'Haa... Really, I'm finally freed.'

After finding an inconspicuous seat, I took my time to ease myself as the professor arrived. But for better or worse, the lesson went through my right ear to the left. I can't focus at all. Although I know that something will happen to Hans, I'm utterly clueless about the exact date or time because of the inherent uncertainty in the difficulty of  DEPTHS OF MADNESS.

The only thing I'm sure of is he will soon face the BAD end that defeated nearly half of the hardcore players of the game, the prologue of The Former Husk of Malignant Souls.

The main antagonist of this prologue was one of the main heroine herself, Luna von Horchrestia. I didn't dig much into the story or lore, but I'm still familiar with the overall gist of the prologue.

It all started the moment that Luna started displaying her abnormality. The Protagonist, Hans, will slowly uncover Luna's eerie and disturbing changes as the day passes.

If it was the easy difficulty, it would take nearly 30 days for Luna's inevitable Corruption, which is roughly one and a half hours of game time with the player having all the necessities to successfully pass the prologue.

But in the difficulty of DEPTHS OF MADNESS, Luna's Corruption event has no definite gauge as a basis for the player's preparation. If you're unlucky, the Corruption might happen the moment you start your play, with you having no preparation. The only thing you can do at that point is to reset the game and hope for better luck.

But that kind of resetting option is not available to me; I'm literally living that damn difficulty in real-time. I'm not really interested in pinning my chances on blind luck; the Protagonist could somehow deal with the situation without my help, so I have no choice but to somehow observe the situation.

I initially thought of bribing some poor students to monitor Hans. But, for better or worse, it seems unnecessary to continue my plan. Right after coincidently passing by Hans in the hallway, my eyes inadvertently dilated; a menacing and repulsive aura that seemed inherently hostile to all creation emerged shortly from Hans. 

At that moment, I realized that the Corruption had begun in earnest. As the former handsome and chic Protagonist I met previously was nowhere to be found, only a man with a pale complexion and haggard face was present. His eyes were listless as he cautiously turned his head occasionally.

'... The Corruption took root at him. But why is his state so severe?'

After pondering for a moment, I observed Hans receding back in the distance before eventually walking away.

The situation is absolutely damned. The Corruption rate of Hans, using the previous difficulties of the game as a basis, has already reached roughly 20% in just one day. I don't know what happened between him and Luna, but it's definitely anything but a good thing for me.

Just one day is enough to put the Protagonist in that state. Although I wanted Hans to proactively search for the answers, time is ticking. I have to find the two necessary items for the prologue, or else the end of the world is just a matter of time.

To add to the insult, the unlucky instance of you encountering full-blown Corruption at the start of the game really happened to me in real life. Really, I never felt Murphy's law this keen, where everything that bounds to go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst timing possible, to boot.

---

"Damn it, to think I missed my date for this bullsh*t."

"Stop dawdling and move." Cynric glanced at the fully covered man before returning his attention to the tablet.

"Yes, yes..." Hearing his cold voice, the fully covered man could only sigh exasperatedly and return to work.

While Cynric was observing the progress of the investigation outside the wreckage, a peculiar aura rose briefly before disappearing like a lie.

With his keen sense, Cynric reacted and turned towards the source of the peculiar aura. 

District 11 is relatively near to the academy. Hence, some students could be seen passing by the wreckage and gossiping. In the crowd, Cynric saw an odd couple that stood out even without relying upon his keen sense.

'The Imperial Princess of Horchrestia Empire and... Hans, the commoner that took the Top Seat among the first years.'

Cynric just observed the couple without much thought, that is, until Luna passed by.

A sense of dread and suffocating presence briefly leaked from Luna, nearly forcing Cynric to instinctively use his Magia, but his reason halted this process. Instead of doing anything hastily, Cynric stabilized his bearing first and stared profoundly at the gradually receding back of the couple.

Seemingly confused by his silence, the nearby fully-covered man, a member of Hidden, walked next to him and inquired cautiously, "Um, President, is something wrong? Or did you find something?"

Cynric retracted his gaze from the couple and glanced at the fully covered man, pondering shortly before deciding.

"... Cease the investigation; we'll handle it later. As for you, get me my phone."

Although dazed by the sudden announcement from Cynric, the fully covered man faithfully brought the smartphone filled with unidentified runes to his hand.

"Here, President."

After taking the phone, Cynric quickly dialed a string of numbers and waited shortly.

RING!

"[... Cynric? What's the matter? Did you find anything from your investigation?]"

"I did find something, Principal. Although it's unclear whether it's connected to what we're currently investigating."

"[Hmm... Alright, go on.]"

Cynric took a deep breath, seemingly suppressing something before uttering, "... Sir, a Demented Soul infused by the Corruption from the Land of Cursed Livings appeared. She's also with a student with a highly likely chance of being her victim or accomplice."

Silence permeated the other side of the call before the Principal, Chris Fraires, spoke, "[... I get it. But first, don't do anything stupid, Cynric. I'll contact the relevant department to deal with the situation. Until then, remain to your posts, understood?]"

Cynric closed his eyes and responded shortly, "... Understood, sir."

After the call, Cynric turned around and stared at the Hidden members on the site, "The Principal has new orders. First, return to your posts and prepare for the upcoming operation. Until further notice or orders, you are prohibited from leaving your posts without permission."

"Nice! We're freed from this monotonous sh*t, though, temporarily. But what about you, punk?" The leader of the Hidden member stretched out his body and asked leisurely.

"... I have something else to do." Cynric was about to leave, but the leader of Hidden immediately grabbed his wrist.

TAK!

"Now, now... That's rather strange. I'm certain that your old man said that ALL personnel is on standby. I never heard the part where only you are exempted from that order. You punk, where do you think you're going?" The leader of the Hidden, Gael, narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized Cynric's expression.

"... Haa." Cynric sighed as he subtly turned his head away.

Due to the angle, Gael could only see Cynric's back and half of his face. Hence, the preceding development completely took him by surprise.

CRACKLE!

Faint lightning suddenly coiled around Cynric, and soon, a terrifying storm of Magia burst, shattering the ground and violently pushing Gael away.

BANG!!

Through his experience and Magia, Gael skillfully fends off the violent impact of Cynric's sudden outburst and stands in the distance as if nothing happened.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You cheeky punk... Looks like you're serious about this." Gael dusted off his clothes and narrowed his eyes to Cynric.

The other Hidden members were also confused by the situation. But due to their trust in their leader, they immediately drew out their weapons and encircled Cynric.

"Don't hurt him, or else our salaries are halves."

The Hidden members tightened their grips on their weapons and collectively lunged towards Cynric.

Meanwhile, Cynric azure eyes glanced at the air-tight offense of the Hidden; each of their weapons aimed to render him out of commission from every gap.

Just about when the blunt side of their weapon was about to strike Cynric, an invisible wall of Magia halted their advance. Soon, a bone-chilling chant resounded.

"... If the goal of all life is death, then for what reason must humanity live the next moment towards their ultimate end?"

Trait: [(Tier: ???) The False, Half of Two Extremity (Lvl. 8) {1st Stage}]

-The ability to temporarily wield the power of restricted All Creation.

{1st Stage: Transformation Phase}

-Allow the user to evoke a Flickering Fragment of his Thought and realize it. (limited only to 1 object or a concept at a time)

{Flickering Fragment of Thought Projection} 

Duration: (10 minutes) [Cooldown: 10 minutes]

In that very instance, the Hidden members and Gael suddenly felt like the world had lost its color, save for the young man, solemnly uttering, like a saint, at the same time a demon, proudly conveying the ultimate truth of heaven and maliciously proclaiming despair like the epitome of All Evil.

"... The so-called impermanence to you mortals was nothing short of inevitable." Cynric paused and glanced around him, making the Hidden members and Gael feel the gradual dullness of their senses, giving them the illusion of being deprived of control over their bodies. "Truly. How utterly heavenly, how damning, how worthless... Precisely of such, I..."

"Stop it, Cynric!!" Gael used half of his Magia and erupted it to temporarily free his upper body, exploding the air around him, prompting Cynric to halt the preceding utterance completely.

"... I take it that you won't interfere any further, will you?"

Gael stared at Cynric with complicated emotions before raising his hands in surrender, sighing helplessly, "Haa... Fine, damn it to hell. But you better take responsibility for the consequences, you punk."

Cynric nodded, and after Gael's acknowledgment, the terrifying torrent of Magia finally receded, prompting the Hidden members to collapse on their spot.

Cynric was about to leave, but Gael shouted shortly, "Wait!"

Once again, Cynric paused. He turned around and immediately caught something that suddenly flew towards his face. He opened his right arm and saw a necklace with the cross as its centerpiece, embroidered delicately as if an otherworldly existence crafted it personally.

Seemingly aware of his confusion, Gael readily explained, "It's an Artifact, The Sanction of 7th Heaven. To be precise, it was an artifact created to temporarily seal its target's movement. Although it might seem useless to you, the actual value of that artifact lies in the more formidable the target is, the more effective and longer its binding. Take it just in case. Also, don't trouble your old man too much, you punk."

Cynric went silent before nodding, "... I'll explain everything to the Principal later." This time, he finally walked away without further obstruction from the Hidden.

Seeing him depart, Gael massaged his temples and heaved another sigh of helplessness before urging the fallen Hidden members, "Tsk. You bunch of actors... If I saw even one of you remain fallen on the ground, you can say goodbye to your salaries."

As if the Hidden members heard the end of the world, they immediately picked themselves up. They hurriedly dusted their clothes before hailing solemnly, "Sir, Hidden awaiting your orders, sir!"

Seeing their solemn expression and seemingly professional salutation, Gael sighed in exasperation, "You bunch of... Haa, forget it. Divide yourself; the other half will return to the HQ. As for the rest, follow me to secretly watch over that punk."

Before Gael's orders, the Hidden members properly conducted themselves, lining up into two, saluted, and earnestly responded, "By your will!"

After the other members depart, Gael pondered momentarily, 'That power earlier... The cheeky punk from back then has matured and become powerful enough to be a High Ranker...' Recalling the tender face of Cynric's when he was a toddler, Gael sighed in reminiscent.

"Really..." But soon, Gael wryly shook his head and stared at the setting sun in the distance, 'That punk inherited his mother's power along with her temper. Brother, your reunion with your old dilemma won't be long.' Imagining Chris' stiff expression, Gael let out a chuckle.

---

"Hans... How about it? Isn't our date fun?" Luna smiled brightly, hugging Hans' waist affectionately like a lover.

It was already dusk, and some students were, by this time, resting, studying, or playing with their friends in their respective dormitories. Aside from the others doing their outdoor club activities, most of the people remaining outside have a slim chance of being couples because of the strict curfew of the academy.

But due to Luna's deliberate guidance, she and Hans were surrounded by students with their partners as they walked towards one of the famous romantic spots for couples, Fraires Park.

Although the academy does not prohibit the development of relationships between its students, it also does not promote it officially. The only thing that seems to be an exception to this is Fraires Park, with its elaborate yearly furbishing, amiable, and romantic atmosphere, as if the designer of the said park intended it to be a spot specifically for couples.

But despite the affections around them and the so-called love in the air, Hans cannot feel anything aside from caution and uneasiness toward the girl beside him.

The various abnormalities that the girl, Luna, displayed were far too terrifying even for him; the only reason he remained sane to this moment was thanks to one of his Traits.

"Hey, resp̷̫̘̜͈̃͆́̕o̶̜͈͖̮̱͍̖̖͊̌͌́̈̀̔n̸̡̰̹͈̠̰͍̔͒͆͌̚̕d̶̻̽̓̉̋ to me... H̷͓̩̮̀͆ͅa̶̦͙̭̩̹͎̰͌͊̂̈n̶̖̱̙̺̖͕͐͑̈́̔͜s̶̩̦̪͓̟̰̞̹̓..."

[Detected Status Ailments!]

[Activating Corresponding Trait!]

Trait: [(Tier: 1) The Sentiment and Reason of the Enlightened (Lvl. 5)]

-The ability to achieve coordinated links between your desire, reason, and soul, resisting all disturbances that will otherwise cause the reverse. 

{Disturbances Detected}

-The Corruption of @!#%▮!AD*^#2?

(Result: Successfully Resisted)

After being temporarily submerged in the Corruption, Hans immediately bit his lip to wake up his waning consciousness.

'... What a blunder. I won't last long if this keeps up. To deal with her, at the very least, I had to lead her near that place...'

"Huh? There's blood on your lips. Are you okay? Hans?" Due to his dulling senses and recovering consciousness, Hans belatedly noticed Luna's approach, as she had already closed their distance, close enough for their noses to touch. Meanwhile, Luna took this chance to lick the right corner of Hans' lips to remove the blood.

"Hmm~! It's gone! That won't do Hans. You have to properly take care of yourself, or else..." Luna's burgundy eyes narrowed; she licked her lips as they eerily arched upward. "You. Won't. Last. Looong♫. Hehe..."

Hans closed his eyes momentarily as he stared at the unfamiliar Luna wordlessly, filled with mixed emotions.

'Luna... Just who in the world are you...?'

---

On the outskirts of District 12, not too far from where I went wild with my Trait, I was seated on a dated wooden chair, facing a disheveled man with a crooked smile and yellow teeth in a shabby inn unbefitting of my status.

"Kekeke... Serving a distinguished noble such as yourself is my lifetime's honor! Then again, my dear guest, what could a humble tramp like me help you with?"

In Fraires Clein, it might've been an unnatural sight to see his kind in an academy deemed best among the best. But unfortunately, even the most prominent cradle of nurturing Rankers is no exception in having another side concealed from the public. No, precisely because it IS the best; it has no choice but to accompany its other half.

After all, not every sprout or aspiring Rankers boarded in the academy trains to fend off invaders in the future. Aside from what usually makes up the majority, there are few that, without exception, had varying degrees of ulterior motives.

And the man across me is one of them.

He's the kind of guy who will do everything to act according to his character, a tramp, so even if I begged him for this and that, he'll only merrily continue his act while ignoring his surroundings. So, how do you deal with that kind bast*rd? My answer is simple: act much more of a bast*rd than them.

"If the sun itself lost its ability to remain in the sky... Does that mean it is but mere falsehood?" So, instead of a proper reply, I answered him with another but illogical question to outsiders, nothing short of nonsense. 

The man ignored my question and continued the conversation as if he had heard something else.

"I see! So, you want me to be your friend? Oh, what an unprecedented honor! Truly, I'm touched beyond belief, my dear guest!"

"Then, I guess, everything has never been it seems." Having a conversation with this man is like talking to the air. Hence, I can understand the gaze of the only customer of the shabby inn looking at us as if he's looking at two mentally ill lunatics.

The conversation, with an uncanny resemblance to parallel lines, persisted until the man finally eased off his superficial smile, seemingly implying he was finally willing to drop the meaningless act.

"... You craz- Haa... Well, then, should we tackle your business? Young Master of Relchredth."

At this moment, the happy-go-lucky atmosphere from the man completely vanished, saved for the man with a frigid expression and penetrating eyes of someone who had experienced countless battlefields.

Soon, the temperature in the inn plummeted.

'... Damn, this guy is really on another level.' I slowly released my clenched fist, leaned on the chair leisurely, attempting to fool him with my composure, and spoke.

"... Thank you for your time, your esteemed Excellency."

Although I had already prepared, the pressure he's ramping up seems to imply that it's not enough. His identity is something that even having the title of a Heir Grand Duke would seem unqualified. After all, the man was none other than one of the Heroic Rankers who temporarily sealed the invaders beyond the sky, The Ruler of Chaotic Heaven, Arls Regias.

It's unclear why he's pretending to be a tramp in the world's prestigious academy. But it's probably something better off not knowing, especially for me.

Although Arls Regias never killed players in the game, even in the difficulty of DEPTHS OF MADNESS, I still have to maintain a bit of caution just in case.

Hence, I took a deep breath and exhaled before uttering, "... I want to borrow the Crux of Demi-Divine and The Greatest Despair of Ir."

After saying so, I immediately braced myself for the incoming coercion from Arls. Yet, after waiting a moment, I realized that... the expected coercion was missing.

Confused, I stared at Arls, but he only glanced at me indifferently before looking intently at his left.

"... I can see why you need it. I'll let you borrow it, but in exchange, you must unconditionally accept and accomplish a task from me once."

'... An unconditional order. No, more importantly... Has he noticed something?'

Although I'm not clear why he's looking intently on his left. But frankly, I'm incredibly reluctant to take this exchange. Unfortunately, I'm in a position where having an option was nothing short of luxury. Hence, there's only one thing I could do for myself.

"... I'll accept it, but there's a condition."

Arls remained silent, seemingly willing to hear out the conditions.

"I hope that the task won't involve me in an unreasonable suicide mission or in anything that's nothing short of the above."

Arls, without hesitation, nodded in acknowledgment, "I accept it. You can take these things for now." After ripping apart the space with his bare hand, Arls threw two Artifacts like garbage on the table and vanished shortly.

I remained in my seat for a while, and soon, after confirming that he really left, I finally heaved a sigh of relief.

"Haa... Damn it, I thought I was about to die from the pressure." 

I exhaustedly lay on the table and pondered for a moment.

Although the first hurdle of my make-shift plan was successful, I still have to address two remaining hurdles. That is to hand these items over to Hans and to somehow defeat the True-Manifestation Phase of Luna's Corruption.

The former is not that hard, but the latter is literally a do-or-die situation, not only for Hans but also for the rest of the world. There's no need to emphasize what would happen if the Protagonist dies while all the things he has to deal with are still alive.

Really, what an utterly messed up situation. Thankfully, I had a pretty reliable Trait, allowing me to become one of the strongest beings among the fictitious characters. But that, too, has its limit.

'... Oh well, let's pass the urgent situation first and think about this later.'

After all, I had to deal with Luna first before I could even get the luxury of thinking about the future. Then again, now that I had everything necessary for the prologue, only a few crucial things remained.

'The execution of the overall event and handing over the Artifacts to Hans.'

The execution is critical for passing the prologue, so I had to be nearby after giving Hans the Artifacts. The Phases of Luna's Corruption could be summarized into three:

The First Phase (Luna's Downfall): The player will have to fight Luna's body with her skillsets being of Luna's playable counterpart but amplified due to the influence of buffs and Corruption. This Phase isn't that difficult because of the two Artifacts, Crux of Demi-Divine and The Greatest Despair of Ir. 

The effect of the first artifact allows the player to imbue their weapon with Sacred Affinity, incredibly fatal against creatures of the dark. Meanwhile, the second artifact has the passive effect of nullifying and stacking all ailments from the player, with an active skill of being able to transfer the stacked ailments to the target specified.

The first one is, without doubt, useful for Luna's three Phases. But what's utterly crucial is the second one, The Greatest Despair of Ir, an incredibly broken item that could remain relevant until the final battle. Unfortunately, it's locked behind the prologue in the game, and even in real life, indefinite possession meant making an enemy of someone powerful enough to be one of the Heroic Rankers of the world.

The Second Phase (The Tainted Daughter of the Moon; Luna): The player has to fight a semi-corrupted state of Luna. The original skillsets she used in the first Phase are gone, but you'll have to fight her with her new skillsets along with her little friends. These little friends, Her Nightmares, have half of Luna's semi-corrupted stats but without anything fancy, such as skillsets or passives. Her new skillsets are troublesome because of the meatshields, allowing her to send a bunch of run-ender outputs if you're not careful.

The Third Phase (True-Manifestation): Luna is pretty much good as gone in this instance. Because at this Phase, the one you'll be fighting is a new entity resulting from the degradation of two discordant souls inside her body, one of another dimension's and Luna's, the two utterly tainted in Corruption for unknown reasons. By this time, the Boss will change its name and title from The Tainted Daughter of the Moon, Luna, to The Unborn of Profound Dusk, ???.

The Third Phase is pretty much the DPS check in the game at the earlier stages. If it was the game, I would at most scoff at this before passing it with flying colors; unfortunately, I'm playing in the most atrocious difficulty in the game in real life. Hence, any slacking from my side meant I had to deal with unreasonable things after failing the DPS check, the Boss spawning infinite invaders beyond the sky and overwhelming us with numbers, prompting a tragic end to my life.

The only thing I had to take note of in the Third Phase was passing the DPS check. It might sound simple, but the new Boss having every powerful aspect of its previous Phase was nothing short of a nightmare. Due to the presence of meatshields, the new Boss can easily hamper the rate of dishing out the necessary damage, making it even more atrocious to pass the test. But fortunately, my Trait literally gave me an incredibly reliable backbone, Sakamaki Izayoi. So, until that part, the Protagonist better do his job, or we're all done for.

'It's also necessary for Hans to deal the finishing blow, saving Luna for the future development of the story.' Because of the cliche settings of being an overpowered Protagonist of the game, Hans also has a Trait that can imbue the concept of Separation to any weapon. Hence, he must deal the last blow to separate the discordant souls and the Corruption. Once that happens, I can officially say that we successfully passed the prologue.

So, after finishing all the necessary preparations for the upcoming event, I left the shabby inn and boarded the personal carriage of the Relchredth household. It's been two days since Hans' Corruption; I can't delay for any longer because he might croak out of nowhere. 

"Hang in there, Hans. You still have a lot of things to do for me and the world." I muttered and stared at the sky beyond the window of the carriage. It was already dark, accompanied by a red full moon, seemingly embodying an ominous sign.

'What the... Why is that thing already up?'

As someone who played the sh*t game for years, I couldn't be even more familiar with what the red moon symbolizes. It's an indication that the Protagonist and Luna, the main antagonist of the prologue, have already arrived at Fraires Clein Sanction Sector, used for detaining massive illegal Airships that landed without the permission of the academy. 

The barrier for detention was strong enough to handle one strike from a Heroic Ranker, rumored to be able to cause a 9.5 magnitude earthquake and destroy ten mountains if they're aligned. It's unclear whether they can really do that, though. But recalling how Arls ripped apart the space with his bare hand, it doesn't seem impossible.

Looking back, Hans probably went there to contain the damage, Luna's rampage, and to cut off her escape route.

Typically, the barrier for detainment would require a Permit from the relevant authorities of the academy. Fortunately, the prologue has a convenient cheat-like character that can bypass everything for the Protagonist. Although the chances of his appearance vary in the difficulty of DEPTHS OF MADNESS, there's a surefire way of involving him.

'But with his keen sense and cheat-like Trait, he would probably find Luna sooner or later without my tip.'

The way to directly involve him is by exposing the Corruption leaking from Luna. Thankfully, Luna wasn't so shy as to hide her Corruption from the public, attracting much-needed help for the prologue even without my involvement. She wasn't like this in the game, so I guess the Corruption is utterly going crazy in her body, mindlessly proliferating in Luna's soul till the present.

'Although Hans can probably last long, that's under the premise that he has the Artifacts. Damn, what should I do...' My forehead creased as anxiety gradually creeps in.

But soon, an idea flashed by.

'I can use my Trait to transform as Sakamaki Izayoi, but the cooldown...' 

While pondering the feasibility, a terrifying yet indescribable roar resounded.

 

"[Á̸̧̧̢̩͓̣͇͎̲͎͈͎̖̲̯̭͎̩̤̲̙̰̪̯̯̇̒̃̏A̷̰͓̜̰̤̗̥̰͍̪̞̞̳̞͈͔̻͓̦̓́̈́̇͆̊͊̓̏̄̈̄̐̔̒͘̚̕̚Ă̸̹̪̥̼̺͙̟̰̪̻̭͓͈̭̮̳̼͍͜A̴̧̞̲̙͇̱̗̺̱͉̳͇͕̼̦͔̥̥͂̄̾̇̏̽̏͛̔̾̄̂̾̿͆͘͝͝͝Ằ̶̧̰̯̞̘͙͈̫̞͚̙̀͌̆͂͐̀͑̊̿͘͜͝͝H̸̢̨̡̠̟̭͇͕̗̫̩͚̻̬̲͙͚͆̓͠Ḣ̷̢̢̗̻͚͚͚͔̫̟̼̣̣̖̝̳̯̲̣̮̬̝̥͓͎̺̓̈́̎͛͜͜H̵̡̢̬͈̤̣͚̩̯̥̮͙̙̘̰̮̾̋͐͒́̎͌Ḩ̶͎̤͔̤̼̼̥̮̜͎̗̘͒̃̊̅̓̇̏̓͋̽̀̇̅͒̂͜H̴̡̢͓̙̳̭̯͈̙̼͉̝̫̖͇̠̮̱͊̉̏̈́̂̆́̍͛̂̅̀͒̌͘͝ͅH̴̢̛̛̦͙̙͉̝̖̩͇͖͔̲̤̭̱̦̻̠̭̙͓͎̺̞͍̮̠̬͑̓̓̔̈̒̐̈́͆̈́̏̓̑̋̽̽̎̄͘̕̕͠͝H̴̛̬͇̐̾͐͛́̐̈́̀̈̒́̅̃̓̂̉̏͐̾̈̚͘̕͝͝Ḥ̵̨̨̺͖̥͇͎͚͉̭̼̳̱͆̌̊͒̏͌̋͋̃̀̍̾̅́̀̕͠͠͝H̸̨̛̛̙͔̟̠̻͉̮̥̝͕̯̞̥̻̥̻̱̜͈̦̪̙͕̦̻͌̅́͂̍̓́̽͐̎̍͝Ḧ̶̨̨̛̰͓̝̺̦͙̝̺̞̺̖̬̮͕̜̜̤̌̽̔̈́̀̎̅͋̅̒̓̋̒͋̽͘̚͜͝͠Ḧ̸̨̫͍̝̻̤͇̭̙͉̬͓́̄̈́͊̋͐͗̈́̎̔͌͘̕H̴̡̨̢̛̙̥̻̻͇̮͂̈́͛̈́͌͛͗͌̋͒͊͂̑̓͂͆̓̒̕͝͝͠ͅH̷̢̿̈́̓̇̃̓̀̋͐́̃̽̉́̒͌̾̌̋̅̐͘͘͠͝ͅḦ̷̢̯̱̣̤̮̰̳̩͙̣̟̹̻̭̼͔́̊̏̎̀Ḩ̸̧̞͉͕̻͊̈́̌̈́̄̈́̑̉́̓̔͋H̶̢̛͚̖̠̖̜͉̹͔̲̘̜͚̱̤̤̗̱̭̻͚̬͖̪̞̭̃̇͗͂̓̆́͆͜H̵̛̛̛͍̹͇̼̹̩͉͖͚͇̲͔̫͚̖͉̟̱̄͑̆́͒͑͒̏̃̈́́̊̌̌̇̇̍͆̌͌́̓̚͝͝H̷̨̧̧̛̗̞̼̞̲̰̺̤̺̼̉̈́̓͆̇̐̍͑̈́̐̀̉̊͐̀͛̀̃̉̕͘͝ͅ!̶͉̦̅͌̋̃̌̽̂̕!̵̡̛̛͔̗̼͖͍͎̼̞̝͎͍͚̫̘̘̰̺͎͍̤̖̝̙̜̺̝͊̆̈́͑̈̑̈́̽̐̀̾͗̆̽̃͘̕̚!̵̨̧̪̰̀͒̇̒̋͂̑̊͘͘̚͠͝͝!̶̡̨̣̪̺̣̜͕͓͉͚̈́]"

 

A deep sense of terror suddenly engulfed my entirety. My breathing ragged, and a sense of utter hopelessness filled every inch of my soul, prompting me to lay in the carriage abruptly as I lost the strength to sit.

My consciousness was fading unprecedentedly, precisely the moment I was about to lose it... I mustered everything I could to utter the following words.

"My... Fiction... Thy... Reality!"

Soon, the feeling of losing control over my body diminished, replaced by a limitless energy coursing through my veins. I shook my head in an attempt to rid the dizziness.

But after doing so, the carriage was gradually tilting. Due to the unexpected situation, the coachman probably suffered the same fate as I did. Hence, after analyzing the surroundings, I picked myself up and stabilized my balance before blasting the door.

BANG!

Due to the urgency, I didn't bother controlling my strength and hurriedly looked for the coachman. Thankfully, the worst case didn't happen. The coachman was only slumped to his side, unconscious. I picked him up like a rice bag and exerted power on my soles, jumping away from the carriage.

TAK! TAK!

"Haa..." After a sigh of relief, I carefully put the coachman on the nearby bench. I looked toward the source of the roar and confirmed my speculation.

Just as I expected, it originated at the Fraires Clein Sanction Sector. But instead of going, I summoned the transparent panel first to confirm another of my conjectures.

Name: Cleris von Relchredth (Sakamaki Izayoi

Age: 21

Trait: [(Tier: ???) My Fiction, Thy Reality (Lvl. 0)]

-Temporary transformation to fictional characters. 

{Locked Character Slot: (Sakamaki Izayoi)}

Duration: 10 seconds (The more powerful the character, the less the duration) [Cooldown: 10 seconds]

Physical Grade: G- (???)

Mental Rate: D- (???)

[Remarks] -Rest assured, you may be a failure of a man, but at least you can proudly contend against a 9-year-old girl in arm wrestling. 

{(A being who exists as human salvation and is sustained by the hope of all realities)}

Now, after skimming through once again, I'm finally convinced.

'... 10 seconds cooldown?'

I initially thought it would reveal itself after using the Trait. I'm right, but not in the way I assumed. But as much as I want to get to the bottom of my transparent panel, I still have urgent issues to address. 

"... Although it's a bit early, it's time to settle this mess." Sensing the great upheaval at the Fraires Clein Sanction Sector, with Sakamaki Izayoi's superhuman strength, I leaned forward and immediately ran towards the scene.