Just as the battle at the East Gate was winding down after the goblin leader’s strange retreat, leaving everyone still shaken,
In Izar’s senses, a faint ripple of magic drifted from the direction of the village’s West Gate—it was the early warning-type magic array he’d set there, now triggered!
‘Something’s happening on the west side too?’ Izar’s heart skipped a beat. He was about to focus his senses further when, suddenly, a voice rang out in his mind—one that sounded distinctly different from the usual cold notification: a stiff, slightly awkward tone.
[Detected: Host has officially encountered a key node of the ‘Era’ main storyline. Simple interactive function now unlocked, aiming to enhance host’s survival experience in another world.]
Izar froze, nearly convinced he was hallucinating.
‘System? You… you can talk now?’ He asked in his heart, incredulous.
After all, in the past six years, this system had only ever made a peep when presenting those wretched choices; otherwise, it was basically a dead thing. Not only was communication impossible, it couldn’t even spare a perfunctory “ding”.
[You may interpret it that way. This is a functional upgrade.] The system’s response was still somewhat mechanical, but it was definitely conversing with him.
‘No way! You’ve actually become intelligent?!’ Izar’s heart brimmed with novelty and excitement.
Like a child with a new toy, he couldn’t wait to start testing out this “new feature”.
‘First question!’ Izar focused his thoughts. ‘Can you send the entire plot, guides, and hidden quests for the Era game directly to my mind, all in one go?’
This was the cheat he’d dreamed of!
[Insufficient authority. Request denied.] The system’s reply was crisp and final.
Izar felt a bit disappointed, but not ready to give up. He tried a more practical question: ‘Then can you evaluate my current survival capability? My defenses are stacked so high—what’s my death risk in this version of the game?’
To be honest, he’d never been sure about his defense cap. Out of fear of dying, he’d never actually tested it.
That strike from the goblin leader just now was the hardest hit he’d ever taken…
[Lacking necessary parameters. Unable to perform effective risk assessment.] The system returned another disappointing answer.
Izar frowned, thinking maybe he’d asked too vaguely, so he got more specific: ‘Let me put it another way—can an A-rank lord monster break through my defense? Could it kill me?’
[Involves host’s core survival data. In accordance with safety protocols, no direct answer will be given.]
Izar: “…” He felt a vein throbbing on his forehead. ‘Can’t answer this, can’t answer that—what’s the point of you? Not even a combat power evaluation!’
He decided to ask the ultimate question that had plagued him for six years: ‘System, be honest, in the attribute point allocation list, is there actually an [Attack] stat?’
[There is.] The system’s answer was unusually concise.
‘There is?!’ Izar nearly spat out blood. ‘Then in six years, after randomly allocating over a thousand points, I’ve never once hit [Attack]?! Over a thousand times! Is there not even a pity mechanism?! These odds are worse than getting struck by lightning multiple times! You’ve definitely tampered with the code!’
Fuming, he stomped around in his mind: ‘Trash system, you’ve wasted my youth! What use are you to me?!’
[Host’s strong dissatisfaction detected. Initiating binding removal procedure. Beginning recovery of all allocated talent points… Countdown: 10, 9, 8…]
The cold countdown was like a bucket of ice water, instantly dousing Izar’s fury.
‘No, no, no! Boss System! Big Brother System! I was just joking! I need you, desperately! You’re my guiding light, my second parent! How can I survive without you?’ Izar’s thoughts instantly became fawning and frantic.
[Host’s correction request received. Cancelling binding removal procedure.] The system’s tone returned to calm.
Izar let out a long sigh, his back drenched in cold sweat.
So the system had gotten more temperamental after upgrading?
Looks like he’d better watch his mouth when complaining in the future.
As he was mulling over what else this seemingly useless dialogue function could do, the system’s notification rang again:
[Ding! Host’s actions have substantively altered the course of key plot events. Unlocking real-time favorability monitoring for key character ‘Rhea Arsaid’.]
[Target: Rhea Arsaid. Current Favorability: ‘-1’ – ‘101’ (Status: Extreme fluctuations)]
Izar stared at the bizarre score, spanning both negative and positive extremes, completely dumbfounded.
‘I changed a key plot? When?’
[The compound defense magic array set up by host at the West Gate of Casippe Village was triggered and activated ten seconds ago. This action directly interfered with the original plotline.]
The system explained proactively.
[Original plot summary: During this goblin night raid, the West Gate’s defenses were inadequate. ‘Rhea’ would be overwhelmed by a hidden lord-class goblin and sustain serious injuries. In the nick of time, ‘Lian’ would step forward, block the fatal blow for her, suffer serious injuries himself, and use his unique talent ‘Magic Attribute Sense’ to find the lord goblin’s weakness, teaming up with ‘Rhea’ to slay it. This event is the key starting point for ‘Lian’ to pursue ‘Rhea’, yielding a huge favorability boost and setting up ‘Rhea’ as a romanceable character.]
[Actual events: The magic array set by host automatically activated before ‘Rhea’ was in danger, successfully blocking and restraining the lord-class goblin’s fatal ambush, providing ‘Rhea’ with a safe opportunity to counterattack and resolve the crisis.]
Izar’s eyes widened, a stampede of a thousand grass horses racing through his mind.
He’d only set up layers of protection around his base out of habit and self-preservation, never expecting it would trigger such a massive butterfly effect!
‘So… because of my magic array, Lian lost his chance to be the hero, to show off his intelligence and save the beauty? Did I just accidentally cut off Rhea’s romance route?’
He felt this was a little absurd.
[Based on current data models, Lian’s key opportunity to significantly boost Rhea’s favorability through this event has disappeared. The foundation for maintaining high favorability in the original storyline is gone. However, it’s not impossible for new romance opportunities to arise in the future.]
[Additional notice: Several high-difficulty choices completed by the host early after transmigration have already earned a substantial amount of hidden favorability from ‘Rhea’, leaving a deep impression in her heart. This has resulted in Lian gaining far less favorability in the past two years than he should have according to the original plot.]
Izar: “…” Now he finally understood why, ever since their reunion, Rhea’s gaze toward him was always so complicated—even, shockingly, going so far as to offer him water first.
So this “fate” had been seeded long ago, when he risked everything for those S, A, and B-grade choices six years before!
His eyes again fell on the bizarre favorability number. ‘I can understand wild fluctuations, but isn’t this a bit much? Jumping straight from negative to triple digits? What’s with this -1 and 101? Is this a roller coaster?’
[Explanation of favorability scores:]
[0 points: Stranger.]
[1-60 points: Has favorability – Likes (60 is the threshold for romance route activation).]
[61-80 points: Clearly likes – Admiration (high confession success rate).]
[81-90 points: Deep love (target may confess proactively).]
[91-100 points: Till death do us part.]
[Conversely, -1 to -60: Dislike – Aversion.]
[-61 to -80: Resentment.]
[-81 to -100: Mortal enemy.]
Izar read the detailed breakdown, the corner of his mouth twitching. ‘So this -1 to 101… and even a 101 exceeding the max, what’s up with that?’
[Analysis shows that the extreme favorability fluctuations are mainly due to the aftereffects of host using the ‘Veritas Potion’ (which host called ‘Obedience Water’) on the target last night. It’s estimated that after the potion’s effects wear off (about two and a half days), the favorability will stabilize within a normal range.]
[As for briefly exceeding 100, it’s closely related to the unique background of Rhea Arsaid. As an heir who has disguised her gender and borne her family’s burdens from childhood, her emotions have long been severely repressed. Once, due to a special cause (like a potion or strong event stimulus), those emotional floodgates are loosened, her outpouring of feeling can far surpass that of ordinary people, temporarily overflowing the favorability meter.]
Hearing the system’s explanation, Izar blinked, feeling his earlier nervousness fade away.
‘Oh, so it’s just temporary emotional volatility caused by the potion and years of repression…’
He stroked his chin, putting on an ‘I get it’ expression. ‘Then it’s fine.’
As long as she didn’t truly hate him to the core or love him to a life-or-death extreme, these temporary fluctuations were still within his acceptable range.
Anyway, once the potion wore off, things should return to normal… right?
What mattered more to him now was: at the West Gate, with Rhea facing a lord-class goblin alone, what exactly was happening?