[Ariel’s POV]
‘I’d been noticing this for a while now, I’d been noticing…him. He, he’d changed. He used to look so goofy and cute but now Malcolm, had something cold and sinister about him.He seemed scary and weirdly smarter, at first I thought it was just my imagination and that he’d be back to normal soon enough. But then when I saw him speak to the teacher that day, I knew within me that something had changed about him.I can’t believe he caught me staring at him the other day, Ugh I feel like such an idiot. He didn’t even smile or anything, he just…stared back, coldly.I shouldn’t be thinking about this.’ These were the thoughts that passed through my head when I was alone in class. I arrived particularly early and was bored out of my head.I scanned the class and saw some familiar yet unfamiliar characters, people whose faces I’d seen but didn’t speak to at all and I felt lonely.My friends hadn’t arrived and I thought of what I could do to pass time, then he walked in. I looked to the door and saw his large figure begin to approach. It was Malcolm.‘Don’t look up, don’t look up, don’t look up.’ My face turned bright red as I felt him pass beside me. He radieted a cold, frosty aura that shook me to the bone.I tried my best not to look at him and my attention was finally diverted when my friends arrived. I composed myself so as not to look odd and played along as we laughed and smiled together.It went on like this for a while until the teacher arrived, classes went on as usual for a while before the teacher decided to make an announcement.“Today class, we will be having a pop quiz,” she said. ‘Pop quiz! This is the worst, I haven’t prepared at all for this, uhh why’ I thought.My grades weren’t exactly at the best of places currently and even though I did my best, classes were…hard. I’d already caused enough trouble for my parents when I enrolled into this cram school.Most of my classmates got better grades than me even without having to attend and this brought a sort of shame to my family and so I studied hard, hopefully my studying manages to pan out for me, I couldn’t afford to fail this test.“Everyone put your books and bags away. Malcolm, would you like to help me pass the question sheets around the class?”, said the teacher and everyone in the class looked at the lone figure positioned at the very end of the class.Everyone except me, I didn’t want to get another one of those stares from him.“No, thank you,” he said and there was a large uproar of murmuring around the classroom.I noticed the teacher frowning and began to think, ‘oh no!, what if she punished him?, what should I do?’ And summoning all the courage within me, I spoke.“I’ll do it, ma’am, if that’s no problem,” I said without thinking and immediately regretted it.The teacher directed her gaze to me and said “Fine then, have it your way. Take the sheets from my desk and pass them around the class.”“Yes ma’am” I said leavening my seat and hurriedly doing as I was told.I passed the sheets without issue till I had one last sheet to give out and sure enough, it was to Malcolm.‘No, you can do this’ I thought and I walked up to him and as I was about to drop the sheet my body seemed to freeze.‘Oh no, move! Please!’ My thoughts were in chaos and once again I was jolted back to life when he spoke.“Uhm, can I have my sheet?” He said locking his eyes with mine.“Oh I’m sorry” I said as I gave him his sheet and hurried back to my seat. I felt my face turn bright red and I was so embarrasse, but I wouldn’t let that make me lose my composure.Right now I only had one thing in mind and that was passing this test.I took my seat and soon after the test commenced. It wasn’t that hard for me thankfully and I answered most of the questions without worry.However only a couple minutes to the exam I heard footsteps from someone behind me and looking back I was shocked to see that it was Malcolm, clutching his bag in one hand and holding his sheet in the other.He walked up to the teacher submitted his sheet and left, and as I expected the whole class was as surprised as I was and everyone began murmuring loudly again.“Quiet!” The teacher yelled and the murmurs died down.I felt like I had to speak to Malcolm, I was worried about him and hoped he was alright, I didn’t know what I would say if I met him, but I was genuinely concerned about him.And right then and there a newfound courage came over me. I was almost done with my quiz and hurriedly finished my remaining questions, submitting my sheet and leaving.As I hurried out of the class and onto the corridor I looked in both directions and sure enough there he was walking in my direction.I froze, and simply stared at him and he did a good job of avoiding my gaze. He came closer and closed until he walked right past me and I felt my heart sink.‘No! I’m speaking to him’ I thought and I summoned the courage to grab his arm.He looked back at me with expectant eyes and I said “Malcolm, can I please speak to you?” I was so shy and flustered and I let go of his arm.He turned and faced me, towering over me as he was way taller than me.“Alright, I’m listening” he said with a cold deep voice.“Well, I-I was wondering if-if you could” the words refused to leave my mouth. I just wanted to know how he was and if he was okay but that didn’t seem to want to work.“Yes? I have to leave so hurry it up” he said not breaking eye contact.He gave off this manly vibe and spoke confidently and I couldn’t help but admire him. ‘Alright, I know what to do’ I thought and I summed up all the courage I had within me to speak.“I was wondering if you could tutor me in your free time.” I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth, yes I needed a tutor but definitely not him, I couldn’t think straight around him and if he tutored me that meant I’d have to see him everyday.‘I hope he declines’ I thought, my face turning bright red once again.“Alright then” he said as he opened his bag to take a book out, tore out a sheet of paper and wrote his email address on it and then passed it to me.“Just email me the details, I have to go now” he said as he turned and began walking home.I simply stood there, stunned and taken aback. It was easier than I expected but that was definitely not the response I was hoping for.He didn’t even smile or say goodbye and i didn’t know if should’ve been sad or happy.I just stood there.
Latest Chapter
A Vantage Point
“Genesis, I don’t intend to engage them in a prolonged battle. My plan is simple: I’ll transport them to a specific location in another world, use Starforge to unleash an all-out attack, and then transport myself back to my world before they can retaliate. I won’t give them a chance to regroup. It will be swift and decisive.”I stood firm in my conviction, determined to see this through, despite the risks.Genesis remained silent for a few moments, processing the information.Genesis let out a long sigh, almost as if the system itself was struggling to come to terms with my proposed plan.[Damon, with the potential for so many things to go wrong, I must give you a more honest assessment of the situation. Based on my calculations, I estimate your chances of success at only 10%. This is an extremely risky endeavor. If even one variable does not go as planned, you could be facing a formidable enemy without my support, and your odds of survival would diminish drastically.]I took a deep b
A Daring Plan
As the garments glowed, Genesis's voice rang out once again, its appraisal clear and concise.[Holy Garments of the High Pontiff (Legendary, Level 70)][Effect: +300 Intelligence, +5% Holy Damage, +15% Resistance to Dark Magic, Spell: Holy Shield, Blessing of the Pontiff]I considered the garments carefully, recognizing the potential they offered me. While I couldn't use the Grimoire, these robes could prove invaluable in my journey.It was from one high level equipment to another, but I couldn't keep this up for long.Considering the amount of damage they could potentially cause to my world, as well as the constant sneak attacks, I knew I had to get moving…quickly.However, there was still one more thing I needed to confirm."Genesis, the skills I obtain each time I'm attacked, are they permanent?” I conveyed my thoughts toward it expecting a response.[Damon, the skills you obtain through the Counter skill are indeed temporary. Cognos provided you with the ability to create these t
Foes
[Skill Created: Celestial Shield (Lv. 1)][Skill Activated: Celestial Shield (Lv. 1)]A shimmering, silver-white energy shield manifested around me, just in time to deflect the beam of light with a resounding CLANG!Though I still felt the intense heat, the shield held, protecting me from the destruction of the safe house. My whole line of sight was enveloped in smoke, and my vision was hazy.Suddenly, another panel manifested before my eyes.[Skill Created: Celestial Gust (Lv. 1)]I raised my hands, channeling the power of the wind to clear the smoke around me. With a simple gesture, I activated the new skill:[Skill Activated: Celestial Gust (Lv. 1)]A burst of air rushed through the safe house, scattering the smoke and revealing the aftermath of the destruction.The whole surrounding area was left in ashes, and right next to me was a horrible sight.Remains of Vlasdilav’s body lay there on the floor, a pile of bones nearly burnt to ashes.I felt the anger well up within me, whoeve
Incinerated
As Vladislav shared his experience with the Player Wars, I couldn't help but grin, a spark of recognition in my eyes. "I've been through it too," I admitted, nodding in solidarity."So you know what it's like then," he said, a sense of camaraderie growing between us."Yes. The Player Wars are no joke. They're brutal, but I survived. I'm still here." I said, a sense of pride and resilience in my voice."Looks like we have more in common than we thought," Vladislav replied.Curious about the skills that made him such a formidable assassin, I asked, "So, what are your skills? What's your main specialty?"Vladislav's eyes narrowed as he considered my question. "Assassination, obviously. My skill set includes Shadow Cloak, which lets me become invisible for a limited time. Silent Stalker, which muffles my footsteps and masks my presence. And, of course, Bloodlust. The more enemies I kill, the stronger I become.""Not to mention my enhanced senses. There's also Silent Strike, which allows
Vladsilav
I still felt some sort of apprehension at the fact that the other person in pursuit had escaped, but that was beyond my power now.All I had to do now was focus on what came next, and honestly, I had no idea what to do.‘Genesis, if only you were here,’ I thought to myself. ‘You'd know what to do.’Just as I finished that thought, I was startled by a sudden notification in my mind.NOTICESystem upgrade completed. Rebooting.A progress bar appeared, counting from 0% to 100%.The progress bar steadily crept towards 100%, and I couldn't shake the thought that Genesis would once again be available to me. ‘It'll be back, I'm sure of it,’ I thought, and I felt a surge of optimism and relief washing over me. The assassin, sensing my distraction, cleared his throat. "Do you have a plan?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice."For now, we return to the safe house. I'll need some time to think things through." My response seemed to placate the assassin, and he nodded in agreement.We mad
An Unexpected Alliance
He then explained the quest log that they all received to me.The assassin, still trembling, began to reveal the contents of the quest log that had been shared among all players. His voice shook as he explained that I had been marked as a target, and every player had been transported to this world with the sole purpose of eliminating me. According to the quest, until my demise, none of the players would be able to leave my world. They were granted unrestricted access to their skills, allowing them to utilize their full potential in their pursuit to end my life. The rewards for succeeding in this quest were immensely valuable, with each contributing player being granted a single wish.This revelation shed light on the relentless pursuit I had been facing from them, as well as the desperate lengths that the players were willing to go to claim their rewards. It became clear that, to them, my life was nothing more than a means to an end, a stepping stone to fulfilling their deepest d
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