[Cadet Quinn Darkstar#000016 has been eliminated by you.]
And it was done.
Quinn was killed.
The translucent blue system window that floated in front of me was proof of that.
I killed him.
“I did it?”
Of course, I was shocked.
No, I wasn’t shocked because I defeated Quinn. That was all but decided from the moment he chose to fight me.
The thing that irked me was how I killed him. Especially how I dealt the last blow…
I had to get stronger.
It took everything I had in me and some cheap tricks to pull this victory over him.
Oh, and thank god I had Quinn as my opponent and not Nero. The tricks I used on Quinn would’ve never worked on that monster of a main character.
If I want to save this damned world and, by extension, save myself, I’ll have to get stronger.
Well, that’s the reason I worked so hard in the mock war.
I’ve almost secured two pawns and gained some influence over the main cast.
And if everything goes according to my plan, in the next arc, I’ll be able to break my mana core rank potential too.
Yes, the next arc will be fun.
Anyway, my work here was done. By my calculations, Nero will kill Alberto and end this mock war anytime now.
“Haaa.”
So with a sigh, I took one last look around me.
Everywhere I looked, there were rubble, debris, and chunks of concrete scattered about.
Directly in front of me lay a black-haired boy with his throat slit and a spear protruding from his chest. His body was also sliced in two halves- upper and lower torsos.
It was evident that he had ceased breathing.
Darkness seemed to envelope the two halves of his body like black flames on the verge of being snuffed out.
Nodding one last time, I turned around and began to leave. All my tasks at hand were cleared with this.
I’ve changed the events of the Mock War– the arc that sets the flow for the rest of the story.
Needless to say, I’ve created some big – and by big, I mean VERY big – butterfly effects.
While this will benefit me by providing me with a huge load of Edit Points, it will also create problems for me.
Meh. Whatever happens, happens, I guess.
With that mindset, I left the building and headed for the base. I thought I should at least watch the end of the war.
Oh, and let me tell you, every damn bone in my body screamed in agony with every little movement I tried to make.
“…Lucas?”
However, before I could even walk halfway to my destination, an alluring, almost soothing voice called out to me from behind, making me halt my steps.
I knew that voice.
Sigh.
Why? Why god, why? Why do you hate me so much? Is it because you’re jealous of my handsome face?!
“Lucas, it’s you, isn’t it?”
That voice belonged to Amelia. I was sure of it. And judging from the volume in her voice, she was right behind me.
But when?! When did she sneak up on me? I didn’t even sense her! Well, it’s not like I know how to sense a person’s presence yet anyway.
What should I do? Should I turn around? But that will reveal my identity. I don’t want that to happen yet.
Since I stopped when she called for me, that is already enough proof that I am Lucas!𝒏𝑶𝗏𝑒𝓁𝓷𝑒xt.𝒸𝑜𝓂
Dammit! I’m stupid!
I should’ve kept walking! Never mind, now. Can’t do anything about spilled milk.
“Fuuu.”
With a deep sigh, I turned around and faced the girl who had been calling my name.
There she was, donning a slim nanometal armor, her hair tied into a high bun, and her deep clear forest-like green eyes watching me intently.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m definitely not Lucas. He’s too handsome to be me.”
…Okay, fine! I tried to feign ignorance! Needless to say, it didn’t work since, well, Amelia isn’t stupid. Not completely stupid anyway.
With an ‘are you serious right now?’ look plastered on her face, she stared at me.
Under her intense gaze, I sighed again.
“Fine, you caught me. It’s me.” I said, silently clicking my tongue.
“I knew it!” Amelia snapped her fingers. “Why is your face like this?”
In her eyes, I probably had red hair and silver eyes. I also may have been an inch or two taller than my real height.
Well, as you all might already know, I was using a relic to mask my appearance.
While using that relic, I simply imagined this appearance and an optical illusion spell was automatically cast on me.
There was no reason for me to hide this fact from Amelia, so I answered her question truthfully.
“I’m using illusion to change my appearance.”
“You know illusion magic?” a tint of surprise was clearly visible in her voice.
People with both dark and light affinity can use illusion magic.
However, only someone with a [Caster] profession, who has dedicated all their life to casting spells, can use illusion spells efficiently.
So Amelia’s surprise was understandable when she thought I, Lucas Morningstar– the boy who never put any effort into learning and training, possessed a second profession.
Although, unbeknownst to her, I did possess two professions– [Archery] and [Spearmanship].
Although both of them were combat related, I still had two. Not many people could say that for them this early in the story.
“No, Amelia,” to clear up her misunderstanding, I spoke. “I can’t cast any illusion spell. I used a relic to alter my appearance.”
“Right, I forgot you are rich.” she nodded her head and seemed to have come to an even bigger misunderstanding.
“Rich? Nah, not anymore,” I said, regret visible on my face. “But I do have some connections, so I got a good deal on this relic.”
“I see,” Amelia narrowed her eyes, seemingly skeptical about my answer.
What’s her problem? I thought. But before I could put my thought into words, she questioned:
“Anyway, why the disguise though?”
I knew she would ask this. “Before I answer that, tell me this, why did you come here?”
At my question, Amelia took a deep breath and hesitated to speak for a moment. After she contemplated something in her mind, the archeress finally spoke up.
“It’s about Quinn. I think he came back for you.”
“Oh, is that so?” I arched my eyebrows. “Why do you think so?”
It didn’t take him long to answer this question as she quickly responded, “Well, I heard from Kent and some others that he made a scene with you. I heard he grabbed your neck or something.”
“Right,” I nodded, satisfied with the answer. “That did happen. So why do you think he did that?”
“I- Um… I’m not sure, but I think h-he is working with Alberto just like Grace.”
As she said that, the hesitation in Amelia’s voice became more apparent. Of course, it was only natural.
She doubted someone’s loyalty with virtually no proof. And it was clear that she had no confidence in her deduction.
“And why do you think he came back for me?”
“I think you came to the same conclusion as me. After that, you confronted Quinn about it. Quinn, feeling threatened, tried to kill you right then and there. But then he noticed the crowd around you both who would’ve witnessed him had he killed you there. So he waited for the right time and right before the war started, he came back to kill you.”
Woah.
Color me impressed. Every single thing she said was exactly what happened more or less.
She wasn’t this sharp in the novel this early, was she? No, I think she was. She was just never confident enough in herself.
“Yes,” I nodded again. “You are right. Quinn was another traitor and I did confront him. So, what do you think happened when he came back?”
“I think…” Amelia touched her chin and replied. “As soon as you saw Quinn’s live location moving toward you on the map, you changed your appearance and ran out of the base. Then you decided to hide here so he couldn’t find you!”
…What?
Scratch everything I said before. She is dumb, just like she was in the novel.
I mean, does she think I’m some kind of a coward? I mean, I am… but still, the truth hurts. And especially when the truth is not true at all!
“Ahem,” I let out a dry cough. “No.”
“What do you mean by no?”
“I mean, no! I’m not on the run, you idiot!”
“What? Then what is going on? Why are you in disguise?”
“Haa,” letting out a sigh, I started explaining. “When Quinn came after me, I killed him. I am in disguise because I don’t want the Cadet Council or anyone aside from Quinn himself to find out who I am.”
Amelia’s eyes widened at the revelation. She asked me to go into more detail about what I meant, so that’s what I did.
I told her how I killed Quinn in detail and by the time I was done, Amelia’s eyes widened in shock. Her jaw was practically touching the ground and beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.
“What the fuck…” she muttered. However, in the next moment, she frowned as if she thought of something. “Wait, I still don’t understand the disguise part. I mean, sure, the cadets won’t be able to recognize you, but the Cadet Council, who are currently monitoring us, would surely know your true identity. I mean, they have access to the academy’s AI – Athena.”
A smirk formed on my face as I heard her. “You really think I hadn’t thought of that? I have, Amelia.”
The smirk on my face grew wider, practically turning into a grin.
At that moment, my gaze turned to the smart bracelet in my right hand.
===
Item: Specialized Smart Bracelet
Abilities: It has the capability to breach the Global Academy’s AI, Athena’s mainframe and control it for a duration of 20 minutes, with a cooldown period of 3 months.
Rank: Diamond
===
Yes, before coming here, I used the Edit Pen on my Smart Bracelet and added a special feature to it.
Ahh~
Genius. I’m a genius!
For a duration of twenty minutes, I have the ability to control the academy’s AI.
Since this Virtual Reality and the Cadet Council’s spectating system are linked to Athena, I have the power to manipulate all audio and visual content they receive within that time frame.
At present, only two minutes remain until the twenty-minute time limit expires.
“What do you mean by that?”
Amelia’s voice shook me out of my thoughts. I couldn’t help but brush my fingers through the hair.
“Don’t worry. The Cadet Council is only seeing what I want them to see right now. And right about now, this war will end.” I said while pointing in the distance where our class was fighting class 1-C-8.
According to my calculations, Nero would deal the final blow to Alberto right about now–
KABOOOOM—!!!