TJ's Rebirth

The creation of this new Reality started with, once again, Magnus' decision. It seemed everyone's fate was already too deeply tangled to his, and no matter what kind of new Reality was born from now on, he would be the one who bore the biggest responsibility.

As to what decision had kickstarted the chain of events that had led up to this moment?

Him letting Matt go.

His encounter with Painter immediately after also played an essential role, as Magnus extracted the [Dream Painting] skill from this guy. The skill would then be used on Jameel and Cain to push them to agree to his deal rather quickly. From this deal, Magnus and his group defeated many monsters, basically clearing some parts of the streets leading to the Arc Tower. This allowed Matt easy access to the Tower. Because where else had he gotten the poison and knife from? Clearly, Azrael had Transferred them to him via the Tower.

The last thing that had sealed the inevitability of the current Key Moment was another factor of the deal Magnus had made with the military—his job to teach the soldiers. How convenient had it been that the moment he'd left the apartment, Matt immediately made his move?

Azrael that scheming bastard.

Now the Key Moment was heading toward a new Reality where TJ died. And judging by the fact that the guy had stopped breathing and Magnus wasn't able to detect his heartbeat, clearly this new Reality had been successfully born. And in this new Reality, TJ was no more.

Or not.

Apparently, TJ was trying to deny the arrival of this Reality. No, he was not done with life, yet. What was impressive was that he was fighting back with sheer willpower. The guy didn't need any tool like an Author's system and manual narration to shift the direction of his Fate. He was very much capable of doing it on his own.

Seeing TJ's eyes snap open and him screaming, Magnus was more than just startled. Right before him, TJ's body contorted, his scream conveying the excruciating pain he was currently going through. His eyes were bloodshot, and they were opened so wide they almost popped out of the sockets. His breathing and heart rate were erratic.

More importantly, there was a huge amount of abyssal energy being exuded out of his body. Not only that, traces of mana were somehow spewed out of him. But they weren't being used. It was as if his body wasn't able to contain that much mana, and therefore had to drain it out of his system. Like a balloon deflating, basically.

Victoria knelt beside him, and Owen stood nearby, wincing as he watched his son writhing in pain.

In the distance, Matt, still with his hands cuffed and his feet locked on the ground, was watching everything that was happening with a confused look. He and everybody else had thought TJ was done for. But here he was, fighting for his life.

Victoria was about to embrace her son before Magnus put a hand in front of her. "Don't." He then looked up at the others who were approaching. "And all of you need to stay back."

"Why?" Victoria asked with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't know what Tyler's going through, and I need to be here for him."

"You can't Mrs. Haysmith. And...I think I know what's happening. And it's best for everyone not to be near him. Please, just trust me."

Victoria hesitated, but after a tap on the shoulder from her husband, she stood up and stepped back a few meters.

TJ continued to scream while thrashing about on the asphalt. Only twenty seconds had passed. But for Magnus, it felt like a full hour. He couldn't stand seeing his friend in pain like this, especially since he himself could feel the same way.

But then a bulb lit up in his mind. With TJ fighting back against his demise, it meant that the new Reality had become wobbly and unstable. The Key Moment was shifting from the one leading to TJ's death to the one where he was alive. The shift was slow, as TJ was clearly struggling to stay alive, but his effort should have given Magnus enough momentum.

TJ was already, albeit slowly, directing the Key Moment toward an alternate Reality all by himself, so the AP price for a narration surely had been sizably reduced.

Magnus 2.0 then quickly got to work.

ʳ As Magnus watched TJ's pain and suffering, he desperately needed to come up with something to help his friend. That was when— ʴ

Suddenly, the new narration text vanished.

'What?!' Magnus 2.0 exclaimed.

'It was deleted. Means it's an invalid narration,' Magnus explained. "But why, though, system? We have a good reason to help him out! As long as there's a good reason, any narration is valid, correct?'

[The Viewers do not want the hosts to interfere.]

That was the only answer the system gave him. That meant TJ had to weather this storm by himself.

'So does that mean The Viewers can deem any narration invalid as long as they don't like it, even if I had a good reason backing it up? I've been scammed!' yelled Magnus 2.0.

'Dude, make up a shorter narration!' suggested Magnus. 'They can't stop Fate that's already been written! I don't care if we lose some Satisfaction Level!'

ʳ As Magnus willed it, TJ's pain receded and so he was able to hang on— ʴ

The narration was deleted again.

'Goddammit!' cursed Magnus 2.0. But he refused to give up.

ʳ As Magnus willed it, TJ's pain receded. ʴ

'Done!' Magnus 2.0 shouted as he watched his AP being deducted by 760 points.

He had to settle with just alleviating TJ's level of pain. He and his original hoped that it was enough to help their friend withstand whatever was currently going on in his body.

Magnus didn't know this, but his copy's effort had a tremendous effect on TJ. With his pain lessened, the guy now had a little breathing room to focus on what was happening to his body. His body naturally wanted to expel the foreign energy wanting to take it over, resulting in his current struggle. But now that he had a little bit of control, he commanded his body to just give in. His soul had completely been consumed, anyway. There was no point in resisting.

TJ had stopped screaming, but his face still showed some degree of pain remaining.

That was when something strange occurred. It started with his eyes. His pupils constricted for a few seconds before blood poured out like tears from the corner of his eyes. After that, the color of his irises shifted, almost as if reflecting the color of the blood. It was as if an artist found the brown color of his eyes boring and decided to repaint them.

To dark red.

After that, two bumps started growing on the top left and right of his forehead.

At that point, Magnus finally had enough clue to be certain about what was happening to his friend. TJ had indeed just died and come back to life. But it was not a simple revival. He had been reborn as a completely different being.

And Magnus had a good guess as to what kind of being it was.

The bumps grew bigger, until his human skin couldn't keep them contained anymore. Suddenly, the pointed tips of two curved bones burst out of the bumps, allowing blood to pour out of the rims. The bones were clearly a pair of horns, pure black in color with red jagged linings like lava cracks on a volcano. They kept growing until finally, the growth halted after they reached a length of about six centimeters.

However, TJ's transformation didn't stop there.

From the tips of his fingers, his pale skin was turning the same black with the same red linings as the one on his horns. The change of color then traveled quickly up to his arms, until it stopped right below his elbows. TJ was wearing jeans and sneakers, so nobody could see it, but Magnus knew the same repainting must have been happening to his feet and legs, as well.

At the same time, from TJ's parted lips and snarling expression, Magnus observed the overgrowth on his friend's upper and lower fangs.

After that, even though the transformation was seemingly over, TJ kept tossing and turning for a few more seconds until he started to calm down. With the last spewage of mana—it produced a barely audible 'psssh'—TJ's breath slowed down. He rolled to the side, and conveniently, at that moment his red eyes landed on Matt.

TJ's face constricted as he let out a low growl. The kind of growl you'd hear from a carnivore animal, not a human.