Daddy's Money

"The fuck…?"

Flooded with fear, Mark gently shut the door behind him.

A few scenarios ran through his mind. The first he cleared quite easily; his dorm room was empty; no one had broken in. Someone must have slid the letter underneath the door.

Activating Calm Mind for a moment drained his senses, stabilized his heart, and cleared his head.

'What the fuck? This is either a school prank or the worst foreboding warning ever. Of all time. This gives me nothing!'

Who was watching him? Who slid the letter? Why?

Nothing.

All the letter did was scare the ever-living shit out of him, but that was likely by design.

'Someone watching from the sidelines but also looking out for my wellbeing? Who fits the bill? End?'

End could likely send a message through the system—and hopefully in greater detail.

Someone from the Luikots? A spy watching him warning him of another spy? It was a possibility—albeit weak. But that's all Mark had: possibilities.

'It's just a stupid letter. Could be anything. No point in pulling hairs out over it.'

Mark ripped the letter to shreds, throwing its remains in the trashcan before throwing the entire trash bag into the hallway's trash chute.

With that minor interruption out of the way, Mark showered before nodding off to sleep.

***

That night, Mark dreamed of an endless white expanse. The air frigidly pierced his bare body as he stared into a bright, boundless void.

He could hear nothing but his own beating heart.

'Quite vivid… and very similar to when End transmigrated me…'

It didn't take long before Mark realized where he was. It was identical to the End's white expanse.

'Yeah, this is exactly like my transmigration.'

"End? Are you out there?" he called out. With nothing to bounce off, his voice sounded muffled and muddied.

…

Like clockwork, a black blobby mass manifested in front of Mark. But not into the yellow emoji he was used to.

It twisted and stretched, slowly transforming into a featureless humanoid that reflected no light.

Its only defining feature was two long horns. They curved upward, thinning into a deadly tip. It was like staring into the abyss—and it definitely stared back.

It was End. His true form.

"So…" End spoke with no mouth. "How've you been?"

"Are you serious?

"What?"

"Can't you see what I've been doing?"

"Of course not," End brushed off. "I don't spy. That'd be weird and creepy."

"So who's running the system quests?"

"Me," End said with confidence.

"What?"

Mark's head started to pound as he internally facepalmed.

"I check in on you sometimes. Can't leave my Apostle out to dry entirely. But even then I'm blind as a bat. I'm a very busy man, you know?"

"Okay, forget about me," Mark waved off. "What about William? He knows his future—which you so kindly omitted when I asked. So what is he? Regressor? Another transmigrator? You have to tell me something here!"

The cold air warmed upon the mention of William's name; End's fury flooded out as he gripped his pitch-black hands, twitching with rage.

"That fucking bastard," End sneered. "Yes! He has the memories of his past life! Is that what you wanted to hear?!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to hear," Mark rebutted, his tone confused, as if stating the obvious. "Look, if I'm going to make this work, I'm gonna need information. I'm already fighting an uphill battle."

"I gave you all the information you need. You know his entire life from the novel!" End exclaimed.

"This world and the novel are entirely different!" Mark threw his hands in the air out of frustration. "He has memories of his old life, and I even suspect he's contracted with the Traveler. It's obvious he's an entirely different person!"

"Oh, I understand now," the featureless Demon God clapped his hands. "You would think that I of all people would understand the fragility of timelines."

'Yeah! I would! This is ridiculous…'

"But tell me, how are you fighting an uphill battle? Both of you are starting from Level 0, and you still have a lot of information.

"Didn't you see? He got the Bolstered Core before me! Not only is the world's power system more balanced than the novel, but all the top-tier Items are either already claimed by someone or locked behind heavy requirements. I'm stuck in early-game hell over here."

"No, I didn't see. I'm weakened, remember? It hurts just to talk to you right now," End snidely pouted amidst the barrage of aggressive statements. "And stop talking in video game terms, it's ridiculous."

"Well, he has the Bolstered Core, he can create any Skill, he can teleport anywhere, and he still has all of his sword and magic knowledge. How the hell am I supposed to compete with that?"

"Pshhh," End spat. "By getting the Sword God's Will, of course. Are you an idiot?"

…

"What the fuck is the Sword God's Will?" Mark cursed.

"Are you joking?"

"No. It wasn't in the novel. Not any that I've read. Did you even read your own novel?"

"Uh, of course I did? How do you think that good-for-nothing piece of shit became the pinnacle of swordsmanship?"

"By grinding his Five-star Art. Happened in a few paragraphs around the Chapter 80 mark if I recall correctly, and my memory is pretty good."

"Nope. Not true. You seriously don't know how he became so good?"

"If what I remember from the novel is false, then I suppose so. Which, I would like to put out for the record, is not my fault."

"Hmph. That order worked a little too well…" End mumbled.

"What? What order?"

"It's nothing," End waved off. "Well, the truth is that he was gifted that power, just like everything else. Fucking ungrateful prick."

"By you?"

"Uh… sure."

"What's wrong with you and straight answers?"

"I'm a fucking God!" End shouted. "God-level information isn't dealt lightly!"

Mark raised his hands in concession.

"About the Sword God's Will," Mark began. "Could you tell me where it is? Sounds like it would be pretty helpful right about now."

With a sigh, End's black arm outstretched, with a single finger tapping Mark's head.

WHOOSH.

Mark was sent flying backward. But the sensation felt odd. Abnormal. It didn't take long for him to realize what was occurring.

'Slow-motion?'

As Mark dramatically fell backward, End appeared by his side.

"Any other grievances?"

"Where is William?" Mark frantically asked.

"I don't know," End sneered as he shrugged. "What part of 'I'm weakened' do you not understand? Are all Humans just imbeciles? Be grateful I'm doing this much."

"You're forcing me to do this, why would I be—"

End pushed his palm down, accelerating Mark's fall. A white mist began to envelop his face as End's figure blurred.

"Wait! I have more—"

"Just do your job man! It's super simple! Goodbye now!" End exclaimed.

'This fucking bastard…'

Mark began to black out as white clouds suffocated him.

***

Waking up with labored breaths and cold sweat, Mark was immediately hit with a barrage of different stimuli.

It was the dead of night. Yet the night was anything but dead.

Mark's room rumbled. A strange clamor of shouts. Explosions. Vibrations.

He jumped up out of bed, peering out of the window.

'A Roman Candle battle…?'

Red, blue, yellow, purple; all kinds of bright magic blasts filled the streets of Kolzig-Bondra. Light burned into his retinas.

'What the hell is happening?'

Mark quickly closed the blinds, squinting in the dark as he checked his watch, which vibrated like crazy.

===================

EMERGENCY. KOLZIG-BONDRA IS UNDER ATTACK. DEMONS.

Please move to the designated safety areas.

…

…

===================

When Mark saw the date, his heart sank.

'This is the first major event… how could I forget?'

William von Westergard was supposed to stop this attack from ever coming to fruition. But without him, the only one who could've known would have been Mark.

Now the Academy streets would be scorched with fire and blood.

'Think later. Time to act.'

Mark could hear the screams, outside, and in his dorm hallway. Students begged and yelled in terror. Their shouts soon ceased; then replaced by more.

'The Demons are going door to door.'

As he planned his next moves, a System screen appeared.

┌─────═━┈┈━═─────┐

Skill Integration Complete.

└─────═━┈┈━═─────┘

'What…?'

His eyes widened upon viewing his status.

┌─────═━┈┈━═─────┐

◃───***Skills***───▹

Skill: Hidden Hand → Grade: F

Skill: Calm Mind → Grade: D

Skill: Sword God's Will → Grade: S

(4/2) ***OVERCHARGED***

└─────═━┈┈━═─────┘

'He just… gave it to me?'

┌─────═━┈┈━═─────┐

Skill: Sword God's Will

Grade: S

Description: The hand of a God, one from a nearby cosmos. His psyche was stripped, his body massacred by a monstrous ambition. With the calmness of an all-encompassing wind and an unwavering determination, channel his will. Grants the user proficiency with all swords.

Requirement: The user must have a steady soul—an unperturbed mind.

Scales with Level

└─────═━┈┈━═─────┘

'How could I ever look down on anyone if I'm being showered with god-given gifts? Especially to this extent…'

Mark's slight smile was immediately crushed—several red System prompts emerged.

┌─────═━┈┈━═─────┐

***OVERCHARGED***

User has exceeded the Skill slot cap.

→ Administering Curses

└─────═━┈┈━═─────┘

'Oh shit…'