The translucent flash of blue light erupted at the very center of my vision. It message was clear, a warning of sort.
[ EVENT AVAILABLE: ASSASSIN'S ATTACK ]
The words, clear and stark, drifted in my mind. Assassin's attack. Here. Now. Blood drained from my face so fast I felt lightheaded. My carefully constructed mask of calm, the one I'd painstakingly maintained through the armory incident and the diary's revelations, broke into a thousand pieces.
Evelina, still seated on the bed, her smile slowly fading, noticed the immediate, drastic change in my expression. Her head tilting in concern. "Kai? What is it? You look… worried. And a little scared." Her voice, usually so sweet, was now laced with a genuine, almost palpable concern. Her hand, which had just rested on my arm, instinctively reached out again, as if to offer comfort, or maybe to check if I was alright.
I couldn't let her know. Even if I wanted to, I simply couldn't explain it. The system, the assassin, the entire impossible reality of my situation – it was too much. She wouldn't believe. Even if she would, I just couldn't drag her into this. I couldn't trouble her. I definitely couldn't let her realize I was seeing a holographic warning about an assassin.
"Nothing," I managed to say out, my voice coming out thin and strained, betraying the lie. I quickly pushed myself off the bed, trying to appear nonchalant, as if a sudden thought had just struck me. I moved towards the window, my back partially to her, feigning interest in the view outside. "Just… a sudden chill. This old manor can be quite drafty, even with all the tapestries." I hoped the excuse was flimsy enough to be believable, but not so flimsy as to raise more questions. My hands, I noticed, were trembling slightly. I shoved them into my pockets.
As I reached the window, my back mostly to Evelina, I subtly waved my hand through the air, a gesture required to visualise the system . The blue screen, now expanded, filling my vision with its squared, digital interface.
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NARRATIVE OVERRIDE ENGINE
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WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED USER DETECTED
Host: Kai Lorne
Identity: [Extra / Background Character]
Current Fate: [Assassin's attack: Chapter 5]
The Current Fate. Chapter 5. This was it. In the original novel where Kai Lorne, the extra, wasn't supposed to be killed by an assassin. But by Theodric in the arena. The earlier 'death' had been a deviated, but this… this assassin's attack was the original actual scripted death for Olberic, the adopted son whose life I was now living.
It all made sense, using role inversion, I had just fully swapped my fate with his, any death that was meant for him now faces me. seemed the universe was stubbornly determined to see me dead. I had cheated fate once, only to find myself staring down the barrel of another, equally lethal, predetermined end.
STATUS: UNSTABLE INTEGRATION
[OVERRIDE POINTS]: 10
[GLITCH COEFFICIENT]: 7%
[REALITY DIVERGENCE]: 4.6%
CURRENT CHAPTER: 5
CURRENT EVENT: "Assassin's attack"
UPCOMING EVENT: "Death"
PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL: 2%
My eyes darted across the numbers. The Glitch Coefficient had jumped from 5% to a terrifying 7%. Intialy I didn't know What dthat even mean, whether reality itself was starting to fray around me. And to top it up my probability of survival was at a horrifying 2%. Two percent. That was practically zero. I was surely going to die this time, just a matter of minutes.
My gaze saw the Override Points. They had increased! From the 8 I'd had when I used the role Inversion, to 10. I remembered from the novel that Eren Valtor, the original protagonist, gained Override Points by defying canon events, by pushing the story off its predetermined path. It was a risk-reward mechanic. The more I diverged from the script, the more power I gained to diverge further. My survival in the arena, my very presence here as the adopted son, had earned me these points. But what good were points if I was about to be a bloody stain on the manor's expensive carpet?
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STATS
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Strength.... 7
Agility..... 12
Intelligence... 18
Charisma.... 9
Luck..... -5
Narrative Influence... [Locked]
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ACTIVE OVERRIDES
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[Scene Override]
→ Modify a small environmental or character variable.
→ Cost: 3 Override Points
[Role Inversion]
→ Swap scripted fate with another character.
→ Cost: 10 Override Points
→ Status: [Cooldown: 48h]
[Edit Dialogue]
→ Rewrite spoken lines during key scenes.
→ Cost: 5 Override Points
→ Risk of Narrative Collapse: +7%
My eyes saw the unchanged stat, then a new message popped up.
[ NEW OVERRIDE AVAILABLE: PAUSE & OBSERVE ]
[Pause & Observe]:
→ Freeze the world briefly to scan a scene like a reader
→ Cost: 1 Override Points
→ status [ Max time: 30 seconds ( INT : 18 ) ]
Pause and Observe, the ability to freeze the world, and it only cost a merely one override point and no cooldown. With the point I had, I could spawn eight of them consecutively.
My mind, despite the adrenaline, latched onto the implications. This is huge. A new way to gain information, to assess a situation without immediate danger, to survive. And it only cost 1 Override Point. The 'Max time: 30 seconds (INT: 18)', so my low intelligence stat is a factor in this. It was exactly what I needed. A chance to, to think, to plan.
"Kai?" Evelina's voice, it quickly brought me back to the present. She was standing right behind me, her hand gently on my shoulder. "Are you truly alright? You're trembling. Perhaps you should lie down."
My body was indeed shaking, a tremor that I just couldn't control. "Just… a sudden shiver," I repeated, trying to sound convincing, forcing a fake smile. "I think I'll… stretch my legs. Perhaps get some fresh air. I feel a little cooped up." I needed to move. I needed to find this assassin. I couldn't just sit here and wait for them to find me. My probability of survival was 2%. I had to act. I had to fight.
"Oh, alright," she said, her voice still thick with concern. Her hand lingered on my shoulder for a moment longer than necessary, a subtle, caring pressure, before she withdrew it. "Do be careful."
I nodded, forcing a small, tight smile, and headed for the door. I had to be quick, quiet. An assassin wouldn't announce themselves. They would be stealthy and deadly.
I stepped out of the room, closing the door softly behind me, the click loud in the silence of the hallway. The corridor was dimly lit, casting long shadows that seemed to twist with my anxiety. I heightened my ears, listening carefully. The manor was truly vast, and the silence could be deceptive, hiding a multitude of threats. Every subtle sound, it sent a jolt down my spine.
THUMP!
Then I heard it. A soft thump, like a foot landing on a thick, plush carpet, followed by the barest whisper of fabric against fabric. It was coming from deeper within the corridor, towards the main staircase. Stealthy. Too stealthy for a servant. Too quiet for anyone else in the household. This was it.
My heart pounded. But I wasn't pushed away, a grim determination settled over me. I wasn't going to die here. Not now. Not ever. I moved silently, my bare feet making no sound on the thick rugs. I followed the faint sounds, my senses heightened, my mind racing through every action movie and spy thriller I'd ever watched from my past life, I was desperate for a tactic, a strategy.
The sounds led me down a long, winding corridor, away from the family's main living areas, towards a more secluded wing. The air grew colder.
A figure, cloaked entirely in dark, form-fitting fabric, moved silently down the hallway ahead. He was a shadow within shadows, his movements were fluid and almost inhumanly silent. He carried something in their hand, something that glinted faintly in the dim light. It was his dagger. The blade looked wickedly sharp, designed for a single, precise strike. An assassin indeed.
My mind quickly drift, trying to access the situation: The assassin is here. In the manor. And they were heading… but where? Towards the family's rooms? Or perhaps, towards my room? where I had just been sitting, reading a literal dead man's diary.
The cloaked figure paused, their head tilting slightly, as if listening, sensing. They were close. Too close.
Then, a low voice, barely a whisper, yet chillingly clear, broke the silence.
"Target found."