Sword Ghost Rebecca (1)
I sprint through the pouring rain. No hesitation.
The distance from Arsen's main gate to the guest house is several kilometers, but my trained superhuman body doesn't tire from something like that.
"Wait! Student! You can't go beyond there!"
"Sorry. I'm in a hurry."
"Wait! Stop! Student...!"
No time to even respond. Arsen's main gate is shut, but I leap over it without a second thought. Leaving the rattling gate behind, I race toward the guest house.
What the hell. Already?
Rebecca has become a demon. The final chapter of Act 1, which shouldn't arrive yet, has hit right in the middle of its midpoint.
And without any warning signs at all. Before my Sense could even pick it up.
The episodes we were supposed to go through in between got completely skipped.
Anyway, the main quest signaled the end of Act 1, and as a Player—not one of the characters—I have to resolve this crisis.
Save the cadets and stop Rebecca.
Only you can resolve this situation.
It was exactly what the main quest said. That only I can resolve this.
I have no idea how things escalated like this. No clue where that snowball I started rolling touched to cause this.
There are too many variables. Enrolling in Arsen, meeting the protagonists, fighting demons—plenty of events that could have become variables.
It's impossible to account for every possibility and act accordingly with just one body. Unless you're a god who can foresee everything.
From the start, assuming and calculating for everything is arrogant. I can't control other people's thoughts or hearts, and everything happening in this world—where I'm not the center—is a variable.
It's not a problem one person can block.
That's why I've helped the protagonists grow to prepare for future trials, and they've definitely achieved some growth—Kyle and the others.
I've watched from afar to ensure they could overcome the trials ahead, extending a hand when needed. That's how we've reached this point.
But the Act 1 finale that's hit now? I can't stop it with my current resources. For the protagonists who've only just taken their first steps, this trial is an insurmountable wall.
...Which means I have to make a decision.
About how to end this Act 1 finale that might have come due to my greed.
Follow the original plot: team up with the protagonists, stop Rebecca, and restore peace to Arsen?
Or twist the original entirely and lead them down a path they never reached before?
...What do I do?
The first option is safe. Proceed as in the original. Their current stats make it tough, but with strategy and my support, it's doable.
But that would make all my subtle efforts for Rebecca go to waste.
So I have to choose the second path.
Even though Act 1's end came faster than expected, invalidating most of my contingencies.
Still, I've been preparing for this inevitable issue. I met Lara. Met Kyle. Met Iri. Met the Holy Church priestess, Isabel.
Preparations to end Act 1 were underway, and even if it hit sooner than planned, it's not impossible.
Subduing her by force alone... that's tough.
Rebecca is strong. Top of the 2nd years, even.
The inner self that's taken her body now—the Sword Ghost—is an incomplete personality. Right now, before it fully devours her, I can pull it out.
That's my only gamble.
But to do that, I can't borrow the protagonists' power this time.
No.
I have to exclude the protagonists entirely.
If Kyle, Lara, Serin Anette, and the others step in, this will follow the original plot exactly.
The provoked Sword Ghost will rampage more, and the moment the protagonists take damage, it'll go berserk.
That's the worst outcome I don't want.
So I have to prevent the protagonists from grouping up. Scatter the original party completely so they can't face Rebecca.
In the end, only one person can confront her.
I have to stop her.
Arsen's student council president. Act 1's final boss.
Rebecca von Anastasia Grander.
Without borrowing anyone else's power.
Thoroughly excluding them from intervening.
...With these hands alone, I have to make it happen.
Impossible for the protagonists, but something only I—as the irregular Player—can do.
I rummage through my prepared gear, stuffing only essentials into my Subspace. Useless items get tossed aside.
No time. Every second counts.
The Sword Ghost grows stronger the more blood it tastes. While I dawdle, the student council building's damage will only worsen.
In the original, Kyle first tried to persuade Rebecca. When that failed, he tried to subdue her. When that failed too, he drew his sword.
Then it leads to Act 1's epilogue, as in the original.
Backstory on why Rebecca awakened as a demon, reevaluation of her as a villain consumed in opposition to the protagonists.
Was she truly evil? Was defeating her really the best? Was there another way without killing her?
The devs shoehorned in that pointless drama and reflection by making her Act 1's final boss.
Setting the system so she's irredeemable, no matter what—you have to defeat her.
Then leaving players with belated doubts about alternatives.
...It's so infuriating, I can't even laugh.
If they wanted lingering regret, they shouldn't have hardcoded her fate in the system.
If they wanted unresolved aftertaste, at least give players the right to choose differently.
I hated the devs' ploy. I tried over a dozen times, applying every possibility, but couldn't change her fate.
The unpack revealed the behind-the-scenes: Rebecca had the Sword Ghost trait from the start.
Her destiny was to become the rampaging Sword Ghost.
That trait tied to the core system, unremovable even in unpack.
If Rebecca doesn't die, the story doesn't progress.
So she gets consumed, and the protagonists and Player move on. Stepping over their first trial: Rebecca.
But I've seen other possibilities. With my own eyes since entering this world.
Camille Esperand reformed. No deaths in the ghost incident. The Gluttony Demon—nonexistent in original—subjugated. Lara Steelhiden contracted Elphin. Grander and Esperand didn't split.
This world isn't shackled by the original system.
Everyone has possibilities—even Rebecca, Act 1's final boss.
I check my watch. See the short message to Sylvia Leopard.
I close the messenger and gaze at the rain pattering the window.
Lightning flashes, followed by a jagged bolt crashing down.
...Boom!
A thunderous night. The day I first fell into this world was just like this gloomy weather.
Glock in hand, I step out of the guest house.
Tonight, no one dies.
Torrential rain pours over all of Arsen. Like an untimely monsoon, the entire academy becomes a sea.
The sky is dark, streetlights on the walkways flickering erratically. Only thunder briefly lights it up.
Arsen's heart—the student council building—is shrouded in opaque black mist.
I examine the black mist with my Watcher's Eye.
What was classified as an advanced barrier in the original is now downgraded to intermediate.
So my Watcher's Eye can see the mana flow. More precisely, it's a barrier of Demonic Energy.
But with the barrier's structure visible and this dagger from Camille in hand...
...It's doable.
This mist that repels intruders will just become a physical obstacle I can tear apart.
I grip the dagger in reverse.
Thrust it into the black mist and slash downward vertically.
The black mist tears open temporarily.
Crackle—!
It resists fiercely and begins regenerating.
Space for one person opens, but this narrow passage will close on its own soon.
I step into the black mist.
Demonic Energy prickles my whole body as it settles over the student council building.
I've steeled myself for the horrors inside. With the Sword Ghost awakening sooner than expected, who knows how many victims.
Maybe some have already died.
I've prepared my mind for that.
But the student council building is pristine. No blood splatters, no scattered corpses.
At least on the 1st floor lobby, no victims.
Too early to judge.
Sylvia Leopard said everyone from student council evacuated.
Except one: Secretary Amelia.
So one victim confirmed.
In the original, the first victim was Amelia Secretary. Always by Rebecca's side, she met her end.
Step... Step...
I slowly climb the stairs. Find the student council room somewhere on the 2nd floor.
Steady my breath, fling open the door.
...Empty inside.
Glass shattered, room disordered by gale winds—no sign of Amelia.
But the blood trail on the floor shows her path.
Following the scattered bloodstains, I find Amelia Secretary.
She's collapsed at the 2nd floor end, entrance to the skybridge connecting the annex.
"What happened?"
"Sion Illeionhart... no, Shion Esperand."
"...You knew from the start?"
"I'm the secretary. Student council secretary... Everything happening at Arsen passes through my eyes."
Mid-sentence, Amelia coughs up blood.
A piercing wound in her side. Fortunately not deep, so I start hemostasis with prepared gauze and bandages.
"Lady Rebecca changed. She's not the Rebecca I knew."
Amelia's trembling hand points beyond the skybridge.
A passage that should lead straight to the annex is now blocked by black mist.
"I tried to escape through the annex right away, but strangely... it was blocked. By that weird mist."
She must've tried fleeing via the annex.
The building's wrapped in black mist now. No entry from outside or exit from inside.
I tore through once with the dagger, but twice won't work. The mist's reinforced thicker; next time, it won't allow the blade.
If Lara Steelhiden and protagonists arrive, maybe—but I've excluded them.
So I handle this alone.
"Hemostasis done. Stay put. I'll be back soon."
That's all I can say to her now. Hand her spare potions and hemostatics.
Bleeding's stopped, but just in case.
"Lady Rebecca could've killed me if she wanted."
But as I turn to leave, Amelia grabs my pant leg.
"Yet... she just wounded me and fled like she was the surprised one."
I crouch down. Listen silently.
"Rebecca still has her will. So surely, she can be brought back. Consider it my final request. Sion Illeionhart, processing your fraudulent admission... took quite the effort."
...Ironic. Rebecca asks to protect Amelia; Amelia asks to save Rebecca.
Never once had a heartfelt talk under the student council banner, but they cherished each other equally.
My answer was set.
No—maybe before I even fell into this world.
"It will be."
Click... Click...
Echoing through the corridor: chilling high-heel steps.
Rebecca von Anastasia Grander walks the student council building with hollow, mournful footsteps—like dancing.
Not by her will. Purely compelled.
She yields to an intense impulse she's never felt in life, reaching into empty air.
Draws out the Demonic Energy long eroding her body.
A tearing roar echoes. The area flickers like thunder.
Rebecca watches the ripping space with emotionless eyes.
She knows this phenomenon.
...A Gate. Not natural—artificially created rift.
But no further questions. Deeper thoughts blocked.
As always, creeping unconsciousness dominates her body.
She wanders aimlessly through the building. No destination rises.
Drawn by something, impulsively strolling—like waiting for her destined foe.