just being used. No wonder, mf got yeeted at the end of the novel. He never had the chance to win.

    This is the reason I don''t know if I should be happy about that ''absolute master'' thing or not.

    Is it just an illusion created for me to think I am in control by those guys or am I just overthinking?

    Whichever the case, I think it will be better to find a way to get abilities outside the system help or something along the lines and I have the perfect idea of how to.

    But this isn''t the problem that I need to worry about right now. One step at a time, as they say.

    It''s not like I can do anything right now, so I will focus on what I can.

    This means, there''s only one thing to do

    "System Status"

    =======================================================

    Name: Noah

    Rank: G+

    Strength: G+

    Stamina: G+

    Agility: G+

    Perception: G+

    Mana proficiency: F+

    Luck: C

    Intelligence: B+

    Charm: B+

    =========================================================

    My agility and strength got raised to G+. That''s a good thing to see. Now, I am a max G+ ranker.

    But that''s not important! What''s important is my charm.

    It went from B- to B+.

    Proof of how healthy I am. But still, B+. Goodness me.

    I will say it again, as your rank increases, your body structure changes as well which inevitably gives rise to your charm. So, imagine when I already had a B+ charm while being a G+ ranker, how high will my charm be when my rank rises?

    There are only a few humans who have a charm of S rank and I think I can go past that S rank.

    It''s not like there don''t exist people with charm beyond S rank. There are many Elves who do. They got natural rizz. When ites to which race has the most beauty, it''s Elves.

    "We have arrived at the destination."

    The mechanical voice of the AI reached my ears as my thoughts came to a stop.

    "About time"

    I paid and left the cab as I entered the park.

    That''s right, it''s a public park with a pond.

    And the ce where the hidden dungeon is.

    But before going in...

    "System-san, show me the status when I temporarily increased my rank"

    I wanted to know what changed during that time. I went berserk and all but I don''t know the exact change in my stats, so I am curious about it.

    [You didn''t ask me to record those stats, so I didn''t. >.>]

    ....

    That absolute master thing was just a crap, wasn''t it? And if it wasn''t then this system is crap, isn''t it?

    "Next time, please do record them"

    I asked politely.

    Even trash can be used, it all depends upon the user.

    [Understood. o7]

    I walked towards the pond.

    And guess what? I took the dive.

    I remember back in the day when my mom forced me toe with her to learn swimming. During those times, I always thought what good is it? All I do is study for school, watch some anime, read manga, and stay inside the room all day long. How will swimming help me?

    Now, I am grateful for it.

    Sorry for doubting your teachings Mom, you were absolutely right. Learning how to swim is important

    30 feet deep inside the middle of this pond is the hidden dungeon.

    Now then, it''s time to check the validity.

    What validity, you ask?

    Well, it''s about how hidden dungeons manage difficulty.

    No, I get it. Okay.

    I took items with me so they kept changing the difficulty based on my usage of those items.

    I am not talking about that. What I am wondering is if I could use materials from inside the hidden dungeon.

    Like if I had extracted poison from poison slime or a higher-ranked monster and or made a bomb from the stuff that was avable there.

    Basically, if I had used the things from inside the hidden dungeon instead of bringing stuff from ''outside'' would they have still interfered with the difficulty?

    That''s why, this time I am not taking things with me.

    I left all my potions, short sword, and both daggers back in the cave, even my stealth shoes and burger and drinks, and my smartphone is taking a ride in the cab.

    Such a huge loss.

    Of course, I didn''t leave everything.

    I put a hand on my marine ne and it disappeared into thin air. I put it inside the inventory, and with this, the inventory showed 3/25 storage.

    One box stored high umon healing potion x90. One box stored low epic healing potion x10 and one stored marine ne while all others were empty.

    I didn''t materialize my ring, so it means I can store stuff in it even when it''s in dematerialized form. Not gonna lie, sounds neat.

    They are all the things that I got as rewards for clearing the hidden dungeons. So they shouldn''t be considered things from ''outside''.

    Soon after, I saw the blue-colored portal and dived right into it.

    Once again, just like before, the moment I entered the portal my vision blurred and I felt as if my body was being stretched and shredded into pieces.

    ''I don''t like this experience even a little bit..''

    I grumbled to myself as I looked towards the purple screen that greeted me telling me my mission.

    "Uh-huh, nothing''s different. That''s great."

 Chapter 13: Perfect place for EXP farming

    <h4>Chapter 13: Perfect ce for EXP farming</h4>

    3 years from now, that is, at the time when our failure of a protagonist was going to graduate from ''Hero''s Nurturing Highschool'' as an A+ ranker! 19-year-old A+ ranker! Incredible feat!

    The fastest level-up the world has seen!

    Truly, there''s no doubting it anymore.

    This world is filled with untalented people.

    If you are a normal person who grew up around people who are idiots then you will think you are some sort of genius until you finally meet one.

    It''s just like how everyone thinks they can get into a National University before taking the exam. What happens after the exam? Well, you get humbled.

    Sad but that''s just life.

    Well, back on topic.

    So three years from now, just before the day of the graduation ceremony, a fight in the park urs, the park that I went to.

    Protagonist team vs Viins!

    Results? The protagonist''s team got pushed back and one of the members fell into the pond learning about the hidden dungeon.

    Now, you see, the fight was ridiculous, because they were up against S-ranker. You see, the S-ranker is apletely different monstrosity. The difference between A+ ranker and an S- ranker is around the difference between a G- ranker and an A+ ranker.

    Basically, the protagonist''s team was losing and they could have died.

    How did they survive? Remember the member who found the hidden dungeon, he informed his team members and they all decided to enter it.

    You see, only one party can enter the hidden dungeon. Either alone or with your group. No other person can enter once someone else has already entered the hidden dungeon.

    Thus, they were able to escape from their immediate deaths.

    Once they entered the hidden dungeon, they were given the objective of the mission from the purple screen.

    Their mission was to save the world from the demon lord''s rampage, time limit of 3 months.

    What do I mean by saving the world? Well, remember the history of the world? What would have happened if the peace didn''t arrive? What would have happened if demons dominated other species?

    That''s the ''what if'' scenario that this hidden dungeon had.

    Remember what I said about hidden dungeons having themes? Yeah, this is what I was talking about. It''s not just about killing monsters. It''s like clearing different quests/types of things.

    Do you get what I am getting at? Yes, this world is at war!

    A fucking war!

    Remember what that blue pipsqueak said? You get soul ...okay, I will call it EXP because saying that I am absorbing someone''s soul sounds he wrong.

    Ahem, so yeah, the EXP mostly goes to the person who gives thest blow.

    That''s right!

    This ce is an EXP farm!

    19-year-old A+ rank is the fastest level up? Noobs.

    I will show this world what the real fastest level-up looks like!

    Taking on someone who is higher ranked than you isn''t an easy thing but what about it if it''s a war? Even a high-ranked person could be killed by a low-ranker.

    I went to thest hidden dungeon because that was the easiest to deal with my dying condition during that time.

    I chose this hidden dungeon as my next target after hearing light blue, unlike others, I already knew what to expect from a hidden dungeon. After all, I am a reader of this dog-shit novel.

    So yeah...

    Easy EXP, here Ie~

    What? How can I talk about killing people? I am not though! I am talking about farming EXP! There''s a difference!

    This hidden dungeon is begging me to farm the EXP, so how can I not!?

    Just like how so many people give up on their dreams as they grow up, I must farm EXP from this event, personal feelings be damned. You gotta do what you gotta do.

    Sad, but that''s life.

    Now that, we are done shedding some light on hidden dungeons, let''s analyze our situation.

    I am sitting on a cold floor, my clothes were changed into some rags and I have no idea who changed my clothes.

    I looked around the cage, yes, I am in a cage or should I say a jail? Whatever floats your boat.

    There are 5 more people here, like me. They ...don''t look decent.

    Their eyes looked dull as if they had given up on any hope. They looked pretty frail.

    The cage smelled as bad as it could. I mean, it makes sense.

    It would smell if you were in a room with people and their feces and urine... along with some rotting corpses.

    These guys don''t know the word hygiene, do they?

    Goodness, gracious.

    I tried to move away from them.

    Rattle~

    The sound of chains rang inside the cage as 2 of the individuals looked towards me.

    Yes, chains. My hands and legs are bound by chain handcuffs and so are everyone else''s in this room.

    The 2 individuals who looked at me turned their faces away losing all interest after realizing that I was moving away.

    I wasn''t really bothered by it, I already knew this would happen, this was the same thing that happened to the protagonist''s team. It''s just, that it smells awful.

    I mean, even if you know the room is gonna smell like shit, you aren''t going to be bothered by it unless you finally smell the shit, right?

    I wanted to remove the sense of smell but tempering with my brain but it doesn''t sound like a smart choice.

    I can only temper my brain for a few minutes. I need a lot of training to finally be able to do it properly, not only that but I also have to endure those painful headaches that ur whenever I try brain tempering and this wasn''t the ce to try grind.

    And also, these chains block the usage of mana and aura. So, it''s a no-go.

    What''s aura? Don''t know much either, it''s something mainly used by beastfolk. Some humans can use aura but in return, they can''t use mana.

    No one can use both aura and mana. A fact from the novel. I am a mana user, so yeah, aura is useless to me.

    Back on point, I will have to endure the smell.

    Dammit!

    What? What am I gonna do now?

    Nothing.

    Just gonna y the waiting game.

    You see, there''s one more person who is gonna join us in the cave and then the protagonist with her help, escape''s from here.

    It''s like a character in a game who you will need assist of if you want to clear an event.

    Simr to that, the person who will join uster is gonna help us tremendously.

    Technically, I can escape just fine even without her but with her help it''s gonna be a breeze to clear my mission.

    As they say, work smart, not hard.

    Well, let''s do some prep before she joins.

    "System-san, you know the drill, go make this world''s map. Explore every nook and cranny."

    I muttered

    [On it~ ^.^]

    ..Maybe the System is a workaholic or...a wanderlust? I mean, why would it show a happy emoticon?

    Right after, the system went away and I looked at everyone sitting in this cage.

    Oh, have I ever told you guys the people inside the cage are all different species?

    Yeah, 1 beastfolk dy), 2 humans (both males), and 2 dwarves (one male and one female), if you include me that would make 3 humans in this cage.

    The girl who will be joining uster is an Elf.

    Well, I can''t be sure if that''s gonna be the case since myst trip didn''t go like it was supposed to in the novel but we will see.

    I observed these people, people who seemed to have given up.

    What? Why am I bothering with them? Well, I can''t escape all on my own leaving these poor souls behind.

    ..Okay, fine. That was a lie. I can totaaallly see myself leaving everyone in a ditch to die.

    But I can''t do that. If I am gonna use that Elf, I would need to at least appear a decent person.

    Of course, the protagonist''s team happily worked together with everyone to escape this shit hole.

    I will ...try.

    Well, putting that aside, another question that I have been harboring has been answered.

    What question did I harbor? Well, entering a hidden dungeon alone versus entering a hidden dungeon with a group.

    I wondered if they would change the setting depending on it but it doesn''t seem like it. In the novel, aside from the protagonist''s team, there were also 5 more people in the cage. Same as my case.

    Also, my body doesn''t seem to sickly or frail. In other words, my character setting is also the same.

    What character setting? I am a character who was just recently captured and got thrown in this cage.

    Unlike me, the protagonist talks with these people who have given up and gathered information.

    Of course, I only remember the main parts of their conversation.

    Information such as their name, their ranks, and stuff. I don''t remember.

    Look, I watch lots of anime and read lots of manga, manhwa, light novels, and web novels, there''s simply no way I would remember the names of every side character in those stories, more so of the story I consider dog-shit!

    I have to say, the fact that I remember the main points is already praiseworthy.

    Back on topic, the protagonist talks with these guys to gather information.

    He also tries to talk about escaping with them.

    Results? These guys are suffering from severe depression or whatever you want to call it.

    Their response was something along the lines of ''Even if we escape, what''s next? Enter the war again? Live in hiding? There''s no hope. I had rather die here.''

    They aren''t wrong though, demons are at an overwhelming advantage. That''s the setting.

    These 5 NPCs kept their act during the whole escape charade, the protagonist''s team somehow by the end of it manages to ignite hope in these guys and it also proves to be the right choice in the future where they y a huge role in saving the world.

    Yeah, I know they are not NPCs but actual people but a game analogy is easier to understand, isn''t it?

    But I am different from the protagonist. Giving them talk? Hell, no. Go to the psychiatrist. I have nothing to offer here.

    Unlike the protagonist who spent his time talking to these people, I have got no way to spend the idle time I have right now.

    For starters, I have no idea how to start the conversation with them.

    Like what should I even say!?

    Rather than agonizing over it, I had rather spent my time nning on what things I would need to do while I waited for the Elf to arrive.

    What? When exactly will she arrive? In a few hours. I don''t know the exact time.

    Guess, I will count numbers till then.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    clink~

    Just as I was about to count 16226th, the gate of the cage opened revealing an Elf.

    A girl.

    Same character setting, I guess. Took you about 4 and a half hours to arrive,dy.

    I looked at the other Elf behind her, a male.

    "Ugh!"

    The male elf shoved her from behind resulting in the female elf falling face t on the ground.

    "I hope your stay here will help cure your stupidity," He said, his voice carrying a hint of anger and frustration as he locked the gate and went away.

    That dude needs to chill out a bit.

    What? Why did an Elve shoved another Elve into the cage? Was I not imprisoned by demons? Well, let me answer all your questions.

    Demons are winning the war but let me remind you all, demons need the flesh of other species to survive.

    In the setting that this world follows, the alternative food method hasn''t been found.

    In other words, they gotta eat us but eating all of us is gonna be a problem. So, just like cattle farming, they are gonna do Species farming.

    Now, you need workers to do the job.

    Basically, people who think there''s no winning against them so they decided to betray their kind and join demons.

    As they say, if you can''t beat them, join them.

    It helps demons with odd jobs like guarding the prisoners and raising species for them to eat.

    Now, you might be wondering ''Hey, if they want to eat you then howe those guys who are with you in the cage look so frail and sickly? Who wants to eat rotten food?''

    And congrats! If you are bothered with such a question then you certainly have a brain.

    Ahem, so, the thing is, the quality of the food depends on the ''rank'' of the person more than anything.

    So, yeah all they need is you to be alive.

    As for why demons let humans join their side without any worries of betrayal is because they make a ve pact.

    Making it impossible for them to betray demons.

    The ve pact is just as it sounds like.

    One party is the master and the other servant. The servant can''t betray the master, can''t disobey the master, and whatnot. You get the gist.

    Remember about the history of the world I talked about? About the Elves having ves. Yeah, it''s a bit simr but not the same.

    Also, the ve pact can''t be made one-sided unless one party''s mentality has weakened a lot and another''s is he strong.

    How did Elves were able to turn people into their ves then back in the day? Well, that''s a talk for another time. Right now, that has nothing to do with our current situation.

    Back on topic, so yeah, that''s how it is and why there was an Elve who threw another Elve into the cage.

    That guy is actually the brother of this girl.

    That''s the character setting they are given.

    A brother who decided to join demons as his way to survive and wants his sister to join him while the sister refuses to give up and keeps on fighting.

    Pretty cliched but that''s the story.

    Well, anyways.

    Time to get to work now that the Elf is here.

 Chapter 14: Who asked for your sob story?

    <h4>Chapter 14: Who asked for your sob story?</h4>

    The elf propped herself up as her nose scrunched up, probably because of the foul smell. She looked at the people around her, then she looked at me who is sitting in the corner.

    I looked at her.

    We both stared at each other.

    <i>It felt like she was suddenly having a hard time breathing...</i>

    What''s the deal with her? After taking a few deep breaths and calming herself down, she finally started to walk towards me and then sat beside me.

    It''s not magic guys. It''s all about appearances all over again.

    On one side you have got people who look worst, their eyes dull with no life in them and then you have got a guy who looks way better than them, a guy who isn''t sitting in a ce covered with his shit!

    Which will you choose?

    The elf who is now sitting beside me. She didn''t say anything.

    <i>...What was with her staring at me before and her reaction.. oh well, let''s move on.</i>

    Weirdos in the world exist for a reason.

    Alright, it''s time to start the -

    Um...

    I just realized...

    How do I start the conversation?

    If this was a caf�� then I would simply order the food, if it''s customer service then I would ask them my quarries but how do I start the conversation with this elf!?

    Like, what am I supposed to say!? To begin with, isn''t it weird to suddenly start talking with someone you have never talked with?

    Don''t sit silently with your lousy assdy...

    <i>''..Maybe it is a bad idea to cooperate, I can just deal with this all on my own</i>

    Such thoughts started to corrupt my mind immediately.

    "When ..did you get captured?"

    I looked towards the source of the hushed voice, towards the elf sitting beside me.

    Hm?

    Is she talking to me?

    O-oh I gotta respond. It''s alright now. I can handle it from here.

    "Just recently" I answered.

    "I see.." The elf said.

    "Why ask?"

    "...Your condition looked better than others, so I knew you must be like me, someone who got captured recently but I wanted to confirm"

    Is she the type who would check things a hundred times to confirm it?

    "You sure are cautious type, huh."

    What else am I supposed to say?

    "It''s not that, it''s just ..nothing," she said reluctantly as she shook her head

    ...

    Oh lord, she left me hanging! Nothing frustrates me more than someone leaving their sentences mid-way!

    Screw you!

    "So, what rank are you?"

    I asked, I can''t let my personal feelings interfere with work. I needed to confirm if it was the same as the novel or not.

    "..S- rank" she whispered.

    "Must be nice to have rtive working for demons"

    I said in the most casual way possible.

    What? What''s with my out-of-ce reply? It''s not out of ce.

    You see, S-rank are prestigious type of food for demons, in other words, S-rankers go into their stomach faster than us low-rankers.

    That''s why her being here doesn''t make sense unless someone helped her and the person who threw her here was an elf.

    What I am trying to say is that she wouldn''t get suspicious about me even though I have just blurted out that I know she has got one of her family members working for demons.

    She gritted her teeth not responding but affirming my reasoning.

    It also helped me know that the setting of this character is also the same.

    "So, when are you getting out? or are you here to check up on us? Is there a spy who has slipped in? Are you here to weed them out? Must be nice, joining the team with demons."

    Her eyes were downcast, her expression angered, and frustrated, she bit her lips causing the blood to fall on the ground.

    I stayed silent instead of speaking any further and that proved to be the right decision.

    A few secondster she opened her mouth.

    "..I am not with them" She spat with clear hostility as she continued "I know it might be hard to believe for you but that''s the truth."

    "I don''t really have anything to do, it wouldn''t hurt to hear you out I don''t, I guess."

    I knew the story but what can I do?

    "He is my brother.." She said as she started to recount her story to me.

    How her mother died, how her father stayed behind to buy time for her and her brother, for them to be able to escape, dying in the process. How she swore to kill demons, how she joined a group of people who were just like her, how they all became besties with each other, how then one day they ended up encountering a SS ranked demon, the same demon who ate her mother and father, how that demon beat the shit out of them, how the demon gave them the choice of killing each other and letting thest standing person live, how her brother killed everyone except her sister, how her brother asked the demon to let her sister live in return of bing the demon''s ve, how the demon epted the offer and let her go.

    "I hate him but I hate myself even more, I know what he did that day was for me, he killed his lover, his best friend, entered a ve pact with the person who killed our parents .. all for me, all <i>because</i> of me.."

    She said in her quavering voice as her body trembled, she held her tears back not letting them fall.

    Even though it was better to cry, she was holding back.

    All I wanted to say is... just why?

    Why!?

    Who asked for your whole past,dy?

    For the past hour, I have been hearing her sob story.

    And now she is trying to not cry when she should be.

    I have no clue what to say.

    How did I get into this shit again?

    Oh wait, I was the one who asked her.

    Damn it!

    "..So, you ended up doing something reckless like trying to kill that demon but got captured, once again causing trouble for your brother, great job." My damned mouth said the words I wanted to say when I first read her story in the novel.

    Fuck no!!

    Why!?

    Kill me!

    ..Wait no, don''t! That was a joke, I swear!

    I remembered someone saying <i>You should always have positive thoughts because no one ever knows what wish of yours might get granted</i>

    For the record, I am an atheist and I don''t believe in superstitions but man, when you get thrown in a novel outta nowhere, you start being careful with this stuff.

    What? Be careful not to start believing. Ptff, like hell.

    Regardless, I need to focus on the matter at hand. The elf''s expression turned horrified as my words or should reality started to hit her, which made me realize the reason behind me being an outcast.

    But what I said wasn''t wrong.

    After getting caught her brother begged for the demon to give him some time, time to convince her sister to enter a ve pact rather than eating her.

    In a way, you can say that entering a ve pact is the only choice she has if doesn''t want to cause any more problems for her brother.

    That''s where the protagonist''s teamse into y. After they escape, theyter down the line kill the demon and free her brother from the ve pact as well.

    That''s how the story unfolds.

    "Youck tact, a lot of it"

    A raspy voice entered my ears as I looked towards the man who had spoken to me.

    Oh! So, now you can speak!

    Tryna making me the bad guy to hit off with the Elf who is down in the slumps by giving her supporting words?

    I get that Elves are naturally hot and all but seriously dude...

    I decided to ignore the guy and looked towards the elf.

    "So, what are you gonna do now?"

    I asked.

    That''s more important than anything else.

    What? Ick tact? Well, no shit Sherlock. I wouldn''t be a friendless bastard in myst 16 years of life if I didn''tck tact.

    "..I will escape, I will escape and then kill that bastard, even if it''s thest thing I do and I am sure my brother would be more happy if that bastard dies rather than serving him with me till the day we both die." She said her voice contained different emotions, anger towards the demon, sadness towards her brother, determination to kill, and hope to seed.

    Yup, she is dead set on killing that demon, just like in the novel.

    Well, good for me.

    "So, what is your story?"

    She asked.

    She was the type of person who had to tell other people her story and ask theirs afterward.

    Basically, dumb.

    "My name''s Noah and that''s all you need to know"

    I have no backstory here.

    Just a guy who got swept in some weird ass shit.

    "Th-" Before the elfdy could finish her sentence she was cut off

    "You should give up on escaping from here"

    It was the same guy who spoke before.

    I get it, dude.

    You saw a hot elf. You wanna spend time with her, you are freaking out because she is gonna leave before you even got a chance to talk to her but seriously, even I as an outcast can tell that sentence will score 0 points.

    You don''t take someone''s hope away from them. That''s just so cruel.

    "...And why is that?"

    The elf asked warily.

    "Because you can''t. Outside the cage is filled with lots of traps that activate for anyone who is wearing these chains, and there are beasts around here too, escaping along with these chains is impossible. These corpses that are lying here ...all tried to escape too. As far as I know, I have never heard of anyone escaping this ce."

    Okay, dude.

    Just tell me. No, seriously, just tell me.

    How in the hell are you gonna hear about someone escaping this ce if all your interactions only consist of your cage mates?

    And not able to escape with these chains? You guys are just too reliant on your mana and stuff, aren''t ya?

    Getting caught by traps? Noobs.

    As for the beasts? Well, we will see.

    What? What are beasts doing here?

    Well, let me say it again. Beasts are animals who be more ferocious because of mana entering the atmosphere.

    Now, this hidden dungeon is a big plot point of the story.

    Why? ''coz this hidden dungeon revealed a scary truth! And it''s the fact that demons can control these beasts.

    Remember the war? Poption chart? Let me remind you all.

    Demons poption is 50 million and so so. Demons are all above A+ rank.

    Yeah, they are super strong but... is it impossible to deal with them? Hell, no!

    The human poption is alone 700 million and we don''t have a level cap, yeah, it takes a hell lot of time to rank up after bing an A+ ranker, some humans end up spending their lifetime just to be S- ranker but even so there is a good chunk of numbers who be above A+ ranker.

    And of course, fu*king geniuses exist for a reason.

    Don''t forget we have got other species as well.

    All in all, what I am trying to say is, that there are 100 million who range from S- to S+ rank and about 10 million who range from SS- to SS+ rank.

    SSS- ranker? Well, no, we don''t have one.

    That''s the statistics of the world outside of this hidden dungeon.

    Wiping the floor with demons is not something impossible. It is well within the realms of possibility.

    This is the biggest reason behind why peace talks were possible in the past.

    I mean, demons are dangerous but they can be dealt with.

    Now, imagine what would happen if the world learned they could control these beasts.

    I mean, imagine what would happen if all the animals (beasts are animals) came after you! Duh, you had to freak out!

    You can''t win, no matter how strong.

    Well, there is a catch, demons can''t control all the beasts, each demon can only control a certain number of beasts.

    I mean, it would be to op otherwise.

    What? What''s the amount they can control? Around 10-15 million or so.. for a single demon.

    Also, it depends on how strong the beast is.

    So, yeah...

    Yabai

    You might wonder why the hell demon lord enter peace talks back in the day. That''s a topic we will talk about some other time. For now, gotta focus on escaping from this cage.

 Chapter 15: Time For A Stroll

    <h4>Chapter 15: Time For A Stroll</h4>

    "Does that mean we are going to die?"

    Elf asked, her voice carrying a hint of fear.

    "That''s right, there''s nothing that can be done"

    This guy..

    I stood up and started walking towards the corpse lying on the ground.

    "Then why don''t you bite off your tongue and die already?"

    If you truly believe death is the only thing left then die. Oh wait, let me kill you.

    Wouldn''t wanna waste that EXP.

    "For someone who talks about dying, you sure are doing everything you can to live?"

    I said as I looked towards the corpse.

    The man averted his eyes unable to speak.

    Proven guilty. What? What am I talking about?

    You see, these corpses have bite marks on them, not one from some beasts but small ones.

    Basically, these guys ate these corpses to keep themselves alive.

    That''s right, this is their food, these corpses. That''s what they are given to eat.

    What? How could they?

    Man, death by starvation isn''t nice. If you are locked in a room with no food, you will eat anything to keep yourself alive, even the dust on the wall, your excretion.

    This was the biggest reason Elf was wary of them and sat beside me and also why her brother left her in a ce like this to make her change her mind.

    Back on point, I need to leave. I am done staying here.

    This ce is making me feel sick.

    <i>I already knew I was gonna be here because of the novel but being in a cage really makes me feel sick.</i>

    "..What are you doing?"

    The elf asked as my hand approached the corpse.

    Ignoring her, I pulled out the femur from its corpse. It''s one of the strongest bones. The feeling of digging into cold flesh felt disgusting.

    <i>''It would work as a good weapon..''</i>

    Yup, even dead has its uses.

    Thinking to myself I took out another piece of bone. A small piece of bone, in order to open the gate of the cage. I knew a bit about lock-picking.

    However, I can''t remove the chain handcuffs that are binding my hands and legs. There''s is no keyhole in them.

    Weird handcuffs, honestly.

    I looked back at everyone.

    "You wanna rot here, rot. If you wanna escape from here, follow me. Your choice."

    The Elf is gonna follow me, that much I was sure of. She wanted to leave this ce, unlike others who acted as if the world''s ending.

    What should I say? If I were to believe in the novel then Elf wouldn''t follow me but... now that I have seen her in person I know it better, she might be kind but not the dumb level type of kind.

    I know better than anyone about people who will do what needs to be done to survive and she is one of those.

    And honestly, that''s all that matters.

    Unlike the protagonist, I had no intention of trying to sway the hearts of others in this cage. It''s true they yed important roles in the novelter down the line but honestly, those roles can be given to anyone.

    Even without them, I can make things work out for me, I can simply use someone else.

    Everyone is receable, after all.

    That''s just how the world works.

    I don''t have much time to waste, only 3 months. 3 months to achieve all the things I came to from this hidden dungeon.

    I don''t want to waste even a single day.

    After that, I started walking towards the gate and entered the bone inside the keyhole trying to open it.

    clink~

    The metallic sound of the gate opening entered my ears.

    "Anyoneing?" I asked onest time as a formality.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Elf''s Pov)

    "Ugh!"

    Falling face t on the cold floor because of the push that came from my own brother, I let out a pained voice.

    "I hope staying here will cure your stupidity" My brother spat those words out as he locked the gate and left.

    I gritted my teeth.

    Slowly propping myself up, I looked around.

    ..It took a few seconds for my brain to process and I understood what my brother meant.

    Corpses are lying in the room, corpses with bite marks on them, not of the beasts but of ..a person.

    The moment I saw the 5 individuals who were sitting in their own feces and urine, their frail and weak bodies, I knew what had transpired.

    I felt my stomach churn as if I could vomit anytime.

    Then I looked at a lone kid who was sitting in the corner, in a cleaner ce than those 5.

    Looking at his condition it was clear that he has been caught only recently.

    But..

    His eyes looked even more dead than those 5 who had already given up on being a person by eating their kin.

    <i>I closed my eyes and opened them again to look at him.</i>

    ...

    !

    ...What the hell is this?

    <i>''You are so annoying''</i> the voice of a certain girl rang into my ears. I felt nauseated but I did my best to not show it.

    Remain calm, I need to remain calm.

    After taking deep breaths, I slowly walked towards him and sat beside him.

    After a few minutes, I started to converse with him, and soon after he asked

    "So, when are you getting out? or are you here to check up on us? Is there a spy who has slipped in? Are you here to weed them out? Must be nice, joining the team with demons."

    Those words dug into me. For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

    My body quivered as I remembered the events that transpired in my life until this moment.

    And afterward, I started telling the boy everything about me with my wavering voice.

    <i>There was no need to tell him everything but ...after what I saw it was simply the best to remain transparent with him.</i>

    Besides, escaping from here alone would be impossible, I needed help and for that, I first needed his trust.

    So, I told him everything about me.

    Afterward, I asked him to tell me about himself.

    "My name''s Noah and that''s all you need to know"

    His monotonous voice reached my ears.

    <i>''As expected''</i>

    I thought to myself. He really is going to be hard to deal with.

    Well, let''s try to ask him once more before giving up but before I could say anything, a raspy voice reached my ears.

    It belonged to a human.

    "You can''t escape. Outside the cage is filled with lots of traps that activate for anyone who is wearing these chains, and there are beasts around here too, escaping along with these chains is impossible. These corpses that are lying here ...all tried to escape too. As far as I know, I have never heard of anyone escaping this ce."

    ...

    He isn''t wrong, if there are beasts roaming around then facing them would be hard. These chain handcuffs block mana and aura, reducing a lot of our strength.

    ..Is it impossible to escape from here?

    I couldn''t help but question myself.

    nk~

    The metallic voice entered my ears as I looked at the human named Noah. He started walking towards one of the corpses.

    And the next instant his hands dug inside the corpse as he pulled one of the bones from it.

    A chill ran up my spine as I watched him do so.

    His face remained apathetic, his eyes unconcerned as he started to walk towards the gate. I bit my lip.

    He reminded me of her, so much of her that it made me feel nauseating.

    In less than a minute the gate opened.

    "Anyoneing?"

    ..How did he unlock it using a bone?

    Without waiting for our answer he started walking away.

    I also stood up in a hurry to follow him.

    Going with him without a n or knowing much about him sounded reckless but for some reason, the confidence he exuded was enough for me to make my decision.

    <i>Not only that but ...I didn''t like the idea of leaving him alone.</i>

    Also, there was a strong feeling inside me that told me if I didn''t follow him right now, I wouldn''t be able to escape from there ever.

    But before leaving.

    "Are you all noting?" I asked

    "And die in the process? No."

    I know I should stop but I still decided to speak

    "So, you are going keep eating ..these corpses?"

    I asked

    ".."

    The man didn''t reply.

    I wanted to convince them toe with us but Noah wasn''t waiting, he had already left and I needed to follow before I lost sight of him.

    Biting my lips, I started walking in his direction.

    If I had time I would have tried to convince them but right now my priority is Noah.

    <i>I don''t want to let it happen again.</i>

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "What in the ..."

    I stood watching the sun at its zenith. I followed Noah and now we are standing outside.

    After 4 hours of walking, we are now out of the demon''s region.

    "So, do you have any ce in mind?"

    "H-how?"

    I asked unable toprehend what had just happened.

    "Hm"

    Noah tilted his head with his usual expression.

    "How did we get out of there!?"

    I still couldn''t understand.

    "..By walking?"

    No, that''s not what I am asking!

    "Traps, beasts, guards, how did we not encounter even one of them!?"

    It was unnatural!

    If not for the chain handcuffs binding me I wouldn''t have doubted that we were simply taking a stroll rather than escaping!

    "..Because I knew the whole map of the prison and simply chose the best route?"

    ..What? How? How did he acquire the map? No, more than that...

    "T-then why didn''t you tell them! If you told them about this they all would have followed us! It would have been easier to convince them!"

    I shouted, unreasonably.

    I already had guessed it.

    No, I was certain of the type of person he was already.

    I knew shouting at him wasn''t the right thing.

    But I still did.

    My emotions felt conflicting.

    "Hey, I gave them the option to rot or to follow. They made the choice. Don''t me it on me. Also, I asked you if you have a ce in mind we can go to, when will you give the answer? The sun is gonna go to sleep, I need a destination." He paused before continuing

    "If you want to save them, go do it yourself. Other people''s lives aren''t my responsibility"

    His emotionless, monotonic voice made me feel angry but also helpless.

    "...I know of a ce," I said in a resigned tone.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s pov)

    Oh, man!

    That was a good stroll!

    Yes, a stroll.

    With the help of the system, it was a breeze. Of course, the system doesn''t make any real-time map, so there was always the chance of encountering beasts or a guard.

    But fortunately, we didn''t.

    Now, it was time for the elf to be useful.

    You see, there''s a ce for all the people who are hiding, gathering forces and stuff.

    I do know where the ce is but introducing myself to thempared to an acquaintance of theirs introducing me to them. Doesn''t take a genius to know which one''s easier, now does it?

    crackle crackle~

    The voice of fire reached my ears, near it were fishes being cooked by the elf.

    You see it was already night, so we decided to call it a day and found this cave in the forest to take some rest.

    With these chain handcuffs, it was hard to move fast andfortably. So, it was kinda tiring.

    "It''s done"

    The elf said with a grumpy tone.

    She has been like this for a while now. Well, I knew the reason.

    It''s gonna be a pain.

    I was intending to keep ignoring them but I guess I got no choice.

    "You do understand you suck at hiding? How about helping out instead? You kineaters"

    "..What are you on about?"

    The elf asked with a frown on her face unable to understand my words but I didn''t reply to her.

    A few secondster, a man and a women appeared. One of them is a human and the other a beastfolk.

    "H-Huh.." The elf mutteredpletely taken aback by the appearance of two of her ex-cagemates.

    The man scratched his head as he opened his mouth.

    "How long have you known?"

    Piss off.

    Why do I gotta exin myself?

    As I ignored him I took a bite of the fish ...

    Man, it tastes shit.

    Guess, raw cooked food isn''t really that great.

 Chapter 16: Isn鈥檛 it too late for Introductions?

    <h4>Chapter 16: Isn''t it toote for Introductions?</h4>

    "Uwaah!!!"

    "There there~"

    "UWAAAH!!"

    Oh lord, give me patience coz if you gave me strength I might just kill them all.

    Right now the beastfolkdy is crying rivers while resting her head on Elfdy''s thighs and our dumb elf is patting her head.

    The more she pats her head the more the beastfolk cries.

    I looked in another direction, only to find a man gobbling down the fish one after another.

    Man, that doesn''t even taste that good. Guess, this is what starvation does to one. Well, he is gonna suffer for suddenly feasting on food like this.

    Fortunately, the man wasn''t the one who was telling us to give up back in the cage but the other one if not for that I would have been forced to <i>n on some idental death situation.</i>

    Not to brag but I am pretty good ating up with idental deaths.

    I materialized a potion of ''Low Epic Healing Potion''.

    Rather than materialize, it would be more urate to say that I simply pulled out a potion directly from my inventory with a simple thought, and of course, with a simple thought I could put it back in my inventory which might look like dematerialization.

    In a sense, it was like all my things inside the inventory were semi-soul-bound.

    <i>Why semi? Well, unlike my ring which even if I lose somewhere will materialize back to me and no one except me can use it (unless I permit them to) on the other hand if my other items get lost then they are lost and they can be used by others.</i>

    Back on point, I hadn''t looked into the information rted to this potion. I know it''s something that will help with even re-growing limbs, but that couldn''t be all.

    I mean, there exists an even higher-ranked potion than this, which means there exist types of injuries/illnesses that I don''t have any idea of. So, I wanted to at least get some idea of what sort of absurd injury could it be that would need the help of such a high-ranked potion.

    I still didn''t know why that blue hair gave me such a high-ranked potion. <i>Was it because of a simple whim or was it because she acted on someone''s orders?</i>

    I shook my head.

    "System Status"

    ================================================

    Healing Potion -Low Epic Grade

    Restores the body to its peak condition.

    Removes low-level curses.

    Deals with low-level damage on magical circuits.

    =================================================

    Yeah.. as I thought it doesn''t simply re-grow limbs there are other things it could do as well but..

    Low-level curses? No one got cursed in the novel. That concept didn''t even exist in the novel ...not in the first half, I didn''t read the second half, so...

    Magical circuits? I know mana circuits but I doubt they are the same...

    As I thought reading it I learned about new types of injuries. illness? that might exist.

    So there do exist dangers that I have no idea about.

    Goodness, someone help me sign out of this shit.

    I put the potion back inside the inventory.

    As long as I am touching something I can put it in my inventory. <i>Of course, I tried to put my liver inside inventory but it didn''t work.</i>

    Dimensional storage stuff works like that. You can''t put anything inside it that <i>resists</i>.

    For instance, you can put a dead body but not a living person because they will resist, and of course, it doesn''t simply mean being mentally resisting as long as the body resists it wouldn''t work.

    One might be ready tomit suicide but once they start to drown in the water their body resists with all its might.

    Yeah, that''s how this stuff works

    My body also resisted when I tried to put my liver in inventory.

    And now I can''t help but wonder what the hell was I even thinking.

    "Are we done? When will we move again? "

    It''s been quite some time since we have decided to take a rest.

    "It''s night already, we are going to wait until the sun rises up. It would be dangerous otherwise. " The elf answered in a whisper.

    "I heard that beast folks have good eyesight and hearing, night shouldn''t be a problem."

    "Thedy here is tired and so is that man, they need proper rest, let them sleep." The elf pointed out at both of them with her finger.

    "Wait, when did they.."

    What the hell? They are sleeping!?

    When did this happen!?

    "Hey, she is sleeping on your thighs, wouldn''t you get tired this way?"

    "I will be fine" The gentle whisper of an elf entered my ears signifying her exhaustion.

    "Whatever.."

    That was all I could mutter.

    I decided to pass my time with stargazing, not like I have ever done it and I knew shit about astrology.

    "...I hope you can change the way you think, even if only a little" The voice was gentle yet held a bit of power, the kinda of one belonging to a kind scolding mother.

    "Not that I am against it, people are free to hope for whatever but.. you should hope for something better, like ''I hope my brother gets freed'' or ''I hope the war ends'', something like that" I replied without looking at the Elf.

    "You are not wrong ..." Those words felt like a soft whisper.

    You can be a bit louder.

    She didn''t say anything else.

    ...Weirdo. For some reason, I can''t help but feel like she is for whatever reason going along with what I am doing.

    <i>Not the forced situation of going along where you have no other choice but the going along of one''s own ord.</i>

    And I have no idea why.

    Gosh, another question that I have no answer to.

    Soon after, the elf also fell asleep.

    These bastards...

    They clearly don''t know the significance of rotating sleep.

    How dumb are they?

    Whatever, it''s not like I n on sleeping.

    Why? I hate wasting time I would rather do some brain-tempering practice till morning.

    ...Wait, I can''t because of these chains.

    Well, fuck.

    Then...

    I remembered my max G+ rank, well, guess, I will go kill some beasts to absorb their EXP and have my level up.

    <i>I had killed some in the forest back then beforeing to this hidden dungeon but my rank-up option didn''t pop up.</i>

    I had killed low-level beasts, well I was checking the validity of the blue-haired pipsqueak so there''s that.

    Well, I guess I will hunt some high-level beasts this time.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Mm...Hmm?" The Elf woke to the gentle sensation of the morning sunlight upon her face "It''s ..morning?" She said rubbing her eyes.

    Woah, someone woke up!

    She looked around and then towards me.

    "...Have you been on watch the entire night?" The Elf questioned.

    No, I mean, what dangers might there be sleeping in the forest? There''s no need to discuss how we are gonna rotate sleep, right?

    Of course, no beasts would attack you.

    Bitch! Of course, I have been on the watch the entire night!

    I now even have the option to level up!

    What? What option? Well, remember I told you guys when you level up your whole body goes to reconstruction and all. Imagine if you leveled up somewhere outta nowhere, that would be trouble.

    That''s why when you reach the next level, you are given the option to level up, unless you agree on ''yes'' you can''t level up.

    Now, this begs the question, would my EXP stop umting until I level up myself or will I level up all at once?

    I will test it out in the future, for now, I gotta reply to her.

    "Nope, I slept like everyone else, just woke up a few minutes ago. Guess, someone''s luck here is pretty thick."

    It''s not like she will know whether I actually slept or not.

    What? Why not tell the truth? Well, because I might not have slept but I wasn''t looking out for them either.

    "..I see, let''s wake everyone up."

    Elf said as she stood up and I instantly threw the boiled water I had prepared on the two sleepy heads, actually, I was going to do the same for Elf but she woke before I could.

    ""Agh!""

    "What!?"

    You see, waking up is a long process, you wake up, you feel drowsy, you slowlye to your senses, and h h.

    The point is, that it takes a lot of time on the other hand if you wake up because of pain you will instantly start working because of the strong stimtion your brain has received.

    And I just gave them the stimtion they needed to save themselves from wasting time.

    It might leave a small burn mark, but that will fade away in a few days all by itself and hey, we live in a world where healing potions exist, not a big deal.

    "Why did you do that!" The elf fuming with anger shouted while thedy and the man were touching their hands where the hot water had hit them, yes, I didn''t hit their face.

    I am generous and kind.

    "To prepare ourselves to leave? We aren''t on a pic. You need to understand we have to leave as quickly as possible to not get caught and you are forgetting this area has lots of beasts, beasts that can be controlled by demons. Where the fuck do you all find the nerves to sleep without a care in the world? Did your brain get damaged when you got captured?"

    No, I am not joking if they tried to capture us then it would be an easy thing to do.

    Actually, the only reason we aren''t captured yet is probably because her brother is pulling whatever strings he might be pulling back there for her sister. Such a loving brother.

    If I had escaped alone, he would have sent forces to find me right away. Asshole.

    Well, anyway, he could only provide us with a limited time, wasting that time is stupid. Escaping isn''t about finding a route, it''s about timing. You miss the timing and you are dead.

    That''s why amateurs could never escape without their exceptional luck.

    <i>But still... it''s fucking morning, even her brother shouldn''t have been able to hold back for so long. I was ready the whole night to go and get some EXP from people instead of beasts. Well, anyways, I need to be careful.</i>

    "...It was a needed rest for all of us"

    The elf said in a strained voice and I knew what she meant, these other 2 guys were in bad condition giving them the rest was necessary for them to work more efficiently, of course, I could just make them drink my healing potion, and that would restore them to their previous peak condition but...I don''t wanna.

    I don''t wanna give my things away. Sharing is caring? Well, fortunately, I don''t care.

    And also, what do you mean by ''us''!? I didn''t need the rest, I was ready to go and am ready to go.

    "..I am sorry for being a burden and thank you for protecting us the whole night," The man said bowing his head.

    "Likewise!" The beastdy also chimed.

    You guys are already over that boiled water I threw on you... Man, must be quite a high pain tolerance.

    Hm? I get the thing about being a burden but what''s this about protecting them??

    "You can lie all you want but you have got blood on your body, you might not have noticed it during the night but it''s morning now, and it''s easily visible. Thanks for protecting us." The elf said in a gentle tone.

    ...Now then, how do I exin that I wanted to level up the option to appear in my system so I decided to go kill some beasts roaming around to gather EXP ..leaving thempletely unguarded.

    I hadn''t saved them from any beasts approaching us, that was a wrong conclusion they hade to.

    Well, shit.

    I can easily see how my denying it will just make them think of me as a tsundere.

    Ew, cringe.

    "Get your asses moving."

    "Yes yes" the elf sighed

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We finally started moving through the forest to look for the base the Elf was taking us towards.

    "I think, we should introduce ourselves"

    Seriously dude? Now you realize the need for an introduction?

    Back then when they showed up, the elf first decided to give them food and then they started gobbling down the food and then they started crying and then they slept.

    So, yeah. Introductions didn''t happen.

    "My name is Elina. Ie from the southern tri-"

    "Only names, that''s all we need." I interrupted the elf before she started telling us about her whole life again.

    "Why!"

    "Because no one gives a shit about your southern tribe"

    "Y-you! Whatever! hmph!" The elf pouted looking away.

    No cute.

    <i>I should have said, extinct southern tribe.</i>

    And for fuck''s sake just because you look like a hot one-san in her 20s doesn''t mean you should act like one.

    Elves aging works differently. What I am trying to say is that I can bet she is 50-60+ in terms of age, I don''t know her exact age but that''s the least she gotta be.

    Basically, she is an old hag.

    "I go by Albert, nice to meet you all"

    "My name is Aria! Thanks for yesterday''s food!"

    Human and the beastfolk said respectively.

    "Noah"

    Well, with this introduction all done.

 Chapter 17: Finally, arrives at the base

    <h4>Chapter 17: Finally, arrives at the base</h4>

    "So, I have been meaning to ask but how did you kill those beasts?" a frail and weak voice entered my ears, it was the beastdy who has posed the question, her name Aria.

    Of course, her question wasn''t as simple as how I killed those beasts but more about how I killed them with these chain handcuffs.

    Her question showed how much these guys relies on mana and aura, without it they are total baggage, like never heard of traps and ambushes?

    Wait..

    Oh lord, I just realized I probably sound like those old folks from countryside who talk about how modern tech has made us younger generation some sort of whining babies...

    I-I gotta answer the question of beastdy.

    "With my hands" I said while showing her my cuffed hands, her expression showed her dissatisfaction with my answer, not like I care

    What else can I say?

    To begin with, it wasn''t like I got attacked by the beasts. It was different, I had attacked them instead. Sneaking up on a sleeping beast and killing it. They are under the wrong assumption of I protected them from some beast to begin with.

    What? How can I kill a sleeping beast? Well, anything that gives EXP is kible, that''s the fundamental rule.

    So, I killed. A lot of them until my screen showed I was ready to level up but I didn''t.

    I will wait until these chains are gone.

    "How did you find the way to leave that ce?" The man asked, probably referring to my swift escape from the prison.

    <i>That slight change in tone. I knew it.</i>

    "With the help of my skill, duh."

    I wasn''t going to tell them about the system, why would I?

    What? What skills? Well, there exist skills in this world.

    No, I am not talking about skills like driving skills or cleaning skills type of ones.

    The skill I am referring to is the type of mental resistance skill or pain tolerance type of stuff, you get the gist.

    For that matter, I don''t have any skills.

    Well, I don''t have a ss either.

    What''s ss? Well, ever heard of the saying ''Everyone has a talent''? but have never figured out what your talent is and lived a mediocre life? You no longer have to worry!

    Because with the help of the system, you can check your ss and your talent!

    No longer will you have to worry about putting your efforts in the wrong ce!

    So, yeah, that''s what ss is.

    And Noah doesn''t have one, of course, I know the reason for it. Noah did write about it in his diary, more urately, bragged about it...

    Regardless, that''s not something I need to concern myself with.

    "So, why did you guys decide to follow us?" I asked.

    I wanted to avoid this situation, but in the end, they followed us.

    They might have slept but they are not in good condition, and they won''t be in one anytime soon either.

    And that''s slowing our speed down.

    Well, nothing I can do about it, I better make good use of the situation.

    "...We, just ..didn''t want to eat t-them ...anymore"

    Ah, the Elfdy must have said something rted to the corpse-eating before leaving...

    I see, I see.

    Sometimes, even when you know you are wrong it doesn''t sink into you unless told by someone else, and the Elfdy, Elina just did that for them.

    Lol.

    Like I had believe.

    Normally two or three ves running away shouldn''t be a cause of concern for the demon or anyone but it''s Elina who ran away not just someone. The demon has a history with Elina.

    <i>The fact that there''s literally no one chasing us means only one thing.</i>

    "Um.. where are we going exactly?" Albert asked.

    "Don''t know, I am just following the Elf"

    Of course, I know.

    My divine mapping skill -system- knows all corners of this world.

    "I have a name and it''s Elina! I already told you!" The elf fumed with anger.

    Yes, yes.

    Whatever.

    She let out a sigh, probably because of my disinterest as she looked towards Albert.

    "We are going to one of the bases where everyone''s hiding, it''s about 30 km away from here, one of the underground facilities made by humans long ago."

    It''s 6 am right now, if we keep this pace up which is going to be impossible because I am sure these guys are gonna take breaks in between, taking that into ount hopefully before night arrives we will be there.

    Well, since we have so much time on our hands, I better get my answers.

    "Hey, Elina, can you navigate mana in your body in a way that would let you take control of ''every'' part, ''every'' inch, ''every'' fiber of your body?"

    I had done that in my fight against the minotaur, I honestly don''t know how I did it, I just did that during my whole dungeon charade.

    To begin with, I wasn''t even in my right mind. I mean, I was dying back then.

    My consciousness was hazy, my brain messed up, I had a high fever, and a lot of stuff.

    Back then, I just simply threw whatever idea popped into my head. I mean, you don''t think much when you are dying, you just start doing whatever you have at your disposal and I just did that.

    But now that the charade was over, I can''t really help but wonder what the fucking hell was I doing.

    Back then, I gotta say but I was fucking high.

    Anyways, forget that, how the hell did I do all that?

    I needed to know if what I did was possible or not, more urately, if it was normal or not.

    "No, that''s not possible, controlling your body to some extent might be butpletely and every part of your body? I don''t think I have ever heard of something like that..." Elina paused for a second, one of her eyebrows arching "Why do you ask?"

    "So, you can control your body to some extent? How so and in what way?"

    "..Did you just ignore my question?" Elina scrunched up her face as she asked.

    "I just substituted mine with yours, now the answer?"

    Shameless as it might sound, I gave an honest reply, for I was taught to be an honest man.. only when it''s not disadvantageous, of course.

    "You are one shitty brat" Shaking her head a little Elina continued "You can control your body to some extent by weaving your mana into threads and thenbining those threads into strings, but it''s not as simple as it may sound, it takes a lot of time to master it, it would take a human half their life span to do the trick and if you are some sort prodigy maybe around 2 decades, that''s how hard it is to do so. Though considering the time it takes to master the techniquepared to how useful it is, it''s not worth much. The strings are not that strong. They are weak only capable of subtle control of the body"

    Gosh, I love apocalyptic settings!

    What? Why am I saying this all of a sudden? Well, in a normal situation, Elves would never tell you about mana techniques that easily. I mean, that is their forte, why would you tell someone your trade secrets?

    Though, it''s different right now, weaklings banding together against the strong!

    So, everyone''s united.

    Okay, jokes aside, her exnation is a serious matter of concern.

    Let''s say I can substitute that training time with Noah''s intelligence, proof that the experiment was worth something after all but it still begs the problem of the ''weak'' string that she told me just now.

    ...I guess, I will put this piece of puzzle in the back of my head.

    "What about you? Is it possible to move your body using aura?" Tilting my head slightly to my left I posed the question to the beastdy, Aria.

    Aria shook her head as she spoke "No, it''s not and if you try to use the concept of strings it would be impossible to since aura is more viscous than mana it would be hard to use strings however you want"

    That so?

    How the hell did I do it then? It definitely isn''t simply because of my intelligence ..something''s missing and that might be rted to why I got more severely injured than I initially had imagined I would be against the minotaur.

    "You know, you can answer some of our questions too"

    "Ask"

    It would create problems if I kept ignoring her every time. It was okay for now but once these chains are removed, one needs to keep in mind that Elina, unfortunately, is a damn S-rank, I had be screwed.

    "Who are you? Your rank? How did you get captured?"

    It''s not a rapid-fire rounddy, keep your horses calm.

    "Noah, G+ rank, wanted to see the inner workings of a prison so I decided to visit one"

    What? That''s a pretty good answer I gave.

    "..Are you serious?" Elina asked with a bewildered look on her face, our other twopanions also let out a gasp.

    Hm? Was there a problem with my response?

    I felt it would be trouble if I said anything more so I remained quiet continuing the journey.

    "System-san, make sure to keep looking out for any beasts near our vicinity" I muttered and System saluted me and went to do its work.

    Wouldn''t wanna be attacked by a beast on the way.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finally, after some more traveling, we arrived at our destination.

    It was a long and arduous journey, hiding ourselves whenever we found a beast approaching our direction, matching the pace with two slowpokes and stumbling here and there...

    Mypanions, in the name only, were totally tired.

    What about me? I already solidified a few potions (high umon grade) of mine and hid the tablets inside my mouth and of course, I consumed one of them along the way, I wasn''t feeling tired.

    Rewards from hidden dungeons are really the best.

    "How are you still okay!?" Elina asked while huffing, a bit of frustration evident in her voice, somewhere on the journey Elina had decided to take the role of a nagging aunt for me, which I of course, didn''t appreciate.

    "You guys are all old folks, aren''t ya? Age is catching up to you, that''s all" Elina tried to kick me but because of her exhaustion I easily avoided it and made her trip by disturbing her footing.

    "Ouch!" She fell on her butt "You shitty brat! Just wait until these chains are gone!" Elina shouted once again.

    She needs to study some stuff about blood pressure.

    "..So, where is the base, exactly?" Albert asked looking around the barrennd.

    Did this guy ever bother to listen to anything during the whole journey?

    "Ah, give me a minute," Elina said, as she stood up dusting off the dirt from her butt "You guys aren''t registered so you can''t enter, give me a second"

    Yes, this is one of the reasons I needed this Elf.

    I mean, the system is showing that the base is here but for fuck''s sake I can''t seem to find it.

    I can keep moving all day long and this illusion wouldn''t let me enter. It wasn''t simply illusion magic though some other ones are also imbued with it.

    Only those who are registered under the magic can pass through the illusion.

    And of course, the person who put this whole freaking magic in ce is also gonna be an important character.

    We followed Elina, in my eyes the whole ce looked barren but that wasn''t the case for Elina because the illusion didn''t work on her, to begin with.

    Soon after, she came to a stop.

    After few seconds, she came towards us and took a drop of our blood.

    Ouch.

    "Alright, it''s done"

    Just as she said those words, my whole vision changed.

 Chapter 18: The Council

    <h4>Chapter 18: The Council</h4>

    (Elina''s Pov)

    "Let''s go inside!" I said as I turned around with a smile on my face.

    We may be strangers who have met only recently but we have travelled all the way till here together, I have gotten to know them a lot more during our journey.

    Albert and Aria both showed an expression of relief, their shoulder''s rxing as their mutter entered my ears "A safe ce.." a small smile etched on their faces.

    I couldn''t help but feel happy for them, they have suffered a lot until this point. A safe ce like this will surely help them recover both physically and mentally.

    "You creepy bastards, stop smiling to yourself and move your asses"

    God, I hate this kid so much.

    The voice, of course, belonged to none other than Noah, he entered the teleportation gate without any dy.

    If this journey taught me something than it was the fact that not all kids are innocent or sweet. Noah is foul mouthed, his words contained no sugar coating, no respect and he is always acting as if he is our boss.. which is actually true and I had already expected him to be like this when I first met him.

    I also had to admit that if not for Noah then this journey would have been a lot more longer ..and dangerous.

    And the reason for that were these chains, our reduced strength and the stoppage of mana flow it would be hard to deal with beasts ...and if we encountered one who is strong then we would have been long dead.

    But that didn''t happen, all because of Noah''s mapping skill.

    Noah always warned us about the directions where beasts are, he told us about safe ces where we can rest without any worries, finding the food in the forest to eat.. and Noah''s methods were capable of killing beasts which served as a good food.

    And he also sometimes hunted strong beasts..

    He took their baby beast as a hostage lured the strong beast into a trap and killed it. He ambushed sleeping one''s... and sometimes used us as a bait...

    I did felt like I need to beat him sometimes, actually, lot of times but I had seen it.. hisbat prowess wasn''t something to scoff at, his acrobatic movements, his reflexes, battle senses, his footwork... honestly, they were monstrous.

    They were basic movements in reality but the precision and effectiveness that Noah performed them with made even those basic moves look deadly.

    That wasn''t all there was to it, though. Noah''s indifferent expression, his unconcerned eyes, his apathetic voice ..never once changed throughout the entire journey.

    He didn''t talk much with us, he asked some questions from time to time but that was all, he also barely answered our questions.

    Aria has only said a single thing about Noah...

    <i>A monster who could devour you at a moment''s whim</i>

    Aria is a beastfolk and beastfolk have incredible senses, their intuition is rarely wrong ..and so we did what adults do, suck it up and follow.

    Because with these chains, there was definitely no way we could defend ourselves against him.

    Though Noah has done nothing but help us out, so that''s a bad line of thought. If you put aside his attitude then ..he is a pretty nice kid.

    During the time I sprained my leg a little due to my carelessness he carried me, Albert and Aria tried to help but they were themselves in a weak state.

    He also gave me time to rest and wrapped my sprained leg with a wet cloth.

    We didn''t have any healing potions, so that was all we could do.

    All in all, Noah is pretty kind for someone who-

    <i>''The way you look at me makes me feel sick''</i>

    Those words came back to me, stopping me from thinking any further.

    Heaving out a sigh, I looked at Aria and Albert.

    "We should get going too" They both gave me a simple nod and we all entered the teleportation gate.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As I regained my vision again, I looked at the hallway that greeted me.

    "Elina? Is that you?"

    I looked toward the source of the voice, it was one of the guards. His duty, is, of course, to stand guard the teleportation gate.

    "Yeah, long time no see, Jack!" I replied, a smile forming on my face after seeing an acquaintance I know of.

    "Seriously, thought you were a goner! d to see you back, are these two also with you? Sorry, I know you wouldn''t enter a ve pact but I will have to check in case, that alright with you all?" Jack asked and we all gave a nod

    "Don''t be sorry, that''s the rule. You have to be cautious or else there''s no knowing what might happen." I said.

    Even your ally could turn into a traitor and that could risk everyone''s lives here.

    "Alright, pass through that door one by one"

    And I did exactly what Jack asked us to.

    I passed through the door, it scanned our bodies to see the ve pact mark, even if the mark was tried to be disfigured by injuring that part of the body, this tech could easily find it.

    nk~

    A metallic sound reached my ears and I looked at my hands and feet, the chains were broken. The mana that I wasn''t able to feel until now was easily essible to me.

    What?

    "Surprised? They added new features to it. It breaks the chains while checking for the ve mark. Saves time."

    Dwarfs doe up with good stuff, don''t they?

    "Also, it''s a green light for you. Good to know that you are still the same old Elina we all know."

    "Of course, I am!" I huffed.

    Feeling the mana and increase in my strengthing back to normal. I immediately looked for Noah but couldn''t find him.

    "Hey, Jack, where''s the ck-haired boy? Didn''t hee here"

    Sure, Noah entered the teleportation gate immediately and wegged a bit behind but it shouldn''t be enough for him to disappear into nowhere.

    "Rose took him with her, I don''t know the specifics since they talked among themselves, maybe washroom?"

    That reminds me I also had to go and visit a washroom myself. I have been holding back for a whole day.

    Albert and Aria also passed through the door as it lit the green light proving them to be safe.

    "Alright, that takes care of things. I already informed the council about your arrival, they will meet you all in about an hour, till then I will show you all the room to rest."

    The council room. Whenever new people arrive and those who brought them in, they need to visit the council room, they are the strongest bunch and the ones who are running the ce.

    Jack gestured down the hallway as he stood behind our group''s back.. he hadn''t changed one bit.

    Is my butt really that great?

    It felt a bit ufortable, more so, when I was in these rags.

    "Public morals be damned"

    I instantly recognized who the owner of this voice was, this tone devoid of any emotion is one I wouldn''t mistake any other for, it was Noah''s, I turned towards Noah, and standing behind him was Rose.

    ..

    He is wearing a grey colored hoodie and ck colored sweat pants, both a bit too big for his size.

    Wait, is that why he went with Rose!?

    He threw clothes in his hands towards us.

    I looked at the knee-length shirt and quickly wore it over my rags.

    This certainly feels better.

    This is one of the reasons why we all listened to Noah throughout our journey. He is a respectable jerk who knows what he is doing.

    "Now that everyone''s here, I will show you your room," Jack said as he led the way, his disappointment was visible, the shirt wasrger than my size, so it didn''t emphasize any part of my body or Aria''s for that matter.

    Jack isn''t a bad guy but ..he sure is one hell of a pervert.

    Shaking my head I looked towards Noah.

    Hm?

    Bending my knees a little I took a closer look at Noah, more urately, his neck.

    "..What are you doing?"

    "Are you wearing a ne? It wasn''t there when we traveled together.." I asked.

    "..How did you see the ne I am hiding underneath my hoodie?"

    "Yeah, you are hiding it underneath but not properly, I saw the silver bits in ..." I stopped myself before I speaking any further.

    Ah, I made a mistake.

    "Just how <i>closely</i> are you looking at me? ..A closet pervert?"

    "No! That''s not it!"

    Why did I do it again!?

    I was just scrutinizing him, why? I don''t know or maybe I know. I wanted to see how he will react towards us now.

    He is clearly the weakest, Aria and Albert are B+ And B ranked respectively.

    I wanted to see if Noah will keep the same tone and I ended up checking him out from top to bottom...

    I sound like a pervert.

    Noah ignoring my words, took some distance from me.

    Jack stopped in front of a metallic door.

    "You guys can all go in and wait, when it''s time I wille to get you" Jack spoke as he tried to take onest peek at my boobs before leaving us. I simply shook my head.

    We entered the room, a metallic rectangr table surrounded by 4 chairs. We all sat down in our seats.

    "Oh, here" Noah poked my cheeks with a vial.

    "Hm," I took the vial from his hands and looked at it.

    Is it a healing potion?

    "Where did you get it from?"

    "Rose gave it, it''s a low-level healing potion, should heal your sprain."

    "Did you ask her for this?"

    Noah, maybe my thoughts for you were a tad bit biased, you really are a good guy.

    "No, she just gave me potion for all of us saying it was their job to at least mend small injuries of ours that''s why I went away with her back then."

    Ah, that''s right. Now that I think about it, it is their job. Noah must have told them he came with us, so Rose took Noah with her to provide these clothes and potions, basic stuff needed for survivors.

    ..Does that mean, Noah didn''t go to find those clothes for us of his own ord? That''s sad to know.

    He gave out the potion to both Aria and Albert.

    Noah and I were sitting beside each other and Aria and Albert were opposite us.

    "What''s going to happen to us now?"

    Albert voiced out his concern.

    "Nothing, those guys will just ask a few questions to determine how to best make use of you."

    "Noah! You don''t have to make it sound like we are gonna get used!"

    "We are though."

    Alright, I better teach this kid some manners before we go to the council room.

    Before I could begin my sermon, Noah''s head fell on myp.

    What? That''s not something Noah-like...

    "Gotta rest, don''t disturb until it''s time"

    I didn''t retort, I knew he had been constantly working himself out without any sleep. The only time Noah hunted beasts was when we took a rest, not only that he also brought us food, and even during the time when we all slept Noah remained wide awake.

    <i>...Though I knew he didn''t do it out of a simple sense of kindness but caution.</i>

    But that still wouldn''t change the fact, we adults were nothing but a burden on him. Aria and Alberts''s physical condition, my sprained leg...

    It was shameful to admit but we got carried by a single kid.

    I gently stroked his head.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After about an hour passed I heard a knocking from the door as Jack entered the room.

    "It''s time to visit the council and I will be escorting you all"

    I nudged Noah a little to wake him up.

    "About time." Noah instantly stood up stretching his hands up in the air.

    "Are you a light sleeper or something?"

    "I never slept, I said I was gonna rest and I simply did that."

    ...I thought he was definitely sleeping but Noah really doesn''t look like someone who was sleeping moments prior.

    "You should have slept a little"

    "I will, once I am done with this mess."

    I simply gave Noah a nod and afterward, we all followed Jack to the council room.

    "I will be waiting for you all outside here, good luck!"

    Jack said showing us a thumbs up. Right now, we are standing in front of a door, the door beyond whichys the members of the council.

    "Aria, Albert. Wait here" Noah tilted his head as he looked at both of them.

    What''s this unreasonable demand all of a sudden?

    "No, you all have to go inside the room," Jack said scrunching his face but Noahpletely ignored him only looking at Aria and Albert.

    "...Alright" Aria was the one to agree as she backed off and stood with her back against the wall, Albert followed her suit.

    The fact that Aria yielded to Noah even now that the chains were off meant she still thinks of Noah as someone who could overpower her.

    ...Though, that''s not possible since Noah is just a G+ ranker.

    "Wait, no. You all need to go in!" Jack said but Aria and Albert stayed the same.

    Ah, I am not gonna even bother. I will let those council guys deal with it.

    Let''s just watch how it will go.

    Noah opened the door of the room as he entered and I followed him ..or that is what I was gonna do until Aria grabbed my wrist as she whispered in my ear, her voice containing fear.

    <i>"...Be careful, he is about to let loose."</i>

 Chapter 19: Incomprehensible Actions

    <h4>Chapter 19: Iprehensible Actions</h4>

    (Elina''s Pov)

    Entering the room along with Noah and Jack, I looked in front of me.

    7 people sat behind the semi-circr desk, behind them arge painting hung on the wall.

    I looked at the person sitting at the center.

    His name is Orson. His red fiery eyes looked straight at us, his long red hair tied in a ponytail. He is SS+ rank, a human, and the person with the highest authority.

    "Oh my..."

    The Elf sitting beside him let out a voice, her mouth agape.

    She gave Noah a subtle nce.

    <i>..She must be seeing it. The pitch-ck miasma that surrounds Noah.</i>

    <i>We Elves, well some of us, have special eyes, by willing mana in them we can see the type of air that people are surrounded in.</i>

    I too was just as surprised at first when I saw the air that surrounded Noah, no, it was more akin to shock.

    Noah kept his gaze on Orson. I am sure he noticed her gaze but he must have decided to ignore it.

    "I have brought the survivors!" Jack said with his back straightened.

    "I was told there will be 4 peopleing?" Orson asked with his left eyebrow arching.

    "Um... the rest are standing outside.." Jack replied meekly.

    How about you chin up a little? You aren''t even at fault. I shook my head a little as I looked to my right.

    Well, Noah, go and give us the reason. I am also curious why he stopped them froming in.

    "..And what might be the reason for that?" Asked E, the elf who had first looked at Noah.

    "I didn''t want them here, so I told them to wait outside." Noah spoke looking directly at Orson, ignoring E as he continued "Since you asked a question, I also have a question, just how much free time do you bastards have?"

    ...Noah!? What the hell!?

    This kid!

    "...What?" Orson asked, surprise visible on his face, not only him but others in the room also looked at Noah with their eyebrows arching.

    "I mean, let''s be honest, you guys have got 7 people sitting in this room. For what? To see how useful new survivors that came will be? Every time someonees you will hold this meeting, sounds like you have a lot of time on your hands or am I wrong?"

    Oh.. that sounds like a reasonable question for someone who doesn''t know how things work here.

    "We don''t hold a meeting for every survivor whoes here, it''s only for those who havee from a food farm or a prison of demons like you," Orson said in a curt voice as he continued with a sharp re "You should watch your tongue"

    "Still sounds inefficient. Well, what I can say? I guess, it''s a universalw, people be dumb in apocalyptical settings."

    "A sharp tongue, huh."

    Noah stop already! Everyone is ring daggers at us!

    ...Why am I getting red at!?

    "You.."

    "I mean, if not dumb then why else will you give a guy who is working for demons such a high position among yourselves?"

    ...Wait, what?

    Not only me but everyone in the room focused on Noah, the council members had aplicated expression.

    Before I could make heads or tails of what Noah said, Noah spun into action, rushing towards one of the members behind the desk.

    It was another human, named Edward. An SS-ranker, his age 58, younger than Orson.

    Bang!

    Noah kicked at the table causing it to break in the next instant which caused the splinters to scatter.

    <i>''He is trying to block his vision''</i>

    Noah threw his hand towards Edward''s neck.

    <i>''But even if he manages tond a hit, it wouldn''t mean much. Edward is SS-rank, after all. Well, it might hurt if Edward hasn''t used manapping.''</i>

    ..!?

    Just as Noah''s punch was about to hit Edward, a sharp bone appeared in Noah''s hand. It was the same one with which Noah used to hunt down the beasts!

    Sensing the danger, Edward pulled himself backward at thest moment. Noah followed up with another one of his attacks.

    Okay, calm down.

    First things first, Noah should be a G+ranker. Even with those skills that Noah is showing right now, the gap between Edward and Noah isrge, overwhelminglyrge.

    That''s why, no matter what, Noah looks like a child trying to beat an adult.

    Honestly, Noah''s movements are fast, precise, and deadly but in the end, the rank gap between Edward and Noah is huge.

    Edward dodged Noah''s attack and sometimes deflected... it was proof that Noah''s skills were exceptional enough to force an SS-ranker in a situation where they couldn''t dodge.

    Everyone in the room simply watched it happen, without a single worry, one of them even had an amused grin on his face.

    "This brat isn''t half-bad.." Oliver said with excitement clear in his voice, an SS ranker, his age around 80, clearly older than Orson. I am sure, he is interested in Noah after seeing hisbat skills.

    It might have started with Noahunching an attack but this is already beyond his control, right now, Noah''s skills were being gauged out by everyone in this room, well especially the council members.

    This is how much trust everyone has in Edward.. or more urately they don''t think there''s a need to worry with Noah''s current rank.

    As for me? I have a really bad feeling.

    Noah is supposed to be a G+ ranker, that''s what he told me!

    But his movements are way faster than a G+ ranker! He is clearly around D rank or maybe D- rank, I am not sure since for an S- ranker like me, both sound simrly weak but ...that''s not the point.

    Did Noah lie to me?

    I also couldn''t wrap my head around why Noah was doing it.

    Why is he acting so brashly? Did Aria mean this? What the hell''s driving Noah? He said something about a traitor and then started attacking Edward... but that''s impossible, right?

    Edward has been one of the founders of this ce. He, along with others created this very ce for everyone to stay safe.

    The fight between Edward and Noah continued, or more like Noah kept trying to hit Edward but it didn''t seem effective.

    Noah''s skills were on full disy and everyone calmly watched him and analyzed him.

    After about 10 minutes passed, Noah stopped as he pulled himself away from Edward.

    "..Hot mess, SS-rankers are sure a pain in the ass, how about you just let me kill you?" Noah said while he huffed for air, his chest moving up and down at a fast pace.

    "Tired already?" Edward asked in a leisurely tone with not even a sweat.

    "Not everyone''s a monster, bastard... haa" Noah said pulling himself back.

    "After attacking me like that you are just gonna back out? That''s disappointing. As a victim, I think I deserve somepensation, right?" Edward said with a carefree smile on his face as he continued "Besides, I am sure you need to get some discipline, having such a tone with your elders, making a ruckus in this room. Who do you think you are?" Anger evident in his voice, Edward cracked his fingers.

    Ah, shit. Noah ain''t gonna make it out of it without any injuries.

    "I-I apologize on behalf of Noah! Please don''t hurt him!" I said while bowing my head whatever I thought at the moment, I just didn''t want Noah to get any injuries.

    "...For an Elf to be bowing down to a ''Human'' like me... Seems like, he is important to you, huh, Elina" Edward''s voice reached my ears and so did the gasps of some of the members of the council.

    It was reasonable, I am older than all of them except for E and the vampire sitting in this room. We Elves are also known to be prideful, so it makes sense why it woulde as a surprise to everyone here.

    But I didn''t want Noah to get hurt, if bowing meant I could do it, then so be it. At the end of it all, he is my benefactor and also... <i>someone I don''t want to be hurt anymore.</i>

    "...I am kinda confused, so, can you exin what are you doing" Noah asked as he came walking towards me.

    I am the one who needs an exnation, Noah!

    "What the hell are you doing!?" I asked shaking Noah''s shoulders unable to contain my emotions.

    "Hey, calm down. I was just trying to kill him since he is a danger and all. You know, as they say, nip it in the bud. Though, the bastard''s too strong. He is even condescending at that. I guess, the rank gap is just too big." Noah said in a way that seemed to say, <i>''isn''t it obvious?'',</i> as he continued "... <i>But</i> what are you doing? Don''t just act like you are my guardian and I am your responsibility, that''s straight-up creepy."

    Gosh, I hate this kid.

    Well, his attitude in particr.

    "If you are done with this charade, will you exin yourself, if you can''t give a reasonable exnation we might have to take necessary action," Elisa said in a curt voice, she is a beastfolk, 60 years old and SS- ranker.

    "Did you trade your brain for your rank or something? He is the traitor, so I attacked him which ended up being futile ..not really"

    Again, silence.

    Noah, it''s seriously starting to be annoying. Stop being with half exnations!

    "Okay, fine. Let''s say, I am the traitor, do you have any evidence" Edward asked letting out a sigh.

    "When did people start needing evidence to kill?"

    "So, you don''t have any evidence and yet you attacked me. What the hell is wrong with you?" Edward said, his face scrunched as he continued "You know what? Yourbat skills are excellent, so you will be useful. I suggest we put those ''restriction chains'' on him so that he can''t harm anyone with his impulsive acts and give the key to Elina to unlock it if the need arises, of course, as long as it''s okay with you, Elina."

    "If I were you I would be worrying about myself rather than trying to pass judgment. I mean, it''s almost time"

    Just as Noah said those words, a sound reached my ears.

    Thud!

    "What th-!"

    Edward suddenly fell on his knees.

    "Hey! What''s wrong!"

    Quickly moving to his side, Oliver checked over Edward.

    "What did you do!?" Elisa shouted, panic visible on her face as she closed the distance between herself and Noah in a single instant as she inhibited him.

    "Seems like you just woke up? What did I do? I have been trying to kill him since earlier, dumbass, and get off of me" Noah said as he tried to get out of Elisa''s grasp but failed to do so.

    "Noah, for just a single second, can you bother to exin? Just this once." I asked trying to contain my confusion as well as my panic and anger.

    "I will, if you promise to answer one of my questionster. A personal question."

    "I understand."

    I already have an inkling of what Noah wants to know, <i>he isn''t someone who wouldn''t notice another''s gaze, even if only for a moment no matter how subtle.</i>

    "That guy burned down the whole vige of mine. So I am gonna kill him. That''s all. Oh, did I forget to mention he offered the people in the vige as food to the demon, the same one your brother''s been working for?"

    ...What?

    I looked at Noah, I didn''t know what my expression looked like but...

    That exins some parts of the pitch-ck air that surrounds Noah although notpletely...

    And the reason he was in that prison.

    <i>Was he trying to kill the demon as well? No, maybe like us, he was just scouting the area and got caught?</i>

    "...Are you sure?"

    "I wouldn''t havee here otherwise." There was no anger, no sorrow, no grief, no determination, none, no emotion to be found in his voice, which felt weird for someone trying to enact revenge.

    I couldn''t help but question myself and my current circumstances. I wanted to believe Noah but.. he has already lied to me about being a G+ ranker, which wasn''t a surprise. I had known that Noah wouldn''t reveal about himself to me that easily from the beginning.

    Ah, the current situation is such a mess.

    "Jack, Elina, leave the room and don''t tell anyone about what happened here" Orson finally broke the silence.

    I couldn''t help but frown.

    What? Why is he suddenly asking that?

    "Elina''s gonna be here till the end, I would have asked her to stay behind if that was my intention, idiot"

    "You are not the one who runs things here"

    "I am the one who can destroy everything here"

    "You can''t"

    "Wanna see?"

    Noah- lying on the ground restrained by Elisa, and Orson both red at each other.

    "!?"

    I tried to keep myself from falling on my knees as the fear crept into my heart.

    Orson what the hell are you doing!?

    The SS+ ranker''s mana pressure alone was enough to cause everyone in the room to choke through sheer fear, even Elisa who beside me restrained Noah was fazed by it, and as if taking the opportunity Noah broke himself free off Elisa.

    Noah locked his eyes with Orson as he opened his mouth "Hm? Why are you all kneeling all of a sudden? Some kind of ritual?"

    H-how?

    How is Noah able to act normal? Mana pressure, it''s a way to suppress your enemy by instilling them with <i>sheer fear</i>, the weaker the person, the more fear will be instilled in them.

    How is Noah able to .. !

    I remembered the pitch-ck miasma that surrounded Noah... it must be rted to it.

    Thinking that I couldn''t help but bite my lip.

    !?

    Suddenly, Orson increased the pressure but Noah remained the same looking at Orson with no change in his expression.

    "O-Orson, stop! Think about Edward!" Elisa shouted and in the next instant, the fear that gripped me to my core disappeared. Elisa''s shout brought Orson back to his senses as he looked at Edward whose condition seemed to have gotten a bit worse, his face a bit more paler.

    I huffed for air trying to regain myposure.

    "Shit, no choice"

    Oliver got back up on his feet like everyone else pulled out a high-rank healing potion and brought it towards Edward''s mouth.

    After a few moments passed, Edward''s face started regaining its color.

    "Jack, leave."

    Two words, with those two words that came out of Orson''s mouth and the bitterness in them, it was clear that he had conceded to Noah.

    "..U-Uh! I-I understand!" After a momentary dy, Jack responded his pale face showing clear fear, his foot still wobblily, he seemed to be the one affected by Orson''s sudden SS+rank pressure the most, as he quickly left the room.

    "So.. you are from that vige, that exins a lot," Edward said slowly trying to stand back up with the help of Oliver.

    <i>Wait... that vige?</i>

    His words clearly implied that Noah wasn''t acting without reason, a clear unpleasant feeling started to boil within me, I didn''t know why but I prepared myself to listen to whatever was about to go down.

    I remembered the words Aria had told me as I looked at Noah, clearly standing unaffected.

 Chapter 20: Double Agent

    <h4>Chapter 20: Double Agent</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    "So.. you are from that vige, that exins a lot"

    You couldn''t be more wrong. I am a city guy. Well, I am roleying the character of the <i>''sole survivor of the vige you destroyed''</i>, so I guess, I won''t be correcting you.

    What? Why am I roleying?

    Well, I gotta have some back story, I also need to kill this guy since he, in the future will give the location of this ce to the demon and the demon will, with his beast army attack causing lots of blood to be spilled.

    Of course, this demon is the same one who has Elina''s brother on his leash, so yeah Elina''s brother will also be attacking us. The protag team with everyone else in the future of course seeds in killing the demon and beasts but lots of people will die.

    Now, initially, my thoughts were to let it happen, I mean I get to kill lots of higher ranked than me, which will make me level up faster but.. I can''t let these people die so effortlessly, you know I gotta save the world too, it would be easier if things were not chaotic, for now.

    Hence, my actions thus far. I have tried to kill him and as you would expect, I couldn''t kill him but that doesn''t matter I achieved what I wanted to.

    "Agh"

    Edward grunted as he stood up, recovering from the poison.

    That''s right. I poisoned him. How did I get the poison? I simply killed one of the beasts known for its poison beforeing here and extracted the poison from it. It''s a lethal one at that.

    The rest of the work was simple, I put the poison on a small piece of sharp bone that I sessfully attacked Edward with, without him realizing, the splinters of the table shouldn''t have been dismissed.

    And what do you know? SS-rankers can be poisoned.

    In other words, they can be killed. The question is, will I get the EXP for killing someone by poison? By indirect methods? I don''t know ..but I will find that out someday.

    For now, what''s important is that I can kill the SS-ranker through <i>assassination tricks.</i>

    Not only that, but it also means, that, unlike monsters of dungeons who have tough skin that can''t be pierced with a weak weapon if their level is high, humans, beasts, and other species are different. Their skin can be pierced by even a sharp but weak weapon.

    Of course, certain conditions are attached but it works.

    "First, let me apologize. You are right, in the past I did destroy the lives of many people and helped the demon and yes, I worked with the demon Elina''s brother is working with."

    Um.. What''s with this sudden confession? When did I ever ask it?

    I could hear the gasp of Elina, an insistent self-proimed guardian of mine.

    Hm? I noticedte, but what''s with the past tense? Who are you fooling, dude?

    ...

    I know this drill!

    I-I am gonna do some fortune-telling, now he is gonna say he isn''t with th-

    "I am not working with him anymore, or more urately, I am working for him but deceiving him"

    Don''t interrupt me in the middle!

    Tch, so, it''s a good old double agent.

    "I know, the lives I have destroyed won''te back even if I apologize, no matter what I do I could never bring them back to living," Edward said with his quivering voice.

    No buddy, what''s with the regret in your voice? You don''t kill if you are gonna regret it. I gotta say, this guy got like, no resolve at all.

    But hey, I am not here to listen to your regrets. Keep your sob self-reflection to yourself I wanna know important bits, so like.. what I am trying to say is, where''s the damn skip button?

    "I don''t expect for you to forgive me, even so, please let me apologize," Edward said as he bowed his head towards me.

    Man, didn''t you just say it''s pointless to apologize yourself?

    Make your damn mind.

    "..Does everyone in here know about it?" Elina asked looking around at each one of the council members.

    Duh, you dumb elf.

    The moment Edward opened his mouth it was clear that everyone in this room knew about it but... this wasn''t in the novel, Edward clearly betrayed everyone.

    So.. what in the good name of hell is going on?

    Taking their silence as an answer, Elina closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath as she reopened her eyes focusing on Edward.

    Dramatic as hell today, aren''t we?

    "You said, you have been working for the demon and now you are deceiving him? If you can deceive him then that would mean you <i>don''t have a ve mark on you, how?</i>" Elina asked her voice firm.

    Very dumb, this elf is.

    Ahem ahem.

    "As I said, I worked for the demon. Back then, I truly believed that it was impossible to win against them and that it was better to give in. So, I went to him, to work with him. I was ready to enter the ve pact with him but instead he ...took my wife and my kids as insurance instead. Afterward, I worked for him, bringing him new people, enving them.." With a weary voice, Edward continued "Then one day, he asked me to create a ce, a shelter, for any survivors, for people who wish to rebel, for people who are looking for hiding and to grow this ce until ..one day he wille for everyone here, that''s when I understood why he didn''t enter in a ve pact with me."

    By cing everyone, from those who want to rebel to those survivors who are simply hiding, the demon managed to bring the problem of finding them to an end. Now, they areing to him.

    Basically, this is a farm in disguise.

    And of course, the ve mark would have been a pain so taking hostage instead is a better solution, gotta say, that demon isn''t dumb, it''s a decent n.

    "..But that''s his biggest mistake because I can rebel against him"

    What about hostages? This whole thing isn''t in the novel, so I am kinda lost.

    On a side note, it''s a sad thing that I don''t have popcorn to eat.

    "What about your family?" Elina asked hesitantly.

    "They are ..dead, he ate them."

    Hm? Information source? Must be the brother, right?

    "I learned about it from your brother one day in secret, since then I have been thinking about how to kill him"

    Yeah, you can''t.

    It''s not about only being a high ranker. It might be possible to fight against the demon but there''s also one thing you need to take note of, its life span.

    Demons live for 1000 years.

    Now let me ask, on one hand, you have a guy who is macho on the other you have a guy who knows martial arts and has decent strength, who is gonna win?

    The macho guy is getting his ass kicked.

    Even if that demon were to fight someone on the same level as him, the sheer experience would give him a huge advantage.

    Back on topic, we have a guy who got deceived.

    "Edward confessed to us and we all decided to use it to our advantage. Of course, you might think he could simply deceive us but we have entered a <i>Mana Covenant</i> with him" Elisa said, a hag who doesn''t look like a hag because of the difference in life span.

    <i>Mana covenant?</i> Make sense.

    You see, a mana covenant is simr to a ve pact except you don''t be some sort of absolute ve to the other party with it.

    Basically, it''s like a contract, this is how elves back in the day made people their ves, it''s a damn magic contract and Elves are good with magic, they scammed people hard.

    If you break the ve pact you lose your life, if you break the mana covenant you lose half of your lifespan.

    "How did my brother tell you about it, the ve pact wouldn''t let any harme to the master. They are absolute"

    Yes, ve pacts are extreme, too extreme even, well, they can''t be made one-sidedly. So, I guess, fair enough.

    "He didn''t, not by normal means. Every time I visited a prison there I would see a letter carved on the corpses and then... " Edward didn''t say anymore.

    "How are you going to use him for anything?" I asked, finally entering the conversation and taking back my spotlight.

    How the hell is he gonna be of use?

    "We can''t answer that for you, not yet," Elisa said standing behind me, her eyes looking at me withplicated emotions as if wondering how she should treat me.

    I see.

    No need to answer. I already know it.

    Well, shit.

    I knew already. I knew that trusting the novel wouldn''t be the right thing to do, using it as a reference is one thing but I shouldn''t trust itpletely, after all, the novel was written from the protagonist''s point of view, it was his thoughts, his interpretations.

    There''s no guarantee he didn''t interpret things wrong. Sometimes, even if you used the wrong method you can still reach the right answer.

    2+2=4

    Also, 2+2/2+1=4

    Got that?

    I went to the hidden dungeon, and put my life on the line. This point should be clear to me, and yet here I am, trusting the novel.

    I looked at each one of them, their eyes in particr, there''s a saying that eyes tell a lot about other people... and I am good at reading them.

    Alright. I am leaving, these guys can go and suck each other off for all I care.

    "I am leaving"

    Before anyone could speak anymore or start their bullshit story, I turned my back and started walking away.

    Lord knows!

    I tried, I tried to save their asses but they are far too gone already.

    Their situation is simr to the sunk cost facy, not really, but that stubborn part sure is.

    Just as I was about to reach the door, the door was frozen.

    I looked back, at the vampire.

    Yes, a vampire is in the council. Look, they might not care about their tribe and all but individually they do care about themselves.

    In this world, the domination of demons is at an all-time high, and no one wants to be food or ve of someone else, so yeah, we have a vampire cooperating.

    "What?"

    I am a busy guy, so make it fast, vampy.

    "Did you really think you can leave from here that easily? We have some questions of our own, how about you answer them for us."

    Fair enough. I came here, attacked their member, and learned about some confidential stuff, duh, you aren''t letting me go.

    "Elina, you were sent along with Edda but you were captured. Am I right?" Vampy asked.

    "Yes, Edda and I were spotted, so I used myself as bait and helped Edda get away but why are you asking me this? I am sure Edda already told you what happened."

    "You are right, she told us about what happened <i>10 hours ago</i>. Do you understand what that means? You are here in front of us already, how did youe back so early even with those restrictive chains? I am guessing it''s something to do with that boy over there" Vampy asked with a smirk on her face.

    Why the hell are you smirking?

    "...That is correct."

    Elina? Why are you answering while hesitating? Are you feeling ashamed of admitting your ass was saved by a kid?

    I didn''t expect that from you. Give me my credit in full.

    "How?"

    "T-that.."

    Hm?

    Ah.

    So, that''s why? Dumb Elf, I don''t care what you tell about me to others ''coz I will never show you anything about me that I don''t want anyone to know about to begin with.

    Basically, I don''t care.

    "I have a mapping skill, let''s me see the surrounding area. We avoided running into any hostile beings thanks to me, my skill I mean."

    "Oh? Really?" Vampy asked, surprised.

    "Nah, just kidding."

    You don''t believe me the first time? Don''t, no one cares.

    "Brat.."

    Gritting her teeth, Elisa looked at me, she sure is pissed at me, isn''t she? Why?

    "Hahahaha! So, you have a mapping skill, got it. That skill will surely be useful"

    Yeah, it''s useful to me and it''s exclusive to me.

    So, any other questions?

    "..What did you do to Edward earlier?" Elisa asked anger evident in her eyes.

    Oh! So that''s why!

    Do you love him? Guy got a damn wife and kids! You homewrecker, stay away!

    ..or maybe anger on behalf of a friend?

    It''s hard to guess, well...

    "I used poison I extracted from one of the beasts I encountered beforeing here"

    "You were able to kill a beast with such a potent poison while you had those restrictive chains on you?" Elisa''s baffled voice reached my ears.

    "That''s what you are surprised about? I damn poisoned an SS-ranker just moments agody." I shook my head.

    Elisa''s eyes scrunched, taken aback by my response.

    "Well, that was definitely on Edward for letting his guard down," Oliver said stretching his hand up in the air.

    "So, what are we gonna do with this kid? Orson?"

    Like you can do anything to begin with.

    "<i>���� �ܧ֧ݧ֧�֧ܧ�� �ҧڧ٧ԧ� ��ѧۧէѧݧ�� �ҧ�ݧ��� ��֧ܧ�ڧ�, �ѧߧէ��ܧ�ѧ� �ѧߧ� ��֧�ܧ� �ܧѧԧ�� �ѧܧ��ݧ���٧է��� �ҧ�ݧ�� (He is undoubtedly going to be useful for us in the future, so discarding him would be foolish)</i>." Edison, the dwarf spoke.

    It seems like he can''t speak humannguage, humannguage is a global one both in this hidden dungeon world and the one outside.

    Why you ask? Well, ours is thergest poption.

    But that still doesn''t mean, everyone knows how to speak it.

    Edison spoke in the dwarvennguage, which must have been interpreted in their ownnguage for all the council members.

    Why? They are wearing earbuds which helps trante thenguage for them.

    As for Elina, she looked confused, she didn''t know what he meant on the other hand, I knew full well what he said.

    Try discarding me and you will see what hell is like.

    It wasn''t like I had no way to kill these guys, I could theoretically and practically kill 3 people here and get away with it.

    "For now, I think it would be better to enter Mana covenant with them to make sure no information gets out of this room" E, the elf who had given me lots of subtle looks during the whole meeting spoke.

    My charm is just too irresistible.

    "I concur!" Vampy said.

    Hm? I knew this would happen, now''s the time for you to shine, Elina!

    "Elina will be the one to create the contract if not then I am not entering it"

    Elina, is dumb, naive, kind ..totally the type of person you can use at times like this.

    Basically, she is my ticket to not get scammed!

    It''s only been around 19 days since I entered the new world! I can understand theories and the gist of how things work but actual applications? Yeah, no. I am gonna get scammed hard.

    That''s why I brought Elina, I knew this would happen. That''s why I brought her here and made her stay till the end after I verified her nature was the same as in the novel.

    "I am okay with anyone creating the covenant, so I don''t mind" Oliver answered.

    And following on his queue, everyone else also agreed on it.

    "...I will prepare the covenant." Elina said, her voice a bit tired. Must be a lot for her to take in.

    Soon after, Elina began to enchant a spell, as a magical circle with lots of inscription on it appeared in the center of us all.

    Everyone stretched their hands out, touching the magic circle, the moment my hand touched the magic circle I felt my mana being drained at a rapid pace and after few seconds, the magic circle glowed blue and broke into pieces signifying that it wasplete.

 Chapter 21: No Rank Up?

    <h4>Chapter 21: No Rank Up?</h4>

    After we were done with the mana covenant and talking a little more about how we got back to the shelter (Elina did the most talk) we were finally exempted. Elina and I were assigned our rooms.

    We both had the same one. Why? ''coz Elina got the duty of watching over me so that I don''t make some sort of mess in this base ..or you can call it shelter.

    That''s right.

    They decided to put a watchkeeper on me, or a guardian for a better word, which I, of course, didn''t like. I want my own room, but oh well, gotta act like a mature person.

    Once we were done, Aria and Albert, went inside the council room for ..interrogation purposes. They will be asked for their backstory, their names, and what not. To verify the contents of the story, they will use something like truth and lie detector.

    I had managed to avoid the whole thing by attacking Edward right after entering the council, which made it really look like I was someone whose vige really was destroyed by him and afterward, they simply assumed my story ording to their own imagination.

    People assume things however it suits them.

    In the novel, the protagonist and his team had a hard time when they were questioned. It''s easy to guess why, they came into this world out of nowhere, they didn''t have a solid backstory, which resulted in them having to go through a tight scrutiny, they were also made to wear restrictive chains all the time, poor fes.

    I won''t have to go through all that shit, well, I got Elina to watch over me but eh, it''s better than what they had to go through.

    Entering the room, I directly went towards the bunk bed and sprawled over the lower one.

    <i>''Ah, feels nice''</i>

    "I will be going to take a bath" Saying so, Elina left, her expression was kinda crestfallen which I ignored.

    Anyway, what am I supposed to do with that info?

    If you are worried I might enter then just lock the door. I am not dumb enough to not know the meaning of a locked door.

    Really, people are such weird creatures. Why do they feel the need to speak for no reason whatsoever?

    Still, sprawled on the bed, I slowly let go of the mana that I had ovepped with my brain for brain tempering.

    And so, I slowly started to feel the pain all over my body.

    Why is it happening? Well, I did the same shit I did when fighting the minotaur, that is, try to increase my rank temporarily.

    Though there''s a difference, I wasn''t putting my life on the line and my body was in its peak condition this time.

    <i>''Ouch..''</i>

    I tried to move and it hurt a lot.

    It was like having cramps all over my body and a painful headache, I bit down on the tablet hidden inside my mouth, and in the next instant, the pain vanished.

    <i>''Seriously, instant heal is the bes-''</i>

    Wait, what?

    I could feel my fatigue, my cramps gone but there still remained a slight throbbing in my head.

    ... It''s supposed to get me back in shape in an instant.

    So why?

    What''s the reason?

    I took another bit of the tablet inside my mouth. I had four hidden, 3 being ''high umon'' and 1 being low epic, well now it''s down to one for both of them.

    ..

    Damn it!

    I can still feel my head throbbing, a slight headache.

    Why...

    I get that I am bad at controlling mana since I never really did this shit in life and it''s been only 19 days since I came to this world but still, no matter how much damage I incur, the potion should be enough to heal me back up in an instant, that''s why I asked for it as a reward.

    I will have to figure it out or just ask Light Blue why the healing potion isn''t working properly after I am done with this ce.

    This is a concerning matter except I can''t do anything about it.

    Let''s focus on another thing. It''s just a slight headache, it will disappear over time.

    "System-san? You recorded my stats when I was fighting with Edward, right? Show them to me." I said as I dematerialized the ne hidden beneath my hoodie, by putting it back in my inventory.

    It was now time to look at how much my rank increases every time I do this stuff.

    =======================================================

    Name: Noah

    Rank: G+

    Strength: G+

    Stamina: G+

    Agility: G+

    Perception: G+

    Mana proficiency: F+

    Luck: B-

    Intelligence: B+

    Charm: B+

    (Do you wish to rank up? Choose Y/N)

    =========================================================

    [Your status window when you were fighting that guy]

    ...

    Are you fu*king with me?

    "So, my rank didn''t increase or anything"

    [How could rank increase when you haven''t chosen the yes option?"

    "You mean, rank only increases permanently?"

    [Yes]

    Damn, the system lies as easily as it breathes. I knew it! The absolute master thing was a crap!

    I know the protagonist''s rank increases in the novel temporarily!

    Okay, I get it. He has a skill for it but still!

    I clearly know I was faster and way stronger when I was fighting Edward than usual.

    Damn it! If my rank doesn''t increase then does that mean I was wrong?

    I had been thinking that maybe skills are just cheap imitations of what can actually be done with your own abilities.

    How did Ie to this conclusion? Well with the help of brain tempering, I can remove all the pain which works as a pain resistance skill, and all that, you get the gist of things.

    It doesn''t make sense, I definitely was stronger back there when I fought Edward, or is it because I am messing with my brain and feeling mana which I never did in life-making me feel like- I did something great when in reality nothing really happened?

    Am I analyzing things wrong?

    click~

    "If you wanna take a bath, go ahead"

    Old hag, I am in serious deep thoughts right now. Don''t disturb me!

    And for the sake of morality don''t juste out of the bath with nothing but a towel. I mean, I get it, the main parts are all covered but still!

    Oh, wait...

    "Hey, so like, when I fought against Edward what do you think my rank was?"

    "Hm?" Elina tilted her head towards me, her left eyebrow arching and then she looked back at the wardrobe for clothes.

    What? Did I just get ignored?

    The hell?

    T-The audacity!

    "Hey, I asked something."

    "When did a newborn baby frailing his hands against someone start to be termed as a fight?" Elina asked taking out the clothes from the wardrobe and started wearing them by removing her towel, so she was wearing her undergarments.

    Anyways, the nerves of this hag!

    "Yeah, you are right. A newborn baby frailing his hands against someone and poisoning them can''t be termed as a ''fight'', can it?"

    "Huh~" Elina sighed, done with clothing herself up as she walked towards the kitchen, by the way, this room is one of the special rooms, with bathing, kitchen, and all necessary stuff. Edward decided to give one to me.

    Why? Well, you know, the guilty feeling makes you do favor towards the person you are guilty to, that kinda thing.

    Normally, people sleep and live in a huge damn hall, there''s a designated time for having breakfast, lunch, and dinner, if you miss the timing, you won''t get anything. There''s only a single bath to use for everyone, there''s a time designated for women and men, of course.

    And as you can expect, I was aiming to get this room from the beginning. It was clear it would happen, except I didn''t think I had to get it from Edward because he felt guilty but because I helped the rest of the council members by revealing a traitor in their ranks.

    I shook my head a little ''Novel info be damned..''

    I looked at Elina''s back moving in the kitchen making who knows what.

    So this is it, huh?

    Until now, she had been pretty much listening to everything I said but now that she doesn''t have any restrictive chains or any need for me, she is acting like this.

    People really do change in an instant.

    "Hey, are you gonna give me an answer or not?"

    "You are annoying, shut it and you are smelling, go take a bath already."

    Damn.

    You know what? Fuck you.

    Okay, it seems like my rank doesn''t increase. Numbers are in front of me, what else do I need as confirmation?

    I stood up and went to take a bath.

    Just so you know I am not doing it because I don''t wanna anger an S- ranker in this room. Moments ago, I already picked a fight with SS rankers out there!

    It''s just, I have always been nning on taking a bath.

    The baths are good.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I came out of the bath and I saw, an array of dishes lined up along the table.

    Hot damn is this Elf really gonna eat this much...

    Scary, scary.

    During the trip, she hadn''t eaten this much but that must be because of our situation, I guess.

    Ruffling my wet hair with the towel, I threw myself on the bed.

    I am still wondering what''s going on, the things I learned from talking to council members, the thing about my rank, and of course, the slight headache I have even after taking the potion tablets.

    "Why are you lying on the bed? Aren''t you gonna eat?"

    Hm? What?

    That''s for me...

    Why? I didn''t ask for it, she also doesn''t have any obligation to make any for me.

    I mean, no, I know her character, but wasn''t she just ignoring me moments ago?

    Slowly, I stood up and made my way towards the table.

    Sat on the chair, opposite to me Elina took her chopsticks and began eating.

    I just followed the suit.

    Putting the piece of meat-which belongs to who knows who- in my mouth, I began to eat.

    It''s been quite some time since I ate any homemade cooking since my mom and dad have been busy with work.

    I always had to order a takeaway.

    But still, it felt weird.

    It felt he weird.

    Look, I don''t mind silence but the one we currently have, I definitely mind it!

    I don''t know how to exin it but it felt stifling. I wanted to say something but I am not wearing my ne, right now.

    I could be dead before I even know it. I don''t wanna take chances.

    It''s true that I can dematerialize (putting it into inventory) it as long as I am touching it but when I materialize it (pulling it out of inventory) it appears in the palm of my hand.

    And I have to ''wear'' the ne in order to use it but Elina here will snatch it from my hands before I can do anything.

    ...Maybe it was a bad idea to have dematerialized it in the first ce.

    I know, Elina won''t kill me but I don''t wanna take any chances.

    Trust is like a bitch, it''s meant to betray you at least once.

    Let''s not dampen the mood of this Elf until I wear my ne back.

    "What happened to you? I thought you would be passing some sort ofments?"

    "Don''t wanna rile up a S-ranker. I still want to live."

    "You really want me to believe in that crap after what you did in the council room?"

    Hm?

    I had a ne on which no one knew about, if I felt like I was gonna get captured or tortured I would have just used it or if they decided to insta kill me, my ne would have activated on its own.

    Basically, they can''t capture, torture, or kill me.

    But it''s different, right now.

    Shit, why did I take it off again!? Am I dumb!?

    ..No, I am not.

    Ahem ahem.

    I mean, look, lying on the bed with a ne doesn''t sound good. So, it''s not like I am dumb, okay. It''s just notfortable.

    What? Why didn''t I put the ne on when I was in the bath? ..Well, you see, the problem is, that''s an idea I wish I had thought of before!

    Why am I so slow!?

    "...Noah, why did you lie, earlier?" a soft, low voice reached my ears.

    What?

    What is she on about? When did I lie?

    I don''t lie! I simply hide the whole truth!

    "What do you mean?" I asked in a polite tone, as polite as I can be.

    "You said you were a G+ ranker but when you were fighting Edward, you seemed to be around D rank"

    ...

    I knew it! I knew it! My rank did incre-

    Wait whaaaaaaaaaat!???

    Around D rank!?

    "Mind saying what you just said again?"

    I need to c-calm down. Gotta confirm

    "I asked, why did you lie about being a G+ ranker?"

    No no no!

    Not that part!

    "What rank was I when I fought against Edward?" I asked

    "You are ignoring my question aga-"

    "Just answer."

    I know patience is important but patience-san, please piss off for now. I really am not in the mood.

    "...Around D rank"

    Standing up, I walked towards my bed and sprawled on it. I have no longer any appetite.

    "Noah?"

    Okay, let''s see...

    My rank increased but it didn''t increase at the same time.

    And it went up to D rank...

    My brain tempering.

    My slight headache hasn''t been cured yet.

    Also, the high stuff potion that was given to me by light blue as a ''personal reward'' after my fight against the minotaur.

    Are there any pieces that fit with each other?

    I gotta think.

    I closed my eyes trying to concentrate and fit any piece that seemed to fit together since mying to this world.

    ...

    Okay, so my slight headache that still remains, brain tempering, and the part of the light blue''s ''personal reward'' seems to be a fit.

    As for my rank, I am still not sure.

    Not enough. I don''t have enough information.

    Damn...

    Ah, whatever, all I can do is wait for more information to be avable but for now I think it would be better to not temper with my brain unless it''s absolutely necessary.

 Chapter 22: The Approaching Battle

    <h4>Chapter 22: The Approaching Battle</h4>

    Still lying on the bed, I thought about all the information that I remember from the novel and the things that have happened till this point.

    Having to deal with stuff I don''t know anything about is gonna be such a pain.

    Thump!

    A loud voice reached my ears. It was from above me.

    Elina climbed up on the upper bunk.

    "You could have climbed without that bang."

    "..."

    No response? Fine.

    Well, for now, I guess I will just level myself up.

    "System: Rank me up"

    Ranking up means, I will go through a reconstruction of sorts inside my body which means I will go through a lot of pain but despite that, I decided not to use brain tempering to stop my pain receptors simply because it''s a reconstruction of the whole body, I don''t want to unintentionally interfere in it by trying to control my body or brain.

    [Are you sure?]

    "Just do it."

    I don''t want to think right now, so let''s use pain as a distraction.

    !

    Sweat trailed down my back as I felt an intense nausea hitting me, my whole body felt like it was on fire, as a most twisting, wrenching, agonizing feeling embraced my whole body.

    I gagged, but I didn''t vomit, only managing to hack up a bit of bile in the back of my throat, my whole vision became blurry as the tears came out of my eyes.

    I grabbed the bedsheets with both my hands, clutching them as tightly as possible, gritting my teeth.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For what felt like hours, was actually only 3 minutes.

    The painful feeling went away, except my whole body was covered in sweat. Honestly, it felt sticky and disgusting.

    I am gonna have to take a bath again.

    "..Stop staring at me," I said as I huffed for air.

    Elina, the dumb Elf is currently sitting beside me, watching over me.

    "Here, drink some water"

    I gratefully epted it, I drank it down in one gulpmenting the amount of water the cup of ss could hold.

    "Just give me the bottle"

    Who needs a damn ss?

    "Take it slow"

    Yeah, maybe I will say it to you when you will feel your throat parched.

    Just as I tried to take the bottle from her hands by extending my hand I saw her face.

    ...

    At that moment, in an instant, I calmed myself down.

    "I am sorry," I said.

    She has been worried about, taking care of me. My attitude towards her wasn''tmendable, if anything I was just being a jerk.

    Apologizing was the least I could do.

    "Huh... Um, Okay" Elina replied in a disoriented voice,pletely taken aback by my words.

    I am not really good with beating around the bush so, I will just ask directly.

    "Hey, what''s the matter?"

    I asked in as gentle and calm voice as I could muster as I directly looked at Elina''s light violet eyes.

    Her eyes looking at me worried, her face seemed to be concerned.

    Her face was one I was familiar with, far too familiar with, an expression that looked pained, one that was not physical but emotional

    A twisted, ugly, suffocating emotion carried by a pure, innocent, and kind person.

    An expression that I hated the most.

    An expression that I couldn''t bear to see.

    An expression that I loved the most.

    An expression that made me live.

    "I am fine, worry about yourself. You just leveled up, right?"

    I slowly extended my hand and touched her face, brushing her hair beside her long pointy ear.

    "Um... Noah, what are you do-"

    "If you want to say something I will listen, if you have something to ask I will answer."

    At those words of mine, her eyes widened for a second.

    I removed my hand from her face, as I waited for her.

    "I am sorry" Her head was downcast, her voice a bit trembling, I had no idea what she was apologizing for but I was sure she knew that much, so I waited for her to continue.

    "I talked with Edward before leaving the council room"

    I remembered waiting for her outside the council room beforeing here.

    "Edward only attacked ces ordered by... my brother"

    Ah, so that''s what it is.

    The incident in Elina''s and her brother''s life happened 20 years ago before I was even born.

    In other words, her brother became the ve of the demon and started working for him, technically managing the ces to bring food and ves.

    What Elina is trying to say is, that if she wasn''t there then her brother wouldn''t have be a ve which resulted in ''my'' vige being destroyed by Edward.

    ...I really am an asshole.

    I knew the story and its effect that would take ce but I only and only cared about the effects that would be towards me.

    Ipletely and utterly disregarded how it would make Elina feel, despite knowing her character. I have always been good at disregarding other people''s feelings.

    "You knew about it, right?" She slowly lifted her head, her eyes trembling.

    In the council room, I had said about Edward working for the demon, the same demon her brother is the ve of.

    And Elina had already told me about her past in the cave, add the fact that until now I have been pretty much rude to her, and how I have ignored her a lot of times, also, my rank is actually G+ (well, now it''s not) she probably thinks it''s D which means, I lied to her.

    In other words, put 2 and 2 together and from her perspective, she thinks I me her for my vige''s destruction and she mes herself too.

    Taking a deep breath I opened my mouth.

    "Actually, in the council room, it was all a lie. I just knew about Edward destroying the vige, <i>''Kurosaki''</i> vige to be exact, it''s a ce where they were able to live in peace despite the chaos that was raging around the world because of the strong individuals that lived there. Edward used some of the prisoners to infiltrate the vige and then with their help took the kids there as a hostage and managed to destroy the vige. Do you understand? If I was part of that vige I would been killed since kids were what he used to destroy it to begin with. I have no connections to the vige."

    I answered her, honestly.

    It might seem stupid but I also needed a confirmation.

    I looked at her, she seemed a bit shaken.

    "Kurosaki vige...Isn''t that the-"

    "Yeah, the vige which mostly consisted of Elves, Beastfolk, and Dwarfs. That''s why I attacked Edward in the meeting room and why I didn''t mention the name of the vige. Well, I actually thought I would have to give the name of the vige so I decided to y the role of a ''<i>human</i>'' who suffered through the hands of another ''<i>human</i>'', which didn''t happen in the end"

    Kurosaki vigeprised of other species more, it wasn''t that they were hostile to humans, it''s just how it was.

    Regardless, the thing is, after a traitor would have been found as human, some sort of discord was bound to happen in the council room.

    That was what I wanted to avoid, so I recklessly charged and tried to kill Edward or at least made it look like that, as a ''human'' who suffered by a ''human'', it wouldn''t calm the ripples that would be caused but it''s better than nothing at all.

    "...That exins a lot of things, I never felt any anger or hatred in your voice. You also seemed okay with how things went there without being stubborn about trying to kill Edward, it was a bit baffling how you didn''t pursue killing Edward afterward" Elina''s soft voice reached my ears as she gave me a look of understanding.

    I can understand that point of view, for someone supposed to have his everything stolen by Edward I took their exnation pretty calmly, must have been confusing for these guys.

    Well, in the end, it was pointless, since the council members already knew about Edward.

    This solo information changes a lot of things though.

    "And I also didn''t want to through the interrogation. I didn''t want to tell them about my past or my life, so there''s that"

    I can''t really say anything when I popped out of nowhere in this world. There''s simply nothing I could say about it.

    I had to be suspicious, too suspicious to be left to wander around.

    Even Noah, who seems to have popped out of nowhere used a ve mark on his body and the good old excuse of memory loss to get away from unnecessary problems from the academy.

    The ve mark Noah had wasn''t the magical one though but a physical one made by simply burning a metal and well, touching it on your skin.

    Painful, I know.

    But this body no longer has that mark simply because my healing potions could even take care of scars.

    "I see.." Elina said I expected more of a reaction.

    What''s with this understanding tone of hers?

    It''s as if she knows why I wanted to avoid the interrogation... what type of shit is she cooking in her head?

    "...But why did you lie about your rank to me"

    "I never did. I am G+ranked... I was moments ago. Now? I guess, I am F- ranked."

    "No.. but you clearly had.. is it because of ss? I have never heard of such a ss though.." Elina said lost in her thoughts.

    Remember what I said about sses? Yeah, they are something that gives you a bit of a boost.

    For instance, normally the amount of mana a person contains depends on their body size but if you have magician ss your mana will be more than what a person of your size could have.

    Or a person with an assassin ss having more better perception than you despite having the same perception rank.

    So yeah, Elina is probably thinking what my ss might be that would grant me the power of someone around a D rank despite being G+ ranked, during that time.

    Again, I don''t have a ss, so her thoughts are useless.

    With my finger, I flicked her forehead.

    "Ow!"

    "I don''t think something like that would do any harm to an S-ranker like you, stop being dramatic, and don''t bother thinking too much. I am just a F-ranker."

    For now.

    "I get it, I get it"

    I looked at Elina''s face once more.

    Man, it''s really weird.

    Her actions towards me are weird, isn''t she like, worried about anything I just told her? I am basically hiding my identity and lied my way through everything and she is okay with it.

    Actually, it''s not just being okay, Elina is favorable towards me.

    Too favorable towards me, too understanding of me.

    ..It scares the shit outta me sometimes.

    This reminds me of the Elf that was giving me stares in the council room, E.

    "You told me you would answer one of my questions in the council room, right? So, why did you and that other elf in the roo-"

    "Some of us in our kind have special eyes" Elina began to speak as if she knew what I wanted to know and I listened to her "With these eyes we can see the way one has lived their life, wait, that''s not quite right. We can see how much struggle one had gone through their life, the cker and darker the color surrounding the person the more they have lived a harsh life, the purer the white color the more peaceful and gentle life they have lived."

    ...

    What the hell..?

    This wasn''t mentioned in the novel...

    "..What color is mine?"

    "It''s pitch ck, sticky miasma... I have never seen anyone with this much darker before."

    ...

    "You said something about how the color determines how much one suffered, right?"

    "That''s right"

    But, that''s wrong. Suffering is subjective.

    For instance, a person who has a good build and good stamina could easily run appared to a person with bad stamina and a build, for such a person running ap is way more cruelpared to the other guy.

    A person with a strong mentality could easily take other people''s criticismpared to someone with a weak mentality.

    What I am trying to say is, I haven''t suffered.

    I have never suffered in my entire life.

    It''s a peaceful life for me.

    It''s always been peaceful and easygoing for me.

    Hard life? I don''t know what you are talking about. I seriously don''t.

    I looked directly into Elina''s eyes, staring deep into them.

    "You Elves or anyone else for that matter have no right to decide the suffering of others. It''s something people decide for themselves, alone."

    Who the hell do you think you guys are? Do they think they have some sort of higher ground to judge people''s lives?

    I remembered the gazes that E sent towards me, I now knew what gaze and look she was giving me.

    ..Ah, I feel like my stomach''s churning.

    Would it be too much to eradicate Elves?

    !

    "Stop it or I will kill you"

    I tried to get away from Elina''s grip but to no avail. No matter how much I struggled I couldn''t get out of it, she didn''t say anything the whole time.

    As more time passed I simply stopped struggling.

    Elina didn''t let go of me, she didn''t say anything.

    Usually, people don''t like hugging each other, more so when they are simply strangers.

    But what if they are acquainted?

    You will start feeling a warm, fuzzy feeling, it''s a psychological reaction.

    Just like I knew about Elina from the novel and by seeing her and talking with her I have ascertained her character, Elina too by looking at the color that surrounds me and my actions to this point now have somewhat ascertained my character.

    We both understood each other to some extent.

    That''s why, I realized once again the type of person I am.

    I lifted my head up to meet her eyes.

    Her eyes didn''t contain a look of pity or sympathy one would have for someone you think has lived a bad life instead it was a kind, tender, warm, motherly look.

    It was simr, too ''<i>simr</i>'' to when my mom had hugged me.

    Giving up, I simply let myself be embraced.

    Ah, I wanna go home.

    I want to go back home. I wonder how the manga that I was reading will end, the episode that was supposed to be released.

    I really need to know the answers to the cliffhangers that I have been left on.

    ..I slowly wrapped my hands around her, and Elina gently stroked my head.

    "You need to leave this ce, it''s going to be a battlefield soon"

 Chapter 23: A Farewell

    <h4>Chapter 23: A Farewell</h4>

    "You need to leave before this ce turns into a battlefield," I said, for a second Elina''s hand stopped patting my head before she continued patting again.

    Damn, what the hell am I doing?

    There''s no point in talking about it, is there?

    "And why would it turn into a battlefield" Elina asked, her soft crystal clear voice entering my ears.

    I am still being hugged by her and I am hugging her back too.

    Oh lord, I am such a kid!

    "Don''t you remember what they said about trying to use Edward in the council room?" I asked

    "And what about it?"

    Just how dumb one needs to be to not be able to connect the dots?

    "The council members intend to use Edward to bring that demon here with his beast army, they will probably give false information to the demon about the fighting power we have to make him bring less number of beasts with him, and from there on, it''s a full-on frontal assault/ head-on fight, whatever you want to call it."

    I have read the novel and I know Edward will betray but council members already know about it, what does that entail? Duh, it was nned, they nned to lure the demon to the base, a stupid n but a n nheless.

    Unlike the protagonist team, I reached the base earlier than them, so we have more time than they did, around 2 weeks and 3 days from now, there will be an assault by the demon.

    A n that''s going to fail. Why? ''coz Edward will really, I mean, really betray them, which makes things more chaotic.

    And I have unintentionally made things more fucked.

    You see, I have left 2 major figures of this uing war back in the cage! Not only that, let me remind you all that I have something called soul-bound inventory! But what about the protagonist''s team? They had to not only escape from that prison but also get back their items that were taken by the demon, so they racked havoc in that ce, causing some destruction, which in the grand scheme of things actually ends up ying a significant part in the uing battle.

    And I came to this ce to stea- I mean, to take a certain item that will help the council members tremendously in the uing battle but as I said I am taking it with me.

    I came all the way here for it, why would I not take it?

    ...Hey, don''t look at me like that! I was nning on the scraping whole battle by taking Edward out of the equation.

    s, I couldn''t do anything against the universalw of ''if things can go wrong they will go wrong''

    But hey! On a positive note, Edward might have some difficulty betraying unlike in the novel, after all, Edward had faced me, a victim of his past actions, and that''s why things might change. You canmit most horrifying atrocities without having to feel much guilt by running away from them, by not confronting them but what happens when you end up confronting them? You start breaking unless you are the most scummiest person in the world, that is, me, which is, of course, impossible.

    Edward is a normal person, that''s why he will break. Questions and more guilt will arise within than they ever did in thest few years of his life.

    Feelings, and emotions, are weird, even the smallest of them could cause unexpected changes in unexpected ways.

    "T-That''s crazy... it would only result in arge amount of casualties and loss on our side" Elina''s voice wavered a little but her words showed that she truly trusted in what I had told her.

    ...An unconditional trust...

    I moved a little and looked in her light violet eyes then rested my head back on her shoulders.

    "Arge amount of casualties, yeah. A certain loss, well they believe they can win"

    The keyword being ''believe'', after the fuck up I have done and once I take their game-changing item with me, they are doomed to lose.

    "Why would they?" Elina''s voice contained confusion, so I continued.

    "Hm? How should I say... have you ever wondered why those guys in particr take the interview of all the people brought here?"

    "Isn''t that the same question you asked them in the beginning?"

    That''s right.

    I asked it to throw them off a little, well, in the end, they maintained theirposure and gave a bullshit excuse.

    "Yeah. The thing is, they do so to find which person''s elemental affinity to extract"

    "Huh.." Elina''s hand stopped patting my head as she looked into my eyes and I looked into hers by tilting my head a little.

    Elemental Affinity.

    What are they? It''s ssic, light, fire, water, wind, and the stuff.

    Whichever elemental affinity you have the easier it is for you to use it.

    Of course, Noah doesn''t have it.

    He doesn''t have any skills, ss, or elemental affinity. Yes, he is weak and him being weak means, I am weak too.

    Life is unfair, I learned that ages ago.

    So, I am not gonna bother with it, I gotta make do with what I have.

    Back on topic, so what''s elemental affinity extracting from someone supposed to mean? It basically means killing them.

    What do they do by extracting elemental affinity from someone? They put it into the weapon.

    That''s what they did, when the attack from the demon came the council member gave weapons and I mean a lot of weapons to people who looked to be useful.

    When the protagonist asked them what the hell they did which was obvious they told the truth about extracting the elemental affinities from the camp survivors who aren''t going to be useful in any other way.

    As they say, all is fair in love and war.

    Now, extracting elemental affinity isn''t as easy as it sounds. Out of 1,000 only 1. That''s right. Out of 1,000 only 1 person''s elemental affinity gets extracted sessfully.

    Deaths? A whooping 1,000

    And the council had lots of weapons, which in itself entails how many people they have ...killed.

    "...What''s the difference between that demon and them?" Elina asked, her voice shaking.

    "You trust my every word? ''coz of what? The color that surrounds me?"

    "I trust you because of how you have acted till now with me"

    "..."

    I wanted to call her naive but I couldn''t..if she really believes what I told her then she must be feeling betrayed and yet she didn''t make any fuss rather she epted it calmly, that was the proof, she might be naive, kind type but ..<i>she had seen some shit</i> to not let it bother her too much.

    "What do you think, will we win?"

    "Why do you think a kid like me has the answers?"

    "Because you are a kid who doesn''t act like one."

    What''s that supposed to mean?

    "You know everything that''s going in this base despiteing here today, your choice of words aren''t one that is trying to exin why something is happening but one that''s stating a fact where you do not care about whether the other person will believe in it."

    ...

    I sighed.

    "You will lose because Edward will betray you all, even if he doesn''t, you will still lose. As for why Edward will betray you despite having his family killed, the answer is simple, your brother yed him ..or that demon is toying with Edward. If I had to make a decent guess Edward''s wife probably said some shit like <i>''Edward wouldn''t kill innocent people no matter what!''</i> and that demon wants to show how despicable her husband has be. Edward will betray when the time to make a choicees or ..maybe not but as I said even if he doesn''t betray the demon army will win, there''s no hope"

    I said, still getting patted by her and hugged by her.

    It''s a losing game. We don''t have the game changers, not the protagonist''s team, not the 2 prisoners from the prison, not the necessary destruction required to be done to their base and it doesn''t help when I am going to take one of their most important items with me.

    "Noah, can <i>you</i> win?"

    "I can mop the floor but I am leaving first thing in the morning"

    That''s right. Even with all the disadvantages I can win. Losing and I don''t go hand in hand.

    "You are ...what?"

    Despite not looking at her face I could tell how surprised she was.

    "I have more pressing matters to take care of"

    Like saving the world by bing a friend of someone.

    Yes, bing a friend will be enough to save the world.

    Sometimes, all you need is someone to listen to you and understand you.

    "Where will you be going?" Elina''s voice was low but enough for me to hear.

    "Demonic continent, gotta meet the demon lord."

    SSS+ ranker, here Ie!

    "...Since meeting you I have only seen and heard of ridiculous things one after another. You are more troublesome than I had initially thought" She sighed.

    "Don''t treat me like a troublesome kid"

    "You are one."

    Dumb Elf.

    Who cares about what you think?

    ...

    After a bit of silence, I slowly opened my mouth.

    "Elina, will you leave this ce?" I asked in a soft, low voice.

    "No, I will remain here, it might sound foolish to you but I will stay here," Elina said, shing a smile.

    Hm.

    I see.

    <i>''Goodwill needs to be returned with goodwill''</i>

    For some reason, those words came back to me.

    I need to make preparations for war to happen in about a month or so.

    After all, I came to level myself up as much as possible.

    The more the battles and fights that broke out, the better.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Third person pov)

    As time passed, Elina and Noah both remained in the same position.

    "Noah.." Elina called out to him but was met with no response.

    "Sheesh, don''t just go sleep like this, you didn''t even take the bath" Saying so, Elina touched Noah''s forehead as she controlled the water (sweat) on Noah''s body and removed it.

    She directed the glob of sweat in the air towards the bathroom. Elina''s affinity with water was great, her ss being a magic archer.

    Without trying to disturb him, she put Noah to bed and pulled the sheets over him as she gave him a kiss on the forehead.

    Elina tenderly looked at Noah''s sleeping face.

    <i>''Geez, trust me a little''</i>

    Elina thought trying to suppress herself from breaking into a smile for she knew Noah was wide awake, he was pretending to sleep.

    Since the time she met him, Noah had always been distant. During the time when they had all fallen asleep, Noah never slept and a part of her knew it wasn''t because of them that Noah couldn''t sleep but because Noah would never fall asleep in front of strangers. Noah went to hunt beasts because he wouldn''t eat anything else brought by anyone. Even during the meal right now, Noah tried to avoid taking it and only ate after she had eaten.

    And.. of course, when Noah was resting his head on her shoulder, she could feel it. Unlike back when she had those restrictive chains on, currently she is in full S-ranker mode, her perception being S-ranked, she knew Noah was ready to bite off her neck at any given moment.

    Though to her it seemed like Noah underestimates the prowess of a S-ranker. It felt to her that Noah didn''t know what S-rankers are really capable of, even if Noah''s mouth was on point-nk range from biting her neck off, she could still protect herself.

    The thing that happened with Edward was a fluke that wouldn''t happen again.

    Elina stood up from Noah''s bed, went to close the lights off, and then climbed up on the upper bunk.

    She closed her eyes as she remembered the words of the girl she had once met.

    <i>''Does it make you feel good to take care of such a broken person like me? It''sughable, your intentions are so clear. You want to take care of me, you want me to rely on you, be dependent on you. Are you trying to use me to validate your own existence after your own fuck up and what happened to your brother? That''s disgusting. Must feel nice there up on your high horse, to see someone more fucked than you are. You know what''s even moreughable? You wouldn''t have bothered me so much if not for those eyes. I don''t need your pity, so get lost.''</i>

    Those words that were once said by a girl to her were still stuck with her, the girl who died eaten by the beast, wanted to live, unwilling to die yet she died in a horrifying way.

    During that time, she questioned herself, what was it that she did wrong, what could she have done?

    If she had been honest with her, if she showed her kindness, a pure one ...instead of trying to reflect her own image of pitifulness on her, if she tried to simply treat her like any other person would it have made a difference?

    Heaving out a sigh, she thought about Noah.

    The color that surrounds Noah is pitch ck, one she had never seen before. She had seen the color for the person who had lived as an orphan, a person who saw her mother being killed, a person who was abused throughout his life, a person who lost his everything, a person who saw his wife and daughter killed in front of him and yet none had the color as worse as Noah did.

    It would be a lie if she said she didn''t want to know what happened to Noah but ...she would never delve into that topic unless Noah decides to tell about it himself.

    <i>''The uing attack though..''</i>

    She thought about it. One could question why Elina would believe in Noah''s words so simply but after what had transpired in the council room, she definitely didn''t trust <i>them</i>. Not only that, the people from the facility get taken from time to time for the reason of sending them to some other ce.. but from what Noah has said about extracting elemental affinity, it made more sense to Elina.

    Thus, her trust.

    She wasn''t going to run away, that was a given. It wasn''t out of a kindness or pureness of her heart if she was like that then she would have never left the 2 people back in the prison while escaping herself, to begin with, if she was that type of person she would died a long time ago.

    It was just as Noah has said, she is kind but a kind person who has seen some shit.

    Elinapletely understands that there are things that one can do and one simply can''t.

    Elina is kind but not delusional.

    Her reason for staying was different and that was her brother.

    If that demon ising that means, her brother wille here too.

    Elina remembered the fight between Edward and Noah. Noah had been sessful in poisoning Edward and that was because his opponent had severely underestimated him, it might have been a fluke but ..it worked.

    <i>''..If I can do something like that to him''</i>

    The council members intend to fight against the demon, if she could use them as a distraction to kill the demon then maybe she could save her brother.

    For years her goal has been to save her brother. She didn''t want to waste this opportunity even with all the disadvantages. Noah told her he could win, so there must be a method...

    Elina tried toe up with an idea as she thought of different scenarios that might y out.

    After an hour passed, she heard a rustling sounding from the lower bunk.

    <i>''Hm? Is Noah done pretending to sleep?''</i>

    Noah stood up from the lower bunk and went towards the table desk, lightening up the tablemp.

    Sitting on the chair, he started working.

    Elina didn''t know what Noah was doing but she watched him.

    Without any sleep, she kept watching him with lots of questions floating in her mind about what Noah was doing.

    After hours passed Noah finally stopped, stretching his hands in the air, then switching off the tablemp he started walking towards the bed.

    Noah threw a potion bottle on her upper bunk. Elina struggled to suppress her desire to see what it was but she kept the same posture of her sleeping and soon after she heard the sound of click~

    Noah left the room, and Elina sat straight up.

    <i>''Not even a goodbye... not like I expected one from him''</i>

    It was now morning, she had been awake the entire night watching Noah.

    She reached her hands towards the bottle of potion that Noah had thrown at her and used her system status to look at it.

    "What is this!?"

    Elina shouted after reading the ridiculous effects of the potion, she rubbed her eyes and read the description again.

    "Where did he get this... no, wait, the fact he just tossed it at me ..just how many of these potions does he have?"

    After letting out a sigh, she stood up and walked towards the table desk in the room.

    There was a tablet and a note, Elina looked towards the note first and read it

    <i>''See ya, if you manage to live and use the designs I have left to you however you want''</i>

    A smile formed on Elina''s face as she looked at the note, putting the note back on the table she looked at the designs made on the tablet.

    She opened the tablet and was left baffled.

    "...Hahahaahahah! Of course, You could have mopped the floor with him!"

    Elinaughed, a glint of hope flickering in her eyes.

 Chapter 24: Meeting With The Demon Lord

    <h4>Chapter 24: Meeting With The Demon Lord</h4>

    (Third person pov)

    In the morning, at 8:00 am, after Noah had left the shelter, the council members decided to summon Elina.

    A stifling silence continued as Elina stood in front of all the them.

    <i>''Their expression looks quite bad, I wonder what happened''</i>

    Elina thought to herself as she waited for someone in the room to speak.

    "Noah has left, do you know where he went?" It was Edward who questioned.

    "No, I don''t" Elina lied with no hesitation, she knew Noah went to demonic continent but she wasn''t nning telling it to anyone.

    "Do you really have no idea?"

    "I don''t but why are you so concerned about it, it''s just a single person leaving the base, right?" Elina answered, she couldn''t understand why they wore a grim expression and she simply reached the conclusion that it must be rted to Noah.

    "He has stolen a very important artifact."

    <i>''...Ah, so that''s why. Now, I know why Noah came here all the way''</i>

    Elina wanted to ask why Noah came here, at first she thought she was the one who brought him here but those thoughts changed after Noah fought against Edward, she became more sure that Noah had some other motive foring here after everything he told her yesterday.

    "What kind of artifact was it and how did he steal it?" Elina curiously asked wondering how he got past all the protocols, if it was such an important artifact the council members surely would have kept it in tight security.

    "...That we can''t answer," Edward said shaking his head as he continued "Sorry for taking your time, you spent a lot of time with him while on your way here, so if you remember anything about where he might have gone please inform us right away," Edward said.

    "Understood"

    Elina said prepared to leave.

    The only reason Elina wasn''t caught lying was because of the trust that council members have for her, that''s why they haven''t used any devices to ascertain whether she had lied or not.. though they didn''t know Elina''s thoughts about them have taken a nose dive.

    For now, Elina was going to execute the n she had thought of with the help of the required materials that she had gotten from Noah.

    <i>''This is crazy..''</i>

    Elina thought, preparing herself for the chaos that she was about to start.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s pov)

    Spirit stone.

    What''s a spirit stone? Basically, something that will allow you to use all kinds of elemental affinities. You embed it into your weapon and use mana to control the affinities however you please and use it. FYI, you can''t embed into your own body

    Being able to use all elemental affinities is a huge advantage, this is what those boomers were nning on using.

    As I have said before elemental affinities are your ssic wind, fire, earth, water, light, and dark.

    What effects does having elemental affinities bring to a person?

    Well, if you are a mage you will have an easy time learning the spells rted to your affinity.

    The other part is, that elemental affinities give a boost to a person''s physique.

    For instance, a person with water affinity will have better dexterity whenpared to a person with the same rank, a person with earth affinity will have better durability, and so on.

    Since I don''t have any elemental affinity, I couldn''t care less about it.

    But yeah, having elemental affinity gives you a permanent boost.

    Back on topic, the spirit stone was made by countless sacrifices.

    Don''t worry guys, your deaths won''t be in vain. I will use this as efficiently as possible.

    What? It''s selfish of me?

    Well, selfishness is a part of humans, and as a paragon of humanity, I am all about being a human.

    Regardless, I have managed to steal it and put it in my inventory, now the question is, will I be able to take it in the outside world?

    What I am trying to say is I am gonna get my rewards for clearing this hidden dungeon but what if I can take things from inside the dungeon with me too? Like a bonus thing.

    We will see how it goes...

    What?

    How did I manage to steal it? Well, that was easy.

    Unlike others I knew the whole base like the back of my hand so even if they tried to hide the room, I easily found it with the help of my system, the passwords they put to get through. I asked my system to stalk the council members and see what the password is when they enter the room, besides I have read the novel.

    And bang!

    As a guy who had stolen one of the national treasures with even less information about the ce, this was a piece of cake!

    The system is op!

    I also left Elina the whole blue prints of all the shelters and food farms made by demons.

    It''s not hard to imagine what''s going to happen, is it?

    Elina is sure gonna ask other shelters for help to deal with her current predicament and with the help ofplete blue prints of all the food farms, and ces where demons are located, she can gain an upper hand in the negotiations.

    As they say, information is most important.

    My goal was to leave all the shelters with the required information.

    And in a months time or so, they will be prepared tounch their attacks.

    I sure gonna farm my EXP when that timees, the n might be a bit flimsy but that''s for others to work towards, I haveid a rough structure of it, and people will fill those holes themselves for me.

    Rustle~

    I head the rustling sound.

    What is this sound?

    You see, my ne transports me to a safe ce if I want to. The key word is ''Safe ce''.

    I wanted to know if I could simply go to a ce I ''<i>wanted</i>'' to if it''s a safe ce, kinda like using it as a teleportation ne instead of just a protection ne.

    And vo I am at my designated ce.

    "You can turn around now" A disinterested tone reached my ears as I did what it told me to.

    In front of me stood ady, ady who is 669 years old. Her hazel colored eyes looked at me.

    The ce I came to is ..demonic continent, well, more urately, I wanted to get as close as I could to the demon lord.

    Yes, the demon lord is a female, a cliche as old as time.

    Back on point, I got teleported to like 50 meters away from her when ...she was naked, seems like she had just taken the bath.

    I turned around right away to let her change.

    <i>''..Okay, so anywhere near 50 meters to her is not a ''safe ce'', gotcha''</i>

    My ne''s main job is tond me in a safe ce where I don''t die.

    In other words, even if I can use it as a teleportation ne it won''t allow me to go anywhere where I won''t be safe.

    Information noted.

    So, yeah. That''s the gist.

    "Why did youe here and what do you want, kid?"

    I didn''t take offense at being called a kid, now don''t get me wrong. If it had been a human I might have sent him to his grave but this is a 669-year-old person in front of me if she hadn''t called me kid then I might have ended up questioning her character instead.

    Though despite being 669 she looked even younger than Elina.

    Damn.. must be nice being another race, got such a huge life span and you guys live your youthful appearance for soo long.

    No, I am notining about being a human, definitely not. I am satisfied with being a human.

    Yup, no hard feelings.

    "I want you to take me as your disciple," I said in a polite tone. I needed her help, it was only natural to be polite to the one you were asking for a favor.

    You see, this demon lord is quite strong, like super type hidden boss level strong.

    Her rank is SSS+. Basically, she is the strongest person.

    And she has all elemental affinities except for the light.

    Just so you know even the protagonist has only 3 elemental affinity.

    Her ss? She has mastered all the weapons there are to master and she is great with magic too.

    Her skills? Too many to count.

    I am new to this world, and swinging swords around ain''t something I do back home, so if I am gonna learn something as fast as possible I gotta find the best person for it, that''s all my reasons are.

    Now, you must be wondering how did protagonist won against her in the fight. Well, the person in front of me is soo strong she has lost all interest in everything.

    You see, even if she restricts her rank to her opponent''s level the sheer skill and mastery that she has and experience of being a boomer is still on her side giving her a huge advantage.

    Do you get what I meant? Yeah, she restricted her rank except our protagonist used his cheat of temporary ranking up by 2 ranks in the middle of a fight... and barely won.

    Well, if she wanted she could have actually killed the protagonist but she didn''t ''coz she has lost the will to live.

    All in all, she is suffering from sess.

    She doesn''t have an end goal or any goal to begin with.

    So, she simply one day thought ''let''s just destroy everything.''

    That''s right, everyone including demons.

    Remember the mission I told you guys about? It''s ''<i>save the world</i>'' not something like ''hey, buddy your race is suffering, help them out there''

    I think I am starting to understand why they called it an ''easy'' hidden dungeon.

    On one hand, you can fight this monster who will cap herself to your rank out of her generosity-she just wants some challenge.. or you can change her whole idea of killing everyone using other methods. The thing is you will have to figure out everything while being in the dungeon with a timer which isn''t really easy, I know about her and the situation because I read the novel.

    I waited for her response. I am still waiting.

    Um.. Hello!? Earth to the demon!

    She blinked her eyes, shook her head and spoke

    "I see... before I answer your question, tell me, do you have something that could kill me?"

    What?

    Where did thate from?

    I can''t kill you, no one can unless you agree to it yourself!

    Even during the fight when the protagonist temporarily raised his rank by 2, you didn''t remove your restrictions because of some bullshit like ''Oh, that''s an interesting skill, I don''t have such a skill that could raise my rank, I guess I will have to fight someone 2 ranks above me''

    This person has some dumb logic in her head.

    Privileges of the strong.

    "No, I don''t"

    "Really, I thought you would have something like that."

    ...Why?

    Why would she even think of something like that? As if sensing my confusion she spoke

    "You came here.. no, you ''teleported'' here, I haven''t heard of anything that let''s one teleport from one ce to another without teleportation wrap gates, so whatever you have with yourself isn''t something that anyone has ever seen."

    Well, it is something that I got from hidden dungeon, and stuff from there is supposed to be op.

    On a side note, there is no hidden dungeon or dungeon in this world for that matter. If there have been, I would definitely start going into Hidden Dungeon''s hidden dungeon... man, such a tiring game would it be.

    "You also came to me, Demon lord. No one in their right mind would do something like that, even if you have something that would let you ''teleport'' away from me in an instant, after all, I can kill you before you even know it so that leads to me believe that I can''t kill you. Maybe you have something that would protect you from me if I tried to kill you in an instant."

    ...What''s her intelligence stat!?

    I don''t know!

    I don''t remember!

    Fuck!

    "..That leaves me with the option to not kill you but to capture you but if I do that you can teleport out of here easily. That means I can''t kill you or capture you. I don''t know how many artifacts you have with you or how you can use them.. maybe it''s soul-bound?"

    Gosh, she isn''t a boomer for nothing!

    "That''s why I couldn''t help but wonder if you have some sort of artifact to kill me anytime, using that as leverage to make me ept your deal but from your reaction it doesn''t seem like you can kill me. But the same goes for me."

    "Yeah, I can''t kill you and you are also right about how you can''t capture me or kill me for that matter."

    Actually, you can. You are the only one who can because of your rank but even then you will have to y your cards right to trap me which is impossible!

    If you snatch my ne before I could use it then vo I am doomed the only thing is you need to know where the ne is.

    It might be a ne but it''s not necessary to wear it on your neck!

    "Hm.. So, we are already at a stalemate" She said with her hand on the cheek.

    "...I just came here to ask if you will be willing to teach me how to fight with a sword, dagger, and a scythe, oh, and mana."

    What? Sword might be a cliche but it is actually a good choice! Daggers are necessary if I ever have to go stealth and assassinate someone and let''s be real, who has never used a scythe in games before!? They are cool! And the psychological fear it puts on your opponent is just a chef kiss!

    "I am a demon, demons use demonic energy, I thought it was a well known fact"

    Demonic energy.

    How beastfolk usually are aura users and Elves mana users, the key word being ''usually'' sometimes some Elves are able to use aura, not mana, and some beastfolk use mana but not the aura. It''s just notmon.

    The point is, that you can be a mana user or an aura user.

    But that doesn''t work for demonic energy. Demons are the only ones who can use it and they can''t use mana or aura.

    That''s how the world has always seen it but.. I read the novel.

    The person in front of me can use demonic energy and mana. An irregrity.

    A true cheat hidden boss.

    "You can''t use mana?" I asked knowing the answer damn well, try to lie if you c-

    "I can"

    Oh, pretty honest, huh...

    Damn it!

    The sentence I prepared beforehand can''t be used now!

    "So, what''s the problem?"

    "Nothing, I guess. What will you do if I say no to your request?"

    "Try to annoy the shit outta of you until you ept?"

    What else can I do? She doesn''t know how many times I could teleport or any proper details so I can use it to my advantage.

    "..And I can''t kill you. Makes sense. What will I get if I ept to teach you?" She asked in a bit of curiosity leaking out from her voice.

    "Nothing."

    She frowned.

    Sorry, I am stingy. Just kidding.

    "Here"

    I pulled out a spirit stone and threw it her way. No, I am not giving it to her, once I am done with her teaching me I will just steal it back, it''s a child''s y for me.

    She caught the spirit stone, a light bluish shiny quartz crystal having a small hexagonal cylindrical shape.

    "...Why are you gawking at my hand"

    "Ah, Um no.. It''s just.. It''s ... d-did this stone just came out from the empty air?" She looked at the stone and then at my hand, again and again.

    Hey, I just got an idea.

    How about I make people think I can bring stuff out of thin air and start my own cult?

    If I y my cards right, then it might be possible, hell forget about cult I might start a whole religion.

    Hahahaaahaha!

    "A spirit stone? Let''s see it''s description, hmm? Oh~ I can use all elemental affinities except light but with its help, I will be able to use even light elements. How many people did you kill?" Breaking me out of my inner evil thoughts was the curious voice of the demon lord who was looking in the air, probably at her system window.

    "I just stole it"

    I answered honestly, there''s no reason to lie. I would rather she look at me as a thief than a killer.

    "That means, you can steal it from me too. I should better use it before you are ready to leave."

    Wait no!

    That''s not what I -

    Wait what?

    "Are taking you taking me in?"

    I asked for confirmation.

    "Hm," She nodded and spoke "Besides this stone, it''s pretty interesting to see things I have never seen. What sort of artifacts do you have and how did you find them? I am interested in knowing about it all. I have never seen something like making something appear out of thin air or having something portable that would help you teleport."

    I see.

    Good for me.

    "My lord, your food is ready" The door opened. I and the demon lord looked toward the source of the voice.

    A girl who looked like she was in her teenage years and another who looked like in her early twenties appeared.

    The one in her early twenties looked at me with a sharp re and then towards the demon lord, of course, her gaze changed when she looked at the demon lord.

    "Should I dispose of him, my lord?"

    ..Excuse me!

    That''s not how you treat your guests! What an abomination of manners!

    Ha! Try if you can dispose of me I have already made the deal with the demon lord!

    I looked towards the most powerful person in the world as I saw the smirk on her face.

    <i>''Oh fuck''</i>

    "Incapacitate him"

    She is a demon alright.

    The next instant I felt a weird and warm feeling in my stomach. I looked down and saw a hand piecing it and then I looked towards who the hand belonged to.

    It was, of course, the early twenties who red at me.

    Oh well, I also had something I wanted to check up on.

    As, they say, use everything and anything.

 Chapter 25: A New Energy?

    <h4>Chapter 25: A New Energy?</h4>

    You see, I have been wondering what would happen if I used the healing potion when the sword or whatever weapon is still stuck inside of me.

    Will my injuries heal or will they not? Will the piece of metal remain inside of me or what?

    I looked at the hand piercing my stomach.

    <i>''Well, I will know the answer now''</i>

    I bit on the low epic healing potion which I turned into a tablet a long time ago. Why a low epic and not the other one? Well, I just don''t have a hand piercing my stomach, there''s a hole inside my stomach! My organs are fucking gone! Not a simple injury! It''s the same as having your limbs getting sted!

    And Low Epic is exactly the potion I need to heal an injury like this.

    Sad, I will lose one of them leaving me with only 9 low epic potions but hey, I am getting an answer and getting healed, not a bad bargain I had to say.

    The moment I consumed the potion in the form of a tablet, in the same instant thedy pulled herself back and my injury healed like it was never there ...but s, my clothes have a hole in them now.

    These were borrowed clothes you know! How could I return them now?

    I looked towards thedy who had pierced my stomach, standing a bit away from me, on her guard.

    <i>''Guess, I have my answer''</i>

    Hehe, new ideas on how to use my potion started to form in my head.

    "Hey, I don''t think making a hole in someone''s stomach is how you incapacitate them and why did you ask her that?" I looked towards the demon lord and asked.

    "Oh, Liza don''t attack or hurt him, tell everyone in the castle, he is my disciple from this moment on," the Demon lord said and then looked at me "I knew I would get to see something interesting again and I am d I wasn''t wrong. You didn''t use healing magic or anything, so it must be some potion, your mouth moved for a bit as if biting something.. a solidified healing med? But to have it recover your stomach without even leaving a scar ...really, where do you get such stuff from?"

    From ces such as hidden dungeons.. basically this very ce.

    But I can''t say that, oh here goes nothing.

    "It''s-"

    "M-my lord! To have a human as your discip-" I was cut off by Liza, the maid who pierced my stomach and she got cut off by the demon lord

    "Did you not hear what I said?"

    At those words, Liza''s whole body shivered, not only her but also the teenage girl.

    They were both shivering.

    Wow... just a few words and she made both of them shiver.

    What kinda ninjitsu is this?

    "Hm?" The demon lord looked at me and then smiled.

    The teenage girl fell on her knees and started breathing heavily while the other one was struggling to stand.

    This strangely reminds me of what happened in the council room.

    Back then, I thought they were all on cracks or something.

    !

    I took a step back.

    The demon lord peered into my eyes, her face was close enough for her breath to hit me.

    It only took her an instant to appear in front of me, damn, SSS+ rankers really are scary.

    For the record, her height is bigger than mine. I mean she is 669 years old adult while I am just a 16-year-old, a healthy growing teenager!

    "Do you have some sort of artifact to neglect the effects?"

    What effects?

    "...What?" I asked clearly confused.

    "You aren''t afraid, usually when you exert pressure you can make those who are lower ranked than you feel fear, therger the difference the more fear you can instill in them"

    So, that''s what happened back then.

    "I see."

    Fear is something one only feels when they don''t know what might happen to them.

    They feel fear if they are not sure whether their loved ones are in danger. They had to feel fear if they were in danger.

    Fear is something people feel when they are unsure of their well-being, people who don''t want something bad to happen to them indirectly or directly.

    "Why don''t you feel it? The difference in our rank is vast"

    "Hey, you don''t even know my rank.." I tried to retort

    "What is your rank?"

    Fu*k my teenage rebellious side! Why couldn''t I have been honest?

    "F-.."

    I feel embarrassed.

    "Hm? So then, the reason?" She tilted her head to the side, wanting to know the reason for it.

    But I didn''t know what to say.

    I ...just don''t feel it, you know.

    There''s no grand reasoning here, it''s just at some point <i>I became numb to it.</i>

    "I don''t know"

    How am I supposed to answer something I have no idea about?

    I have long gone stopped feeling it.

    Not when there was a gun pointed at my head, not when I jumped from the 20th floor, not when I was surrounded by wolves, not when people threw rocks at me, not when someone tried to dissect me-he almost seeded.

    "I understand" She withdrew herself as the teenage girl and thedy who were stiff moments ago seemed to breathe as if they remembered breathing was a thing.

    She slowly started to walk towards her bed and sat down.

    "When do you want to start the training?"

    "As soon as you can"

    I replied.

    Learning from the best of the best. That''s gonna be cool.

    ..Okay, fine that''s a lie. Who likes to learn anything? I would rather enjoy myself back home and read manga or novels but what can I do? I have no choice but to work my ass off to keep myself safe.

    "I see. Well, I would love to eat first, it is still early in the morning." She said looking at the teenage girl, the girl instantly stood up from her position while stumbling a bit and started walking towards the demon lord with the food trolley.

    I looked towards the otherdy and our eyes met. She clicked her tongue and looked towards the teenage girl.

    On a side note, the teenage girl is a human while the other one is a demon.

    How do I know? Well, there is a difference in the body structures of races.

    Elves have long pointy ears.

    Vampires have short pointy ears.

    Dwarves have short, bulky muscr type builds.

    Beastfolks have a tail and animal ears.

    Humans and demons have the same appearance.

    The only difference between them is, that demons have <i>ck sclera</i> while humans have <i>white sclera</i>, and demons have a transformation phase too where they be extra strong or something, kinda like a final boss phase in games.

    Anyways, I could feel my stomach growling.

    I started walking towards the demon lord''s food trolley.

    "Um.. is it okay if I eat with you?"

    I mean, let''s be honest the amount of food in front of me is definitely not for a single person!

    There''s no way you can convince me it''s not for more than 4 people!

    It''s absurd!

    How much food are they wasting every day?

    I shall help with less wastage of food!

    As a nice person, it is my duty!

    And I am a very responsible person and responsible people always fulfill their duties.

    "...Are you okay with it?" The demon lord asked with her fork stopped in midair as she gave me a weird look.

    Why wouldn''t I be okay with food? Who in the world would not want to eat food?

    Besides, it''s the demon lord''s food, no one would mess with her food.

    That''s right.

    I have no other way of getting food, look, Liza is ring daggers at me.

    You think she wouldn''t put anything weird in my food!? I don''t believe it.

    I simply nodded my head as I took a bite of the steak that was in front of me and started eating.

    <i>''...Goodness me, the food is quite good. I guess, food made for a demon lord is really something else, huh but... who eats steak as breakfast? Oh well, anyways.''</i>

    I chewed on the food savoring the vor.

    "Um? How about you sit down here instead of standing and eating?" Demon lord said while patting the side of the bed.

    I will take you up on that offer.

    And so I ate the food and halfway through the process, demon lord simply stopped eating and just kept looking at me with her poker face.

    I will just ignore her and enjoy myself.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Alright,e at me, no need to use mana for now," Demon lord said as she suddenly threw a sword towards me, I caught the sword saving myself the embarrassment! My dignity has been saved!

    Right now, we are on the training grounds if you want to call it one. I mean, have you ever been to watch a cricket match in a stadium? Yeah, that''s the size of this ce.

    And we are the only people here.

    <i>''Sheesh, isn''t it a bit extravagant?''</i>

    Shaking my head, I readied myself with the sword in my hand as I tried to copy the stance I had seen in a game.

    ''Alright, let''s swing the sword!''

    What else can I do?

    I did my best and swung the sword, sometimes I swung it with all my strength, sometimes I tried to use my brain and make a maneuver-type attack, and sometimes I tried a surprise attack like letting go of my sword and grabbing it back fast enough with my other hand to swing it around and tried of fients and stuff.

    I continued like this for some time after that she gave me a scythe and I repeated the process, then with daggers and finally, we had hand-to-handbat.

    A lot of time passed, and my whole body started screaming in pain, I felt thirsty and I of course was out of breath.

    "Alright, I think I have a good idea about your level now," She said with not even a single sweat on her.

    The world is so unfair, on a side note, the weather here is pretty good.

    Demonic continent''s one of the characteristic is not having sunlight, you know when there''s bad weather with lots of dark clouds covering the whole sky? That''s just how it is except there''s no rain happening.

    Honestly, it''s such a good weather!

    I have always loved when the dark clouds covered the whole sky making the whole area dark and ominous, I just loved the scenery that it creates but when it starts raining or raining hard I mean it bes hard to be outside the room.

    But in this ce, I can just admire the beauty without having to worry about going back into the room because of the rain.

    Still huffing for the air I slowly tried to stand up, the human maid brought a bottle of water to me. Both the maids have been with us the entire time. The other demondy has given an orange-colored drink to the demon lord.

    <i>''Why am I having water while she is getting orange juice even though I am the one who is clearly more exhausted?''</i>

    It doesn''t even make sense. What''s the problem with Liza?

    And it was weird that she was the only person whose name I knew here.

    "You up?" The demon lord asked and I just nodded my head.

    "Alright, let''s begin your mana training then but before that what''s your mana proficiency?"

    "F+"

    "That''s okay. So, how does it feel like when you move mana inside your body"

    How does it feel like?

    Absolutely disgusting.

    Ugh, I need to give a clear report for urate guidance.

    "It''s like a murky substance crawling all over my body, hard to make it flow and control but I can manage it somehow by forcefully moving it. Kinda leaves me a bit creeped out after I am done with using it."

    Just remembering the feeling made me shudder but I somehow managed to convey it.

    "..."

    The demon lord just stared at me, not only her but Liza was also staring at me and I didn''t know why.

    Um... hello! Earth to the demons!

    "I should have expected it" Demon lord shook her head "Just for your information, Mana doesn''t feel like that, not even a newborn with G- mana proficiency would feel anything like that and no, aura, doesn''t feel like that either. What''s your deal? You aren''t using mana, not an aura, and definitely not demonic energy... you are doing something else entirely. That''s the only answer. You sure are a bundle of surprises. Well, it''s fun, so I am okay with it."

    ...

    Did I just heard something reaaaaaaaaally concerning in the most casual of tones!?

    Okay, calm down rather than questioning, let''s take the piece of information. A ''something else entirely'' puzzle piece.

    Let''s see, where does it fit in any information I have until now?

    Gotta think, think fast.

    Alright! Found the information.

    A higher ranking potion used by light blue on me, a slight headache that didn''t go away even after consuming the potion, the damage I incurred by trying to control my brain circuits, the unexpected D rank level stats that I acquired in my fight against Edward using the same method as my brain ...and now I learned I haven''t been using mana to begin with!

    Okay, definitely, this gotta be rted to why I am always in danger of using it.

    Not mana, aura, or demonic energy, then what could it be? Initially, I had thought it was because I am just too bad at controlling mana but no more do I think the same!

    Listening to others is important.

    Okay, I might still not have an answer but I can run some ideas in my head with this much information.

    Looking at the demon lord I spoke up.

    "So, can you figure anything about it?"

    "Hm? Fight me. Hand-to-handbat with whatever it is you use, I need to know what you can do with it. Oh,e with the intent to kill me, do whatever you can do with it, no hiding your trump cards, they are useless against me anyway. I will try to think about whatever it is you are using after seeing what it can do and don''t try to overdo it since we don''t know what side effects it might have"

    I nodded at her as I slowly started to circte my man-.. whatever this weird thing was inside my brain and all over my body, I dashed towards her.

 Chapter 26: Hooking Demon lord on manga鈥檚!

    <h4>Chapter 26: Hooking Demon lord on manga''s!</h4>

    (Demon lord''s Pov)

    Weird.

    That was the only word I could think of since I met him.

    When he appeared in the room from thin air, when he asked me to teach him when he didn''t express any fear when his expression didn''t change even when his stomach was pierced, when he recovered from the injury in an instant, when he ate the same food as me, a demon, and when he told me about the sensation he feels when he uses ''mana''.

    No matter how I look at it, the whole situation seems weird.

    Weird. Weird. Weird. Weird. Weird.

    It''s so weird.

    I can''t force answers out of him, I can''t kill him. I have never been stuck in a situation like this before.

    If I wanted something I could simply take it, I can destroy whatever I want after all, I am the strongest person in the world. My wishesmand how matters settle.

    And yet, here I am.

    Going along with him.

    A part of me wanted to rip him to shreds for the sheer audacity he has been showing and part of me is curious about him.

    Just a bit curious, but I can''t break his bones or pull his innards out and use healing magic over and over until I can get the answers out of him because of what his artifact can probably do.

    I need to figure out the artifact he has and what exactly it can do. Once I have figured it out, I should be able to find some way to deal with him.

    <i>''Annoying''</i>

    Thump!

    I thought as I used my left hand to deflect his roundhouse kick.

    He was absolutely horrendous with the scythe, he seemed a bit okayish with the sword, and he is excellent at using daggers but when it came to hand-to-handbat...

    In terms of pure raw skill, he is on par with me as much as I hated to admit it.

    A human boy who hasn''t even lived 20 years is on par with me who has lived for 669 years.

    It felt frustrating. Until now, if something frustrated me I would just destroy it but I can''t do that right now.

    I felt bitter for some reason.

    How is it even possible? I should have an upper hand due to sheer experience and yet here I am fighting on the same footing with a kid.

    Absurdly annoying.

    And what is this?

    I can''t fathom how his strength just went from F- rank to D rank.

    Does that even make sense? How is it even possible!?

    Not only that, his movements were totally illogical, he is able to move his body in a way that shouldn''t have been possible as if ... as if there''s a string attached to his body making it move however the puppet master wants it to move.

    Mana, Aura, and Demonic energy, there''s been only 3 that have been known and this boy possibly has a new form of energy that has never been seen before.

    And it''s absurd.

    <i>''Oh, his movements are getting a teensy bit slower''</i>

    I guess, it takes a lot of toll, huh?

    It''s only been around 10 minutes since we started.

    "Alright, stop,"

    I said.

    There was no reason to continue anymore and he might just end up endangering himself.

    With a nod, the kid stopped and fell on his butt, heaving for air.

    He again bit down something in his mouth and instantly stood back up.

    ''How many of those does he have in his mouth? At some point, he will run out of them and he will need to restock them. If I take into ount that got hit by Liza then, maybe he has no way of fighting back and nothing that can protect him, at least not unless it''s an instant kill type of attack. That''s a confirmation. Teleportation, that''s the only problem and the biggest one.''

    "So, what do you think?" The kid questioned me.

    "It''s not normal, that''s for sure. You tell me, how does it feel? Any lingering effects? And doesn''t your system window show you what it is that you are using"

    "Last time I had but that fight went on for more time than this one. So, I am taking it 10 minutes or so is the safe line for me. The system window shows mana proficiency F+ if not for that I wouldn''t be this confused"

    Look at that, he figured out the safe range of time for using it himself. But thest part of his sentence is concerning.

    Is he just lying? There''s no way it''s mana, so is the system window disying the wrong information? I have never heard of such a case.

    How annoying.

    I would be so much better if I could just punch my way through this whole thing.

    "For the time being, let''s start your mana training"

    It''s annoying.

    "How are we doing it? If what I have been using isn''t mana then I don''t know what to do, I ain''t even on the starting line"

    "That''s my job to worry about, just do what I ask you to"

    But... it would be a lie to say that I wasn''t interested in seeing how things would turn out.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s Pov)

    Sitting on the bench I started drawing a manga I remember from my memories.

    Why am I drawing manga? I have nothing else to do!

    The demon lord told me to just sit down and do whatever I want to do but I need to stay in a single spot.

    And so, I did what she told me.

    Now an Elf is standing behind me circting mana inside my body.

    Who is this Elf? Well, maybe a ve, a worker in the castle, or just a food source. I don''t know.

    Why we are doing it?

    ording to the demon lord ''Babies learn about mana or aura from their environment, so it''s better to let you have the feel of it, so you can familiarize with it''

    Or something along those lines.

    And now, I have nothing to do except sit in the same ce and let the Elf do the mana cirction. Honestly, at first, it was a cool, refreshing feeling but now I am bored. I am supposed to keep doing this for 2 days straight.

    So, I decided let''s just start drawing manga while my body familiarize itself with mana. Well, actually the job of this Elf is more straining.

    "Hey, demon lord-san, so like, this Elf is circting mana inside my body"

    I said garnering the attention of the demon lord who was just sitting on her bed and reading the manga pages I drew.

    "Mm, I am listening, go on," She said without even looking at me, focused on the manga.

    "So, can''t he like, wreak havoc inside my body and destroy me from inside out?"

    Like, seriously, imagine touching someone and then controlling their mana and then

    Stter! Stter!

    You get the gist. Isn''t it, just like, op?

    "To circte mana in someone''s body isn''t an easy thing, and besides, he isn''t circting mana throughout your body, to begin with, he is providing the mana from the spot he is touching, the mana in your body is being circted all on its own. If I have to give an example, then like this girl on the page you drew, she is getting blood inside her body through an outside source, but the blood will mix and move all on its own. For you, it''s a new experience so you are just sensitive towards the mana flow, all that Elf is doing is providing you mana"

    So, the mana isn''t being circted but provided.

    There''s a huge difference between them, I do know mana could be provided to others but in my case, I never used mana so my reserves are all should be full.

    "Isn''t it impossible to provide me with mana if I don''t use it and my reserves are full to begin with"

    "Why do you think I called him? He has a skill that lets him drain the mana of someone he touches. He is draining your mana and then providing you with it. You don''t have to worry about mana overloading in your body"

    "...Ah, gotcha, but still is it really impossible to control someone''s mana?"

    "It is, not for me though, if you give me an hour I should I able to control the mana of whatever part of the body I am touching though to only some extent, so it''s a waste to try it. Everyone has different wavelengths and frequency of mana, so managing to match it is as hard as it could get."

    Hm? That so.

    Matching the wavelength and frequency...

    I see.

    I kept drawing the manga pages as fast as I could while she kept on reading them and the Elf on the back kept providing me with mana to familiarize my body with mana.

    I have an inkling to what''s going on but I need to confirm.

    "Hey, demon lord-san, can you ask an aura user to do the same for me as this guy is doing."

    She moved her head upwards, finally breaking away from the manga.

    "You think you might be able to use aura?"

    "Probably"

    Don''t ask me why, I am still not sure myself but since I am a novel reader it''s not that hard toe up with a theory or spection on what might be going on.

    But I needed confirmation first.

    "If that happens, you might be able to learn demonic energy as well. If you truly seed, that would be funny ...and scary at the same time" She said and then focused on reading the manga once again.

    Yeah, if what I think is true, man that had to be op but damn is it gonna be hard to master it.

    I kept on drawing the manga while going through various thoughts of my own.

    For now, let''s try to hook demon lord with manga so she doesn''t destroy the world.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "What in the name of wicked deed ...You really can use mana and aura, well time to see if you can use demonic energy then"

    It''s been 4 days, I have done nothing but draw manga pages and sat in a single position, 2 days for mana and 2 days for the aura.

    And here we are, I can use aura and mana.

    Mana has a pretty light feel to it, easy to move, I tried to control my brain using mana but ...the effects werecklusterpared to what I have been doing until now.

    The aura is a bit more viscous type, it''s a bit harder than moving mana but not as hard as I had it until now.

    ...Gosh, I have a bad feeling.

    My system screen has also unlocked the aura column showing my Aura proficiency to be G-.

    "Liza, you are on the job, and don''t try anything funny" The Demon lord gave the warning to Liza as she hopped onto the bed once again, reading the manga.

    She is hooked.

    "Understood." Liza bowed her head as she made her way towards me.

    She wasn''t looking at me with the same anger as has until now but ..just gave me a weird look, which is hard to describe.

    But I can understand, anyone would have a hard time digesting something like this. I mean, I can use mana And aura.

    That''s actually a pretty big deal.

    It''s the demon lord who with her poker face makes it seem like not a big deal.

    Guess, in the eyes of the SSS+ ranker, everything is trivial.

    And so, finally, Liza put her hand on my back and I felt a strange sensation.

    For a second my whole body shuddered.

    ''This one feels weird...''

    Let''s just wait until I familiarize myself with it.

    "Hey, tell me, something"

    Demon lord suddenly asked

    "Go ahead"

    "So, like in this picture, this girl is shouting ''kyaa'' and hitting the boy but isn''t it the girl''s fault for leaving the door unlocked?"

    "I am surprised you questioning it. It''s 100 percent the girl''s fault"

    "Then why is the boy apologizing? He shouldn''t apologize when he is not in the wrong and the girl is reacting a bit too much."

    "The girl isn''t reacting too much, she is startled because of what happened. Emotions areplex, you can''t expect everyone to be the same and react the same as you, as for the boy apologizing, well he did enter the room without knocking first and it is the girl''s room, so he does have a fault, a tiny one but a fault nheless"

    Honestly, I would probably throw a huge tantrum if I saw a cockroach in my room, so I don''t know if the girl''s reaction is a bit too much or not but then again, it is a manga, exaggerating events a bit isn''t a wrong thing.

    "Hm? So, I should have shouted ''kyaaa'' when you saw me naked in the room" She asked, it was clear she was talking about our first encounter.

    I could feel Liza''s killing intent from behind.

    "When will you apologize to me then? You entered my room without knocking. You should apologize." Demon lord insisted.

    What the hell? Now you are asking for an apology?

    "Haven''t you heard ''let bygones be bygones''"

    "No, I haven''t"

    "Well, now you have"

    Demon lord showed a dissatisfied expression, rare for her to change her expression. I have learned with time, that she is your typical kuudere type.

    I shook my head as I tried to feel and understand the demonic energy that was now flowing through me.

    "System: Status"

    =====================================================

    Name: Noah

    Rank: F-

    Strength: F-

    Stamina: F-

    Agility: F-

    Perception: F

    Mana proficiency: F+

    Aura proficiency: G-

    Demonic energy proficiency: G-

    Luck: C+

    Intelligence: B+

    Charm : B+

    =======================================================

    Yup, this confirms my suspicions.

 Chapter 27: I hate this human!

    <h4>Chapter 27: I hate this human!</h4>

    A week has passed and I have sessfully managed to use mana, aura, and demonic energy. Well, really, I can kinda use it a little but I am still not good or decent.

    It''s like, I just learned the alphabet. There''s still a long way to go.

    And all that''s left is to talk with Light Blueter regarding the matter of what I want to know. I am pretty sure at this point but let''s just ask light blue for 100 percent confirmation.

    "Are you sure you are a human? You aren''t some new specie, right?" The monotonous voice belonged to none other than the demon lord.

    "No matter how much you stare, I am still a human," I said, currently demon lord is scrutinizing me from up close.

    It felt a bit ufortable, so I took a step back.

    "Well, can you use all three of them at once?"

    "I will need time to do so, I am a beginner cut me some ck"

    "Whatever you say, should we begin your training session with the scythe?"

    She said so, throwing the scythe towards me, we are back in the training grounds. For a whole week, I was inside the room, only familiarizing my body with aura, mana, and demonic energy.

    I like being in the room rather than being outside usually but because of the climate that demonic continent has I didn''t mind it much.

    I looked at the demon lord swinging the scythe in a circr motion making it look like it would cut anything that gets in the way.

    On a side note, I wasn''t learning just using a scythe but also a double-sided scythe.

    "For now just watch me and then try to copy me, we will start sparring after you at least know how to hold the weapon and how to use it."

    "Hey, I can hold the weapon and use it"

    I am good at swinging things!

    "With a scythe, you don''t only suck, you are absolutely downright horrendous"

    That was uncalled for...

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    After hours of non-stop training, I call it training but I just spent the entirety of the day learning postures and all.

    Ah, the exhaustion is real here.

    "Hm? Are you not gonna bite whatever you always do? Have you finally run out of the potion" Demon lord asked her face close to me, we were both lying on the bed.

    Look, demon lord''s bed is waaaaay to big for a single person, so I decided it wouldn''t be a problem to lie down on it.

    Even she doesn''t mind it, except Liza in the room of course.

    "Why do you sound like you are looking forward to me running out of potion?"

    What is this demon nning?

    "Oh, I just realized you will end up teleporting to somewhere if I kill you instantly but if I just injure you, you wouldn''t get teleported, unless you yourself want to but the loophole here is I can gravely injure you before you can teleport yourself, so if you ran out of those potions then I can kill you, can''t I?"

    She isn''t wrong. If I do run out of potion I am dead meat, all she has to do is give me a grave injury that will kill me in a matter of few seconds, if I don''t have the potion it wouldn''t matter whether I teleport to a safe ce or not.

    "Well, I have 82 of those. So, good luck"

    I have already used 8 of that high unnatural potion out of 90. Well, I left one of them to Elina.

    Right now, I am not nning on using those potions, let''s recover from exhaustion like this naturally.

    "Where do you even hide them"

    I materialized the potion bottle and then dematerialized it.

    "Annoying"

    Saying so, the demon lord turned her head and started reading another manga.

    Damn it!

    Don''t read so fast!

    Do you know how much time it takes to draw?

    Man, I am starting to understand the struggle of all those artists. I remembermenting ''Hey, it''s your damn job, at least post more Chapters! What''s with the hiatus!''

    I am ashamed of my past self.

    After resting for a while and eating some dinner with her, yes, dinner, it''s already night, we have been on the training grounds for hours.

    I stood up and went towards the chair to start working on the manga pages as I dipped my legs into the water that was in the small tub.

    Why am I doing it?

    Well, I am trying to control it.

    Look, I think it wasn''t mana that assimted into the atmosphere but ... let''s call it ''energy''

    Now this energy is like air,prising variousponents such as aura, mana, demonic energy, and probably more things.

    And this is what I want to confirm with the light blue.

    Noah''s intelligence probably isn''t as simple as the ''hey, I am smart'' thing, it probably shows how much one canprehend theseponents of the ''energy'' and use them.

    Why do I think ''intelligence'' has a role like this? Apparently, the demon lord has intelligence of B- rank... she can use mana and demonic energy too.

    So, well there is my reasoning.

    Also, I who was new to this world didprehend the ''energy'' as ''energy'' rather thanprehending theponents. I used it as a whole, everything, resulting in quite a huge boost for me.

    That''s my 2 cents on the stuff.

    The reason I didn''t have an aura or demonic energy proficiency column in my system window is probably because Noah didn''t use aura or demonic energy alone, so the system wasn''t able to evaluate it for Noah.

    On the other hand, Noah did find out about mana.

    So, he himself probably figured some things out.

    Well, for now, I am trying to control the mana, demonic energy, and aura, I want to use them all simultaneously without straining myself. So, the ''energy'' that has assimted with the environment, that is with the water in the tub, I am trying to control it as much as I can by using mana, aura, and demonic energy as a part of training and raising my proficiency.

    That''s the n for now.

    A pain in the ass of a n but a n nheless.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "Hey, tell me something, is it really calming when someone hugs you?" Demon lord asked as she showed me the manga panel where the boy was being hugged by the girl.

    It''s a manga where the boy is a damsel in distress and the girl is the cool type.

    "Well, if someone you don''t know anything about, hugs you, it will feel ufortable unless you are in a situation that''s too miserable, ''coz in that case you just need a hug and someone to tell you that they are there for you."

    "I see." Nodding to herself she went back to reading.

    You see, the thing about manga and anime is that they have expressions that are crystal clear to understand.

    They are expressive to the point even a total dumbfu*k will be able to understand unlike in real life where you have to learn to pick up on those subtle reactions of others.

    That''s the unique point of manga''s and anime''s...

    "What are you doing" I asked as I saw her reaching her hand out towards the button, it helps to call the maid in the room.

    "Summoning the maid?" She said tilting her head as if saying ''Isn''t it obvious''

    No, I get it. I am not dumb and I do believe if I can avoid talking to someone I should but..

    "It''s 2 am, what the hell do you need?"

    I have also found something, the demon lord unlike me can go for no sleep for years without getting exhausted. I am of course drinking coffee to keep myself awake. I can use my potions but I am refraining from it unless a couple of days pass first.

    The point is, what does she need at this hour, the answer is simple, nothing!

    I have spent a whole week with her, I know her better now.

    "I just wanna"

    See! I am right!

    I am always right!

    "Are you seriously gonna disturb their sleep thiste at night?"

    "They exist for me. Why should I bother worrying about their sleep? What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

    "That''s an asshole behavior right there"

    "...Did you just call me an asshole?" Demon lord said, her voice showing a bit of surprise.

    "I did."

    I stand my ground!

    You see, I can understand if there were night shifts and morning shifts but you see there are only 2 maids whoe to this room! The teenage girl and the demon Onee-san!

    Give them some rest! Especially the human girl! She always has a troubled expression! At least let her sleep!

    "You do realize, you are living here for free, eating the food with me for free, getting training sessions for free, right? And yet you have the audacity to call me an asshole? You are the one who is an asshole!"

    I-I..

    Wait.

    "Hey, you are reading those pages that I draw and forcing me to remain awake during the night to draw more just because you can''t wait. I think you need to learn what ''free'' actually means"

    That''s right. I wanna sleep. I can go around for 5 days straight without sleep but damn that doesn''t mean I love it or anything.

    Drawing is my hobby, not some fierce passion and I definitely am not a worker!

    I am literally starting to hate drawing!

    ..But that''s work!

    I am nning on taking these pages with me using inventory and then publishing all these manga I have been drawing.

    I have already drawn 2 within a week.

    Did I just contradict myself? I sure did!

    Having double standards is a pretty human thing, and as a paragon of humanity, I am all about being human!

    "It''s not my fault, you are the one who introduced me to these stories, what''s wrong with wanting to see the end of the story?"

    You are overworking me and that''s wrong!

    Have you never heard of employee rights!?

    Is this a ckpany!?

    Exploiting your employees, a tale as old as the inte!

    "You know what? This time I will draw the story to teach you how to not be an asshole"

    "Again, I am not an asshole. I am the ruler and have the right to rule things however I please, what''s so wrong with it?"

    "That mentality right there is true sign of an asshole."

    "You are crossing the line, kid, I will kill you"

    "As you said I am a kid, the fact that you are ready to kill a kid shows how cold-hearted you are. Besides, try as you might, you can''t kill me"

    Demon lord red at me, I met her re head-on, not backing down.

    I am going to fight for the employees right today!

    Down the path of rebellion, I go!

    "Then what about Liza? You are always trying to piss her off bymenting something about her knowing full well she can''t harm you because I have taken you as a disciple, is that not a behavior of an asshole?"

    ...I don''t know what you are talking about.

    I definitely didn''t tell Liza to bring me food only to then not eating it or to warm up the water because I wanted the bath, ordering her around as if she were my maid.

    I swear on the name of Mother Earth, I didn''t!

    "Aren''t you asshole for not teaching me, you just left me at the training grounds with Liza and told Liza to look after how I do things while you started to read manga"

    "That''s not me being an asshole, basics are always the same whether you learn from me or from Liza"

    "Yeah, it''s okay until you told Liza you beat me up real good knowing damn well that I am just a beginner, look I still have a bruise on my arm"

    "People learn faster when put in a perilous situation, besides you have your potions, use them"

    "Aren''t you trying to make me run out of them?"

    "That is the n"

    "See, you are straight-up evil"

    "I think everyone will agree that you are the one who is evil, you saw my naked body, who will marry me now"

    ...

    What? Is the manga rubbing on her?

    Gosh, why did I choose the rom genre!?

    "I never thought you wanted to marry anyone, besides, wouldn''t you being an SSS+ ranker be a deal breaker in the marriage? You might end up crushing someone''s little brother inside your cave by identally exerting more force"

    Downsides of being too strong!

    Yes, they exist!

    "...I might identally open a hole in your chest in our next training session" her voice tinged with clear anger entered my ears.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ...And so, we quarreled with each other the whole night, calling each other asshole and trying to prove our perspective, in the most cringiest fashion, I mean, you definitely aren''t gonna hear a normal argument from 2 people who have never had a proper conversation.

    After the long, stupid argument we both stopped.

    We didn''t say anything to each other, I worked on drawing the manga and she started reading the manga.

    After some time passed, I slowly stood up from the chair.

    "I will take the bath, don''t you dare barge in"

    "I am not a pervert like certain someone"

    Damn you!

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Liza''s pov)

    Atst, it seems like our queen has finally regained her senses.

    For a week, for a week this impudent human has been ordering things around as if he owns this ce.

    Where did he evene from?

    Our queen is also letting the human do however he pleases. She is also ignoring all her duties, she hasn''t gone to the throne room and has abandoned all her duties since that human had shown himself.

    She keeps spending her days with him.

    The human after drying his hair off, walked towards the bed, sitting next to the queen as they both started to eat the food. They have been eating like this for more than a week now.

    How could this human eat the food like it''s normal!?

    Just how!?

    I tried to calm myself down, yes, calm down Liza, it''s not like you are seeing it for the first time.

    Let''s just think of him as some kind of irregr.

    Regardless, I am d.

    The queen didn''t stare at him like she had been doing until now.

    She ate the food and got up.

    There is a weird atmosphere around both of them today as if they are fighting.

    And am I d!

    "You even eat slow. The amount of time you are wasting is baffling"

    "...Fuck you, let me eat in peace, will ya?"

    H-how dare he!

    To talk to the queen like that!

    What insolence!

    "Liza, mind passing me the water bottle you are holding, also please bring me a high-ranking healing potion, hell better if you could get the Elixir."

    Damn you, human!

    How dare you order me!

    "Understood" I replied, the lord has told to me listen, so it is my job to listen, don''t even for a moment think that I would in normal circumstances follow the words of a mere human.

    "Why do you need a healing potion? Don''t you have yours" The queen asked.

    "Yeah, I do but I don''t want to waste them when all I need is an energy drink"

    You leecher!

    "Make sense, using that type of potion for just an energy drink will be a waste but I don''t want to give you any potions of mine"

    "You don''t even use those potions you are storing, ever heard of charity? Please, donate them if you have a surplus amount"

    "...Annoying, just 5 Elixir, no more"

    Why are you siding with him, my queen!?

    "..Um, Liza Onee-san, what are you waiting for? I need my energy drink before I go to train, please be fast"

    Let me say it just once.

    I hate this human!

 Chapter 28: Learning Magic!

    <h4>Chapter 28: Learning Magic!</h4>

    The routine was set, from 6 am to 10 pm, I would remain in the training grounds and learn from the demon lord, sometimes Liza would take her ce. We do take few breaks in between, well it''s me who needs the break. I would take some refreshments and then again on the training we go.

    We would have dinner then from 11 pm to 4 am I would keep working on drawing the manga while trying to control the water that my foot are dipped in order to train mana, aura and demonic energy.

    The 2 hour gap is for me to just lie down, sleep? well, yeah, no.

    As I said I can go about 5 days without sleep, without facing any problems.

    And hey, I can use Elixir to get rid of the problem rted to sleeping once I hit the 5 day button!

    So, no sleep!

    Hahahaa!

    Productivity to max!

    Fantasy world is amazing!

    ...But it would be good if I can sleep.

    I sighed, one more week has passed since then.

    I have gotten good with scythe and I mean a looot good, I beat Liza''s ass today.

    And let me tell you, it was one-sided beat down.

    Ah, the results of my hard work are sure good.

    I still don''t think I can pull the moves I have seen in the games with my current skills but hey, one day I might be able to.

    What? Have you no never thought of pulling the game moves you have seen in real life? I have, so I am gonna do it!

    I have also been able to make little ripples in the water, which is a pretty great discovery.

    Yes, I am doing good!

    My aura and demonic energy proficiency has both risen to G, already. My mana proficiency is same though.

    Well, what matters is that I am able to harmonize all the 3 energies.

    But the effects of using these 3 aren''t as good as it was when I was just doing it without bothering to worry about any specificponent of the ''energy''.

    Oh well, it''s safer, so I can''tin.

    "So, let''s say energy is like a whole cooked dish" Demon lord said, currently her headying on myp as I used the fork to feed her.

    What am I feeding her? It''s a fruit named, Almiup, simr to apple.

    "What type of analogy is this?" I asked as I took another piece of the fruit using the fork and ate for myself.

    "Just listen. So, let''s say this ''energy'' is like a whole cooked dish, made of different spices, ingredients and stuff." she said and I tried to imagine the picture of her words.

    "Keep going"

    "Like I said, this ''energy'' is aplete dish and you are able to eat this dish, that is, use ''energy''. On the other hand other people can''t taste the dish for whatever reason, they are only able to taste some part of the dish, that is, mainly mana, aura and demonic energy."

    Makes sense.

    "Yeah, I understand that. I also got that intelligence is somehow connected to how much you can taste but what are you on about?"

    She is only person I know other than me who has intelligence that falls in B alphabet and also the only person who can use more than oneponent of this ''energy''.

    "Shush, let me finish" She said hitting my forehead my her finger which hurts like hell because of the sheer difference in our rank. Damn her.

    I rubbed my forehead as I continued to listen to her.

    "So, what I am saying is that your ability to taste the dish is actually pretty ...broken. I mean, you were able to cause ripples in that water even if only small one''s. That means, you might be able to bend nature to your will once you learn how to use all ponents'' of this ''energy'', right? Right now, you only just began to use mana, aura and demonic energy, it''s gonna be a long road for ahead of you"

    "You do realize you can do the same as me if you raise you intelligence, right?"

    She is simr to me in that aspect after all. It''s weird how she is saying it as if she isn''t involved in the matter.

    "Well" She said in a whisper as she used her hand to grab mine and directed the fork towards her mouth, eating the almiup and continued "My stat hasn''t risen inst 500 years and even if it does raise by a rank now I still won''t be B+ but only B rank, so I don''t really want to bother with it anymore, I guess?"

    ....Seems legit.

    We remained silent. It wasn''t awkward butfortable.

    She was right, I could in theory control nature if I learned to control this energy in proper way without harming myself.

    After all the ''energy'' has been assimted with the entire world.

    With water, the form for water is still H2O but it''s hybridization isn''t the same. The rocks/brick use to made the building have also absorbed the energy.

    That''s why the world is able to function if it didn''t then so many super heroes will definitely end up destroying the whole instead but that doesn''t mean there aren''t some real damage that can''t be done.

    For instance the demon lord in myp, if in our training she didn''t control her strength then just by swinging the scythe she could damn well split thend, form craters of destruction with just a swing, the sheer air pressure that would be created by just a simple swing of her could cause that much damage...

    SSS+ rank.

    My goal is to reach this rank within 2 years and then beyond SSS+ rank.

    I want to be strong, overwhelmingly so. That''s why, whatever this ability is definitely is worth having.

    There was only one more thing I wanted to know.

    "Hey, grab my hand and try to control my mana and all and destroy it, you said you could before, right?" I asked as I showed her my hand.

    Staring at it for sometime she finally gave me a nod as she intertwined her hand with mine.

    She closed her eyes and so did I.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A strange sensation, that''s what I felt when demon lord started to slowly control the mana inside of me.

    The process was slow, far too slow. I tried to resist her control but maybe because of my iparably poor proficiencypared to her it didn''t work out.

    After a long time, I finally felt it, I could tell, in an instant if she wishes for it, my hand could st.

    "Should I do it?" She clearly asked about destroying it.

    "No, just try to keep being in control"

    I said as I tried to use ''energy'', unlike how I have been trying to only use mana, aura and demonic energy, now I tried to go back to use it as a whole to take control of my hand back to me.

    In an instant, just an instant the hold that demon lord had on me vanished.

    I opened my eyes only to find demon lord staring at me.

    "You... this doesn''t care about rank, your energy I mean."

    "Seems to be the case"

    Yup, it seems like this ''energy'' didn''t care for rank difference. It''s simply an absolute power. Otherwise, the demon lord with her SSS+ ranker proficiency should have been able to easily keep the control over my arm.

    Gosh, I would celebrate honestly but I still don''t know details of it. So, I can''t help but be a bit wary.

    "If I can do it too, it would be awesome. I wonder how strong I would have been"

    Excuse me? What? Didn''t you just say you don''t wanna? What''s with this change of heart?

    Besides, if you had any more power than you already have it wouldn''t make any sense. Are you trying to topple the concept of strength?

    It would be one thing if this demon lord was only SSS+ ranker. But she has mastered all the weapons, I will repeat all the weapons, can use demonic energy and mana. She is also a good mage who can use all types of magic except light and has all the affinities except light.

    On that note..

    "Hey, teach me magic in next session."

    "..You have a magician ss?"

    "No, it''s not like I can''t learn without having a ss, is it?"

    As I have said before, ss only provides a boost and of course, makes you type of a genius in whatever field your ss is set in.

    But that doesn''t mean, you can''t learn something if you want to. It''s all a matter of time and hard work.

    If you don''t have talent, hard work is only option that''s left.

    ...Except I don''t think anyone without magician ss has ever learned how to use magic except some rare, I mean super rare cases.

    What? Why do I think I can do it then? My initial theory is that one can do whatever even without a ss, so I am sticking with it! That''s what was return in Noah''s diary anyway!

    Yes, it''s theory but if it fails, well the owner of this body was just writing chunni stuff in his diary.

    Ahem Ahem.

    Well, the demon lord doesn''t have a magician ss either but she can do it so better learn from her.

    "It''s not going to be easy, are you sure you want to do it?"

    See, her words imply I can learn magic!

    "Yeah, better learn everything I can"

    I want to have as many battle options as I can get. Of course, they gotta be cool too like my double sided scythe.

    With that being ourst conversation for the day, the demon lord began reading the manga and I began drawing one.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------

    "So, why are in front of an ocean" I asked enjoying the wind hitting my face and causing my hair''s to to flutter.

    I must be looking cool!

    Sad, no one is here to take the picture of my cool, handsome self.

    My charm is B+

    Of course, I am handsome.

    "You asked to learn magic, right? So we are here" Demon lord said with her indifferent tone her hair also fluttering in the air.

    In an instant all my self confidence died seeing this SSS charm girl.

    Shit, my charm is getting overshadowed!

    "What does me learning magic has anything to do with it?" I asked swallowing my inner stupid thoughts.

    "For those with magician ss it is natural to be able to conjure water, fire or whatever their elemental affinity is, but for those who wants to learn it, it''s different for them. You have learn the ''feeling'' of water, fire, air and wind if you want to use them and by that I mean, drown in water, burn in fire, get yourself in tornado and the stuff."

    ...

    No wonder, it''s ultra rare cases to learn magic without magician ss!

    Those guys simply got lucky! They were part of tragic idents! Like how some people gets hit in the head and then be some sort of math expert despite having failing grades until before the incident!

    Damn it!

    "Oh, just remember, you don''t have to learn pain but the feeling. For instance, to learn fire you have to feel it but if the temperature of fire at some point crosses a certain threshold you won''t feel how fire is but only pain, so remember that. You have to concentrate on the feel"

    Ah, makes sense.

    A lot of sense which I don''t like.

    "I understand"

    I started to mess with my brain to block of the sensation of pain, I wasn''t controlling the brainpletely like before, just removing the problem of pain.

    "Alright, in the water we go"

    "We?"

    "I will watch over you in case you start to drown for real"

    "Um.. Thanks"

    Wait, what?

    Grabbing me by my cor, demon lord made the jump in the ocean.

    I thought I just had to dip my head in water!? No one told me about being in deep inside the ocean like this!

    Damn it! I should have known better!

    ------------------------------------------------------

    I didn''t dare to open my eyes being underwater. I just focused on the cool sensation that I was feeling. Every inch on my body is covered with water.

    I will be running out of water soon enough but my body wasn''t struggling because I am controlling it using the ''energy''.

    If I had to tell the difference of when I use energy and when I use mana, aura or demonic energy then it would be simr to demon lord''s analogy of food. Using energy is like eating a dish but using particrponent is like only tasting an ingredient of the dish.

    Oh, well, it should be fine.

    I focused on the feeling, as we keep going deeper into the water, I could feel the increasing pressure all over my body.

    ''1 minute or 2 more at best..''

    I thought, remembering the fact that I am but a mere human not the mighty fish. I need to get outside to catch the breath.

    After trying to understand and analyze the feeling I felt inside the water and reaching my limit I tapped on the hand that''s grabbing my shoulder.

    With a speed that defied logic I was out of the ocean, back on thend as I gasped for air.

    "Alright, here we go" Saying so demon lord punched me in stomach.

    "Augh"

    A lot of water, I mean a lot of water just came out of my mouth.

    I coughed again and again, managing to grasp enough air to speak.

    "H-hey, I get it you helped me just now but you didn''t have to hit so hard that it would leave a bruise on me"

    If not for removing the sensation of pain I probably would have been on my knees clutching my stomach, right now.

    "Well, we have to do it again, then there''s also burning you, throwing you into the wind and lots of stuff, the day has just begun. Prepare yourself, future mage!" She said with a wicked smile on her face.

    Oh lord, she looks like a demon.

    Wait, she is a demon!

    Shit!

    And so a wonderful day of my torture began, bless my ability to remove pain sensation.

    Bing a mage is pretty expensive, and the amount of potion I have to spend is gonna be troublesome, well I am gonna use Elixir for most parts so that I can keep continuing and then when it''s all over I will use my potion.

    Rather than using my potion again and again to heal mepletely I just need to heal enough to keep continuing and then use my potion at the end of the day to get back in shape.

    Maybe I could enter the finance management department or something, haha...

    ------------------------------------------------------------------

    After the long and tiring day of getting thrown in the deep ocean, getting thrown in fu*kingva, getting thrown in the damn cyclone and having my body pierced with different sorts of concrete, and getting buried in the swamp and other stuff, I threw myself on the bed.

    I have taken a bath already and changed my clothes.

    Though for some reason, I really didn''t want to take that bath but I still did, conquering my nonexistent fears.

    "A few more times and you will learn the feeling, then we can begin on how to conjure the magic" I simply gave a nod to her.

    I don''t think I will need a ''few more times'' but I didn''t say that.

    "Great, I am living my education to you, take care of me"

    "You should start calling me master"

    No way.

    Why would I ever?

    "Whatever, I will just go and start drawing," I said, stretching my hand in the air as I walked towards the desk.

    "You should take a rest for today. You are just a kid, you know" she said lying on the bed with manga in her hands.

    "I am fine, I took the potion so exhaustion all gone"

    I am fit as a fiddle.

    "..I see" For some reason, I could sense some form of disappointment in her monotonous voice.

    I decided to ignore it and focus on my job.

    This wasn''t just for demon lord, I am going use these manga pages and publish it in the outside world too, and rack in that cash!

    Money is always a good motivation for working hard!

 Chapter 29: What鈥檚 Psychic?

    <h4>Chapter 29: What''s Psychic?</h4>

    Bam!

    Noah and Demon lord traded blow for blow in the training ground. Noah wielded a scythe, a real scythe while the demon lord wielded a wooden scythe, make no mistakes, even with a wooden scythe with no sharpness she could easily cut someone like a swiss cheese.

    Noah''s every strike was knocked aside over and over by the demon lord. Noah was covered in sweat, his shoulders rising and falling from heavy breathing.

    Liza who watched from the sidelines gritted her teeth. Just until recently, she has beaten the crap out of Noah but in just a week, he has gotten good enough to beat her back, one-sidedly so, in such a way, that she now can''t help but have nightmares.

    The sheer speed with which Noah learned is frightening.

    ''Just where did he pop up from!''

    Liza thought for the nth time.

    Noah leaped back putting distance between himself and the demon lord as a ball of fire wasunched in the demon lord''s direction.

    Demon lord threw her own fireball towards Noah, it swallowed his and started making its way towards him, for the record the one fireball demon lord threw against Noah is a pretty low-leveled one, she matched the strength of an F-ranker with magician ss. Noahunched 10 consecutive water balls that hit the fireball, causing smoke to emerge as both attacks canceled each other out

    '' ..And just when did he learn magic!?'' Liza thought it was not like she was weaker than Noah, the truth is she herself is an SS+ ranker. If she wants to, she can turn Noah into a paste in an instant but what bothered her the most is Noah''s pure raw skills and talent.

    Demon lord closing the distance between herself and Noah with an incredible speed flung a strike, Noah shielded himself with the help of a scythe. As the fierce blow struck Noah''s scythe, Noah was flung into the sky.

    A jolt of numbness wracked his senses as he spun through the air and before plummeting back to the ground he shot an icicle towards the demon lord which she brushed aside with her hand.

    Noah tried to control his breathing, both his arms twitching.

    "Damn, show some leeway, will ya?"

    "Aren''t you the one who wanted to learn? Quitining"

    And so the spar continued, well, it was just Noah trying his best tond a blow on the demon lord which he, of course, failed in doing.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s Pov)

    "So you are gonna exin or what?" Bringing the orange juice towards me, the demon lord asked.

    I wanted to reply but...

    Damn, give me some time, let me have some air inside my body.

    Oh lord, for thest 2 hours, I have been trying to hit her and the results were horrendous, forget about hitting her, she doesn''t even have a single sweat trickling down on her.

    I can''t even take advantage of her running out of stamina in a fight... because she just doesn''t run out of it!

    After controlling my rapid breathing, I finally spoke.

    "Like hell I know, all I know is I haven''t used any mana at all," I said, taking the sip of the orange juice.

    What are we talking about? It''s about my magic.

    For some reason, I didn''t feel like learning or going through lessons from the demon lord. I felt like I would be able to do it, instinctive feeling.

    And vo! I was able to do it.

    Except for conjuring magic like fireballs and the generic stuff, everyone consumes mana but in my case, that didn''t happen. Not in the slightest. Now one might think, hey maybe it''s because of ''energy'' or something, maybe I used some different ponent'' but nope.

    I haven''t felt even a bit of a drain of energy either, so that''s not it.

    Demon lord''s face scrunched.

    "What did you find odd?" I asked putting the orange juice down, it''s cold, and I gotta drink slowly if I don''t want to have a brain freeze.

    I don''t really know much about how magic works in this world to begin with, for me the only odd thing was that my mana reserves remained full, not used at all, which made me feel like I was in seventh heaven.

    Unlimited mana works!

    Ahem ahem.

    You get my line of thoughts but surely it can''t be that.

    "Let''s see, the consecutive attacks that you made. Magic needs time to be conjured, you can''t just rapid-fire it, no that''s not urate, you can rapid-fire it but ...still it''s not instantaneous. Your magic attacks were also weaker for whatever reason but you made up for it through the number of attacks you made. Also, it''s not like chantless magic doesn''t exist but ...you are a newbie, right?" Demon lord said as she took the juice bottle from me and drank it for herself.

    ...Fuck you! That was my drink! Just because I stopped doesn''t mean I didn''t want to drink it, I just didn''t want to have a brain freeze!

    "I see"

    I said, lying on the ground.

    "You already have an idea, don''t you?" Liza along with the teenage girl started walking towards us as she made herment.

    "I do," I said looking up at the sky.

    Of course, I do.

    Somewhat.

    Don''t know if I am right about it though.

    Oh well, we have a demon lord here, she can just verify things for me.

    "What is it?" Demon lord asked using her leg to nudge my body.

    "Aquakinesis, Pyrokinesis, Aerokinesis and Geokinesis"

    Basically, it''s not magic but psychic, something that no one in the novel had...

    I haven''t even started my academy and I have already witnessed too many things that are different from the novel.

    ..Fuck me sideways.

    Why do I think it''s like this? Well, that''s ''coz I can feel my head hurting whenever I try to do any of that magic shit!

    And I can understand the reason why my attack power is low.

    I am creating water, fire, and all but there''s a difference.

    As I have said before, the ''energy'' assimted with the atmosphere itself.

    Water in this world has the same form as in my world, that is H2O but ..the hybridization, atomic number, and mass are all different.

    Since it''s psychic it heavily depends on my mental ability and ...I have no idea how this world''s chemistry works nor am I interested in it.

    Why would I re-learn whole chemistry!? Do you know the amount of exceptions I have to memorize for organic? And you want me to go through this shit again? And then what? What about when I go back to my world? I will have to remember all the stuff again! Yeah, a big no.

    Well, that''s my 2 cents on why my attack power is low but I can make up for it with my sheer instantaneous speed.

    Besides, if it''s not magic it''s gotta be psychic, that''smon sense!

    I mean, what else could it be!?

    Now, the question is what''s the difference between psychic and magic?

    "You really believe it''s psychic?" Liza said her voice grumpy. She is always in a bad mood, it''s been worse since I beat her up, the teenage girl was looking at me with curiosity.

    "...What''s psychic?"

    ....

    The indifferent voice belonged to none other than our great demon lord.

    For a good second, I stared at her.

    No, I know this world is about magic but seriously psychic word isn''t something unheard of.

    Just like how psychics and magic are both fiction in my world, psychics would be considered fiction in this world.

    "Why are you all staring at me?"

    Oh, great demon lord, what kind of sheltered life have you lived?

    I slowly stood up.

    "I will go and practice with those dummies as my target for aiming my psychic attacks, ask those questions to Liza to your heart''s content," I said to the demon lord as I prepared to leave

    "Don''t call me Liza you bastard, my name is Elizabeth, only our queen is allowed to address me however she pleases"

    Liza, calm down for fuck''s sake, it''s just a name!

    As I started walking away from them, I got grabbed from behind.

    I moved my head to see the culprit.

    "I am teaching you, so you have to teach me" What kind of logic did this demon lorde up with?

    "I am sure Liza will exin you properly, she doesn''t seem like a newbie to this stuff" At my words, Liza sent me a death re and the demon lord stared at me without saying anything.

    ....

    Gosh, why didn''t I draw a psychic manga until now?

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "So, psychic is a mental ability"

    "Long story short, yes" I have read the whole wiki page that I once read from my memory to her.

    "That''s interesting to learn about, I wonder if I can do it," the Demon lord said with a poker face but her eyes sparkling.

    That''s new.

    "Queen, you should not forget, it is fictitious." Liza chimed in.

    "If he can do it, then it''s not fictitious" Hey, just because this world has magic doesn''t mean my world has, it will remain fictitious for my world, I mean magic.

    What I am trying to say is... you are not the chosen one, demon lord.

    Give up on your dreams.

    The earlier you give up, the better.

    "I think it''s better to not count him as a person."

    Did she just deny my existence?

    As much as I wanted to say to Liza that she is right about telling the demon lord to cut off from bing delusional I can''t help but want to punch her.

    "...Fair enough"

    Demon lord!?

    Don''t just agree with her!?

    The hell?

    Shaking my head, I tried to gather my thoughts.

    Psychic, I am not sure if it really is psychic but for now I guess, I will go with this option not like I have any other idea.

    I opened my palm and a me appeared above my palm.

    I remembered the sensation of heat, its intensity when I was thrown inva and ..set on fire by the demon lord yesterday.

    ''I barely survived''

    I shook my head and focused on remembering the heat, at first it was okay, but slowly the temperature was bing more intense, I could feel my palm scorching but I didn''t stop.

    Soon enough, the small me started turning into a blue me and I was feeling the heat of it, I really wanted to move away my hand but I didn''t.

    Whoosh~

    What?

    I looked at the hand touching my palm, it was none other hand demon lord.

    "What the hell are you doing?"

    Did she just vanish the fire above my palm by just bringing her own hand down?

    Logic is nowhere to be found, is it?

    "I was wondering if you feel the same burning sensation when you conjure the fire or cold sensation when you conjure ice.. that kinda stuff" I replied to her question.

    "No, you wouldn''t feel it unl-" She stopped midway "You can feel the heat of the spell, is that it?"

    "It''s not a spell, I just exined the whole stuff moments ago"

    "Doesn''t matter, so?"

    "Yeah, you are right"

    Demon lord let out a sigh.

    You see, magic works differently.

    For instance, the castor making a huge ball of fire wouldn''t feel the burning sensation of it despite being near it, not only him but anyone else wouldn''t feel it either.

    You see, until the spell isunched it wouldn''t harm anyone.

    You can create a huge ball of fire but you wouldn''t feel its heat and can concentrate on pumping it with mana to make it more destructive and once it''sunched it will cause havoc in the ''<i>direction</i>'' it isunched.

    It''s not hard to understand how important this factor is.

    It''s no use if you end up melting before you can even create a huge ball of fire and it''s no use if you end up melting once youunched the fireball after all it''s a damn fireball, it would radiate heat in all directions, usually, that is.

    Of course, it doesn''t mean you can''t be harmed by your own magic, well not unless you misfire it upon yourself.

    Back to the main point, the fact that I can feel like fire burning my skin isn''t really a good thing.

    Well, it''s not magic but psychic so I guess, I will have to find a way to keep the temperature of the fireball high and my body temperature low to not end up dying.

    I will have to control the heat very carefully surrounding my body and surrounding the fireball, well, it''s not just for fireball, same goes for other stuff too.

    ...Though, I have no idea how am I supposed to do it.

    I sighed.

    What a hassle.

    "It''s better to start with less damaging spells. For now, let''s focus on your scythe"

    "Yeah, understood"

    Saying so, I grabbed my scythe and so did demon lord her''s.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Done with the bath, I used the towel to dry my hair off.

    "You don''tb them, do you?"

    I gave a nod to the demon lord.

    What? Don''t look at me like that! So what if I leave my hair as is by ruffling them a little!?

    It''s not like there''s aw that you have tob them!

    And I am handsome enough anyway!

    Everything works for people who are handsome! My charm''s B+!

    I went towards the bed, there''s no dining table in the room, you sit on the bed and eat however you want.

    Taking my te I began to eat

    "Hmm"

    Stop staring at me.

    "What do you want?"

    "Your name"

    What?

    Do you want to take my name?

    The hell?

    The world''s bing weirder each day.

    "Are you okay?" I asked this is serious, if my teacher falls ill I wouldn''t be able to learn shit, that had be a loss.

    As far aspleting this hidden dungeon quest is concerned as long as I have her hooked on manga I can use them to make her stop from ending the world.

    Things are going fine in that department, what matters most here is my learning.

    "I am okay, I just don''t want us to separate without even knowing your name"

    ...

    Ah, so that''s what it is.

    Thest manga I gave her to read was about two people enjoying time with each other until one day one of them disappears and the other person realizes he doesn''t even know the name of the other party until one day he finally finds out about the person, she is dead.

    Sighing, I said my name.

    "Noah" Demon lord nodded at those words of mine and for the sake of manner I proceeded to ask "What''s your name?"

    Her name wasn''t mentioned in the novel, so, there''s that.

    Though, I don''t really care about her name. It simply didn''t matter to me.

    "I don''t know, it''s been too long since anyone called me by my name, so I just forgot"

    ...

    Did she just literally say she forgot her own name?

 Chapter 30: A Name?

    <h4>Chapter 30: A Name?</h4>

    "So, you don''t know your name. I see"

    Demon lord gave me a small nod.

    I understand. I totally understand.

    ...I do. I really do.

    It''s a pretty casual thing. Happens from time to time. That''s life. People are forgetful by nature.

    ...

    "Don''t you have records or anything of the kind? Someone who knows about your name? You might have forgotten but someone else might remember?"

    ...or she is just the biggest old hag.

    I didn''t dare say that.

    I have long gone learned my lesson to notment on a woman''s age, more so, when you know you are weak.

    "My parents died when I was around in my 50''s? I think. I became the lord when I hit the age of 100, and since then I have been only called demon lord or queen. Also, about any written records I don''t know about them."

    Damn...

    She has been a Demon lord for centuries now, that''s amazing.

    The thing is, the ''Demon lord'' is selected by having a match.

    Whoever is the strongest Demon, gets to be the demon lord.

    If you want to be the next demon lord all you gotta do is challenge the current one and win, incase you lose, well you lose your life.

    The Demon lord in front of me is the SSS+ ranker. There''s no SSS- ...so, of course, she is the strongest and will remain Demon lord until the day she dies.

    "What was your rank when you became the Demon lord"

    "It''s the same, SSS+ rank. My potential in the system window is SSS+ rank"

    Holy mother ofmon sense ...

    Didn''t her words mean she became an SSS+ ranker when she was only 100 years old?

    I mean, our protagonist will be an SSS+ ranker in his early 20''s but still..

    She is impressive. Man, if her potential cap wasn''t SSS+ rank then she sure would have been quite a monster.

    In a way, she is better than the demon lord outside this hidden dungeon.

    "You know, all species have different life spans but their emotional development is the same except for vampires."

    What the fuck is she on about all of a sudden...

    I nodded my head at her words, I knew what she was talking about, I had done mymon-sense gathering studies in the first 2 weeks when I came to this world.

    What I don''t get is why is she talking about it.

    Ignorant of my inner confusion the demon lord continued to speak.

    "Vampires, their emotional development is the slowest among all species, they are immortal so it makes sense."

    I know.

    By the way, the term emotional development doesn''t have the typical meaning. Here, it''s meant for one''s own feelings(?)

    It''s hard to describe but if I have to give an example then, slow emotional development for vampires doesn''t mean they don''t understand the emotions of others, it means they just don''t get attached to things as fast as other species do.

    They can''t empathize or sympathize easily with others, they can''t ''feel'' as if they have be friends with others as easily.

    For instance, if a human spends an entire day with someone they call that person an acquaintance at least, and if they meet them again they would greet each other but in the case of vampires, that other person will remain a stranger, a hard-core stranger.

    But it was a necessary requirement for their species, they live for eternity, if they were to end up bing affectionate of others just like other species that easily they would be in a hell of a pain.

    It would be like a curse.

    Right now, they don''t get attached to anything that fast or be close to others which helps them live without having to feel that much emotional pain.

    "Elves who live for 200 years, then dwarves who live for 150"

    A change of topic?

    What is she on about? I still don''t know

    "Then beastfolk who live for 130 years, humans who live for 100 years"

    Okay...

    "They all have the same emotional development but their lifespan isn''t really that big"

    Uh-huh

    "On the other hand demons live for 1000 years, 10 times more than a humans life span and 5 times more than an Elves lifespan. Despite that demons have the same emotional developmental growth rate."

    Yeah...

    That''s something I still find weird.

    Demons despite having a 1000-year life span have simr growth to humans in terms of emotional state.

    "...What I want to say is I-I... never really bothered about the name until now but for some reason, I want to ...to be called by one"

    Seriously?

    You went in such a roundabout way to say this.

    Oh wait, It seems my manga is doing wonders...

    It was an obvious thing to happen, what''s the best way to manipte people? Media, duh.

    Using movies, advertisements, and such things you can run propaganda and instill the idea inside people''s heads.

    Good old method.

    And I am doing the same, also by having demon lord spend almost all of her time with me she doesn''t have anyone else to have opinions with.

    Being the lone reader of my manga she also doesn''t have the luxury of other''s opinions, currently.

    So, her perspective is changing into one that I want to change into without running into trouble by outside party''s interference which in a way I am blocking. As they say, slow and steady.

    That is how brainwashing works.

    Wait, that went dark.

    Ahem Ahem.

    Point is,

    ''Watch me as I save the world by creating manga!''

    I thought as I took thest bite of my food.

    "So, let me be clear. You want me to call your name when you don''t even know your name"

    What kind of bullshit is this? This wasn''t part of the n.

    "Give me one then," Demon lord said looking me in the eye.

    What?

    Do you want me to give a name to someone who is my great great-great-great-grandma''s age?

    She didn''t break the eye contact, her poker face now had an earnest expression.

    Oh lord... I just realized the troubles that are going to follow me from now on.

    "Can''t you just see it on the system screen?" I asked

    "It was changed. A long time ago"

    Damn.

    You see, the system will change your name if you don''t use it or if others call you by some other name.

    Once a certain period is over, that is.

    Just like one can change their name in real life, they could do the same with the system.

    "I will give you one after you teach me demonnguage"

    For now, let''s divert the topic.

    I know the basics of allnguages I learned all of the basics in the first 2 weeks when I arrived in this world.

    Yes, basics only, like learning all the cussing words and stuff that will help me not get scammed.

    I can learn them perfectlyter, I just wanted to get the gist of them all.

    Except for demonnguage.

    There are no resources to.

    Demons and vampires live he long so they know allnguages and talk in whichever is preferable to other''s. Most people don''t know if Demons even have anguage of their own or not but they do.

    I know for a fact.

    The Demon Lord here knows the humannguage and so does Liza and the teenage girl is a human to begin with, we never had to use some device to talk with each other.

    Anyways, back on point, demonnguage I don''t even know the basics for it.

    So, I wanna learn.

    "Alright, that''s easy but you will give me the name and call me by it, I will eat you as my dinner if you won''t"

    Geez...

    "I understand."

    But..

    "You could have asked Liza or someone else to give you a name"

    Why me?

    "...Because you don''t care about me being a Demon lord?" She said tilting her head as if saying ''Isn''t it obvious?''

    No, I still don''t get it.

    "And?"

    "No demons would call me by a name. As for any other species, they will probably call my name if I ask but likely coz they are afraid of me or hate me, I don''t want a name like that."

    Ah, I remember now.

    "Gotcha" I replied to demon lord as I started making my way towards my desk to draw manga''s.

    You see, ''Demon Lord'' is a title that once obtained all the demons will respect you and revere in a really extreme manner.

    When I say all, I mean ALL demons.

    So I can understand why no demon would willingly call her by her name as for other species, it doesn''t need to genius to figure that answer.

    Also, once the ''Demon lord'' title is attained all demons will be under yourmand, what I mean by that is.. they can''t disobey themands.

    Yes, you heard me right.

    Now you might wonder how some demons still cause damage when the ''Demon lord'' said they will iste themselves and not attack others- outside of this hidden dungeon- the novel main world.

    The answer to that is simple, it''s Demon lord orders.

    You see, it''s only been 300 years since the world changed and only 200 and something years that people learned about other species. There still exists information that''s not clear.

    But in this hidden dungeon, it''s been thousands of years, Demons aren''t hiding either, they are on the damn rampage, so lots of information that isn''t known outside in the world, you can learn all about them from this hidden dungeon.

    Of course, when the protagonist learns about this huge piece of baffling information he was shocked, beyond shocked and you can already guess how big of a plot point this hidden dungeon carries for the novel.

    Now, the question that''s left is ''Why did the Demon lord enter a peace treaty with everyone?''

    The death toll during the war was simply greater than he anticipated, so he needed everyone to reproduce, not only that the world was still in developing stages, so he simply wanted to develop a bit more before making it all his.

    Also, that guy reached the SSS+ rank and he wants to go beyond it. So, he wanted to meditate and break through it. That''s why he wanted peace.

    Yeah, he just yed everyone because of theck of actual information.

    And the food problem was solved by other species anyway, so who cares?

    He simply told the demons to keep causing a little bit of chaos from time to time and to garner lots of strong beasts from all around the world.

    Keep in mind they came to this world recently, so they still didn''t know which beasts are strong or which ones are not and where to find them, that kinda information.

    I mean, demons themselves are strong but their strength lies in the ability to control beasts.

    Also, demons don''t reproduce like other species, so they can''t just die willy-nilly, or else they could get annihted.

    2 kids are all they can reproduce, I mean female demons, of course. Male ...demons are just males.

    You get the gist.

    These are all the reasons why the ''Demon Lord'' in the outside world of this hidden dungeon chooses to enter the peace talk back in the day or at least that''s what was told in the novel.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    creak~

    The door opened, revealing Liza with morning breakfast.

    Breakfast time!

    Just when I was feeling it would be nice to have something to eat, she appeared!

    A true pro maid.

    "Hm? She isn''t with you today?" Demon lord asked pointing her finger to Liza''s side.

    By she, demon lord must mean the teenage girl.

    I was focused on what might be for the breakfast so I failed to notice she wasn''t here today.

    "She is resting today, humans are fragile they need to rest from time to time"

    No, humans aren''t fragile, you guys just don''t make any logic.

    I mean, Demon lord has been wide awake since the day I came here. It''s one thing for me since I consume potion to remove all mental, and physical fatigue or sometimes just straight up mess with my brain with brain tempering but demon lord hasn''t done anything like that.

    "Noah, doesn''t rest though and he seems fine?"

    For a good second, Liza looked at me.

    ''Ah, must be because she is calling my name''

    I wanted to tease Liza, but s, my damned conversation skills were just too low to actually think of the words that would help me act smug.

    "Please don''t think of ''this'' thing as a person, my queen"

    Fuck you, Liza!

    "..I see."

    Why does she always agree with Liza when ites to denouncing me as a person!?

    As unfortunate as it is, I am a full-fledged human!

    "Why do you care about her, anyway?"

    I cannot understand why she is even here, I mean, you are Demon Lord, you sure aren''t gonna have a problem with finding maids for you.

    So why is it that only Liza and that girl the only one''s who are your maid?

    I have been holding my curiosity for a long time now.

    "Oh, I killed her mother in an attack, she died while holding onto the crying baby. I wanted to know why she tried to protect the baby, she could have made a run for it instead of trying to shield the baby. After all, if she dies, the baby will of course die, it won''t survive without someone taking care of it, right?"

    Did I forget to mention she is a ''Demon lord''? A story like this suits her title.

    "Then it urred to me, what if I decided to raise this baby and then one day tell her that I am the one who killed her actual mother? How will she react? Will she resent me even though I raised her with lots of care? Will she try to put it past it and keep our rtionship the same way as it is? I wanted to know how things will unfold"

    <i>''Bloody hell''</i>

    I thought as I took a sip from the cup of coffee which I took from the food tray that Liza had brought along with her.

    "So, what happened?"

    Keep the story going.

    "Nothing, I am still raising her, she is but 17 years old after all. I will wait until she is 20"

    Wait... 17? She is 17?

    I-I thought she was younger than me!

    I have been tricked by her appearance!

    Never judge a book by its cover.. and yet here am I, knowing full well about the phrase and still making such a blunder.

    "Let me get this straight. You thought it would be fun to raise her and then see how she would react to you? Why do have her as your maid? You haven''t raised her properly at all. Raising someone doesn''t mean, you give them a roof overhead and food to eat, that''s not it"

    Those parents aren''t good but not worse either. They do fall in the category of bad though.

    "..It''s not?"

    The demon lord looked at me, her face expressing immense shock.

    "No, it''s not. Also, I can bet my life she already suspects you or Liza killed her parents or.. she has a terrible misunderstanding, something like, her parents worked for you before they died that''s why you took her in"

    Now I understand why that girl is always nervous.

    She is simply feeling too pressured, the suspects for your parent''s death are the same people who you have no idea why are not treating you like other ves.

    But just because she doesn''t get treated badly like others doesn''t mean she is gonna be super grateful to them, rather it just doesn''t make sense to her.

    Or..

    She is already at the age where she knows what''s right or wrong. Knowing that she is treated differently from other people in this ce my Demon lord she probably thinks her family had joined hands with demons and helped them.

    Every time she would see a ve in the castle or those people who were turning into food she would of course feel guilty.

    Damn.

    She is going through a lot.

    Or maybe I am making stupid assumptions and there''s a different reason altogether.

    "What do I do now then? Kill her?"

    Demon lord asked me with an innocent face.

    Makes sense though, her experiment went down the drain just now, I also throw my school projects in the trash once I am done with them.

    I shook my head as I caught the slight crease on Liza''s face.

    The fuck?

    "Just have her as your maid till she dies. I am sure Liza would love herpany. Don''t just lump all the work on one person"

    "That ...also works, Liza, do whatever you want with her. I don''t care much anymore." Demon lord asked tossing the manga she was reading aside.

    Phew, I saved a life and someone from grief... wait, Liza what''s with that creepy smile you have.

    "Understood, my queen!" This was the most enthusiastic response I have heard from her till now.

    ...

    I spend the day as I usually do with the demon lord except now I have new things added to the schedule and that''s learning demonnguage.

    The next day arrived. Both maids with breakfast came into the room.

    "Hm? Are you ill or something? Your face is all red and you seem to have eye bags. Did you not sleep?" Demon lord asked to the 17 old girl, should I call her onee-san too?

    "N-no, I am fine!" She replied bowing her head down.

    ''Wonder if it counts as losing virginity if it''s Yuri? It does... I think

    Whatever.

    On a side note, different species can''t form a baby together. That means, go wild if you wanna, there''s nothing to worry about.

 Chapter 31: A Day Off

    <h4>Chapter 31: A Day Off</h4>

    The days continued, as usual, it''s already been more than a month since I came to this hidden dungeon, and my course of learning scythe, double-sided scythe has ended. I am halfway through the swordsmanship course.

    My training with trying to manipte the water using mana, aura, and demonic energy is going well too. I am able to make lots of ripples in the water by touching it and it only takes me 10 seconds to make those ripples!

    How impressive of me!

    As for figuring out the differences between magic and psychics, Liza and I sparred with each other while the demon lord took notes to point out those differences.

    The results are as follows -

    Psychic is a tad bit faster than magic.

    The range of magic isrger than psychic. Though psychic shows the potential to grow that range in the future.

    The magic attack doesn''t hurt the castor unless he misfires it upon himself while psychic attacks can harm the castor if not handled carefully.

    Also, the psychic attack cannot be dispersed in the middle, unlike magic where if the castor is interrupted the spell he worked on will go puff. I like this one.

    My psychic attack power also depends a lot on my mental image and how much I can feel it. Inyman''s terms, I can''t create a fireball at 100 degrees Celsius if I don''t know how 100 degrees Celsius actually feels like, the more I remember the feeling of that heat the better.

    In other words, I gotta remember that vivid burning sensation inly and clearly if I want my attacks to actually do any damage and of course, if my mental image isn''t good then it doesn''t matter how much I remember the feeling of that heat.

    Of course, it''s just pyrokinesis that I am talking about, for aquakinesis I will have to remember the sensation of being in the water, the water pressure that I felt when I went down deeper into it ...and so on.

    Meanwhile magic doesn''t require this condition, you can simply use chants andunch the attack.

    Gosh, it''s a shitty thing but I have to use what I have.

    Besides all this, I am getting good with demonnguage and othernguages as well. I thought I would learn othernguagester down the line properly but I guess the sooner the better.

    Before I knew enough to not look dumb and now I know enough to look absolutely good.

    Yup, those 2 weeks weren''t really enough to truly learn thenguages properly.

    One can study the night before exams and obtain average results but to obtain the absolute highest marks you really gotta study diligently.

    As you can see my life has been smooth sailing ...is what I had like to say but I haven''t slept for more than a month now.

    I have been using Elixir to remove my fatigue and brain tempering from time to time to remain awake.

    But.. Elixir doesn''t remove the ''wanting'' to sleep emotion and I am not using brain tempering to the best of its ability because I still don''t know much about ''energy'' so I am still cautious about it.

    My daily life is all about grinding, and training from day to night, there''s no rest in between. What? When I draw manga all I do is sit at my desk. Well, that thing actually does tire me out!

    The point is, I am getting tired of this life!

    I can''t even y games because there are no games here!

    There are no TV shows to watch or any series to binge, I mean, let''s be honest the world is pretty messed up. People are living in hiding while demons go around doing whatever, so it makes sense.

    Gone is the gung-ho nature that I began with at the beginning ofing into this world.

    Just thinking about that I have to go and do another hidden dungeon after this is enough to creep me out.

    "Get up," Demon lord said as she took a bite of the cookie.

    "I am in my burnout session. Leave me be" I replied in a muffled voice, lying on the bed, my head buried in the pillow as I continued "Hey, is that chocte cookie?"

    "Want one?" Demon lord asked and without waiting for my reply shoved the cookie in my mouth.

    Ugh.

    The hell.

    "Hey, don''t give me that half piece of cookie you ate, give me a full piece," I said while munching down on it.

    "What? You don''t want the same cookie that I ate? Shouldn''t you be flustered by the indirect kiss? Just so you know, my charm is SSS, even Elves only have SS or SS+, you know?"

    Past me, if I ever met you I will kill ya.

    Why the hell did you write romance manga''s? And cliched and generic ones at that?

    Good lord.

    What have I done?

    "Yeah, whatever," I said while picking up the manga I drew.

    I tried to read it but it just didn''t give me the satisfaction and fun that I would get from reading.

    Guess, I am a consumer type than a production type guy.

    "Hey, Liza make copies of these, ask some dwarves to build a printer if you guys don''t have one. I want copies of all these" I said pointing at 15 manga that I have drawn, yes manga I am not gonna even bother with how many volumes each manga has.

    "Reason being?" Liza asked in a displeased voice while the other ..onee-san simply became startled.

    Of course, you would be displeased if someone stopped you when you were in the middle of flirting.

    Don''t think I didn''t notice Liza!

    Leave the poor kid alone, will ya? I highly doubt it''s consensual...

    And why are you doing it here? Are you getting a kick out of it? Flirting in a lewd way in a workce with people while trying to not get caught?

    What kind of kink is this?

    The demon lord is one thing, she is innocent ..well, actually she is just dumb in this area but it''s different for me.

    It''s ufortable!

    "I want copies of my work" I will leave this ce but I definitely am not leaving without my manga!

    I gonna publish them and earn money once I am out of this hidden dungeon but if I took them then the demon lord will be deprived of it.

    So, I am just asking for copies, it''s no big deal.

    "I understand. I will get to work." Liza said with a sigh but then she showed a smirk and took the girl with her...

    Fucking lunatics, if you do anything in the damn printing room I swear I won''t sit back idly!

    Don''t you dare do anything weird while printing my manga!

    "Alright, I have decided. Let''s go." Demon lord said pumping up her fist, a bit of excitement evident in her voice.

    "Have a nice day. I am on rest today."

    One needs to know how much they can push themselves. I know my limits, it''s time to take a day off so I am doing that.

    "You areing with me," Demon lord said with a stubbornness evident in her tone. She has grown, gone was the indifferent, bored voice of hers reced with little bits of emotions now.

    "Where are you going?"

    It doesn''t seem like she is talking about our training.

    "Let''s go on an outing to help you with your burnout"

    Oh, hell no.

    She is one of those types who on holiday would go to freaking malls and ces and say ''It was a fun day!''.

    I hate them. Like, dude, do you NOT know the meaning of the holiday?

    It''s supposed to be the day for rest!

    Rest means, lying in your bed!

    "No."

    I replied to her.

    "Your opinion doesn''t matter"

    Before I could make heads and tails of her words she grabbed me by the cor, princess carried me... I mean, prince carried me and jumped out the window of the room.

    ...How the fuck did you jump 250 feet in the air?

    The absolutely creepy thing is, that she didn''t actually jump with her all her might, it was just a casual, light jump.

    I tightly clung my hands around the demon lord''s neck so as to not fall.

    "Are we gonna fall now? Why jump so high?"

    I mean, we are in the sky! Open sky!

    And we are falling!

    "Nope, we aren''t falling. Just hang on tight"

    She said as she ...

    Wait, did she just kick the air and the air pressure helped her propel forward?

    This is some anime-level shit.

    SSS+ rank...

    ''Ah, gotta work hard to get to her level''

    I thought as I looked at the sky view that I was getting to see, it took some time for my eyes to adjust because of her speed.

    Though Demon lord wasn''t really going that fast. I can tell, she is holding back, a lot, if she didn''t I would most likely die by air pressure alone. How considerate, indeed.

    But where are we going?

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Damn it!

    We are out of the demonic continent.

    The sun that I hadn''t seen for ages is shining down on me, its radiant light making me want to run back to the demonic continent.

    "Why are we on a stranded ind?" I asked, yes she brought me to an ind, an ind where there''s a damn eagle flying in the sky and it is the size of a fucking helicopter!

    "It''s my personal ind where all my beasts live"

    Hot shit.

    Imagine having a whole-ass ind for your pets!

    O-our standards are sure world''s apart.

    "I came here to find a suitable sparring partner for you. It''s good to be training with me but it wouldn''t help you if you only fight against people. Fighting a beast is different from fighting a person and of course, they are my beasts so spending time with them is a normal thing to do, isn''t it?"

    I can''t argue with that.

    "You can do whatever you want to do while I am away, it shouldn''t take me more than a few hours."

    "Seriously?"

    "Well, there are around 40 million beasts living here"

    ...

    "Hey, I wille with you. I am going to slow you down but I still wannae with you"

    I don''t wanna die!

    They are the beasts ''The demon lord'' has control over.

    Ain''t no way they are weak! What are the chances of me meeting one and getting attacked?

    ...I did a bit of mental math which told me I am... a bit bad at math.

    A-anyways, there are a lot of chances of meeting one and getting attacked, I mean there are 40 million beasts here!

    "Don''t chicken out, they won''t attack you. I have personally told them to not attack unless attacked first"

    ...Why?

    Wait, actually...

    "How do they live? They don''t attack each other, do they? So... what''s their food source?"

    "The other beasts that live inside the ocean. They do their own hunting and eating. From time to time Liza alsoes here and leaves the wild beasts for them to hunt and train and eat."

    Liza sure does a lot of work.

    I am starting to respect her a bit.

    "So, why am I here?"

    I asked unable to understand what''s my need. She could have juste here all on her own.

    "After I am done selecting, you can choose who you would wanna spar with. I mean, there are 40 million beasts even after choosing them it would still be around 100 or so. From there, just choose the type of beast you want to spar against. I mean, in the end, you should fight against someone you think you can learn something from. That''s something you will have to choose."

    Your exnation is shit but I understand.

    Fighting against a bird beast or fighting against a reptile or a huge ass beasts.

    She is telling me she will choose beasts that she thinks are suitable for me and then I can choose from them to specialize against whichever I want to.

    After all, in the end, that''s something I have to decide.

    It''s kinda like someone bringing me lots of weapons but in the end, which weapon to use is still my own choice.

    ...But, does she have any beats who would be weak enough to fight against me? I mean, I think that an eagle flying up in the air can take on 4 or 5 A rankers.

    "I understand"

    I nodded.

    "Well then, do whatever until then"

    With that, she left.

    I walked towards a small cave nearby and decided to rest.

    That''s right. I am just gonna sleep!

    What else can I do?

    Demon lord will be busy for a few hours now and I have nothing to do. So, let''s sleep!

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Demon Lord Pov)

    I looked at his sleeping face.

    ''Finally..''

    Finally, he is asleep.

    Since I first met him, he hasn''t slept and he has been working hard, really hard.

    He said he didn''t want to waste any time but I knew that wasn''t the only reason. He has been cautious. He has been cautious from the beginning.

    And that wasn''t good.

    He needs to rest.

    In the end, I decided it would be best to bring him to a ce where no species lives, there are beasts but I already told him to not worry and I gave him a legitimate reason to not worry about meing back anytime soon.

    And I am d it worked.

    He finally went to sleep.

    Truth is, he isn''t wrong for being cautious.

    Right now, I can crush his limbs and pull his jaw out. Even if wakes up and teleports to somewhere it wouldn''t matter.

    He wouldn''t be able to consume any potion by himself and with the injuries I can inflict on him he will die soon too.

    I can kill him. Right now, I have the means to kill him. I might not be able to confirm it but currently, I have the highest chances of killing him sessfully.

    ....

    Slowly I reached my hands towards his face, using my finger to poke his cheeks.

    Even though I could kill him, I didn''t want to.

    It was true, at first, I wanted to kill him. I found him annoying.

    But ..at some point, it just became more fun to be with him.

    At first, I thought it would be boring to teach someone, I thought it would take a long time for him to learn all the techniques but ..he learned fast, faster than I could have imagined. As if a sponge, absorbing every move of mine as he saw them and then performing them.

    The times when he talked back to me, I really didn''t like it but at some point, I started looking forward to it. The awkwardebacks that we threw at each other ... were enjoyable.

    It was cute how he freaked out when I threw an ice cube down his clothes.

    It''s been more than a month and in that time I really started to enjoy being in hispany but ..

    For some reason, it also hurts a little to see him being distant and wary like he always has been.

    His voice remained the same, indifferent, his eyes didn''t reflect anything.

    Not once did he change.

    ''Hey, if spend more time together will you open up to me? Will you also smile from time to time when you talk with me? Will you find it fun to be with me like I do with you? Will you find the time you spend with me peaceful just like I do?''

    Thoughts like those kept squirreling around my mind.

    With a quiet sigh, I slowly stood up and left the ce without making a sound.

    I hope you have a good sleep and maybe you could trust me a little.

 Chapter 32: Time to get started

    <h4>Chapter 32: Time to get started</h4>

    I have no words left.

    After I woke up, I looked outside the cave and the moon shone brightly in the nighty sky.

    I sure slept a lot. I didn''t n on sleeping for ''<i>real''</i>.

    ..That''s bad. I should have just used my ''high umon healing potion'' that would have been better.

    Why am even bothering with not using them as I please? I should take it as a lesson.

    For now, it''s okay.

    ''Where is Demon lord?''

    As if in response to my thoughts Demon lord appeared in front of me.

    "Hey, no beasts around?" I asked unable to see any beasts with her.

    Guess, no sparring partner.

    "I tried to look but.. you are just too weak. I don''t think any beasts here would be defeated by anyone who isn''t at least a B ranker" She shrugged.

    "Understandable. Let''s go back. Today was a waste of a day." I replied..doesn''t she already know about my rank and her beasts?

    ...

    Well, guess that''s my confirmation of how much I have influenced her mind.

    "Well, it''s time to go back," She said with a sigh.

    I nodded.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "What happened to you?"

    "Who has the galls to hurt my maid?"

    I couldn''t help but ask when I saw Liza covered in bandages from head to toe, demon lord was the same.

    But what surprised me more was the teenage onee-san, I had initially thought it wasn''t consensual but it seems I was wrong. She looks worried, very much, unhealthily so.

    "In thesest few days, there have been multiple sessful attacks on breeding farms and prisons in other continents."

    Other continents, of course, that''s what happens when you have the whole world in your palm, you can''t manage them alone

    Well, seems like Elina is doing just fine with the information I gave her.

    Now that they have increased their manpower considerably, I very much hope forrge-level battles to happen.

    I, of course, will be on the sidelines, stealing the kills of high-rankers.

    My precious Exp.

    This is just lovable. Things are so easy when you have seen the game walkthrough already or read the fandom page. You can n things out and make it look so easy.

    ...But how did any of it involve Liza''s injuries?

    I waited for Liza to continue.

    "I decided to go and check for mysel-"

    "And you returned like that? An SS+ ranker?" Demon lord said interrupting Liza in the middle as she shook her head

    ...SS+ ranked as a maid.

    I also shook my head like the demon lord albeit for a different reason.

    "I have no excuses," Liza said, her head hung low

    "Did you at least capture them? If you killed them that''s fine too" With her eyebrow arching, the demon lord asked

    "..."

    Oof, my condolences Liza.

    Understanding the meaning of Liza''s silence, the Demon lord let out a sigh as she rubbed her temples.

    It''s demon stuff, guess, I should go and draw some manga while my system brings me information on what''s actually happening, I do have a rough idea but not exact details.

    Elina, you are doing a good job but.. the fact that you just somehow made it possible to deal with an unexpected visitor that is Liza ..just how good are things on your side?

    Rescuing people from farms and prisons is as easy as pie if you have a perfect blueprint of the location.

    But it also means you will face problems if unexpected things happen.

    Liza is the demon lord''s personal maid, ain''t no way she is weak. It''s not only about being an SS+ ranker but her fighting skills and expertise should give Liza a huge advantage.

    So, how did Liza end up being the one to run with her tail tucked between her legs?

    ...or

    Liza wasn''t an unexpected variable, she was lured.

    Ah, damn.

    Of course, people have brains.

    The rough structure of my n was to give people a blueprint to help increase their hope and morale so that they finally decide to go for the damn war instead of being sneaky all the time.

    War needs to break out for me to kill high-rankers with ease.

    I, of course, haven''t nned any details or how things will work out.

    And someone now is filling those spots.

    Well, not bad, I guess.

    Killing one of the closest aid of the Demon lord is one way to dere war on her face.

    I wanted to know how Liza managed to escape, depending on her answer I could try to think of what''s going to happen next.

    Was Liza able to escape because they wanted her to or did she really manage to escape?

    Well, it didn''t matter. I can just make my system stalk every damn one of them and have their ns in the palm of my hands in a matter of minutes.

    My OP stalker system is the best.

    "Well, you should go take a rest ...after you bring me my copies of my manga that I asked you to make"

    "What an asshole!" demon lord said trying to make a shocked expression in a most exaggerated manner, her hands covering her open wide mouth.

    Is she still hung up on that?

    Also, you look like an idiot.

    Ignoring her, I worked on the manga and of course, tried to control the water that my feet were touching to raise my proficiency.

    Not liking my response, the demon lord let out a grunt and decided to focus her attention on Liza.

    "Liza report everything to me in detail once you recover... also, why haven''t you used healing potion? Why bandages?"

    Wait...

    That is actually a valid question, I turned around waiting for a response just like the demon lord.

    "....I just didn''t want her efforts of bandaging me to go to waste"

    "What...?" Demon lord asked with genuine confusion apparent on her face.

    The other one-san had a ..blush on her face or was it an embarrassment of realizing that she could have used healing potion. Though, I can understand why it didn''t ur to her.

    Every other species except demons in this ce are ves and who give ves healing potions, so whenever they are injured they use natural methods instead of potions.

    So things probably went like this - Liza leaves this ce- then she returns with injuries- onee-san sees Liza''s injuries - gets worried- and starts bandagingpletely forgetting healing potion exists- all the while Liza simply watches Onee-san with a smile (probably)

    Still.. Liza, between loving someone, simping over them, and being straight-up idiot. I wonder, which one are you?

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The days continued to pass by.

    My swordsmanship training course ended. I am almost done with learning the dagger course.

    In simple words, I have made a lot of progress.

    clung!

    "Well, a day or two for you to start working on hand-to-handbat and that wouldn''t take more than 2 or 3 days since you are already good enough with it," Demon said deflecting both my daggers.

    What do you know? I am dual-wielding daggers!

    "You say that but I haven''t won against you, not even once," I said as I leaped backward, creating enough distance.

    Look, I know I can''t win against her, she is an SSS+ ranker but we are talking about skills here. Despite learning everything from her I can''t beat her even in terms of raw skill.

    "That''s only natural, I haven''t taught you everything, so you are not on my level. If I had to say, 25 percent is all you learned." She said as she kicked off the ground with a sudden burst of speed.

    Since she is restricting herself to my rank I am able to see her attacks and respond to them.

    "That''s what I don''t get, what''s with this half-assed training?" I asked as I brought both the daggers closer to my chest, using them to block off her attack.

    "It''s not my fault that your rank is measly F-, if you want to learn more from me you have to be a higher ranker. I can''t simply teach you something that requires more strength and speed than you can exert" She said as she disappeared from my sight and appeared at the top of my head, giving me a damn roundhouse kick, right at my head.

    For a second, I felt like everything went nk and my grip on my daggers loosened enough for me to drop them as I also fell to the ground.

    ''Eligibility criteria is fucking annoying!''

    I thought, clutching my head as I tried to get up only to realize my head was spinning.

    "Why the head? You could attack somewhere else"

    I asked trying to stand properly.

    "Last time I tried to attack there you said the same thing." She said looking down there as she shook her head and continued "Stop making excuses, an enemy won''t stop attacking your weak and defenseless parts just because you don''t like it"

    What excuse!?

    You don''t attack someone''s balls! That''smon sense! You demon!

    I still remember sacrificing my arm to save my little brother. My arm which was twisted in ways that shouldn''t be possible got healed using my potion.

    The pain I felt was real.

    Just thinking about what would have happened if I didn''t sacrifice my arm scares the shit out of me.

    "Whatever, I still want you to show me all the things even if I can''t perform all that stuff right now," I asked, I can remember all the moves and learn to perform them myself.

    "Did you not hear me? Youck speed and strength for them, your rank is low, what I mean to say is, you can''t learn something that you won''t even be able to see"

    Ah, that makes sense.

    It makes so much sense that it''s kind of annoying.

    "Well, that sucks."

    I sighed, disheartened.

    On the bright side, I think I can definitely say despite not learning everything I am pretty much a pro at handling scythes, swords, and daggers.

    In this world, pro doesn''t simply mean normal but ...skills to be able to split the damn river in two, of course, you need a high rank behind your techniques which I currentlyck.

    The fact that my rank is the only thing stopping me from splitting the damn river in two goes to show that despite not getting aplete course from her, I am already at a pretty monstrous level.

    ...Though, if I got theplete course, man I wouldn''t have to worry about a single thing.

    Well, guess I will have to create my own moves from here on out.

    "You know, you can just learn everything from me if you stick with me until you are a higher ranker," the Demon lord said breaking me from my inner thoughts.

    "That is true but I only got like 40 days. I will be leaving after then"

    40 days left toplete the quest, 40 more days to keep Demon lord away from having any thoughts of destroying the world.

    After that? Yeah, go ahead. Do whatever.

    Why should I deal with another world''s Demon lord!?

    And it''s a world inside a hidden dungeon, definitely not my problem!

    "Where are you going after 40 days anyway?" I could feel the anger and disappointment in her voice.

    Ah, well, it was only natural. I have spent almost 2 months with her at this point. We lived in the same room, ate together, trained together (I am the only one getting trained), did experiments rted to my ''energy'' and ''psyche'' powers, drew manga, she read my manga.

    We have basically spent almost 2 months like we were attached at the hip... if that''s the right term, damn can''t google it.

    And now it wasing to an end.

    That''s right.

    And since it''sing to an end, it''s only natural for me to get my Exp.

    At best, there''s only a week''s worth of things that the Demon Lord can teach me. After that, because of my low rank, she couldn''t teach me anything else.

    You see, I am almost 25 percent done and not turning it into 100 percent would be pretty disheartening and everyone knows the initial stages are easy, the real deal is always whates after!

    ''Time for things to get rolling''

    I thought as Liza appeared before us, her ragged breathing showed the urgency of the situation.

    "M-my queen, t-they have dered a war" At those words, Demon lord''s usual unconcerned eyes had a sharp glint.

    Since the day Liza came back, the attack reports have been only increasing, the demons who have once managed and conquered the areas around the world were getting pushed back and killed.

    In normal circumstances, nothing like this would have happened if I hade here directly to the demon lord after leaving the prison.

    A war can''t happen unless both parties have something that they could use to put up a fight.

    And I gave that ''something'' to Elina.

    Perfect blueprints helped them increase their manpower, ces where beasts were controlled by demons, ces to hide, and pathways that would lead to the treasury of demons.

    Elina is an earnest kind type, even if she herself can''t formte ns she will do everything to make sure she can give the information to someone who can.

    And she did.

    Didn''t I say at the beginning? With Elina, it would be a breeze.

    You might ask why would theyunch a war instead of trying to stabilize themselves right now. It''s because, that would be troublesome for me.

    Well then, time to get started farming the EXP.

    "Hey, Demon lord? Wanna know their attack n and formation?"

    I had already asked my op stalker system to bring me the information.

    I am a guy who can''t stand unfairness. That''s why it''s only natural to help her out too.

    I am just being fair.

    That''s all.

 Chapter 33: Domino

    <h4>Chapter 33: Domino</h4>

    (Third person pov)

    Well, it''s time we look into the other side of things and how they are proceeding.

    "90,000 Demons and 20,890,078,004 Beasts have been subjugated. Bagui, Boshire, Guocab, Fayane, Ghaltar, Rorshire, Kenlie, Lesolith, Onger, Norvastin, Murchileve, Yaruima, Gobod, and 15 more prominent cities have been re-taken." The man with spectacles paused as he pushed the bridge of his sses before continuing.

    One might wonder how the number of demons killed and the beasts have such a disparity in numbers, if each demon is capable of controlling 10-15 million beasts then the number of beasts should have been a lot more.

    Well, the answer to that is pretty simple, not all demons went around controlling beasts. Demons live like any other normal person. It''s the demons who are in charge of protecting their people who control the vast amount of beasts, secures the ''food'', and take control of thends.

    In a way, it''s simr to the army protecting its people, themon masses aren''t armed nor are they well-versed in the fights, they are justmon people living their everyday, carefree lives.

    Not only that but if demons are looking for strong beastspared to the quantity of weak beasts, then the number they can control decreases significantly as well.

    The bespectacled man looked at everyone in the room, confirming that everyone''s attention was on him, he nodded to himself and continued "We lost 5,00,000, of our man. 9,184 of those were individuals who ranged from S- to S+ rank and 4,056 who ranged from SS- to SS+ rank."

    "Hate to interrupt in the middle but we all have read those reports. Just get to the point already, James. You know, I hate roundabout way of talking when it''s not me doing it." A voice called out, James turned his face towards the man to whom the voice had belonged.

    The man had long blue hair tied in a ponytail, James faced him, looking him directly in his aqua-colored eyes.

    "We have rescued about 8,475,014 people in the process." A frown appeared on the face of blue-haired man as he heard James word''s which seemed to suggest that he was going to continue with his report but James didn''t, instead, he put down the documents in his hands on the top of the table and then he continued

    "So, tell me. Oh-I-am-oh-so-smart! How the hell do you intend to feed those people when we are struggling with trying to feed our own!? How do you intend to keep those cities that we took back functioning!? We don''t have enough resources! We don''t have enough manpower to keep those people safe or the cities in our control that we took back! And in all this chaos you suggest that we go and dere war!? You want us to take the fight to that damned Demon lord!? Aw, hell nah! What we need, is to stabilize our current situation the most!"

    James banged the table with both his hands and the table shook, a silence descended inside the room. James removed the circr lid from the nearby ss of water and drank it down in one gulp.

    "Let me get this straight, you have been going on and on about the things we have done for thest 30 minutes just to tell me that you don''t agree with my suggestion of going for the war? Dude, what the actual fuck is wrong with you? You should have just said that from the beginning!" The blue-haired man voiced hisint.

    "Marcus, can you take this a little bit seriously!? Again, who appointed him as our leader!?" A beastfolkdyined, she is captain of the protection squad for the north regional cities, her name is Melina.

    "You people did, lol" Marcus scoffed.

    "For the love of god, don''t add ''lol'' at the end of your sentences, Marcus!" Jayden, an elf said, his face disgruntled, he was in charge of governing southern cities.

    "That''s what you have a problem with!?" James shouted at Jayden, perplexed.

    "Are you guys done with your skit? Look, guys, I have a date and this guy is like, super hot and he pampers me a lot and I definitely feel like we are soul mates meant to be together, so, how about we wrap this up fast? I don''t want to break up with my soul mate!" Ady with quite a provocative dress shouted, she was none other than the captain of the squad that is in charge of reconnaissance.

    "You know, you can''t call him your soul mate if he is going to break up with you for beingte on a date or missing a simple date," Luna said, busy trimming her nails, she is in charge of the western region.

    "Fuck you, Luna! You just don''t arrange a date and then miss it much less beingte in it! That''s why you are single!" The captain of the reconnaissance squad shouted

    "Wasn''t thest guy also your soul mate, Ruby, lol" Marcus quipped in fueling the frustration of Rubina-nickname Ruby-captain of the reconnaissance squad as well as an interrogator.

    "Shut that damn mouth of yours! It was because you couldn''t keep your mouth shut that he left me!" Ruby shouted, throwing a poisoned dagger towards Marcus with a speed that sent shockwaves strong enough to make cracks on the table.

    "Nah, I just saved him. He needed to know who he was getting involved with." Marcus said as he caught the dagger with ease using two of his fingers.

    "It would be wise to take this a bit more seriously, no?" A voice filled with dignity said it belonged to none other than a vampire bringing everyone to silence, his name was Luise.

    "...Damn, boomers sure have something about them, age does matter... lol" Marcus said admiring the dignified vampire and the mysterious strength that his words exuded, on the other hand, Jayden cringed once more seeing Marcus use of ''lol''.

    "James is right, we don''t have enough resources to even take care of our own people, taking all those people and keeping those cities safe is an impossible task as things are and you want us to dere a direct war with the demonic continent is straight-up suicide," Luise said and everyone else in the room nodded and looked towards him, none of them wanted to go on another battle after just recently having ended one, they had been in one battle after another, the sheer psychological toll wasn''t easy to deal with. What they all needed was rest and a moment to organize theirst 2 months'' thoughts and happenings, not another battle.

    After a moment of silence, Marcus let out a sigh, stretched out his hands, interlocked the fingers of both his hands together, and cracked them, and then he finally opened his mouth.

    "Dear, sons of bitches! I am d to see your eyes have finally been opened! Saving the world is a delicate process, you save a few people, take care of their needs, build a shelter/base, and then go around saving more people. Saving the world needs a procedure, you can''t just go ahead and save the world when you live in times as dire as ours but we did just that! We went around saving one city after another, killing demons after demons without rest! We didn''t organize shit and now we have a huge ass number of people to take care of and cities to protect from any other demon that might try to reim them! Resources are important and weck them and honestly, we are fucked."

    Marcus said with a smile on his face, everyone looked at him baffled.

    "And why did all of this happen? Because you all decided to make a decision while I was away! You fell into such an obvious trap, it makes me wonder whether you people deserve your freedom because honestly, very suits y''all better! Doing what you are told is all you can do! Ahem ahem Tldr: Wisdom has been chasing y''all but you guys surely have been faster!"

    Some in the room gritted their teeth and some clenched their hands tight, anger was evident on everyone''s face.

    Unable to contain his anger, a man with long pointy ears, an elf, stood up and confronted Marcus.

    "What the hell do you take us for!? I am really getting pissed with that attitude of yours!"

    "Talk about being ungrateful, you all are alive precisely because I came up with strategies to keep y''all alive and now, all of a sudden, you have an objection to following my suggestions?" Marcus replied coolly.

    "That''s because until now we had a reason! We had no choice but to keep fighting but now it''s different. You are asking us to take the fight to them and the chances of survival this time are lower than they ever have been! This is suicide!"

    "I could try to and exin ''why'' I am suggesting what I am suggesting to y''all but I''d need some crayons," Marcus said shrugging, it took a second before everyone understood how Marcus had insulted them once more, their anger more palpable.

    "Then use those damn crayons and exin," Ruby said throwing a tablet towards Marcus, the tab''s disy was attached to the room''s AI disy.

    Sighing Marcus spoke while tapping his fingers on the tab.

    "As I have said before, it''s a marathon and there''s no stopping in between, either we emerge victorious against the demon lord and her army or we die trying."

    "Yeah, I know. That''s the shit you have been spewing but the question is ''why?''" James asked his voice disgruntled.

    "Because y''all thought it''s fun to fall for the trap?" Marcus said his tone suggesting ''isn''t it obvious?"

    "You keep talking about this ''trap'' but what ''trap'' did we actually fall for? We have made lots of decisions while you were away, what specifically did we actually do wrong?" Luna asked as she started opening the nail paint, she was done with trimming them.

    "Haa~ Well, the way you went about the whole <i>affinity extraction case</i> was wrong. What did we name that incident again?.. Well, it matters not, what actually matters is that''s where all your mess starts from" Marcus said as a holographic disy appeared in front of everyone''s seat, showing the images rted to the incident.

    Everyone looked at their holographic disy, the incident that Marcus was referring to was a well-known incident. In one of the shelters, the leaders have decided to extract affinity out of those who possess them, or more urately those who possess them and are weak.

    Affinity extraction- as the name suggests, it''s a process to extract affinity out of those who possess them but that wasn''t all, the chances of sessfully extracting one''s affinity were quite low, only 1 out of 1,000 and all 1,000 of the people will die.

    The leaders of that shelter had used this method and extracted those affinities, amplified their effects, and embedded them into weapons and the sheer number of weapons that they had was proof of the mind-numbing amount of people that they had killed.

    This incident might have continued if not for the person who found out about it and sought out the help of other shelters to deal with the atrocities of those leaders.

    ...and it was also where everything changed, where they had gotten the ammo to fight off against demons for the first time.

    "You can''t possibly be suggesting that we shouldn''t have intervened?" Jayden questioned, his face contorted, elves considered extracting elemental affinity to be the highest of taboos, they believed it to be no different than pulling someone''s soul out of their body and then putting the soul into the weapon and making the soul suffer for whole eternity.

    "That''s not what I am saying. You made the right decision, those guys needed to be stopped but the way you went around doing it, that couldn''t have been any worse" Marcus said sighing, tapping on the tablet, the holographic disy changed.

    "It had been one thing if all you needed to do was put a stop to their acts but that''s not all there was to it, was it? Elina contacted you because she had no way of dealing with the leaders by herself, understandably so, she was weaker than them all but that''s not the whole story, there was a demon involved in this mess and that was the biggest problem. Your timing of the intervention was totally shit. You needed to intervene at thest minute when no one would have expected it but ...you just had to go and put those leaders into confinement, and send the people there into panic. What gave you the idea it would help with dealing with the problem of the demon that was toe?"

    "Hey, Luise said we aren''t making a bad decision! He is the oldest of us! He has the most experience! So, we just did it! What I am trying to say is, me Luise." Ruby chimed in.

    "Your dress isn''t the only shameful thing about you, is it?" Luna said admiring the nail paint on her left hand and Ruby red at her as she spoke "Are you dress shaming me?" her voiceced with anger

    "Yes, you are right, my dear Ruby but you see Luise is a vampire, A VAMPIRE! What gave you the idea he wouldn''t look for his own entertainment in this mess?" Marcus asked, very politely

    "...Luise won''t do that, right Luise?" James asked while looking at Luise.

    Luise didn''t reply.

    "You wouldn''t, ...right?" James asked once more

    Exhaling Luise slowly opened his mouth

    "I didn''t think that decision of mine would somehow end up being rted to us going on an all-out war which is nothing sort of ast-ditch effort"

    His tone was gentle, so so gentle it sounded soothing to the ears.

    "I have to say, though, I truly am pleased with my past self! If it is as you say, Marcus, if my actions during that time have resulted in our current situation then I am truly grateful to my past self! To think I would be able to see the Demon Lord! I have heard about her other-worldly beauty, her exceptional knowledge of martial arts, her beautiful control over demonic energy and mana! My, oh my, every time I recall the words of my fellow brethren who had the fortune of seeing the Demon lord, the envy I feel has been quite indescribable but ...finally I will be able to see her myself, the one also named as ''<i>The Goddess of the battlefield</i>'', ah, the anticipation I feel -"

    "Okay, stop your ramblings, Luise, I get ya, but weren''t you just saying something in opposition to my suggestion earlier?" Marcus questioned Luise, bringing his concentration back to the discussion.

    "Oh? That is not something, I, myself am concerned with. I was simplymenting the sufferings the weak would have to face, personally, I am quite pleased with your suggestion and support it with all my heart!" Luise said with a smile on his face.

    "Well, wee aboard Luise!" Marcus said joyfully raising both his hands.

    On the other hand, everyone else''s expression in the room turned pale realizing they had been yed by Luise, yed hard. It took them a few minutes before they could process anything again, after all, Luise''s words were nothing sort of a betrayal.

    Oh- thements of the ignorant- who now have been enlightened!

    "Why?"

    A sharp voice cut through the atmosphere, it was a voice belonging to Melina directed to Luise.

    Her expression was indifferent but with just a look in her eyes even a kid would be able to tell, Melina was seething with rage.

    "Why, what?" Luise asked tilting his head.

    "Why did you do it?" Melina asked with her threatening voice, halberd ready in her hand. It was clear that depending on Luise''s answer she would decide on how to make use of her weapon.

    "Oh, you mean why I led you all in the direction I did? Why shouldn''t have I!? By attacking and confining the leaders of that shelter we brought unease towards the people and then soon after we had to fight against that demon we used the weapons with affinity imnted in them and we also distributed as many of those weapons as we found to the masses to help in the fight. We might have won against the demon back then but we being the distributor of those weapons caused more questions to form in the heads of the masses, questions such as ''What if, they had lied to us?'' ''What if they are directing false ims towards our leaders'' and with theck of time to exin things properly, people''s distrust towards us increased to the point that it led them to choose between being used by us or by demons. Their anger with the issue regarding affinity extraction obviously led them all to rebel against us! Even though we are all on the same side, they betrayed us! And with that, we had to face off against another demon"

    <i>Well, the truth of why people had gathered together and rebelled was because of Aria and Albert had instigated it. Something anyone had yet to know about.</i>

    "Why did I do that? Why did I guide everyone on this path? The answer to that should be quite obvious, no? Why, but to satiate my own curiosity! Oh, I was enthralled by how well you all did against all those odds! Despite the absolute chaos that was ensured you all worked towards finding the solution and you found one as well! I was absolutely thrilled with all your growth!"

    Luise''sugh echoed throughout the room.

    Everyone stared at their vampirerade, baffled. They had known vampires were selfish, they seek pleasure, excitement, and fun in any situation they can but ...today they witnessed how deranged they truly are, well, at least, Luise is.

    Marcus simply shook his head for he knew following any advice from a vampire was simply asking to get yourself killed.

    It wasn''t that they didn''t give any proper advice, it''s more urate to say they just add their own selfish desires to that piece of advice.

    Melina jumped towards Luise with speed that defied any logic and swung her halberd towards him, Luise simply moved to his left and dodged.

    "Oh my, careful now. That could have killed me, little one. Is this how you act towards your friend?"

    "I will make it swift and painless, consider that a token of our friendship"

    Melina spun around, her right leg coated in the aura as she directed it towards Luise''s skull, with minimal movements Luise once again dodged Melina''s attack.

    "Oh, I like those fiery eyes!"

    "Wonder if you will like fiery axe too?" Jayden said appearing behind Luise swinging his axe that was covered in blue mes.

    "Hm?" Luise let out a voice in acknowledgment of Jayden but before Luise could dodge to his left, he noticed the presence of James, ready with his daggers to stab him from there, an Elf preparing tounch a spell towards him, and Luna, who had found a way to appear behind him and ready to lunge her aura coated beastfolk w towards his chest.

    There was no ce to run.

    "My, oh my, I might be in trouble" He muttered as the Melina''s halberd and Jayden''s blue mes-covered axe inched closer towards him.

    "Freeze. Spikes."

    With those two words, the air surrounding the vampire turned cold, cold enough that the approaching weapons and the spell froze and broke.

    Ice spikes appeared around Luise causing everyone to take a step back.

    Vampires have a natural affinity for ice and their specialization in ice magic was well known to even surpass the elves.

    But this wasn''t the end, Melina and Luna both coated their fists with aura and Jayden prepared himself tounch a high-grade spell towards Luise.

    "Damn, who do they think has to pay for repairs of the room?" Marcus rubbed his temples with both his hands "<i>Stop them.</i>"

    "Tch" She clicked her tongue "I am already runningte for my date, bastards. Fight all you want, after this meeting is over."

    ck chains emerged from the ground beneath everyone, binding every person in ce in less than a mili-second.

    "Move an inch and I will tighten my chains enough to kill you all. Just in case a reminder, I possess dark affinity."

    No one moved their bodies, not even a little, for they knew, <i>Rubina Darkling</i> <i>would actually kill them.</i>

    Spells attack by those with dark or light affinities were far more dangerous than spells made by people with other affinities even if they were both same-grade spells.

    People with Light or Dark affinity were rare and ...far more dangerously stronger.

    "Now then, where was I again?"

 Chapter 34: Domino- 2

    <h4>Chapter 34: Domino- 2</h4>

    "Now then, where was I again?" Marcus spoke, bringing both of his hands together.

    Rubina simply sighed seeing the smile on Marcus''s face.

    All others bound by the chains looked towards Marcus.

    "What''s the meaning of this, Marcus? Tell that dog to release me at once!" Luna shouted at the top of her lungs.

    It might have been Rubina who bound her but everyone in the room knew about the weird rtionship between Rubina and Marcus, if Marcus simply asked, Rubina could kill anyone, even herself but they didn''t share a rtionship of love, if anything Rubina''s hate for Marcus was pretty apparent to everyone.

    Yet, even so, Rubina has never once disobeyed Marcus.

    A loyal dog, that''s what everyone called Rubina, of course not on her face, except for Luna.

    "If I do then you will again go fighting and destroying this room, so yeah, not happening, repairs ain''t free."

    "Just kill Luise, then!"

    "You do know if I wanted it I would have done it, right?"

    "My, oh my, Marcus, are you underestimating me? I do believe I am on par with dear Rubina, I don''t think I would die by her hands that easily. This is just a little mishap on my part. I simply thought you were going to sit this one out."

    Luise wasn''t wrong, he has lived far longer than Rubina, and his experience was on a whole different level than Rubina''s, what hecked in raw talent could easily bepensated with his mastery and experience.

    Except for Marcus and Rubina, everyone else attacked Luise clouded by their emotions and Luise had to defend himself from everyone, in the midst of it all Rubina''s attack came as a surprise for everyone. After all, Rubina wouldn''t move without Marcus''s order and Marcus didn''t seem at all interested in harming the vampire.

    "Lol, that really sounds like a sore loser thing when it''sing from someone who could die at a moment''s notice, don''t you think?" Marcus asked Luise

    "Now that you say it, it truly does sound like a sour loser''s words."

    "Marcus, for fuck''s sake stop using ''lol'' and why the hell did you not say anything about Luise until now!" Jayden shouted.

    "Rubina are you really okay with letting Luise get scot-free" Jamesined to Rubina in the hopes that she would realease their bindings but ...

    Rubina simply stared at her phone all the while muttering "Damn... he blocked me. I wonder if I can find another hottie"

    "I think I am plenty hot," Said the elf who once had been preparing for a high-grade fire spell to attack Luise, his name was n, brother of none other than Elina, the self-proimed guardian of Noah.

    Everyone looked towards n, baffled.

    "Dude, you first tell us where the hell is your sister! She just disappeared one day without any notice! Do you really have the time for this!?" James asked

    "She is fine, I put a tracker on her clothes, she is somewhere around the southern region. I will pick her up when there''s no war here, I don''t want her to participate in war, it''s better this way"

    James was baffled for various reasons, Jayden rolled his eyes back, Melina kept ring at Luise utterly ignoring the banter, Luna kept her stare at Rubina and Luise simply mused.

    Rubina looked towards n as she gave her reply "Meh, you killed your lover all ''cause of your sisterplex, you are a big red g man"

    n''s face scrunched up, bitter memoriesing back to him but before he could say anything Marcus began to speak.

    "Well, to answer your questions about why I didn''t tell you anything till now is simply because we didn''t have any time, as for why I don''t want you all to dispose of Luise is simply because he is strong, and thus useful."

    Crack!

    The sudden sound of chains being broken resounded in the room.

    "Well, do my words still sound like a sore loser''s?" Luise asked as he slowly walked towards his chair, the freezing mist surrounding him.

    Rubina ignored Luise, she simply concluded it was a waste to try binding him again, the situation had been pacified, enough to handle a talk and that was exactly what Marcus wanted, a talk. There was no reason to indulge in any unnecessary disy of prowess.

    "Lol, imagine being childish when you are the oldest" Marcus let out a chuckle as he looked towards Rubina "Ruby, settle them down"

    Swish~

    In the next instant, everyone found themselves seated in their original positions.

    "Do anything funny again and I will kill you" Rubina said, the ck chains slowly disappeared and everyone found themselves freed again but no one moved as the silence settled down.

    "Just so y''all know, apprehending those leaders as fast as you did was the right thing to do, people whomit atrocities in the name of freedom are fucked in the head, dealing with them as soon as possible is always a good thing. Besides, don''t sweat it was natural things would spiral out of control, there was ack of time, and you needed to deal with the leaders and then the demon. You would have to be some sort of <i>hero</i> if you can calm the masses down, and deal with the leader and the demon, perfectly without any problems in the amount of time that you were given and there''s no heroes in this world." Marcus said with a sweet smile on his face.

    What Marcus didn''t know was that there would have existed heroes if not for the fact that Noah had interfered, heroes who would ignite hope in the hearts of people, and bring the hammer of justice to those leaders and the demon.

    <i>Those heroes would have existed if not for Noah''s interference.</i>

    Silence followed until Jayden spoke

    "..And?"

    "I wasplimenting y''all! Whatever!" Marcus said shaking his head and then he continued "Y''all need to put your feelings aside and work together, I get you are all salty about being used by Luise by let''s put it past us, alright?"

    "You said this all happened and we fell into whatever this trap is ''because'' of the decision we took back then, because of Luise! How do you expect to put it past us!?" Melina barked, anger evident on her face.

    "Well, I will put Luise on the front lines, happy?"

    "Marcus, we might not be as smart as you but if it''s a ''war'' you are nning, you want us to believe you won''t send us all on the front lines, regardless of what we say?"

    "James, you have grown so much. It makes me tear up a little."

    James rolled over his eyes, clearly exasperated by Marcus.

    "So, what exactly is this ''trap''?" Luna asked bringing everyone''s attention back to the main topic.

    "Well, do you remember the ''tips and advice'' that came along with the blueprints?" Marcus asked, the blueprints he was talking about were of course the ones Noah provided Elina with.

    Instantly, everyone''s face scrunched up.

    The reason for that was rather simple, the tips and advice that Noah had written were simply, cruel, heartless, and far too vile.

    <i>''Take a demon child as a hostage, I mean whoever said only demons could use a hostage?''</i>

    <i>''Crucify the normal, popce demons and hang them for all to see surrounded by weak soldiers, the Demon in charge will be too outraged and send all his beasts to kill those weak soldiers, use that moment to attack him and take him out. Once the demon dies, their beasts are released from their control, the beast at that moment will definitely start wreaking havoc, guide those beasts to another demon''s direction, see quite simple, no?''</i>

    <i>''Put bombs inside some of your survivor''s stomach, send them to a food farm, have them explode, cause a hugemotion, and use that chance to blend into the demon''s castle''</i>

    Those were the kinds of tips that Noah had left.

    When they had read these suggestions that Noah had written, they all had unanimously thought the same thing <i>''What the actual fuck is wrong with this kid?''</i>

    "...Yeah, we do, what about them?" Jayden asked.

    "Did you read them all?" Marcus asked

    "Of course not! Why would anyone read them, we aren''t going to use those methods!" Melina said, her voice disgusted just by thinking about those suggestions.

    The tips that were left on how they can deal with problems were crazy, ideas not bounded bymon sense or morality. ns that were in one word can be described as vile.

    Suggestions that would make any normal person disgusted by them.

    "And that''s precisely what the problem is, if you read them carefully and read all of them, y''all will realize, those suggestions are interconnected, if you hadn''t followed the advice on page 1 then implementing advice written on page 2 would be difficult and then implementing the advice on page 3 will be even harder and it will continue until his suggestion will simply be absurd to go through."

    "It''s more of a chain reaction type of suggestion, one thing will lead to another and keep going on."

    Marcus took a pause, letting everyone ingest his words.

    "...We haven''t followed a single one of the advice that Noah even so why does this ''chain reaction'' sound so much like what happened with us?" James asked warily and was a bit creeped out.

    Everything that has happened in the past two months was kind of a chain reaction that Marcus has talked about, one thing led to another and they now have found themselves with 90000 Demons subjugated and millions of people saved in the process but without a question, they had no control over the situation from the beginning. They were simply reacting to their situation.

    "That''s the thing, James, as I said it''s a chain reaction which involves everyone, every person, every circumstance, every possibility into ount. It didn''t matter whether you would follow Noah''s advice, it didn''t matter what you wanted, in the end, things will result in what he wants them to result in. That''s why it''s a well-nned trap."

    Confusion visible on everyone''s face, Marcus continued.

    "Noah gave you blueprints, let me rephrase it, Noah gave you information. Information that could change things drastically and they did. First, Noah wrote down the cruelest suggestions, the most heartless ones but efficient nheless, nothing would change the fact that if we had followed his suggestions then we would have faced fewer casualties than we did. Now, then let me ask you who wouldn''t want demons to die a painful death all the while being able to save their own?"

    Demons were hated, they were, after all, the reason why everyone lives in fear, the reason no one can think about their future, the reason people are hopeless, the reason they are suffering.

    Demons need to be eradicated since their very biology is made that way, demons need to consume other species to live even if that demon is a child. There is simply no reason to not kill demons.

    Those who hate demons would without a question follow Noah''s suggestions to the T.

    But there still exist people who understand that demons aren''t atpletely fault for they don''t have any other option, as much as nothing would change the fact that they need to kill even kids if they want to save the world, their thoughts could be considered hypocrisy. They are willing to eradicate demons but they also don''t want to kill kids and a normal, carefree popce.

    And Elina had found those types of people to help her.

    Marcus and others wouldn''t hesitate to kill even the demon child but they would never forgive themselves either.

    But not everyone is the same.

    "It was inevitable someone would leak that information because they don''t like the way things are here"

    That was correct, they weren''t the only ones who had the blueprints, a member of their team didn''t like how everyone had decided to not follow the suggestion which clearly could have resulted in fewer casualties of their own. Thus, he made a copy of those prints and afterward was just a mess. He had given those prints and ideas to other shelters who then had acted ordingly.

    "Even so, we managed to take the control back all thanks to me!" Marcus said thumping his chest. Marcus has single-handedly brought everyst one of the shelters that had the prints under him.

    "Regardless of which, it wasn''t something anyone would have been able to stop. That''s why I said, the moment you chose to help Elina you fell into Noah''s trap. Those blueprints were like a seed and those suggestions were to use the deep-seated hatred inside of people to be used. Some might follow it like a gospel, for some, it will create discord, for some it will use their greed to help them reach their demise. It''s meant to be destructive if not careful and unfortunately world isn''t filled with smart people like me."

    "Now, do you all get what I meant?" Marcus said throwing back the tab that he was using to show disys to everyone, back to Rubina.

    Even after a few minutes passed a still silence persisted, no one moved even a little, still digesting the information.

    "...Don''t you think this has far too many variables?" Jayden''s voice cut through the silence that hung in the air.

    "Yeah, it does but they don''t matter. To him, to Noah, it didn''t matter how things would happen what mattered the most was whether they would give him the results he wanted or not. He doesn''t give a fuck about what you do or how you want to do it, as long as it gives him what he wants, nothing really matters. Besides, you are still missing the main point."

    "..There''s still more?" Luna asked,pletely exhausted by today''s event that had transpired.

    "Haa~ I will justy it out for you dumbasses. Think again, these blueprints are far too detailed and contain information far exceeding what a person should be capable of having. I mean, we have got professionals here who go for scouting and even they don''t have this level of information. Just ask yourself for a moment, how the hell do you think Noah got this level of information?"

    "...Elina said he said some sort of mapping skill that allows him to have the map of the area he is in" n replied a bit hesitant, he knew Elina hadn''t told about Noah''s skill to anyone but she had trusted him, and told him about it though as things were turning out n simply concluded it was better to give the information.

    "Wait, what? Elina never said anything about it to us!" Jayden shouted

    "Why didn''t you say it till now!?" Melina asked

    n felt pressured by Jayden and Melina''s gaze but to his relief Marcus began to speak, pulling everyone''s focus on him.

    "Oh yeah? And what''s the range of this map? How much area does it cover? And besides, you are telling me a 16-year-old kid, who is G+ ranked managed to do what? Pull one over every damn food farm he has been to when even our scouts have been caught several times when they had the map? Besides, how long had Noah and Elina known each other? Are you telling me a kid like him who gives suggestions like <i>those</i> would ever trust someone else to tell them about his skills? Dude, stop trusting so blindly."

    "What are you suggesting here, Marcus?" asked James, dubiously.

    "What I am saying is if things would have proceeded in a way that wouldn''t result in things like Noah wanted them to ...then he simply would have intervened. He probably has some skill that would let him know what''s happening, as for what exactly is this skill? Well, no idea. I have never met him, and all I can infer from things I know is ...he let things proceed as naturally as possible, letting others do things of their own free will with the least amount of intervention and he tweaks other people''s ns or lead their n just a little bit, enough to turn things into his favor. Like a <i>domino</i>, once triggered it will keep on falling." Saying so, Marcus shrugged.

    Everyone''s faces grimaced except for Luise, his grin was clearly an indication of how incredibly excited he had be, he wanted to meet Noah.

    "...He is a 16-year-old child," Melina said, covering her face with both her hands and heaving a heavy sigh.

    "16-year-old, who ispletely fucked in the head, yes," Marcus said.

    Silence once again hung in the air.

    "...Is he hot?" Rubina asked.

    "ording to Elina, he seems to be and she said he probably will be even more handsome like other Elves or even more so as he grows up" Marcus replied.

    "Cool, by the time he is 20 I can date him, I would be 26, so not much of a problem when ites to the age gap," Rubina said, she is currently, 22, and that''s what makes her incredible, she is stronger than everyone in the room who are SS+ rankers and she is a human who is simply 22. The word incredible doesn''t even do her justice.

    Regardless of that, her words were concerning.

    "For the love of god, is this really what you should be talking about?" Jayden asked not expecting any response he continued "So, how does this rte to us going to war"

    Taking a deep breath, Marcus began to speak.

    "Well, here''s the thing, if we choose to not attack then <i>they</i> we will. They aren''t going to sit back, and it''s precisely that we are not stable and we aren''t going to be stable anytime soon that it''s the best time for demons to retaliate and we are gonna die in the process or be their food and die as we get cooked!"

    "On the other hand, if we decide to keep our momentum going and attack demon lord in her own home turf and cause some serious damage then they will focus on their own defenses which will finally help us buy time to stall things! Thus, we should go and keep the momentum going! Also, we can have those people sent to war, that way we wouldn''t have to worry about the resources much, fighting where now they have actually seen victories will give them the morale they need. If we win, well all things will start resolving on their own, if we lose, well as Luise said it is ast-ditch effort."

    "...or we can simply abandon those weak people! All we have to do is go in some hiding, we will take as many high rankers from the people we have saved with us."

    "We can''t do that" James instantly answered and everyone nodded alongside him. Thest option that Marcus presented would be ridicule for all the hard work they have done.

    "Nah, don''t worry, we can''t do that anyway." Marcus words left everyone confused and he sighed once again.

    "Look guys, I am sure y''all are wondering why Noah had done what he did so I will tell you what I think, Noah ''<i>wants</i>'' this war and if you don''t take it to him, he will bring it to you instead. Why? I don''t know that."

    "...What the hell do you mean" Asked James, baffled.

    "A ck-haired boy with ck eyes appeared in a demonic continent around the time when Elina came asking for your help. The demon lord has taken him as her disciple. The very demon lord who never leaves her room except when she sometimes just goes to single-handedly kill others. That''s the information that came from our spies. If he wants to he can fuck us all over, I mean what gives you the idea that he can''t give the same kind of blueprints regarding us to demons?"

    Silence hung in the air, their faces growing paler by the moment, today''s day had been pretty heavy for them when they had all thought ''Finally, we can now rest..'' they had been told to go to war and the reasons behind it all ...seems to be a single, weak, 16-year-old kid.

    "Why does he want us dead.." n asked, it was quite obvious that none could win against the demon lord, she is an SSS+ ranker. No way they can win against her. It is basically suicide.

    "He doesn''t," Marcus said shaking his head as he continued "He wants a war, it''s not a war if it''s one-sided."

    "Marcus, what kind of information have you gotten your hands on?" Luise said smirking, with each passing second his smirk grew wider.

    Everyone''s head turned towards Luise, wondering what he meant.

    "It''s time, Demon lord go to her sleep."

    Everyone''s eyes widened at Marcus'' words.

    Demons and Vampires, live long lives but that''s not all, they are also species that can live without any sleep for a long time, a year, a decade, or even a century for some vampires.

    And once they fall asleep, they won''t wake up for days.

    But the case of the Demon lord isn''t so simple, since she is revered as a god by her own kind when she goes to sleep, almost all the beasts that demons have control over are focused on solely protecting the Demon lord.

    The demons keep the bare minimum of beasts on their side during those 3-4 days.

    As everyone gulped on this newfound piece of information, Marcus asked once again.

    "How will we know when exactly she is going to sleep?" Melina asked.

    <i>"I have made sure to put a tracker inside one of the very close attend of the Demon lord, if she doesn''t leave the room for a whole day, well we know what we need to do"</i>

    "So then, let me ask you once again, who is in opposition to my suggestion that we go to war? Marcus'' smile in that moment looked no different than that of a devil himself.

    But no one uttered a single word. Except for Rubina who looked uninterested and Luise who seemed to be excited, everyone else audibly gulped.

    It was unanimously decided that they would be going to the war.

 Chapter 35: As The War Nears

    <h4>Chapter 35: As The War Nears</h4>

    Once the meeting was over, everyone left, clear in the need for time to sort their thoughts out, except for Rubina and Marcus.

    "You aren''t going to leave? Go meet your hottie, the meeting''s over, lol." Marcus said a smile tugged on his face.

    Rubina didn''t reply, she simply looked at Marcus and after a while questioned "Everyone is pretty much trying to digest a lot of things not only that they are definitely affected by Luise''s confession of betrayal, as for Luise he is simply excited to have found something fun, and they all trust you, after all you are reason they are still alive and have managed to get this far, maybe that''s why they don''t realize that you aren''t telling the <i>whole truth.</i>"

    "..."

    Marcus''s silence settled the answer for Rubina.

    "You shithead, what the hell are you nning this time" The bored look in her eyes was reced by one of contempt.

    "Woah, chill out a bit, anger''s not good for health," Marcus said jokingly, it didn''t matter to Marcus how much Rubina hated him, for he knew she wouldn''t do anything to harm him, she simply <i>couldn''t</i> do it.

    After a bit of silence, Marcus began to speak.

    "Well, you are not wrong. The thing is, if what I think is Noah is truly nning then we are all dying and nothing could stop it."

    "What the..."

    "Do you know where Elina went?"

    The sudden question came as a surprise for Rubina, as she shook her head.

    "I only know what n just told us moments prior but what does she have to do with any of this?" Rubina asked skeptical of Marcus.

    "Well, she told me where she was going before disappearing, and guess what she told me?" Marcus asked yfully.

    "Marcus, I am not in the mood, just get to the point already."

    "Fine, fine." Shaking his head Marcus began to speak "Elina said there was one another note that Noah had left her with, it contained the information regarding a dwarf who has been working in secret to find an alternative food source for the demons and the best part is he is close to finding the cure but hecks the power to look for the ingredients himself, he is pretty old and weak but with Elina''s help he might be able to make it soon enough. So, cheers!"

    Rubina was left stunned, she couldn''t utter a single word.

    "Man, I never thought someone would beat me to it but what matters is someone has found a cure. So, that''s neat, ain''t it?"

    "..W-wait, then what''s the need for this war? Shouldn''t we go and help that dwarf to prepare the cure faster!?" Rubina hurriedly asked.

    "Yeah, it would be really good if we could just go help the dwarf, create the cure, and use it to distribute to all demons. If only things could go so peacefully, it wouldn''t be so hard" Marcus said as he pulled a chilled beer out of his dimensional ring, opening the can and gulping it down he began to speak.

    "First, it''s better if people don''t know about the dwarf, the fewer people who know about it the better, currently it''s Noah himself, Elina, Me and now you who know of it. Well, there might be some other people whom Noah told about it, or maybe none. At any rate, it''s better if the amount of people who know about it is as low as possible"

    Sensing Rubina''s confusion Marcus exined.

    "There are people who don''t want things to change, people who betrayed their own kind and joined themselves with demons would definitely have had a hard time once the curees into existence. I mean, who would ept them? Demons would have very little reason to keep those people on their side. Not only them but some people love this apocalyptic world, vampires cooperate with us not because they want to but because they have no interest in bing food for demons, but simr to that there exist vampires who work for demons because that''s what they find fun. A cure will rid those vampires of their ''fun''. And there are many more who would do everything in their power to stop the cure froming into fruition."

    "Ah.." Rubina unconsciously worded as she understood the implication of Marcus''s words.

    "As for why there''s a need for war? Well, it''s pretty simple. Even if you introduce this cure who is going to bother with it? What reason do demons have to stop their actions? This oppression has been going on for centuries, Ruby, they won''t change that easily. And let''s say they do, what about the people who lost their families, friends, and lovers? What are they supposed to do with their feelings? Let them go just because demons have now found a cure and don''t attack us anymore? That won''t happen, even if demons stop, no, it''s precisely because that demon will stop that a particr group of people will seek out revenge, retribution for the things done to them, and that will just spark another war and this time it will be one that won''t be because of the necessary ''survival'' problem."

    "That is why, a war is needed. In this war, where not Demon Lord won''t be present but Demons whom people will fight against, they will bare all their feelings out in the open. Demons aren''t weak, even without their beasts they are strong and people need to know that. They need to know and feel the despair, to understand, and make them beg that there would exist another way to resolve all this and demons too need to know and suffer, to know that people won''t just take it lying down, that they will stand up for themselves, this time where Demon lord won''t be with them they will learn the wrath of the people that they have been oppressing."

    "Both sides need to understand things, things that this war will make happen, and then ...and only then, would introducing the cure would be the best time. This war will be the end of this despaired-filled era. Many will die, many will be scared but it''s necessary because everyone needs this war, a war so horrifying, mortifying that everyone will call our generation ''Dark age'' or something, sounds cool, right?"

    "Regardless, this war will have a death toll never seen or heard before, a war which will carve the fruitlessness of war into everyone. A history lesson that future generations will learn about, a lesson about the foolish actions of their ancestors."

    Throughout the time, Marcus'' voice remained solemn, he by no means believed he would make it out alive. The uing war will be their hardest one and he won''t even be able to save his friends, hell he is the one sending them to their deaths.

    "...Did that kid think this far ahead?" Rubina asked, if that was true then Rubina couldn''t help but be curious about him.

    "Actually, I don''t think he cares all that about the peace. No, I am sure he doesn''t give a single shit about it. To him, all this is nothing more than a byproduct of the things that his actions would cause." Marcus said clicking his tongue.

    "...Byproduct?"

    "As I said, Noah wants war. Let me point it out for you once again, Noah had gone and became the demon lord''s disciple. He is learning from her but being a G+ ranker there''s only so much that he could learn from her."

    That was true, Noah couldn''t learn everything from Demon lord, he could learn fundamentals and basics of most things, he could create a solid foundation but that would be it.

    "Hey, Ruby, you know in a war it''s easy to kill even a higher ranker. Not many notice it in this war-filled world but you know the meaning behind it, right?"

    At those words, Rubina''s eyes widened, she knew better than anyone what those words implied.

    <i>''If ...if he really did all this just for such a reason then... is he even humane?''</i>

    Rubina thought as she felt a chill run up her spine.

    If Noah had heard her, he most likely would have retorted with <i>''In a world filled with different species, that sounds racist af, not cooldy.''</i>

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s Pov)

    So anyways, I started conjuring mana.

    What''s conjuring mana supposed to mean? Well, you see your body replenishes mana on its own or you can use a mana potion to do it.

    But there''s another method, conjuring.

    With this method, you simply absorb the mana present in the atmosphere. You need a proficiency of at least E to be able to do it.

    Yes, I am flexing. I have a mana proficiency of E+, as for aura and demonic proficiency, that''s somewhere around F+. So, I can''t conjure them.

    But well, I will be able to once I reach that proficiency.

    "Your growth rate is astonishing, is what I would like to say but honestly, it''s just creepy." She said, her face scrunched up a little.

    "Just say you are jealous of my talents"

    "Why would I, someone who rules this world, an SSS+ ranker, be jealous of a measly weakling like you?"

    "Lady, you are coping hard"

    "...Fuck you"

    "Fuck me yourself, coward"

    "That counts as sexual harassment, it totally does!" Demon lord said covering her chest with both her hands, her expression wasn''t as exaggerated as her actions.

    Why did I write the manga I wrote?

    That''s a question I really want to know the answer to more than even about my transmigration.

    "..."

    "..."

    Neither Demon lord nor I said anything, she was looking directly into my eyes, as a boy in his adolescence I epted her challenge and stared back!

    I ain''t losing the staring contest!

    I have never lost in a staring contest! Time to taste your first defeat Demon Lord!

    "..A friend," Demon lord said bringing the palm of her right hand towards my right cheek.

    Hm? Cheating? In such a broad daylight? Not like Demon Continent has much light even in the morning, on a side note it''s night right now.

    But what does she mean? I swear, she is so random sometimes, it''s honestly baffling.

    "So, did you just refer to me as your friend" I asked, confused.

    "That''s right. I thought a lot about it. What''s our rtionship? Are we simple acquaintances? Are we just master disciples? How do I feel about you? What''s the extension of these emotions that I feel towards you? After thinking a lot, I finally arrived at the answer. You are a friend, a very dear friend of mine."

    ...

    "Damn, so is itmon for 669 year old and 16 year old to be friends? I thought you would keep thinking of me as a kid, like a newborn and a grandma. Can you call grandma and a newborn friends?"

    "Honestly, I do think I would treat a newborn as a newborn, not like a friend but you are different. I just don''t think it''s justifiable to treat you the same as a newborn, your mental growth is simr to mine so there''s that but of course, I have more experience."

    Fair enough.

    The demon lord remainedid on the bed, wearing a nket while I remained by her side waiting for her to fall asleep.

    Yes, it''s time she goes to sleep. She is exhausted. In the novel this didn''t happen, well that was simply because unlike in the novel this time for thest 2 months she had been working with me, training me every day, teaching me things, and giving me lessons, all that umted in her exhausting herself faster than she was supposed to be.

    Demons usually go to sleep for 1-2 days but Demon Lord needs a 3-4 day rest, the reason was rather simple, Demon lord simply stayed awake far longer than others.

    I think I understand why the protagonist was able to win against her. She was fucking sleep deprived during her fight in the novel.

    "This feels a bit weird" Demon lordined.

    "What does?"

    "Going to sleep like this? I mean, every time I go to sleep I am surrounded by beasts and Liza is also on stand guard but this time there''s no one here"

    Well, that was because you epted my idea.

    And besides, who goes to sleep in such a grandiose manner? Why alert your enemy? Sounds stupid to me.

    However, having to face a different sleep schedule is hard to follow at first.

    "Should I call Liza, though I will have her leave once you fall asleep?" I said.

    I didn''t want anyone to know about Demon Lord''s sleep timing so we have kept it a secret even from Liza.

    We both excused ourselves into this room, telling them to not bother us.

    "No, it''s fine. It''s a bit weird but it also feels rxing andforting and it doesn''t feel as lonely as it used to. Just stay here." Shaking her head demon lord replied with a smile tugged on her lips.

    I don''t know why but I decided to poke her cheeks.

    "..Hm?" Demon lord let out an iprehensible sound.

    "Damn, your skin is soft, wait, how did it be softer? It wasn''t like this before."

    How do I know? Well, it''s not my first time poking her.

    "Ha.." Demon Lord showed a confused expression."I-I removed the demonic energy and mana covering me ...subconsciously"

    ....The hell?

    It might not seem like it but what she said is actually a pretty important thing.

    Remember, how I managed to attack Edward, an SS- ranker and poisoned him, well that was only possible because I had attacked his mentality, he was just as confused as me and he knew how many people he had destroyed who would want revenge on him, so when I openly confronted him even though he acted as if he doesn''t know anything it must have had affected him which resulted in his mana that shields one''s body to waver.

    Of course, back then I didn''t know that once reaching S- rank in mana proficiency one simply bes capable of keeping a thin manayer around their body protecting themselves 24/7 sub-consciously.

    In a way, what I managed to do with Edward was just a fluke.

    But let''s forget about that dummy, the important thing is what the Demon lord said.

    If she subconsciously ended up removing her mana and demonic energyyer then... that she has put herplete trust in me.

    She looked at me blinking her eyes, repeatedly.

    Ha! I won! Told ya, no one can win against me in staring contes- Wait, it''s not the time for that!

    "Well, well... guess you are okay with me killing you, huh," I said

    SSS+ ranker''s exp is gonna be a feast, ain''t it?

    "Ptff! Hahahaha!"

    "Don''tugh"

    Why the hell is sheughing?

    "But it''s funny, I am trusting someone who I know doesn''t feel an ounce of feeling towards me, someone who could really kill me just because. Don''t you think it''s absurd?" She said wiping off the tears.

    Someone sureughed hard and yeah, it does sound absurd.

    "Well, now it''s a problem, I don''t want to die. How about this? I promise to give you video tapes of all my techniques and teachings before you leave, that way you can keep learning from them as you grow stronger, in return don''t kill me."

    "Forget killing you, I will protect you with my life on the line. You got the deal"

    A great deal, indeed.

    Killing her would give me a great rank boost but a power that I can''t efficiently use is just trash.

    More importantly.. she said she doesn''t want to die, in the novel she wanted to die.

    Those words were the proof of how things have changed, that''s a good thing.

    "Alright, I am going to sleep now. So sing me a luby" Demon lord demanded.

    I being a gentleman, decided to do so as I also patted her head.

    If you wanna be a kid, I will treat you like a kid.

    She resisted the pats on the head at first but soon stopped and simply remainedid without moving much.

    I sang the luby my mother always sings for me.

    And soon after, she fell asleep and throughout the night I remained by her side, just like I had told her.

    Once the sun rose I stood up.

    Everythinges to an end and now we are approaching the end of this story as well.

    Well, gotta prepare for the nearing war.

    With that thought, I left the castle.

 Chapter 36: Love Makes you Dumb

    <h4>Chapter 36: Love Makes you Dumb</h4>

    (Noah''s POV)

    ==============================================================

    Dimensional Storage Ring - Low-Grade Epic Artifact

    Storage capacity - 13/25

    You have to touch the object to store it in the ring.

    Soul bound to the wearer.

    ==============================================================

    1 box contained high umon grade healing potions x75

    1 box contained low epic-grade healing potions x8

    1 box contained by teleportation/protection ne. Left uses : 3

    1 box contained Elixirs x 215

    and lots of other things.

    As you know, a single box can contain as many numbers of the same item as you want to.

    Why had I taken this thing out?

    Well, the answer to that is rather simple, remember it''s only been 300 years since mana, energy, or whatever came into existence in the world outside of this hidden dungeon but for this world, it''s been a very long time.

    Now, what I am trying to say is, that these guys have more development with artifacts and stuff they make than our own.

    ...and I am robbing these ces.

    I mean, I just got 215 Elixirs, this one thing is worth a billion in the outside world!

    I have got 215 billion on me!

    Time to be a trillionaire!

    What? What happened to Demon Lord?

    Well, she is sleeping in her room.

    Hey, I left my system to look after her! If something happens my system will instantly tell me about it and I can use my protection cum teleportation ne to get to her.

    "Why the hell are we robbing!?"

    "...''cause I can''t afford this shit?"

    I mean, why else would you rob? If I had money to throw around I would have bought it (remove the sugarcoating, and what I mean is I would be flexing hard if I had the money) How dumb is she?

    "Can''t we just take it? Why hide and then steal?"

    "...To not causemotion? Also, that still would be robbing."

    Oh lord, she is dumber than I had thought.

    "Why am I stuck with you!"

    "Demon Lord gave you the order to follow my demands, Liza you have be dumber. Ah, love makes people dumb, doesn''t it."

    Her head must be filled with teenage onee-san.

    "Loves incredible, it''s awesome, makes you feel fluffy, a warm feeling spreading through your entire bein-"

    And Liza''s rambling goes on and on.

    Shaking my head, I thought about the things that I had chosen.

    I need to be careful with it.

    Going through the list in my head once again I gave myself a nod. All things are done.

    "Hey, Liza let''s have a vacation in the room"

    I brought up the subject I have been meaning to.

    Robbing was a side job, robbing during the times when everyone is busy with war is much easier anyway.

    What I mainly need to do is deal with some not-so-appreciable problems.

    For some reason, Liza gave me the dirtiest looks she could have had as she spoke "You want to die?"

    Give me a break.

    "Look, if therees a day where everyone dies in this world and it''s only me and you who are left in the world even then I wouldn''t hook up with you"

    "Where do you get that confidence from? You are the ugliest of the bunch, you know?"

    Screw off!

    I have a B+ charm!

    But s, the people surrounding me are too damn high standard.

    The teenage onee-san has a charm of A! Liza has SS and Demon Lord, has SSS charm.

    In that regard, I am the ugliest or the least attractive among them.

    Not like I care about it.

    I totally don''t.

    What matters is a person''s hea- wait no, let''s not go there.

    After some more traveling, We arrived at our destination, in an abandoned castle surrounded by the forest.

    The forest itself is filled with wild beasts that could be seen roaming around. None of them approached us, because, of course, Liza is strong, absurdly so. In this world, she is the 3rd strongest person.

    Who is second? Well, it''s someone named Rubina Darkling, as for the first, it''s none other than the currently sleepy princess.

    Anyways, the ce we are at belongs to Demon Lord, though it is a kinda isted, abandoned castle.

    We entered one of the castle''s rooms.

    Liza followed me,pletely unconcerned about everything. Well, she is on a call with her lover, so makes sense.

    "What are we supposed to do here" Liza asked finally letting her curiosity out while still being on the call.

    "You are supposed to remain inside one of the rooms and I will do the rest of the work. Also, I will be borrowing some of your tamed beasts like we talked about before."

    "Sure." Liza begrudgingly epted as she whistled and several ear-deafening roars surrounded the outside of the castle.

    If not for the Demon lord''s instruction to amodate me, Liza would have refused me in all likelihood.

    I left her alone in one of the castle''s rooms,ing out of the castle, I was greeted by 20 different high-ranked wild beasts.

    I gestured for them to follow me and they did, I pulled out my marine-colored ne.

    ''Now then, herees the long-awaited question, will I get the Exp if I kill people using traps?'' I thought as I wore the ne in case things went south.

    Let''s find out, after all, right now is the ''best time''.

    "System-san, show me the whole structure of this ce."

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Third Person Pov)

    The endless downpour of heavy raindrops drenched their clothes, making it harder for them to move. Thick white fog obstructed their vision. They were surrounded by nothing but the overgrown trees.

    "Alright, be aware you wouldn''t wanna fall in a pit and get swallowed whole" A man with red fiery eyes warned hisrades and they nodded in turn, his name Orson.

    "Still, never thought we would get out of there, by the way, I think it would be better to find a ce to rest, the environment isn''t suitable to continue like this" A dwarf suggested, his name Edison.

    "You are right, E, Elisa, and Oliver, will you?" Orson asked.

    "Yes, boss!" Oliver replied.

    "Leave it to us" E responded, an elf

    "..."

    "Alright, we will stay here," Orson said, thick, tightly wound branches and countless leaves dispersed the raindrops before reaching them under the tall tree.

    E nodded and left along with Elisa and Oliver, both of whom were beastfolk. Elves and Beastfolk are both incredible at navigating through forests.

    "It seems like Elisa dear is still reeling in the shock," A female vampire said with a smile tugged on her red glistening lips as she started ying around with the mist in their surrounding.

    Her words made the other two malepanions'' faces scrunch up.

    Yes, this group was none other than the leaders of the shelter Noah had first gone to. The very leaders who were until now confined for the crimes theymitted, for extracting the affinity from countless individuals.

    Though theycked a member named Edward, he had died during the whole fiasco that had taken ce.

    And since then, Elisa had been in shock, unable to forget the sight of him drenched in blood, the sight of him dying in front of her, all the while she was simply being handcuffed and taken away.

    Elisa had wanted to stay by his side but she wasn''t allowed to, she was simply thrown into confinement while Edward was taken by the medics and after few hours she and all others heard the news of their deadrade, they weren''t even allowed to see his dead body, understandably so, no one has enough time to spend on them. They had to deal with the demon that was going to attack the shelter.

    But logic doesn''t help settle emotions.

    All of them have been greatly affected by the events, the only one who managed to remain unaffected was the vampire rather she had enjoyed those unexpected events.

    Regardless, they have to face forward, their job was not an easy one. Killing the Demon Lord.

    Marcus has promised them that if they seed then all their charges will be dropped but most of all they will be allowed to see their deadrade''s corpse.

    "He is a shady man, that Marcus," The Female vampire said as she strolled through the area all the while controlling the mist surrounding her and making small beasts of different types around her.

    "He sure is" Edison replied and Orson simply nodded.

    There were so many things that simply didn''t sit right about Marcus, their very quest was shady. If they were really going to subjugate Demon Lord then a group of 6 people was insufficient even if the person they were going to kill was sleeping.

    After all, she is the Demon Lord, the protection she might be surrounded with can''t be aughing matter.

    Marcus didn''t even give them much information except that Demon Lord had gone to sleep without letting many know about it this time, thus Marcus has said while everyone is focused on the war, they can use that chance to kill the Demon Lord when she doesn''t have much protection surrounding her in her vulnerable moments.

    The question here is ''why?''. Why did Marcus choose them? But they didn''t ask such questions, beggars can''t be choosers, after all.

    The sound of heavy downfall rang in their ears. No one spoke a single word. Orson and Edison just sat down on the grass while the vampire kept ying around.

    "Hey, Orson what do you think? Can we eat them?" Asked Edison looking at the blue colored fruit hanging on the tree.

    "I don''t know, we should just wait for their return, don''t you think?" Orson replied.

    "Is there something wrong with your eyes? How can you not see this beautifuldy in front of you? I have lived for a long time, it wouldn''t hurt to ask someone experienced, would it?" the vampiredy questioned.

    Orson simply ignored her, he knew it but he still didn''t like how unaffected she was. He knows vampire needs to be like that, for if they became attached to others simr to other species it would make their existence miserable, or ...maybe their existence was miserable to begin with and they have simply turned into a bunch of crazies.

    Regardless, Orson didn''t want to talk with her as much as possible, understanding Orson''s inner thoughts without him expressing them, the female vampire simply gave out a sad smile only for a moment and began to speak.

    "Those are safe to eat, they help replenish mana as well as exhaustion." Saying so, she continued dancing in the rain with the small beasts made of mist hovering around her.

    Edison trusting in her words, picked those fruits and started eating them, he offered some to Orson but he refused.

    And so they continued to wait.

    Until they heard an ear-splitting roar.

    And then the smartwatches they were using to have contact with each other suddenly stopped working.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    There are beasts and then there are wild beasts.

    The difference between them was simple, the wild beasts are simply unsavory and quite gutsy. Even if they face someone clearly stronger than them they would still hold their ground and put up a fight and wild beasts have quite a good battle iq, unless the other party seemed overwhelmingly strong they wouldn''t back down.

    All in all, wild beasts are more dangerous. Going near their vicinity is the same as asking for a fight.

    And currently, Oliver, Elisa, and E found themselves facing such a wild beast.

    "Of all things, why did it have to be a quetzalcoatlus?" Oliver voiced his question.

    If a meteor strike could cause the life form to go extinct then an event that changed the whole atmosphere of the world, changed the size of the earth, and changed the number of suns and moons could definitely result in giving birth to once extinct life form.

    ...with some added features.

    "I don''t wanna be swallowed by him of all things" Eined.

    Elisa didn''t say anything but simply willed aura into her legs.

    "Alright, guys, disperse it''sing!" Oliver shouted as all three of them jumped away.

    The wild beast pped his wings after willing it with mana, resulting in a massive wave of air, overgrown trees, and branches, a few beasts flew away while some were instantly crushed by the force of the attack.

    Apparently, before the quetzalcoatlus showed up their group of three were stuck fighting a bunch of other beasts, and now those beasts are all dead.

    "I still would fight those beasts any day than this quetzal, more so in a weather like this" Oliverined while jumping from one tree to another as carefully as possible to make sure he didn''t slip up.

    E and Elisa were the same.

    E jumped down the tree and started running towards the wild beast, she willed the mana into her legs and kicked off the ground with enough force to leave a crater behind her, her actions shy enough for the wild beast to focus his attention towards her. E pushing her right hand towards the bird beast,unched several water spikes that came out of the palm of her hand, a high-grade spell.

    The wild bird beast stomped on the ground on his right leg and roared, the loud and terrible noise sounded like a zipper being ripped off its track. The noise was loud enough to shake anyone near its vicinity.

    The ground beneath which the beast had stomped turned into arge crater, the resulting shockwaves and flying debris pushing the water spikes as well as anyone trying to get close to him.

    Despite that some of the water spikes still managed to pass through it all and hit the bird beast, colliding with its hard scale on his body, some water spikes dispersed and some managed to pierce its body eliciting the bird beast to scream as it violently thrashed around.

    "Tch" Clicking her tongue, E instantly jumped backward but because of the rain, and the muddy ground that had be slippery, she skidded far more than she had initially wanted to, barely able to control herself from falling on the ground all because of a certain pebble that she stepped on mistakenly causing her to feel a tingling sensation, <i>as if something cut through her skin, barely.</i>

    ''...I was sure I had my body covered with mana'' thinking to herself, she shook her head, it wasn''t time to be worried about a small injury!

    Closing in on the creature from high above, Oliver prepared to rip the beast into two with his halberd ready covered in a thick aura. The wild beast''s eyes quickly focused on him and its long-shaped beak jerked viciously sending Oliver flying.

    Oliver caught the attack with his right arm before him, he had willed them with aura so he didn''t suffer injuries, as he tried to regain his footing once again the bird beast flew into the sky high above and pped its wings, trying to capture Oliver in the wind vortex that was shot straight towards him.

    "You aren''t the only one who can do this shit!" Saying so Oliver concentrated a huge amount of aura towards his fist and punched straight toward theing wind vortex.

    The two attacks collided with each other, sending waves enough to uproot the trees, nullifying each other in the process.

    "Die"

    The sound came from behind the wild beast, flying in the air but before it could react, a punchnded on its head, causing it to go nk, and then his head popped off, spraying blood everywhere, its body in free fall state.

    Using his body as a cushion, Elisanded back on the ground along with the dead beast''s body.

    In a single punch, she had killed him, leaving both E and Oliver shell-shocked. They both came running towards her.

    "H-hey, it was really cool how you killed him in just a single punch! B-but, don''t you think you willed a bit too much aura into your attack?" Oliver asked hesitantly.

    It wasn''t like Oliver or E couldn''t have killed the beast in a single attack but they were trying to preserve their mana and aura reserves. Of course, strengthing your body from the inside doesn''t cost any mana or aura to exhaust but there was a downside to it.

    Depending on the amount of mana and aura one uses to strengthen their body, the body reaches the state of fatigue and hunger that fast.

    That was one of the reasons why during the very first hidden dungeon that Noah challenged he packed enough food with him, he was in one word, starving and since he was new to this world, he was no expert in the matters of controlling the mana in any precise manner.

    "It''s fine," Elisa said.

    "It might be fine for you but it would certainly turn into a problem for us, please refrain from acting recklessly, this ce is filled with wild beasts like this one in dozens, we need to be careful, we don''t need baggage" E sternly told Elisa.

    E was right, Elisa had unnecessarily willed far more aura than she should have had to finish off the wild beast, even before that Elisa had been fighting recklessly, if this keeps going on, she will exhaust herself way faster and she certainly will be a baggage.

    "I just said I will be fine on my o-" Just before Elisa could finish her words off, an ear-splitting roar which seemed to havee from above the heavens reached them.

    They all looked towards the sky and what greeted their sight was a swarm of different wild beasts fighting each other.

    One of the beasts fell down towards them.

    In an instant, they all understood what was happening.

    "An infighting? We need to get out of here" Oliver said, the urgency in his voice, proof of the dire situation.

    When wild beasts fight one another, they of course fight wildly, without any ounce of regard towards their surroundings, being around them wasn''t advisable, moreso, if those beasts have the ability to fly, you never know when their attacks woulde hurling towards you.

    It wasn''t that they couldn''t deal with them but involving themselves in unnecessary fights was just in stupid.

    Their job was to find some food and a suitable ce to where they could stay.

    Just as Oliver and E prepared to leave, Elisa jumped off the ground, using the overgrown trees as her stepping stone, as she approached the swarm of the wild flying beasts all the while muttering "One annoying thing after another"

    Saying so, she jumped on one of the flying beasts and she set him aze, then using him she jumped off into the air, high above all the beasts in the rainy sky. Her fiery red eyes gleamed as she looked down on the wild beasts, prepared to free fall towards them.

    Just then, another roar, came out of nowhere, Elisa''s eyes opened wide as she looked towards the source of the voice, a creatureing towards her with speed-defying logic.

    Unable to do much in the mid-air, Elisa covered her entire body with aura, the wild beast captured her with its beak as he took her along with him.

    It all happened so fast, everyone who witnessed the scene simply stood like statues.

    "...What the fuck!!!" Oliver shouted at the top of his lungs breaking out of his stupor as he started chasing the big flying wildly beast.

    "That dumb girl, just when I told her to not be reckless!" Saying so, E also chased after the wild beast heading toward the east.

    s, they didn''t notice their smartwatch had stopped functioning.

 Chapter 37: Just like that ...

    <h4>Chapter 37: Just like that ...</h4>

    "Damn it!" Oliver shouted.

    Explosion, st, shock wave, the forces of destruction swirled together around him.

    Some of the wild beasts surrounding him got crushed, some cut in half, and some had broken bones as they flew far away colliding with the trees.

    "Can''t you keep your attacks away from me!?" Eined as she shot a water ball towards the flying wild beasts, the water ball exploded into hundreds of tiny, piercing spikes before hitting them, each one directed at different targets.

    They were chasing none other than Elisa who seemed to be fighting multiple flying wild beasts, and each of those was fighting one another to have her as their dinner. Elisa being tossed in mid-air from one mouth to another struggled to catch a moment for herself.

    Elisa was out of Oliver''s and E''s attack range, but they were doing their best to chase her.

    "Why are all these beastsing towards us!"

    "I don''t know!"

    They may be SS rankers but the wild beasts weren''t some insects either, they may be weak alone but when dealing with this many it bes a problem, more so in an environment like this.

    It was a chaos.

    "Damn it, I am going to use advanced rank spell Oliver! No point in being a cheapstake!" E shouted with annoyance in her voice, stretching her hand out in the air.

    Oliver in an instant jumped far away from E and the beasts surrounding them.

    And then E snapped her fingers.

    In an instant, the severelyrge towering swords of water formed in the sky and started falling down just like the water droplets have been all this time.

    Everything within 500 meters of E waspletely and utterly destroyed, some beasts were cut apart, some had their bodies riddled with countless holes and some werepletely left beyond recognition.

    And then a dragon born out of the water was formed as E rode it, calling out to Oliver who jumped up on the dragon, it began to head towards Elisa leaving behind the catastrophic destruction.

    "This is why I asked for a soul-bound dimensional storage, you just can''t be careful with stuff during a fight. Well, their<i> potion backup is dead</i>. Next up is dividing them in different directions. Wonder when she will notice the position though." A voice devoid of any emotion said taking a pause as it continued "Welp, you are next, go give them a jumpscare by emerging from underground"

    As if responding to the indifferent voice, a low grunt was heard.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "What the hell did just happen here?" Edison voiced out his concern as he looked at the devastatingndscape in front of him, trees were uprooted, lots of dead bodies of beasts, and then one of a wild beast with its head crushed on the ground, there was also a body of a beastplete charred ck, the craters will being filled with the rainwater.

    "Seems like they were attacked by lots of wild beasts and that''s the body of quetzalcoatus, I can assure you that beast is a high-ranking one. Anyone below SS- would have a hard time dealing with it. Though you don''t usuallye across them." The vampire said.

    Orson silently surveyed the surroundings, he willed the mana in his eyes to observe them carefully.

    If not for the current weather he would have never done that, even with his mana proficiency S ranked, the pain he felt when he willed mana into his eyes was absolutely terrible. The searing pain he felt in his eyes was akin to bacon being thrown into a piping hot pan.

    He gritted his teeth enduring the pain, unlike E who is an elf who is good with their ears Oliver and Elisa who are beastfolk with great senses the dwarf who has eyes better than others the vampire who is a vampire, Oliver is a human, this was his only way.

    In Noah''s words ''You know, you are one unfortunate, sad sack of shit when you are born a human in a world with different intelligent species. All you can do is suck it up, after all, it is what it is.''

    With his newly, improved vision, Orson surveyed the surroundings. As he looked through the almost washed-up trails of footprints, he assessed the situation.

    "It seems that they have headed towards east" Orson voiced out his thoughts.

    "Did you just will the mana into your retina? You are crazy." Edison said, he for one, would never will mana into his retinas for he knew how painful it is.

    "Haha...Hahahaha!"

    Edison freaked out by the sudden emergence ofughter as he turned his head towards the source of theugh, his eyes met the female vampire''s figure, in the distance, slouching down.

    "What did you find?" Orson asked.

    "Take a look yourself, before careful though." She showed a silver thread to Orson and Edison.

    Both curious looked at the thread and reached their hands towards it, the moment they did they felt the sharpness of the thread.

    "Use your status now" They both did as the vampire instructed.

    ======================================================

    Thread of assasination - Laced with high-grade Poison.

    When touched with mana or aura, bes sharp enough to cut through even mana or aurayered objects, albeit only a little. =======================================================

    ""Eh..""

    That was all they could both could utter.

    "That''s not all, the thread is broken, but you see, the setup isn''t so simple. First, it was set loosely, no one could get cut if this is just loosely hanging but the moment the destruction stuck this ce, the trees fell in a way that resulted in the thread to be not hung loosely anymore. Once the thread was no longer stuck all it needed was to get the touch of mana and ...it will be sharp enough to cut through a person coating themself with mana. Hey, look this thing has a little blood on it, touching won''t be enough to cut through unless someone approaches the thread itself with some speed. You get what I am saying?"

    The implications of the vampire''s words left both Orson and Edison simply... creeped out.

    "Whoever did this is absolute nuts!" The ecstatic tone with which the vampire shouted was beyond deranged.

    And soon her expression turned serious "So, which one is it? We go to the east or follow the trail of this thread, which trap are we falling for?" She asked, leaving the decision to her leader, Orson.

    For moments Orson stood still not uttering a single word, the vampire simply watched over Orson''s expression and mused while Edisonined "What are you thinking so hard about!? We need to go and look for them, if they are poisoned and in trouble, we need to go help them as soon as we can!"

    With a deep breath, Orson spoke "You will go to the east and look for them. I will go and look for where this thread will lead us along with Edison"

    "Wait, why aren''t we going to save them!?" Edison shouted.

    "Because we don''t know if they are alive, and I am sending her there, she is as strong as me" Orson replied in a frustrated tone.

    "What? What do you mean you don''t know if they are alive!? What kind of bullshit are you spouting!"

    "You saw it yourself Edison, if it really went as she said then ...whoever came up with it, definitely doesn''t have traps that stop there. This person predicted the very destruction of a fight that would take ce in a precise manner as if he could see the future! He set his trap as if he knew how things would turn out!" Orson shouted, his anger and fear evident in his voice.

    Orson was angry about how things were turning out and with their smartwatches not working they couldn''t contact their groups and fear ...of losing more of hisrades, one of the reasons why he didn''t want to go there himself, he was scared of finding them dead.

    Before Edison could voice hisint, the vampire bid her farewell without wasting any of her time.

    "Oh well, I will get going then, need to be as fast as possible."

    With that, Edison and Orson were left alone.

    "Are youing with me or not?" Orson asked to which Edison begrudgingly nodded.

    ...They didn''t know, they were walking towards their own death.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s Pov)

    My expectations were low, but holy hell.

    This is just absurd.

    This is in stupid at this point.

    Edison ate the fruits that were injected with my potion, of course, there was no way of knowing which fruits any of them would eat so I being a good guy, injected the potion in all of them.

    I mean, not really I just downed the number of possible routes and then poisoned all the fruits of those ces.

    Anyway, the thing is Edison ate the fruits I have injected with a liquid that blocks all mana or aura flow, slowly without letting the person realize it. However, it takes hours before it shows its awesome work.

    So yeah, Edison became baggage that Orson had to carry all the while being attacked by the wild beasts. I had instructed the ones I had control over to make it so that other beasts ran in their direction. The results were as I had expected them to be.

    Edison died, and Orson couldn''t protect him.

    Orson continued on his journey and reached the castle, met Liza, and got cut off in half within seconds. Damn, they were both supposed to be SS+ rankers yet, Liza killed him just like one would a fly. Well, she has been an SS+ ranker for a far longer time than Orson, it was inevitable.

    As for Oliver and E? Lol, they got separated because of constantly being attacked by the beasts.

    Out of those 20, I send 15 of the wild beasts to put Oliver down. Oliver''s pretty temperamental so he got done in easily with the help of traps I had set in there. Hm? What about the other 5? I used 4 of them to kill Edison.

    While I used the remaining one for E.

    E, well she was poisoned. How? Assisination tricks 101. So yeah, it became harder for her to continue fighting, not only that she didn''t have her dimensional storage, so she couldn''t heal herself.

    And just like that, they all died.

    Nah, whom am I kidding, that Marcus didn''t give a shit to these people, no proper weapon, no armor, nothing.

    He literally just sent them to die.

    As for Elisa, she is in front of me, her breathing ragged, her body tattered, blood dripping down her face, she will die, even if I don''t do anything she will die. She has exhausted far too much of her aura to deal with those beasts.

    See, this is why demons are scary, their ability to control the sheer amount of beasts is scary.

    In my case, I had used the stronger beasts that I got from Liza to lure them towards these guys, well... more like scared them away.

    Anyways, so yeah, Elisa is pretty much on death''s door.

    But damn, been a while since I saw someone looking at me with just a clear hatred.

    "An adult trying to beat a child is child abuse. How about you calm down?"

    "I will kill yo-cough!"

    Girl, you can''t even speak properly without coughing up blood once!

    Why so angry?

    Anyways, at this point, even I can take off your SS ranker.

    Ha, besides, my magic''s stronger than any of them.

    You see, magic spells are divided into 4 ranks, beginner, intermediate, high, and advanced rank.

    Those ranked from G- to D+ can learn beginner spells, those ranked from C- to A can learn intermediate spells, those ranked from A+ to SS- can learn high-ranked spells, and those ranked SS to welp whatever SSS+ can learn advanced spells.

    The higher the level the more spells and devastating spells one could learn.

    Yes, your rank matters.

    But I y with hacks!

    ..I wish I could at least.

    Anyways, so yeah, I am psychic, for me, the amount of devastation and strength of my spellspletely depends upon how vividly I feel them.

    In other words, I can use whatever!

    I may be weak but when ites to pure magic and shit I ain''t losing to even most of the high rankers!

    Also, I don''t need to use mana for my attacks!

    Unlimited advance-level spells! That''s what I can do!

    You wanna pick a fight with me? Think again!

    Thinking all that to myself, I turned towards the person seeking my blood.

    Well then, let''s get some exp~

 Chapter 38: Why!?

    <h4>Chapter 38: Why!?</h4>

    She lunged her beastly ws at him, bleeding from head to toe, her body tattered in injuries, lots of her bones broken, her aurapletely exhausted, yet even so.

    With every bit of strength left in her, she moved.

    All to kill the cause of her sufferings.

    All to kill him.

    Everything had gone wrong since he came into their life. Everyone she had once held dear was now dead.

    People she loved, people she had spent an incredible amount of time with.

    All dead.

    Unable to bury the rage in her heart anymore, she lunged toward a 16-year-old boy.

    Right now, she couldn''t give a damn if he is just a child.

    All she wanted was to kill him. To kill the person who has imparted all this suffering to them. Prepared to give her everything just to kill him.

    And so was the boy who was prepared to kill the person in front of him albeit he didn''t seem to have any emotion or desire in him. He was simply killing her because ...just because she had provided him exp and some answers.

    That was all. He didn''t hold any grudge against her, he didn''t hold any particr reason to kill her either, honestly, he could kill someone else entirely and he would still get the results he wanted.

    And so, both veterans of many life and death struggles, faced off each other.

    "I will kill you!!" she rushed at him with a scream resembling a wild animal''s roar. Her approach was jagged and her hair spread out behind her as she swung her arms and swayed like a dancer, weaving to and fro as she attacked.

    "Crazy bitch" Saying so, he too moved on the defensive.

    Noah could easily, pretty easily take people out who are skilled, after all, they have a pattern in their movements and Noah was good at discerning those patterns as fast as possible.

    Even if Noah were to fight apletely new person with skills he has never seen before, it would take him barely 5 minutes topletely and utterly discern their movements from that point on.

    But a person moving with no rhythm? No pattern? A person just trying to kill? There was no pattern, all Noah could do was take advantage of the openings and their crude style but he was against the SS ranker even if she was on death''s door, she proved to be a force to be reckoned with.

    Thus, despite seeing the openings in her attacks, Noah found himself unable to take advantage of them.

    In Noah''s words, ''It''s not professionals that you need to worry about, it''s those damned amateurs''

    Whish!

    She swung her right arm with all her strength, targeting the back of Noah''s neck. Noah in response ducked, narrowly avoiding having his head flying.

    Their paths crossed, and Elisa, carried by her momentum, sailed past him, stumbling.

    Noah took the chance to create distance between himself and her, shooting out a fireball, Elisa, narrowly avoided, however her skin felt the heat of those blue mes that went past her, and with loud bang sound resounded throughout the area, setting the trees behind her on fire.

    "...That was an intermediate spell"

    "Wait, what? I thought you lost your thinking capacity with how you were attacking, gotta be on guard."

    Noah''s reply which appeared nonchnt and mocking did a great job at pissing her off, but he was actually being sincere.

    Preparing herself to attack Noah once again, she skidded her left leg a little.

    Noah simply waited, he had decided it was better to let her steam run off, and so Noah prepared himself to dodge her attacks just like how he dodged his responsibilities.

    In normal circumstances, the more time given to a person, the more aura they would regain with time, so stretching out a fight wasn''t an optimal answer.

    But Elisa had exhausted her reserves dry to the point that she was going to be bacshed. She would need at least a month to recover herself from all the havoc that her aura is currently causing inside of her ...if she gets out of the situation alive.

    "Why?" her voice resembled a low growl.

    "Why... indeed why?" Noah having no idea of what she wanted to ask or what she was even getting at, yed along with his own dialogue.

    Context be damned, she is going to die soon anyway, so who actually cares about her question, gotta focus on making talk look cool!

    <i>What about the fight? Do you think it''s cool to have a fight to death? What the actual fuck is wrong with you?</i>

    Is what Noah thought as he continued evading her relentless onught.

    And then he began speaking.

    "Oh wait, I get it. But still, are you really asking me ''why'' I provided Elina with blueprints? I mean, I should be praised for providing such valuable information. Why are you angry?"

    "That damn wench! I will kill her too!" She roared, slicing through the air her left arm. Her whole body spinning, sheshed out one limb after another.

    "You! You ruined everything! You killed E and Oliver!"

    "Just of the info, Orson and Edison are also dead."

    She clenched her fists tight enough for the blood to seep through them, but she didn''t stop.

    "Okay, girl, let''s be honest. Did you really expect to get away without facing any consequences for what you all did? Don''t make me the bad guy when you are clearly the one."

    Finding himself in a position to not be able to dodge another one of her attacks, Noah blocked Elisa''s left leg with his right arm, and his bones creaked.

    <i>''...She is... on death''s door.. right? Oh lord, screw fantasy settings, I still can''t determine the danger level. ''</i> Noah thought to himself.

    "We were prepared! We were ready to ept the punishment! What we did was a necessary evil!"

    "For the love of god, you think you get to decide the consequences you have to face for your sins? You can''t. It''s something brought down by others and that was what happened. Also, necessary evil is an excellent justification but there''s no ''excuse'' for what you did. If you prepared yourself tomit necessary evil you also need to be prepared to face everyone''s hostility towards you even if your actions have those people. You chose that path, that''s al-grr!"

    Elisa''s right foot hit Noah''s stomach with enough force that he was thrown off his feet, and he tumbled across the ground. Closing the distance without giving him any chance to recover, she stomped her feet on the right side of his chest as he gasped for air-pressing down his lungs.

    Elisa looked down at him, her face contorted with blood lust and agony "...And you should be prepared to face the consequences of your actions, too, no?"

    "Haa.. You are right. You have the right to ask for retribution, for revenge... but so do I have the right to refuse, even if god were to pass a judgment on me, a judgment that I don''t agree with, I will just kill him in turn, if things can end ...peacefully, that''s great too" Noah replied, struggling to speak with the leg pressing down on him.

    Elisa felt creeped out. The reason for that was simple, Noah''s ck eyes, with an empty look, and his words that were spoken so casually just shook her.

    <i>''Something''s wrong with him..''</i>

    Normally, what he said could be passed off as him being arrogant but.. the way Noah had said just stuck to her.

    It was a certain sense of uncertainty that his way of speaking caused as if he was actually capable of killing a god.

    To begin with, he had killed SS rankers.

    What if ...he could?

    ''Absurd!'' Shaking herself of such thoughts she prepared herself to stomp on his chest one more time, and this time she will crush his chest.

    She was barely keeping herself conscious or maybe her strong desire to kill Noah was keeping her conscious to begin with.

    Regardless, she was at the end of her rope.

    And so, just when she prepared to stomp her feet on his chest, the zing blue mes emerged from Noah''s chest, prepared to swallow Elisa in whole. She jumped back to save herself from those mes. In normal circumstances, Elisa would have been able to dance in those mes without being harmed by them but this wasn''t a normal circumstance.

    "I really don''t like it" Noah muttered as he stood back up, his own body covered with several 3rd degree burns.

    Noah''s psychic causes destruction to not only its target but the very user itself. The heat that Noah used to drive away Elisa had harmed him, unlike Elisa he couldn''t jump back from the mes, they surrounded him to protect him, why would he jump back from it?

    Regardless of which, Elisa couldn''t help but be confused, after all getting harmed by one''s own spell wasn''t something heard of.

    But that didn''t matter, Elisa now could see Noah being severely injured, she could kill him!

    That thought of her''s shattered in an instant.

    She saw Noah''s mouth moving a bit and then his body ...was back to its original state, the scorched skin back to the pale white skin, the burns were all gone, and the injuries she had inflicted on him vanished.

    She stood as if spellbound, unable toprehend what she just witnessed. If it wasn''t enough that Noah could use intermediate spell levels, despite being a weakling just months ago, then this had to be a wake-up call for her to realize Noah was way stronger than he was and far more dangerous.

    "For the love of god, can''t you die already?"

    With her ragged breathing and wobbly legs, she greeted her teeth, looking at Noah with an intense murderous gaze.

    "Sheesh."

    In response, a growl was heard.

    And so, both of them engaged in another battle.

    Elisa managed to gravely injure Noah once again but in the end with his healing potion Noah was back to no injuries while Elisa inched closer to her death.

    Once

    Twice

    Thrice

    .

    .

    .

    .

    And finally...

    Elisa''s desire to kill Noah wasn''t enough to help her move.

    So she fell, and Noah with his dagger, inched closer. Until the end, she looked at him with eyes full of hatred.

    And Noah stared back into her eyes and slid the dagger down her throat.

    And just like that, Noah had killed an SS ranker with his own hands.

    "System-san, I can level up, right? Do it."

 Chapter 39: Soul

    <h4>Chapter 39: Soul</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    Despite the pain that coursed through my body I managed to stay standing.

    My body was drenched in sweat, indicating how badly I needed a shower right now.

    My breathing was ragged, my body felt like it was burning.

    Why am I in this state? Because I just leveled up!

    It''s a good news! Well, was supposed to be!

    Thest time I leveled up I felt pain but soon after I felt myself reinvigorated. Filled with newfound strength with the help of an upgrade!

    It surely felt amazing.

    But what I am feeling now doesn''t feel amazing at all!

    My whole body feels like it''s in pain, my legs are wobbly, and my head rings like a bell when hit.

    Damn it.

    "System Status"

    =====================================================

    Name: Noah

    Rank: E+

    Strength: E+

    Stamina: E+

    Agility: E+

    Perception: E+

    Mana proficiency: D-

    Aura proficiency: E

    Demonic energy proficiency: E

    Luck: B

    Intelligence: B+

    Charm: A-

    =======================================================

    Holy shit!

    So, the experience umtes! It''s not like I have to first level up to gain any new exp.

    That''s cool.

    But I am still feeling like shit.

    Like a drum being drummed! That''s how my body feels.

    But that''s not important.

    What''s important is ...why?

    Why?

    Why!?

    Why the hell did I rank up to only this level!?

    I killed SS ranker! SS! I should have gained at least 2 ranks!

    1 Rank, of course, means absolute alphabet change, sub-rank means there can be changed alphabet or not.

    For instance, going from G to G+ is a sub-rank change, also going from G+ to F- is a rank and sub-rank change. Going F- to E+ is a rank change.

    When changing letters gets into the equation things change drastically. The difference between the same alphabet individuals is high but the change when the alphabet changes is far more different.

    That''s why, if someone is a sub-ranked higher than you, he is stronger but manageable, if someone is 2 sub-ranks above you then the chances of you winning thins drastically.

    And if someone has a different alphabet than you, then you are screwed. Even in this 5-minute fight with Elisa, I had increased my <i>rank</i> like I did when I fought Minotaur except now I know it <i>doesn''t increase my rank actually...</i>

    Okay, that''s not important!

    What''s important, is that I expected to at least hit D rank.

    But I didn''t.

    It feels like I am some underpaid employee of some ckpany overworking myself to my bone only to get next to no profits.

    Just why? Why the hell did my rank didn''t rise exponentially?

    It doesn''t make sense.

    If I take this growth rate and thenpare it with the protagonist''s and his fellow party members leveling doesn''t make sense once again.

    I thought that plot hole was covered because the protagonist always faces people stronger than him and he wins against them, resulting in arger amount of experience than anyone else gets.

    But now, it''s again a question.

    Damn it.

    Exhaling, I then took a deep breath.

    Okay, let''s focus on other things.

    At least, I have leveled up. That''s great.

    I also got the answers that I needed.

    First, I didn''t get any exp from the other SS rankers who died, even though all of it was nned by me.

    Sure, I didn''t kill them directly but I should have gotten a 30 percent share from all the rest of them.

    But I didn''t.

    So, even if I caused a nned genocide I ain''t getting a single thing back. Alright, I ain''t gaining with causing any wars. That means I can''t farm my free exp while sitting on the couch.

    That''s sad.

    Also, I have been wondering if the reason demons are stronger than other species is because they have control over beasts, so if the controlled beasts kill others who will get the exp, beast? or the owner?

    For the record, I know those with beast tamer or summoner ss get their share contributed in the same 7:3 ratio, 7 for the boss and 3 for the beast, no matter who deals the final blow. How do I know it? I just put two and two together.

    Anyway, I wanted to know if it was the same for demons. Demons don''t have beast tamer ss or summoner but they still have control over beasts.

    I took the beast from Liza and took their control, and the way Oliver died without giving me any exp, it seems like the beast takes all the exp.

    With the way, Edison and E died despite being clearly poisoned by me, and weakened by my hands, I still didn''t get any exp for contribution. From this, it''s easy to conclude, that using traps to kill off someone without confronting them at all results in not getting any exp.

    I have to be active in the fight in some way.

    As for Orson... I wanted him dead. Don''t want an SS+ ranked as an enemy, duh.

    For the record, I got aplete 100 percent of her exp. Why? Why did I getplete exp even though there were beasts who worked to kill her as well?

    Well, I have the beasts all dead after being done with them. So yeah...

    Anyway, now I know a bit more about trap usage.

    But now the new question is about my rank. Is it really all I level up? Why do I feel pained even though I leveled up? So exhausted?

    I needed to know the answer but before that...

    "Are you really going to just keep watching, vampy?"

    "Was just waiting to be called out" Vampy said giving a heartyugh.

    Oh nah, hell nah, yourrade''s dead body is here and you are smiling at the culprit. Then again, a mere 20 years or so is nowhere near enough for a vampire to start thinking of someone as an acquaintance let alone arade.

    Vampires are built different.

    "So, how does ranking up feel like?" She asked with a sweet smile on her face.

    "I feel like shit" I answered.

    Honestly, it was wanted to sleep, right now.

    "That means, you just jumped too many levels" Sheughed, as she gave me her answer.

    Hm? I think, I just heard something really concerning there.

    "...jumped too many levels?" I asked tilting my head.

    Is there some shit like you can''t level up too much at once or something?

    ''coz if there is then ..this shit is hardcore!

    Once again, I didn''t sign up for any of this!

    Agh, I need more exnation.

    "Hm? It seems like you need information." her sweet smile turned into sly.

    The world is filled with selfish people, if you can''t provide something for them, they won''t care about you only if you have something to offer would anyone ever listen to you.

    "So? What do you want vampy?"

    "You see, Marcus has put this little choker on us all, if we don''t report back to him for more than 2 days straight, it will shrink itself which would cause me my precious neck."

    "How cruel of him"

    I am not joking.

    "Right? I can''t believe how cold-hearted he is! So, can you take me to the ce where I can have this choker out? There''s more than a day left before the deadline for reporting back to him. Help me find someone who can take this choker off of me, I know you can!" She asked sping her hands and looking at me with puppy dog eyes with her adult looks.

    She''s like a boomer trying too hard to mingle with Gen Z.

    "Gotcha, so where''s the info?"

    "Haha, let''s form a mana covenant of not betraying each other first" Chuckling she stretched her hand in front of me.

    ...I too stretched my hand before me as a blue circle appeared between the distance of our palms.

    I read the contract, demon lord taught me how to not get scammed.

    Verifying the covenant, I willed my mana into it, kind of like signing it.

    With a satisfied smile on her face, she too signed it.

    The mana covenant was now established between us, the magic circle disappeared and I felt mana drained from my body.

    "So?" I asked

    "Well, leveling up is an art," She said, her voice caring some kind of elegance in it.

    Ah, I see.

    I have never been good at art.

    So, that''s why things are getting messed up.

    "Let me ask you, do you think that the status rankings are truly correct?" She asked making a thin system-like screen in front of me using the water.

    ...That''s been bugging me too.

    Let''s forget about my case of inconsistencies where my rank remains the same but my strength rivals a D ranker, well now that I am an E ranker, I probably can be strong enough to match C- or C ranker for a temporary period.

    The world itself is inconsistent. As I once said, Beastfolks are physically better than other species even if they are the same rank, Elves have better who can do mana or aura and have better control over these elements than any other species even if they have the same proficiency. Dwarves have far better cognitive skills required to forge weapons even if their intelligence is the same as another species person. Vampires are far better at using the skills and sses they have, and their natural vitality is better than any other species of the same rank. Demons are simply stronger than others in almost all aspects, they even have transformation mode waiting to be unleashed, so even if you are the same rank they are not simr to you in strength. Humans are adaptable, far too better than anyone thus having a bit faster growth rate in ranking up than other species.

    Tldr, the same stats mean shit!

    But that''s precisely why I called this novel a dog-shit novel!

    "Nah, they do help with estimating someone but can''t be called urate"

    It''s not all useless. Good and bad goes hand in hand.

    "That''s correct! The status isn''t urate. Sure, if you are <i>fighting</i> someone who is weak G or F ranked while you are SS ranked, you will win no doubt"

    True, I can''t deny that.

    Fighting is different from killing.

    Killing can be done unless the difference between you and the other person isn''t far too overwhelming.

    Truth be told except Demon lord, Liza, and Rubina I think I can kill any SS or SS+ ranker as long as I am given enough prep time.

    But if it''s a pure fight or duel type thing? I ain''t winning against those monsters.

    "But if the gap is just a rank? You can win even if you are a lower-ranked ranked showing stats rivaling the higher-ranked person than you. The stats aren''t wrong but not urate either. Now then, let me ask you have you ever tried solving a maths problem with a method that helps you reach the result but not an urate one?" Her sweet voice entered my ears as she whispered.

    In an instant, she closed the gap between us, but I wasn''t worried, the mana covenant would take care of everything. Even if by chance, the vampy got attached to others and used all this as a distraction to get close to me to kill me at the cost of her life, it wouldn''t work. After all, killing me or harming me in any way is prohibited.

    Besides, I have a protection ne and my potions with me.

    No need for me to worry.

    "Weird, an SS charm-ranked person who is currently dressed in a see-through because of the rain is whispering this close into your ears and the first thing you do is prepare yourself to kill me? It''s good to be prepared for things on the off chance but this is a little extreme ... it makes me more interested in you!" Saying so, she spun around with her arms spread out, as if she was trying to embrace the rain... no wait, that sounded so cringe. The fuck is wrong with me.

    "Back on point! Have you?" she cocked her head a little sideways.

    "Yeah, I have. Your point?"

    I do remember using a different form than the intended one for the solution and the answer was just wrong by thest decimal.

    I thought I had made some error so I checked my calctions again and again... until I realized it''s not the form I should be using to begin with.

    "Don''t you think it''s simr to status? The status window never explicitly said anything of ''what'' is it showing the ranks of?"

    ...

    "You mean to say that the rank might be rted to something else?"

    That''s a new take I haven''t heard of-

    Wait, wait.

    The hell?

    As if understanding the realization I have reached vampy opened her mouth once more

    "You have poured the water in your ss with a bit too fast of a speed and now it has cracks," She said throwing a coin-sized water ball towards an overgrown tree, the water ball pierced the tree, leaving a hole in it.

    "You have damaged your soul" A sinister whisper reached my ears as I remembered something important or ...more urately, understood the importance of the words I had taken so casually.

    I wasn''t absorbing exp but ...<i>souls</i>.

 Chapter 40: Have some manners.

    <h4>Chapter 40: Have some manners.</h4>

    Fucking hell.

    I remembered the ''buy this get this along with for free'' schemes.

    Soul was what I was harvesting and absorbing in the literal sense of words, so why would my soul show stats of what my body is capable of?

    However, it seems there is a corrtion between the soul and the body.

    Have I said I am an atheist? Well, the thing is I also don''t believe in souls but ...eh, I guess they do exist.

    Maybe, that''s why I didn''t take the words told to me seriously.

    So then, right now is my soul in pain? Or my body?

    The answer to it was simple, my soul. Why do I know? I already took the healing potion and consumed it and I don''t feel any good even right now.

    I looked at the smiling vampy in front of me.

    Wait? How does she know about the soul?

    "How did you know?"

    "From your words, it seems like my theory does have its credentials, you see when you have been alive for a very, very long time, before the current demon lord became the demon lord, before the previous demon lord became the demon lord who now is currently just a maid, you just start trying to look for things, anything that makes you interested in them. "

    Oh, that makes sen-

    Wait what?

    "Liza was a demon lord?"

    What the fuck!?

    You are telling me the person I had been treating as a maid all this time used to be a demon lord!

    Oh lord, what a demotion!

    From the life of luxury to the life of a maid...

    What a graph of life you have, Liza...

    "..You mean, Elizabeth Archipgo? Yes, she used to be a demon lord until the current demon lord came and trashed her like a ragdoll. The first truly terrifying demon lord came into existence. During the rule of Elizabeth Archipgo, things weren''t this bad but the current Demon lord simply ordered, "Do what you want." and since then they all have been acting like pure savages."

    Well, I am sure she doesn''t have any idea of how to rule things. As long as she is not having trouble living she doesn''t care for anything else.

    She isn''t a king material.

    But, shouldn''t Liza have been dead?

    As if sensing my question, vampy began "Usually when the Demon lord gets challenged by someone else they fight to the death, but that is actually not necessary. As long as one party falls unconscious for more than 10 seconds or if one of them surrenders but of course, they have lived like a demon lord, their pride wouldn''t let them surrender, and since the demon lord is revered as a god when they win they are once again revered with even more faith. The challenger of a demon lord isn''t just challenging a Demon lord but their ''God'' and to have the will to challenge one own god requires more than just simple strength. So if they lost they won''t have any ce for themself, usually, resulting in them to fight to their death."

    Ah, yes, atheists sure used to have a hard time during the medieval period, didn''t they?

    This exins why Liza doesn''t revere the demon lord. She is wonderful as a maid but not someone who reveres her.

    Maybe, that''s why she chose her as the only maid. She didn''t want to deal with religious fanatics.

    Anyways, what this meant is either Liza was unconscious for more than 10 seconds or she surrendered. Which one is it though?

    "What do you know? She made Elizabeth Archipgo surrender. She didn''t let her be unconscious. She didn''t let her kill herself. She made her shatter her pride, made her surrender. That fight was pretty one-sided. Well, she is the first SSS+ ranker, the only person who has gone above the SS+ rank mark in this world"

    Wow, the fact that she deliberately made her surrender tells how scary she must have had been.

    On a side note.

    "There''s now another person who is SSS- ranker. So yeah, update your info logs"

    She looked at me baffled, I looked at her, and atst, she is showing a surprised expression.

    One should always share information in a world like this without expecting anything in return.

    "And may I ask who is it?" Vampy asked her eyes gleaming.

    Vampires are curious creatures, any kind of new knowledge, new invention, new weapon, or any sort of information would always spice them up.

    They would kill for something new and exciting. They are just ves to it.

    ves to their never-ending curiosity.

    But you know, curious cats get killed.

    "I am probably going to be hunted down the road by Marcus. It would be good if I had someone who is high ranker and has lived long enough to hone their skills to the max act as my bodyguard of sorts"

    I said, looking at my system screen which of course the vampy doesn''t know anything about.

    What''s the system telling me?

    <i>[Marcus''s sending some assassins to kill the demon lord, they are also tasked with capturing you in case they fail to kill the demon lord! He is saying that you would be useful in your own way. Having you as a hostage to deal with the demon lord in case you have truly be an important person to her is advantageous and he also ns on using you! They would be here in the next 30 minutes! (???)?</i>]

    <i>Now I am sure, at that time, Liza was lured into the fight with a purpose.</i>

    Sheesh, smart people are scary.

    But in any case, I have a previous demon lord with me, so I should be fine is what I want to say but if they can''t capture me then they will kill me.

    If Liza really used to be a demon lord then she most probably knows how to fight not how to protect.

    And that leaves me with a teensy bit of openings.

    Now a bit of help wouldn''t be a bad thing, would it?

    "I will be your bodyguard! I am a high ranker and a person who has lived for a long time, can you tell me the name!?" Vampy jumped towards me, grasping my hands with hers as she bent down a little, looking me in the eyes with her sparkling ones.

    "The pleasure''s all mine but I will tell you the nameter. You still haven''t answered my question though" I said as I started walking towards the castle where Liza was currently, the vampy followed me.

    Letting out a groan she began to her lesson "Where were we again? Oh yeah! So, now that we know the status screen stats have something to do with soul. Let''s move on to the next part, as I said, if you pour water into a cup of ss at a certain speed you will break it, right? That''s how it works. You shouldn''t level up too much in one go. That''s not rmended. If you want to level up, then do it by a sub-rank, and then once you level up to the next. If you don''t, then well, most probably nothing''s going to save you from dying"

    For fuck''s sake, what the hell is that supposed to mean? So, I can''t level up at my desired pace?

    Damn, they really did make the system with their brains.

    Every species has some sort of problem holding them back. For instance, other species have long life spans but a potential cap on them, humans don''t have a potential cap on them but their life span isn''t long enough to actually go beyond a certain level.

    Though it''s obvious why these restrictions are in ce, they created this whole thing to have fun and entertainment not for someone to defy them, to have the power to crush them.

    In a way, it was a well-thought-out system.

    Not too weak to not be able to enjoy watching our struggles and not too strong to ever be a cause of concern for them.

    It''s kinda like, how no one wants AI to have their own will, they fear it, so they build programs in a way that wouldn''t bring the results not desired.

    <i>....'' World''s Genre''</i>

    I remembered the words told by the blue-haired girl. ording to how she had worded it, it clearly indicated that the world''s genre is above her.

    Well, that makes sense.

    I think about it,ter.

    The pain that coursed through my entire being was by no means bearable and since it has nothing to do with my body, I can''t stop the pain by messing with my brain or by simply consuming a potion, I have already tried them and those methods have failed.

    Damn... doesn''t feel nice, but you can''t skip work. Gotta do what I gotta do.

    Vampy simply followed me, dancing through the whole way, ying with the mist in the forest.

    Once reaching the castle, I entered the room with Vampy to see Liza.

    "Why?"

    I asked, disappointed.

    Liza''s body froze in front of me, her fingers on her lips, which seemed to have been licking the blood.

    "L-look I can exin," Liza said gulping down ..the food in her mouth.

    Exin to your heart''s content. I am waiting to hear.

    "I have been busy, running things around and working really hard, spending sleepless nights performing activities, and then you just went away telling me to stay here. I have been starving and it''s natural to eat food when you starve!"

    "Liza, no sane person would eat raw food, you cook it first. Then arrange it from the pot to the te it goes and you get to eat it after you wash your hands. You look absurd, like a toddler ruining the cake trying to eat it"

    Like, have some manners.

    And I am interested in knowing exactly what kind of nightly activities you are performing.

    "That''s what you have a problem with?" vampy asked, cocking her head, confusion visible on her face.

    What else should I have a problem with?

    Shaking my head, I looked towards Liza.

    "Go back home. Your shifts over. Enjoy your holiday"

    Yeah, go back before those guyse.

    It''s better that way. Initially, I was going to have her do the fight for me but now I don''t really feel like it.

    I wanna try something.

    "Unfortunately, I have a lot of work to do. I can''t just take a day off. Oh well, I will go back then."

    Standing up and getting away from Oliver''s mutted corpse, she looked at me.

    "Wait, it sounds like you aren''ting. Why? And who is this with you anyway? "

    You are sote to notice things.

    "Meh, don''t bother with small stuff." I said waving my hand as I continued "Just tell me this, do you know where the demon lord''s home used to be?"

    "..."

    Liza''s looked at me as if scrutinizing me. I just stood still with my handsome face, looking back at her.

    Heaving a deep sigh, she spoke

    "�æ� �ӦϦ� k?d?r"

    "Gotcha"

    Good, I learned theirnguage from demon lord, or else I might have been left wondering if she is on some cracks.

    "Well, I will go then"

    Before she could leave, I grabbed her and whispered the important thing in her ears so that Vampy couldn''t hear me.

    <i>"Demon Lord has gone to sleep"</i>

    Since Liza had been staying in this same ce for too long, Marcus probably suspects that the Demon lord is taking her sleep here.

    Oh well, he had already wasted a day.

    The war won''t be one-sided.

    "What?"

    That was all Liza said before storming off with a logic-defying speed

    Those assassins could be here any minute now.

    Crack Crack!

    And they are here, vampy took a fighting position, but I just grabbed her hand.

    <i>Let''s see if I can teleport along with someone else with my ne.</i>

 Chapter 41: A Feared Monster, A God.

    <h4>Chapter 41: A Feared Monster, A God.</h4>

    It''s time for a story.

    A story of a girl who became strong, ridiculously strong, all so that she doesn''t have to die, all so that she wouldn''t have to follow someone''smand if ordered, all so that she can be free of her lord''s influence.

    And so she challenged her god and won.

    For some, she was a monster. For some, she became their new god.

    There was no in-between.

    And so, she spent a long time, oh so very long time, alone.

    She was safe, free of anyone''smand, she was strong enough to not worry about anything and there was no one who could do anything to her anymore or take anyone precious to her ever again but ...she was lonely.

    She wasn''t regarded as a person by anyone anymore.

    And then, she met a boy, a strange boy, much much younger than her, to her he was just a kid.

    He didn''t treat her as a feared monster like others did, he didn''t treat her as a revered god like others did.

    ...And that baffled her.

    Over time, she became close to him and became fond of him.

    And then, he told her, he would leave.

    She said she woulde along with him but he refused, telling her it would be impossible for her to follow him.

    She didn''t like that, she was the feared monster, the revered god. Why wouldn''t she be able to follow him?

    But she didn''t brood over it, for the boy in front of her was strange, had strange artifacts, potions that helped in ways she hadn''t known before.

    She didn''t like that, she wanted to threaten him, tell him that she would put him in prison, cut off his legs, to make him stay here, with her.

    She didn''t want to be alone, she couldn''t bear to be alone, she was afraid of being alone.

    But she didn''t act on her feelings because...

    She didn''t want him to suffer, she didn''t want him to be sad, she didn''t want him to be hurt, she didn''t want him to be in pain.

    So, she decided to spend whatever time she had left with him, she would enjoy it.

    But... nothing goes ording to one''s own desire, such is the way of the world.

    Thus, those who feared her as a monster decided to band together to kill her and her kind.

    Truthfully, she didn''t care about her kind. She wasn''t interested in being some king or God either. She had dumped all the managing and responsibilities on the person who once was revered as a god.

    All she wanted was a life that no one controlled and a life she could live without any worries.

    Regardless, now that they wereing for her, she had to stand up and fight, resulting in her shortage amount of time with the person she wanted to be with.

    She made a simple wish with her fears of being left behind once again, with the fear of being alone emerging.

    <i>''...Don''t go''</i>

    As she drifted to her sleep with her hand sped in his.

    By no means, was she a king material.

    She was just a normal person who simply happened to have power.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Third person pov)

    In a room, dimly lit with the help of whatever light came through the windows, ady who seemed to be in her 20''s, her physical appearance defying her real age, slowly opened her eyes.

    Her hazel-colored eyes shone radiantly in the dimly lit room, her ck scleraplimenting the color of her pupil, and her silver silky hairs spilled behind her.

    She looked around trying to look for someone, she willed mana into her retina allowing her to see through even walls, as she inspected her whole castle, built upon 250 acres, every person, ve, and beast that was within the vicinity.

    She realized there were millions of beasts guarding her outside of the room and castle.

    <i>Guess, they all realized about me.</i>

    She thought and then went back to search.

    After a while, she lowered her head, heaved a sigh, and closed her eyes.

    "You said you had to be with me when I woke up."

    She muttered, slowly patting her hand that was once held by Noah with the other one.

    And her body seemed to be trembling.

    She looked like nothing more than a kid.

    Terribly lonely and afraid and at the same time, used to it.

    nd memories came back to her, no they weren''t even memories, what came back to her were feelings of loneliness that she had once felt.

    The coldness she had felt.

    She didn''t want to go back to those days. She really didn''t.

    And so, she picked herself up. Ready to go look for him and while at it, she will help her kind.

    Just then, she looked towards her left, into thin air.

    She felt it, all too strongly.

    <i>''Something.. is looking at me''</i>

    She thought.

    <i>''...what is this?'' she questioned.</i>

    She couldn''t see it, whatever it was, it kept its eyes locked on her.

    But soon after, she came to her own answer.

    She was fine, she was okay and Noah had promised her, he wouldn''t let anyone so much as touch her.

    But Noah wasn''t here, so he needed an alternative and from the things Noah had shown her already, she could believe in it.

    <i>''What kind of artifact is this now?''</i> She mused.

    "I don''t know who you are, but tell him, I aming to see him to wherever he is and once I catch him, he is losing his limbs, for, he dared to leave me behind with neither a prior notice nor any words."

    In the next instant, the already thin presence disappeared entirely.

    Gone, as if it was never there, to begin with.

    She hmped and turned away.

    But before that, she needed food.

    She had spent 3 days sleeping and recovering from her years of exhaustion, she was starving and she could feel it, if she didn''t consume the meat soon enough she would go into a frenzy, never to have her consciousness back to her.

    A really annoying drawback of her kind, she thought.

    She rang the bell near the table.

    And the next instant 2 maids came inside the room. One looked to be in herte 20''s, a demon, their appearance like Elves ages slowlier, far slower and stops once to age once they reach their youthful appearance.

    And the other was a teenager, a human girl.

    They both entered the room along with the food trolley, moving like professionals they were.

    "I hope you had a peaceful sleep?" Liza said looking at the messy silver hair of her lord.

    "That I did. What''s for the breakfast" The Demon lord asked, her voice carrying a hint of urgency, she wanted nothing more than to go and search for Noah.

    "It''s lunchtime. Also, how could you do it!? Did you forget the risk it entails!?" Liza shouted, the only person capable of shouting to her Lord.

    Liza still couldn''t believe that the demon lord had gone to sleep without so much as telling her.

    "Welp, what''s done is done now, let''s not dwell on it, tell me about the situation outside," She asked.

    Liza wanted to retort but didn''t, as she started toy down all the information while the teenage maid simply served the food.

    "Hm? So they decided to go after the pregnant women? Whoever came up with it must have been a heartless individual" The demon lord said taking a bite of the crisped heart, as she took the bite of it, the blood flowed out of the heart, or was it sauce that the chef had prepared?

    Whichever one, the site of her simply eating was still mesmerizing.

    Demons pregnancy works far differently than other species, the time period for them is about 5 years.

    And during the entirety of it, those women became weak, far too fragile to kill.

    Not only that, when they add the fact that one woman can bear only bear 2 children, and some of them only 1.

    It goes without saying that protecting those women was a huge responsibility. After all their race has the lowest poption after the vampires.

    Thus, they put all the pregnant women in the same area, guarded by millions of beasts, and are served only the best of the best food.

    If other species can bypass the warriors and beasts that stood in their way, then killing all the pregnant women would be all too easy, in such a way they can ensure that their poption will thin out in the future and such an attack would definitely be a heavy toll on their kind.

    "They are able to hold up for now, but from the looks of it, the line would be breached in a day or two," Liza said

    "Why haven''t you intervened yet?" The demon lord asked.

    "...They managed to cast the spell ''<i>Lowenace</i>'' on me," Liza said turning around and showing her bare back to the demon lord.

    Arge ck tattoo on her back, with the number ''15''

    "Uh-huh"

    Lowenace is a spell that binds the user from using any amount of demonic energy, mana, or aura for a certain time period, it could be seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, or years, though it''s impossible to cast this spell for years on anyone simply because of the cost it takes.

    In return for casting ''<i>Lowenace</i>,'' one has to sacrifice a huge amount of one''s own life. Casting the spell on someone for even a few seconds would cost someone years of their lifespan.

    It might have been a huge boost for vampires but they can''t cast it.

    Regardless, whoever has cast the spell on Liza has spent chunks of their life, since it would the mark would remain for days toe, thus signifying that this spell was indeed cast by a child of the Elven race, with the biggest life span after Vampires and Demons.

    <i>The boy will die in maybe, a decade?</i>

    Finished eating, she stood up and prepared to go take a bath but before that, she asked

    "Do you know where Noah is?" She asked, she didn''t expect an answer toe her way, she knew if Noah disappeared it would be impossible to find anything about him.

    To her, he was an anomaly, a kind of one that simply didn''t make any sense.

    "He left, thest ce I saw him at was ''<i>Forshire</i>'', where he took me along with him for reasons unknown to me, I was ambushed by someone there, a weakling but I swiftly dealt with him."

    Liza''s words came as a shock to her as she racked her brain.

    Forshire, a ce where her abandoned castle is located, is a ce with ferocious wild beasts roaming around, with overgrown trees, and densely intertwined branches forming a canopy.

    Why would Noah go there? And an ambush? On Liza?

    "...The rank of the person?" She asked in a low voice.

    "What, my lord?" Liza asked unable to hear clearly

    "What was the rank of the person who came after you?" This time she asked with annoyance in her voice.

    "SS+" Liza replied instantly.

    A sudden realization dawning on the demon lord, she asked once more.

    "...Tell me, did he kill anyone?"

    "I can not say with certainty but he probably did" Liza replied and then coughed "Agh"

    The demon lord released her demonic energy or more urately, her emotions did, making it harder for anyone else to breathe in the same room as her.

    <i>''..That was stupid of me, he came to be strong, I should have known</i>

    Noah hade to her to learn from her, to be strong like her, and not only that he worked day in and day out. It was clear that he was trying to get strong in the shortest amount of time possible.

    It goes without saying, he will also want to rank up as fast as possible.

    But there was a problem, something that he didn''t know about.

    Most likely.

    If so, he might be in danger.

    Thinking so, the demon lord looked at Liza shielding the teenage girl, both of them on their knees.

    "I am leaving"

    In the next instant, a gust of wind hit the room and the demon lord disappeared.

    And just like that she appeared once again and cast a cleansing spell on herself as she spoke.

    "Dress me up fast, Liza"

    She ordered.

    She had slept in a lingerie, and for whatever reason she was not okay with going out in it. She was going to kill everyone, so it really didn''t matter to her if she wore a change of clothes or not but for whatever reason, she didn''t like the idea of any other person seeing like that except for Noah.

    Noah was the only one who had seen her inplete bare skin, not even Liza had seen her naked.

    <i>''It has to be our only secret, one no one else can rece''</i>

    Thus, the demon lord swore, she wasn''t going to let anyone else ever see her naked for that was one of the things for Noah and him alone.

    And it made it special. As she smiled to herself.

    If Noah heard her thoughts he would most likely say something like ''<i>What in the seven hells is going? Gotta leave.''</i>

 Chapter 42: The Conflict Within

    <h4>Chapter 42: The Conflict Within</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    Damn it.

    What in the world is this shit?

    "Hahaha! Try harder kiddos!"

    Shut the hell up vampy.

    You can''t even deal with them! Don''t provoke them any more.

    "This is such a fun!"

    Naw, oh fuck naw.

    Using the wind magic beneath my feet I sted myself off forward.

    Boom!

    Vampy tried to say something but her voice was drowned out by the sound of an explosion that happened just behind us.

    Yes, we just dodged a high-level magic spell, a high-level spell can only be cast by individuals around from A+ to SS- and from the looks of it, it definitely was cast by someone around maybe S or S+ rank.

    Damn, this sucks.

    What? What''s going on?

    Welp, after seeing that my teleportation failed when I grabbed Vampy by hand I tried another method, this time we both held the ne and tried to teleport and it worked.

    Not that easily, we first quarreled over the ce since we needed to have same ce in mind, after then yes it worked and <i>it didn''t consume 2 uses of teleport but just one.</i>

    Hell yeah.

    Anyway, after that, we both decided to start robbing ces.

    The pain within me hasn''t subsided even a little.

    Honestly, I really wanted to cry out and scream but that''s not gonna help with anything so I decided to focus on what I came to do.

    Now then, I only have 2 more uses of the teleportation ne and I am not using it as teleportation anymore in case someonees my way to st me off.

    So yeah.

    I have to find an escape route after stealing and my system screen is kinda busy currently, so I have to do that crap on my own.

    On the good side, I have Vampy as my bodyguard.

    And we are currently on the run.

    But this doesn''t look good.

    <i>Oh lord, how long is she gonna sleep?</i>

    "We are fucked dude! Do something!"

    "Shut it. Time to use my atheist advantages"

    Vampy made a confused face but that didn''t matter.

    I created a water wall beside us and carved the face of the <i>god Elves worship.</i>

    Ha! Try attacking now.

    My mana proficiency may not be the best but I can carve stuff like this easily.

    "Goddamn! You gotta take the Demon Lord''s title for real! And I am joining ya!"

    Vampy eximed as she decided to do the same making an even bigger, clearer picture of the Elves god on the protective wall surrounding us!

    And guess, what? I can hearmotion breaking out behind us.

    Ha, believe in god and get fucked.

    Dumbasses

    The attacks, of course, stopped, they won''t attack and won''t let others attack!

    But damn, can''t enjoy the shit show that''s going on there.

    And somehow and the other, we did manage to get the fuck out of there.

    Huffing and puffing.

    I had managed to barely keep up with the vampy even though she was being thoughtful and I was running with the same speed an A ranker would be able to with the help of my no restriction on the level of magic I can use, welp, it''s not magic but psychic.

    But meh, everything works as long as one understands.

    "That was a close call but was sure fun!" Vampy eximed sprawled on the ground, the cor was no longer visible on her.

    It was gone, reduced to atoms, once she took it off she destroyed it.

    Just then, my system screen returned to me.

    d you are back, it''s gonna be easy from now on.

    <i>''I have a message from the demon lord for you, should I show it to you now?''</i>

    ...wait, what?

    <i>She gave her message to my system screen.</i>

    "Give me the details"

    For fuck''s sake, how many more new questions am I going to have? The novel hasn''t even started yet.

    This ain''t fair. I demandpensation.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Third person pov)

    "M-monster"

    A voice called out, fear, hatred, and hopelessness, evident in its voice.

    In front of him, organs fell and blood flew. Someone screamed, their arms chopped off and then it stopped.

    Off some distance, there stood ady with a divine beauty, her ck sclera making her hazel-colored pupils shine.

    Her proclean white skin, and the calm look on her face, it was as if a goddess had descended.

    And so, everyone knew, <i>The Goddess Of The Battlefield</i> had finally joined the battle.

    She swung her ebony-colored sword. Blood flew all around her, she herself was covered in the blood of the enemies she slew.

    With her smooth, elegant movements it felt like she was dancing, shining radiantly.

    <i>"I-impossible..''</i>

    Someone muttered, his body shivering, legs wobbly, unable to ept what he was seeing.

    The sheer ease with which she killed S-, S, S+, SS- rankers that were with them till now simply left him stupified.

    More so, when she had announced at her arrival "Hm? You lot are weak and you are trying to retaliate against me which ispletely understandable, no one wants to die, so they struggle, no one wants to die, so they fight. But I am one of those unfair children that is favored by the gods, born once in millennia, an SSS+ ranker. I just happen to be born into my race, thus you lot are the ones on the receiving... well, from the looks on your face, it seems like you don''t need my reasoning. Then, shall we draw our swords and settle this? I will wear this restriction band and lower myself to S rank. Try to kill me, if you can?"

    And the moment she wore it and restricted herself, she was attacked from all directions.

    But even so... she was killing even SS-rankers, making it look so easy.

    Many lost their very will to fight her, many simply became fascinated by her charm, and many were unable to move due to sheer terror instilled in them.

    Their only saving grace was that she had told her kind to leave and focus on simply healing themselves and they had retreated.

    Their only enemy was just a single person.. who happens to be a God.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Elina''s Pov)

    "It''s not much but it''s honest work."

    I rolled my eyes, hearing the words of the old man.

    His white beard reached his stomach, tied with a rubber band as he stroked it, wearing a cap to hide his bald head. His short stature and muscr build were proof of his dwarven bloodline.

    "For the love of god, stop it! You have been fucking staring and praising it for thest two hours! Get your shit together, George!"

    I shouted, annoyance building inside of me.

    I haven''t been this mad since Ist met Noah.

    "Quit it,ss. Forging the weapon isn''t the end of it, if it turns out great you admire it, carefully observe it to build something even better and if it turns out bad, you contemte how you should have gone about it to make it better. Admiring is also part of the job! Now, go, don''t disturb me!"

    "There''s a war going! We need to make the medicine first!"

    "Not we, I have to make it. And it needs time. Those leaves need to dry out in the sun for the next two days, it needs to be as natural as possible. We can''t use magic to speed the process."

    I gritted my teeth, this shitty old man is really asking for a beating.

    I breathed in and out.

    <i>''Calm down, Elina, he is just an old man, an old man, you ought to respect a dying man''</i>

    "Who did you call a dying man,ss!"

    Ah, I said it out loud.

    George hmphed as he started to admire his weapon once again while Ruby came down from the stairs, standing on them, peeking at us from a distance.

    I looked towards her and smiled.

    "Get down, let''s have our lunch"

    Ruby hesitated but slowly started to climb down the stairs with her small legs, carefully holding the stair railing with both her hands.

    She looked adorable.

    I approached her as she took her final step down the stairs, pumping her fist up in the air. I took her in my arms.

    My eyes looked at her ruby-colored crystal eyes, the glow in her eyes entuated by her ck sclera.

    She smiled at me and rubbed her cheek against mine.

    "Eat!"

    She said with a cheery voice.

    Walking towards the dining table, I sat her down on the chair. Prepared the tables and took out the food on her te.

    She took the spoonful from her te, blew at it again and again, and then took the bite, and started to blow again somehow trying to eat the food in her mouth, she underestimated how hot the food was.

    With tears in her eyes, she looked at me.

    "Geez" Saying so, I took the spoon from her hand took a bite size blew at it, and then moved the spoon toward her mouth.

    She ate with great delight, swinging her legs.

    Looking at her like that, I really couldn''t help but grimace when I saw the ckish color that surrounded her, she is but a child of mere 6 years, and yet...

    It might not be anythingparable to what I saw around Noah but it by no means meant that her life has been easy.

    Elves, humans, dwarves, vampires, beastfolk, and demons, no matter who it is, everyone has their own struggles.

    The girl in front of me is a girl for whom George is making the medicine.

    Until now, we have been feeding her using the dead bodies that we found.

    But..

    <i>It wouldn''tst long.</i>

    The acts we weremitting were far too grave but that was the only way to feed Ruby.

    She is a demon child.

    ...

    I gritted my teeth, it was absurd. Absolutely absurd.

    My friends, my family, and everyone I knew suffered at the hands of demons and I wanted them to die. Demons extermination is crucial for the survival of the rest of the species.

    ...it''s crucial.

    But I-I...

    The girl who smiled at me innocently didn''t even know I had thought of killing her when I had first seen her.

    I don''t how things changed but.. i-if there could exist a way to make us co-exist then I will do whatever I can.

    In the starting, I really hadn''t thought much about it, I was curious. That''s right, I was curious and of course, if we can find an alternative that would be a good thing but ...now, I didn''t want it. I didn''t want them to be exterminated even if there wouldn''t be an alternative.

    I heaved a sigh, Ruby looked at me concerned, I rubbed her head and she giggled.

    Why have the Gods given them such a cruel constitution?

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Third person pov)

    "That wasn''t a bad n but you are still a newbie, you can''t even utilize your own strength properly," The demon lord said brushing off her hand that was now bruised, standing in front of a girl withsvicious clothing, inky ck spikes surrounding her.

    "Really? You restricted yourself to SS rank and I am SSS- ranker, what utilization, the difference is overwhelming, you really are a monster or maybe that device is broken" She replied back, some of herradesy dead around her, some on the verge of death, a beastfolkdy with a halberd had her spinal cord ripped out of her, a dead corpse crushed like a paste, someone with a hole in his chest, the wholendy painted with crimson blood and bodies, the scene was grotesque.

    But none of thedies paid any mind to any of it. On the battlefield, only two people were left, one was a demon lord, and the other was her.

    "Watch it. Are you suggesting I lied?" The demon lord questioned, irked by her usation.

    "Well, it just doesn''t make sense any other way" She shrugged and trailed off and posed a question "By the way, if you don''t mind me asking, how hot is this Noah?"

    "....I shall have your head."

 Chapter 43: Nearing The End.

    <h4>Chapter 43: Nearing The End.</h4>

    A huge sound resounded, shaking the earth itself as the shockwaves were strong enough to crush any kept emerging.

    In the center of it, two pairs of golden eyes and silver eyes gleamed, one with white flowing hairs and the other with inky ck ones.

    The two exchanged blows one after another, causing huge craters to form, the corpses that oncey on the ground flew around or were simply turned into nothing.

    "Damn it! Why the hell am I able to only keep up with you when you are restricting yourself to SS+ rank? This doesn''t make sense! And why you are suddenly angry? You are a demon, Noah''s a human! You ain''t coupling anyway! And my question still stands, is he hot?" The inky ck-haireddy questioned trying to defend herself from the demon lord''s ferocious attacks

    "Didn''t I tell you? You may be an SSS- ranker but you don''t know how to best utilize your strength in your attacks. And I am not angry. What Noah does is anyone''s business, I just don''t understand how you know about him. Are you a prior acquaintances? If not then did you have spies in my castle? And why are you interested in him?" Demon lord asked, fusing her sword with dark mes and bringing down the sword towards her opponent.

    Fusing one''s weapon with the magic wasn''t a simple thing, it showed the delicate mastery with which the demon lord could control her demonic energy and mana.

    "If we were acquaintances then I wouldn''t have asked you how hot he is, would I? He is apparently the one who nned all this. Scary, isn''t he? But if he is hot then it''s all cool. As for the spy part? Sure, we had one. All thanks to your lousy ass sitting in the room all day like a hikikomori, it wasn''t that hard. I am kind of interested in him, I mean, I want a hot guy to take care of me, have a family with him, once all this shit is done." The inky ck hair said as an onyx-ck liquid emerged to form a solid shield in front of her, shing with the dark-med sword.

    "He is ugly" The demon lord replied a bit disgruntled, as she questioned to herself <i>''nned this all? What''s that supposed to mean?''</i>

    "Oh? By your standards, even I would be considered ugly, wouldn''t I? Tell me, real shit, how hot do you think he will be when he grows up"

    "...Maybe, as much as I am but you won''t be there to see him"

    And that was thest talk that ever happened between the two strongest people in the world, afterward, it was simple chaos, the ground was shattered, and the sky was cut apart. They went from one continent to another, leaving utter destruction in their wake.

    The sky tore, the beasts cried out, and anyone near their vicinity felt the sh between huge mana making it harder for them to breathe, dying in the process, friends and foe all alike.

    Someone somewhere ady saw the sky crackling as if it was going to break apart with a crystal ruby eyes girl in her arms.

    Someone somewhere felt the strong winds hitting them, despite being thousands and thousands of miles away from the source of it.

    Some prayed for their God to win.

    Some prayed for their hero to y the God.

    The oceans cried out, the volcanoes erupted, tornadoes raged, and the earth cracked.

    Everyone felt it in their bones, it was as if the world wasing to an end.

    And the battle continued for 3 whole days, and so did the disasters.

    "I wasted a lot of my time..." huffing, she wiped the blood off her mouth using her right arm and threw an .. chewed-out arm by her left, engrossed in the battle for 3 days straight, aftering out of a slumber where she hadn''t eaten that much, she needed to consume the food or else it wouldn''t end well for her.

    Wasting no time, she drank an Elixir, her shattered and broken bones, the scratches and deep cuts that ran all over her body, dripping crimson blood, started to heal itself.

    She looked around herself, thick ck smoke surrounded her, and the earth cracked and ripped so that even the fire that resides deep inside thend was visible.

    Thend around her looked as if it belonged to the purgatory.

    <i>She made sure to engrave the destruction in her eyes, this was all caused because she had been stubborn about not using her strength at full.</i>

    This was on her.

    She must not forget that.

    Everyone has some principles, she does too, and no matter the cost of it, she would never break this principle of hers.

    But more than that, she remembered the countless people she saw who died, their despair-induced faces, demons, humans, elves, dwarves, vampires.

    Countless people have died.

    <i>I didn''t want that.</i>

    All she had ever wanted was ...to just live peacefully, to never worry about anything.

    But now she was reminded.

    Something that she had never bothered to think about.

    She was their king, their lord, their king. Her words held far more weight than she had thought.

    This war made it clear to her.

    <i>It was her fault things escted to this degree. That people suffered unnecessarily. Even if her kind needed the flesh of others, they had crossed lines that shouldn''t have been crossed and it was because of what she had ''<strong>Do whatever you want''</strong>. The words she had once said leisurely, without care had resulted in this.</i>

    She is by no means, a king material.

    She tried to forget all she saw, and in trying to do so she focused on worrying about Noah.

    She needed to know what the dead corpse meant when it said that Noah had nned the current scenario.

    She looked at the person lying in front of her once more "You ...were good."

    And the moment she said that a white crystal embedded into her sword broke apart.

    She had used the <i>''Spirit Stone''</i> that Noah had brought her allowing her to use light and dark affinity.

    Using, two affinities of the opposite of characteristics is destructive. For those who have fire and water affinity, using both would need them to have great control over them and a high proficiency, if they don''t they might end up harming themselves and could kill oneself.

    The light and dark affinity, which are opposite of each other are even more life-threatening to control.

    Well, to be fair, no one has both the affinity''s, but currently the demon lord was able to use the light affinity with the help of the spirit stone and the dark affinity that she naturally had. The amount of strength her attacks gained thanks to that, she was able to match the difference between SS+ rank and SSS- rank, in the end, it all came down to skills and she far surpassed anyone in them.

    But she also faced a lot of internal injuries by using both light and dark affinity, enough for her to be able to feel that she could have died if things went even a little in the now-corpse, favor.

    One can restrict their rank but not their mana or demonic or aura proficiency for that matter.

    In other words, even her SSS+ ranked proficiency couldn''t help her keep herself safe from the damaging aspects of contrasting light and dark affinity''s use at once.

    Once she left, the presence that she had ignored came out of the hiding, his aqua-colored eyes looking at the corpse thaty in front of him and then he looked all around him, breaking into a hystericalughter.

    Heughed andughed, at the futility of it all.

    <i>He failed to kill his god.</i>

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It''s time for a story.

    A story of a boy who hated his god, was sick of his god.

    Everywhere he went he only listened to how marvelous their god is and he didn''t like it.

    To him, this god was useless. She sat in her pce room, all day, every day, never addressing the problems of her kind. She sometimes came out of her room and then fought some battles but that was all.

    He hated her, he hated her way of ruling, he hated the savage ways of his own kind.

    And so, he wanted to kill her.

    But he was weak, far too weak. Forget about killing her, he wouldn''t even be able to kill the people in the pce.

    For his kind, he was weakest, his potential was S- ranker.

    So, he sharpened his brain like a knife, if he can''t kill her in front-on battle, he will kill her in some other way.

    He wanted to change the world.

    He wanted to change the way it worked and her god needed to die for it.

    So, he will.

    He tried to find some way, any way, and he found one. He chose a ve, she was a human child. Humans don''t have any potential limits. The moment he saw her, he knew she would be one he would groom, the girl''s ck hair and silver eyes were inplete contrast to his god, and that made him crazy about her. For him, she was his hope.

    From then on, he made her kill, and kill and kill, a child, a pregnant woman, a starving man, an elder on the edge of his death, he made her kill.

    She killed far far stronger people than her, to a demon like him, it was easy to procure high-level individuals, so he did and made her kill them.

    Thus, she became stronger, far stronger than anyone could have imagined, but she couldn''t be stronger than that, her growth stunted, and she was still far behind the god he wanted her to kill.

    So, he needed a different n.

    And he decided to use his god''s arrogance.

    Apparently, his god restricts herself to a lower level than her opponents.

    If she has restricted her strength and then suddenly gets attacked by an overwhelming power, what would happen?

    He worked towards creating this exact scenario, but that wasn''t the end of the things he wanted.

    Who would be their next god? What will happen if that person turns out to be even worse?

    So, he needed their next god to be nothing more than a puppet.

    Everything was going ording to his n but then, someone appeared.

    He never even met this someone, yet, that someonepletely turned the game into his.

    Making everyone but a mere puppet, including him, in this dog-shit world.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As theughter subsided, the man with long blue hair tied in a ponytail sat down, beside the corpse of a ck-haireddy, her silver eyes that once shone now left with a nk look.

    He slowly opened his mouth.

    "Seems, like we failed to kill her. Even after all we did..." he self-derisively whispered then pping himself on his cheeks, he spoke in a cheerful tone "But that doesn''t matter, what matters is that we achieved our objectives."

    He continued to speak, to the corpse.

    "See? Look around you? This looks like hell, who knows how much time it would take to recover from this level of destruction? Certainly, not in my lifetime. She seems to be on her way to Noah but he won''t be caught, not at least foring next few days, that much I can assure you. No way, I read the situation wrong." He said thetter part of his voice has a desperation as if he was to be right in his prediction.

    "Her going missing would definitely send unrest to her kind. That should be enough. Common masses are but ignorant and stupid. They wouldn''t know how things truly were, all they will know is the destruction that nowy before them and... a battle that upied even the demon lord, their god for 3 days." Histter words were as if he was proud.

    "Laura haspletely made Elizabeth fall for her. So, we have someone who would want the chance to co-exist with other species, someone whose voice would not go unheard" He said remembering the time when he convinced Laura to work for him. That was a pretty hard thing to do, but he managed to do it and dly long before Noah had even arrived in this world.

    "All that''s left is for Elina to do her bit..." He said so with a hopeful voice, continuing "We have done our part. Our jobs are done. You are free, resigned, well, you really resigned for good though" He chuckled at his own joke, a bad one.

    And then he went silent.

    For quite a while, he didn''t speak a word.

    "Sorry," He spoke, in a shaky voice. "I couldn''t give you a peaceful life or a normal family to spend your time with, I failed to do so... Sorry" Tears streamed down his face as the once-white sclera started to turn ck.

    "Sorry." He uttered those words, unable to speak anything else despite knowing nothing would ever change.

    But he uttered "Sorry" over and over.

    With his life whittling away.

    His life and her''s were tied, for that was the pact they made.

    Life intertwined with one another''s.

    If one wouldn''t live to see the world that they worked hard to see then the other wouldn''t either.

    At least that''s what he told her, but it was something that only applied to him, if he had died she would have still lived.

    In the end, it no longer mattered.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A ck-haired boy with ck nk eyes was looting a treasury all the while saying "That was some anime-level shit happening out there."

    "Are you sure we should be going around doing it? And you haven''t taken so much good stuff from here, what''s wrong with you?" his vampirepanion asked to which he simply replied

    "If not now, when? Also, there''s limited space, there''s only so much I can ste-take. Shut up and follow me, vampy." as the boy looked into the space, as if looking at something and muttered "It''s going to end soon"

 Chapter 44: Fulfilling A Promise

    <h4>Chapter 44: Fulfilling A Promise</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    All alone on my ownnnn~

    Waaaalkiiing on the seashoreeee~

    What do you know? My expertise in literature runs deeper than the deep sea.

    Okay, on a serious note I am tired of walking, let''s just sit down.

    A huge bird, the size of a helicopter soared high into the sky, and a sea creature almost the size of skateboard, with three eyes and wings dived into the sea.

    Yes, there were lots of beasts around me or should I say weird animals?

    On the other hand, vampy went home. I had no longer any need for her and our mana covenant was done as well. Of course, I told her about the SSS-ranker she wanted to know about ...welp, that SSS-ranker is dead.

    <i>However, now she is fascinated by the idea that Marcus had once used.</i>

    For the love of god who I don''t believe in, I really don''t want to know about what that vampy will do in the future.

    Welp, whatever she does that has got nothing to do with me.

    Just a little more, a little more time to keep this world safe, and once I have done that, I will be done with this world, whatever happens afterward has nothing to do with me.

    I dipped my feet into the ocean and made small butterflies out of it. I have gotten good enough to be able to make a butterfly and small stuff out of the water.

    Basically manipting the very nature.

    Though, it''s kinda mentally exhausting, added to the incredible amount of pain I have been feeling.

    Yes, the pain hasn''t subsided even a little and since the pain is most probably inflicted on my soul I can''t really do anything about it except wait for it to heal all on its own or wait till I am done with this hidden dungeon and take my reward.

    I have lots of things to talk about with the blue hair this time.

    I stretched my hands up in the air, heaving out a sigh.

    Even though I am supposed to be in a novel I have read, there''s so little use of all that knowledge. It kinda feels like I have been sent to an unknown random ce and have to figure everything out allll on my ownnnnn~.

    There''s just so much the novel didn''t focus on, welp, it''s precisely because the protagonist didn''t stumble upon all this information that he lost in the end.

    Putting my thoughts at rest, I simply kicked the water a little, the beasts around me roaring, ying, enjoying themselves, some of them even brought me some food.

    "I am grateful for the food you brought me but how exactly do you want me to eat this huge ass dead body?" I asked the deer or what seemed to be once a deer before evolution, as it nuzzled me with its horn.

    Don''t bring me the hunted beast, I still am not sure how to cook them. What? You expect me to eat it raw? Aw, hell nah, If not necessary I ain''t ever eating the food raw. The taste sucks.

    Bleh.

    "You... seem to be enjoying yourself."

    The voice that called out to me tried to sound calm while not being calm at all, I remembered the time when this voice used to feel indifferent.

    Good old times.

    The beasts around me who were calm, roared, with delight evident in their voice.

    I didn''t look back, I knew who she was and from the sounds of the footsteps, it seemed she was approaching me.

    "Yup, I am having some rxation time" I replied.

    "I really didn''t think you had been here, if not for Elina''s help, I probably would have never figured it out," She said, standing beside me, the sunlight made it hard to see her expression but I could tell there was some pain in her voice.

    "It really took you too long," I said, and she simply nodded sitting beside me, dipping her feet into the ocean, and the fish that I was petting turned itself towards her and started nuzzling her.

    ...This damned world.

    "What?" I asked as she kept staring at me, with wide eyes.

    "Ptff" Sheughed at me...

    "Shut it."

    "Aw, you wanna pet her?"

    From today onwards, I shall hate all the fishes!

    "I said shut up"

    Sheughed even more, I grumbled a little all to myself.

    Whatever.

    Well, anyway. It took her 8 days.

    "So how are things on your end?" I asked her not wanting to hear herugh, she looked at me, took a deep breath, and after a moment began to speak.

    "I don''t like how you used me, my feelings to be exact. " sheined, the anger evident in her voice "You could have just told me that you know of a cure, I would have stopped it all if you would have had just asked, if you didn''t like it, I wouldn''t even eat whether there''s a cure or not! So why didn''t you just ask? I told you I think of you as an important person, a dear friend!" she questioned raising her voice a little higher.

    Hot damn.

    What else do you want me to say?

    "Just a little would have done, just a little trust" Her voice wavered a little as she looked at me in the eyes and I looked in her''s.

    No matter what anyone else says, ck sclera is cool.

    Wait, it''s not time for such thoughts.

    Heartfelt and serious questions need to be answered with honesty, even if it puts you at a disadvantage.

    "You are dumb" I answered.

    What? What''s dumb is dumb.

    "I don''t hate you, so don''t worry if you can''t discern anything about me even after looking at me."

    It was stupid of her to think that she could discern anything about me from looking me in the eyes.

    "If I had asked you to not eat other species, you wouldn''t? That''s stupid. I can tell you this, if I had to kill the world, the children, the pregnant, the elderly, a man, a teenager, a newborn baby, to save myself then I would dly do so. If drenching myself in sin is what I need to do to survive, I will and I would never hate myself for it."

    I wasn''t joking.

    To begin with, I know who I am. I am already drenched in sins too unforgivable. I am hated by all for that is how it should be.

    I am lower than any.

    I have heard somewhere ''<i>Taking pride in who you are is a beauty of its own''</i>

    And I like the saying.

    "See? I am much more of a bad person than you. So, don''t hate yourself, don''t doubt yourself. You walked the path you had avable to you and that''s okay. Besides, I ate along with you. Did it ever feel like I had a problem? Don''t worry about stupid stuff like that."

    She looked stupified.

    I don''t have a single right to hate her and she shouldn''t me herself either.

    She was simply going in the wrong direction, I haven''t done what I did for the people, I couldn''t care less about them, I was just doing my mission.

    Besides, there was another reason I didn''t ask her.

    And so.. we talked about a lot of stuff.

    Apparently, there were some things that Elina had to say to me which the demon lord ryed to be about and then we talked a lot of other stuff and it seemed to lighten the mood.

    Then we went silent.

    Thinking about what to talk about.

    And then she asked

    "...How many ranks did you go up"

    "From F- to E+," I said shrugging my shoulders.

    I haven''t tried to level up even a little bit since then.

    It''s enough pain as is.

    "..And how are you feeling?" She asked, her voice low.

    "Meh, a lot of pain"

    It''s still manageable, I mean, look guys, I am a guy who dived intova, and was almost crushed by the water pressure and whatnot. Sure, the type of pain I am feeling might be different from the one you feel when being crushed or burned but ...it still helps.

    What am I even saying? I shook my head.

    "As expected, that''s what you get for not consulting things with me. You should be grateful that you aren''t dead, moron." She said while hmphing.

    Does she think it''s a joking matter?

    And what does she mean by dead!?

    "You mean, I could have died if ranked up more than what I had?" I asked.

    For the love of all that''s holy, the hell!? Wait, no, I think Vampy said something simr. Well, she didn''t exin in much detail.

    "That''s right. You could die, right now, you probably have gotten a few cracks around your soul, and not only that the mana- no, theponents of energy as you call it must be running wild in you."

    "I don''t know about cracks in my soul but thest part is A-okay, I am controlling and circting it all properly"

    Soul having cracks, like what? I will die for real?

    <i>But wait, that means as long as my soul is safe no matter what happens to my body I should be fine.</i>

    Am I reading too much into it or did I just learn something really helpful?

    She shook her head.

    "It''s not A-okay, you can control mana, demonic energy, and aura, you have been simply training with them, and your proficiency in them definitely increased but... as you call it ponents'' of energy, you don''t know how manyponents are exactly there and how many are running through you. Unlike most of us who are incapable of using them at all, feeling them, thus to us they mostly don''t matter but you can feel them, and use them, but you don''t have any control over them. You must be feeling them running wild while you can''t control it properly."

    ...She was right on the mark.

    Unlike others who can''t feel it, I can feel, and sense theponents of the energy.

    Someone who can''t feel the pain of being crushed wouldn''t feel the same tollpared to someone who can feel the pain of being crushed. Even if both of them are going to die, it still would be harder on thetter person.

    That''s how it is for me too.

    I heaved out a sigh.

    "No use crying over the spilled milk."

    "Crying helps to maintain the semnce of sanity and emotions within oneself. It''s okay to cry."

    ...The hell?

    "Whatever. I wanted to ask you. Can you really feel it?" I asked.

    She looked at me, tilted her head then as if understanding what I meant, and looked on her left.

    "You mean, this?" She pointed towards the air, okay, not air, but my system screen.

    "...Yeah."

    "Only a little, the presence is too thin and I feel like it''s staring at me, if not for that staring I don''t think I would have noticed"

    Welp... I guess, spying on SSS+ ranker is out of the question.

    Of course, no one''s gonna hand me a world-ss spying system.

    Sad.

    But I am d I learned about it.

    Would have been a mess in the future.

    "I see," I replied.

    We stayed silent for a long time. None of us spoke to the other. Just sitting there, making butterflies of the water while swinging our legs dipped in water, well, I was the one making butterflies, she was making all sorts of different things, a flying bird, a sea creature resembling a whale, and many other beasts.

    It was peaceful.

    And then she said.

    "Everything that happened happened so suddenly, someone like you could have made all of it work in a simr way even when you were younger."

    I stayed silent.

    "I tried to look into it all, I should have done it long before." She let out a self-deprecatingugh as she continued "..You feel like someone who appeared out of nowhere... is it rted to why you need to go back?"

    Hm?

    "You aren''t angry that I used you?"

    "I knew you were using me, just not sure what exactly you were trying to do." She said while touching the water bubble causing it to burst.

    "So you want to know about who I am now?" I asked

    "Yeah, everything, there are still lots of things that don''t make any sense"

    Well, I don''t mind.

    Revealing things that don''t have any consequences for me is not a problem.

    "It''s a long story. Listen closely and try not to feel distraught."

    And then I told her about how I came from the outside world, no, I wasn''t telling her about my transmigration or anything, just the outside world and how I entered a hidden dungeon, about rewards that I can get once I clear them.

    How there are observers that exist who watch us. Of course, I didn''t use the word observers but fairies instead, the word everyone on the outside currently refers to them as.

    And once I was done telling her all that, she looked at me.

    Her eyes are wide, her mouth agape struggling toe to terms with what I have told her.

    "...Are they watching us even now?"

    "You bet"

    That was why I haven''t told her about my transmigration, there was no harm in telling her about it but there is harm in letting ''them'' know about it.

    Inside the hidden dungeon and in the dungeons, I need to be careful of my actions, for I am in their domain, where they make sure to not miss a single thing about me that could be used against me.

    "How strong are they?" Her voice quivered, for the first time, I had noticed anger in her voice.

    "Even a thousand like you would vanish in the blink of an eye"

    She clenched her hand tight enough for the blood to seep out.

    I looked towards the sea watching a fish flying for short intervals.

    "..Am I being controlled? If there was something like a mission already pre-determined then wouldn''t it mean I, we, all are being simply controlled, being yed?"

    Hm? A good question but

    "No." I was sure of it, she looked at me and I began to exin "If you were simply mere puppets, a simtion, a creation meant to go the way they want to, you wouldn''t have any souls, and if you wouldn''t have had any souls I wouldn''t have had gotten stronger. You are just like me, like any other person, with will of your own, free."

    In the beginning, I had certainly used various analogies of games to refer to the people of this world.

    But at some point, I had epted.

    They were people, like any other.

    Now, you can ask why is it that I had the same time limit, the same thing assigned to me as the protagonist even though I entered this hidden dungeon way earlier than the protagonist.

    For that, I can only say, it has something to do with time itself.

    I aming close to spending 3 months in this hidden dungeon but the truth of the matter is, once I am done with it, only 3 or 4 days would have passed in the outside world.

    That''s just how it is.

    Of course, it doesn''t throw the possibility of them being controlled away but... I just have a feeling that''s not the case.

    It was a simple strong feeling inside of me. Denying the possibility of this world being a mere game simtion.

    A feeling that this was a world, like any other, like my own, not some mere simtion.

    And I was sure as hell that these hidden dungeons led to another world, a ce of its own, this world was unexpectedly connected with others. Like a web weaved by a spider.

    "...I didn''t expect you to say something with seriousness in your voice but it does make me feel happy when you deny it so strongly." She said smiling a little.

    ...

    Emotions? In my voice?

    I know I have strong feelings but..

    <i>''It''s weird...''</i>

    I noted.

    There was something wrong.

    But I don''t know what.

    It was as if ''<i>something</i>'' was telling me to not think of it as a mere simtion, the people of this world as mere puppets.

    They were people like me, like any other, with will of their own.

    It didn''t take long for me to realize that they weren''t my personal feelings, to begin with, I couldn''t care less about it being a person or a puppet, my goal was to return home anything other than that was simply trivial, something that I don''t need to be bothered with.

    I am the type of person who as long as gets what he wants wouldn''t mind following some scripted y or following the written fate. I simply couldn''t be bothered with those things.

    And yet, I was here denying it, denying that she or anyone for that matter was not a simple puppet but a creature of their own will.

    ...

    I looked up at the sky, stretching my right hand trying to grab the sun with it.

    <i>''Someone somewhere is messing with me''</i>

    I concluded as I put a lid on these strong feelings of denial.

    Whatever this world is, whatever my world is, that shouldn''t matter to me yet these emotions running wild inside of me...

    "Well, what are you going to do now?" I asked trying to divert the topic.

    "I don''t know" Her voice sounded kinda of sad, mncholic. "I nned to hear what you had to say and then use you as a punching bag for days. I didn''t expect to hear something like what you told me, not at all. I didn''t expect someone to exist who is stronger than me, I didn''t expect to learn that you are of a different yet simr world. This was beyond what I had thought. By the way, what would you do if I decided to destroy the world regardless?"

    "It wouldn''t matter. It''s all good. I would rather face the failures during the initial stages than have them explode on my face once I have passed a certain stage."

    "...You really are okay with anything," She said heaving out a sigh, and then she forced a smile "I guess, I won''t destroy it then, I hope you mess up a big time when it really matters."

    Well, fuck you.

    Slowly standing up, she put her hands on her hips, dusting off the dirt.

    "Well, I guess I will go now that you have decided to abandon me and work with thatss that showed up recently to make the world a more bit peaceful for everyone"

    Abandon.

    That was the right word, no matter how one looks at it, my actions were no different than taking a stray puppy in and then abandoning it.

    That''s also why, it was wrong of me to be with her.

    She needed to make new friends, friends who wouldn''t use her.

    Welp, I am grateful she isn''t throwing her attacks at me, I was ready to go down and have a fight with her.

    And then,

    "Here" she threw a drive towards me as she exined "It contains all the things you still haven''t learned from me. You can watch them when you do grow stronger and learn from it," she said shruggingly.

    She didn''t say another word, but even without them, we both knew this was thest time we would see each other, to begin with, her giving me the drive was the proof of it. I hadn''t expected to get this though. Guess, she fulfilled her promise.

    As she turned her back to me and prepared to leave.

    I called out to her.

    "Enyo"

    Fulfilling <i>my</i> promise.

    "How''s that for a name, make sure you don''t forget it this time," I said as I tried to smile to the best of my ability, I really did as she looked towards me.

    ...even though I wasn''t feeling anything, it didn''t matter though, she couldn''t discern anything anyway.

    The shock in her eyes was pretty visible.

    Her reaction confirmed that I had won the gamble!

    Damn, I had narrowed it down to 30 names that her parents might have hade up with! But of course, there''s only one name, one correct answer.

    1/30 odds and I won.

    Maybe, my luck isn''t so bad, after allllllll!?

    What?

    Everything around me started to feel like it was breaking, shattering.

    Wait what!?

    What''s this!?

    I instantly looked at the purple screen and it showed missionplete.

    Aha, I had thought that I would have to spend aplete 3 months but ...it seems the moment it''s solidified that she won''t destroy the world, is the moment my mission is done and I can''t spend more time here.

    <i>Lol, I was right in making things aste as I did.</i>

    That''s why I didn''t ask her directly to not destroy the world and for peace.

    Yup, this was the real reason.

    I mean I could level up by killing stronger people, all I had to do was ask her to present me with some <i>offerings</i>.

    But ''<i>this</i>'' wasn''t something I could learn about by simply asking.

    What? I am a jackass! Can''t do anything about it. I wasn''tpletely lying though.

    It''s just, that this was more of my priority.

    What can I say? I never preached about being a saint.

    I exchanged a stupid gag with her and then.

    Just when she was about topletely disappear from my site, her words rang into my ear.

    "I am happy to have met you! Happy that you were born! Happy, so so happy!"

    ...

    At that moment, her smile shone like a radiant star.

    <i>''Damn ...SSS charm ain''t fair''</i>

    At that moment I was grateful I was controlling my mana, aura, and demonic energy throughout my body.

    For it helped me keep my facial expressions in check.

    Ah, damn.

    Those weren''t the words I expected to ever hear, I knew at that moment. It was a bit toote but...

    She just became someone important to me.

 Chapter 45: A Dear Friend

    <h4>Chapter 45: A Dear Friend</h4>

    (Demon Lord''s Pov)

    I didn''t know who I should thank. God? Devil? Whoever it is, I wanted them to know I was grateful to them.

    Finally, I found him.

    His back towards me, 2 butterflies made out of water flying around him, the beast named Eumon offered him ...food, and nuzzled Noah with his horn.

    Noah seemed to beining about the food he had been given.

    That made me stifle augh and helped me calm down a little.

    I was angry at him for disappearing, happy to see him again, confused as to not know what I meant to him, and.. nervous. Even though I wanted to talk to him, it was hard to call out his name, it was as if the words were stuck in my throat, refusing toe out.

    I took a deep breath as I thought to myself ''It''s fine.'' I finally called out to him, making sure to keep my voice calm.

    "You ...seem to be enjoying yourself"

    ...or I tried to keep it as calm as possible, I was grateful he kept his back towards me.

    <i>''Calm down, you are the demon lord!''</i>

    I told myself once again.

    With my presence known the beasts around me all started to roar, and I waved my hand towards them, telling them to dismiss themselves, I wanted to be left alone with Noah, most of them went away and some kept themselves indulged in enjoying themselves.

    I started moving towards him.

    "Yup, I am having some rxation time," he said, his voice as always devoid of any emotion.

    For some reason, it helped me feel calm down but it reminded me something Elina had told me, something I didn''t know about him till now.

    "I really didn''t think you would be here, if not for Elina''s help, I probably would have never figured it out," I said, standing beside him as the wind hit me, the sunlight shining upon my face, I didn''t scrunch my eyes though.

    Elina has ''<i>those eyes</i>'', only a few Elves have them, I can count the number of Elves I have met with a single hand who have had those special eyes.

    It would be a lie to say that I wasn''t interested in learning about him but what Elina told me wasn''t what I expected, not at all.

    ording to her, the air surrounding Noah is dark, so dark it''s as if the world itself has cursed him.

    But it helped me make sense of lots of things, after all, no sane person would go and have a dive inva, prepared to be crushed by the water pressure, have their body be splintered all the while managing to get back on his feet right after his injuries are healed, hispleteck of fear and so many more things.

    "It really took you too long," He said and I simply nodded, sitting beside him.

    8 days to be precise, I had tried to look for him but couldn''t find him anywhere, in the end on the 3rd day I returned to the castle.

    After talking with Elina for a while I understood Noah is crazy enough to go to a ce where all my beasts reside despite being so weak, well I have brought him here along with me a lot of times, so these guys already know him.

    It was kind of stupid of me to not have thought abouting here.

    Shaking me out of my thoughts the water beast named ''Nazu'' that Noah was petting came towards me and started nuzzling me.

    Noah''s gaze lingered on Nazu for a second, it felt like he was cursing the world ...like a child.

    ...

    I looked at him surprised as he questioned me "What?"

    ... For the first time, it felt like he wasn''t on guard around me, for the first time there was something I could discern about his thoughts.

    "Ptff!"

    Iughed andughed andughed while heined.

    "So, how are things on your end?" He asked.

    His words sounded as if he was confirming.

    I took a deep breath as I thought back to what happened when I had returned to the castle.

    Liza came to me along with Elina, Ruby, and George who had brought the alternative cure for us, demons.

    When I heard it, I was a bit baffled. After all, it wasn''t a piece of news I had expected to ever hear.

    But then the worried voice of Liza asking me if I was all right brought to me a realization.

    The gazes of my own kind which I have been ignoring.

    They were looking at me worried. At me? That seemed like a joke but when I looked at my appearance it started making sense.

    And it helped me understand what that girl had meant when she said Noah had nned it, all it took was for me to ask them if they knew about Noah, and while the other two looked confused, Elina said she did.

    It was like everything started to click itself.

    My reply to their alternative was simple <i>''I ept, we shall wait and see how it works for 6 months, shall we face a single loss, I will have your heads but should it work, I will grant you the freedom your kind longs for''</i>

    From there on, it''s just work and work.

    But...

    "I don''t like how you used me, my feelings to be exact. " Iined, the anger I had thought I wouldn''t let out came all at once "You could have just told me that you know of a cure, I would have stopped it all if you had just asked, if you didn''t like it, I wouldn''t even eat whether there''s a cure or not! So why didn''t you just ask? I told you I think of you as an important person, a dear friend!" I questioned raising my voice a little higher.

    I wasn''t kidding, I really would have had stopped it all if he asked me, hell even if there was no alternative and he would have had asked me not to eat other kinds, I wouldn''t have. I would dly give him my life if he simply asked.

    For me, he was the first person who became important to me after my parents died, my parents whose faces I can''t even remember anymore.

    As I shouted I also realized I wanted him to trust me.

    "Just a little would have done, just a little trust" I felt my voice wavering a little as I looked at him in the eyes, his ck eyes with an empty look, like always, waiting for him to say something.

    "You are dumb" He answered as he looked away from me, towards the butterfly he had made, twirking it a little.

    It angered me but before I could say anything else he spoke.

    "I don''t hate you, so don''t worry even if you can''t discern anything about me even after looking at me."

    Those sudden words of his shook me to the core.

    "If I had asked you to not eat other species, you wouldn''t? That''s stupid. I can tell you this, if I had to kill the world, the children, the pregnant, the elderly, a man, a teenager, a newborn baby, to save myself then I would dly do so. If drenching myself in sin is what I need to do to survive, I will and I would never hate myself for it."

    I felt confused, unable to understand what he was trying to say or maybe...I knew, I just didn''t want to know.

    "See? I am much more of a bad person than you. So, don''t hate yourself, don''t doubt yourself. You walked the path you had avable to you and that''s okay. Besides, I ate along with you. Did it ever feel like I had a problem? Don''t worry about stupid stuff like that."

    ....

    My trembling hand reached his, grasping it, I somehow managed to choke the words out "Then, why didn''t you trust me?" I asked, feeling stupid I know what Elina had told me but just because I knew something didn''t change anything about my emotions. I wanted him to trust me. I wanted him to tell me about himself despite having learned how incapable he should be of all those things.

    I felt like a selfish, horrible person.

    "The world doesn''t work like that. Masses would bend the very words of their own god if they felt like it, all the while revering their god. That''s just how they are. You know it too, right? It was the best way to introduce the cure."

    I knew what he meant, I knew but that wasn''t what I wanted to-

    "Besides who said I don''t trust you? If I didn''t, I wouldn''t have let you see my sleeping face all those times and do something about those nails, when you poke my cheeks it really hurts."

    My body shook, and my eyes widened, I looked at him as he shrugged.

    ...He knew.

    Whenever he felt burnt out I had brought him here, so that he could rest, of course, it was always in the disguise of an excuse.

    I watched him sleep while he thought I left him alone, at least that''s what I thought.

    I felt a sudden rush of heat, flushing my cheeks,pletely embarrassed but I also felt as if a huge burden was lifted off of me.

    "You worry about stupid stuff, I don''t mind how you are or who you are. I trust you within reasons, I can''t trust you with my life though, that I won''t do for anyone and yes, I used you, your feelings for my own purpose, well it''s not only you who I used"

    "Elina, you used her too," I said and he nodded but despite that, I didn''t feel any anger. I felt like I understood him more than before and ...my feelings grew a bit more stronger.

    I really don''t want to part with him.

    Ah, it reminds me.

    "Elina told me to tell you something," I said, he tilted his head and I continued " <i>''My brother is dead. I am grateful to you for changing the world in the way it''s going to be from now on but I don''t think I would forgive you for all the people that died because of Marcus or you. I am not going to say I have a better n so, I know, it must sound stupid but I hate you for the way you went about it. That''s just how I feel, thankful to you and hateful to you, weird, isn''t it?''</i> ... Well that''s all she said"

    "...She sure is aplicated person. I feel bad for her. Her emotions have so many ups and downs ...it''s amazing how she hadn''t lost it yet, I ain''t ever meeting her again"

    He is such a jerk.

    I noticed sweat trickling down him and softly asked.

    "...How many ranks did you go up?"

    From there on I told him about what an absolute moron he is for what he did.

    And learned about something I probably shouldn''t have had.

    Another world, fairies, hidden dungeons, dungeons.

    For a moment there I couldn''t help but doubt if I had a will of my own, were my thoughts and actions simply ... orchestrated?

    But.. his reasoning and strong denial helped me calm down, somewhat.

    No, I think it was precisely because I had felt a strong denial from him, an emotion that he doesn''t show usually which helped me calm down a little.

    It felt a bit weird...

    He told me about his ''mission''. I couldn''t help butugh.

    But I finally understood why he said he would leave.

    3 months.

    That''s the time limit he has.

    There was nothing that I could do to stop it.

    I was weak, far too weak to do anything.

    Just like before, I will once again lose something important to me all because I am weak.

    I clenched my fist.

    But I held back my anger and kept a calm tone.

    "What would you do if I destroyed the world?" I asked jokingly but ...I was serious.

    If I destroyed it, will he be unable to go back, if so I will dly destroy it all.

    But his response was as always, unwavering.

    It seemed like even destroying the world wouldn''t stop him.

    That stung.

    That stung.

    I feel hurt.

    More so than before.

    Far more than before.

    It was happening again.

    All over again.

    I needed to leave.

    I didn''t want him to see me.

    So, I stood up and prepared to leave.

    "Well, I guess I will go now that you have decided to abandon me and work with thatss that showed up recently to make the world a more bit peaceful for everyone."

    The word abandon stung but that''s how I honestly felt.

    I didn''t want to be abandoned. Not again.

    "Here" I threw a drive towards him as I exined "It contains all the things you still haven''t learned from me. You can watch them when you do grow stronger and learn from it" I said shruggingly.

    We didn''t speak anything to each other, I wanted to say something, talk about lots of other things too but no matter what I couldn''t choke those words out, and for some reason, I had a feeling we wouldn''t see each other again, no it was me who was cutting the connection by giving him the pen drive.

    But I really won''t be able to part with him if not now. Meeting him again would just make it worse and worse.

    And just when I was about to leave.

    "Enyo"

    An indifferent voice called out to me and countless memories that once were faded started to return or should I say, I remembered something that I shouldn''t have forgotten.

    A gentle voice of a man who had once stoked my hair, the soothing voice of a woman who had sung me a luby.

    That was my name.

    One I had forgotten.

    One I shouldn''t have forgotten.

    One that I should have clung onto.

    "How''s that for a name? Make sure you don''t forget it this time" I turned towards him, only to see his stupid, clumsy, awkward smile.

    I won''t.

    I promised myself.

    I won''t let it go this time.

    I would never let it go.

    And I will have lots of people call me by this name, they all need to know and know the name given to me by the people precious to me.

    <i>This time, I won''t let it change to some title.</i>

    !

    It happened suddenly.

    His body felt like it was vanishing into thin air. I felt shocked and so did he.

    "Wait, what? Ah, I see. Damn girl, you were ''thinking'' to destroy the world. Chill and make some new friends, friends who won''t abandon you, maybe be friends with Elina? You both got yed by me. Comradie in being used by the same person or something? I don''t know"

    "Don''t ever think about being aedian!"

    "And there goes one of my future prospects. Sad. Wait, I wasn''t joking."

    His image was vanishing, faster with each passing second.

    I wanted to say something but I didn''t know what.

    I wanted him to remember me, I wanted to tell him something, something he wouldn''t forget.

    And then I remembered what Elina had said.

    <i>''A child cursed by the world''</i>

    And just when he was about to disappearpletely, I shouted at the top of my lungs with a smile on my face.

    "I am happy to have met you! Happy that you were born! Happy, so so happy!"

    His figurepletely disappeared and I hoped he had heard my words.

    Seconds passed, then minutes, and soon I couldn''t hold it back as the tears dampened my cheeks.

    It was only for about 3 months, but I had a friend, a dear friend.

 Chapter 46: What is the truth?

    <h4>Chapter 46: What is the truth?</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    <i>''I am happy to have met you! Happy that you were born! Happy, so so happy!''</i>

    Her words lingered in my mind.

    This was NOT supposed to happen yet it happened.

    For whatever reason, memories of the time I spent with her started to flood my mind, her smile not fading from my memories at all.

    That was a dirty y by her.

    But it was over.

    We will never see each other again.

    So, it''s okay.

    <i>''I hope, she makes some friends''</i>

    I hoped for her.

    Shaking myself of these thoughts I focused on what was in front of me. I have lots of things to talk about.

    But before that, I opened my inventory window.

    The items that I had stolen from that world are still there in my inventory.

    ''That''s cool''

    "If you guys are done, can we talk?" I asked looking at the blue-haired and blonde from before arguing with a pinky.

    "Don''t interrupt us you mortal! Just stay down" The pink-haired guy shouted at me, pressuring me with his mana or energyponent, whatever it is supposed to be called.

    I, of course, being a mortal as he called me, fell on my knees, gritting my teeth, trying to stay conscious to the best of my ability.

    The already intense pain now added to the intense body pressure that I felt on myself was too much.

    But I held myself back from screaming, screaming won''t help with anything.

    Let''s see, what can I do? Welp, all I can do is talk.

    So, let''s talk.

    Forcing the words out of my body somehow I began to speak.

    "You are calling me mortal and all. Tell me something, do you not bleed?"

    One way or another I choked those words out of my mouth with great difficulty.

    Let me assure you, it was far more difficult than when that one bad dump I had taken.

    Whatever.

    The pinky didn''t seem to entertain my words, and the pressure boring down on me increased.

    <i>''This time I won''t even be able to speak''</i> I thought gritting my teeth.

    His murderous eyes bore into my very being as he spoke.

    "I told you to shut up."

    Ah, I see.

    Forcing my own ''<i>energy</i>'' I voiced out my opinion.

    "You can''t kill me, can you? Forget that, you can''t even harm me. Seems like the great pinky is ...only good at trying to intimidate. How pitifully pathetic."

    What? He is arrogant, that''s clear from the way he called me mortal, he has got that superiorityplex going for him as well and he actually can kill me without any effort.

    Why do you think a person like that would go around giving threats or warnings?

    Putting pressure to force me to the ground? Not crushing my limbs or something?

    Sorry but people like him crush others first and then give a warning.

    Even Demo- Enyo made Liza put a hole inside my stomach on our first meeting.

    The force on me increased but as I had expected it wasn''t anything that could potentially harm me, just forcing me to the ground, unable to speak.

    <i>''It''s useless to resist'' </i>

    I was just wasting my energy trying to do so.

    So, I let go of the control of my body, letting the pressure bore onto me.

    My face faced the ground as I waited for him to be done with it.

    A loudughter soon followed and right after the pressure that bore onto me subsided.

    I moved my neck around to see what happened only to find the blue hairughing and holding her stomach while the blonde sat on my right shoulder.

    Looking at her I said "Thanks"

    "Just be careful with whom you are speaking."

    "But he can''t harm me much less kill me, can he or you for that matter, right?" I asked to confirm, and after a bit of hesitation, she spoke.

    "..That is correct, we aren''t supposed to intervene nor harm individuals like you, well not unless we are attacked."

    Not a potentially harmful attack but an attack

    And

    <i>Attacked not provoked, noted.</i>

    "Eliza, get off of him and you stopughing!" Pinky shouted.

    Dude go see a therapist or someone, you have some anger issues to work on.

    "No matter where you go management these days is shit." Saying so I looked to my right and asked the blonde "How do I file aint against him?"

    "You can''t. The world itself will judge, if he crosses the line he will be dealt with."

    "Is it rted to what, the world''s genre?"

    The blonde shook her, her name was Eliza which I just learned now. "It''s because of the <i>World''s Will</i>"

    Doesn''t seem too different.

    I shook my head as I thought about the Blonde''s name.

    Damn, I just dealt with one of the Liza''s, now her.

    "Ever thought of changing your name?"

    She looked at me would be an understatement, I swear she was looking at me as if she is gonna draw my portrait.

    "...My name is Eliza, Eliza Ashford."

    She said straightening her face, with a firm voice, gone were theedic character relief vibes she was giving till now.

    Blon- Eliza is serious, for the first time, the look in her eyes that told me to not cross the line.

    As if, telling me to know my ce.

    "Understood."

    I simply replied.

    Nothing I could do.

    I simply stood watching a sh of 2 different colorful aura(?) mana(?) energies(?)

    One belonged to Blue Hair while the other belonged to Pinky.

    Eliza was protecting me from the effects of it all.

    They seemed to be arguing, not like I was interested in it.

    Welp, I guess I will talk with Eliza.

    "So, if you were watching me, mind telling me about energy or do I need to go into detail?" I asked.

    "Haa.." Heaving out a sigh she began to exin "The term ''energy'' that you have given it is wrong. There is no term for it, it''s Mana, Aura, Demonic energy, and other ones which when intertwined with harmony, write thews of the world, thews of the universe, and it''s very existence. "

    ...

    No term, that''s not gonna cut in but I am not the making the rules.

    "Let''s call all these ''energies'' intertwined with harmony <i>''World''s Power''.</i> Simple, right?"

    She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

    "Fine. Do whatever."

    Cool.

    "So, this <i>''World''s Power</i>'', what exactly is it? Does my intelligence have something to do with it? What does intelligence is supposed to mean?"

    I know what intelligence is. What I want to know is what this world considers intelligence. At this point, I am sure it''s not your generic definition.

    Enyo could also use more than oneponent of World''s Power. Mana and demonic energy and her intelligence is B-, still lower than mine but helps to know that intelligence is connected to the world''s power in some way.

    "As I have said, ''<i>World''s Power</i>''prises of differentponents-as you call it- that once intertwined with harmony build this very world, this very universe you live in. As for intelligence, it defines how much you can perceive or infer the various ''<iponents</i>'' that surround you and how many of them are you able to use. Of course, your intelligence also includes reasoning, critical thinking logic, and so on and on, the usual but I am sure that was not what you wanted to ask."

    So, intelligence in this world basicallyprises the generic definition AND the ability to perceive these energies.

    "And intelligence has a cap of A+, right?"

    I needed to confirm, I know something about it was written in the novel but...

    I need exact words, I don''t remember the exact thing said in the novel, all I remember is the fact that there was someone with A+ intelligence.

    The final boss of this world, probably, at least that''s what it felt like when they talked about him.

    What matters the most right now though is to know if there''s a cap or not.

    Eliza seemed to be hesitating in answering my question while I ignored the battle going on in front of me, I couldn''t even see them. All I knew was there was a blue-colored light and pink-colored light moving all around shing and wreaking havoc, thanks to Eliza I am fine but damn.. they are monsters.

    Demon lord will turn into a paste in less than a nanosecond.

    No, it''s not like I don''t know whates after nanosecond that I used that as a reference. I know.

    "...Whates after A+? I don''t know. I am not sure, no one is." She said with a defeating sigh and continued "I know someone who has A+ intelligence and he is strong, far far stronger than any other, strong enough to wipe out worlds with just a snap of his finger"

    Yeah, yeah, I know. Your boss is fucking strong, he ought to be but...

    I don''t think your boss brought me to this world and whoever brought me here made it so that no one finds out about me.

    That person gotta be stronger than your boss, that much I am sure of.

    But someone stronger than the very person who is supposed to be the final boss, a final boss whom the protagonist never had the chance to even see!

    All it helps to do is prove the point that ...the world''s bigger than I had thought.

    At this point, the novel can be damned, all it does is help me narrow down my view of things. I don''t need such a thing.

    "Let me get this straight, you simply don''t know if this ''someone'' you know has hit the limit or can grow. Basically, you simply just have never seen a case like what I am asking for before?"

    "...That''s right"

    Ah, I see-

    Wait, wait, wait ...what the fuck!

    What the actual fuck!??

    "Who the hell decides the cap?" I asked

    The cap that exists to stop others from growing stronger, the potential cap on so many people, who decides that?

    I was sure moments ago, that these guys do that stuff.

    I mean, they are the ones who deployed the system on us all.

    I had arrived at the conclusion that they made it so that we could grow stronger than ever before but not strong enough that we could harm them.

    But now...

    If they don''t know about the cap on intelligence then that would mean they didn''t put the restriction, they themselves <i>seem to have restrictions on them instead but that would mean...</i>

    <i>''This is annoying''</i>

    "I can''t give you an answer," Eliza said, once again firmness in her voice, her posture screaming to not ask the question again.

    Welp, another piece of puzzle goes in the back of my head.

    "So, then what are the various ponents'' of the world''s power and why don''t they appear on my system screen?" I asked.

    "Why should they?"

    ...Thisdy knows exactly that I need more exnation but deliberately chooses to answer my question in such a stupid way.

    Fine.

    I will y your game.

    "Fair enough," I replied casually as if I understood everything.

    What? Sometimes, you just gotta go along even if you don''t know shit.

    Her eyes wavered for a second.

    Heh~

    Your lousy ass wanted me to retort but you won''t get that response from me.

    "I-it''s good that you understand without the need for exnation"

    "B+ intelligence here," I said, pointing at my brain, flexing feels good.

    "Mine is A. It is but a fact that I am talking to a person dumber than me, it makesplete sense for you to not understand what I say sometimes thus I shall ask again, do you truly understand or shall I exin?" She replied with a smile.

    ...Fuck you, Eliza.

    Ick the skills for a solideback.

    "Exnation needed"

    Jokes and ego apart, I do need the answers. She scoffed at me.

    "Check carefully. It''s not your ability to use the ponents'' of the World''s Power that the system screen shows, it''s your <i>proficiency</i> in it. You are not even at the starting point. You use it on instincts alone and you use all of them at once. That''s why the system can''t measure it. You had your aura and demonic energy on your system screen the moment you felt there and there''s flow alone in you"

    "So, kinda like a dish?" I asked.

    "What?" She arched her right eyebrow and asked and I decided to exin.

    "Kinda like a dish, like you taste everything in the dish at once, you don''t know the taste of a single ingredient but the dish as a whole. Unless I taste, every ingredient in the dish separately I could never tell about their taste, not by eating the dish. And just like you said, when various energiese together harmoniously, it bes the <i>''World''s Power''</i> itself, something that could do anything and everything, granting omniscience and omnipresence to the one who could control them all but if it''s not in harmony it wouldn''t end on a good note, a dish doesn''t taste good if the ingredients aren''t properly used, you gotta bnce the shit out somehow and I don''t bnce it that''s why I feel like shit whenever I am using the ponents'' of <i>World''s Power</i>."

    I remembered how Beastfolk, Elf, and Liza had moved aura, mana, and demonic energy inside of me.

    That was the first time I had learned about them individually. I mean, I am a new resident in this world, learning for the first time.

    Besides, it was Enyo who gave me this analogy, first.

    "...It''s both weird and amazing how it makes sense."

    "I am smart, I know"

    Wait no, not again.

    "You are the dumbest person in this room" she scoffed at me, once again.

    Damn, I had iting, didn''t I?

    "Well, you aren''t wrong. So, I take it you understand why your ponents'' of the World''s Power don''t show themselves in the system screen?" she asked.

    "I do," I answered.

    Onto the next question.

    "How many of these ponents'' are there and how many can I currently use and their names?"

    "There are 9 of these, you are able to use 4 of them. Their names - Aura, Mana, Demonic Energy, Myst, Celestial Radiance, Nether, Numen." She paused and then continued "No one knows about the 8th one, it''s something only he has control over and ..the 9th is said to be the final key to bing ''<i>One True God'',</i> to rule over everything, to be absolute but it''s also considered to be just a myth. No one knows anything about it. You are capable of using the first four and the power level also goes in the same manner as I listed them to you"

    I see.

    It seems like I have a long way to go.

    I will think about itter, first though, this confirms it.

    "There''s demonic energy but no holy energy? Hey, tell me something now, what''s the deal with these demons as you termed them? What''s the real name of demonic energy and what is the deal with the ''Demon Lord''?" I asked and I could see her being startled resulting in the gusts of air hitting us, her being taken off guard resulting in losing concentration on the barrier that was protecting us from the ongoing fight between two strong individuals.

    "...You know, I sometimes really find you creepy."

    ...

    What am I talking about, you ask?

    Welp, demon is a term for those who are evil beyond anything, they take pleasure in other''s suffering. That is why every author uses the term demon for the evil side, they are evil which is why they are called demons. I mean, you call a table a table, a clock a clock, and just like that demon is supposed to refer to those who are absolutely evil. Readers canin about why are demons always portrayed as evil, but for the fuck''s sake, that is what the term is supposed to mean.

    I ain''t gonna call my water bottle a fire bottle, no matter how cliched people would find it.

    That''s why, were those people really demonic? Their literal constitution dictates their action, nothing more nothing less. I have used demonic energy and I haven''t felt a tinge of malice or bad vibes from the it.

    Breaking the silence, she heaved a deep sigh and began to speak revealing the truth that had been hidden for an absurd amount of time.

 Chapter 47: A Farce of A Story

    <h4>Chapter 47: A Farce of A Story</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    "By ''Demon Lord'' I believe you are asking about your world, right?"

    "That is correct. I want to know what did he do to change things on ''<i>this</i>'' level of scale." I asked.

    I noticed lots of discrepancies in the story.

    You see, a story can have plotholes but the real world doesn''t. A story can have plot armor but the real world doesn''t, the plot armor in stories can be filled with unexpected, unknown variables in the real world, after all the world doesn''tprise of just a few characters.

    That''s why, if the story that I read is a real, living world then the plot holes of that story need to be filled, somehow, in some way, anyway.

    There has to be a reason for that plot hole.

    So then, howe when species entered the world 300 years ago, the demons were able to stay hidden for more than 50, or 60 years??

    I stayed with Enyo, and Liza, they needed to eat by the 4th day at all costs.

    For fuck''s sake, 60 years ain''t a joke.

    They either should have died and gone extinct or they shouldn''t have gone unnoticed for so long

    I have an idea about what''s going on and I wanted to confirm it now.

    "Is there anything you don''t notice"

    It was only natural I had noticed, no I am sure some <i>others</i> have noticed it too, I am kinda starting to get the plot holes of the novel and the happenings.

    Besides, many things could be exined by the word ''normalized''.

    For the residents of this world, all things are normal so they don''t question it, on the other hand, though I am not a resident of this world, it was obvious that to me things would be easier to notice.

    Rubbing her temples, Eliza began to speak.

    "It''s ..a farce of a story. One that has been going on for far too long. It''s a story of a man who loved someone dearly, very very dearly. He proposed to her and she epted, they both lived happily for a long time but then she died of an illness, a bit sad but a normal story you can find anywhere." Her voice in the end trailed off as she took a pause and continued.

    This is some viin origin story, I am telling y''all

    Also, we are being dramatic today, aren''t we?

    "Or it should have been a normal story only if he epted her death and moved on. No, maybe even if he couldn''t ept her death it would have been a normal story if he wouldn''t have found ''<i>it</i>'' or only if he wouldn''t be strong like he was."

    Called it!

    "The ''<i>it</i>'' here means the hidden dungeon, right?"

    I asked and she nodded.

    Exhaling I asked "How many hidden dungeons have been attempted"

    In this world, everyone knows 17 have been attempted or should I say that''s all they know about.

    What was the demon lord really after in the novel?

    For starters, is he even a demon lord?

    Just how many lies did he build up?

    "20"

    "..Their level?"

    "17 Easy, 2 Moderate and 1 Hard"

    ...Damn it.

    So that''s how it is.

    "Blue-haired in ourst talk said no one has ever challenged moderate or hard one" I questioned.

    "You didn''t ask a question rted to that, we were giving the ''<i>added</i>'' information"

    "A reward to help form a new perception" I asked and she nodded.

    <i>Crap</i>.

    A maniption, type of brainwashing if you wanna call it.

    Kinda like going to buy milk from a shop only for the shopkeeper to give you the milk with addedments of his own about how there''s anotherpany product that sells it for cheap and has be pretty popr among locales recently, it doesn''t matter if it''s true or not.

    It changes the person''s perception.

    He did the same, he asked them to do it for him.

    But it also means

    "If I don''t ask a direct question you could lie to me, is that it?"

    "That is correct, more urate words would be, we can''t lie when asked a direct question and we have to answer it"

    Her eyes met mine, and we both looked at each other without speaking for some time.

    I was the first one to break contact.

    Heaving out a sigh, I murmured

    "A farce of a story..."

    "Already told you."

    "Let me get this straight, he used the rewards from both the Moderate Hidden Dungeon to create false information? And used 1 from Hard Hidden Dungeon for who knows what?"

    "Wrong. He used the reward from the Hard Hidden Dungeon to create false information and 2 Moderate ones for something else."

    "And you are telling me this information? Is it really the truth?"

    "I get it, it''s hard to believe me after what you just heard from me but lying for whom? Some insect like him? No. It''s simply because you asked me about the story and the lies, you see even though he cleared a Hard Level Hidden Dungeon, it wouldn''t change anything about the fact what he asked for is far too big of a thing. Thus, it was established if someone notices his wretched and twisted lies, upon asking they shall be granted the absolute truth. That is all."

    I sat down on the ground, took a sigh, and tried to wrap my head around it.

    Took about a minute but I managed to gather my thoughts.

    "Look me in the eyes, no bullshit, tell me the whole story though I think I have a pretty good guess about the whole thing at this point."

    I asked her.

    With my eyes locked with hers.

    It was time to be serious. No bullshit.

    Lie if you can now.

    "...She taught you well," She said.

    In my world, I was sure none could lie to me, more urately I could simply discern lies from the truth.

    But this world wasn''t like my own, with the help ofponents of ''World''s Power'' it was pretty simple to stop those little expressions that could help to find whether the person was lying or not.

    Though it doesn''t mean, you can''t find the lies.

    Enyo taught me that.

    To discern lies in this world of fantasy.

    "That man has seen the world change with his very eyes. From a world where injuries like broken bones, and deep cuts would take a long time to heal. Back then, having it healed in an instant would be considered an absurd idea, a mere fantasy to the world that turned into exactly that. Thus, he held out hope for something, something that could help him bring her back, back to life." She said while the noise of the fight that had been happening till now started to subside but I didn''t look there.

    I focused on her eyes and her voice by willing all theponents of ''World''s Power'' that I could use into my very own eyes and ears.

    "And so, he went around on a journey from one ce to another, in search of a way to bring her dead wife back and he found ''it'', the hidden dungeon. When he cleared his first hidden dungeon which was Moderate Level he asked for a way to bring her wife back but... bringing someone back to life, information like that isn''t cheap, thus he was asked to clear another hidden dungeon of Moderate difficulty andbine both the achievements for the information and he went on a search for another hidden dungeon of Moderate Level"

    And he found it.

    Makes sense.

    ...She started to hesitate.

    "What''s the deal?"

    "It''s just that for the story to continue and for you to learn about the truth hidden you will need to know about it, know about how to bring a person back to life and.."

    "And it''s information that he found after clearing 2 moderate hidden dungeons while all I have done is an easy mode hidden dungeon and this information isn''t even my rewards but a simple qna not only that but the fact that I have noticed the lies suggest that I should be told the story. You don''t know how to deal with the situation, is that it?"

    "..That is correct."

    1300 years of job training are all but wasted.

    I sighed and looked towards the blue hair, she seemed to be talking with pinky, and pinky looked pretty beaten up while she seemedpletely fine, not even her clothes were damaged.

    This is absurd.

    "Let me continue your story then" I began and she arched her eyebrow in confusion " After clearing the second moderate hidden dungeon he got the information he needed and then he went to look for a hard-level hidden dungeon, to change the information, change the settings, even across the worlds"

    "That is correct but you need to learn the whole truth for that was the drawback of his grand request, a request that changed millions of lives, and changed the truth across the world, of course, that isn''t the only drawback, the moment someone learns about his truth in whole he shall have a potential cap ced on him"

    Ah..

    Right.

    It''s a story of a man, not a demon.

    Now I knew.

    "He <i>was</i> a human," I muttered

    Humans don''t have a potential cap, no wonder that fucker went beyond just mere SSS+ rank, he wasn''t some exception in other species, fucker''s a human.

    Oh lord, if other species learn about it, they ain''t gonna be happy with humans.

    Shit, I could cause war if y my cards right.

    ...What? You always gotta be prepared to the turn world upside down to save your ass. Basics of survival.

    "He ''<i>is</i>'' a human" She corrected me.

    How is that mofo alive though?

    It''s soo fucking confusing. Sheesh, people really do be deranged because of love.

    Couldn''t be me.

    "Hellooooo! You guys seem to be hitting with each other! It''s great to see it!" Blue-haired came out of nowhere dragging the pinky along with her.

    For all your superiorityplex, you seem pretty bruised up pinky.

    "Nah"

    I replied

    "I hate this human, Lea!"

    ...and so did Eliza.

    So, the blue one''s name is Lea.

    Gotcha.

    "Oh, I have a little bit of stuff left to do, it will only take a few minutes and I will be back till then, do continue your talk, also, Eliza, it''s okay to tell him about the whole information. What Noahcks shall bepensated by <i>him</i>, that is what the terms were. See you in a few minutes" She winked at me and disappeared along with Pinky.

    She listened to our conversation while beating the pinky blue, damn.

    I wanna go back home.

    I like the idea of a fantasy world and all that but I ain''t interested in living among fucking monsters.

    "Welp, seems like you can continue the story," I said, heaving a deep sigh and looking toward Eliza.

    "So, it seems."

    "You fucking durd. 1300 years under training for what? All that intelligence and it''s all wasted" I shook my head.

    "Don''t talk down to me! Shut up! Annoying you annoying human! You need to learn your ce. You even talked with that demon lord from that world like she is your equal? Just how thick-skinned can you get? Know how weak you are and learn your ce!"

    "Then try to shut me up, if you can"

    "Don''t think I don''t know you are trying to provoke me! Hmph!"

    "...You are not a durd"

    "That I am not!"

    ....Sad but that''s life.

    Someday though, for sure I will find what happens when ''World''s Will'' judges.

    "For real, the story"

    "Hmm" She disgruntled but soon began to speak "To bring back someone to life, their soul ys a crucial part in the process. Once someone dies, their soul automatically starts traveling to an ''<i>unknown ce</i>'', no one knows where it is, and you can''t follow the soul either. We have termed the ce as the <i>World''s End</i>. So, they travel far far away to some distant ce, out of everyone''s reach. That''s why, reviving someone as soon as possible is one thing but when a lot of time has passed, it''s not as easy as it seems and .." her voice trailed off

    "And it''s been years since her wife died, in other words, it''s not easy."

    "Correct." She nodded and continued "You have to a pay certain price to bring back a soul and you also have to prepare a body the soul could inherit"

    It seems like I was right in my assumption, that even if the body is destroyed as long as the soul exists you won''t die.

    A spare body though, made sense, body deteriorates over time after all. Either you gotta preserve it or ...use another.

    "A soul needs an appropriate vessel, so you do have to find an appropriate body. Anyways, the main problem is the price that one has to pay for bringing a dead back to life"

    "And the price is?"

    "Soul of others in return, hundreds of, thousands of, millions of souls, depending on the time the person has been dead for. He needs 2 billion souls."

    This world''s current poption isn''t anywhere near 2 bill-

    Wait, he has killed millions before.

    So, that''s why he stopped attacking back then and entered the peace treaty!

    ...Fucking lunatic.

    And if he needs to kill everyone then of course he needs to be strong af!

    That''s why he is trying to surpass the SSS+ rank of his.

    Welp, he is currently strong enough to actually destroy the world just like Enyo but I guess, he doesn''t want a problem in the future that''s why he keeps chasing after strength.

    Lol.

    "Now he is gonna have a potential cap since I am learning about the truth, right?" I asked to confirm.

    "That he is, SSS+ rank would be his limit"

    I worked so hard and got so faarr, but in the end, it doesn''t even matter~

    Getting fucked by some nobody when you are ''<i>this</i>'' close to achieving what you set out to do.

    I mean, he waited for what? 200+ years? Just six more years and he would have surpassed his SSS+ rank which is now his potential cap.

    I feel bad.

    But it''s funny. I screwed over the demon lord already.

    Our Mc is supposed to surpass SSS+ rank, along with ''<i>someone else</i>''.

    I did them all such a huge favor, they should be all thankful to me.

    What? You say, since it''s a potential cap, he would of course realize what happened.

    He will be serious and do everything to kill any who might have the chance to surpass him unlike before when he wasn''t serious about killing MC because he didn''t see him as that much of a threat because he himself was strong.

    Welp, we don''t talk about all that.

    I have always been bad at following scripts. That''s all I can say.

    "The trade doesn''t seem fair, 2 billion for a single soul? What''s the cache?"

    Nah, I ain''t believe that 2 billion is what he really needs.

    "As I said, he ''needs'' 2 billion souls.. but that''s not for simply bringing his wife back but to keep himself alive too, he takes other''s <i>soul energy</i> to sustain his own"

    Ah, so that''s how he kept himself alive for so long despite being a human.

    "Soul energy? Is that the term he reced with Demonic energy?"

    I asked.

    "That he did. You don''t have to be a mana, aura, or anything other ponent'' specific user, the higher the intelligence the more of them you can use but it has nothing to do with intelligence. In normal circumstances, it''s mana or aura that people are capable of understanding with their level of intelligence but in rare ones, they end up understanding anotherponent despite their low intelligence. He just happens to be that one rare individual"

    Finally, I understand this shit.

    Good lord, up above the heavens, this is unreasonablyplicated.

    Love ..is fucking dangerous.

    "So... how does it all rte to demons? Where did theye from? How did he be a demon lord? Apletely different species? Why do they all follow him?"

    "It''s simple. Don''t you get it? Soul energy is a power to deal with souls. He transfigured other people''s souls into obeying him and made the request for his reward to make a different species of demons in hidden dungeons so that he wouldn''t be found out and also, to show it in the system as such and since he realized how special he is for using soul energy he changed the term for everyone with ''Demonic Energy'' to keep them away from it."

    Well, damn.

    It really is a farce of a story.

 Chapter 48: Soul Energy

    <h4>Chapter 48: Soul Energy</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    "That is all there is to it" Eliza shrugged.

    "Help me out here, I can use soul energy and I don''t think I can transfigure the soul of someone. Hell, even Enyo wasn''t doing shit like this despite her high proficiency."

    "She wasn''t? Is that a joke? All the demons worship her, follow her words without a question, the beasts that follow her every order. Every demon is using some form of soul energy in some way which is why they have beasts under their control. It''s just that they don''t <i>realize</i> it, for that is what ''<i>he</i>'' wanted, and asked for. He created a false narrative and made it so people wouldn''t notice it. Of course, he can''t do it for every world with just 1 Hard hidden dungeon and change that level of perception on the scale of the universe, so he asked for it to be done to a world that <i>resembled his one the most</i>."

    That guy is a lunatic.

    Anyways, so I can do shit like that too.

    Soul energy, now that I know what it can do, it''s gonna be fun~

    Twerking with souls itself.

    Sounds scary, not gonna lie.

    "And.." She began to speak breaking me out of my thoughts "Everyone uses soul energy in different ways, for instance, you use your own soul energy to extreme levels to boost yourself, wearing out your very soul itself."

    That''s NOT supposed to happen either!

    What the fuck?

    "You are saying I am basically decreasing my lifespan?"

    "That you are and you know what''s the most screwed up part about you?" She scrunched her face and asked.

    What is she on about all of a sudden?

    "What?" I asked

    "You ''<i>instinctively</i>'' put your life on the line to save your very life. Draining your own soul. Absolutely ridiculous" She looked at me as if trying to figure out something about me as she continued "I know, there exist situations where you ''have'' to put your life in danger to save your life but for you, it''s instinctive, that''s what makes you so weird and ...creepy"

    "Don''t call me creepy and I don''t wear out soul energy, I mean, I have been increasing my proficiency in it, you know? Beginnings are always rough. It will be fine from now on... probably."

    Well, my demonic ene- soul energy has a proficiency of F+ now.

    "You have been, but as I said everyone uses their soul energy in ways suited for them, it''s different for everyone, that''s why I said, you use your soul every time. The more your proficiency increases the more capable you be of killing your own self. That''s why you are in so much pain." She scoffed at me and continued "Since we are on the topic, let me tell you since you are going to ask it anyway, your exponential increase in rank did some damage to your soul, that is true but it''s mostly because how you destroy yourself that is resulting in your current condition. The pain shouldn''t have been as bad as it ended up for you. Do you even realize, how much you are sweating, your pupils are dted, your sclera is turning red, your skin color is way too pale, and here you are, using ''all'' of theponents of World''s Power, all to figure out if I am lying or not to you. Utterly ridiculous"

    Sheesh, what do you want me to do?

    Get some wrong info.

    I can''t for the love of me do anything else.

    This is the only way to deal with this shit.

    Anyway, seems like I have my answer rted to my current condition.

    I will need to be careful. I will have to learn to use soul energy without harming myself.

    "Since we are on the topic, how does rank work? Exin that too. I mean, why does someone need to work out if rank is what determines strength and all? Besides, I am sure rank doesn''t show real stats, do they?"

    I thought back to the time my system told me that there was no change in my rank and it was F- rank while Elina, Enyo, and Liza all said I was temporarily exerting my rank to D.

    I wanna what''s the deal with it.

    "...So, you are changing the topic?" She shook her head and continued to speak, I opted for silence.

    "It''s the soul''s rank that the system shows. That is all there is to it. Of course, since the soul and body are both connected with each other, they do create a co-dependent rtion, the stronger the soul gets the stronger your body does as well but it does not represent your body''s strength urately. That''s why people train their bodies, you should know that when you rank up your body reconfigures itself. You experienced it, right? It makes the body a good vessel for your soul. If you simply train your body more you probably won''t have to feel as much a pain when you rank up"

    I feel like I needed to be told that earlier!

    I listened as she continued.

    "Besides, for someone like you who can use 4 differentponents of ''<i>World''s Power</i>'' you are far stronger than others of the same rank as you. What you showed wasn''t D-rank strength, it was simply F-rank, only when you can use ''all'' theponents of the ''World''s Power'' will you truly see what a<i> true F-rank</i> power could do. But thenes the question, will your body be able to handle all that? No, it can''t. You should know how badly your body got when you fought the minotaur while putting every ponent'' you could have used, that''s why you need to train. That''s all, simple, right?"

    So, I need to exercise.

    Damn, wanted to cut some ck, guess I can''t.

    Guess, Noah''s intelligence is giving me a real boost as well, I knew it but it still impresses me.

    Welp, one more thing.

    "How to recover"

    Lol, that''s important.

    "Don''t raise your rank, don''t use your soul energy again for at least 3 months and you will be fine or you can clear a moderate hidden level dungeon and ask for a potion to heal you." She smirked.

    Evil, evil, I say.

    No, thanks.

    Anyways, it''s fine.

    The next hidden dungeon is perfect for resting vacation. I will recover there.

    Only some small stuff more left to be asked.

    "So, what''s the deal with Elina''s eyes, can you see it too?"

    Her eyes perked up a little to my question.

    "Elina, huh? Her description of you was actually a pretty interesting part. We get at least some idea of which direction your past is in." She mused.

    "You talk as if you can''t see it?" I asked

    "Of course, I can''t. Tell me something, you who is stronger, intelligent, and far more capable than a roach, can you be resilient like a roach, being able to heal yourself like how fast they do? It''s a specie thing. Forget about being a special Elf, I am not even an Elf" She shrugged.

    I see...

    So, that''s how it is.

    A specie specialty.

    Understood.

    <i>How annoying.</i>

    There might be something troublesome down the line that other species might have.

    "Hey, what are the diffe-" Before I could finish she cut me off.

    "I can''t tell. I can only tell you things you have encountered. If you don''t have any idea about the thing I can''t tell. If you are ignorant I shall not help you in bing non ignorant."

    ..That''s bullshit.

    "By the way, you said something about you got the ''idea'' of the which direction my past goes in. What''s that supposed to mean, doesn''t the <i>system keep an eye on us all</i><i>?</i> It''s weird how you don''t know about mine" I questioned and she scrunched her face and eyed me

    "...We never told you we keep an eye on everyone around the world with the help of the system."

    "If asked directly you will have to answer with truth."

    "Screw you." She shook her head "Yeah, we do keep an eye on everyone, more urately the system records everything everyone does but as you could guess, we aren''t interested in everyone and of course can''t watch over everyone. You were the same. We didn''t watch over you or anything and now that we want to we <i>''can''t''.</i>"

    Can''t?

    What''s that supposed to mean?

    I tilted my head and in response, she heaved a sigh.

    "You became the <i>absolute master</i> of your system, thus, we cannot ess the information your system has about you any longer, not only that we can''t use other people''s system screens whom you interact with to find you. Your system will make sure we can''t. He won''t let us know about your location, your meetings, or anything of the sort."

    Maybe I was a bit too harsh on you system-san.

    I shook my head.

    That was good to hear ..and it doesn''t seem like she is lying.

    "You told me something really important just now, you know?"

    "Rules are rules, shall we be asked we are obliged to answer" She shrugged once again flew around brought herself in front of my face, and asked, "Well, is that all?"

    "Well, just one more thing, can I take stuff from this world without them being included in my clearing the hidden dungeon reward?" I opened my inventory and asked.

    "Yeah, you can. That is actually smart of you to do so."

    Thanks.

    Great. All seems fine.

    I also realized something, it''s just like I had thought, taking stuff from the outside world isn''t a good idea to entertain. This hidden dungeon was actually easy just like it was supposed to be unlike the first one where I came pretty close to death just because I had prepared items from the outside world and brought them there but this time I didn''t take anything from the outside world inside the hidden dungeon.

    Letting go of the control of theponents of ''World''s Power'' that I had been willing in my eyes, I sprawled on the ground, letting go of the tension inside my body.

    Finally, all questions were answered.

    I breathed a sigh of relief, it was over.

    "For the reward, restore my stuff- High Umon Healing Potion - back to 90, I have 65 left, so just give 25. Low Epic Healing Potion - 5 left, so add 5 there, restore my ne teleportation to 4 uses."

    "Hm? That''s easy." She snapped her finger and I looked at my inventory and checked my ne, they were back to their original numbers.

    Great.

    "You can still ask for more stuff, you know that right?"

    I had initially wanted something else but...

    Things changed.

    "Give me a book, guide, or whatever to help me learn about<i> ''Soul Energy and Myst''</i> and how to use it without harming myself."

    "You can only get one "Myst or Soul Energy''. If you want both, go clear another hidden dungeon or something"

    Yeah, yeah, I will.

    "Give the one about ''Soul Energy''"

    Thest thing I want is to kill myself, even though my proficiency has been increasing.

    "There you go" She threw a book towards me and I put it into my inventory which has space something like 22/25.

    "Welp, bye" I said but nothing happened unlike before I was still in here with the hovering Eliza.

    "Wait, just a bit," She said and I waited.

    Silence descended.

    Neither did she say a word nor did I.

    We both remained silent.

    After about a minute or so, Lea appeared the blue-haired pipsqueak.

    "Whaaaaat? Are you guys already done with the reward and all? This is absurd, it hasn''t even been 10 minutes and you talked about everything? I feel left out and hurt" She said wiping off her nonexistent tears.

    "Cut the crap, what do you want"

    I knew what she wanted.

    "Well, I will do exactly that then. Will you sign a contract with me?"

    You see, every hidden dungeon has a different observer assigned to them. The protagonist cleared 3 different one''s and he never met the same observer.

    The pinky from before must have been assigned for this one but Lea had thrown him out instead.

    Reason? Simple.

    "What kind of contract"

    "A contract of exclusively dealing with me. Let me be in charge of you. Every time you clear a hidden dungeon or anything that involves ''<i>us</i>'' let me be the one who looks after you and gives you the reward or help for you to solve your queries instead of meeting someone new every time. Isn''t it a good thing?"

    "What''s in it for me?"

    I knew already, that I showed them something beyond what they expected, the fact that even after that all I got was a soul energy book but not the one on myst shows how important and special these books are.

    Also, they must have been interested in me now. She is gonna enjoy herself a lot by making me exclusive to herself.

    "You said you had blown my mind, remember? You can''t do it if I am not around you, can you?" She smiled.

    This one is sly.

    "Show me the contract"

    I read it for about 20 minutes to make sure it wasn''t some scam I was signing and once I was sure I signed it.

    "Yay! Now we are in a loooong rtionship! Hahahaha!" Sheughed like an idiot but I didn''t miss that glint of madness in her eyes.

    Another fucked up person in the head.

    My life is such a mess.

    I shook my head.

    With this, all the objectives I set out to do with this hidden dungeon are met.

    Last hidden dungeon to challenge before my academy starts.

    I should focus on recovering more this time.

    The scenery around me started to fade and I found myself surrounded with water.

    I swam upwards and once I was on the ground I willed mana and aura into my legs and jumped into the air.

    Thenpressing the wind just behind my feet I used it as my foothold and then used water and fire to cause a small burst of explosion, traversing through the air I made my way towards the third hidden dungeon.

    I left my smartphone before entering the hidden dungeon for obvious reasons, so of course, I can''t book a cab.

    "System-san, change the term ''Demonic Energy'' to ''Soul Energy''" I asked the system and it did the job.

 Chapter 49: A Bit Selfishness Should Be Okay, Right?

    <h4>Chapter 49: A Bit Selfishness Should Be Okay, Right?</h4>

    Nealite.

    That is the name of the ce I am currently at.

    A public garden. It was said that if you throw yourself in the pond you might disappear to another world.

    That was nothing but just a small rumor in the beginning but soon became the center of all talk.

    The possibility of a hidden dungeon being there excited many.

    One day, in the hopes of finding a hidden dungeon, the government deployed the forces to see if there was a hidden dungeon.

    In the end, they didn''t find any hidden dungeon.

    But I knew better than anyone, there ''is'' a hidden dungeon inside the pond.

    Deep, deep into the pond

    I knew because I had seen it.

    Remembering that time, I rubbed my legs while sitting in the wheelchair.

    There was once a beast that lived in the pond and stopped anyone from entering there.

    The same happened the day I fell into the pond.

    Down and down, deep into the pond before the beast crushed my legs, I saw the hidden dungeon.

    I was saved, fortunately, the day it happened was the same day when the government had deployed the forces.

    And so, they had simply concluded that it was a beast that resided down there, it was designated as an S- ranked beast.

    But they failed to notice the hidden dungeon.

    They all did.

    I never told a single person about it.

    Deep down, I wanted to go into the hidden dungeon, into another world but I knew better than anyone that weak cripple like me would just die.

    Hidden dungeons are far more dangerous. That was their nature.

    I remember the news of Humanity''s strongesting battered from one of the hidden dungeons.

    And yet, I couldn''t let go of the desire.

    Ie here every day, at night, contemting whether to go or not.

    But I knew, it wasn''t just about me.

    When you fail to clear a hidden dungeon, the repercussions are far too great.

    I had heard it in the news and studied about it in the books.

    The 7 failed hidden dungeons and the tragedy that followed.

    Hundreds of millions lost their lives, caught up in an explosion that destroyed everything.

    To this day those ces are restricted, the mana, aura, and demonic energy all have far too great of an intensity for anyone to be able to live in that ce.

    They would simply die.

    I didn''t want others to suffer for my selfish desire.

    So, I simply came here, every night, when it was peaceful and calm, and watched the pond in silence, alone.

    <i>''It''s time to go home''</i>

    I thought to myself, prepared to turn around, and just then, I saw ''<i>him</i>''.

    A boy who emerged from the hidden dungeon.

    The moonlight reflected on him, his chiseled features, his ck hair reminiscent of the night sky, and his ck, empty eyes locked with mine for just a second.

    Around 15 or 16, I tried guessing his age.

    The next moment, he shifted his gaze and jumped into the air, traversing through it, it was as if he was running in the air.

    I felt my heart skip a beat.

    I went home after that, thinking all day about the event that transpired.

    When the next day arrived, the mysterious aspect of the pond that everyone had once felt was gone, for more than a week there was talk about it online about how the pond had be dull or should we say, it had returned to being normal.

    It didn''t take long for me to realize, that ''he'' must have cleared the hidden dungeon, a teenager, not even humanity''s strongest came back unscathed from a hidden dungeon.

    People won''t know about it.

    No one will.

    But I won''t forget him or the day it happened.

    Because I learned something, there is someone out there who was selfish enough to put everyone''s life in danger to have his own goals and desires fulfilled.

    Clenching my hand, I made a decision I probably would have never made.

    <i>''...Maybe, it''s okay to be a bit selfish. If not me than someone else would be''</i>

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Noah''s Pov)

    Bang!

    The voice reverberated throughout the castle.

    Yes, castle, this hidden dungeon is an aristocratic society of humans.

    Yes, no other specie shit to deal with.

    But what''s more interesting is that there is no system in this world. No one has a system.

    And for whatever reason I was in prison, once again!

    So, I break through.

    And now I am on my way to the ce I should be, all the while the knights are chasing after me.

    "System-san, you fucked me up good"

    [It''s not my fault TwT]

    System replied.

    What am I talking about? Welp, it seems like the system can''t make me the map of anything in this world.

    Why? Because there are no other systems in this world, thus, the system can''t go around either.

    Something like awork tower problem or some shit.

    I don''t understand much either.

    But it is what is it.

    This was NOT supposed to happen.

    I am being nerfed!

    I have no fucking idea where I should run to anymore.

    Damn it.

    Where do I go!?

    Should I take a turn or not?

    My google map isn''t working.

    Fuck it. Fuck it all!

    "There you are! You bastard!"

    Shit.

    Her again?

    "For the love of all that''s Holy, I am just a kid, have some shamedy, is that thenguage you take when talking to kids?"

    "You deserve to rot, you filthy criminal!"

    Our swords shed with each other.

    Yes, I had taken a sword, dagger, and scythe from that world in my inventory and currently am using the sword.

    Oh wow, this time I am a criminal. Damn, y''all. Can''t you make me the king?

    Since we are on the topic of the king, the mission of this hidden dungeon is to make someone a king.

    Bringing someone back to the righteous throne he belongs to.

    Fuck it.

    "Help the captain!"

    Where did you peoplee from?

    Spikes emerged from the ground surrounding me, protecting me from the hoard of knights, the person they called captain stepped back and started to will aura into her sword, preparing for a powerful strike that I could feel would be dangerous to take on.

    I willed mana into my legs and kicked the floor, breaking it, and falling to the floor below me.

    "Don''t run away!"

    Her shouts reached me but I still decided to run away.

    Like hell, I won''t.

    She is waaay better at using aura than me and way stronger than me.

    Nah, I ain''t fighting a losing battle.

    My skills are better than hers but she ain''t the only person I am fighting not only that I ''<i>can''t</i>'' kill others.

    I am good at killing others but incapacitating them? Nah, hell naw.

    Enyo taught me to kill.

    And I am not risking ranking up.

    I know, I need to give my consent before I rank up to the system but still.

    I just don''t wanna enter that risky territory for the time being.

    Turning to my left, I saw a huge gate and without question, I entered.

    What I saw was astonishing.

    A maid with two babies. One in her hand and the other in the cradle.

    She seemed startled as she looked at my blood-drenched sword, I didn''t kill anyone, just a few cuts but of course, it''s enough to scare normal people.

    I surveyed the room and remembered the room that once belonged to Enyo.

    Damn...

    I hope I am right about this.

    That captain of theirs will be here anytime soon.

    In a normal situation, I wouldn''t be this troubled, I simply would have used my system to get out of here easily but the system betrayed that expectation in the middle of stuff that made it hard for me.

    In the end, it alles down to skills and my skills are superior to hers, I am taught by the best but the problem is Enyo taught me to kill others, well, that was exactly what I asked her but right now killing wasn''t an option as I have said.

    <i>''And even before what Enyo taught me, I have only been good at killing not incapacitating.''</i>

    I don''t like ying stupid games.

    "D-Don''te near!"

    I went towards the kid in the cradle, the maid tried to stand between him and me and I took the baby kid from her gave her the kid inside the cradle, and pushed her on the ground.

    From her body movements, it was clear she had given birth just recently.

    She should be taking some rest but that''s not my problem.

    I made sure to grab the newborn chick delicately enough to not cause any problems or unrest, and let him sleep.

    I mean, I don''t want to deal with his crying and shouting.

    Newborns are annoying.

    You can''t change my mind.

    Soon after, the captain entered the room with the sword in her hand, behind her was her entire toon.

    Her face filled with fury.

    "You!"

    "Think again, I will kill your prince if you take another step," I said pointing my de at the sleeping newborn.

    The maid was startled, tension filling her body as she shouted

    "NO!"

    "Stay down"

    I used the same way Enyo, and Pinky have used their ponents'' of ''World''s Power'' on me to suppress me, on her.

    She crumbled down to her knees.

    Simple, I am stronger than her.

    She is but a maid.

    Well, thest maid I saw was a fucking SS+ ranker.

    Fucking finally, some normalcy in my life.

    "You wretche-"

    "Yeah, yeah, how about you escort me out of here? I will give you back the baby, don''t use your aura, and put your swords away."

    I made it so the maid didn''t speak a single word with my increased pressure on her. The baby in her arms must have felt ufortable as he started to cry.

    I am trying my best to keep the pressure off of him.

    I looked towards the captain.

    The decision was hers, her anger was palpable, sword clenched in her hand with enough grip that I could see a teensy blooding out.

    Damn... that''s scary.

    She is gripping a sword''s hilt hard enough to cause blood!

    This ain''t normal.

    I wanna get out of here so bad.

    "Fine but you leave her alone too," She said gritting her teeth as her aura subsided and she put her sword back on the ground while looking at the maid.

    Oh, so she cares for others too not just the prince.

    Good people are useable.

    "I am cool with it"

    It didn''t matter to me, there''s a fucking window in the room, I just wanted to do this.

    Now that I have achieved what I need to, it should be enough.

    Thinking so, I threw the baby in towards her with wind magic surrounding him, should take care of him and I jumped out of the window, leaping and traversing through the very air.

    I gritted my teeth as the pain coursed through my body but I made it out somehow.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    "And that is how I made it out. The maid wouldn''t be able to tell the king that the baby was hers, if she did she would be punished for trying to save her own child and letting a criminal like me escape, stupid but it is what it is and now the baby has been swapped, I mean newborn looks all same, right?"

    I said sipping on the coffee, in front of me was a boy of my age, the true heir of the throne now living in an abandoned pce.

    It took me about 3 days to find this ce even though it''s a pretty famous ce.

    Without my system making maps, it''s been such a pain.

    This is not what I signed up for.

    "Tell me you are screwed in the head without telling me you are screwed in the head," He said, letting out a sigh as he scruffled through his hair.

    Why do people try to keep picking fights with me?

    "Yeah, you are right. The n would work. No, let me correct myself, ''I will make it work''"

    He said in a firm voice, the pair of his silver eyes gleaming.

    Great.

    Let''s y the role of kingmaker now.

 Chapter 50: The Rightful Heir

    <h4>Chapter 50: The Rightful Heir</h4>

    (Aurelias Von Fergusa VI Pov)

    Serendill.

    That is the name of the kingdom that I live in.

    Serendill prides itself on its military power, the biggest and strongest kingdom, feared by all, founded by Elliott Von Fergusa I.

    I am Aurelias Von Fergusa VI, son of rk Von Fergusa V and Maria Ashley, their eldest son and rightful heir to the throne, engaged to my fiance, Rachel Greywood, from one of the 9 great Ducal houses of the kingdom, daughter of Eston Greywood and Cinthea Greywood.

    Since I am the eldest son, I am supposed to inherit the throne at mying-of-age ceremony which would happen - ''<i>was</i>'' supposed to happen in the uing few months.

    But the truth is, I am not really smart, I am not strong like my brother who is a year younger than me.

    I don''t excel at anything.

    Many would be happy if my younger brother- Harry Von Fergusa- were to take the throne instead of me.

    And ...I knew Rachel would rather be with someone aplished like him, someone who can match her excel than someone like me.

    That''s why maybe, it was okay...

    <i>I should live here quietly for the rest of my life.</i>

    I thought as I looked at myself in the mirror and all I saw was a weak ipetent coward, far far away from my home, in an abandoned castle cursed by a Dark magician.

    Dark magicians are people who twist the souls of others, their acts are demonic, and their powers are dangerous.

    This abandoned castle used to be a dazzling castle, prouding itself on the sheernd of 200 acres it is built upon, only to be cursed by a dark mage, making it unhabitable for others to live in. They can''t leave this ce upon entering.

    On the day when that dark mage cursed this castle, hundreds of people died, it was the day of crowning, the crowning of Simon Von Fergusa IV.

    The only reason our bloodline didn''t die on that day was because of the soon-to-be king''s nature, he ditched his own crowning to go visit a brothel.

    But that was also the day he changed the most.

    From a debaucherous to apetent king that now everyone looks up to, and remembers him, and dark magicians fear him.

    He restored the bloodline andmanded the kingdom when even the most prominent figures of the kingdom had died.

    And then the king made the decree in retaliation to the dark magicians.

    Dark magicians are to be killed when found, of course, there was an exception, if a dark mage is a child, they will be given a time period to have theirst wish fulfilled, as long as it''s reasonable but all dark magicians will be killed.

    None spared.

    But you know, what is the most ridiculous part of this story?

    The man, the dark mage who cursed the castle, why did he do it?

    The answer was simple, Simon Von Fergusa in his debauchery once vited his daughter and used his royal status to shut them up.

    That dark mage wanted to kill him on the very day of his crowning.

    But this knowledge has been hidden, removed from the texts.

    I have only found about it in the royal library in a book by chance when I was young and when I told my father about it, he asked me about the book and burned it in front of me as he looked into my eyes and spoke

    <i>''We, of the royal family, have an image that people revere us for, serve us for and anything that could put fingers on it shall not be allowed to exist''</i>

    I still remember his stern words clearly.

    You may ask then if it is a cursed pce why is it that I am still alive? Well, I am a dark magician, I have kept it a secret from everyone.

    My brother who trapped me here must think that I am dead by now.

    They did hold my funeral on a grand scale, I who have been here for months am now considered dead in the world outside this castle.

    I hid myself, to not reveal that I was alive when I went out of this ce, if I revealed myself, my brother would definitely kill me this time, so I hid and watched my own funeral taking ce.

    Seeing my mother, who had arge belly, her face on the verge of crying, I wanted to tell her I was fine, I wanted to see my brother who was about to be born.

    I wanted to talk to my father.

    But I couldn''t call out to them, words stuck in my throat that I failed to choke out.

    And then, I saw the indifferent look on the face of Rachel.

    That.. reminded me, how little I meant to her.

    I won''t lie.

    I was hurt.

    Extremely hurt.

    And maybe that was exactly when I had felt, maybe it was better to stay here.

    I have loved Rachel, dearly, since a very young age, I was extremely happy when I was engaged to her but that was just me.

    ''Someone''s here!''

    ''What audacity!''

    ''My lord, you need to face this young man and show him his ce''

    Countless voices invaded my mind, they are the voices of the souls of the people once killed in this very castle.

    Many managed to go to the afterlife but some still stayed here.

    With these many urging me, I made my way towards the throne room of this once luxurious castle now an abandoned, ruined castle.

    And upon entering it, my eyes fell upon ''him''.

    A boy, who leisurely sat on the throne, his ck hair reminiscent of the night sky, his ck empty eyes that looked at me, his skin pale, his eyes were red and he was sweating a lot, he had few injuries around his body and yet his handsome features and his indifferent expression made him look charming.

    Despite how leisurely he sat on the throne with his chin resting on his hand and his arm on the throne, he looked like an absolute ruler with a crown on his head, the crown that once was used to be passed down the generations but couldn''t anymore, for obvious reasons, the crown that now has dust settled on it in this abandoned, ruined castle.

    Silently he brought a bottle, that contained some strange liquid and drank it down.

    His injuries started to heal, instantly.

    Startled, I took a step back.

    I have heard of healing potions but none that could heal injuries in just a blink of an eye!

    Who is he!? I thought but I realized, he should have died upon entering the castle but he is still fine that must mean...

    He is a Dark magician.

    That would exin why he was injured, he must have been chased.

    "So, help me out a little, I am kinda confused, should I treat you as dead since you had your funeral be done or should I treat you as I would any who is alive, O Dear Prince?" He asked locking his ck empty eyes on me, his tone ''<i>absolutely</i>'' devoid of any emotion stirred fear inside of me.

    ''<i>No human should be devoid of emotion in their voice on such a level that wouldn''t even sound humane''</i> I thought to myself.

    Shaking my head, I looked at him.

    His words surprised me.

    "You aren''t surprised to see me alive?" I asked taking off my mask that I wore to hide my face, still wary of him and afraid, now that he knows that I am alive he would also know that I am a dark mage since I can live inside this castle.

    "Nah, I came here to see you after all"

    His answer shocked me, springing forth a bundle of questions.

    How did he learn about me being here?

    ...Or maybe, my brother sent a dark mage to confirm my death?

    Curse it all!

    "Who are you?" I asked, preparing tounch an attack on him.

    "This time I am apparently a criminal"

    <i>''This time?'' </i>

    A weird way to phrase it.

    But I understood dark mages are all criminal, wretched existences meant to be killed, it confirmed my earlier assumption about him

    "You are no criminal as long as you haven''tmitted any sins, existing cannot be considered a sin," I answered.

    Those were my thoughts about the matter.

    Dark magicians are treated as criminals for simply existing, I didn''t like it, it might be because I, myself, am a dark mage.

    "...Actually, I broke through the prison and escaped, thatdy who they called captain was a pain to deal with. I ain''t dealing with her again."

    I take back what I said.

    He is a criminal.

    By thedy...

    "Do you mean, Sofia?" I asked

    "How should I know her name dude? Welp, she has green eyes and red hair that I remember, matches the person?"

    I am sure now and astonished as well.

    Sofia Amsbrug, the first female knight who reached the Master Stage. Her control of aura is incredible and she is the person Rachel admires the most.

    Every time she talked about Sofia, her eyes would sparkle like that of a child.

    ...He survived facing her, Sofia Amsburg?

    Just what kind of monster is he?

    "...You said you came here to see me, what do you want from me?" I asked warrily.

    <i>''We are ready''</i>

    <i>''On yourmand, king''</i>

    The voices of souls entered my ears, ready for the attack.

    "I am here for you, to make you take you back to the ce you belong. To the throne, you belong to. I will make you the king and I shall not hear any of your excuses." He dered.

    My eyes opened wide, my mouth hung open.

    Unable toprehend his words, my mind went nk for a second.

    "W-what do you mean?" I stammered with my words but managed to ask him somehow.

    "...The fuck? Dude, I said I will make you the king. What''s so hard to understand? We have got like 5 months for youring of age ceremony and for my time limit, forget theter part but you get the thing."

    "No! I don''t get a thing! Why would you want to make me the king!? Why me!? Why are you involving yourself with me!? Besides, I don''t want to be the king! I am sure everyone would be happy if my brother bes the king, he is morepetent than I could ever be!" I shouted.

    "Look your brother can go eat shit for all I care, let me ask you, do you not want to be a king? Do you not want to return to your mother and father? To your lover Rachel? To your newborn brother?"

    His words shook me.

    My mind went nk.

    I couldn''t answer him, I ''didn''t'' want to answer him and so, I decided to ask another question.

    "My brother ...he is born?" I asked.

    "Yup, he is fine and healthy, ugly little shit like any other newborn and your mother''s fine too. I ran through the whole castle to escape, so I know"

    I felt relief wash over me and felt happy, it''s been a while since I heard any good news.

    "But your fiance is in pretty bad condition"

    The happiness that I had felt vanished and unease broke throughout me.

    "What happened to her!?" I asked

    "Well, your brother had his eyes for her, you know that, right?" He asked and I reluctantly nodded. Harry has a crush on her.

    He has told me once <i>''She is stuck with an ipetent person like you, it hurts me to see excellence being wasted on you. You know very well I would suit her the best</i>

    "So, the thing is, she refused to marry your brother, if not you she wouldn''t marry anyone else. The marriage talks ended with that but your brother, dead set on being a 3rd rate viin kidnapped her and put her in prison, she is in such a bad condition she isn''t even recognizable, of course, her hair colors are different too, he died her hairs. I met her in the prison, well more like, went to meet her and talk to her a little" He shrugged.

    His words shocked me.

    I felt disgusted how I felt relief wash over me to learn that Rachel had refused the marry anyone else.

    I also felt anger surging within me.

    ...

    "Harry, wouldn''t do that. He wouldn''t. Making an enemy out of the Ducal household is ridiculous... and Rachel doesn''t love me, she wouldn''t deny a marriage with my brother."

    ...I also felt dubious of the words he said, unable to do anything but doubt him.

    " <i>''I like how he read books to me, especially the one named ''The Puppet King'', I like how kind he is and talks about the unreasonable punishment for all the dark magicians, I like how sometimes he acts silly, I like how he strokes my hair, I like how he is so shy whenever he brings me flowers and gifts. He may not be perfect like his brother but I like him for who he is, I love ''him'' I love Aurelias''</i> ... That''s what she told me, don''t know what you think about her but she loves you and a whole lot, she has been managing to go on with the news of your death but she might just off herself. She loves you, and a whole lot. Just because she doesn''t show it doesn''t mean she can''t feel, you spent time with her, you should know it, even if shecks expression you should know how she feels if you love her and you love her, don''t you?" He straightened himself and looked me in the eyes.

    My memories of her reyed themselves, her small smile that I managed to see when I gifted her favorite flowers, her rxed posture when she fell asleep on myp, trusting me.

    "Don''t deny her feelings just because you aren''t confident in yourself." He said throwing a ring towards me, it was a paper ring that I had given to Rachel when we were kids, and we had yed acted the role of bride and bridegroom.

    His words cut through me.

    My heart ached, I tried to remain calm but couldn''t.

    Tears threatened to spill forth.

    I felt angry at myself, why have I not noticed, why have I refused to notice?

    "It isn''t. You should be grateful your dumbass brother still hasn''t simply forced himself onto her but he might soon and your fiance might just kill herself. So hurry up and tell me, what''s the deal?"

    I gritted my teeth.

    Anger surged forth which I managed to hold down.

    "Be my kingmaker"

    I made my decision.

    Just wait for me a little long Rachel, I wille and get you, and this time, I will never let go of you.

 Chapter 51: The Sheer Insanity

    <h4>Chapter 51: The Sheer Insanity</h4>

    (Aurelias Von Fergusa VI)

    He descended from the throne, took the crown from his head and came forward towards me, and ced the rusted crown on me.

    "Sure, crybaby." He said.

    It irked me.

    And I asked, "What do you intend to gain from this all?"

    I still don''t understand what he might gain from helping me.

    "A dark mage bing the new king? Why would I not sign up?"

    Ah, so that''s what his goal is.

    "Besides, if things remain as they are it won''t end on a good note for anyone, the kingdom will be ruined. Your brother is not king material, well, you aren''t either but I will shape you up"

    "The kingdom will be ruined?" I questioned, taken aback by his promation.

    "Welp, you brother''s gonna use dark mages to kill people in the kingdom to achieve immortality, not like he can, all he can do is just prolong his life but whatever, it is what it is and I gotta stop it. I mean, making you king, securing the stability of the kingdom, and changing the reputation of ''Dark Magicians'' is also my job. Damn... so many things to do, how is it easy?"

    What?

    What!?

    Immortality!? Killing the people of the kingdom!?

    Just what is going through his head!?

    Was my brother this deranged? How have I failed to notice it till now?

    Frustration took root inside of me, as the unease began to build up.

    "We will use this ce as your castle, gather the dark magicians, have the souls whose voices you can hear-yeah, I know about your ability- help us out too keeping an eye on these dark magicians we will gather, use the other kingdoms to put a puppet king on the throne. What I mean is, that you are gonna make aeback with the help of other kingdoms who want to see the doom of this kingdom. What''s the context? Welp, you were swapped with someone else when you were a kid, so now you were brought by whichever kingdom wants to infiltrate the kingdom with your help. Of course, they won''t know you are the real deal" He said as he started to leave the throne room, urging me to follow him with his hand gesture.

    What in the heavens is he saying?

    "I was switched? Do you think it''s a joke?

    "No, and switching stories would help garner sympathy towards you and the people won''t talk anything about yourpetence at all. You will be in the spotlight. Change everything from there, somewhere in the castle, your fiance is trapped, you can''t get her unless you go there and.." he paused before continuing "Your brother would be thrown off guard with the whole story, unable to know what to do, that is the time I will deal with the shit and as a Dark mage you will reveal yourself on grand stage set by your brother where you and other gathered dark mages will save everyone, improving the image of dark magicians" He said with his dead tone as he started moving towards a nearby chair and sat on it as I sat in front of him.

    "Basically, use other kingdoms as puppets, you can just start working in some ce in another kingdom, your familiar looks will make them suspicious, we will changes your face so you won''t be questioned for being a twin or some shit, we will create a false past of yours and manipte them, then enter back to this kingdom, use the other kingdom as shields and start creating ripples, find Rachael, be strong and deal with the uingrge scale attack of you brother, simple. Just the first part is gonna be hard since you need to manipte a whole other kingdom in about 3 months" He said brewing something, he took the materials out of thin air once again like that healing potion.

    I realized something at that moment.

    This guy is crazy.

    No, crazy isn''t enough.

    This guy is out of his mind!

    He is absolutely nuts!

    "How is anyone going to believe in the story of swapping kids, that''s absurd!"

    I shouted

    "Ah, about that, let me tell you about my escapade"

    ..Escapade?

    With my confusion apparent on my face, he exined.

    "You see when I was escaping, I took your baby brother as a hostage.."

    And then he began to tell me about his breaking out of the prison, my heart lept out when I heard what he did with my newborn brother.

    I felt hurt for the maid.

    "And that is how I made it out. The maid wouldn''t be able to tell the king that the baby was hers, if she did she would be punished for trying to save her own child and letting a criminal like me escape, stupid but it is what it is and now the baby has been swapped, I mean newborn looks all same, right?"

    I remembered that dark mages are called evil and this person in front of me is absolutely evil.

    "Tell me you are screwed in the head without telling me you are screwed in the head," I said, letting out a sigh as I scruffled through my hair.

    He continued drinking whatever drink he made.

    "Yeah, you are right. The n would work. No, let me correct myself, ''I will make it work''"

    I said firmly.

    There are lots of points in his n that would need a lot of reworking but I can do that much.

    This was honestly the most evil and ridiculous n I have ever heard which yed with the emotions of various individuals, and used their desires, all for one''s own needs.

    But I wanted to see Rachel.

    I wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be fine and for that, I was ready to do anything. I thought to myself, holding the paper ring delicately.

    "You will need to do a lot of spy work, to manipte a kingdom I need a lot of info"

    "I know, that was supposed to be the easiest part but no longer is, I will do it and of course, it mainly depends on you, I will just rest most of the time, besides, I am a pro with that kinda stuff anyway. Also dark magic is such a stupid term, call it soul magic." He shruggingly said.

    And so, that day became the start of the story that would be told for ages toe.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (Third Person Pov)

    Mihertm.

    That was the kingdom Aurelias decided to go to, after all, their hatred for Serendill that they hid made them perfect to use but before going there he found himself a boy adept in the use of dark magic, a boy merely 12 years old, the perfect person he needed.

    The boy knew how to manipte the memories of people, that is how he had survived till now.

    Of course, Noah led Aurelias to meet the boy, he knew how special the boy was because of the novel.

    With his help, Aurelias forged a new identity, an orphan who grew up working in the stables, stables of none other than the Duke of the kingdom.

    Manipting the memories of all the households, they managed to get their past written.

    Ah, yes.

    How could we forget our protagonist and his littleint?

    "For the love of my sanity, that''s not soul magic, manipting memories is different shit, and must fall under myst, most probably which I don''t know much about myself, regardless, guess dark magic here mean just bad stuff magic, doesn''t change anything about the fact that I can''t do it. My proficiency is lower than a kid.... this is not what I have been working hard for"

    "Shut up, Noah. You were never sane" Aurelias replied while the boy clinging on to Aurelias, Aurelias patted his head "You did good, Greg", Greg smiled receiving thepliment.

    It wasn''t easy though, it took them about a month to just get to this point.

    During this time, Aurelias also found Noah for all his craziness was a pretty diligent worker, he trained his body every day for long amounts of hours and practiced aura and mana, he and Greg were both shocked when they learned Noah could use both aura and mana, Noah also spend most of his time reading a book. It was none other than the book he took from Eliza for clearing the hidden dungeon.

    Noah also spied on the pce workings, in less than a week, he dug every little dirty secret of every important figure.

    Aurelias had told Noah "Would it kill you to sleep?"

    Noah in turn said "Normally, I had the potion but I really do need rest, a natural one for my soul, so this was myst work, don''t fuck up while I go away and sleep"

    And then Aurelias didn''t hear another word from him for a whole week!

    Soon someone who recognized Aurelia appeared in the ducal house, Aurelias of course yed the part of someone who had never met them while Noah harvested the seed he nted when he came to this world. The Serendill kingdom was going through a huge change when the baby switch was discovered and the Greywoods were bing more aggressive in their search for their daughter.

    Aurelias who kept hearing the news from Noah, resolved himself and practiced his dark magic to be more adept at using it while Greg went to the abandoned castle and searched for other dark magicians.

    They both decided to not use Greg to manipte the memories of others in the castle. There are countermeasures set in every kingdom for dealing with dark mages, more so in the castle.

    From here on out, Aurelias has to be more careful about his every step.

    3 months and 15 days, Aurelias returned back to his kingdom just like Noah had nned.

    It wasn''t as easy as he made it sound but Aurelias made it work.

    Every day wanting to go to Rachel.

    ording to Noah, she had locked herself in a mana cage created by her own mana, no one can approach her but she can''t approach anyone either, all to protect herself from Harry.

    From time to time, Noah would bring Aurelias some words from Rachel.

    It angered Aurelias how Noah absolutely refused to help Rachel escape despite being capable of doing so but Noah always replied with

    "I don''t want your motivation to waver, I am visiting her and bringing messages for you, that''s pretty kind of me, don''t be entitled."

    Noah, of course, was simply gaslighting Aurelias, he goes there to pick a fight with Sofia Amsburg, to train his aura.

    Sofia Amsburg, every time he visits bes angered but soon she realized that there is a schedule to Noah''s visits and always prepares herself, keeping her schedule free in an isted ce where they both can fight each other off.

    She was starting to like it.

    Of course, Noah was slowly but surely changing the views she held of dark magicians in her mind.

    Good old scummy Noah, doing his usual thing.

    After Aurelias managed to get back and the news of the baby switch, he shocked everyone. Aurelias didn''t tell the truth to his parents, he needed to y the part for now.

    Slowly he started building connections with everyone once again, acting as he never knew them.

    <i>''Since Aurelias worked in stables and lived as an orphan'',</i> it shocked and impressed everyone how fast he seemed to be learning the royal etiquettes and absorbing the studies.

    Aurelias knew this was just a lie, a stupid lie, it was just that he was pretending to ''not'' know anything and it was as if he was learning for the first time.

    He gained attention, and his poprity rose faster and faster.

    And surely, his younger brother didn''t like getting overshadowed, exactly like Noah had nned.

    Soon, Aurelias managed to find Rachel, all while cursing Noah for simply not telling him her location and exposing what his younger brother did to Rachel and how he killed ''<i>Aurelias</i>'' by trapping him in the abandoned castle.

    Harry Von Fergusa managed to run away.

    Rachel knew about Aurelias being the ''Aurelias'', Noah had told her about him and everything he was doing. She had thought that Aurelias had changed, she had feared and that''s why when Aurelias told her everything that happened with his own lips, she felt relief wash over her.

    The Greywood felt indebted to Aurelias for saving the life of Rachel and asked him to request anything of them.

    Aurelias simply asked for an engagement with Rachel, Greywoods feared for their daughter, and knowing how much she loved ''Aurelias'' were going to apologize to him but their daughter''s eptance took them by a shock and a bit of happiness that she found someone for herself.

    ...

    Noah sitting atop a tree murmured "Man, this next level gaslighting" shaking his head as he contacted Greg, telling him to prepare ''everyone'', Noah had turned innocent Greg into a menance who would kill anyone if Noah asked for.

    "Let''s prepare, ourselves too," He said to Sofia Amsburg.

    "Hmm" she replied with a nod

    This bastard made another one fall for him.

    Good old Noah.

    And on the day of Aurelia''s crowning, it finally happened.

    Harry attacked along with other dark magicians while Aurelias defended with his own team of dark magicians.

    Noah on the other hand, was busy taking the gold coins from the treasury, nning to sell the gold coins to the outside world. He willter learn gold is not expensive in a world filled with <i>''World''s Power''.</i>

    Money isn''t something Noah cares for, it''s the convenience that it brings which he does.

    Afterwards the fight? There were lots of problems and discussions but seeing ''good'' dark magicians and ''bad'' dark magicians helped the world to realize there is a need to stop their ''extreme'' biased views towards the dark magicians.

    And not to mention, Aurelias revealed the story of the dark mage who once cursed a castle and why and that brought a lot of hatred towards the royal family.

    But Aurelias was also supported by many as well.

    His position was all secured.

    All the while Harry Von Fergusa ran away.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Two individuals were there in the night sky on the terrace. The ck-haired boy with ck empty eyes stood on the railing, creating his bnce, and the other with a crown on his head, had blue colored hair and silver eyes as he remained seated, rolling his eyes watching the ck-haired boy doing stupid stuff.

    "Welp, things are gonna work out just fine from here on out, have the abandoned castle open up for you and take that rusty crown, I did say I will make you the king, a true one."

    "Sofia is gonna be angry if you leave without a word," Aurelias saidpletely disregarding Noah''s question.

    "Welp, not my fault, she hasn''t said anything to me about her feelings. So, I am in the clear. Besides, I am 16 and she is 21. The age gap says she needs to work on her feelings. It ain''t right."

    Noah raised both his hands.

    "You are a bastard through and through"

    "That I am"

    "Did you learn it? You have been pastoring Greg to teach you memory maniption"

    "Nah, I couldn''t. I need to raise my proficiency way more to be able to do this shit and even then other people''s memory would be hard to manipte, Greg is special in that regard, make sure to not give him a viin origin story, shit wouldn''t be cool, he will be a menance."

    "You already corrupted him." Aurelias retorted and Noah shrugged.

    "What are you going to do now?" Aurelias asked

    "Well, I have one more job to do, but yeah, this will be thest time you will ever see me"

    Noah said and Aurelias fell silent,

    "Thank you, really"

    "Wow after how many times you cursed me? Now you are thanking me? Just give me all the books I asked about"

    That caused Aurelias tough, even though he himself changed but Noah hadn''t. He remained as he had been since the first time he met him.

    Aurelias handed the book to Noah, it was a single book that had all the knowledge rted to dark magic, Noah had asked for every information to bebined into one single thick book.

    Noah didn''t have much space left in his inventory, with this book his inventory showed 24/25.

    It''s about to be filled.

    Welp, to be fair Noah had taken lots of things in his inventory that he will put in a simple dimensional storage ringter when he gets out of the hidden dungeon and a lot of crap that belongs in the trash can, who puts a coffee and water bottle in his inventory?

    But it was okay, Noah had gotten everything that would help him survive the novel without much difficulty.

    Even though that ''<i>demon lord</i>'' is going to be more aggressive.

    Noah jumped down the railing and disappeared while Aureliad stood up when he saw Racheling up.

    "Is he gone?" She asked, she knew about Noah, during her lowest times Noah always brought her news about Aurelias and it made her happy, she didn''t hold any ill feelings towards Noah for not helping her escape, she was grateful for simply being able to hear news about Aurelias.

    "Yeah, he is" Aurelias replied, his eyes reflected solemnity for a moment, then he turned towards his soon-to-be wife "Let''s go, everyone''s waiting"

    Rachel nodded.

    Today was the day of their wedding ceremony.

 Chapter 52: Epilogue

    <h4>Chapter 52: Epilogue</h4>

    (Noah''s Pov)

    "Aghggggg!"

    I stood in front of a guy screaming with all his might.

    Who is he? Welp, Harry, Harry Von Fergusa.

    What a long name.

    "Y-You bastard! Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you!"

    Nothing.

    Hell, you didn''t even need to die.

    In the novel, this hidden dungeon is challenged by one of the <i>organizations</i>.

    But it didn''t matter anymore.

    I am the one who challenged it.

    And I am using a different method than theirs using all the information.

    I pulled my sword and chopped his head off.

    It''s been 4 months and 27 days since I came to this world. Eliza had said my soul would recover in 3 months as long as I gave it enough rest and I did.

    The constant agony haspletely vanished and I had managed to make a full recovery.

    There was no need to not kill anymore.

    His blood stained the ground.

    The world around me started to shatter just like before when I had cleared the hidden dungeon.

    And the purple screen showed itself as I looked at it

    =========================================

    <i>Congrattions!</i>

    <i>The devil''s influence on the world is gone!</i>

    <i>You have managed to save the kingdom from being devoured by the Devil!</i>

    <i>You have managed to change the perception of the dark magicians!</i>

    <i>You shall now be granted your rewards!</i>

    <i>*If you have any questions about things you have encountered you can ask the assigned individual of the hidden dungeon.</i>

    ==========================================

    Devil.

    That was right. Harry was contracted by a Devil.

    In the novel, they decide to go on the route of bringing the devil <i>out</i> of Harry''s body and then killing it.

    Why? Because they didn''t know, severing a contract with a devil by killing the host is much easier but theirck of knowledge resulted in them facing a huge casualty.

    How did they learn about it? The observer assigned to this hidden dungeon is ...quite weird. Heughed at them and mocked their stupidity. Well, thanks to that I am safe.

    I killed Harry which severed the contract that connected the Devil to this world, resulting in the world being free of the Devil''s influence.

    I took my eyes off the purple screen and was greeted by the smiling sight of Lea and Eliza who was grumbling as usual.

    With the contracts we madest time, she is now kind of like my personal reward-giving machine or something.

    "You did great once again! Oh my, you truly are doing one hidden dungeon after another. It''s the 3rd one already, will you go for the next?"

    Nah.

    You want me to die?

    There are only 2 more hidden dungeons left for me to challenge where I know what I have to expect because the protagonist challenged them.

    And they both are apparentlybeled as <i>easy</i> hidden dungeons.

    In other words, after that, I will have to deal with another level shit with no idea of what I should expect.

    Besides, the next 2 hidden dungeons are team-orientated, so I first need to gather that for myself.

    Yes, team. That''s what I will have to gather now.

    "Nope. Gonna enjoy school now."

    I wasn''t lying. This is going to be my first time in high school. I am kinda excited about it even if it''s in a different world.

    "School? I see. I will await your return. So, any questions?"

    "Yeah, my system didn''t work inside the dungeon"

    Why was I nerfed?

    Do you know how hard spy work is? Just because I know how to do it doesn''t mean I am okay with it.

    "Dumbass, didn''t your system already tell you about it?" Eliza chimed in.

    "Seriously? So, in a world where the concept of system doesn''t exist, I will end up not able to use my system''s omnipresence?"

    "That''s right."

    Well, fuck.

    Now I am more scared about what to expect in moderate-level hidden dungeons.

    Shit, I ain''t going there unless I am C ranked or something.

    "Well, I guess I have just one question. What happens when you fail to clear a hidden dungeon?"

    Silence descended.

    Lea locked her eyes with mine, her smile still on her face yet she didn''t say a thing for about a minute.

    "...What do you think happens?"

    "If I failed to clear the one with Enyo, the world would be destroyed I would die, if I had failed in this one I would be devoured by a Devil, if I had failed my very first hidden dungeon I would have died by the hands of the Minotaur. In all those cases I am the ''<i>only one</i>'' who dies."

    The world outside shouldn''t be harmed.

    The seven hidden dungeons which were failed to be cleared and resulted in tragedies.

    Was it the truth? You see the rewards of hidden dungeons are taken by the government, kept as national property.

    If it was me, I would kill all the members of my party, and ask for an explosion to ur in the outside world along with my reward. I mean, an explosion in the outside world shouldn''t be that big a deal to affect my reward, would it?

    I looked straight into her eyes and she finally began to speak.

    A twisted smile formed on her face.

    "You see, you still don''t know about what risks you took in the first hidden dungeon that you challenged, if you had failed, <i>you would have be a monster, trapped forever in that room</i>"

    ...

    Holy moly...

    My first one was that risky?

    "As for the others you''re right, just know though, when you fail to clear the hidden dungeon you aren''t the only one dying, people of that world are too." She said softly and then instantly turned back to her usual character "Well, I can''t answer for the ones you haven''t challenged or are about to challenge"

    "I see. Thanks"

    I replied and she nodded.

    <i>"By the way, don''t you think it was messed up?" She asked while Eliza looked at me with eyes trying to scrutinize me.</i>

    "What''s messed up? How I make Aurelias have apletely new identity and have him y the role of apletely different person?" I asked

    "No, nothing about that. I am talking about what you did to yourself." Lea smiled

    ...

    Ah, she was talking about ''<i>that</i>''

    "<i>Manipting your own memories</i>, you are beyond saving." Eliza looked at me as if looking at a weird creature.

    Manipting my memories.

    I couldn''t manipte other people''s memories, I couldn''t even take hold of their brains.

    But I can do it for my own.

    Only a little though.

    So I did.

    I manipted my own memories.

    I mean, I spent 3 months in the world of Enyo and 5 months with Aurelias and Sofia.

    If I keep doing hidden dungeons then at some point I would end up spending far too much time doing this shit than the amount of time I have lived in my own world.

    And, surely, at that point, it would be ridiculous of me to go back to my world.

    My very reason would vanish or turn into an empty reasoning.

    I can''t have that.

    So, I removed everything that was not necessary for me to remember. I didn''t remove all of them.

    That would be too cruel of me towards the people who cared for me.

    So, I simply removed everyday small talk that holds no significance, the taste of food, going to the washroom, and all the crap.

    And like how you read a novel, I concised all the information in my brain.

    <i>Even though more than 8 months have passed since I came to this world I feel like it''s only been 2 weeks at best.</i>

    This was necessary.

    For my own sake.

    And that''s what I did.

    Nothing more, nothing less.

    <i>''...Not like it would have mattered for someone like me</i>

    "So, how many failed hidden dungeons are there out of those 20 that have been attempted"

    I asked, diverting the topic and directly asking the main question that I have been harboring in my mind.

    "23. That''s the number that has been attempted. You just cleared 3, don''t forget that, add those numbers"

    "Mine were all sessful. I am asking the 20 that I didn''t attempt, how many of them were failures" I asked.

    "I can''t answer that" She simply shrugged.

    I guess, that answers my question.

    Welp, that''s all there is to it for now.

    "Give me my reward, ''Myst'' book to learn about it"

    I asked what I couldn''t getst time.

    "Sure." She snapped her fingers and a book appeared in front of me. I put it inside my inventory and now it waspletely full.

    "Well, see youter," I said.

    "...Let me give you some advice if you don''t mind." Lea paused before continuing "<i>They</i> have taken interest in you, I don''t know how you knew exactly <i>what needs to be done in the hidden dungeons</i> but tread carefully or you will be swallowed up whole"

    ...

    It was natural that she had noticed it.

    She is the observer, the game master in a sense.

    But what about the ''<i>spectators</i>''?

    They must be going crazy about me right now.

    It''s good.

    Everything is working just as they are supposed to.

    "Thanks for the advice"

    I replied.

    And soon after, I found myself standing in the night sky.

    It was over.

    I started walking.

    "System-san, do you know where our home is? Take me there"

    I asked the system.

    What? I don''t know where I live or more urately Noah lives.

    It''s time to pack my stuff since I will live in the academy''s dormitory soon enough.

    I stretched my hands and ran all the way to my home.

    The night breeze hitting my face felt cool.

    There was just one more thing left to do.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    While I have been away from making sure I cleared the hidden dungeon, several days passed by. There are about 2 days left for the academy to begin.

    I spent one day just sleeping and ordering clothes, I also had to go for the hair cut, even though I don''t age when I am in a hidden dungeon, my hair still does grow, rest of the days, I just waited for my deliveries browsed through inte, watching memes and stuff.

    Currently, I am wearing a white bracelet, an expensive one at that, with lots of space.

    But it''s not special like my soul-bound one. Well, this one is for everyday use.

    I put lots of stuff from my inventory into it.

    My inventory now shows 6/25 as it''s storage.

    Good.

    The novel I have been publishing that I had left with a timer on Chapters to be released was bing quite famous too.

    And I am earning decent enough for starters.

    My bank ount now has about 900 million left in it.

    Yes, I bought expensive stuff for my academy.

    I mean, my trolley bag can even survive a fucking st and keep everything safe inside of it.

    A newptop, and a smartphone with a sim, I also had to make a passport.

    Unfortunately, I will have to travel to other ces to deal with hidden dungeons, no longer will they be in reach.

    That was one of the reasons I cleared those 3 specifically, they were simply near me.

    And now I am making my towards the academy with all the luggage prepared.

    What? Why 2 days earlier?

    Well, why not?

    I will explore the academy and the campus till the opening ceremony. Besides, I am sure many students have already gone there.

    The academy allowed students to move in a week before the opening ceremony which is going to be held in about 2 days.

    But before going there, I decided to visit a graveyard.

    Yes, a graveyard. I am visiting the grave with the name ''Noah'' on it.

    I don''t know if Noah is alive inside of me or if he died or if he is in my body just not responding or unable to do anything.

    I have no clue.

    But since I have been in control for more than 8 months with no reaction from the original Noah, there''s a chance he died.

    Of course, I can''t guarantee anything, it might be that we simply exchanged ces.

    But even so, since there is no guarantee I decided to build a grave.

    That was the least I could do.

    Putting the bouquet of flowers on it I finally decided to take my leave.

    I have changed a lot of things so it was obvious that many things about the novel will change too.

    That''s why, all I know for sure is that the main story is about to start.

 Chapter 53: Three Wretched Intertwined Destinies (1)

    <h4>Chapter 53: Three Wretched Intertwined Destinies (1)</h4>

    In the room, variousplex geometric patterns glowed all across the room with a fantastical light, along with various futuristic tube-like wires connected to the figure that stood in the center of the room.

    The figure belonged to a young girl, about 10 years old, her long waist-length hair was a mixture of ck and white color, and her mysterious eyes with countless euclidean geometry like shapes in them both felt captivating and unsettling, chipping away at the sanity of those who dared to look into them.

    Slowly, she opened her eyes, her hands and legs tied by the tubes inserted inside of her. The geometric patterns throughout the room that restricted her strength confined her into the room.

    Soon, her lips parted.

    "Bring him to me"

    Her voice was soft, low, soothing ...divine.

    Those words shook the whole room.

    Everyone in the building heard her words, as if, it was transmitted into their brains.

    In about 10 minutes, a man came rushing, he seemed to be in his 50''s.

    He didn''t enter the room, he remained outside and looked at the girl through the ss.

    "You ...have woken up." He said, trying to control his huffing.

    "I made a mistake," The girl said with a sad voice, the man felt confused but didn''t say anything and the girl continued.

    "I didn''t mean to make them sad but I ended up making them sad, I didn''t mean to hurt them but I ended up hurting them, I didn''t mean to make them suffer but I ended up making them suffer, I deserve to die by their hands, they have the right to kill me for all I did to them, even though all I wanted was to live with them." The girl said, her voice pained, so so pained, as if she was hurting very much, tears streamed down her cheeks.

    The man found himself startled unable toprehend anything of what she was trying to say.

    And then, her tears stopped and a twisted smile formed on her face.

    "But ...they are going toe! Both of them are going toe! They sure will and nothing could stop them! They will make you all pay for all you have done, every one of you! They will both bring your doom along with them! Hahahahahaha! " Sheughed andughed andughed hysterically.

    And soon after she once again fell into her slumber.

    The man stood there, sweating profusely, scared.

    <i>The Goddess has prophesized their arriving doom.</i>

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Screams.

    Countless screams rang into his ears.

    Behind a ss stood a kid, barely 6 years, old. His ck hair and ck dark eyes looked through the ss toward hundreds of children.

    <i>''This happened because of me.''</i>

    He med himself.

    "It seems like another failure, what do you think?" A man in a white coat approached the boy.

    "I will need more time, I need to restudy from scratch," The boy said with a tired voice.

    "Is that so? I hope it works next time, we will use your friend No. 44 next time for our experiment" The man said smirking, the boy didn''t give a single reaction and kept his indifferent expression, not liking it the man huffed and sent the boy to his room.

    Upon entering the room, he went straight towards the washroom.

    The only ce with no cameras.

    His indifferent expression turned into a raged one, his fists clenched tightly.

    "Those bastards! I will kill them, I will kill them all! Just you wait!" he shouted, his ck dark eyes, like an abyss gleamed with a dangerous glint.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It was raining that day when thatdy saw that boy and the boy saw thatdy.

    Both when locked eyes with each other, stopped.

    Thedy had ck hair and brown eyes while the boy had ck hair and ck empty eyes, stood in front of each other.

    "How old are you?" Thedy questioned.

    "Four" The boy answered.

    It didn''t sit right with her.

    His eyes felt empty, his voice so utterly devoid of any devotion.

    <i>''A child shouldn''t be like that''</i>

    She thought.

    "Where are your parents?" She asked.

    "They couldn''t afford my medical fees, so they decided to abandon me when I couldn''t even crawl. Currently, homeless, on my way to steal some food. Gotta do something for a living." The boy answered, words like thoseing from a 4-year-old felt weird but that wasn''t what caught thedy''s attention.

    She felt her heart stop and her hands trembled a little.

    Soon she came to her senses and asked.

    "Want to live with me?" She asked

    "You won''t kick me outter down the line?" The boy asked.

    Thedy scrunched her face.

    "I won''t. And who taught you to speak like that?" She asked

    "Time teaches everything" The boy replied, thedy grumbled a little.

    "You are weird. Now I have a weird son"

    "At least wait for the paperwork to be done before dering shit, would be so embarrassing if the authorities refused to give you my custody" The boy replied with his dead tone.

    "...You little shit"

    "Ah, an abusive parent is what I am getting, maybe I should remain homeless chil-" Before the boy could finish his sentence thedy picked him up in her arms.

    "Shut up! We are going home!"

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It''s a story that was supposed to be a fairytale but it turned too ugly, too twisted, and far too wretched to be called one.

    This was supposed to be a story filled with happiness, yet it turned into a story filled with sadness.

    This was supposed to be a story filled with innocent wishes yet, it turned into a story filled with regrets.

    But no matter what happens, please do not forget.

    It''s a simple story.

    It''s a story of someone who loved a boy crazily, forever and ever.

    A girl who wished to be saved.

    A boy who wished to be free.

    A boy who wished to be able to someday make a wish.

 Chapter 54: Story & Characters Analysis (Contains Spoilers)

    <h4>Chapter 54: Story & Characters Analysis (Contains Spoilers)</h4>

    I will tell more about Hidden Dungeons here.

    <strong><i>The first Hidden Dungeon that Noah entered.</i></strong>

    It was a facility in the world of Amshire.

    The facility was a now forgotten ce, infested with monsters, one that held secrets rted to <i>rune magic</i>.

    Noah failed to notice anything off about the ce because of how screwed up his condition in those moments was.

    If Noah had explored the cave instead then he could gotten his hands on rune magic, sad.

    Anyways, the monster Noah faced was someone who once used to be an adventurer in the world of Amshire.

    There have been countless adventurers who have entered the <ibyrinth (what the residents of their world call these now monster-infested facilities of the past)</i> but they have all died due to carelessness.

    It''s true that Noah had the system to navigate through the ce but the reason he never got into any trouble was because he already had a destination, he wasn''t exploring the ce or anything, and second, he was moving on <i>instinct</i>.

    Anyways, by the end of the novel you start to learn about the danger that the first hidden dungeon held was greater than Noah had thought.

    He wouldn''t have simply died but be trapped as a monster there for other, new adventurers toe and face <i>him</i>.

    You see, this facility and that gate had variousplicated rune magic cast on it which prevented from just anyone entering the room.

    <i>The hidden dungeon mission was to have someone enter the room and deal with the monster so that <strong>they</strong> could finally ess it.</i>

    <strong><i>Now, let''s talk about the second hidden dungeon.</i></strong>

    The world inside this hidden dungeon is the most simr to the world that is outside the hidden dungeon.

    The only thing itcks is hidden dungeons and dungeons and the things that can be found within them such as monsters and mana stones (will be exined more in the next volume)

    This world is in control of demons who worship Demon Lord, Enyo.

    Now since you already read about how the <i>Demon Lord, </i>the viin of the novel manipted things and information you might wonder how demons came into existence inside the world of hidden dungeons since the demons that exist in the novel world are all actually just souls of others manipted and twisted by <i>Demon Lord.</i>

    So, yeah, the thing is this world history started way before.

    During that time, it was just a soul energy user who had tried to take over the world but he was unable topletely take over it he did end up creating demons, or should we simply call them twisted/transfigured souls?

    Whichever suits your way.

    Since they were transfigured/twisted souls created as an army for the evil guy who wanted to dominate the world, once they had dealt with their boss, they had no choice but to go into hiding.

    People started hunting them.

    You see, just because the boss died the army doesn''t die. Actually, it''s more like the people were finally freed to have a will of their own or more like to be able to do what they want since the person who has absolute authority over them no longer exists.

    But they weren''t treated as normal by others.

    So yeah, they were being hunted.

    And thus, the cycle of hatred simply began.

    At some point, these demons, transfigured/twisted souls became thin in numbers and were reaching extinction.

    It was during that time that a change happened.

    This was when the observers used their powers and intervened and a new rule was added. Since these people were referred to as demons by the people of their own world. The observers decided to along with that name.

    The new ruler of Demons, their Demon Lord title that the demons can gain. The strongest Demon will gain.

    And with that, they had a new leader.

    And well, you can imagine how demons ended up bing a race in this world.

    With the request of the <i>Demon Lord</i> at some point, the true information was no longer avable to anyone.

    But you see...

    The thing is, the guy who had first created these people, transfigured their bodies and bound their soul, the first demon lord, isn''t dead.

    And this was the true reason why Enyo would destroy the world in those 3 months.

    <i>What this hidden dungeon intended was but one thing, to keep Enyo engaged before the True Master, Demon Lord awakens, so that she couldn''t do anything before he wakes up.</i>

    <strong><i>Now, let''s talk about thest hidden dungeon.</i></strong>

    In this world, the main thing you need to know about is dark magicians and the Devil.

    A Devil is <i>at least</i> at the level of Celestial Being, the ranking that Eliza had talked about before.

    Now, it goes without saying Noah had definitely made this devil into his enemy ...or that should have been the case but it had taken interest in Noah because of how twistedly he dealt with the situation.

    This Devil is going to appear in the next volume.

    <i>The hidden dungeon mission was aimed to do something about the Devil of this world and cut his contact with this world. </i>

    This thing will be expanded more in the novel down the road.

    <i>If you have any questions about the world of the hidden dungeon, feel free to ask!</i>

    ------------------------------------------------------------

    Now, let''s talk about the characters.

    Noah

    His image is in thement, it''s the body of the guy he possessed.

    The protagonist of this book.

    Something''s fucked up about him.

    ording to others, he is cruel and uncaring, his voice devoid of any emotion and his eyes empty. His thoughts arepletely different from how others perceive him yet his actions sometimes show how true that analysis of others has been. What is the truth? Figure out as you keep reading about him.

    His morals arepletely and utterly screwed up.

    The insanity that he carries within himself is proved in the third part of the book, where in the end he maniptes his own memories to make sure he won''t be affected by the amount of time he spends in the hidden dungeons.

    The third part of the book feels rushed. Well, the thing is that is <i>exactly</i> how Noah remembers everything that went down there. He doesn''t remember anything beside it either.

    Status by the end of Volume 1

    ===========================================

    Name: Noah

    Rank: E+

    Strength: E+

    Stamina: E+

    Agility: E+

    Perception: E+

    Mana proficiency : D

    Aura proficiency: E+

    Soul proficiency: F+

    Luck : D

    Intelligence: B+

    Charm: A-

    ============================================

    Has been alive for 16 years. Has ck hair like the night sky and ck empty eyes, pale white skin.

    Alive.

    ---------------------------------------

    Lea

    An important character of not just volume but the book itself.

    An observer.

    She has taken interest in Noah and is suspicious of him, by the end of the novel she bes sure that Noah does know about what is inside the hidden dungeon but she hasn''t asked him how he knows it all.

    She made an exclusive contract with Noah to make sure she could keep an eye on him.

    Her status won''t be revealed, not yet.

    Alive.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Eliza Ashford

    An important character of not just volume but the book itself

    She is also an observer and assistant of Lea.

    Has been working for 1300 years and still keeps her training to this day.

    She fears what Noah might be in the future. To her, it is but a dangerous notion.

    She always enjoys annoying Noah, pulling his hair while sitting on his head and other things.

    Alive.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Enyo

    Image in thement

    The second most important character of the volume 1 and a side character of the book ??

    Lived alone for a long long time. Dumps all her kingly duties on Elizabeth Archipgo, the previous demon lord who now works as a maid.

    But well, let''s talk about her past a little.

    You see, in the past, her parents were asked to fight against this one army that rose up against the demons of the Demon Lord (<i>Elizabeth</i>) and they ended up dying in the process.

    This was why she hated being weak, being unable to do anything back then, being ordered.

    So, she starts yearning for strength.

    And well, we all know how it ended.

    She was given her name by Noah who somehow found the real name her parents had given her

    Alive.

    Her status-

    ===========================================

    Name: Enyo

    Potential Rank - SSS+

    Rank: SSS+

    Strength: SSS+

    Stamina: SSS+

    Agility: SSS+

    Perception: SSS+

    Mana proficiency: SSS+

    Demonic Proficiency: SSS+

    Luck: A+

    Intelligence: B-

    Charm: SSS

    ss : [Demon Lord] [Weapon Master]

    Affinities: Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, Dark, Lightening.

    Skills : [me Resistance lvl.4] [Bolt Resistance lvl.4] [Lightening Resistance lvl.4] [Shocking Resistance lvl.4] [ Gale Resistance lvl.4] [Earth Resistance lvl.4] [Water Resistance lvl.4] [Dark Magic Resistance lvl.4] [Poison Resistance lvl.4] [Acid Resistance lvl.4] [Toxics Resistance lvl.4] [Fear Resistance lvl.4] [Fortiture lvl.4] [Pain Resistance lvl.2] [Thought eleration lvl.2] [Perception Expansion lvl.4] [Deadly Evil Eyes lvl.4] [Intimidation lvl.4] [Wild Dance Of Battle Crazed lvl.4] [ Blurred Strike lvl.4] [Natural Regeneration lvl.2] [Absolute Force lvl.4] [Vum Shield lvl.3] [Chains of Hell lvl.4] [Binds of Prisoner lvl.4] [Pride of a Lord lvl.4] [Absorption lvl.3] [Demon kind wings lvl.2] [Pain Resistance lvl.3]... <i>and many more</i>

    Note *Since the person belongs to the Demonic Race their status after using transformation is not currently shown

    ============================================

    (I will exinter down the line why Noah gave her a name instead of just seeing the status screen)

    Has been alive for 669 years, with Silver hair and hazel eyes.

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Elina

    The third most important character in the hidden dungeon is also the most miserable person in volume, the emotions she goes through are nothing less than a roller coaster, all done by none other than Noah.

    But the fact she still did what was needed of her shows her strong mental resilience.

    She is kind but not naive, she is not smart but not dumb.

    She also possesses special eyes which let her see about the kind of life others have led, a bad life where they have suffered a lot or a good one where they haven''t struggled at all.

    She found Noah''s to be filled with suffering, utterly ck, like a void that would swallow everything up in itself.

    But know this, she didn''t <i>pity</i> Noah. Well, if it was her past self she probably would have made that mistake but she had learned.

    Alive.

    Status -

    ===========================================

    Name: Elina

    Potential Rank - S+

    Rank: S-

    Strength: S-

    Stamina: A+

    Agility: A+

    Perception: S-

    Mana proficiency: S-

    Luck: E+

    Intelligence : D

    Charm: SS+

    ss - [Mage] [Archeress]

    Affinities: Wind, Water.

    Skills : [Water Resistance lvl.1] [Gale Resistance lvl.1] [Poison Resistance lvl.1] [Manabustion lvl.1] [Songstress lvl.2] [Fortitude lvl.3] [Water Regeneration lvl.2] [Levitation lvl.2] [Wind sh lvl.2] [Sharp Shooter lvl.3] [Thousand Arrows lvl.3] [Target Lock lvl.3]

    ============================================

    Has been alive for 95 years, Marine colored hair and light violet eyes.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Marcus

    Underrated guy.

    That''s all I can say about him.

    Dude worked his ass off for years just for his n to be overwritten by a guy who couldn''t give a fuck about the things he himself was doing.

    The dude''s a God hater since he hated his own god.

    What was his role in the original? Well, after looking through the status screen of demon lord you should realize it, the original protagonist killing her was considered plot armor but after Noah learned about him, he came to the realization Marcus had remained in the shadows and turned the situation in his favor. That was the truth of the original novel but that future changed and Noah was the cause of it.

    Marcus is extremely smart but cruel as well.

    Dead.

    Status

    ===========================================

    Name: Marcus

    Potential Rank - S-

    Rank: S-

    Strength: S-

    Stamina: S-

    Agility: S-

    Perception: S-

    Demonic Proficiency: S-

    Luck : D

    Intelligence: C-

    Charm: SS+

    ss - [Magic Swordsman]

    Affinities: Dark, Lightening.

    Skills : [Bolt Resistance lvl.1] [Lightening Resistance lvl.1] [Shocking Resistance lvl.1] [Poison Resistance lvl.1] [Acid Resistance lvl.1] [Fortiture lvl.2] [Thought eleration lvl.2] [Parrallel thinking lvl. 2]

    Note *Since the person belongs to the Demonic Race their status after using transformation is not currently shown

    ============================================

    Has been alive for 350 years, Aqua colored eyes and hair.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Elizabeth Archipgo

    The previous Demon lord is now just an exclusive maid of the current demon lord.

    Falls in love with the other maid named Laura, when Elina visits the pce she is the one to handle the matter and secure Elina''s safety until the demon lord returns.

    She in the initial stages thought of Noah as an insect which slowly but surely changed as she kept on watching him.

    She regards Noah as a weird thing.

    She doesn''t think of him as a person.

    Alive.

    Status

    =============================================

    Name: Elizabeth Archipgo

    Potential Rank - SS+

    Rank: SS+

    Strength: SS+

    Stamina: SS+

    Agility: SS+

    Perception: SS+

    Demonic Proficiency: SS+

    Luck: C-

    Intelligence: C

    Charm: SS+

    ss - [Scynthe Master]

    Affinities: Dark, Fire.

    Skills : [Fire Resistance lvl.2] [Dark resistance lvl.1] [Poison Resistance lvl.2] [Acid Resistance lvl.2] [Fortiture lvl.3] [Night vision lvl.2] [Thought eleration lvl.2] [Air steps lvl.2] [Demon energy burst lvl.2] [Dash lvl.3] [Energy air projectile sts lvl.2] [Speed eleration lvl.2] [Body strengthening lvl.2] [Impact increase lvl.2] [Destruction lvl.2] [Evasion lvl.2] [Mind barrier lvl.1] [Freeze lvl.1]

    Note *Since the person belongs to the Demonic Race their status after using transformation is not currently shown

    =========================================================

    She has been alive for 850 years.

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Laura.

    The girl whom Elizabeth fell in love with. In theter story, we learn that she had been in contact with Marcus and was working for him.

    But she actually fell for Elizabeth, she couldn''t resist her charm.

    The second exclusive was made of Demon lord.

    The demon lord killed her parents and she was taken in to see what she would do after she learns about the fact that the demon lord killed her parents, the same person who took care of her.

    The answer to that should be clear, considering she took Marcus''s offer.

    Alive.

    Status

    ======================================

    Name: Laura

    Rank: C

    Strength: C-

    Stamina: C-

    Agility: C

    Perception: C

    Mana Proficiency: C+

    Luck : D-

    Intelligence: E+

    Charm: A

    ss - [Spy]

    Affinities: Doesn''t Possess any.

    Skills : [Stealth lvl.2] [Listening lvl.2] [Persuasion lvl.2] [Invisible presence lvl.1] [Camaflouge lvl.1] [Beginner luck lvl.1]

    ======================================================

    She is 17 years old.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rubina Darkstar.

    She was only a kid when Marcus found her and made her kill one person after another against her wishes, she still remembers it vividly, the screams of the mother who asked her child to be spared, the screams of a man who begged her to not kill his wife, the old folks who pleaded her to not kill their children.

    And she hates Marcus.

    She grew up for only one thing, that was to kill the demon lord.

    Her mission is simple yet far more hard to achieve.

    All she wanted was a family, a loving family, and a carefree life.

    But her wishes were never granted as she died fighting the demon lord.

    She was the strongest person just after the demon lord in the world yet no one knew anything about it except for Noah and Vampy.

    Dead.

    Status

    =====================================================

    Name : Rubina Darkstar

    Rank: SSS-

    Strength: SSS-

    Stamina: SSS-

    Agility: SSS-

    Perception: SSS-

    Mana Proficiency: SSS-

    Luck: E

    Intelligence: D+

    Charm: SSS-

    ss - [Chain user]

    Affinities: Dark, Lightening, Fire.

    Skills : [Bolt Resistance lvl.3] [Lightening Resistance lvl.3] [Shocking Resistance lvl.3] [Fire resistance lvl.3] [Dark resistance lvl.2] [Poison Resistance lvl.3] [Acid Resistance lvl.3] [Fortiture lvl.4] [Thought eleration lvl.2] [Speed eleration lvl. 2] [Fast mana recovery lvl.2] [Mana draining lvl.2] [Silent footsteps lvl.2] [Night vision lvl.2]... <i>and many more.</i>

    ============================================================

    She lived for 21 years. ck hair and silver eyes.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Aurelias Von Fergusa VI

    The fourth most important character of the volume.

    The most important person in the third part of the book.

    He used to have very low self-esteem and wasn''t able to make a decision until Noah got him into shape.

    He thinks of Noah as a scum but also a great friend.

    He gaslights his entire country by turning himself into another person.

    He is married to his wife Rachel and is the king of the kingdom Sirendi.

    Is an intermediate aura user.

    Alive.

    Status doesn''t exist in his world.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Sofia Amsburg.

    She is the fifth most important character in the novel. She is at the peak of power level in her world. A master aura user.

    Her rtionship with Noah starts with that of hatred which over time turns into love.

    But she never said anything about her feelings, she simply couldn''t even name the feeling and in the end, Noah left that world without a single word.

    Now she keeps on going just like she used to. Back to her cold demeanor ording to herrades, she is even more cold.

    ...And wishes every day to see Noah once again, so that she could tell him what she couldn''t back then.

    Alive.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Greg.

    A 12-year-old boy was found by Aurelias.

    At first, he remained close to Aurelias but over time became closer to Noah.

    His power hasn''t been explored except all we know is that he can manipte memories and taught Noah how to do it.

    Unfortunately, Noah became capable of manipting his own memories to only a certain degree and he can''t manipte the memories of others.

    Greg was the one who gathered all the dark magicians, s he never told Aurelias how he did it.

    Greg in the words of Noah had simply tampered with every dark magician''s memories and made them loyal towards Aurelias.

    Noah has a huge impact on Greg and thus Noah leaving without a word to Greg has opened possibilities.

    What will be of Greg and in what direction is his story progressing is something no one knows as of yet.

    Alive.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Chapter 55: Prologue

    <h4>Chapter 55: Prologue</h4>

    Right and Wrong.

    People''s actions could be defined within these two categories.

    Some might argue that there are times when the line could blur between the two but that''s not the truth.

    Due to certain circumstances, ignorance, for the greater good, for the sake of someone, for revenge, because they were forced... or for any other reason, nothing would change that something done right is right and something done wrong is wrong.

    And this story is about a girl who haditted many wrongs.

    A girl cursed.

    A girl who fell in love with a certain boy.

    The boy hadn''t saved her from something, the boy hadn''t helped her, and the boy wasn''t handsome, maybe somewhat cute but that was easy to overlook due to the gloomy aura around him.

    There were no dramatic or romantic events.

    She saw him, she fell in love with him and that was all.

    She loved him, dearly, oh so dearly.

    And so, when that boy had asked her a question she answered truthfully.

    "I don''t regret it. I don''t regret any of the wrongs I have done, maybe that makes me a bad person but that''s how I feel. I killed others so I could live. And it is because I am alive that I met you, the most wonderful miracle of my life."

    "I don''t understand thest part..." The boy muttered and the girl simply wore a gentle smile, her eyes holding a warm and tender look.

    The boy shook his head unable to understand her, continued with his question.

    "So, if you didn''t meet me, would you have regretted your actions then?"

    "No"

    The boy couldn''t help but be surprised by her instant reply, seeing his reaction the girl chuckled.

    Slowly she turned her head upwards, looking up at the dark ceiling, resting her head on the cold wall behind her.

    <i>Was she imagining the outside sky?</i> The boy wondered,

    "Everyone has someone or something they care about. That someone or something is their world. That''s why until their someone or something isn''t harmed they don''t do anything. If it was the son or daughter of a highly reputed minister who was kidnapped instead of us wouldn''t the police or military have done more to thwart away the organization that kidnapped us? It''s not like they don''t know about us, about this ce, or the people associated with this organization but you see... we aren''t their world, we aren''t someone''s world. So, there''s no oneing to save us. But they aren''t bad people, they wille to save the kids one day, maybe we will die by then but that''s simply because they have their someone or something and for that someone or something they can''t make hasty decisions and put their lives on the line.

    And I am the same as those people. They aren''t <i>my</i> someone or something and because they are not I don''t feel regret towards any of the people I had done wrong, maybe a little bad for them but that would be it. If I didn''t meet you, I wouldn''t have found my someone and in that, I would have simply done what I did to ...live. I don''t want to die. I am afraid to die. I wouldn''t have wanted to die before even being able to find <i>my </i>someone ...<i>my</i> something.

    That''s why, even if this life that I am living is filled with so many wrongs, I don''t regret it. I <i>can''t</i>."

    The boy thought about what she had said, understanding her words and after a brief silence that passed between them, he began to speak.

    "...I might be someone''s something"

    "Of course, you are mine."

    "No, not you. I am talking about ...my mom"

    "But she isn''t here for you"

    "You can''t always save your someone or something...sometimes, it happens, when you are so helpless that you have to watch your world fall apart, bit by bit."

    There was sadness in the boy''s voice and his words carried a weight, as if he knew the feeling all too well.

    The girl embraced the boy and with her affectionate, soft tone she spoke

    "You are my someone and I am not going to watch my world fall apart, no matter what. I will never allow it to happen."

    <i>There it was, that look in her eyes.</i>

    The boy thought.

    The eyes looked ready to tear apart everything that stood in her way. A strong unyielding gaze.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    "W-why..."

    "How could I let my world die?" The girl chuckled, blood dripping down her lips, lying in the pool of blood caused by a stab she had received on her stomach to protect the boy.

    "Then how could you leave your world alone!" The boy shouted, tears streaming down his cheeks.

    The girl''s eyes widened. In the few years they have spent together she had never once seen him cry.

    And seeing him like that the girl felt ...happy.

    She couldn''t help but feel happy.

    "W-was I a-able to be ...y-your someone?" The girl managed to choke those words out with her heavy breathing even though she knew the answer already, her vital organ had been stabbed, and with the amount of blood flowing out of her body, she would die in a matter of few minutes.

    The boy simply nodded, his body shaking.

    "Ah... I became someone''s someone." The girl smiled, her eyes watery, her voice trembling.

    Now in this silence, if she could die like this, in her world''s embrace, then there was nothing more she could ask for.

    But she can''t do that.

    Because he is her world.

    She can''t let him fall apart.

    "Live. No matter what, live. No matter what you have to do, live. Do everything to cling to your life, even if it''s just a second longer."

    "..."

    After hesitating, the boy finally replied with his trembling voice

    "...I am tired. I am just ...so tired"

    There was a secret the boy had told her.

    And she had believed him despite how ridiculous it sounded.

    The boy had experienced death.

    A true death.

    Falling off a cliff.

    Shot by a gun.

    Committing suicide.

    Betrayed by his loved ones.

    Crushed in an ident.

    Beaten to death.

    Eaten alive.

    Ripped to pieces.

    And yet he was alive.

    He wasn''t brought back to life by some supernatural power, he wasn''t regressing either like in the novels.

    She didn''t know how that was possible but she didn''t doubt his words nor did she force him to speak more than he wanted to.

    And it was precisely because she knew about this secret of his, that she understood why he wouldn''t want to live.

    Despite everything the boy had been and how closed his heart had be she had managed to be his world but now she was going to leave him alone, like the other people did in his life.

    His heart would be closed again, much more than it was when she met him ...and he wouldn''t mind epting death.

    And that she couldn''t allow.

    "I am d you were born."

    The boy''s eyes greatly shook by the girl''s sudden words.

    "I am d I was able to meet you. Thank you. Thank you for being alive. Thank you for meeting me. I want you to keep fighting to remain alive. Keep fighting, clinging onto life to live even a moment more. If you do, maybe, just maybe we might be able to meet again. If you can die and live maybe I might be able to resurrect too or reincarnate? What did you call them ...relics? Right? So just maybe? You know?" The girl chuckled but her eyes looked straight into the boy''s.

    "T-that''s not-" The boy choked on his words unable toplete them as the girl interrupted him.

    "Promise me. You will live. Keep on living. Please, promise me ...as myst wish."

    The boy bit his lip.

    "That''s ...not fair"

    Unreasonable.

    Her request was unreasonable.

    It made no sense.

    But even so.

    The boy

    "I promise."

    ...made the promise.

    "So, don''t make me wait too long"

    The girl smiled "You bet, I won''t"

    And so the tale of the girl came to an end.

    And then the boy died.

    Again.

    Time passed.

    He tried clinging to his life but he always ended up dying, alone.

    And his memories of her started to fade away, her name, her voice, her face, gestures she used to make.

    The only thing he remembered was the promise, whose origins were fading into the white.

    The promise, the boy clung onto it, not knowing himself why he did.

    He wanted to hate the world but it was also the world he had met her in, so he couldn''t.

    This is a story of a girl who loved this certain boy dearly, oh so dearly.

    This is a story of a boy who had no desire to live, no wishes to make or wants, yet he clung to it because of a promise he made to the person he barely remembers.

 Chapter 56: Entering The Academy

    <h4>Chapter 56: Entering The Academy</h4>

    "I think you should stop it." The woman, probably in herte twenties, said sighing, her face hidden behind the mask and the sunsses she wore.

    "Stop? Stop what?"

    I asked her unable to understand what she was talking about.

    "You need to stop buying <i>only</i> ck clothes"

    What? Why?

    ck clothes are the perfect clothes. They don''t get dirty easily, they go along with whatever design and all the other stuff.

    They are the best.

    So why is thisdy stopping me from buying <i>my</i> clothes? Made no sense.

    "And for what reason?"

    "The fact that you are asking me about why makes me wonder if you are a shut-in"

    "How did you know that?"

    "So, you are"

    That is not the point.

    "Aren''t you wearing an oversized ck hoodie too?"

    It''s like the pot calling the kettle ck.

    "...I have my reasons"

    Shouldn''t be touching on this topic, should I?

    Being the mature guy I am, I decided to forget the thing.

    "So, whaddya suggest?"

    "I am going to choose the clothes from this point on, you try them out in the changing room and that''s how we decide whether to buy them or not, alright?"

    "Cool"

    I agreed without any objections.

    If someone is willing to take on my headache of selecting clothes for me, who am I to stop them? Freebor is something I always wee.

    Hm? Where am I? What am I doing? How did I end up here?

    Well, that is quite a long story.

    So, I will spare the details.

    I have somehow entered the world of a novel.

    A dog-shit novel where the protagonist loses and the world ends.

    Now, upon learning about the world I have been transmigrated into, I thought about my options.

    One was to simply live my life. The owner whose body I have been transmigrated into has been quite rich, in other words, I could live my life modestly doing whatever I want to, in this futuristic world with advanced technology, I could y games, fully immersing myself in VR and all.

    And when the time for the world to endes, simply ept my death. I mean, let''s be real, why the fuck should I try anything, I mean this is a world-ending situation, it''s something adults are supposed to deal with, not kids.

    It went without saying, I had no responsibility to carry here.

    But this option wasn''t something I could go along with, it went without saying that an event like transmigration wasn''t just another Tuesday to me, it was beyond my currentprehension, the only thing I can say is someone or something caused this event and whoever it was, of course, wouldn''t sit still if I decide to simply spend my days like some kinda bum.

    No boss allows their employees a moment of rest, a tale as old as time.

    I didn''t have any conclusive evidence about this conjecture of mine but I don''t think it''s wise to fuck around and find out.

    And then, the second option was to simply try to change the future of this world and save it as someone who knows the future. Trying to save the world and everyone in it and bing a hero and all, you know the drill. But it all only sounded good on paper.

    Changing the future would mean, making enemies who would being out for <i>my</i> blood. This was no normal world. It was a fantasy world, where magic and swords exist and beasts and monsters exist.

    Just living in this world for a normal person like me who came from a world where peace exists is a challenging task. It went without saying that changing this world''s dark-gloomy end into a rainbow and sun-shine one wouldn''t be so rainbow and sun-shiny.

    This, of course, wouldn''t work out for me. Endangering myself for the sake of others was not my forte.

    Besides, heroes are always restricted in things they can do and things they cannot. And my nature was anything but heroic, evident from my stay in the hidden dungeon of this world, which will talk aboutter.

    And then, the third option. Fuck it all, let''s just grow stronger, strong enough to not save the world but save myself. Strong enough to deal with whoever is this shit who brought me to this world and once I am done dealing with that little shit I will go back running to my world.

    This world''s problem is the problem of its residents, not mine.

    I have no interest in sticking my nose in other people''s business.

    And this option, this option, I liked it.

    So, with my decision made I decided to follow through with it. To grow stronger and for that end, I used my knowledge of the novel.

    In this shitty novel, there are 7 continents, along with 7 dungeon towers residing in each continent, tall very tall, and no one knows where the tip of the dungeon''s tower ends, along with 2 moons and a sun.

    In these 7 continents, there are 7 different races living in them.

    <i>Floating Ind, Artifilogia, The Great Land of Natura, Freezing Land, The Dark Land, and The Last Land, </i>residence of<i> </i>the <i>Elves, Dwarves, Beastfolk, Vampires, Demons, and Humans, respectively.</i>

    Yes, I know, it only makes 6 continents and 6 species, but hey, it''s not my fault. The 7th continent is shrouded in mystery. There was no information about the 7th continent or the people that lived there in the novel.

    All the attempts to make contact with the 7th continent have resulted in failure. Those who went to the continent never came back, presumably and most probably dead. Since no one knows anything about it, people have termed the 7th continent as <i>The Land of Mystery.</i>

    And then there are dungeon towers and hidden dungeons in this world, this is where the shit gets real.

    The dungeon towers are divided into a set of floors, these set of floors carry a simr set of climate around them.

    For instance, the first 1-5th floor is simr to any cliched dungeon you might have read about or seen in novels and games. Simply, a cave-type thing with luminous walls filled with the weakest G- ranked monsters to low-ranked monsters of E+ ranked, in some instances, some D- monsters also appear on the 5th floor, but only in rare instances, of course the main characters always end up in those rare moments.

    The next set of floors are submerged in water, imagine getting somehow thrown inside an ocean, deep inside the ocean, yeah kinda like that and you are supposed to freaking breathe in there as well as fight monsters.

    How in the world the water doesn''t flow down to lower floors is a mystery to everyone, simr to how monsters do note out of the dungeon tower.

    The highest floor that has been climbed till now is the 25th floor, done by humanity.

    Surprising, right?

    In a world of fantasy, where species like Elves who have high mana proficiency, Dwarves with the best durability and craftmanship of their weapons, Beastfolk who would be considered superhuman in a normal world, Vampires who have lived for a long time and are practically immortal, the type who wouldn''t die of aging and Demons who are ...fucking strong.

    So then, why is it that humans are the ones who managed to reach the 25th floor, the highest by anyone?

    The answer to that is rather simple, other species sure have various advantages over us, their life span, and their inherited strengths but they all carry a huge disadvantage among themselves, that is, they have a level cap or you can call it a potential limit.

    They can''t grow past the rank of their level cap.

    On the other hand, humans don''t have such a limitation, they can grow as much as they want to as long as they are willing to work their ass off. At first nce, it may seem kinda overkill advantage but the thing is, leveling up isn''t an easy thing. Added to the life span of humans, we end up having a pseudo sort of level cap.

    While there are lots of humans who are SS+ rankerspared to any other species, no one has reached the SSS- rank. There was once a guy who did but he died coz of the pain he couldn''t endure because of his old age thates with leveling up... truly, ame way to die.

    There is a human known to be the nearest to reaching SSS- rank but that never happened in the novel.

    The only person in this world who has managed to go past SS+ rank is the Demon Lord, the antagonist of the novel, SSS+ ranked.

    Truth is, that guy managed to actually go past even SSS+ rank in the novel but ...I have kinda fucked things up.

    You see, this demon lord is actually kinda screwed up in the head, which I realized after going to the hidden dungeon and fulfilling certain conditions that I didn''t even know existed but yeah, I somehow fulfilled that condition and learned the truth.

    The Demon Lord is a ...human!

    A fucking human!

    And he wants to kill everyone in the world to revive his lover who has been dead for like centuries now!

    Truly, mad fucker.

    Anyway, this wasn''t mentioned in the novel, we just got told that the demon lord is out to destroy the world and our protagonist was fighting to protect the world, your typical storyline.

    What result of their confrontation? The Demon Lord lost to the protagonist but what of it?

    We ended up getting a freaking new plotline thrown in our faces all of a sudden and the storylinepletely changed and the world was destroyed, and everyone died.

    Whatever, let''s not talk about the second plot, it''s not the priority for the moment.

    The thing is, since I learned the truth about the Demon Lord there is a penalty he will have to face, that is, he now has a level cap.

    In other words, he can''t grow stronger anymore.

    Now, everything would have been fine if the world would simply follow the storyline and the protagonist grows like he did in the novel and this time he would be able to win against the demon lord rather easily but that''s not how simple things are going to work out.

    I mean, who would sit on theirurels, ready to face death?

    Since he got the penalty and has now a level cap, he will know that there''s someone out there who knows about him and his desires.

    Added that now with his level cap, he can''t feel the same amount of overconfidence he felt in the novel which will result in him trying to do shit in a serious manner, a much more serious manner than in the novel.

    So yeah, I fucked up.

    But it''s not my fault. I just went to clear the hidden dungeon and get my reward.

    Hm? Yeah, I think it''s time I exin a little about Hidden Dungeon.

    Hidden dungeons are simple, they are like small portals that exist all around the world, hidden.

    These hidden portals lead one to hidden dungeons where one could gain things that would normally be iprehensible to obtain.

    In this world, people have found 17 hidden dungeons till now, they attempted these hidden dungeons, and the result of which is not astounding, 10 hidden dungeon raids have been sessful and the rest 7 have resulted in failure, resulting in the loss of millions of lives.

    The cause for the loss of millions of lives might not be simply because of the failure. It was something else that I will work towards

    ...someday or the other but not today.

    From now on the information I am about to say is something that the world doesn''t know about. I learned about it by interacting with the midgets or what the people of this world call <i>fairies.</i>

    They are as I said, midgets, small tiny little creatures, their true identity is of <i>observers, </i>creatures directly rted to the second plot of the novel.

    Now, you might wonder howe no one interacted with them before, why do they not know stuff that I know?

    Simple, they can''t.

    Their charm, their aura, their strength... if I had to put it in the simplest way then it would be akin to standing in front of a god, of course, they are not a god or anything like that but that was how one would feel when they stood in front of them or that''s what was described in the novel.

    It made sense they couldn''t speak in front of them however they pleased.

    Hm? Why have I been fine?

    Well, I just didn''t feel charmed by them. I mean, how the hell do you want me to think of a midget as charming? Like those little shits are quite literally just a few centimeters tall, like the palm of my hand. If I ever got charmed by someone of that size I wouldn''t be able to face anyone socially.

    They were at best cute, still midgets midgets.

    As for their strength and all that crap? Well, to me it was like watching a lion or a tiger in a zoo. Normally, you will feel afraid of the animals like lions or tigers if you ended up confronting each other, fuck that, if you ever even faced a dog tryna chasing you down you will be running for your life but what about the ones in the zoo?

    You don''t feel afraid, you enjoy watching them instead.

    That was how it was.

    No matter what strength they possessed, it wasn''t that hard to figure out that they had restrictions ced on them and they seemed to be quite civilized, so I didn''t really feel any fear.

    And again, they look like midgets.

    Anyway,ing back to the topic of hidden dungeons, this is the information I got from them.

    There are 3 categories of hidden dungeons.

    Easy, Moderate, Hard.

    Kinda like game modes.

    There were a total of 50 hidden dungeons in the world.

    Out of which 17 have been attempted officially, that is known to the world.

    I had cleared 3 hidden dungeons, unofficially, technically that makes me a criminal in this world now but as the saying goes, innocent unless found guilty.

    Which makes it all a total of 20 hidden dungeons that have been attempted. Leaving us with 30 hidden dungeons.

    The 17 hidden dungeons that were attempted that were of easy category, were added with the 3 that I cleared, now it''s 20 easy hidden dungeons that have been cleared.

    There are 2 moderate lvl hidden dungeons and 1 hard-level hidden dungeon that the demon lord cleared without ever revealing it to the world, monstrous bastard.

    And this leaves us with 2 easy hidden dungeons, 16 moderate hidden dungeons, and 9 hard hidden dungeons.

    The way to distinguish between these hidden dungeons is simple, the blue-colored portal means easy, orange means moderate, and red means hard.

    Finding moderate and hard hidden dungeons isn''t easy and most likely why the people in this world hadn''t stumbled upon them yet except for the damned demon lord.

    At any rate, like I have said hidden dungeons could provide one with things that would be otherwise considered impossible or a mere fantasy to obtain or achieve in the world.

    But they came at a price and that was putting one''s life on the line in clearing the hidden dungeons.

    They are dangerous, far far more dangerous than one could imagine, even a high ranker could die in the hidden dungeon.

    A hidden dungeon can only be attempted once.

    Then how did I, a mere low-ranker clear 3 hidden dungeons?

    Well, I have something called a system.

    No, not your typical system which helps with leveling up. My system is kind of like a sentient that follows my everymand and can travel anywhere I want it to. It can''t go to certain ces unless I enter them, like hidden dungeons or dungeon towers.

    Anyway, the point is, my system is like the best scout there, the best information collector if you would.

    So, with my knowledge from the novel and with the help of my information collector, I easily cleared the 3 hidden dungeons and realized why they are called easy.

    I have realized it, the biggest problem with clearing a hidden dungeon is the information.

    For instance, the first hidden dungeon I cleared was a simple fight with a minotour.

    Anyone could clear it, there''s nothing dramatic here but the problem is, I was trapped in a cave filled with monsters from G-ranked to SS+ ranked and maybe even higher. I don''t know but unlike other people who wouldn''t have any idea where they were going and might identally run into dangerous monsters above their level, I had a system with me that I used to scout the entire ce and find the easiest route to the boss room.

    See? This is the difference that having information could result in.

    The reward that I obtained from clearing the 3 hidden dungeons was a marine-colored protection ne, with 4 uses. A space storage ring, that has soul-bound property to it, basically an inventory with the space of 25 and healing potions that far exceed the level this world has seen, andst but not the least <i>books.</i>

    One contains the knowledge about <i>Soul energy </i>and the other contains the knowledge about <i>Myst.</i>

    What is this <i>Soul energy and Myst?</i>

    Well, apparently, the world doesn''t simply work on mana and aura but instead several different sorts of energies which when allbined form the <i>World''s Will.</i>

    And there''s no one out there in the world who can use all the energies which means no one can use <i>World''s Will.</i>

    We don''t even know all the names of the energies that exist, not even those observers/fairies or their bosses for that matter.

    From what I have been told there are 9 different energies orponents of the<i> World''s Will.</i>

    Mana, Aura, Soul energy, Myst, Celestial Radiance, Nether, Numen. These are all 7 that the fairies know about, the 8thponent is something only their boss knows about and the 9th is ...um, well no one knows anything about it.

    Now, like any normal person I arrived at a simple question, if no one knows a shit about 9thponent then how did the talk about the 9thponent even be a topic. How could they tell me that there is actually a 9thponent?

    The answer to that was simple, their boss must have realized he is stillcking something to get his hands on the World''s Will.

    In other words, this second plot boss who never revealed himself ...now I know his goal, it''s to somehow get his hands on the 9thponent.

    In that sense, if we assume that this guy was behind the whole, world-changing urrences, such as the different speciesing into a world, the dungeons, the hidden dungeons, and the quests he will give toplete in the second half of the plot, the very system itself, it''s all so that he could somehow find the 9thponent.

    You see there''s no order of things, someone could very well not know anything about mana, or aura but could use celestial radiance or otherponents.

    Using these requires one simple thing and that is theirprehension of the energyponent.

    In other words, this mofo is just looking for that one person who might be out their using aponent that he is not familiar with, and the moment he finds that guy he will of course use that guy to fulfill his own desires that is learning about this 9thponent.

    Tldr; the second plot boss just wants to be able to control this <i>World''s Will</i>, or in other words, he wanna be some sort of god in the truest sense of the word.

    Great.

    One wants to revive his lover at the cost of billions of lives

    And the other wants to be a god at the cost of trillions of lives or maybe more.

    Why can''t people just fucking live their lives? What''s so wrong with living a normal life?

    At any rate, I have ended up learning about a lotta stuff by talking to those midgets and clearing the hidden dungeon. With all the stuff that wasn''t mentioned in the novel, it''s easy to understand why the world ended and the protagonist lost like he was so focused on the first boss, the second just destroyed him. Our protag never really found how the world''s power system is working.

    No way, he could have won.

    The second boss is basically keeping an eye on every damn guy out there in the world through the system, I am pretty sure the moment he finds out about the damn 9thponent, the first thing he gonna do is kill that person after getting what he wants andter on ...well, he will achieve what he wants to, that is, to be a god.

    But even the second boss is being restricted otherwise there''s no way he would have left any sort of loophole for escaping the system.

    After all, I might not be someone free of the system but I have control over my system.

    Why do I have control over my system, unlike others?

    Well, that''s all thanks to the previous owner of this body whose funeral I held right aftering from myst hidden dungeon attempt.

    I mean, I don''t know if the dude''s dead or what since I have been transmigrated into it, so I thought it would be too sad if no one even held his funeral.

    This guy''s intelligence is through the roof, so he might be just what the second boss of the novel needs.

    When I say, his intelligence is through the roof it means he is the freaking most intelligent person in this world with literally nopetition.

    How did he end up bing so intelligent? Well, no he wasn''t chosen one or anything, it''s just he was ab rat of someb from where he managed to escape by destroying the very saidb.

    Now, you might wonder how the hell having high intelligence means having what this second boss wants but there is actually a connection.

    The higher the intelligence, the higher one''sprehension of theponents/energies of the <i>World''s will.</i>

    So yeah, there''s an obvious chance that this second boss of the novel gonna do some shit with me so that he could elerate my growth into learning that unknownponent coz when I said this guy''s intelligence is high, I meant it''s fucking off the roof for someone his age.

    So, this guy, <i>Noah,</i> might be exactly what the second boss needs, which would exin why I ended up getting transmigrated into this world.

    The objective was to rece Noah, he was the threat not me... which pisses me off somewhat but okay.

    Whoever this person is who transmigrated me into this body might be the very reason why the second boss had to put some rules, that allow one to escape the system and get control over it.

    In other words, I have truly been gotten involved in shit that''s not supposed to be rted to me in any regard.

    Which sucks but what can I do anyway?

    At any rate, this is how I ended up in a novel.

    What? The question was how I ended up shopping with this woman in front of me.

    That I don''t know either.

    It just happened you know?

    I went to the cafe before going to buy clothes for myself since I hate <i>Noah''s </i>choice of clothes that he has.

    And in that cafe, I met her, where we just somehow ended uping together for shopping.

    And well, that''s about it.

    So then, can someone tell me why the fuck am I carrying 6 handbags?

    This is weird.

    "Just how much more you wanna fucking shop?"

    "Your academy starts 2 days from now, the academy you are going to is famous for restricting all outside contact, you know? You need to buy all the necessities since you will be on your own at the beginning of the academy days."

    And now you are acting like my mom.

    Great, just great.

    Still...

    2 days.

    In 2 days, I will be entering the academy, <i>Heroes Nurturing High School </i>where the story of the novel begins, the ce where all the characters will be.

    Such a hassle I have gotten myself into.

 Chapter 57: Money Extortion

    <h4>Chapter 57: Money Extortion</h4>

    "You know, you are acting a bit too much like a mom," Iined unable to understand what this woman was doing standing at the entrance gate of my school.

    "Is there something wrong with me toe see you off?"

    ...

    No, not really.

    But still, how did ite to this?

    She was just someone I met at a caf��. We chatted briefly and discovered we both were in urgent need of doing some shopping and I, being a stranger in this world, asked for her help.

    I mean how the fuck am I supposed to know which brand is good and which is not, or what type of clothes I should buy, I highly doubt this world people wear simple cotton or silk or any other type of clothing.

    With the various kinds of monsters in the dungeon and the beasts roaming around in the world, they have got different types of clothes, different from my world.

    It''s not like I can''t search for it on the inte or can''t buy it from there.

    But I''d be damned if I didn''t even visit a single shop in this new world, I needed to learn the basic things, like making payments, how the buying procedure worked, what traveling by train is like, and the everyday stuff.

    This world is a damn different world than mine and that''s why I needed to familiarize myself with it, of course, a part of me was a teensy bit curious about what the amusement parks of this world would be like.

    With these thoughts, I decided I was going to roam around the ces in this world before entering the academy.

    And I roamed around

    ...along with her.

    We went shopping, hit the arcade, visited an amusement park, explored the central library, toured the museum��basically, everywhere I thought would be fun.

    And now she is here with me to drop me off at the school where I will spend my next 3 years.

    "It was nice to meet you, I had fun." She spoke up, it was hard to tell what expression she wore with the sunsses, the mask, and the hoodie she wore.

    This was where our time together would end. We didn''t even exchange numbers, not even the names. We just spent two days together, and now we''d go back to our own lives, back to our everyday lives.

    I will go back to dealing with the shit rted to the novel''s plot and she will go on living her life however she had been living.

    "Well, it sure was."

    I replied.

    With that, I started walking towards the academy and she started to go back her own way.

    There were no goodbyes, there was no need for one. We were just strangers, who happened to spend a little time together.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    The procedure was smooth sailing from the moment I entered the school. I went through a security checkup and had my status verified once again which with the help of my system I managed to falsify.

    Why did I falsify my status? Well, if someone who was G+ ranked until thest month managed to be an E+, it would stir trouble. Of course, it didn''t mean I was going to act weak, I was still going to show my strength as that of an E+ ranker.

    Since I am the absolute master of my system, I couldmand it however and it means I can always falsify my rank.

    Would be fun when everyone starts going bonkers on how a G+ ranker is managing to disy the strength of an E+ ranker.

    At any rate, it seemed like the trips I had in thest two days were being helpful. After going through various security checkups in amusement parks, trains, malls, and hotels, I knew how the procedure worked.

    The security checkup in this world doesn''t involve any physical touch by the guard, all I had to do was simply pass through the security machine, and let it take my fingerprint and retina scan.

    Afterward, I was given a bracelet with a non-interactive AI installed in it.

    I remembered this detail from the novel.

    All students of the academy wore this bracelet which kept records of the students'' growth and performance and the stuff.

    ....

    I don''t like this color.

    "I want a different color," I asked, right away.

    I wasn''t going to wear some shitty ass color on my hand for the rest of my 3 years.

    Aww, hell nah.

    "What?" The man raised his eyebrow as he looked up and down at me, I read his name from the name tag.

    <i>Bob.</i>

    Fucking Bob of all people, my luck is damned like always.

    "I want a different color, preferably ck," I replied as I remembered the details about Bob, he was annoying.

    Too annoying.

    He made a displeased face, which to me looked like a perfect punching bag of a face but I held it in.

    Oh, how many times have I wished for him to die in the academy attacks but my wish had never been fulfilled. Whatever, I will make sure to change the plot of the novel.

    "Here, a different color"

    Saying so, Bob put a pink colored bracelet on my hand.

    I looked at him, and then it turned into both of us staring at each other.

    "If you have received your bracelet, please proceed toward the next section" I nodded toward another man who spoke up

    Slowly, I lowered my hand with a pink colored bracelet on it.

    I gave Bob onest look before I started to walk forward towards the next section, breaking the bracelet, right then and there.

    .

    .

    .

    s, my method didn''t seem to work, Bob being the annoying fucker gave me another pink-colored bracelet while giving the kid beside me the ck-colored one.

    Just wait, Bob.

    You will face the consequences.

    Thinking so, I moved on to the next section where I received a phone and aptop, in the span of 3 years that I have been going to live in this academy, students are only supposed to be using the stuff given by the academy with special pre-installed apps that we will be using for various stuff.

    Unless the student has received some special permission they cannot use a personalized phone,ptop, and the kind of stuff.

    After that, I submitted the previous ID that I was given through the letter about my eptance into the academy and received my new ID, which I will be using from now on along with the key to my room, where I will be staying.

    Before leaving, I asked them to give me a booklet containing the manual about structure of the academy, a map, and the shit.

    In this world, instruction manuals and the type aren''t normally used. Rather, they use digital stuff, in the amusement park or the museum that I had gone to, they gave me a small rectangr b, around 8 or 10 centimeters long with a circr button on the corner right side, upon clicking that button a blue transparent hologram showed up which contained the map of the ce.

    In my world, something like that would have been expensive but in this world, they didn''t care whether I returned it or not. Some people did return it and some just threw it in a dustbin and some took it home with them which made me realize once more that this world is more advanced than mine.

    Anyway, the same was true for the academy. All the info was already in the phone they had given us but I still asked for the physical booklet. I preferred that and it wasn''t like they didn''t have the physical booklets, they just don''t usually use them.

    Once, I was given the booklet I started moving towards the bus.

    There are several buses, each designed to take the students to their respective dormitories.

    Hopping on the bus going towards Block - I, where my dormitory will be.

    Rxing myself on the seat of this air-conditioned bus, I opened the booklet and started reading it.

    The Academy City.

    That''s how people usually referred to the Heroes Nurturing High School and the reason for that was simple, this academy is as huge as the city, itself.

    There are several blocks in the academy, all divided into different categories.

    <i>Academic Block.</i>

    The <i>academic block</i> consists of 3 blocks, each dedicated to a specific year group.

    Block A- First Years, Block B- Second Years, Block C-Third Years.

    Each of these blocks had several lecture halls, training facilities, research facilities, libraries and the stuff.

    Next is the <i>Residential Block.</i>

    The residential block consists of a total of 6 blocks, each dedicated to a specific year group.

    Block D&E- Third Years, Block F&G- Second Years, Block H&I- First Years.

    Each block''s dormitories amodate 1,000 students and include facilities such as cafeterias, salons, arcades, gyms, health center clinics, and other stuff.

    Next is the <i>Faculty Block</i>

    The faculty block consists of 2 blocks, each dedicated to its role.

    These blocks were for instructors, administrative staff, support staff, security staff, and other workers of the academy, these blocks consisted of simr stuff to students'' residential blocks like dormitories, cafeterias, and the stuff, just more specialized made for them.

    Next is the <i>Working Block</i>

    The working block consists of about 6 blocks, each dedicated to the inner workings of the academy, as such maintenance, warehouses, storage facility, emergency equipment, and all the other crap that would be needed to run this damned academy that doesn''t let out its students outside of it until graduation.

    Next is the <i>Event Block</i>

    It consists of a total of 2 blocks used for the names of suggested events, such as cultural festivals, sports festivals, tournament hosting, entrance ceremonies, and the stuff.

    It was of course a restricted block that only opened during these special events.

    Next is<i> Hierarchical Blocks.</i>

    This block also consists of a total of 2 blocks, divided for the high-ranking students and low-ranking students in the academy, this block consisted of simr things to what a normal residential block would but just more specialized with better facilities for the high-ranking students and fewer facilities and stuff for the low-ranking students.

    Middle-ranking students will remain in their initial blocks given to them

    Next is the <i>Special Block.</i>

    It was a single block that existed only for special students, personalized especially for them. These students are the crop of this school, hell the student council exists in this block, what more do I need to say?

    Of course, this was also not essible to all students.

    Next is the <i>Central Quadrant.</i>

    Its size was that of four blocksbined, at the center of the academy, surrounded by all the main blocks, where all the administration staff, surveince, andmand staff were, the building where the headmaster or principal or boss of this academy or whatever you wanna call him sat.

    That was the overall distribution of the blocks within the academy, along with restricted blocks which simply told us to not go anywhere near there.

    I turned towards the page with the map image of Block-I within the booklet, as my stop arrived and I stepped out of the bus.

    Passing through the arch gate, I finally entered Block I. All that was left now was to find my dormitory building.

    The ce was bustling with students. Some havee along with their parents, just for today, the academy allows the parents to enter the academy grounds to see off their kids.

    Of course, there are a few rules that the parents have to follow.

    They have to leave before the entrance ceremony starts, they are not supposed to enter any buildings, they are only allowed to enter the residential block their child has been assigned, and they have to enter empty-handed.

    Since everyone was currently moving towards their dormitory, I decided to enjoy my time exploring a bit of this block, deciding to take a detour towards a less crowded ce, I had no interest in mingling in this crowd.

    I looked at the map and decided to visit the nearby cafe, after walking a little further I decided to enter the alleyways to navigate my way through.

    As I entered the alleyway, I realized they were different from the open paths of the academy, they were small and darker, with no security in ce.

    It was the very definition of a ce your parents would warn you to not enter.

    A ce where you could end up gett-

    I raised my hands up in the air, feeling the edge of the cold steel touching my throat.

    I just jinxed it, didn''t I?

    "On the first day of the academy? Seriously?"

    "It''s not my first day" A soft, sharp voice entered my ears which told me that it was a girl who was holding the knife on my throat.

    Not the first day, it meant she had arrived days prior to the academy.

    It wasn''t like the academy didn''t allow students to enter before the entrance ceremony, it was just that once you entered the academy, you could not leave.

    That''s why many students preferred toe to the academy on the day of the entrance ceremony.

    The students who mostly came to the academy earlier were those who wanted to get away from the outside world or kids who didn''t have anyone on the outside to say goodbye to.

    You get the idea.

    But...

    "I wasn''t talking about that, I was just saying, that getting threatened on the very first day of the academy doesn''t sound like a good start to me."

    Given that I knew, that someone had set their eyes on me the moment I entered the alleyway.

    Technically speaking, I am an E+ ranker. The first years that entered the academy were all mostly around F or F+ ranked kids.

    So, I was automatically one of the strongest students in the first years.

    Added, that the senior students are not allowed to enter the first year block, it was almost impossible for any kid to threaten me.

    "...Unlucky." She said.

    She wasn''t wrong.

    But she misunderstood who was the unlucky one.

    Even with the cold steel touching my neck, I could still deal with her easily.

    But let''s not resort to violence, talking is how civilized people act.

    "Extortion in such a broad daylight, you sure got the guts. Aren''t you afraid of what the academy might do?"

    "Hehehe, dumbass"

    Did I just sense some sort of giddiness in her voice?

    What the hell?

    "These alleyways don''t have any security cameras, the security guards don''t look into alleyways, do you know what that means? That means, the academy purposefully made this ce for the students to act however they see fit. Unless I truly do something awful there''s no harm that wille to me even if you go crying to the teachers."

    And why do you sound so proud to exin it to me?

    "And why would the academy not intervene?" I asked.

    "Hehehe, you are really dumb! Let me exin, this academy is for the students who havee to be the heroes, if they can''t protect themselves then how are they going to protect others?"

    Yeah, I know, everything she was saying matched with what I knew from the novel.

    In these alleys, students conducted all sorts of unruly behavior, bullying, smoking, and the typical stuff.

    Just like she had said, the academy turned a blind eye to such events for a single reason, for the students to grow and solve their problems on their own.

    It won''t be wrong to call it a disgusting way to do things but it is what it is.

    Of course, in case things escted the academy would intervene right away.

    Just because it looked like the ce wasn''t being scrutinized didn''t mean it wasn''t. And just because the academy was turning a blind eye didn''t mean they didn''t know what was going on.

    I could still feel it.

    Being scrutinized.

    Well anyway, I still decided to y the dumb role, I mean she sounds pretty happy exining it all.

    No reason to spoil a kid''s fun.

    "I don''t think the academy made such a statement, how did you gather such information?"

    "Because we entered the academy way before others did!"

    "We?"

    "I came with my best friend!"

    So, it was her friend that figured things out.

    "Where''s your friend now? Does that friend of yours know what you are doing?"

    "He isn''t here, right now. That''s why I came alone! I n on surprising him with the money I will collect!"

    Does he know or not?

    "Wouldn''t he ask you where you got the money from?"

    "By extorting? He knows." She said it like it was an obvious thing.

    Oh, so they are both in it together.

    "You said, unless you do something awful the academy wouldn''t bother with you, right?"

    "Hm! Hm!"

    Even though I couldn''t see her face I could tell she had nodded her head quite a several few times.

    "So, how is money extortion not awful? What would count as awful?"

    "Extorting money isn''t awful! If I cut off your hands or injured you enough that the wound wouldn''t heal unless a high-ranking healing potion or an elixir itself would be needed, it''s not awful!"

    Jeez.

    The contrast is so baffling.

    Her excited soft voice whenpared to what she was talking about was just surreal.

    It was like having a cute little kid shouting he gonna burn the world, something along those lines.

    "So, how much money do you want?"

    "Hm...?Oh, right! Give me the money!"

    Did she just fucking forget...?

    She is dumb.

    "How much?"

    "However much you have!"

    "I can only give you about 100,000 E"

    I didn''t mind giving this much money considering how rich I am but of course, if she started demanding more money, hmm.. I will just give her.

    In a way, you can say I simply found this dumbass a bit funny and was willing to give the money for it.

    While I do say she is dumbass and funny, she hadn''t for once lightened the grip on the knife touching my neck.

    She is strong.

    Not enough that I can''t deal with her.

    But, someone who is strong, someone who is this dumb, a pair of friends who came to the academy early, as a novel reader, it was enough for me to realize that she is part of the main cast.... most likely.

    And if she is who I think she is, I didn''t mind her taking my money.

    "Uh..eh..Um... okay" Her voice faltered and I understood why.

    The amount I offered was much higher than she expected.

    Well, I am rich. What can I do?

    I took out my phone that was given to me by the academy and then transferred the money to her.

    "We done?" I asked and she pulled her knife back.

    "Hm"

    With that, I started walking towards the cafe.

    "Um! You shouldn''t turn right, there''s a lot of hooligans there!"

    Did she really just say that?

    "You know, you are something of a hooligan yourself" I turned back to look at her.

    "I am not! Anyway, bye! See you around the campus Mr.Rich guy!" Saying so, she ran away as I caught a glimpse of her.

    And just like I had thought, she was part of the main cast. Elinalise, a beastfolk, an E+ ranker.

    "Then what the hell are you?" I couldn''t help but ask that even though she already left, slowly shaking my head I started walking and turned left instead of right.

 Chapter 58: Status Falsification

    <h4>Chapter 58: Status Falsification</h4>

    "Hmm... it tastes good" I couldn''t help but remark as I drank my cappino.

    I arrived at the cafe, ordered my drink, took a seat and now I am drinking it as I thought about my previous encounter with Elinalise in the alleyway.

    Elinalise, a beastfolk, an E+ ranker, and her friend, Allen, a human, also an E+ ranker, who she grew up with in the slums.

    They are both part of the main cast.

    Their plotline is pretty simple. They came to the prestigious academy so that they could secure a stable future in which they wouldn''t have to sleep on an empty stomach ever again.

    Currently, the reason they are extorting money from the students who they think are weak is because they need money to help their granny who had sheltered them, the only adult who had shown them kindness.

    Their granny suffers from a terminal disease which she was diagnosed with justst month, right after the results of the entrance exam of the academy were released. The medicines she requires cost quite a lot.

    And this made, Allen and Elinalise decide they weren''t going to join the academy, they were nning on earning money to help their granny but their granny who knew about their dream of entering the academy and securing their future couldn''t let them do it.

    She had watched those kids for a long time, these kids who would sometimes get beaten up by some nasty people, these kids who would try to fill their bellies from the leftover food thrown in the trashcan by other people, these kids who use papers, sometimes cardboard and sometimes they would even use the trashcan itself to protect themselves in the stormy weather.

    But, they worked hard every day, kept training themselves diligently, studying from the torn-up books they could find, sometimes even resorting to stealing and as a result getting a brutal beating but they never stopped training themselves, and then one day she approached them and asked them.

    <i>What do you want to do?</i>

    And then they replied

    <i>We don''t want to live like this, one day, we will enter the academy, graduate as top-ranking students, and live without having to ever worry about how we are going to survive another day.</i>

    The look they had in their eyes, <i>that</i>, <i>that</i> she couldn''t help but be drawn to, that unwavering drive.

    This world was simr to mine in the regard that there still exists a clear distinction in society between those in the upper ss, those in the middle, and those in the lower ss.

    While the academy only allows admission through a student''s own merits and strength, nothing changed that the world wasn''t so simple enough.

    Arts, weapons, skills, training ...all these things need money.

    It was the same in my world, kids with an upbringing in the perfect environment were simply far ahead of those who had grown up in a less ideal environment.

    <i>Resources</i>, they are important.

    But some people can''t afford these resources.

    And that creates a barrier.

    Entering a prestigious academy, an academy that every kid on the continent would want to attend, in apetition like that, it was obvious that the kids whocked resources would be at a great disadvantage.

    Watching these two kids who were at a great disadvantage, working hard every day, she couldn''t help but cheer them on and that was how one day she finally approached them, deciding to shelter these kids, so that they could focus on achieving their dreams.

    She wanted to help lighten their burden, even if she could only do a little.

    And that''s why she couldn''t let herself be the reason for these two to not attend the academy.

    It was a lot of work but she somehow managed to convince Allen and Elinalise to join the academy.

    The academy offers part-time jobs for the students as well and the pay for the students is much better than what they could earn through a part-time job outside of the academy.

    That was their initial n, to take on several part-time jobs in the academy, that was why they arrived so early ...until their n changed when they were threatened by some hooligans.

    They realized the loopholes in the academy rules. How the academy won''t intervene with the scuffle between the students so they decided, they gonna just go ahead and be the freaking hooligan themself.

    But they made sure to follow certain rules.

    Not to go against someone stronger than them, not to go against someone who could potentially be some big shot in the outside world, while the academy protects and treats all its students equally, they knew if they angered some big conglomerate kid, they would one day have to deal with it outside of the academy.

    In other words, they will only go up against kids who are weak and don''t have some big backing.

    And that''s why I gave Elinalise that huge amount of money. She is sure to show it to Allen and Allen being the thinker would probably be cautious against me, cause the amount is simply too big for some no-name kid to give them.

    In other words, I won''t have to deal with them again.

    At any rate, it''s not like the money they are collecting would matter, in the end, it''s going to return to them once again.

    ording to the novel, the money they are collecting right now, they won''t be able to send to their granny and their granny will die by the end of this month, at the hands of some random bugler.

    Quite a sad thing but eh, their problem, what''s that to do with me?

    That''s right, nothing.

    There are tons of people who die every day and besides that granny is terminally ill, even if let''s say hypothetically that I manage to figure out the random date that she is going to be attacked by the burr and save her, what then?

    Sooner orter, she is going to die.

    I''d say her dying sooner is better, that way these two won''t have to suffer during some crucial moment of the future.

    Finishing my cappino, I stood up from my seat, still wondering what I should be doing.

    There was still quite a lot of time before the entrance ceremony started and I''d decided to visit my room once I was done with the entrance ceremony.

    As I opened the booklet and started looking for ces to pass my time, my eyes fell on a particr spot as I made up my mind.

    Let''s fuck with some people.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    Holy mother of slime, I wasn''t bullying your kids, I was just ying with them!

    What? Why are your eyes turning red? Aren''t you just a slime, when did the slimes start to shootsers outta their eyes?

    I ducked, barely saving myself from being incinerated.

    Without wasting time, I ran towards the transparent wall, striking my foot into the wall with enough force to help me jump into the air high enough to reach the slime''s monster head.

    Tightening my grip on the sword, I sent a powerful strike, destroying the brain inside that gelly-like liquid that protects it''s brain, killing it in one go.

    With the monster dying, I finally cleared the wave as I started to fall towards the ground.

    Hm? Where am I? What am I doing?

    Well, I wanted to waste some time before the entrance ceremony starts. As such, I decided to do what I thought would be the most fun.

    I came to the training facility!

    ...And it was empty.

    How am I supposed to fuck with people if no one''s gonna be there?

    This kinda ruined my n.

    Regardless, now that I havee here, might as well go ahead and do what I came for.

    The training facility had several floors, each one was absurdlyrge.

    The facility is divided into several areas,bat simtion area, magic training ground, physical conditioning, tactical training hall, Healing and recovery practice, survival training zone, and several others and these all are divided further down the line.

    This academy sure didn''t hesitate to spend the money, did it?

    Shaking my head, I started walking toward thebat simtion area, specifically the virtualbat zone.

    I entered into the transparent box-like chamber shit after pressing my ID card onto the rectangr metallic stand.

    And then a voice rang out.

    <i>What monsters would you like to fight against?</i>

    "Slimes, let''s start with the slimes. The weakest monsters."

    <i>Affirmative.</i>

    <i>What level would you like to start with? It''s rmended to go with the basic level.</i>

    "Advanced."

    <i>Affirmative. Deploying the virtually created slimes.</i>

    Virtually created slimes ...or monsters were quite literally what the name suggested. They are mostly made of organic matter, basically, they are like clones. As for their brains, it''s fitted with low-level AIs that act like these monsters.

    That''s why, this environment was quite safe, these monsters would never kill. They will, however, wouldn''t hesitate to inflict injuries.

    That''s how they are programmed, not only that, these monsters are a bit weaker than the original monster from the dungeon.

    Well, they are a copy, so it made sense.

    <i>What weapon would you like to use?</i>

    "Sword"

    The moment I said it, a sword fell on the ground which I picked up.

    Soon, I found myself surrounded by quite a lot of slimes but...

    Hm?

    "Hey, bring a wave of about 1000 of these"

    <i>ording to my data, the current you wouldn''t be able to handle such an intense wave. It is not rmended.</i>

    Well, makes sense. Since I am registered as a G+ ranker.

    That''s why it''s going to be fun.

    "No problem, bring it"

    Fighting slimes for someone like me wasn''t a big deal, the problem however was, that I was nning on fighting against arge horde or army, or whatever you want to call it, in an enclosed space.

    This was the important part.

    I needed to train like this, capable of fighting against dozens of monsters, not just fighting I needed to deal with them as fast as possible.

    Each demon is capable enough to control hundreds and millions of beasts, and that''s why training like this was important.

    Of course, didn''t change the fact that for now, I hade here solely for the purpose of shits and giggling.

    <i>The chances of survival are zero percent and the chances tost longer than 5 seconds are less than 0.1 percent. Would you still like to continue?</i>

    "Yes, of course. I like those odds"

    Unlike this AI, I knew how strong I truly was.

    I knew I could deal with this much, the question however was, how long would it take me to deal with them?

    Regardless of which, I wonder how the AI will react to me sessfully dealing with the wave it''s about to release.

    I hade expecting a few people would be here and then shocking them all but eh, I will take this AI to have fun with for no-

    Suddenly, I felt a presence watching over me.

    Not the cameras but someone physically being in my proximity, watching over me from a distance.

    Someone to fuck over.

    Great.

    What? I am an attention whore? Well, fuck you.

    Soon, my vision was filled with slimes, tightening my grip on the sword, I wasn''t nning on using mana, aura, or any otherponent of <i>World''s Will.</i>

    Just pure swordsmanship.

    I let the memories of all that Enyo and Sofia had taught me about swordsmanship flood my mind as I began moving my feet.

    .

    .

    .

    <i>Congrattions! You have cleared the 1000 slime monster wave in 7 minutes and 55 seconds. </i>

    <i>Error.</i>

    <i>You have achieved an unachievable feat, as such, kindly understand that this anomaly will be reported to the higher authorities.</i>

    "Yeah, I understand"

    The entire reason, I did it was because the authorities needed to know about this. I mean, I can''t really hide my strength, you know?

    The entire reason I decided toe to this academy was because it provided me with all the facilities I could think of to train myself, and if I were going to hide my strength I wouldn''t be able to use these facilities which would defeat the entire purpose ofing to the academy.

    It went without saying that the academy was the best ce for me to train myself leisurely, without having to worry about safety and all.

    Regardless of which, nothing could change that it''s going to stir everything up.

    But ...

    I looked at the time that it took for me to clear the wave, almost 8 minutes to clear the weakest horde of monsters. This wasn''t good. I wanted to clear the wave within a minute, with purely swordsmanship.

    I know, Sofia and Enyo who I had met in the hidden dungeon would have been able to.

    Sheesh, I am stillcking.

    Stretching myself a little, I decided to prepare myself against the second wave.

    Let''s keep going until I clear the wave at the desired time.

    "You are a first-year student, right?"

    I turned towards the guy who finally decided to stop watching me from the distance.

    "That''s right. And you are?"

    "I am one of the supervisors of thebat area"

    "One of the...?"

    "There are usually several supervisors for each division here"

    "So, where did they all go?" I couldn''t help but ask.

    "No one expects a first-year to use the training facility right before their entrance ceremony. Sure, a few mighte for a tour, but no regr student would start training just a few hours before the ceremony. Even if some nutjobs like you do show up, the AI here is designed to ensure safety. We supervisors are primarily here for cases of emergencies."

    So, your job is basically simr to that fire extinguisher in the school that every student wishes to use one day but that day never arrives?

    Why the hell does your job sound so rxing?

    "What if an emergency urred? I don''t think the supervisors should be neglecting their duties like this"

    "No one is neglecting their duties, kid. That''s why, I am here. I lost the rock-paper-scissors" He said with a defeated tone, I could feel his regret, his great loss.

    Oh, I can''t say anything about it except

    "...Sucks man"

    "Right? And just when I thought nothing more bad would happen, you showed up." He red at me.

    "What did I do?"

    "Noah, a first-year student, G+ ranked. It makes no sense for you to be able to defeat a wave of 1000 slime monsters. You will be apanying me, we need to re-check your status." His tone was bordering between formal and using.

    "Just so you know, I literally had my status checked at the entrance gate, you know?"

    "Doesn''t matter, we will do it once again." His tone was firm, leaving no room for disagreement.

    "Well, sure. Go ahead and lead the way" I replied, leaving the box-like chamber.

    Usually, the sounds of what''s happening outside and inside wouldn''t traverse through these transparent walls but he probably disabled that function when he came to talk to me.

    Oh well, mission fuck over others, sessful.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    =======================================

    Name: Noah

    Rank: G+

    ss: None

    Affinity: None

    Skills: None

    =======================================

    "This doesn''t make a lick of sense..." The man muttered looking at my status for the 3rd time now.

    Of course, it wouldn''t make sense to you.

    In this world, there was no way to falsify your status, or more urately, there was no way to falsify it when it was being checked in such a thorough manner.

    But I was different, my system followed mymands, and I can talk with my damn system.

    I realized I could falsify my own status when my system had changed the words <i>Demonic energy </i>back to its original form<i> Soul energy.</i>

    The absolute master thing that that midget had told me about wasn''t just for the show. It does have its uses.

    And now, I am using that feature.

    You could question me, why am I showing my strength but then hiding my true rank in the system?

    The answer to that is pretty simple. As I had said, I came here to train and use these advanced-level facilities to help myself grow stronger, so it didn''t make sense for me to hide my strength but revealing my rank as E+ would be a different thing altogether.

    People didn''t grow up that fast in just a month.

    This could cause a different type of uproar. There was a way to level up faster, it was by killing others, be it monsters humans, or any other species, as long as you manage to kill someone higher ranked than you you can grow fast enough.

    Info that I was told by the midget.

    The only way that people of this world know to grow stronger in a short amount of time is by going into the dungeon and killing monsters, which worked on a simr principle that the midget told me about.

    And what do you know? Entering a dungeon before the age of 18 is illegal until and unless you have a special sort of permission.

    Put two and two together and it doesn''t take a genius why I can''t reveal my rank to them.

    That''s why I decided to deal with this issue as soon as possible since I had to at one point.

    ...Of course, I kinda wanted to fuck with them a little but whatever.

    Anyway, I looked at the status screen and focused on the words, <i>ss, affinity, and skill.</i>

    From what I have gathered after clearing the hidden dungeon and those midgets, <i>ss, affinity, and skill</i> that are given by the system help the person to circte the requiredponent of <i>World''s Will </i>through a person even if they don''t have any proficiency in it or can''t feel it.

    I don''t have that kinda automated process, I have to learn everything to do on my own and bnce and harmonize theseponents on my own but that was fine, if I had to be connected with the system in any way that would be only detrimental in the long term. Even if it takes more work whenpared to others I still prefer not having my system influencing me in ways I am not even sure about.

    "You are free to go," The man said with a tired sigh, scratching his head, breaking me from my thoughts.

    "So, you aren''t even gonnapensate me for all the time you wasted? What has the worlde to" Iined.

    "Shut your trap man and just go"

    I shrugged and started walking away.

    It was kinda fun watching people stress over stuff they didn''t understand. Oh well, it has nothing to do with me.

    "Where are you going to go now?" I stopped and turned towards the man who had posed another unexpected question to me.

    Where else?

    "Back to the good old grinding. After all, there''s still time in the entrance ceremony."

 Chapter 59: Towards The Entrance Ceremony

    <h4>Chapter 59: Towards The Entrance Ceremony</h4>

    After a few hours of training and cutting down the time from 8 minutes to 5 minutes, I decided to call it off, if I don''t leave now, I will bete for the entrance ceremony.

    And if I ended up beingte for the entrance ceremony, I would have received the punishment, that is 24 hrs ofmunity service.

    How do I know what punishment I will receive? Of course, I know because the protagonist waste for this entrance ceremony in the novel.

    Regardless, I was drenched in sweat and the sticky gel-like liquid after fighting off these slimes. I can''t go like this to an entrance ceremony.

    It went without saying that I needed a bath but since I didn''t want to go to my room before the entrance ceremony, that left me with one option, that is to hit up a hot spring or a bathhouse, nearby.

    But there exists a problem with this approach, what about my clothes?

    This left me with onest option.

    I concentrated my mana, letting it flow through my body and clothes, carefully gathering all the sweat and grime clinging to me. Before long, a floating glob of filth hovered in front of me, leaving me clean again.

    Now, where the fuck am I supposed to throw it?

    Let''s go to the restroom and flush it down the drain there.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    The entrance ceremony will be held in the <i>Event Block, </i>so I decided to hop on the bus, since I arrived early it was quite empty but because it was air-conditioned I found no problem sitting idly by, and man, I watched it happen, the bus getting packed with students as it slowly started to be noisier.

    It made sense, it was the first day, an entrance ceremony of a prestigious academy, it was easy to see why they would be so excited.

    See, till this point, everything was fine but then somewhere things went wrong, oh so wrong.

    And now, I am sitting beside the window, enjoying the view. The speed of this bus was almost double or triple of with which the vehicles in my world normally ran around.

    It went without saying that the wind felt nice to the face.

    "Um... this is an air-conditioned bus. So, maybe, close the window?" The guy sitting beside me spoke awkwardly as if he didn''t know how he should approach the topic which made sense since he had lived his life like ab rat until this point in life.

    I slowly turned my face towards him, looking at his features, he looked <i>decent</i> looking, he had aqua-colored hair and aqua-colored eyes, and even his name was Aqua.

    Who is he?

    Well, he is the protagonist of this novel.

    Still, what are the chances that of all the people in the academy, he will be the one who will end up sitting beside me?

    No, I know that the probability is the same as any other student sitting here, I know how probability works.

    But that''s not what I am talking about.

    Whatever, let''s give him the reply first.

    "I like the wind"

    "...I see." The protagonist backed off pretty easily, looking confused about what he should be saying.

    But he was not the problem for me, the problem was the girl behind me.

    "Stop fucking kicking my seat, you stupid little shit" I turned backward andined.

    "Then close the damned window, the wind''s annoying, you dumbass!" She barked.

    I couldn''t see her face since it was covered with a face mask and her hoody.

    Wait.

    "The fuck are you wearing a hoodie? Where is the damned school dress? I ain''t going to hearints from someone who ain''t even bothering to follow the school dress code"

    She got to be thest person who had the right to tell me to close the window.

    "Is the only thing good about you your fucking face? You dumbass. Look at this school symbol, it belongs to our school" She tugged her hoodie, pointing to the emblem, with swords and wings, the typical fantasy academy symbol, stitched on the left side of her uniform.

    This is legit...?

    Why do I not know about this?

    "And before youin about <i>my dress code </i>how about you give yourself a look? You aren''t wearing the school uniform. You are thest person who has any right to call out someone on their dress"

    I mean, it''s just an entrance ceremony, you know? I didn''t see any point in wearing the school dress for just an hour or so of an event.

    "Wait, howe you are talking about this school dress code shit and all? Wasn''t the main problem you kicking my seat? Don''t change the topic, man."

    "You are the one who started talking about the school dress! And just close the damned window and I will stop!" She shouted, kicking my seat once more.

    She has some anger issues, it seems.

    "Um... Calm down guys" Aqua said with hands fluttering in the air not knowing how to deal with the current situation, which I couldn''t care less about.

    "Shut the fuck up dude, do you know how annoying it is to have your seat being kicked from the back?"

    "How about you tell your seat partner to shut that window! Maybe you can just shut it since you are sitting there? And you, could stop eating for a fucking second? It''s annoying how you seem to be enjoying yourself" The masked girl first shouted at Aqua and then admonished the girl sitting beside her which I appreciated, she was eating chips and enjoying watching us which was quite honestly annoying, she had cerulean blue color hair and te-grey eyes, the part of the damned main cast, Lisa Rnd.

    Anyway, the main cast wasn''t important right now. It was this extra who is having a fucking argument with me who is.

    "I already told you, the window is not going to shut down, so stop kicking my seat, it''s not going to achieve anything."

    My words were pretty clear.

    "And why are you opening the window in an air-conditioned bus!? I am not buying all the <i>I like the wind </i>bullshit, that''s one shitty reason."

    "Alright alright, I just don''t like all the noise everyone''s making in the bus. So, I opened the window to help with drowning their voices, happy now?"

    Man, what''s her problem? I am opening my side of the window not her''s.

    "Excuse me, can you two exin what seems to be the problem here?" Suddenly, a voice cut through before the kid could say anything, we all turned our heads towards the woman who had just appeared.

    Probably the conductor of this bus or something.

    "This bitch is kicking my seat constantly"

    "This bastard isn''t closing off the window"

    We both spoke at the same time, and then the masked girl huffed, ring at me.

    "I understand the situation. Sir, kindly close the window off, this is an air-conditioned bus unless you have some kind of reasonable issue, you are not allowed to. If you still insist on keeping the window open, we will have to ask you to leave the bus since it seems to be disturbing other people."

    "..."

    Did I just get a threat that I would be kicked outta the bus...?

    "Ptff!"

    I didn''t even need to look at which fucker it was who justughed at me.

    "And Ma''am, stop kicking the seat in front of you. If you dirtied the cover one more time with your shoes, I will have to ask you to leave as well"

    That''s what you get forughing, dumb kid.

    "Now, please be seated in your seats and do not cause trouble for your fellow friends," The woman said keeping that fake professional smile on her face.

    "Bold of you to assume I have friends,dy." I couldn''t help but retort.

    "Friends? Who?" The masked girl also asked feeling quite confused.

    "Please, just be seated" The professional fake smile was still there but her eyebrow was twitching, I could tell she was quite pissed at us.

    Better sit quietly if I don''t want to walk the rest of the way to the entrance ceremony.

    I slowly closed the window and the woman left and the kid behind my back stopped kicking my seat.

    I wonder what had happen if I just break the damned window.

    Hm? Not a bad idea, if I do say so myself.

    "You, what are you doing...?" The protagonist of this novel who was sitting beside me asked in horror, his face realizing what I was doing.

    Hm?

    I thought I was good at being sneaky.

    "You can''t be serious..."

    "How the hell can you even tell?"

    Is this one of the perks of being a protagonist? You gotta be kidding me.

    "It was hard to sense but I did feel the dissonance at the beginning though now it feels impossible to tell. You are really good at mana proficiency. Still, you shouldn''t be doing it."

    At the beginning, huh?

    I guess, I am not good at it.

    Though he was wrong about one thing, I wasn''t just using mana but otherponents of <i>World''s Will</i> as well.

    Something the people of this world didn''t know anything about.

    How do I know? The damn midgets I met in the hidden dungeon were more than happy to indulge me.

    What I am doing is simply <i>integrating</i> my ownponents of energy along with the window.

    As Aqua said, I guess I''m not good enough not to give myself away.

    The beginning part is always tricky, to begin integration without causing any dissonance was the hardest part since I had to integrate my ownponents of energies which have different frequencies and all, with the windows.

    Of course, as I keep going, the integration process bes much smoother, just like now, I have gotten good enough to match the frequencies and all the other shit of the object with my own making it impossible for anyone to tell that I had integrated myponents of energy with the objects.

    It was kind of simr to a machine starting or any motion, the beginning part is kind of slow, and it makes noise too but once it starts it bes quite smooth, if you get what I mean?

    Didn''t change that the beginning gave me away, well all I can do is keep trying and raising my proficiency in the differentponents of energy.

    At any rate, let''s continue.

    Once myponents of energy hadpletely integrated with the window. I began removing the window without making any noise.

    Slowly, without any haste.

    While I was doing this, Aqua was looking quite intently at me.

    "What?" I couldn''t help but ask.

    "Hm.. uh.. it''s just my first time seeing someone with such delicate and precise control. You must be a really high ranker"

    "I am just a G+ ranker"

    "What....?"

    Aqua''s confusion was quite apparent and it made sense, my efficiency was much higher than other people''s but that was also because I was capable of using more than oneponent of the <i>World''s Will </i>unlike the other people in this world who can only use oneponent of the <i>World''s Will,</i> this is a very important detail, so it needs to be said again and again.

    To begin with, they didn''t even know the otherponents of energies that swirl around in the environment except for mana, aura, and demonic energy (soul energy).

    "Wha? What the...? Where the fuck did the window go!?" Before I could say anything to Aqua, the girl sitting behind me stood up leaning over to my seat and looking at the missing window from where the wind flew in.

    "Window? What window are you talking about? It''s always been like this" I replied.

    "Bastard!" She shouted and started kicking my seat non-stop making my body jerk.

    "Hey, stop this." I had no choice but to stand up since she kept kicking the seat.

    "You crazy bastard! What the fuck did you do!?"

    "I didn''t do shit"

    I made it disappear but there''s no evidence I did it.

    As they say, innocent unless found guilty.

    "You two, why are you causing amotion again?" The woman once again appeared, her eyes darting at the missing window and then toward the girl''s leg that was kicking the seat "Both of you, get the fuck out of the bus, right now"

    The moment she cussed at us, we knew there was no arguing.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    "There wasn''t even any evidence that I did it. This is ridiculous" I couldn''t help butin.

    Why the hell did I get kicked out? In the middle of the road at that?

    I mean, I nned it but still feels like shit.

    What? What do I mean by n?

    You gotta be kidding me if you thought I was dumb enough to fight for fucking window in an air-conditioned bus.

    Like I said, everything was fine until it wasn''t.

    The moment the protagonist boarded the bus, I knew I had ended up sitting on the wrong bus.

    You see the bus that the protagonist takes ends up with a technical problem, thanks to some guy pulling a stupid prank on the bus, which results in them getting stuck in the middle of the road.

    In other words, the people on the bus ended up runningte for the entrance ceremony and despite not being at fault they had to help withmunity services for 24 hours.

    Now, you might be wondering why did I not change the bus right away when the protagonist boarded the train.

    The answer to that was simple, it was thest bus left.

    Look, I boarded the bus when it was empty alright. How was I supposed to know that this will be the damned bus that protagonists will board, that this will be thest bus to depart?

    That''s why, with no choice left, I decided to let the bus take me as far as possible.

    Then why cause trouble and get thrown out? Why not just do whatever I am nning on doing right now when the bus stops working?

    That too has a reason, I have no idea where exactly the bus will stop, all I know is the bus driver will try taking a shortcut and end up on a road which ...is fucking dead, with no vehicles passing by.

    What I am going to do right now is simply, ask for a lift from someone going to the<i> Event Block.</i>

    I can''t ask for someone to give me a lift when no other vehicles pass by, can I?

    Well, anyway, there you have it. My reasoning.

    But now there''s another problem.

    "Could you for a fucking second stop kicking my foot?" I turned my face towards the masked girl.

    "It''s because of you we are going to bete! You deserve every bit of beating! And why the hell you aren''t hurting" She huffed and puffed and barked.

    It was quite impossible for her to hurt me. She was an extra character of the novel, in other words, an average academy student, and the average rank of first-year academy students are around F rank while I am an E+ ranker.

    It would be absurd if I got hurt by her, more so, when she isn''t really trying to hurt me.

    And the answer for her was simple, no, we are not going to bete.

    ...Unless no vehicle passes by.

    Which shouldn''t be a problem since this seems to be a main road.

    "Just calm down. I ain''t nning on doingmunity services"

    "Community what?" She let out a confused noise, which was an obvious reaction considering she didn''t know what the punishment for beingte would be.

    "You do know, we were already runningte, right? The estimated time of our arrival would have been just 10 minutes before the beginning of the ceremony. And now that we are kicked out, it''s obviously going to take us more time to reach there than before?"

    "I know, alright. And it''s not like the entrance ceremony is gonna start right away, it''s fine if we arete by 5 or so minutes. More than that? Well, we are cooked"

    It''s not like they gonna be strict with the time. At least, that''s what I hoped for.

    The problem was, that my npletely depended upon a vehicle passing by and then hijacking that vehicle and running full speed, faster than what the bus was going with.

    Whatever, if worstes to worst I will just have to run all the way but

    ...she won''t be able to run as fast as me.

    "Don''t worry, <i>I</i> won''t bete" I said to her, and as if picking on the subtle meaning she tried throwing a punch to my face, which I dodged.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    (Aqua''s Pov)

    <i>That was seamless integration...</i>

    I couldn''t help but think about the mana integration that the person who was sitting beside me had shown prior to the moments of getting kicked out of the bus.

    <i>Jane </i>had told me that it was absolutely impossible to integrate one''s mana or aura in such a seamless manner, there will always be dissonance when one tries to integrate their mana with any object, no matter how high-ranking a person is, and no matter how small the dissonance will always be present.

    But the person who was siting beside me had left no trace or dissonance, the only dissonance that I felt was at the beginning and even that was so small I had thought I was mistaken for a moment.

    That''s why I thought that maybe he is a high ranker, maybe that is why I can''t seem to find dissonance in his mana integration, maybe my rank was too low to catch it but ...

    <i>I am a G+ ranker.</i>

    I recalled the words he had spoken and I still couldn''t believe them.

    He wasn''t a high ranker but a low ranker, lower than me but then how was it possible for him to integrate the mana without leaving any dissonance that was almost impossible for me to sense?

    Does he have a ss that boosts his mana proficiency? Or maybe a skill?

    Or ...did he lie about his rank?

    It would make sense if that were the case.

    <i>Vroom!</i>

    People who are higher rankers have naturally higher charm stat, while the charm stat is said to be an umtion of several qualities of a person such as their aura, their confidence, their charisma, and several more qualities, one of the main qualities of charm stat is one''s beauty.

    And that guy was handsome.

    <i>Vroom!!</i>

    Quite literally.

    He could easily give a model or an actor a run for their money.

    And that''s why I still couldn''t help but think he is a higher ranker.

    But why would he lie about his rank?

    "Hey, wanna hop on that ride?"

    Breaking out of my thoughts, I looked at the hand that tapped on my shoulder and then turned towards the person.

    She was the person sitting beside the other girl who was wearing a hood, who was also asked to leave the bus alongside the boy who was sitting next to me.

    Her grey-te-colored eyes were looking in a different direction and I followed her eyes only to see a high-speeding mini cargo truck, on the top of the truck was the boy, and inside the truck, on the seat beside the driver, the girl, the two students who were kicked out of the bus by the bus attendant.

    Both of them sitting in their respective spots, while the girl inside was screaming, and the boy remained unfazed by it all.

    And the driver seemed to be a bit crazy with her scary smile on her face.

    <i>Vroom!!!!!</i>

    In the blink of an eye, the mini cargo zoomed past us, sending a gust of wind that swept over all the other students who were like me stranded on the roadside due to our stalled bus which had stopped working.

    The next instant, the girl beside me started running towards the cargo, and I followed her suit.

    Our n was simple, to hop onto that cargo.

 Chapter 60: Entrance Ceremony

    <h4>Chapter 60: Entrance Ceremony</h4>

    Dungeon Towers

    As I have said, in this world, there are 7 dungeon towers, each on one continent.

    One way to enter the dungeon tower is through the tower entrance which is under the direct control of the central government and the other is ...through the portal.

    Each continent has several portals that are connected to the dungeon tower of their respective continent.

    All these portal entrances are also under the central government.

    While the government permitted the use of these portals, there was a mandatory tax, along with aw requiring all discoveries and activities made within the dungeon tower to be reported.

    It went without saying that thew is annoying and as such there are people who for quite valid reasons didn''t like thisw, as such, they used a different method for entering the dungeon tower.

    It wasn''t really a different method since they still used portals to enter the dungeon, just that, they used illegal means to do so.

    Not every dungeon portal on the continent has been discovered just like hidden dungeons haven''t been.

    In other words, several dungeon tower portals exist throughout the continent that aren''t under the central government, unreported portals, and unfound portals by the government. These portals are managed by underground organizations, criminals, and all.

    Well, anyone who didn''t report the portal location despite knowing about it is a criminal since thew states to report them right away upon the discovery.

    At any rate, what I want to say is that there''s one dungeon portal inside this academy, under the direct control of this academy.

    As expected of the top academy of this continent. No other academy has a portal inside their academy, let alone ess to it.

    Anyone below the age of 18 is not allowed to enter the dungeon and any academy student couldn''t do it.

    But a student of <i>Advanced Nurturing High School? </i>Well, that''s when things change.

    This dungeon portal is essible to second and third-year students.

    Government andw be damned. This school allows it which means it''s okay to enter.

    Anyways, the point is, since the students of this academy from the second year are allowed to enter the dungeon, they need dungeon-rted products.

    After all, dungeons aren''t some sort of pic field trip, one could die in the dungeon, and that''s why you need to prepare thoroughly for it.

    As such, several products need to be delivered from outside this academy for dungeon-rted activities.

    So now, who do you think provides all the stuff useful in dungeons in this academy? Well, there isn''t one suchpany, the academy has several coborators and one such coborator is <i>Dungeon Deliveries.</i>

    If the name sounds a little familiar to you then it''s because this was the ce where I had bought stuff online before entering the hidden dungeon myself.

    And now the person who had made the delivery for me was in front of me with something that I needed right this instant.

    A vehicle.

    "You son of a bitch." She hissed at me, it felt like the whole reason she stopped in front of me was to just cuss at me.

    And I have no idea why she just cussed at me.

    "He sure is" The hooded girl spoke in acknowledgment, nodding her head several times.

    What the hell is wrong with these two?

    "It looks like you took good care of yourself. You look ...more hands�Cbetter now." She spoke raising her eyebrows.

    It seems like she remembered me as a sick guy.

    Well, I had met her when I was vomiting buckets trying to control mana in my body and do some brain-tempering shit and all.

    Shitty old days.

    Shaking my head I began to speak.

    "Could you help us? We need to go to the entrance ceremony on time and we are running kindate"

    "Hmm? Should I?" She put her index finger on her lips as she seemed to ponder.

    No, what do you mean by should I? The fuck does that mean?

    "Please, help us!" The shout came from beside me, from the hooded girl as she made a 90-degree bow.

    "Girl, what are you doing!? You don''t need to bow! Come, hop on, there''s an empty seat beside me" Thedy said without missing a beat, a bit taken aback by the hooded girl.

    Good job, hooded girl.

    "Your 90-degree bow worked. Great" I spoke while she red at me and I shrugged.

    Alright, time to board the truck.

    Just as I was about to start moving, thedy spoke up.

    "Dude, the girl I will allow. You? That''s a different deal"

    "Ptff. Deserves it." The chuckle came from the hooded girl.

    Why?

    Why does she seem to be snappy towards me?"

    "What did I do?" I couldn''t help but ask out loud.

    "You fucking shut the door on my face in the middle of talking, you bastard. That''s what you did" She spoke with a cracked smile her eyebrows twitching a little.

    Oh...

    Well well, if it isn''t the consequence of my own action.

    "This is my entrance ceremony, can''t you like, let it go or something? I was sick back then."

    Time to y the patient card and it seemed to work

    "Hmm," She let out an unintelligible voice, looking to be pondering before she finally spoke up "Alright, say <i>Please help me, big sis, </i>if you say that, I will let you hop on," she said with a mischievous smile.

    ...

    I

    I

    I couldn''t help but be reminded of <i>my big sister </i>from my world, she also made me say <i>Please </i>whenever I asked her for any help with the same damned mischievous smile.

    "Come on, it''s not that hard to say, is it?" Thedy spoke from her seat because of my silence.

    Shaking my head, I began to speak as well.

    "Please help me ...big sis"

    Aw, fuck.

    I knew it.

    I hate this sentence, mostly because of <i>my big sis.</i>

    "I ...like it. Even though your expression hasn''t changed one bit, there''s just something that looking at you right now is making me quite happy. Alright, add big sis every time you see me and talk to me that''s the trade-off for helping you get to the entrance ceremony." There was ...a bitchy smile on her face.

    "That is not what we agreed on" I couldn''t help but retort.

    "I changed my mind" She shrugged.

    Damn...

    "Fine, big sis. Just take us to the entrance ceremony" I agreed and she let out a giggle.

    It''s not like I am going to see her again.

    Even if we do run into each other in the future, it would probably be something that I could count on the fingers of my hand.

    In other words, not much significant.

    "Great! Alrighty then, hoody girl, what''s your name?" She asked in a cheery voice.

    "Julianna"

    "That''s a lovely name. My name''s Emmie. Alright,e up fast, take the seat beside me. As for you, Noah, you just go and sit on the top of the cargo."

    "Why would I sit on the top of the cargo, can''t I just squeeze in there? And how do you know my name?" I asked and she looked at me in silence.

    ...

    Fuck.

    "Why would I sit on the top of the cargo and how do you know my name, <i>big sis</i>"

    The moment I said that she smiled and muttered <i>good.</i>

    This is annoying.

    "Well, I delivered at your address, so of course I know the name of the person who shut the door in my face." She shrugged before continuing "So, you wanna get sandwiched between two beauties? You are quite perverted"

    Her smile was annoying.

    "I never said anything about sitting in the middle of you two" I retorted.

    "My... it''s just the first day of school and you already have a crush on Julianna?" She snickered.

    "Eww." Julianna let out a disgusted voice.

    I feel the same.

    "Aw, hell nah," I spoke shaking my head

    Without saying anything else, I just started climbing on the top of the cargo.

    Once I was up there, Emmie''s voice reached me.

    "Alright, buckle up. Since we are runningte, I am gonna go full speed using a short cut"

    I felt the vibrations running through my body as the engine of the mini cargo truck started.

    "Understo--!"

    Before I could finish my words, Emmie started driving at full speed in quite a literal sense.

    I instinctively grabbed the edges of the cargo tightly to avoid falling off.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    Can you imagine two people fucking suddenly start running and then jump on a mini cargo truck that is running full speed?

    Like, how do you even chase something running that fast? But they did.

    They fucking did.

    This world was indeed different from mine. If you have a good enough rank, good enough to use mana or aura, you can pull such a feat off.

    So, of course, why would the people from the main cast have any trouble pulling off such a feat?

    And so, Aqua and Lisa were now both sitting on the top of the cargo trying to bnce themselves with it...

    "What!!? You two! You two little shitheads! Do you even realize the speed with which you just hoped!? Don''t you know even a little physics!? The damned momentum must have put a dent in the cargo!! You bastards, you are both done for!" Emmie shouted from her driving seat while Lisa looked where shended.

    "Shit, it <i>is </i>dented"

    On the other hand, Aqua was already on with his apologies.

    "I apologize for the damages! I am sorry!"

    I just looked up at the sky as I realized something.

    Now Aqua unlike in the novel won''t bete for the entrance ceremony and he won''t be doing themunity service and he won''t encounter the people he did in the novel.

    "We will pay for it!" Lisa shouted.

    "We will!" Aqua agreed with her.

    "Look, you brats it''s not always about the money! You could have slipped while pulling that stunt!" Emmie shouted right back at them.

    Since the wind was quite strong they had to shout to converse.

    ....Oh well, instead of the encounter he had in the novel, he encountered different people this time.

    The novel will continue to keep changing since I don''t n on following the plot of the novel.

    Whether it will be for the better or the worse... I don''t know that.

    I can''t predict the future.

    But since the world ended in the novel, I don''t think there''s anything worse that could happen.

    With that thought, I slowly closed my eyes since the strong wind was hurting them quite a bit and simply waited for the destination to arrive.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    Hopping off from the cargo and saying my thanks to Emmie, I started walking towards the Colosseum where the entrance ceremony was about to take ce. There were about 15 minutes left before the entrance ceremony began.

    Emmie really drove like some crazy bitch and as much as I hated to say it she was pretty good with it.

    I ruffled my hair a little since they were a mess because of all the wind, not that I cared much about them.

    Lisa and Aqua both getting their scolding from Emmie.

    As for the hoody girl, Julianna, she was walking just a little behind me taking in the view and showing amazement, not just her, all the students were the same.

    I couldn''t me them.

    This shit looked straight outta some fantasy movie of some high quality.

    The gstone pathway beneath the feet stretched wide, bordered by lush greenery that looked too vibrant. Trees towering, as high as a 10-story building, formed a canopy over the edges of the path. I stuck to the shade, avoiding the sunlight that lit up the colosseum ahead.

    The Colosseum? It was massive. Ridiculously massive. Its stone walls were covered in all sorts of intricate carvings��dragons locked inbat, ferocious monsters, warriors swinging swords, and scenes of magic that looked straight outta some epic cliched tale.

    My entire surroundings were buzzing with excitement, the countless voices of others conversing with each other mixing with the roar of the beasts flying overhead, their wings casting shadows above us.

    The sky wasn''t just blue but rather a mix of colors, with bursts of vibrant sparks exploding, thanks to these flying beasts.

    This shit''s ridiculously over the top.

    I mean, it''s just a fucking entrance ceremony for the damned kids.

    Passing through the massive archway entrance, the inside of the Colosseum finally came into my view.

    And damn, shit looked like some sort of medieval setting.

    A row of seats circled the arena, the entire colosseum divided into different sections, for first-years, second-years years, and third-years, teachers, and instructors.

    Lots of students were already there, making sense since I had just made it in time.

    The front seats were full view, as I sat down in thest row.

    A simple matter of preference. Besides, I wasn''t interested in whatever was gonna happen in the arena and if something fun really happened, I could just enhance my vision to get a better look at things.

    Soon, the sound of a bell resounded throughout the arena signaling that it was time for the entrance ceremony to start.

    And from there on, a ridiculous entrance ceremony began that made me realize, a fucking boring entrance ceremony in my world is much preferable to this shit.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    The entrance ceremony seemed to be hosted by our seniors, more urately the student council.

    It began with a stupid speech congratting us on getting through the grueling entrance exam of this academy.

    Then some ridiculous disys by our seniors, such as a few duels, some beasts, and some simply showing us beautiful magical scenery.

    The shit went on for about an hour and finally, it seemed the ceremony was about to reach its conclusion as the headmaster of the academy, stood at the center of the colosseum, with all eyes on him, he began to speak.

    "Once again, congrattions to each and every one of you for making it into the academy. Your hard work and dedication have earned you the right to sit here today. You should be proud of your aplishment�C proud to have earned your ce at this prestigious academy among the hundreds of thousands of others who also gave the same exam as you but failed to secure their ce here" He spoke and everyone listened carefully even though it was the same damn congrattions that we have been getting all this time, just in a roundabout way where he kinda tried to emphasis that we are <i>in</i> a prestigious academy.

    Also, hard work and dedication alone don''t earn one the right, you know? There''s also the luck part.

    The students who ended up arrivingte due to traffic and weren''t allowed to attend the exam, or students who fell ill or something on the day of the exam, or their loved one ended up in some sort of ident impacting their mental state during the exam.

    But of course, we are gonna ignore such cases, that''s what everyone does.

    "But don''t let your aplishments turn into your arrogance. Don''t becent just because you have managed to enter this academy because from here on out you all will have to work even harder, with more determination because if you don''t, you won''t be able to survive in this academy. You will be continuously tested, challenged to push yourself to your limits, and evaluated. I truly hope to see each and every one of you in the graduation ceremony, three years from now."

    Geez, the geezer speaks a lot. I couldn''t help but think so as everyone around me had a serious and tense expression which kinda softened after hearing hisst sentence.

    Then a guy came behind the headmaster, muttering something into his ear and the headmaster nodded.

    "Ah, would you look at that? I''ve been talking for quite a while and seem to have lost track of time. My apologies if I''ve kept you too long."

    Apology granted.

    "With this, the entrance ceremony is concluded and your first test will begin"

    His words sent a ripple through the first-year students while the second and third-year students chuckled watching the first-years reaction.

    "Everyone, here''s your first test. You have to reach your ssrooms within the next 50 minutes. You are not allowed to use any vehicles, failing to do so will result in 3 demerit points. For every 10 demerit points you umte, you will lose one credit point. So, don''t think about cking off because the regr demerit points you will lose on failing to clear a test will be five. I am cutting some ck off to the first years since it''s your first day. Well then, your time begins now" He said with a sinister smile on his face betraying the gentle demeanor that he had shown till now.

    His words left the students in shock, disbelief, and confusion.

    At first, it was silence but then upon seeing the second and third-years running, the first-year started to panic as they started to stumble their way out of their seats.

    I sat at my seat watching the chaos that descended among the first-years.

 Chapter 61: What A Mess...

    <h4>Chapter 61: What A Mess...</h4>

    <i>El��is Organization.</i>

    When society copsed due to the emergence of dungeon towers, other species, mana, and aura-like stuff integrating into the atmosphere, and wars, some people acted to protect it all.

    These people fought against the beasts with magical powers, fought against the demons, fought to protect the people and that''s how they gained the title of <i>Heroes.</i>

    What else could you call them but heroes? Of course, soldiers that''s what. But things were dramatic back then, shit that looked almost like a fantasy that was alling to life made the term <i>Hero </i>more suitable to be used.

    As you could expect since heroes existed, viins too shall exist, viins who are nothing more than criminals who weremitting atrocities because of the copsed order of society.

    Criminals in a world of fantasy with supernatural powers, it''s easy to predict how chaotic things must have been, downright psychopathic maniacs who simply enjoyed the chaos and in that sense, these people made things quite difficult since they weren''t demons or some rampaging beasts but humans.

    Oh well, you already know how things ended. In the end,w and order were established. Proper guidelines on how the viins should be dealt with ording to the newws were created.

    As such <i>El��is Organization </i>managed to gain fame, power, and authority.

    The organization was quite literally ruling the human continent and everyone trusted them but ...they didn''t want to take on such a responsibility.

    This organization was made by seven people, and none of these seven people had any desire for power. All they wanted was to protect the people, to re-establish thew and order.

    That was what they fought for, not some authority over people.

    That''s why, they decided to give all the power to the central government instead.

    <i>El��is Organization </i>solely existed to protect the people, to help them, for the peace.

    ...or maybe the better phrase would be, <i>the original founding members did.</i>

    But they aren''t immortal, they aged up, time caught up and they died and what now remains is what was left by them, <i>El��is Organization.</i>

    It went without saying that even after the original leaders died, the reputation that the organization held remained almost the same.

    But the people in the organization changed and they didn''t simply want to protect people, they wanted authority, fame, and power.

    And that''s what they have been trying to do.

    The original leaders gave the power to the central government, but the new leaders wanted it back.

    They wanted the central government under them, not the other way around.

    And after all this time, now in this generation, they both hold the same amount of authority in this world.

    dly, this continent was maintaining democracy and shit, and it''s helping.

    Of course, as a novel reader, I knew about the brewing tensions and all the shit about the political plotline of <i>El��is Organization and Central Government.</i>

    Why am I talking about <i>El��is Organization?</i>

    Well, Regis Randolph, the headmaster of this academy, was once a member of <i>El��is Organization.</i>

    He had joined the organization because he looked up to it, the stories his parents told him about the original founding members/leaders made his eyes lit up.

    But all his expectations shattered when he finally entered the organization. It wasn''t sun-shine and rainbowy like he had imagined.

    You know the story��kids dream of growing up, getting a job, earning money, and living freely. But when you finally be an adult, reality hits hard. The jobs are crappy, the pay''s even worse, and instead of spending freely, you''re stuck managing every penny. Independence? Sometimes, it makes you wish you were still a kid with your parents handling everything.

    Anyways, after Regis learned that his expectations didn''t meet the reality, that the organization was now corrupt and all, he quit.

    And then after some of this happened and that happened, he ended up founding this academy.

    This academy that he put his everything in.

    The academy that neither the <i>El��is Organization nor The Central Government </i>has any sway over.

    An academy to nurture the <i>heroes of the next generation, heroes </i>like the ones he had heard so much about when he was a kid.

    I turned away, breaking the eye contact with Regis that I made.

    I had nced at Regis, trying to size him up, but the bastard also nced at me which led to us staring at each other. At first, I thought it was just a fluke, but nah, he<i> was</i> looking at me, scrutinizing me.

    And I had no idea why, what reason could there be?

    Shaking my head I began to move, ready to exit the colosseum.

    The colosseum was no longer as filled as it was, most of the students had made the run for their ss after Regis announced the 50-minute time limit to reach their respective sses.

    Some of the students remained seated, most likely waiting to make their moves once the chaos settled, I could see some faces of the main cast of the novel, sitting idly, and the rest had already left.

    Throughout the entrance ceremony, I was busy locating the members of the main cast and I seeded as I confirmed their identities.

    I slowly walked out of the Colosseum without making any hurried steps.

    I didn''t care about the 50-minute time limit. I didn''t care if I failed and ended up with 3 demerit points or getting some less credits.

    As the novel reader, I knew the world is gonna turn to shit, and what good would grades do in a shit world filled with war?

    Nothing, that''s what.

    So, I decided to take in the view and walk to the ss in silence and peace as I tried thinking about why Regis was looking at me and how the future was going to y out.

    "Hey! Hey! Stop!"

    "Hey! You stoic bastard!"

    The moment I heard those voices I realized that my peaceful walk wasn''t gonna be a peaceful walk like I had wanted.

    I turned around and looked at Aqua, Julianna, and Lisa along with two more main cast members, Aleister Jones and Emma Woods.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    In the original novel, Aqua bes acquainted with Emma and Aleister during his 24-hourmunity service, a punishment he received thanks to beingte for the entrance ceremony.

    But now that the future has changed. Due to certain reasons, Aqua arrived at the entrance ceremony on time, not only he became acquainted with another main cast member as well as an extra of the novel early on, Lisa Rnd and Julianna, respectively.

    So then, how did he acquaint himself with Emma and Aleister already?

    "You wanna hop on this reptile?" It was Julianna who posed that question to me as she pointed at the giant flying bird sitting on Emma''s shoulder about 80 centimeters.

    "How are we supposed to hop onto this giant creature exactly?" I couldn''t help but ask since my math didn''t math nor did my logic.

    "Hahaha, don''t worry, it''s not him that we will be riding. I am beast tamer, you see?" Emma replied with a hearty smile with the gust of wind suddenly surrounding her and a giant bird or like Julianna said reptile was standing behind her.

    Beast Tamer, like the word suggested, these people are capable of taming the beasts and controlling them. Sounds sick, right? Well, here''s the thing. Beast tamers are only capable of controlling and taming a definite number, as they grow stronger they can tame more beasts but it still has a limit not only that, it''s quite practically impossible to be with all your tamed beasts.

    I mean, you won''t usually walk with ten or twenty beasts surrounding you on the road, will you?

    But you see, Emma is the part of main cast, so her abilities expanded quite far more than your normal beast tamer. Thanks to Emma being from one of the richest families, she had acquired a <i>skill scroll </i>which no normal person would be able to buy and learned the skill <i>Beast Summon, </i>which allowed her to summon her beasts whenever she wanted from wherever the ce they were at and vice-versa.

    What''s a skill scroll? Nothing but just one of the ways to learn and acquire skills. Skills are something you are born with, some skills you learn when you grow up, some, that you end up acquiring randomly, some, you acquire in the dungeon in a life-threatening situation, and some are through skill scroll which one could get their hands in the dungeon towers.

    Even a seemingly useless skill scroll would sell for hundreds of thousands and the one <i>Woods family</i> had acquired for their daughter was worth billions, since it was quite a coveted skill scroll by the beast tamers.

    But you see, this skill that the skill scroll contained wasn''t your normal run-of-the-mill skill but rather something surpassing what anyone could think of, of course, no one really knows how broken the skill Emma had gained.

    The usual <i>Beast Summon</i> allows the beast tamers to call forth only a limited number of their beasts but the one that Emma had acquired allows her to summon all her beasts, there was no limit on that skill which she will realize in the future.

    But having this skill isn''t the only thing that made Emma fearsome. It was her ability tomand an army of hundreds of thousands of beasts in the future. To understand how broken she is, let me in on the detail that no beast tamer in the history of this world has ever gone past two digits of a number when it came to the number of beasts they can tame and control.

    So yeah, right now she might look like any other typical beast tamer who is strong but in the future, she will be just a straight-up monster.

    "Is there something wrong?" Emma asked tilting her head, breaking me out of my thoughts.

    "No. It''s cool and all. But when did you all be buddy-buddy with each other? And why am I being offered the ride? What kinda borate hoax y''all tryna pull me in?" I couldn''t help but ask.

    Why would these fuckers invite me? Like we don''t know each other, I mean, I do know about them since I read the novel but they don''t know shit about me.

    So again, the hell is this situation?

    "Dude, this isn''t some borate hoax. It''s just a ride offer. Why did you even think it''s a scheme?" Aleister spoke up looking quite shocked.

    Aleister, the childhood friend of Emma, another main cast member of the novel, also from one of the richest families.

    And when I say richest, I mean rich rich type of rich, you know? They had made the money I gave to Elinalise in that back alley look like a penny change.

    "Don''te if you don''t want to" Julianna with her sharp tongue spoke casting a re at me which I just ignored even though she did make the sense.

    "Lisa here knows Emma since their dormitory rooms are right next to each other and she suggested to me and Julianna about taking a ride instead of running to our sses. The headmaster had specifically asked not to use any kind of vehicle but the beasts as a way tomute was a different thing, we thought it was a good idea. Emma didn''t mind giving us a ride and we were just about to depart when I saw you and thought about offering the ride, Emma seemed cool with the idea." Aqua exined with a smile on his face.

    Emma knows Aleister and she also knows Lisa. Lisa became acquainted with Aqua and Julianna considering they sat together in the Colosseum during the entrance ceremony. Aqua saw me walking and decided to extend the offer of a ride to me after asking Emma since Aqua is the protagonist of the novel, he is naturally a good kid, a quality of the protagonists.

    Alright, I got the picture.

    "And why are you cool with giving me a ride?" I asked looking at Emma.

    "Woah, you are one hell of a cynical dude" Aleister spoke up in disbelief seeing how I still thought of their offer as a scheme.

    No, I am not cynical. I just know you people since I had read the novel.

    Lisa had her nonchnt expression as she simply ate her potato chips while enjoying the drama. She was the same on the bus when Julianna and I were arguing. Reading about this trait of hers in the novel was fun but damn was it annoying seeing it, not like I would have done anything differently if I were the one watching a drama unfolding in front of me.

    I can''t see Julianna''s expression due to her hoodie and the mask but her bodynguage totally seemed to scream that she was done with my bullshit.

    Aqua just had an awkward smile.

    "Hm? Well, if you need a reason then it''s because you are handsome, incredibly handsome and I don''t mind owing favors to handsome people" Emma spoke up leaning a bit in front of me with a cheeky smile on her face.

    So, if I am getting this right...

    "You mean, you think I had be a good model for whatever the product you both are thinking of promoting in the academy?"

    "Eh," Emma''s smile cracked as she let out a voice of disbelief and Aleister''s eyes started wandering around.

    At my words, Aqua and Julianna both turned their heads towards Emma while Lisa made a loud noise of a crunch letting out a <i>hmm </i>sound seemingly interested in the development.

    "W-what are you talking about?" Emma tried to y it off but I ain''t dumb man.

    "Cut the bullshit"

    At my words, it seemed both Emma and Aleister realized I wasn''t gonna buy their crap.

    "Fine. Yes, that was our n. Aqua looked handsome so we thought hey, we can use it as a way to gain favor and then when he pointed at you, and well, you know..." Her voice trailed off but she didn''t know to say the next words for any of us to understand.

    "I thought you both were nice but that''s a kinda bitch move" Julianna spoke, taking a step back as if she was trying to distance herself from them.

    Emma and Aleister simply looked away in response.

    "You were in their team just a moment ago, weren''t you?" I couldn''t help but pose the question.

    "Well, I didn''t know they were at us like we are some useable product to further their interest." Julianna''s harsh words made Aleister''s face scrunch a little and started to retort.

    "Hey, we weren''t, okay? We didn''t think like that, we were nning on simply asking them to help us out a little, we wouldn''t have forced them if they decided to decline our request you know?"

    "Oh yeah, now you are tryna defend yourself. No matter what you say nothing would change your premise for helping us was out of pure self-interest."

    Wow, a drama?

    I stood beside Lisa and started eating her potato chips as I watched the drama unfold. Lisa didn''t seem to mind me eating.

    So, we were cool.

    "Ohe on, you are just trying to blow this up, it''s not that big of a deal. Besides, you are getting a free ride in this, so what''s your problem? To begin with what''s with that getup? It''s clear you are trying to hide your face. Are you that ugly?"

    Julianna visibly flinched at those words.

    "Hah, hit the nail right on the head?"

    Oof, that was a low blow right there Aleister.

    "Shut up the fuck up when you don''t know anything. You are just a little shit-head who only acts like a good guy when all you think about is how you are going to make use of people" Julianna seethed with rage letting out her mana as if ready to start the fight, Aleister in turn did the same.

    Oh, hell yeah. A fight it is.

    I took a step back and so I did Lisa, I didn''t wanna get swept up in the fight but before things could get interesting Aqua let out <i>his </i>mana.

    And at that moment, everyone in the spot froze while I ate the potato chips. It was only natural.

    While Julianna seemed someone who was an above-average student among the first-years, and Aleister, Emma, and Lisa were without a question top students in the first year, Aqua was a different beast altogether.

    Even the current him is perfectly capable of beating almost all of the main cast members from the first year all on his own.

    Whether he loses and dies at the end of the novel or not, he <i>is </i>the protagonist of this novel.

    And as the protagonist, he couldn''t just sit still and let a fight unfold in front of him.

    "Both of you, stop."

    Aqua said and then slowly retracted his mana, and so did Julianna and Aleister.

    Except for the crunching noise of me and Lisa eating the potato chips, a silence descended where no one spoke.

    And just then I spotted a familiar-looking mini cargo trucking out of the backside of the Colosseum.

    Hell yeah, my rides here.

    "Emm- <i>big sis, </i> mind giving me a ride back to my ss?" I raised my hand stopping the ride and asked.

    She looked at me and gave a nod.

    "Sure, just hop onto the cargo like before" She replied and I did so, a few seconds passed and then she asked.

    "They aren''ting?" She asked taking her head out of the window as she looked at me and then I looked at them.

    "You guys wanna hop on?" I asked and they all looked at me like I am some dumbass.

    "We can''t use a vehicle" Emma hesitatingly said.

    "Who said that?" Now states that one can''t use the vehicle.

    "The headmaster!"

    "That''s only if you want to pass the test though" I replied and they looked quite shocked, stupid honestly.

    "No, you will end up getting 3 demerit points" This time it was Aqua who spoke up.

    "And?"

    "If you end up with 10 demerit points, you will lose a credit"

    Yeah, I don''t care bout that.

    "Look, even if I do get these 3 demerit points nothing changes really. For failing each test in the future we will gain 5 demerit points, correct? So if we go by that logic, even if I do end up failing this test I will still be technically the same as the person who didn''t fail the test, just a guy with 3 demerit points. The guy who passed and I, will still need to fail the next two tests in order to lose a credit point. Do you get it? Even if I have a bit of extra demerit points, I am technically no different than the guy who passed this test. So yeah, there you go"

    Of course, this was only reasonable unless they decided to increase the demerit point you had to get for failing the test with each passing test.

    "It''s kind of weird with how your math isn''t really working here but it still makes sort of sense" Emmie spoke with a frown on her face to which I just shrugged.

    "So, you hopping on or what?" I asked and then Julianna simply started walking opened the left gate and sat beside Emmie.

    Hmm, no one else?

    Welp, let''s go. Emmie picking on that no one else is gonna hop on started the engine and just before driving she spoke up.

    "I don''t know what happened but I think you kids need to cool off for a bit and then talk out with each otherter"

 Chapter 62: It鈥檚 Not Scam Rather Using Opportunity

    <h4>Chapter 62: It''s Not Scam Rather Using Opportunity</h4>

    Aleister and Emma were both from influential, rich families who were part of the business world, that''s why, since they were brought up in such a household they had both ended up picking on that mindset, their brains are hardwired to weigh the pros and cons of any situation, like an instinct.

    That''s just how it worked for them.

    Like Aleister had said, if we had refused to help with the modeling and all, they would have simply backed off. Emma and Aleister genuinely wanted to just help when they offered the ride but their mind instantly thought of the advantage it could bring them, something they couldn''t control.

    What happened back then was simple, a rtionship of any kind is a form of give and take. You help them and they help you and with time the rtionship strengthens itself. They were nning on helping us and then we would have helped them and with that, our rtionship would grow closer, and we would be friends from a simple acquaintance.

    How one''s brain thinks and works depends on their environment and the environment they grew up in was the business-oriented world.

    Of course, a normal person wouldn''t think like that.

    A normal person would help if they wanted to, but they wouldn''t if they felt not to. They didn''t think about the advantages or disadvantages of helping someone. They would help their friend because it''s their friend, they wouldn''t help simply because they didn''t like the person.

    A normal person doesn''t think too deeply about such stuff; maybe this is the difference between sessful people and the ordinary.

    And this was the problem that Emma and Aleister suffered from. Even when they simply wanted to help, they ended up messing up with how they talked.

    When they provided help and people thanked them, they just ended up saying it was a no problem and went ahead telling that very person about the advantages and disadvantages their brain had naturallye up with rted to that person

    I mean if someone thanked you for helping them and the reply came up with<i> No problem, dude! By helping you, I get [list of pros], but I also face [list of cons]. So, you see, there''s no harm for me in this. Don''t sweat about it.</i>

    Of course, it''d piss you off. Even if all they meant to say was no different than <i>No prob, dude! It wasn''t much of a problem. Don''t sweat about it.</i>

    And that kinda feeling is pretty natural, if it felt like a troublesome job you would hesitate to help but if you didn''t think it was troublesome then you wouldn''t mind lending a hand.

    Aleister and Emma were no different than other kids but the way they thought and spoke was what made other people pissed and

    ...it made them hated.

    And that''s how they both learned to hide their thoughts, what needed to be said and what not but when someone learned how they thought it made them bothe off as maniptive.

    Back then Aleister and Emma had shown a shocked expression simply because they most likely couldn''t understand how I knew that they wanted to promote their product at the academy.

    But of course, like always they ended outing as wrong and it pissed Julianna off, and then came a confrontation between Aleister and Julianna where both crossed the line.

    Aleister had no business in prying into why Julianna hid her face nor did Julianna have any right to judge and talk about their character when it had only been 5 minutes since she knew them.

    Man, teenage kids are so fuckingplicated.

    Regardless of what happened, there was only one thing worth noting for me, Julianna who was just an extra of the novel who never appeared in the novel after this incident can no longer be considered a nameless extra anymore because Aqua being Aqua wouldn''t leave Julianna alone, he will keep talking with her.

    I guess, she has now been promoted to a supporting character?

    I closed my eyes, feeling the wind against my face while Emmie kept driving like some sort of crazy bitch who is high.

    Thanks to that we arrived at the ss quite early and when I say that I meant, we were the first to arrive.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    "It seems like we are in the same ss, huh" I muttered, seeing Julianna standing beside me.

    We were both standing in front of the door of our ss.

    "My day just keeps turning shitier" She let out a tired sigh as if she just gave up.

    Poor kid.

    I opened the door of the ssroom and found all the seats to be empty. It seems like we were the first ones to arrive.

    There was only one person, the professor himself, in the ssroom ...or should I say lecture hall since the entire ce seemed a bit too big which made sense, considering each ss has around 100 students with a total of 20 sses amodating 2000 students.

    The seats were ced in a tiered fashion, rising from the front row seat to the back row at the end. There was a podium in the front where the professor was standing and arge monitor screen behind him.

    "You have arrived quite early," The professor remarked. Then, with a smile, he added "Feel free to take your seats and wait for the others. If you want to check about the result of your test then try looking up at your phone inside the app"

    I nodded at his words and started walking, while Julianna looked frozen in her spot, leaving her behind at the door I simply took the seat in thest row, in the corner.

    "Hm? Is something the matter youngdy?" The professor asked Julianna who kept looking at him and as if breaking out of the trance she began to reply with a stutter.

    "N-no! I-it''s nothing!"

    She started walking hurriedly and took the seat beside me.

    The professor once again turned his focus on his touchable holographic screen where he seemed to be sorting through some documents. I couldn''t really tell.

    I looked at Julianna who was shaking her head and muttering <i>Crazy </i>under her breath again and again.

    Noticing my stare at her, she turned to me and spoke up with a confused tone.

    "What are you staring at?"

    "Shouldn''t I be the one asking what is wrong with you?" I asked

    I couldn''t see for what reason she sat beside me in this empty ssroom.

    Slowly she looked downwards, fiddling with her thumbs, and began to speak hesitatingly.

    "e is ..ot" With the voice she spoke with, it was impossible to understand what she said.

    "Sorry, what? Can you be clearer?"

    "He is hot, so hot. I just couldn''t think of anything else at that moment and then I just hurriedly moved without thinking and sat here."

    "...Seriously" I muttered as I remembered the plotline from the novel.

    The professors of this academy were high-ranking people, so their charm was naturally absurdly high.

    That''s why most of the students ended up forming a crush on their professors even though they understood they didn''t have a single chance with them, they still were enamored by them. Meeting someone with S-ranking charm in person was a whole different experience from seeing them on TV.

    Of course, with time all students realized that all they could do was simply admire that beauty and went back to looking and acting like a normal kid, that is, forming crushes on the other students of their year.

    "So, when you gonna confess to him?" I asked.

    It was better to do it fast since there was no way it''s gonna work anyway, might as well get over it as fast as possible.

    She stepped on my feet and honestly, it didn''t hurt just like before when she had tried it.

    "What?"

    "It was just a momentary thing, I am not into him or anything" She hissed at me.

    Wow, really?

    "Besides, after meeting you I have already realized just because someone has a good face doesn''t mean they couldn''t be an asshole" She huffed and took out her phone.

    ...

    That was uncalled for.

    Shaking my head I also took out my phone and started fiddling with it.

    Just like the professor had said, I looked for the app on my phone that seemed to contain all the information about my profile.

    I started looking through all the different menu items, academics, profile, evaluation, rank, and the other h h.

    "Oh, I got 3 demerit points" Julianna muttered.

    "Really?" I replied and she showed her phone screen to me.

    It was there, written clearly.

    <i>Test Failed. 3 Demerit points.</i>

    <i>Upon the umtion of 10 Demerit points, you will lose a credit.</i>

    I looked at my phone screen and ...couldn''t see a shit.

    There was nothing written there.

    "Um... Prof. It doesn''t show shit in my screen" I called out, raising my hand.

    "Setting aside the problem that you need to work on your speech young man, what problem are you facing?" The professor asked and Julianna simply shook her head.

    "It doesn''t show anything, about whether I passed the test or failed. Not like I care but still"

    The professor frowned and then with a sudden look of realization spoke up.

    "You ...where''s your bracelet?"

    "It broke"

    Of course, I broke it.

    I didn''t like that shit.

    At my words, the professor let out a sigh and began to speak.

    "Please understand that the bracelet is crucial for your continuous evaluation which is done with the help of the AI installed inside it. I am sure, you must have been provided with the instructions when you were given the bracelet, to report immediately if it broke and to get a recement right away, weren''t you?"

    "I mean, it was time for the entrance ceremony and all..."

    "Just make sure to get a new bracelet after ss. For now, I''ll have to review the security footage to assess your performance," He made a tired sigh as if he found the process cumbersome.

    Hmm?

    Wait.

    I

    I could use this.

    "Instead of checking out every camera, how about you simply look into the camera of the training facility, I attended it in the morning in Block I. That should tell you all you need to know" I suggested and he made a frown as if not understanding.

    "Just check it. You will understand" I spoke again and he just nodded with a frown.

    Julianna was looking at me as if asking what this was all about, to which I just told her to wait and see.

    The professor began fiddling with his devices and then his expression began changing at the pace you wouldn''t expect from interest to shock to amazement.

    After a minute he looked at me and began to speak.

    "You are a G+ ranker but... this doesn''t make sense" His disbelief was quite visible as his voice trailed off

    "Well, you can just base my evaluation based on this, can''t you?" I spoke.

    I didn''t care about grades but ...that didn''t mean if I could get them for free I wouldn''t.

    "You aren''t wrong" He seemed to be pondering and troubled and then, he posed the question, "You two seem to know each other and you arrived at the same time but that youngdy beside you used a vehicle..."

    I began speaking without missing a beat.

    "We were on the same bus and met when we went towards the entrance ceremony but on the way back we came separate ways, we just coincidentally met up at the building gate and simply walked together to the ss, right?" I turned towards Julianna

    "..Haha, right. We met outside." Julianna confirmed

    Wow, she didn''t fuck me over. Now, that''s a surprise.

    "I see. I will update your progress on the basis of different evaluations but please understand that I am only doing this just this one time, such an incident wouldn''t be repeated. In the future, if such an event were to be repeated you would be evaluated like other students have been." To those words, I simply nodded.

    "Noted"

    "Alright, I updated it. Check it out" The professor spoke and I looked at my screen.

    <i>Test Cleared.</i>

    <i>Congrattions! You are the second person who cleared the test within an astonishing time of 24 minutes: 45 seconds. </i>

    <i>You will be rewarded with 2 credits.</i>

    Oh, right. In the novel, it was Aqua who was the second person who cleared the test and as such he received this reward.

    But this time it didn''t happen, most likely due to what happened earlier, and with the way Emmie drove, I ended up with this reward.

    "Um..Eh..huh.." Julianna let out some unintelligible noises as she leaned over and looked at my phone screen and my face back and forth as she managed to yeek out the question "H-how?"

    Didn''t you just see it?

    "Carelessness, Laziness, and all that crap that''s how."

    She didn''t seem to understand so I decided to expand.

    "The bracelet mainly tracks our progress. Without it, the academy would have to manually review the security cameras around the school to evaluate students, which is but a cumbersome process. This leaves them with the only option to ask the administration to do it, using the school''s AI��but that takes time and adds the hassle of reporting and filing permissions. Nevertheless, the professor has no choice but to do so if they want to evaluate the student. You with me so far?"

    Julianna nodded her head.

    "Yeah, so you see, going through this process for the first test of the year, which happened on the first day, going through all that trouble, who wants that? So once, the professor saw another method, the method that I had pointed at him he simply used that to evaluate me."

    "Keep going..."

    "Now, since no one else is in ss and these evaluations are private, no one who might''ve seen me on the mini-truck is around to cause trouble. And since evaluations aren''t public, no one will know about it except me. In other words, I have sessfully scammed the professor. It''s simr to how sometimes you end up getting more marks due to a mistake or carelessness of the teacher." I shrugged.

    "What happened to <i>I don''t care about the demerits </i>shit?" She spoke with a disbelief voice.

    "I mean, I don''t mind getting free stuff, you know?"

    "You fucking bastard." She spat, her voice barely above a whisper but seething with anger "I ended up getting the demerit points because of what you said!"

    I didn''t need to see her expression to know how furious she was.

    "Hey, about that�CI gave you the right to fuck me over, you know? You choose to help me out. And now you are pissed, not my fault man" I shot back.

    "If I could just turn back time, I will screw you over for sure" She grumbled and continued "And what''s with that credit shit, I don''t think the headmaster said anything about it"

    "Oh, that." I leaned back on my seat "It''s probably some special award thing. The first kid likely got 3 credits, I got 2 for being second, and the third one will probably get 1. Everyone else? Nothing. Just a bonus for the top three, I guess."

    "Not even a merit point but a straight-up credit. You''re a real piece of work, taking someone else''s credit when they probably worked their ass off."

    Well, you don''t always get rewarded for working hard, do you?

    She kept throwing curses at me and I simply pulled out my burger from dimensional storage, unwrapped it, and began to eat which made her even angrier.

    Soon enough, the gate of the lecture hall opened and the students started to pour out one after another in the ssroom.

    They were all out of breath, barely making it on time.

    As the ss slowly kept filling I realized that there was not a single member of the main cast in my ss.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    "Alright then, the 50 minutes are up and we have used an extra 10 minutes for the other students to arrive, I think we can start now. First, I would like to extend my congrattions to those who have managed to make it here on time, you all did good and as for those who haven''t made it here on time, no need to be discouraged, as long as you are willing to work hard and remain patient with your growth, you will inevitably grow stronger." Leaving the podium the professor moved to the centre.

    "As you all know, this is just an introductory ss about the academy itself. Your sses will start tomorrow in earnestness. You can all rx a little, you are not going to be having any more tests for today" He chuckled but the students? Not so much.

    "I am Oliver Orlean, an S- ranked and currently, your homeroom teacher."

    Dude, finally introduced himself as I looked beside me.

    "What''s the deal?" I asked

    "He ...said you were G+ranked"

    To her words, I simply nodded.

    "Doesn''t make sense..." She muttered under her breath but I could feel the amazement in her voice.

    I had no idea what she was on about so I decided to ignore her and slumped onto the desk.

    "Now then, kindly take out your phones and look for the profile app, we will begin there." At his words, students started to follow his words.

    I who was slumped onto my chair didn''t feel like pulling out my phone so I just asked the one sitting beside me.

    "Hey, show me whatever you are doing," I asked Julianna.

    "Just use your own phone." She retorted.

    And I gave up.

    I knew most of the stuff and their exnation because of the novel anyway. So, there''s nothing to do about it.

    ==================================================

    Name : Julianna ire

    First Year Student �� ss yet to be designated

    Current Rank: F

    Potential Rank: None

    Academy Rank: N/A

    Grade Rank: N/A

    Current Academy Points: 20,000 AP

    ss: Assassin

    Affinity: None

    Skills : [Stealth lvl.2] [Hearing lvl.1] [Silent Footsteps lvl.2] [Cooking lvl.2] [Poison Resistance lvl.1] [Mental Fortitude lvl.1] [Dual Weilding Dagger lvl.1] [Manabustion lvl.1] [Mana Surge lvl.2] [Shadow swap lvl.1]

    ========================================================

    Julianna thrust her phone at me and began to speak.

    "I think he is going to begin with exining about the <i>academy rank, grade rank, academy points and the ss yet to be designated </i>part"

    "Oh..." I replied as I looked at her profile information.

    "What''s with that response?" I couldn''t see her face but she seemed to be frowning.

    Gotta say I am getting better at understanding her expressions despite not seeing her face.

    "No, it''s just I didn''t think you would actually show it to me"

    "Huh? You are the one who asked"

    "Yes and thank you for it. Let''s focus on the front, he is about to exin" I said ending the conversation from dragging.

    "First, let''s begin with the ss designation part. Your current sses are temporary which will change next month based on your continuous evaluation. <i>Academy rank and Grade Rank</i><i> </i>is your rank within the academy, one among the entire and the other only tells you about your rank in your year.

    And now the <i>Academy Points </i>are the currency that will be used inside the academy. Until now, the students who arrived at the academy earlier were all making transactions using the money that they had brought with them but from here on out, only academy points will be used for the transactions throughout the academy. You will receive these academy points at the end of every month based on your evaluations."

    Julianna just like other students let out a gasp and strongly focused on all the things the professor kept speaking about.

    All the things he was saying matched with what the novel had exined so there wasn''t much for me to know.

    The orientation continued as he kept exining about various other things and once it all came to an end I quietly left my seat and decided to make my way towards the room.

 Chapter 63: The Uncanny Similarity

    <h4>Chapter 63: The Uncanny Simrity</h4>

    "Oh god, this can''t be. This just can''t be. No, no, just no. This can''t be real."

    Once I left the ss I started to move toward my dormitory and now I am standing in the lift with Julianna on my side who was quite distraught with the things.

    Even I had to admit that this is quite something.

    We are in the same block, same dormitory, same floor... all that is left is to see our rooms.

    If

    If our rooms ended up next to each other then that would be quite an event.

    Just imagine, the first person you quarreled with on the first day of school also happens to be the same person who is in your ss, in the same block you live in and that guy lives right next to you.

    I could see how this turn of events was unpleasant to Julianna.

    "Well, the moment of truth hase"

    I said as the lift arrived on the 10th floor and the gates opened. I could feel Julianna''s nervousness as she stepped out of the lift.

    "Just not right next to you, just not, please"

    How rude of her.

    "You know, you can just tell me your room number or should I just tell you mine? That way, we can end this suspense faster."

    "No, just no, I am not telling you my room number and I don''t want to hear yours."

    How unreasonable.

    Shaking my head, I started walking down the hallway and once I found my room I stopped as I turned to look for Julianna and... I could feel her despair.

    "Well, we aren''t right next to each other so technically your wish was heard."

    I offered the words of consolidation as I looked at her room that was in <i>front of mine</i>.

    "Fuck.."

    Muttering so, Julianna slowly unlocked her door, opened it, entered the room, and closed it.

    Wow...

    I didn''t know what I could say.

    As far as I was concerned I had nothing to do with this entire situation but it was now inevitable, we will be seeing each other quite a lot throughout the month.

    Turning towards my room, I decided to enter it.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    Magi-Tech.

    That''s the term when the magic and technology of this world werebined, things that technology alone couldn''t have done became possible with the help of magic and vice-versa.

    One such invention with the help of Magi-Tech that became possible was virtual reality, where one could fully immerse themselves into a simted environment.

    An idea that my world already had and was trying to implement so you might wonder what difference Magi-Tech makes? Well, it takes the idea of virtual reality one step ahead by making it possible to spend hours within virtual reality when in reality not so much time has passed.

    At the moment, the ratio is 4:1

    Every 4 hours in the virtual world equates to an hour in reality.

    There are a few restrictions on the use of virtual reality to negate the negative effects it could result in.

    The maximum time you can spend in the virtual world is 32 hours, which means 8 hours in the real world for the day. Once you have hit the timer, you will be forcefully logged out.

    In the situation where you have used up the entire time limit in a single day, you cannot enter virtual reality for the next 30 hours

    The maximum time you can spend in virtual reality for the week is 64 hours, which means 16 hours in the real world.

    All these restrictions came pre-installed within the devices, so even if you want to try to ignore all this, the device itself won''t.

    I had bought the virtual gear along with me that I brought with me but the academy took it away when I entered since the academy restricts any personal technology that one could bring with themself.

    In turn, they simply gave me another virtual headset of the same model and the samepany. So, I didn''t have anything toin about.

    Not like I am going to use that one.

    I was still going to use the one that I had bought.

    What? How did I feel when the academy confiscated all the technological stuff I brought with me?

    Well, I got a reward for clearing the hidden dungeon, a soul-bound dimensional storage ring that I could summon or dis-summon at will and use whenever I felt like it.

    Something that people don''t even know could exist, in other words, they could do whatever check-ups they want to do but they wouldn''t be able to find it.

    I began to wear the virtual gear to immerse myself in the virtual world as I connected the pen drive to it.

    This pen drive contained all that Enyo had yet to teach me, all that she couldn''t teach me because of my low rank.

    The virtual gear was perfectly capable of helping with physically interacting with pre-recorded videos.

    In other words, I could learn and spar with Enyo with the help of virtual reality.

    Now that I had grown to E+rank. I am sure there''s new stuff that I could finally learn.

    And that''s what I was nning on doing.

    Lying on the bed, I immersed myself in the virtual reality that allowed me to see Enyo once more, who had a pissed expression on her face as the first she spoke of was.

    <i>I see... so you fucking left. You fucking left after making a mess and I like some dumbass didn''t kill you. You really got some gal to fuck around with me like that. Gear up, you wanna train? I will help you train.</i>

    So... this was why she wasn''t angry at me when we met right before our parting? She ...she already vented during the making of these videos.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    After being forcefully logged out of the virtual reality I removed the headset and stared at the ceiling.

    It wasn''t a sparring, she just went on to beat the shit outta me for the entirety of time, both physically and verbally and since it was a pre-recorded video, it''s not possible to even talk back.

    This is just ridiculous.

    Is she going to be beating the shit out of me throughout the training process?

    So much thinking that I got away just fine.

    Shaking my head, I tried to move my body and felt a strange difort, which will most likely persist for quite some time, a side-effect of spending too much time in virtual reality.

    I started to focus on the <i>Myst,</i> one of theponents of the <i>World''s Will </i>to deal with this difort.

    Now, you might wonder what <i>Myst is,</i> and to exin that we will have to dive deeper into the topic of the <i>World''s Will or World''s Power, </i>whatever term suits your fancy.

    You see the <i>World''s Will </i>is the power that flows in this world, all this magic, beasts, superhuman strength that people gained, these dungeons, all of it, it''s all <i>World''s Will.</i>

    If my assumptions are right then gaining the power to control the <i>World''s Will </i>would allow one to be omnipresent and omniscient which no one has been able to control.

    The <i>World''s Will </i>is made of a total of 9ponents.

    Mana, Aura, Soul energy, Myst, Celestial Radiance, Nether, Numen, and the other two that as of right now I have no idea about.

    Mana is the foundation of magic, delicate to control and purely magic-oriented. It enables the creation of elements like water, fire, and wind, or conjuring barriers from thin air��typical magic stuff.

    Aura is about enhancing the body, pushing it to superhuman levels. It''s all about physical enhancement, essentially messing with your biology to achieve feats your body wouldn''t normally be capable of.

    Soul Energy deals with the soul, so I guess that settles the whole "do we have a soul?" debate. It allows for binding, transmuting, or manipting souls, that type of stuff.

    Considering what I know about the demon lord, I wonder if I <i>might</i> find a way to gain immortality hack of sorts, well, this was something for the future me to think about.

    Myst is mentally oriented, focused on messing with minds��whether someone else''s or your own. It handles memory maniption, illusion attacks, brainwashing, and even controlling your brain''s circuits, that kinda stuff.

    Of course, as I am right now I can''t really pull much of any of this shit but once I gain more and more proficiency in them, I will be able to do it all and maybe stuff that I hadn''t thought of till now.

    Mana and aura were something that I was observing to understand and for Soul Energy and Myst, I had gotten a book for them to learn from as a reward for clearing the hidden dungeon.

    I also got a book from Aurelias.

    You can also create more uses using two or moreponents of <i>World''s</i> <i>Will. </i>

    For instance, mana allows you to do magical shit but it''s only possible as long as you have a certain amount of mana in your body, what happens when you run out of mana? You can''t do shit.

    On the other hand, what if you use myst? You can conjure up fire using pyrokinesis. This time it will be a strain on your mind. What happens when strain increases? You lose consciousness or worse you fuck up in some way or the other.

    But what if you use both mana and myst? You can use myst to conjure up a fire but leave all the strengthening fire to mana, that way you won''t end up straining your mind nor will it affect your mana much and your attack will be stronger too.

    There are lots ofbinations that I could make and much powerful ones at that but of course, if I screwed up harmonizing theponents with each other properly, I could end up harming myself too.

    Well, I just need to be careful.

    What made theseponents different for me was that this is something only avable to me.

    Well, in all honesty, the people don''t know anything about the <i>World''s Will</i> or itsponents.

    Some researchers im that there is more than mana, aura, and demonic energy(soul energy) in the world but they don''t have anything that could prove it. In that sense, this world was in a phase simr to before the discovery of electrons, protons, neutrons, and quarks.

    If they want to discover moreponents that have integrated with the world, they will need to find someone who can use more than oneponent and that''s where the problemes in.

    You use moreponents of <i>World''s Will </i>you need to raise your intelligence stats and gain aprehension of theponent itself which is not something people can do.

    Of course, some people are capable of usingponents other than mana, aura, and all that is known to the world but they don''t understand what they are using and unless they do they won''t ever be able to raise their efficiency in it.

    This was the same case for me, I was using more than oneponent but I didn''t know I was and I just thought it was all mana, well in the end I figured things out with the help of Enyo and Greg.

    Not only that since this body''s case was special I learned stuff much faster, this body''s intelligence stat is off the charts from the beginning which eased stuff for me when it came to dealing with other stuff.

    But it doesn''t mean that other people don''t use thisbination ofponents, they do have one option and that is to use their <i>skills and affinity.</i>

    Skills and affinity allowed people to do shit they normally wouldn''t be able to do. The system manages theponents for them, <i>they aren''t bounded by the user''s proficiency inponents of World''s Will</i> but there got to be some price or that''s what I think people of course don''t know that they are paying.

    Those midgets aren''t goody-two shoes.

    Skills have levels that could be raised, they start from lvl. 0 to ... well, I don''t know.

    Enyo had her skills to level 4.

    And honestly, that was the highest I remember from the novel.

    Lvl.0 means beginner, Lvl.1 means above decent, Lvl.2 means you are way too good, Lvl.3 means you are professional, and Lvl.4 means monstrosity.

    On the fandom pages, there was a theory, that maybe the scale is from lvl.0 to lvl.5

    But since it was never confirmed in the novel, I can''t say anything about it.

    That''s why, even though I am stronger than any ranker of my rank because of my ability to use moreponents of <i>World''s Will</i>, their skills could still create problems for me.

    But like I have said, it''s those midgets who control the system and the system is what gives skills to people, so ultimately skills are still within the control of those midgets.

    Hmm? Skills start from level 0 and are raised by other people and since the midgets could always take the skill back, aren''t they kinda profiting from it? Holy shit, they kinda got free ves for them.

    Ah, but the people don''t know about all this, so they don''t realize anything.

    Ignorance is bliss as well as a curse.

    Tale as old as time.

    Once I was done using Myst on my brain to get rid of the difort from spending too much time in the virtual world, I stood up and decided to head out.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    I am hungry.

    No, let me rephrase that, I am starving.

    Soon, it''s already past midnight, and as you could expect all the shops are closed down.

    The entrance ceremony began at noon and then it went on for about 2 hours and then an hour spent on the run for the ss and then an hour for the small orientation.

    Once, all that was done, I went back to my room and had to pull all the stuff from the dimensional storage ring that I had bought from this world, once I pulled all the stuff out, I had to unpack it all and arrange them which took another 2 hours and after that, I went into the virtual world and straight up trained for 8 hours while my brain had gone through 36 hours straight of no food ingestion.

    Even my being an E+ ranker ain''t helping me quell the hunger that I am feeling right now.

    But I had onest job to do before I could go and enjoy my meal in some small eatery or in a food stand.

    I looked up at the sky, sitting on the bench, under the streetlight, the stars and the moons shone brightly in the clear sky.

    The only sound that reached my ears was of insects chirping, on this hot summer night, with no one around me as far as the eye could see.

    Even though it was the first day of the academy for many students, no one was out enjoying themselves, most likely They had gone to sleep so that they could attend tomorrow''s ss on time and the ones who were enjoying themselves were probably not anywhere around this location that I am currently in, which allowed quite a peaceful atmosphere.

    It was nice but I wasn''t here to appreciate my surroundings.

    I was waiting.

    Waiting for her to show herself up

    I was sure she had already been watching me for some time through the cameras that were around the area but she still hadn''t shown herself up.

    I once again looked at one of the cameras that was ced on the head of the street light as I opened my mouth and spoke slowly enough to make it easy to read my lips.

    "How long do I have to wait?"

    Of course, there was no reply that came on that quiet night.

    Shaking my head, I decided to feel the slow wind hitting my face.

    After about 30 minutes passed, I heard the footsteps approaching�C calm and steady. The sound kept bing clearer until it stopped with a shadow visible on the ground, I slowly turned my head upwards to see the person standing before me, her white colored hair with a few strands of ck mixed in, flowing down her waist.

    "Took you long enough"

    I spoke up as my eyes met hers and for the first time sinceing to this world, I felt my body frozen.

    When was thest time I felt overwhelmed like this?

    It was probably around 5 or 6 years ago when I met her, the person who I came to call big sis, she had ck hairs with a few strands of white mixed in them.

    The first time we had met, the first time our eyes met, I had felt the fear that I hadn''t for ages, a fear so overwhelming that it made me suffocate, all of my being wanted to do nothing but escape, to get away.

    Her eyes seemed to contain the very universe in them, looking at them made me feel like I was thrown in the middle of some space, forced to look at every being out there, everything that exists in the world, all at the same time.

    My mind felt as if it could explode at any moment.

    That was the strongest feeling that I had ever felt.

    But just like always, I eventually became too used to it.

    If it wasn''t for that I probably wouldn''t have been able to look at the person standing in front of me.

    <i>She resembled her to a disturbing degree.</i>

    The resemnce was uncanny, her hair opposite of big sis, her eyes that were exactly like my big sis.

    <i>Noah resembled me too, his name, his age, his skin color, his hair color, eyes</i>

    <i>...and the person currently standing in front of me was his sister, his little sister.</i>

    My transmigration in this world wasn''t a <i>coincidence.</i>

    <i>It couldn''t be.</i>

    "You... who are you" Her voice was wary, she was clearly on guard, and she already realized that I was not the Noah she had known her life.

    "Noah. My name <i>is</i> Noah" I replied and her face scrunched up, ready to shoot her words but before she could I suggested "How about you take the seat? I have no intention of harming you, and we are in an academy, it''d be stupid of me to kill you. Besides, I need you, your <i>skills</i> in particr"

    Her eyes widened as she took a step back.

    "How do you�C"

    "Just take a seat" I cut her off and she shot me a re and slowly sat at the other end corner of the bench

    By skills, I didn''t mean system-oriented skills or anything along the lines of that.

    What I was talking about were her technical skills, remember when I contacted the information broker who I said was the best guy who could bypass even the government security system, the guy I had asked for the information rted to Noah, the guy who was a supporting character of the novel?

    Yeah, that guy was a genius in the tech stuff but ...this girl currently sitting beside me, is a whole different beast altogether.

    There was nothing that she couldn''t bypass through, not even the best dwarven technology system.

    And I could bet that all the cameras around us, no, the entire academy system, is already under her control.

    Lucy, a member of the main cast in the novel but despite that once the graduation ceremony ends, we never see her appear again.

    The novel never mentioned her again. She didn''t unite with the main character after graduation either, nor did make any appearance when the demon lord finally waged an all-out war against everyone.

    She just... disappeared.

    "I will ask once again, who are you" She tried to be calm but her voice contained anger.

    "I was at my study desk before I fell asleep and when I woke up I was in this body"

    "...What the hell are you on about" She seemed a bit taken aback by what I said but slowly her face was turning into one filled with anger.

    "Did you know how annoying it was when I realized that I ended up transmigration into a dog-shit <i>novel?"</i>

    "What the hell are you going on and on about!? Just tell me about�C"

    "Not just that, but a novel that''s destined for a ruined ending, an ending where the world will end and all the people will, even the protagonist, funny really."

    "Shut the fuck up and�C!"

    "Lucy" I called her name, directly looking into her eyes "Do you think I am joking right now?" I tried to make myself sound as serious as possible but that was not something I was used to, so it felt weird.

    "Joking? Did you seriously ask that after going on and on about your bullshit! You know what you sound like? You sound like a deranged person! <i>Cough Cough</i>" She shouted with such a high voice that it cracked in the end, she coughed, breathing in and out.

    ...All I said was the truth though.

    Like you know we were getting to the things and all but you are just so impati-

    "J-just tell me about him. I don''t care about this novel or the world ending or anything so just ...tell me, where is <i>Noah" </i>Her voice cracked in the end, tears forming in the corner of her eyes as she looked at me with a still stern expression.

    Huh...

    Here I am trying to tell her everything and being transparent and she just keeps going on about <i>Noa-</i>

    Wait... why am I telling her everything and being transparent?

    Well, because I am in the body of someone who is her brother, her family, so lying wouldn''t be the right thing to do, not only that but I need Lucy''s help and it would be a pain if I didn''t tell her beforehand about the novel because otherwise she will just keep getting suspicious of me about why I know the future events and all and that would be a bad thing for me.

    That''s wh-

    What? <i>Noah </i>is Lucy''s only family. Of course, she had only been interested in knowing about her brother, why wouldn''t she? She could tell that it was not her real brother but she must have seen the academy''s search and seen that my DNA, retina scan, and everything matched with Noah''s.

    The only thing she would be worried about will be obviously <i>Noah.</i>

    I shouldn''t need to be told that.

    The only thing, the first thing that she needs to know about isn''t my prattling about the novel but about her brother.

    Then why did I ...?

    I slowly looked at her face and realized something, she wasn''t in the right state of mind. Of course, she couldn''t be.

    Wait, not the right state of mind?

    <i>Noah, me, Lucy, Big sis, not right state of mind, the eyes that aren''t normal, simrity</i>

    <i>....blood blood blood blood blood, no relics working, more blood blood blood blood and </i>

    <i>dead dead dead dead dead dead dead.</i>

    "Hu-!?" Lucy let out a surprised voice but fell to the ground, unconscious.

    Before I realized it I had knocked her out

    ...I moved on instinct, purely instinct.

    I haven''t acted on them for a long time but ...

    "Haaa~"

    I released a long sigh before I picked her up and decided to visit any food stand or an eatery that might be open right now.

    Let''s eat first.

 Chapter 64: The First Time I Met Him

    <h4>Chapter 64: The First Time I Met Him</h4>

    Opening the door of what seemed to be a bistro-type restaurant, I entered the premises with unconscious Lucy on my back.

    The ce seemed to be mostly empty.

    "Pftt--Cough!Cough!"

    I turned toward the sound of the person coughing only to be met with none other than Julianna, who was sitting in the corner of the cafe on one of the two cushioned seats that were around the circr round table.

    This gotta be a joke

    "Y-You, w-what are you�C"

    "Calm the fuck down. Let''s talk once I order something"

    Once I made my order, I sat down on the empty cushioned seat, face to face with Julianna, as Iid Lucy on the ground, letting the rod on the circr table support her back, which didn''t work and she fell sideways on the floor.

    I decided to just ignore her.

    Julianna sipped on her icedtte as her eyes followed Lucy on the ground and then me as she finally popped the question.

    "So? If you don''t give a good enough exnation, I will report you" With her eyebrow arching, she dered.

    "I found her unconscious, I just wanted to eat something, so I went looking for any ce that might be open and now I am stuck with this girl" I replied.

    It wasn''t a lie.

    Notpletely.

    "...And you thought it was better toe and eat first instead of taking her to the health center?" Is she tryna be passive-aggressive with me?

    "That is exactly it"

    "You are unbelievable" her voice dripped with exasperation as she shook her head.

    I rested my head on the table, I was tired. I had spent 36 straight hours in the virtual world, and right now I was too exhausted to engage myself.

    The virtual tech made everything feel as real as the physical world��the passage of time, hunger, sensations, and even the impact on your brain. That meant, while your body remained unharmed, your mind didn''t. Any trauma or mental strain faced there carried into reality. If your brain died in the virtual world, chances were, it''d happen in the real one too. But that kind of advanced tech wasn''t for everyone��only the rich or powerful had ess to it.

    What kind of virtual tech I have? Duh, the high-level one.

    How? I stole it from Enyo''s world.

    Anyway, the point was with the time spent in the virtual world and after what happened with Lucy, I wasn''t really in the mood for any other crap.

    I need to think about what I am going to do with Lucy once she wakes up.

    Just then, the waitress brought my order, a grilled cheese sandwich and an expresso. I turned towards her to express my thanks but all I could say was

    "Um.... did youe earlier than us?"

    The waitress in front of me was undoubtedly a girl who seemed to be around the same age as me, in other words, she was also a student in the academy, not the person I had given the order to.

    But I still knew her.

    Well, duh I did. She is fucking member of the main cast.

    Ketharine, Ketharine Wright.

    "I did" she replied, a little taken aback by my out of nowhere question but she quickly understood what I me

    "What''s the pay like? Not in the normal currency since we are only allowed that AP shit that the academy introduced us about" I asked.

    I knew from the novel that she had been working a part-time job in the academy but not where exactly, not only that I also didn''t know how much her job paid her.

    Ketharine Wright wasn''t raised in the slums or anything but she wasn''t some rich or even a middle-ss citizen, her family barely made ends meet. When Kethraien left her house, she didn''t really buy anything with her, she left with just her old clothes and spent most of the time in the academy with the sses, trying her best to keep her schrship as well as working part-time jobs and sending money to her family.

    The AP that she has could be converted into money and sent to the outside world, and that was what she nned on doing.

    It went without saying that she barely made any friends until she got tangled with other main cast characters.

    "650 AP a month" She replied and with a little hesitation she continued with a question "She is��"

    "She is asleep. Heavy sleeper." I shrugged at Ketharine whose eyes darted around the unconscious Lucy and me.

    I could also feel Julianna ring daggers at me.

    Ketharine after a moment of silence, spoke up "I understand. Please, enjoy your meal" With a bow she was ready to leave but she seemed to notice Julianna''s ss which was empty, Julianna had finished drinking, which she did with her mask on which she wore when she saw meing towards her.

    Julianna really seemed to be hell-bent on not showing her face.

    "Would you like a refill?" Ketharine asked.

    "Hm? Uh, no." Julianna replied and then continued with her own question "Why did you take a job with only 650 AP? I don''t mean to offend you but it doesn''t really sound like a good offer"

    At her question, I just decided to begin eating. Does she think we are going to get 20,000 AP every month?

    "This was one of the best offers I''ve received. With how few customerse in at night, I have plenty of time on my hands to use however I wish."

    "I see...." Julianna seemed not convinced but decided to not pursue the topic.

    With that Ketharine left, she is probably going to resume her studies behind the counter, that''s how she usually spent her time ording to the novel.

    "What do you think would be eptable pay?" I asked taking a bite of my grilled sandwich.

    "Around 1500 or something"

    Oh, she is up in the clouds. She is so up in the clouds that there''s noing back.

    Man, it''s gonna be fun when she finds out the amount she is going to get next month from the school.

    I should prepare some popcorn and c when that timees.

    "Enough about this. You, you just lied to her about this girl?" Julianna barked at me with a whisper.

    Hm? Julianna was kind of considerate in a weird way.

    Even back when we were in the ss and I had lied to the professor, Julianna didn''t out me and right now as well.

    In a sense, she was the type of person to not snitch, or more urately if she saw a murder happen and saw the culprit, she wouldn''t tell the police or anyone else who the culprit was but at the same, she wouldn''t try to save the culprit either.

    In cases like this, it was mostly because either the person didn''t like troublesome stuff or they themselves had secrets to hide.

    Whichever the case it was, Julianna couldn''t be considered an upright person, her moralpass didn''t align with good but she didn''t seem to be a bad person either, which meant her actions would mostly depend on the circumstances.

    "I did"

    "And you lied so easily. It''s making me hard to believe you just found her on the road" So, you are suspicious?

    "Just ask her then," I said, pointing at the twitching Lucy, who seemed to be regaining her consciousness.

    I took a sip from my espresso as Lucy slowly stood up from the ground, her eyes darting from me to Julianna to the cafe around her, Julianna looked at Lucy with concern as she voiced out "Are you okay?"

    But Lucy didn''t answer her, rather she red at me with wariness in her eyes.

    "Where are we?"

    At her words, Julianna who was looking at Lucy in concern turned towards me and asked "Why does it seem like she knows you? You said you just found her unconscious"

    I decided to not look at either of the two, actually either of the three. I could feel ketharine looking at us from the counter. So, I just looked at my expresso and took slow sips from it.

    "We are in a restaurant. I knocked you out earlier."

    "Oh god! You fucking abducted her!?" Julianna mmed the table while Lucy took a step back with raised wariness.

    I take back what I said, Julianna wasn''t the type to watch a murder happen and not tell the police about it, she was the type to shout so loud that before the police came, the murderer would find her and kill her.

    "Um.. should I call the authorities!?" It was Katharine who posed the question to the two brats, as she shrieked.

    Julianna silently looked at Lucy, which made sense. In the end, Lucy is the one who has to make a call.

    "Come on, what are you thinking about, you gotta report this asshole!" Julianna tried to convince Lucy.

    Lucy with her eyebrows arching, stared at me for a few seconds before she brought another seat and ced it between Julianna and me.

    "Thank you for the concern but there''s no need for that. Please bring me a ssic mocha."

    "Oh, okay!"

    Of course, Lucy couldn''t really call the authorities even if she wanted to. I was sure she had screwed around with the cameras where we were and removed herself from the video, that was why she came to meet me, coz she wouldn''t be recorded.

    But if the investigation were to begin right now and I tell them where I knocked her unconscious, everything would start bing contradictory and well, she might get caught.

    There''s no way, she doesn''t realize it. She is the person with the highest intelligence stat after <i>Noah.</i>

    <i>The second and the only survivor of the experiment which Noah was part of. </i>

    Soon after, Ketharine brought Lucy''s order, and I focused on my food, Julianna remained silent, not knowing what to say, and simrly, ketharine also remained silent observing the situation from behind the counter.

    Lucy remained silent, sipped on her mocha, and seemed to be contemting with her calm expression, once her drink was finished, she spoke in aposed tone.

    "I seemed to have lost my cool back then. Let''s continue our conversation from before in the room." her serious eyes locked with mine, and she seemed to have notched her wariness down a level toward me.

    Nah, man.

    No matter how you cut it.

    "With that mocha mustache that you got, it''s hard to take you seriously. Well, you are rocking the look though."

    At my words, Lucy froze, her hand instinctively hovered over her face, her eyes darting at Julianna, who simply averted her eyes which resulted in Lucy''s embarrassment bing worse. Flustered she hurriedly used the tissue to wipe it off.

    The calmposure that she was managing was gone, reced with a flushed face and red ears.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    "If something happens just shout I wille running. I am in the room across the hall."

    We can see that Julianna, Lucy simply smiled at her and replied "I will for sure"

    What kind of bullshit are they on about?

    "You both know that the rooms are noise-proof, right?" I said and as expected Julianna didn''t like it.

    "Huh!? Why do you know the rooms are noise-proof? Did you test it? I am telling you gal, you should not be alone with this fucker! There''s no knowing what he might do! What if he tries to kill you this time? I think I shoulde with you" Julianna urged, what kind of image does she have of me?

    "I can''t trouble you thiste at night. I will be fine. The academy is also always watching through the cameras if he were to try something, I am sure the academy would help out."

    What kind of response was that?

    "Do you think I will kill you?" I asked.

    This is absurd.

    "You knocked me unconscious"

    "You should shut the fuck up"

    Lucy and Julianna both shot their replies quite fast.

    My character is being questioned here and I don''t like it but I can understand their frustration, beforeing back to the dormitory we had hit the arcade and they both lost to me miserably.

    But I just decided to shut up and wait for Lucy to deal with Julianna.

    I was still hungry, I had eaten the grilled cheese sandwich with an expresso but that wasn''t really enough, I wanted to eat a burger but my stock was over and I needed to wait till morning and refill my burger stock from the shop.

    I was going to put them all in my dimensional storage ring since they will remain preserved at their original temperature. Another one of the good things about the dimensional storage.

    Julianna reluctantly entered her room, still looking at Lucy with concern, and then, ring at me, her face was hidden as always behind that mask and her hoody, but I could tell when someone res at me.

    "If you did anything t�C"

    "Shut up, can we just ignore her and go inside the room?" I turned towards Lucy as I opened the door and urged her to enter it which Lucy slowly did then I entered the room and before I closed the door I spoke up "Fuck you"

    Before she could reply I shut the door close and her voice cut off.

    Lucy was standing still, her fingers tapping on the holographic blue-colored screen. It was a tablet, in this world, the tablet was the size of a small 12 cm scale, which you could carry around with you. It''s the holographic screen, something that didn''t require a physical form.

    I swear, I am taking all the tech that doesn''t involve magic and shit back to my world and earning myself a fortune, hell lot of fortune.

    Removing my shoes, I started walking towards the living room as I spoke up.

    "You can do whatever you are doing while following me, right?"

    Lucy didn''t reply but quietly followed me.

    I sat down on the sofa and she took the seat on the other side of the table.

    Soon after, done with whatever she was doing, she closed her tablet and put it inside her pocket.

    "We can talk now," Lucy said.

    I nodded.

    In just a minute or so, she hacked into the system and made sure our conversation wouldn''t be heard or recorded.

    Yup, her skills are important to me.

    "So�C"

    "Does in your world, people don''t offer the guest any drinks?" Before I could speak Lucy cut me off.

    "You just had a mocha, you indulged in it enough to get a �C" She cut me off again.

    "Don''t you dare say it"

    I slowly nodded.

    I am okay with people ring at me and all that but did I just feel a killing intent?

    She just seriously let out a killing intent towards me over this?

    The hell is wrong with her?

    "So, now you believe that I am from a different world? What''s with the change of mood? Also you can just go in the kitchen and take whatever you want from there."

    At least it means she was listening to me back then but what changed to her to finally stop going in a frenzy and a talk with me now?

    I thought once she woke up she would go bonkers on me again but she seemed quite calm.

    "I still don''t, what I know is that you are definitely not <i>Noah. </i>It''s just... you seemed to be wary of me"

    "...What?"

    "You are wary of me, it wasn''t like that when we met but then suddenly you jumped back and became wary of me before you knocked me unconscious, and ...you have been wary of me this whole time"

    Was I that obvious? No way.

    "How could you tell" I asked.

    I am not some amateur who would get caught this easy.

    "It was the same." Her voice came out in a whisper and honestly, I didn''t know what she meant but then she looked at my eyes and spoke up.

    "The way you reacted. It was the same when I met <i>Noah</i> the first time"

 Chapter 65: Glitch In The System

    <h4>Chapter 65: Glitch In The System</h4>

    "..."

    There was silence in the room.

    An awkward silence.

    Because none of us knew what we were supposed to say.

    Except

    "You said your name is Noah and you are the same age as him... did you have any�C" I knew what she wanted to ask so I answered before she could finish her question.

    "I have a big sister. Well, I also have a little sis but we are siblings, like blood-rted on the other hand the person I call big sis isn''t ...she and I aren''t blood-rted. I just call her that"

    "..."

    She didn''t say anything.

    A silence settled between us.

    We didn''t know what to say except

    Lucy slowly stretched her hand towards me.

    ...knowing what to do.

    I closed my eyes as I thought about what I should do.

    The system was in control of the midgets and the midgets (observers) could always look into the information collected through the system.

    But you see, Lucy is just one of the many people who have a system and while the system is recording the information of what she is doing, the midgets have no interest in looking at every person.

    ...and the problem is, Lucy wasn''t some random person, she is the person whose intelligence stat is highest in this world after <i>Noah.</i>

    In other words, the midgets must have taken notice of her presence, while they cannot interfere with her unless she enters the dungeon tower or hidden dungeon, nothing changes that she must be under monitoring.

    I was okay with my information being revealed, no I was revealing it intentionally and that was okay.

    But what''s about to happen, I don''t want anyone to know about it, absolutely no one.

    "System-san can you... can you block Lucy''s system for just a second?"

    At my words, Lucy''s left eyebrow arched, confusion apparent on her face but I simply looked at my system screen waiting for the reply.

    And the reply came.

    <i>[I can only do it for 0.2 seconds at best.]</i>

    No way in hell 0.2 seconds will be enough or maybe they will?

    I can''t risk it.

    Wait, if <i>Noah </i>and Lucy already once tried what we are about to doesn''t that mean that�C

    "I don''t know what you spoke of just now but I think I need to tell you ....my system''s been unresponsive for quite some time now." Cutting me off Lucy just spoke something unbelievable.

    Oh...

    "Uh... Details?"

    You can''t just drop something like that on me, like, outta nowhere, I need details.

    Heaving out a sigh, Lucy stood up and slowly started to walk towards the kitchen, I heard the refrigerator open up, no kid, you can''t just keep me in suspense.

    Speak the fuck up.

    What the hell did you mean just now?

    She came out with a ss of juice and took a seat back but before she could speak I spoke up

    "I had a juice in my fridge?"

    Why do I not know?

    And why do I have a juice in the fridge? I don''t even like the juice.

    "All the students are given the necessary groceries for the first month by the academy. The fridge came full with the groceries. Did you not check your fridge until now?" She questioned me while sipping on the juice.

    "I am the novel reader, I know all that already but like you said and the novel also, necessary groceries, when the hell did juice be a necessary grocery?"

    As far as I was concerned necessary grocery did not include juice, what kind of high-ss standard is that?

    "Oh god..." Lucy rubbed her temples, shook her head and continued "Just, just forget it okay? Let''s just say the academy was generous enough to provide its students with the groceries, not the necessary groceries, just the groceries"

    Okay...

    "But how could you drink the juice without any hesitation?" I couldn''t help but ask.

    To that Lucy raised her eyebrow and sipped on her juice once more, urging me to continue and I did

    "So, like, these juices are being put inside the fridge by the staff, people, right? They might just put in the stuff that''s expired. You know, thepanies need some way to deal with the expired products, too. At the end of the day, it''s not like the academy could look over each product put in the fridge"

    "They have the dates on the packages" Lucy retired

    "You can erase the dates if you rub the package enough times or something along those lines"

    "They have scanning code on them, that always gets scanned so that no product could pass by in case it is not useable or damaged" Lucy retorted once again.

    "Will they really remove a few products among these many?"

    "The machines would�C" Lucy didn''t finish up her sentence and instead walked into the kitchen once more with the ss of juice in her hand.

    I heard the sound of the fridge opening and soon after the sound of the ssh.

    <i>Ssh!</i>

    Down the drain, the juice goes.

    The sound of the fridge''s door closing came and Lucy walked back and sat down with no ss of juice in her hands anymore.

    "We have more important things we need to talk about than some juice."

    Okay...

    "Alright, details then?"

    I urged her to continue where we had left.

    "The first thing you need to know is..." She seemed to be hesitating but as if resolving herself she continued "<i>Noah </i>and I, we were both�C"

    Since she seemed to be hesitating and having trouble speaking, so I decided to speak for her.

    I could more or less tell what she was trying to say

    "You were both part of the experiment that was trying to deal with the brain tempering and shit, I know"

    Lucy seemed a little shocked by my words but slowly nodded her head and questioned

    "Was this told in the novel?"

    "No, you were mentioned in the novel and that''s why I know you can control and hack into the academy or any system there is, you are smart but that''s all I know about you, and your strength and stuff but the novel really never talked much about you and as for <i>Noah </i>the novel never mentioned him, he is what I had to call an extra"

    "<i>Noah </i>an extra, that novel''s shit" Lucy scoffed.

    While I agree the novel is shit and all but girl... the novel is basically your world, you know?

    "So, how did you figure?" Lucy shook her head and looked at me.

    "When I woke up in this body, that is <i>Noah''s </i>body, I searched the ce and well found the diary and read it. That''s all"

    Lucy scrunched her face as if she couldn''t believe what I just said

    "That''s bullshit. <i>Noah </i>would never make a written record of the things that happened and even if he did, they wouldn''t be proper sentences and exnations."

    "I never said he did. The diary had encrypted words written in it, it was a pain but I figured them out only to see words that weren''t making any sense on their own but I figured things out slowly. I had contacted the person who is the best guy in the novel when it came to information brokers, he could hack into almost anything. He couldn''t find <i>Noah''s </i>origins or any information of his past"

    "The best?"

    Oh, that''s what you have a problem with?

    "Look, he can hack into the academy''s system for a while without getting caught. Sure, he might not be as good as you, who can turn the academy''s system into your ything without anyone ever noticing anything, but he''s still skilled��the second-best option I had at the time."

    "Right," She scoffed at me, "So then?"

    I continued with my story

    "<i>Noah''s </i>origin is unknown, the diary had your name and simr characteristics, who is a character in the novel who I know about but there''s nothing written about Noah in there, the system screen shows a high intelligence stat that shouldn''t be possible, and since I was looking into brain tempering at that time, I figured what might have happened. I mean, this guy was about to kick the bucket, his brain was deteriorating with every passing second. So, I figured out, or more like I made assumptions about what might have happened"

    "And what are those assumptions?" She inquired in a low voice.

    "<i>Noah </i>was most likely a child abandoned at birth. It''s only been 300 years since the world changed, and even less time since those early experiments began. Thew banning brain-altering experiments is rtively new, so, of course, there had to be someone who tried something shady. The easiest targets? Kids abandoned at birth or from the slums��children no one would miss.

    <i>Noah </i>was part of an experiment to boost intelligence, with means that should have never been used. The result? A sess they didn''t anticipate. But when they created something smarter than themselves, they couldn''t control it. <i>Noah </i>wiped out everything rted to the experiment, leaving no trace��except for you. He didn''t touch you.

    Still, he couldn''t avoid the side effects. His brain was deteriorating, his body failing. That''s why he came to the academy��probably to see you onest time. But, ording to the novel, there''s no information on him. So, most likely, he died before he got the chance. Or maybe... he saw you from afar and chose to die quietly, somewhere no one would find him."

    "Pfft! Hahaha! Sorry��haha��I can''t help it! You''re making him sound so pitiful, I just can''t��ahaha!"

    Lucy burst intoughter and I couldn''t help but get a bad feeling, from my experience, I was going to hear something not so normal. I waited for her to stopughing. Soon after, she sat back straight, and with a chuckle, she began to speak

    "You are wrong, you are dead wrong. <i>Noah </i>wasn''t a pitiful test subject. <i>He was the one who began the entire experiment.</i> He was born with an intelligence far beyond anyone else''s."

    Holy mother of god, are you hearing this?

    I knew I was gonna hear something crazy but��

    Wait, then why the hell was he dying? I am sure this body was close to death''s door, it wasn''t because of just the medical reports I read about this body. I could feel it, you know?

    "And <i>Noah </i>isn''t some pathetic guy who would wait for his death. <i>Noah </i>was the one who damaged his brain to prevent himself from surpassing a certain level of intelligence. Do you think someone who harmed himself did it without any ns? Do you think he didn''t n any cure for himself? Do you want to know why he enrolled in the academy? You want to know why I was the only one left alive?<i> I was the sessful product of the experiment that he conducted.</i> He spared me because he said he had use for me in the future."

    Her voice was bing cracked, and though there was a smile on her face, it was a smile that looked ....pained. Her eyes filled with sadness seemed to be screaming.

    "And you know what''s funny? I told him I''d wait. I said I would wait for him. Even after he put me through those countless, painful experiments, even though he''s the reason all my friends are dead. I still said I''d wait for him��wait so he could use me all over again."

    Her trembling voice was barely above a whisper, each word carrying pain.

    "...Even after all that, I...

    I love him. After all, he is my ...only family."

    ...

    Now I understood why she was so rattled when she met me the first time. To Lucy, it was important to know about <i>Noah.</i> She needed to know if Noah was dead or alive.

    While his death would make her sad, it would also make her free from him but if he is alive then she will keep waiting on until hees to find her, and she will follow him to hell if that is what he wanted.

    "Hey, you said he didn''t appear in the novel, right? Then what happened to me? You said the world met its end? How did I die?" Her voice sounded a little desperate.

    I didn''t want to answer her.

    But...

    "You disappeared once the graduation ceremony ended. You were never mentioned again"

    I told her what I knew.

    And I also knew what it implied.

    "Hahaha! See!? I bet he came for me!" Herughter was unsettling, like a maniac''s. She leaned over the table, her voice dropping to a chilling whisper, tears falling from her eyes. "You want to know a way to survive when your world is about to end?" Her tone was eerily calm, and so... broken.

    "You can just go to another one. You said you aren''t from this world, right?"

    I couldn''t say anything, but my silence answered her question.

    And she fell back on her seat, so lifelessly.

    Her face was downcast, as she bit her lips hard enough for a little blood toe out.

    My existence worked as proof that there is a way for someone to hop on to another world whether taking their entire body there or ...a transmigration.

    And ...it also opened the possibility that <i>Noah </i>took Lucy with him which meant, he didn''t abandon her, he protected her the best way he thought of.

    <i>And that was exactly what made it painful for Lucy.</i>

    Because even though <i>Noah </i>was the source of her suffering, he was also the one protecting her. The very person responsible for her pain was the same one watching over her.

    This shit is soplicated.

    <i>Noah </i>was much more fucked than I had imagined.

    I stayed silent, I had no idea what words I should offer her.

    So I let her be.

    She clumsily tried wiping her tears off using her sleeves.

    "Sorry about this, can I use the restroom"

    I silently pointed towards the direction and she stood up and left.

    Now alone, my thoughts wandered to what Lucy said.

    <i>Noah was the one who damaged his brain to prevent himself from surpassing a certain level of intelligence. Do you think someone who harmed himself did it without any ns? Do you think he didn''t n any cure for himself?</i>

    I couldn''t help but think about the first hidden dungeon that I entered.

    I met two midgets there. Lea and Eliza. Lea who had offered me a potion in the name of a <i>personal gift</i>, a potion that was beyond the level of reward that I should have gotten from clearing that hidden dungeon.

    <i>Lea and Noah knew each other from before which meant</i>

    <i>...Noah had gone into the hidden dungeon.</i>

    If that was the case that meant, Lea most probably realized I wasn''t the <i>Noah </i>she knew had met before.

    My only saving grace could be Eliza, she didn''t strike me as the type who would keep her mouth shut. In other words, it was definitely the first time Eliza and Noah(I) met.

    I could y it like I pretended not to know Lea because the third party, Eliza, had shown up but ...I doubt it had worked.

    That personal reward part must have already helped Lea understand and if that was the case it had meant my initial assumption as to why Lea offered that contract to me was wrong.

    The real reason was that she wanted to monitor me.

    Damned that midget.

    I let out a tired sigh.

    Whatever, I will deal with it when the timees.

    For now, let''s sort the groceries that I have in the kitchen.

    .

    .

    .

    .

    "What are you doing...?" Lucy posed the question, who took quite a long while toe back, must have cried rivers.

    Poor girl.

    "Eating breakfast," I replied.

    "It''s almost 5 am" Lucy hesitantly sat on the sofa, staring at the meal that was ced on the table, it was clearly hers.

    Pancake with gto and a milkshake.

    There wasn''t much about her in the novel but I at least knew that she didn''t hate sweet stuff. There were mentions of her eating sweet stuff in the restaurants and all.

    "Who said you can''t have breakfast at 4 am? Also, this isn''t made from expired stuff, I made sure to check the dates. So, it''s safe. You can eat."

    Lucy was looking at me and I kept on eating, slowly though she sat back down and fixed her gaze at the meal in front of her. Pulling the te closer and hesitantly, took the first bite.

    Slowly her pace of eating increased.

    It seems she didn''t hate it.

    That was good.

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!