Samantha Hall
Andromeda Building, Dormitory Room 393.
"It's just right that I took that Elective subject.
"I learned many things, at the same time..."
'I was proven again on how messed up my unpublished novel was.'
He lampooned inwardly as various thoughts surfaced in his mind.
Russell, fortunately, remembered the details regarding the "True Green Family".
They came from the world of "Greneveir". It's a literal forested planet where the residents were called "Grens"; they were classified from Fairies, Ents, Trents, and Wood Elves.
They were showing a favorable impression on players with the Title: Slayer of the Green because the "Green" on the title itself was referring to the Goblins and Orcs that occupied some regions in their world, as well as killed many of their kind.
The Goblins and Orcs on Greneveir had their own kingdoms and alliances; they were labeled as "Green" — without 'True' to its residential name — by the True Green Family; they were considered by the True Green Family as False Kind.
"Professor Scarlet earlier was about to break her character in front of Han Jiho... I know what it was about."
He glanced at Ceru, the Chaos Slime he had summoned. It was sitting on the study desk.
As someone who barely recovered from Social Anxiety, and had an introverted personality, talking to something who couldn't understand him was a hobby of his, even in his previous life.
'I feel bad for writing such a thing.'
The only consolation he kept telling himself was that he didn't expect to be reincarnated inside the novel he had written.
"Sigh... I should see Freya."
He let out a sigh, recalled Ceru, and went out of his shabby dormitory room after he texted his younger sister to buy some dinner.
...
'Miss., it's time for your meal.'
'Miss., should I prepare some potions for your training?'
'Miss., Mr. Hall said, he won't be coming home for at least a month.'
'Miss., wake up, you're going to be late.'
A woman with auburn mid-back length and almond brown eyes suddenly woke up from her dream as the night sky was filled with bright stars illuminating the world.
'Even in my dreams, I am being haunted.'
She thought before she sat on her bed, unable to go back to sleep again.
'...What time is it? 4 A.M.? It's not too early, I should exercise on the field.'
She stood up from her bed and changed her clothes from sleepwear to the attire from the Player Physical Education classes before she left her luxurious dormitory room.
...
In the Obelisk Tracking Field (OTF).
Russell — who routinely did physical training ever since he encountered the Goddess of Night — stopped in his tracks as he saw a woman with loose auburn hair; she has almond-brown eyes and a fine body that seemed so ethereal, especially under the illumination of the bluish moon.
This time, he didn't train in the Chaos Training Grounds but rather went to the Obelisk Tracking Field for morning exercise.
'My old mentality is going to be ruined. Look away!'
Russell lampooned inwardly. As someone who reincarnated in his own unpublished novel, the only thing that was keeping him from looking at beautiful women within the Obelisk Academy was his 33-year-old mentality.
After a few seconds, he started to take his pace again, ignoring the woman who just came to the Obelisk Tracking Field.
'... I guess she hasn't done her hair yet.'
He thought as he slowly ran across the wide tracking field filled with several people already.
It was problematic for a woman with mid-back length hair or simply long hair to run without tying it; as an act of "kindness", Russell stopped from the tracks he just resumed, and decided to remind the woman with loose hair.
The distance between the two of them was not far, he then walked towards the bench she was seated on while she was preparing before she ran.
"Not tying your hair would be a hassle."
Russell spoke in a casual voice.
The woman — who was tying her running shoes — looked at him with an aloof expression; he was reminded of Amery.
"I know that."
She replied in a cold voice after she finished tying up her footwear; with her back facing him, she started to slowly run.
'This woman... I'm acting in kindness here!'
There would come a time when interacting with the major characters would be inevitable, so Russell thought of taking an initiative, little by little, at least considering the woman's background.
'Samantha Hall.'
He thought as he looked at the back of the woman, tying her hair from being a mess to a ponytail while running; he remained seated on the bench that could accommodate at least four people.
After some time, Russell continued to run to vent his emotions about getting a cold shoulder from a young woman; though he knew her personality, being personally subjected to such treatment still felt like a sting.
'Well, when I thought about it... Antagonizing her would be the most stupid thing someone could do. It's out of the question.
'Heck, she's stronger than Han Jiho! Domain-wise, at least.'
Apart from being the daughter of the Number 1 Player in the human domain, he knew that she was someone he shouldn't mess with, not that he had any plans in doing so.
...
"What are you doing?"
A frown on Samantha's face was painted — it was very evident in her expression. The man who was running seemed to match her pace intentionally, at least according to her perception.
At first, she didn't think anything about it, but as they were running along the way, she felt that something was amiss.
"What do you mean? I'm running."
The man — who was running beside her at an estimated 1-meter distance from each other — replied with an innocently sounding tone, prompting Samantha to brush the man's words, then quickened her pace.
'Of course, I can't catch up to that!'
Russell lampooned inwardly as he saw Samantha leave him behind; he earlier tried to match her pace just a way to compare himself with her, but it looked like the running earlier was just like a jog to her.
With his Trait-enhanced vision, he could clearly see her from afar, and with the curiosity filling his mind and heart, he then decided to do what he did to Han Jiho during his one encounter with him in the Obelisk Cafeteria One — To check her Status Window.
[Activating Skill: Gaze of the Abyss (EX)]
...
Name: Samantha Hall
Race: Human
Title:
[Slayer of the Green]
[Inheritor of a Stigma - Locked]
Health Points: —
Mana Points: —
Stamina Points: —
Age: 16 (Earth Years)
Sex: Female
Height: 167 cm
Planet: Earth (Planet 342)
Rank: C
Profession: Swordsman, [Locked]
Constellation: [Invalid]
Stigma: Breaker of Impossibility [Locked]
...
Russell stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the information shown through the System regarding Samantha's Status Window; his thoughts turned blank as he couldn't think of anything because there was a major difference compared to what he knew.
'What in the world did just happen?'
The Title: Inheritor of a Stigma, and the label [Invalid] on her Constellation information could only mean one thing — A restriction to make a contract with any Constellation!
'Hold on, hold on!'
Trying to process what he just read, he quickly ran to a nearby bench — different from the one earlier — to calm himself down.
'I'm familiar with the Stigma [Breaker of Impossibility]. It would be her Unique Skill in the future... But why did it become a Stigma? Just what the hell happened to her supposed-to-be Constellation in the future?!'
...
[STIGMA]
- Given to the 'Players' that meet certain unknown requirements.
- It is the power of an 'Extinguished Star' or 'Dead Constellation'.
- Raising its level to the maximum will grant the [Inheritor of a Stigma] complete ownership of the Extinguished Star's Authority.
...
Russell remembered the information about the Stigma. It's the pre-mature power of a 'Dead Constellation' during a certain war that happened in the distant past.
Every Constellation, especially those who "Ascended" has something called "Luminous Heart" or in other terms, "Lumen Heart".
The Lumen Heart contained only a part of a Constellation's power, but due to reasons yet to be known, the Luminous Hearts of some, not all Extinguished Stars were scattered throughout the Great Universe; this heart, in any form or shape, would be given to any beings, regardless of race, by meeting unknown criteria. But this criteria had something to do with the Constellations' alignment and nature of their Lumen Hearts.
'Did her supposed-to-be Constellation die? No, that can't be. Something is amiss.
'Crap. I should thoroughly recheck the history of almost 40 years Post-Emergence.'
Being treated like a kid, and not having access to such matters due to limited resources and family situations, Russell seemed to think that it was time to revisit again the events before the main story happened.
'It would be better to check the Status Window of the major characters.'
He couldn't help but let out a sigh of resignation with the situation he was thrown into. He thought that it was good enough that he only checked Han Jiho's Status Window and found no change. He didn't want to think about his possible reactions if he tried to check the major characters' respective Status Windows during the Student Welcoming Ceremony and found something greatly deviated like more than 360 degrees, out of place.
...
'What happened to him?'
'He looks gloomy all of a sudden?'
'That's not my business though?'
'Should I fetch him water?'
'But why would I do that?'
'Is he okay?'
'No, he's a weirdo.'
Various unnecessary thoughts flooded Samantha's mind as she sat on a bench after she ran a few laps, not so far away from the man that had a blank look on his face, who was sitting on another bench.
Although people who were approaching her with various purposes were indeed common since she was the daughter of the Number 1 Player in the human domain, Artorious Hall — her father.
She was used to the gaze of people, whether it contained admiration, inspiration, envy, or any other malicious emotions... She didn't care; her emotions were naturally molded to coldness due to her growing environment; being alone most of the time, only to be occasionally accompanied by her butler and two maids — treating her like some kind of noble from the Land of the Noble or Cassiopeia, while her father, as the head of the Obelisk Organization, was busy most of the time, and was only getting home twice or thrice a month.
Samantha somehow felt grateful for some reason for living in the dormitory room since she wouldn't have thought of waiting for her father to come to such a place.
Though she wanted her butler and two maids to treat her casually, they were afraid that they would receive punishment if her father was made known of such treatments. This resulted in them disobeying her simple request.
Slap-! Slap-!
She softly slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of her little reverie, she then grabbed a water-filled bottle from her Dimensional Inventory. She approached the man who was silently sitting on one of the other benches.
'...Maybe I just really wanted affection from my father... But at least let me do whatever I want inside this academy.'
She inwardly said, taking her pace towards the lonesome man.
...
After pondering for a long time, having a psychological war within himself, Russell looked at the water-filled bottle in front of him, holding by the fair-colored hand.
"Water?"
Said Samantha, offering the water-filled bottle being held by her hand.
"Thanks."
Said Russell, accepting the good gesture shown by Samantha.
'I guess breaking the plot wouldn't be so bad, after all.'
He jokingly thought before he opened the water-filled bottle, and took a sip from it.
...
In the Chaos Realm, where the flow of the time continuum didn't exist.
A figure of a shade that exuded an aura of "death" was genuflecting in front of the Goddess of Night who was reading an "unknown book" while "She" was sitting on "Her" throne.
The shaded figure asked in a tone with pure reverence.
"Goddess... Overseer of Everything, what task shall I be given?"
After closing the book that "She" was reading, the Goddess of Night spoke authoritatively and full of conviction.
"This task will be for your benefit in the future.
"Observe the younger sister of the man whom I entrusted the 'Egg' with."
The shaded figure instantly understood the intent behind the Goddess of Night's order; a reply of obedience then sounded.
"Your Will is absolute."
The shaded figure vanished in front of the Goddess of Night; the silence then took over the entire castle.
"She" then whispered in the air that was made of Chaos Miasma as she threw the book back into an unknown space.
"What a pity. It's unfinished."