The internal exploration went smoothly.
This place, set as an ancient ruin, only spawned undead creatures that had been beaten up in ancient times. So, bringing along the “holy light-emitting talisman” I used before meant nothing here posed any threat.
The tricky part, though, was navigating the maze.
The twisted, branching pathways were a nightmare—get lost even a little, and you’d end up going in circles. Once you lost your way, finding your way back wasn’t easy.
But for someone who memorized the entire route, it was no big deal.
After venturing deep inside, I finally spotted the door to the final chamber.
An undead gatekeeper blocked the way, but it quickly succumbed to my overpowered gear, so I strolled right in without delay.
Inside the chamber, there was a massive altar right in the center.
“What’s this altar even for?”
Destroying it would prevent the apocalypse ending.
But beyond that, I had no clue.
The game only mentioned that destroying it would stop the apocalypse, with no further details. So, I was left in the dark.
It felt unsettling, and I had so many questions, but there was only one thing to do right now.
Smash the altar.
As long as this altar existed, the possibility of an apocalypse ending remained. I couldn’t just leave it be.
As I approached to destroy it… suddenly, a system window popped up.
[This action may attract their attention. Are you sure you want to proceed?]
This was a line that had never appeared in the game before.
“Attract their attention”? Who are “they”?
I couldn’t tell if this was due to a difficulty change or because this place wasn’t part of the game.
Either way, attracting attention didn’t seem like a good idea.
So, what now? Should I just leave it alone?
“But that feels just as unsettling.”
This is the ultimate troll move—if it blows up, it’s game over, no matter what.
Even if the chance of it exploding is extremely low, having no warning and no way to stop it feels unfair.
Plus, I’ve personally experienced low-probability events before. Even if the odds are slim, I can’t just relax.
So, I didn’t ponder for long.
“Even so, I have to deal with this.”
Whoever “they” are, they didn’t seem more dangerous than the immediate threat of an apocalypse.
Even if “they” turn out to be more dangerous than I thought, future me can deal with the consequences.
With that in mind, I drew my sword.
Using a sword to break something isn’t exactly ideal, but I had a trick up my sleeve, so it didn’t matter.
It was a technique I originally planned to use to destroy the magic crystal in the grand hall… Anyway, it’s a handy skill for breaking certain objects.
The method is simple: charge at the target as if you’re about to collide, then at the exact moment, use both evasion and parry simultaneously.
“Hyah!”
*Boom!*
The parry lands on the stationary object, drastically reducing its durability.
In the game, the skill could only be used on specific objects, but after secretly experimenting alone, I found out that here, it can be used on any structure.
Not that I had anything I particularly wanted to destroy, so I never really used it.
Anyway, after using that trick, the altar started to crack and then split.
It wasn’t very durable, so after just one use, it was almost completely destroyed, and I ended up just kicking it to finish it off.
My basic strength is good, even if I haven’t grown much. If only I could just boost my stats, I’d grind like crazy to grow.
‘Guess it’s a win since I don’t have to grind.’
No point in regretting what can’t be changed, so I decided to just think that way and move on.
Growth and grinding aside, I felt relieved thinking that at least I had accomplished something by destroying all the altars.
‘Should I head back now?’
It took several hours just to get here.
Dealing with the undead that appeared along the way took some time, and the map was just too vast.
But thankfully, once the altar was destroyed, the path back became a straight line.
Kugugugu-
It’s noisy outside. I figured it was the sound of the structure changing, so I decided to wait quietly.
[You have prevented the apocalypse.]
[They are starting to take an interest in you.]
The system window, which made me uneasy for no reason, was the last thing I saw before the noise stopped.
When I opened the door, there really was a straight path left.
‘Should’ve opened it once before it ended.’
I should’ve checked out how the structure changes. Too late to get curious now.
At least it was safe, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit regretful.
If Seria were here, she’d have opened the door first thing. To see the reaction and all.
‘…Why Seria all of a sudden.’
Must be tired. Weird thoughts are coming to mind. I should just go back and sleep.
///
The Royal Palace’s dinner was, of course, luxurious.
But even with such a lavish meal in front of him, the Emperor today was just picking at his food, and the Empress, noticing this, smiled knowingly.
“Seems you’ve decided to accept it? That child.”
“…Don’t bring up that guy when I’m already losing my appetite.”
“Hoho, is it really that unpleasant?”
“He’s taking our Seria away! How could I like it!”
“Then, do you have someone else in mind? Someone more suitable?”
At the Empress’s words, the Emperor closed his mouth and properly put the food he had been picking at into his mouth.
Then, in a voice as small as an ant’s, he replied.
“I… was thinking of keeping her with me forever…”
“Can’t do. I can’t bear to see my daughter live alone.”
A father still in the midst of his daughter’s prime beauty and a mother who faces reality.
Their conversation, though cold in tone, was warm in content.
The brothers, having roughly deduced the situation from their conversation, started whispering, forcing Seria to focus solely on her meal.
If Rudion himself were here, he would have acted confidently, but strangely, he becomes timid when he’s not around.
Otherwise, there was talk about the broken magic stone, and it seemed that the matter would be handled appropriately within the Royal Palace.
It seems like the matter was handled with the intervention of an outsider, so if things went wrong, it could have gotten really complicated.
Rudion probably didn’t want to gain any special merit from this either, so he’d agree to handle it this way.
“That seems like the way to go. Rudion would prefer that over things getting unnecessarily bothersome.”
So I said that, but the Emperor made a displeased face again, while the Empress smiled warmly.
Did I say something wrong? As Seria was pondering, the Empress started teasing her.
“Already making major decisions for him, huh? But you shouldn’t boss him around too much.”
“Ah, no! I’ve never bossed him arou—… around…”
“…You have, haven’t you?”
“I haven’t!”
Every time I had free time, I dragged him around to places I wanted to go.
But isn’t it a bit of a stretch to say I bossed him around?
…Oh, right. Lately, I’ve been teasing him on purpose because it’s fun to see him flustered.
But still, whatever. I’ve never bossed him around. He’s not the type to be swayed so easily anyway.
With that self-justification, I regained my composure. The Empress was still smiling warmly, but I pretended not to notice.
After the meal, Seria returned to her room and flopped onto the bed.
Lying on the soft bed, staring at the ceiling, she reached out to grab a book as usual, but nothing was there.
“…Oh, right. I lent it to him.”
The book that should’ve been there was currently lent to him.
It didn’t really matter. The bookshelf in the room was packed with books, so she could just grab any of them to read.
But for some reason, she didn’t feel like it and just let her body go limp.
‘…I used the magic I read about in the book.’
She reflected on the magic she had used today.
No matter how many times she thought about it, it was thrilling. She never thought she’d be able to use the magic she only read about in books so quickly.
The magic that pierced the Demon’s abdomen, the one that severed its neck—all of it was based on theories she’d read in books.
Mana and stars. Recognizing the relationship between them, she drew upon the mana of the universe, the countless stars, rather than the mana around her.
The mana imbued with the power of stars is much harder to control than ordinary mana.
But it has such incredible utility that it allows for applications impossible with ordinary mana.
But is it really possible to draw it from such a vast distance?
If you ask that, the only answer is, of course, no.
But what is magic? Isn’t magic about making the impossible possible?
Even if it sounds childish, that’s what magic is.
The more absurd it sounds, the more amazing the magic is, right?
Of course, this kind of feat was only possible thanks to the favorability rewards.
The reward she got this time, ‘Concept Manifestation,’ was a skill that literally allowed her to turn concepts she imagined into reality.
But utilizing it wasn’t easy.
The name might sound fancy, but to use it, you needed an enormous amount of magical knowledge and a deep, profound understanding of the concept.
You needed a lot of things, like the creativity to come up with ideas and the magical control to freely manipulate magic.
So, if the Star Journey series hadn’t packed in so much theoretical content that it was overwhelming, or if Seria hadn’t been a magical genius capable of understanding and mastering all of it, or if Seria hadn’t been such a deep fan with the drive to utilize it all, then the “Conceptualization of Phenomena” would’ve just been a minor boost to magical efficiency and nothing more.
“All I did was like someone. Do I really deserve all this?”
Unaware of this, Seria just thought the favorability reward had handed her an absurdly powerful ability.
Does she even know? In the original story, she managed to realize and use the techniques from the Star Journey series without any favorability rewards. All that happened was the favorability slightly sped up what she would’ve developed on her own anyway.
Well, good things are good. Getting to use it sooner isn’t a bad thing, right?
Then it happened. Suddenly, the ceiling disappeared from view. Familiar blue windows and text floated into sight.
[The target has succeeded in changing the future.]
[Congratulations! Due to the future’s alteration, your exclusive stats have grown.]
[Another altered future exists. Growth values have been adjusted.]
[Current Time Value: 3]
“Ah…”
So, she did it. She prevented that ending.
Another altered future… That must be referring to today’s incident with the magic stone.
For some reason, she felt overwhelmed.
But at the same time, it was bittersweet. If she could do something like that alone, did that mean she wasn’t really needed?
Thinking that, she recalled today’s event of capturing a demon.
He could’ve done it alone, but he held back for her sake, letting her gain experience.
It felt less like a partnership and more like a mentor-student relationship.
“Am I just in the way?”
She felt down for a moment, but then realized she didn’t have time to dwell on such thoughts.
“Wait. If it succeeded, that means he’ll be back soon, right?”
What if he’s hurt again?
Worried, she decided she should go check on him.
But as she tried to get up from the bed… another set of text appeared, stopping her in her tracks.
[Time Value has reached 3. Relevant knowledge will be granted.]
[Warning: This will be accompanied by significant pain.]
That was enough to make her panic.
“Huh?”
*Bzzzt—*
Before she could even process what was happening, pain slammed into her like a truck.
Without even asking for permission, a splitting headache took over, and she began to groan.
“Ugh… Ugh?!”
Even in the midst of it, she desperately held back her screams, thinking it would only make things worse.
In the end, she couldn’t check if Rudion had returned safely.
Clutching her head in agony, she rolled around before finally passing out.
