Chapter 19 : Anomalies

3rd POV

Rachel had just gone through that painful experience to receive her powers, while Hajin on the othe hand was at first on a killing spree but when he saw Rachel falling on the ground, he immediately rushed towards her, or at least, he tried. But he couldn't move.

'What the?! Why can't I move?! Is it something related to me abusing my powers...? But why now?! This is one of the worst timeings possible!"

Hajin used even more Nihility in his feet to force himself to move, but still, nothing happened.

Instead, he heard a very familiar voice in his head, one that he hadn't heard for quite a while.

[Don't worry, she isn't in danger. Just continue protecting her from the monsters.]

'Huh? Is it your doing?! And what do you mean it's nothing dangerous?! She's clearly not in the write state of mind or body right now!'

[Calm down, get your thoughts together. Do you think I would let her be harmed by someone? I'm the one who's doing that. She's just feeling pain as a side effect, but it's for her own good.]

'What? What do you mean by "her own good"?' Hajin asked.

He didn't like one bit the state Rachel was in, he could tell just by looking that whatever it was, it was extremely painful. Deep down, he knew that the creator wouldn't harm Rachel, especially when he has taken a liking to Evandel, him and Rachel. But seeing that painful expression on her face, his mind couldn't think straight. His heart felt pain seeing her in such a state.

[She's receiving her powers. I deemed that it would be better if she has a system and powers similar to yours. Although you won't fight that much in the future, when you do though, she needs to be powerful enough.]

[I just gave her powers that are somewhat like yours. Of course, the nature of her powers is a bit different than yours, but unlike the difference with Evandel, Rachel's nature is equal but still different than yours.]

[As for why I did that, well, when you guys need to fight in the future, she should be strong enough to protect herself. Don't get me wrong, I know you can protect her, but what about when you're not there. There will be times in the future where you won't be together, and in those times, she needs to be strong enough to absolutely demolish her enemies! Hehehe~]

'That sadistic laught in the end tells me that you are someone who enojoys doing torturous acts to his enemies. Well, *sigh* I get it, But I still don't like that she's going through such a painful experience. I mean, I didn't go through that, so why her?'

[That's because you already had the system to manage your powers, you had already adjusted your body to be compatible with any power you receive. That was one of the advantages of having [Stigma]. But well, one thing you said is wrong, you also went through the pain, just, you received it part after part.]

'huh? What are you referring to? I don't remember any... Oh...'

[That's right. Whenever you received one additional streak of [Stigma] before, you would go through extreme pain, it was not as extreme as what Rachel went through, however, you received it multiple times. I didn't want her to suffer multiple times like that, so I thought I should just let it happen in one go.]

[And actually, I reduced the pain, I disabled most of her pain receptors and disabled things that wouldn't harm her on being disabled. I also increased her pain resistance, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to handle the pain, she would loose her mind just from suffering from it for one second. It isn't something a mortal can handle. The reason why she can still feel it is because it's affecting her soul directly.]

'Okay... but that's not just it right? I mean, just her receiving her powers wouldn't do it. So you must have done something else as well.'

[Well, yes. I reconstructed her body into something can could withstand her powers. That was the main reason she felt the pain, however, the actual reason why she felt it was because of her mind being overloaded by the system, and because her soul was changed. I upgraded her physical body and also her mind. I also reconstructed her soul to withstand any mental attack or soul attack like a curse. Currently, she should be able to withstand a head-on blow from a normal dragon with just minor injuries, and her thinking speed while using her gift should be able to rival a high-end computer.. However, that doesn't mean she can't be harmed by beings of lower level.]

'... in other words, she has become OP. Well, there goes away the balance of power on the good and evil side in the story, I don't think the villains would have even a little chance to do something now, there are two beings who they can't do anything to now, one is me, and the other is Rachel.

[I guess? Currently, these powers are completely new to her. She can't handle it. So, I will force the system to put even more limitations on it. However, if the system deems that she is in a life threatenig situation, she will go into [Auto-battle Mode]. It's something like letting an AI handle your body movement, it will perform the most effecient movements in the fight without any error or openings, it's like a perfect fighter with no flaws.]

'Oh? Is it just like mine? I mean the skill I made in my free time after the island exam?'

[Something like that, oh, and one more thing, you got something wrong. She and you aren't the only ones, the current total number of beings that no evil in this world can fight are you, Rachel, Evandel, and Rachel's parents.]

'Huh...?*Sigh* what do you mean now? I can understand why Evandel, but the King and the Queen of England? Why them? How are they related to this?'

[Well, you consider, Rachel as your family right?]

'...' he averted his eyes, though, he did that in his mind.

Actually, right now, you would ask how he is fighting the monsters while simuntaneously talking in his mind, well, he's also currently in [Auto-Battle Mode]. But unlike Rachel's, where it is only activated in a life-threatening situation, Hajin can activate it at will.

[Oh come on, this is not the time to get embarrassed.]

'... fine. You say it as if it's nothing, but you're not the one who iis feeling it, so you have no right to complain!'

[... *sigh* seriously, sometimes, you remind me of my younger self, but well, leaving that aside, you and I know very well that you have a thing for Rachel, and Evandel's the proof. That can be proven by the fact that there were a lot of people who were talented and could give you their blood, without you even needing to do it in secret without telling them. But you chose Rachel. On the surface, you assured yourself that you only did it because of Rachel's talent and because she is well... well-mannered, but deep down, you just wanted to rest and enjoy yourself with a family, and Rachel and Evandel were the perfect people for that. Even when writing the novel, you wrote Rachel's character the most unique out of them, you had a thing for Rachel even before coming to this world. Now admit it, you're a SIMP!]

[It was also why you kept Rachel's past without any trauma in the original. Her past was perfect, with nearly no bad thing. You were so biased towards her that you wrote her as the always perfect character with nearly no flaws. Even when most of the fans, especially those who voted for Nayun or Boss, complained about your biased way of writing towards Rachel, you didn't do anything. Which was the main reason why the co-author changed her plot to how the fans liked and kept it fair. Though, now, I think she is the one with the most traumatizing past among all the original female leads.]

'No I'm not! And how the heck do you even know about the last part?! I wasn't even in this world at that time!' Hajin said.

But deep down, he had gained a new enemy. Or to be exact, that enemy was the one who gained Hajin as his enemy. Now, the co-author was added to his "To-Kill" list along with all the other ones who had harmed Rachel or Evandel in the original novel and in this reality. They weren't even aware that just because of one thing, little or big, they had gained an enemy most fearful in the ability in only the multiverse, but the entire omniverse! and the door of death had been opened for them already.

[See! You admited it yourself! *sigh* you're really hopeless. Well, not that I can't relate. You're just like me, that's why I chose you as the person to watch, that's why I chose you to give my powers, because I know that you still think that you created this novel, and you love your creation, especially your soon-to-be family, so you won't go on a rampage and destroy everything with the powers I give you.]

'Well... I can't deny that. But still, you didn't answe my question!'

[Oh, right, We got off-topic. Well, it's because just like how you think of Rachel and Evandel as a family, she thinks of her parents as her family, which is kind of obvious.]

'So... you mean just like me, anyone she considers as family will get stronger? But then again, Rachel considers her whole country as her family, so wouldn't that mean everyone in that country get stronger? Than why only the king and the queen?'

[It's because the love she has for her country is not familial love. It's more like how one has a sense of responsibility for those under oneself. But the only ones she loves as a family are her parents, and...]

'...and?'

[You know what, seeing you, I pity my younger self. He was dense, incredibly dense, just like a certain author transferred to his own novel.]

'Hey! Why are you doing this to me?! You son of a-'

[I don't have any parents, or rather, my species doens't have parents, we are born from nothing but pure mana. So that won't apply to me, LOL]

'... *Sigh* you know what, fine. Do it as long as you want! I don't care!'

[There there, the puppy didn't have his treat of the day it seems.]

"Oh come on!" He said that out aloud. But it's not like anyone could hear it except the monsters.

[Oh look, she's already taking care of those weak monsters.]

'...weak huh? Well, I guess they are indeed weak compared to us now.' He thought while also turning his face to look at Rachel, who was slicing through the horde of monsters coming towards her like butter.

She was not in auto-battle mode, these mere 'weak' monsters weren't enough to even scratch her current physical body. She had just become that strong.

Actually, it was just the system guiding her in her mind so she could start getting used to at least the basics of her new powers. Obviously, mastering them would require several decades, which was actually not a problem for an immortal being even though she didn't knew the last part for now, but not going off-point, currently, she didn't know a thing about her powers.

She couldn't control her powers either. Her control had gotten so weak that if she wanted to move, she would instead jump, if she wanted to jump to just a tree's height, she would instead jump above even the clouds . It was that problematic.

So, the system was currently assisting her in using her powers, it wasn't taking complete control of her body, it was just showing her what moves to perform. It was like how when you start most games, you would receive a beginner turorial that would teach you the game basics, and in your first match, you would be able to see arrows that show you the location or loot or other things. But in this case, it showed Rachel were to move to, from where the enemy would attack, the direction of the attack, if she had to dodge or could block an attack and things alike.

While Rachel finished off three elementals, another horde of monsters spawned. The error had not been fixed, instead, it actually worsened because now, instead of just Hajin, there was also Rachel, who was also defying the logic set in the AI algorithm.

Now, in the present situation, the monsters jumped in the air and tried to attack Rachel from behind. However, she quickly turned around and sliced all of their head in one go, she didn't have to worry about them regenerating since she now also had properties similar to Hajin's Nihility. But in didn't end there, instantly, another horde spawned and it also attacked Rachel.

Now, both Hajin and Rachel had enough of it, they thought that this continuous spawning would end after a while, but it seemed that the AI wanted something else. It was still trying to register Hajin and Rachel's attacks and figuring out the logic behind them, but everytime, their attacks would be stronger and more fatal than before.

It was as if a computer had a short-circuited motherboard, and you spill a bucket of water on it. The only thing it will do will cause more damage, and that's what the AI was experiencing.

However, just as Hajin was about to tell Rachel to get rid of it, something strange happened.

The red lights and the warning sound that the chamber was emitting, all of it stopped. The monsters instantly despawned, even the ones that were in the process of attacking.

At first, Hajin thought that it had finished, he got a bad feeling.

[Don't loose focus, it hasn't ended. Someone interfered with the AI's processing. Let me check.]

And just after a second, he again heard the same voice in his head,

[It seems that the staff that was supposed to administor this facility was astounished while watching your match. Obviously, the reason was clear. But it seems that one of them was a disguised Djjin, and when he saw you and Rachel, he felt danger. He felt that he couldn't let you live. So, he changed the algorithm of the AI when no one was watching, which caused the AI to change its course of action. Afterwhich, he escaped. Or at least, he tried to, but the cube administration caught up and captured him. Obviously, I told them in their minds what had happened.]

[For now, the AI has gone berserk mode. It has stopped for these seconds because it's preparing the necessary commands and algorithms. As soon as that's done, it will spawn all the monsters present, that is, it will spawn all the monsters from all the rounds of every level at the same time, it will be a huge monster wave that was meant to be the way to kill you two by that Djjin so the Evil Society could avoid future problems when you two reached your peak]

'... That sounds like troublesome. But your tone of voice tells me that you have already planned something...'

[Of course I have. This is a perfect chance to tell cube and also the world that the TWO of you are the strongest. So they shouldn't mess with you. Of course, some arrogant organizations and individuals, especially the lower key demon kings from Ars Goetia, will hunt you, or at least, they will try, only to get destroyed as soon as they come close to you~]

'Okay... but wait, in the past, didn't you say that you watched this 'story' because you were bored? So why would you watch something that doens't have any plot twists and only straight up one-sided fights? I can't think of a reason as to why you see this as interesting.'

[Oh no, you misunderstood something, my dear Hajin. I don't enjoy those plot twists, I actually hate them. I hate those stories where the hero lets the pathetic and weak villains escape, saying that 'they will improve' or shit like that. I also hate it when these same pathetic villains harm the heroes and make them suffer but those heroes still don't realize their fault. My hate for it was because several of the universes that I was watching were destroyed because of that very same reason.]

[The hero of one of those universe was naive. Although he had a good personality, he was pathetic when it came to killing his enemies. He even forgave the ones that tried to kill him and his entire family, even when they came again and again, he didn't kill them. He just said "it's fun fighting them". And when the time came, he died while watching his family suffer. And you know what he asked the villains? He asked "why did you do this?" I mean what the fuck?! You can't relate because you haven't watched such moments happen in front of your eyes, especially when you even try to help them, but they deny it saying "I wAnT tO fIgHt FaIrE aNd SqUaRe". It's so fucking annoying!]

He said, and at the same time, just because he got angered, the ground around Hajin began shaking. It was pressured by the Aura Hajin's body was emitting, it was not his own aura, but the aura of the creator, the supreme being. And this proved why getting him angry was never something he would want.

However, the aura obviously didn't harm him, neither did it harm Rachel. But it was felt by all the people on earth, even the planet itself was shaking, causing earth quakes at several places and chaning the landscape at various coordinates on the planet, even the planet's orbit was threatening to change its course, but no one couldn't find it's origin, which was because the aura had distorted the space itself, making it impossible for it to be traced and its source located, even after it had stopped. That was just how powerful it was. But Rachel and Hajin were oblivious to that, it was, however, for their own good.

But before anything else was done, the aura vanished. And soon after, the chamber's lights began glowing crazily in heavy shades of red. The warning sound was getting even stronger.

Hajin and Rachel went close to each other. They were facing their back towards each other. They didn't need to see each other's face to know what they were thinking. Actually, they could communicate in their thoughts , and that's what they were doing currently.

'What is happening?!' Rachel asked. She had gone through a lot today. First she went through that insane pain, than the shock of receiving new powers, and than being surprised by seeeing those same powers in action. But there was even more?! Why was the lights reacting this way?! It clearly wasn't a good sigh, Rachel knew that. Which was why she asked Hajin, who she was sure would know the answer as he didn't react to it much.

'Calm down, it's nothing that will put us in danger. Even you should know that after receiving your new powers that nearly no one in the world can harm you, and the same goes with me. We have become that powerful. So calm down.'

'... *sigh* okay. I was just surprised, it is a lot to take in so much information in a single day. But still, what is happenin-- wait, how do you know I gained new powers?'

'Well, obviously. I'm actually surprised by how well you're doing currently. Normally, one would just faint after going through such intense pain. And as for what is happening, well, let's say that we are proceeding to the final round of this facility. So get ready, because every single monster that we faced, and ones we didn't face, will all spawn at the same time soon. And for your last question, it's a long explanation, let's talk later about that, right now is not the time for that.'

'...fine. And final round huh, so it's actually been that long since we started fighting? But I don't remember fighting the boss-monster of master class. So how, did we skip to the final round for some reason?'

'Sort of. Actually, since time is slowed down, I might as well explain it now. You see, one of the staff watching us turned out to be a Djjin, and sensing the danger from us, he tried to get rid of us. He thought that if we fought all the monsters at the same time, we would not survive. He also disabled the virtual damage system, so any damage we receive now will really damage our body as well. The monsters haven't turned real, however, they can still harm us just like real monsters.' He replied. And after a short pause, soon added,

'However, he did one thing wrong. He thought that this could kill us, but in truth, it won't. Even I alone can get rid of all of them if I use my gift, same goes for you while using your new gift. And he also got caught before he could even escape cube, truly pathetic. Oh, and also, before you ask, I can slow down time using my gift as well. Actually, I think you can do something similar too, since our powers have the same source and just different natures, the basic is still almost the same. I can probably teach you how to use most of these powers. But well, we'll get into that later when we go back to our dorm like we planned.'

'Okay. Now I can't even be surprised anymore, but now that I think about it, it actually makes sense. Whenever I'm around you, I feel like I am stronger than usual, but I don't sense any flow of magic in my body whose signature doesn't belong to me, so now, all this makes sense somehow.'

'Oh? So you also have that type of power... well, as expected, HE didn't leave anything behind.'

' "HE"?' She asked since Hajin empathized when he mentioned him.

'The one who gave us these powers. I'll tell you that as well, but later. Oh, seems like they are already here. Well, get ready. I suggest focusing your new powers on your weapon even more. And also use the output limiter.'

'Output... Limiter...?' She asked as she looked around. Monsters had started spawing, and not just normal monsters, most of them were boss monsters.

'Oh, right. You don't know anything about that either.' He said while sighing.

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Word Count : 3665