Chapter 6: At the Cost of my Life - II
[At the cost of my life]
An undying resolve to eradicate monsters burns in your soul. After laughing in the face of death, you have forcibly shattered your limits. Growth in all stats is dramatically increased until Rank 5. Afterwards, growth in all stats are double the average growth rate.
===
Almost immediately, I felt a change.
There was a strange 'itch' in my body as mana quickly assimilated even without my conscious effort.
At the same time, my body started feeling light again. With a quick test, the pain was definitely decreasing when I moved my body too.
And to confirm that, my stats popped up.
===
Name: Alex Smith
Age: 18
Strength: 5.2
Agility: 5.2
Vitality: 5.2
Endurance: 5.2
Mana: .1
Stamina: 6
Mana Pool: 6
===
Just by sitting and breathing, my stats were steadily increasing.
Staring at my stats… it seemed to be about an addition of .1 in my stats every three seconds while +1 in Stamina and Mana Pool every five seconds.
…Unfortunately, it wasn't a super hax cheat that would bring me up to Roland's growth rate.
That guy would hit rank 6 by the end of the first semester in a few months.
And while my growth rate right now seemed high, I was also well aware that the 'stats' I was seeing weren't linear, but logarithmic.
Or in other words, every 10 points were a magnitude of difference in both power and effort required.
But forget about all that for now.
"Let's see…"
My RPG system had become an idle-game simulator for a moment, so I didn't need to worry about that. And since I wouldn't be bothered for another hour, that gave me time to think.
A quick reflection of this first class told me the following things.
1. Rob was a dick who liked cheap thrills and nonsensical twists.
It made no sense for Professor Bottler to leave right now, nor for the gate to be different. ESPECIALLY that drastically more powerful boss at the end.
He was breaking the rules and careful setting details I put for no reason other than drama.
Again, a dick.
Still.
2. Rob wanted to follow the original story beats.
That made sense. Considering he was that bastard who wanted me to revise my story, he wouldn't want to completely flip over the script.
Of course, he would no doubt let me do it since I was the author. But for his own changes, they seemed to be in line (somewhat) with the original intent.
In the first class, Roland and crew explored a real gate and fought a real boss monster.
In my first class, Roland and crew (plus me) explored a real gate and fought a real (dramatically more powerful) boss monster.
It was like those cheap fanfictions where the 'author' stuck to the script of the original but made just enough tweaks to say it was different.
That was good though. Assuming Rob was really a fan of mine and not just some rando, he wouldn't disgrace the original intent by his own hands.
But there was a problem with that.
3. This was a real world.
Roland, Evelyn, Sophia… the people I'd interacted with were real people with proper personalities, motivations, and actions.
Not only that, but it was a growing and evolving world.
Rob might not make many changes, but I had a feeling that if something made logical sense from the current 'setting' that had been changed, he would add a bit of zest and change things to intensify the situation.
Like, there was a high chance Evelyn in her corruption arc would turn into a Demon God Apostle with rank 9 power instead of my planned rank 7 strength as a High Demon.
Which led me to my next point.
4. The original plot was dead in the water.
I couldn't expect events to unfold exactly as they did. I mean, I got hit with that firsthand in the Gate Exploration class.
However, I could expect key plot points to remain the same.
Like Rob said, he wanted to follow the story beats.
In that case, at a high level, the first big event would be Evelyn or someone getting corrupted at the end of the semester. The second would have something to do with the Empire and its fall. And the finale would be the Demon God's descent.
Those were my guiding stars.
The corruption of Evelyn was something that the Crown Prince had been planning for years now since he got tangled with the Void Arbiters. He wouldn't change it just for a few minor obstacles.
The Empire's fall was a natural consequence of the Crown Prince's actions and the Void Arbiters having its webs all across the Empire. Not only that, but it was in the best interest of the Void Arbiters to have the Empire fall and gather both resentment and souls to offer to the Demon God.
That was an intractable event. And if not the Empire, at least one other major kingdom or city would fall.
As for the last part… well, the Demon God descending on the world was the finale. Although there might be more or less casualties, more or less terrifying monsters, or a different location, he would show up for sure.
I just had to make sure we cleared the events cleanly. And that my own actions and ripples didn't throw a spanner in the works.
And speaking of spanners…
"What do I do about Evelyn?"
She was a problem.
Evelyn vi Eternia was a lonely but talented girl who dedicated her life to her Empire. Even though she wanted to do other things, and though she considered discarding everything, she persisted for 'the greater good.' Her life wasn't hers to give away. And she even had a minor fear of death, thinking it'd be a nuisance to everyone around her.
Which was true, since her death was the catalyst of the Empire splitting and collapsing.
So, to see a crazy guy like me willing to throw my life away to kill just one monster would be a shock to her system.
Hm…
…I didn't write her as a yandere, so this shouldn't be a problem. But she'd probably be obsessing over me a bit and try to understand why I was doing something that was unthinkable to her.
Which would no doubt lead to events where her affection rate increased, she started to get interested in me, likely start falling in love…
And I'd gain the interest of the Imperial spies on both ends wondering who the hell this nobody was.
In short, a big mess.
Even if Evelyn was insanely beautiful and like an SSS-tier wife… which was the point, since it drew the readers in.
Anyway, even if she was a great person, I had to harden my heart and do as the plot demanded.
…Wait.
Did I?
The reason why Evelyn got corrupted was because the Void Arbiters wanted to test human to demon conversions. She was the easiest to do so because of her natural physique, and the Crown Prince helped corner her because of his jealousy.
But the purpose of the corruption in terms of the plot was to introduce the Void Arbiters, expose the Empire's corruption, and then motivate Roland to become stronger.
Evelyn's death wasn't *necessary*. It was just more convenient.
The Crown Prince was smart enough to have contingency plans in place. No doubt he didn't completely trust the Void Arbiters as well. And in fact, he would probably use her survival as an excuse to purge some of his political opponents.
Then…
A faint knock. Right after that, a mechanical female voice echoed. "Patient. Miss Evelyn vi Eternia is at your door. Would you like to allow her in?"
Speak of the devil… demon… future demon?
"Let her in."
"Understood."
After that, a faint 'click' echoed as the door unlocked.
And then Evelyn walked back inside.
She saw that I was awake and then let out a relieved smile. After that, she said, "Are you well?"
I shrugged, wincing a bit with the pain. But then I said, "I've had worse."
Evelyn's smile immediately faded.
I resisted the urge to sigh and started wracking my head on how to deal with her.
…It really was difficult to be composed and plot in front of a beautiful woman clearly concerned for your health.
Evelyn closed the door behind her and then walked in. Grabbing a nearby chair, she moved it next to my bed and said, "Thank you for saving us, Alexander. But it was unnecessary."
"You're welcome."
Keep the words short and keep a neutral expression.
She was beautiful, but I'd seen beautiful women before. After a few more exposures, I should be able to remain calm.
In fact, this was good practice for that.
Evelyn frowned. She looked like she wanted to say something, but then shook her head. After that, she said, "How is your body? Headmistress Lux said you would be in dire shape…"
"It's fine. I awakened to a new talent, so I should be healed in a few days."
Evelyn blinked. "...A new talent?"
"Yes." I chuckled and said, "Yet again, strength is found at the depths of despair. Although I suffer from pain now, the reward when I'm healed should be well worth it."
Evelyn's expression distorted.
…What what wrong with what I said?! You went through just as much pain when training, didn't you, Evelyn?!
"I… see."
Silence.
I stared at her, and she stared at me.
…It seemed like we both didn't really understand each other.
I mean, I thought she'd be more upset. But she was pretty calm… although she was giving me weird looks.
…Then again, she was probably thinking the exact same thing about me. Well, not the more upset part, but definitely the calm part.
After a bit, Evelyn said, "I can take notes for you."
"Sorry?"
Evelyn nodded and said, "You are in recovery and will not be able to attend class. I will take notes for you and visit you after class every day to review them."
"No."
"And then after that- P-Pardon?"
I shook my head and said, "You are the imperial princess. I am a commoner. Even if we are technical equals in the academy, it is factually untrue." I turned my body to the side, ignoring the immediate cascade of pain. After that, I said, "Forget about me and focus on your own life, Princess."
There.
A clear line and a reminder.
The princess has a duty to her people first. And her life isn't her own. Taking actions like this is selfish and a waste.
Not only that, but I didn't want her help.
From what I knew about her, this should be enough to remove her interest.
"...Understood."
And like I thought, Evelyn spoke that word and left.
Now, to rest up and-
> Evelyn vi Eternia has complicated emotions towards you. She believes life is unfair. If she were in your shoes, and you in hers…
> Evelyn vi Eternia subconsciously places you as an 'important person' within her heart and will now unconsciously make efforts to help you. +1000 SP. Total SP: 31660
EVELYN! PRINCESS!
STOP ACTING OUT OF CHARACTER!
AAAAAHHHHHHHHH.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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