Briber

The book looked like a simple diary, but Alexander felt that it should have more uses, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for the Fate Simulator to give it to him.

However, no matter how much he observed it, the book still looked like an ordinary item, showing no extraordinary power.

Since he couldn't find any uses for the time being, he put it in his pocket and decided to try again when he became stronger.

Instead, Alexander started inspecting himself.

As he was promoted further up in the Sequence, the increase in his abilities was becoming more and more obvious.

His persuasion skills and eloquence, that came from the Lawyer potion, had been further strengthened and it became even easier to find and take advantage of loopholes, as well as find the weakness of his enemies.

Moreover, his physical quality and mental resistance had been improved even more, almost doubling from the Barbarian stage.

Lastly and most importantly, apart from the increase in his already existing abilities, the Briber potion gave him an actual active ability, even though it could achieve various effects.

That ability was called 'Bribe' and it could be used by giving their target an actual or symbolic Bribe.

Through that 'Bribe', the Briber could cast various spells: Bribe-Weaken, Bribe-Charm, Bribe-Arrogance and Bribe-Connect.

First of all, Bribe—Weaken would cause the target to receive a debuff, significantly weakening their abilities and control over the Briber.

Bribe—Charm would result in the target generating goodwill and having a good perception of the Briber.

If used correctly, this ability could make the target not willing to hurt the Briber, or even betray their allies.

Bribe—Arrogance would make the target more proud and arrogant, resulting in a higher chance of making mistakes and wrong judgement.

Finally, Bribe—Connect would establish a connection between the Briber and the target.

This connection could normally be perceived by both of them, but the Briber could choose to have an one-way connection, making the target unable to sense it.

Even though Alexander had read the original book and already knew of these abilities, the feeling of being able to use them at any time was completely different.

As a Lawyer and Barbarian, some of his abilities had been increased, but he was still close to an ordinary person.

Through this promotion however, Alexander felt that he was straying further and further away from what is considered 'human'.

Not only didn't he feel a disgust for this change though, but instinctively welcomed it with open arms.

Humans were considered average in every field other than intelligence, but even then, their intelligence was governed by their primal instincts and human feelings.

Even in this world, Demigods, Angels and even Gods tried to maintain their humanity, even though they were so different from humans.

Just at that moment, Alexander was shocked by his own thoughts.

"Since when did I stop considering myself human?"

"Is this the effect of being polluted or the result of my divinity?"

"It doesn't make sense to have divinity though, I'm only a Sequence 7.", Alexander thought and stopped these dangerous thoughts.

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Alexander pushed these problems aside and thought of the matter in hand.

The change that he expected in becoming a Sequence 7 Briber didn't happen, so he guessed that the change wasn't in himself but in the simulation.

Furthermore, the effect of the Fate Simulator itself had not changed, making Alexander believe that the change would be in the options following the simulation results.

Checking the time, Alexander found that he still had about an hour before the Faceless arrives.

He still had enough time and FP to conduct a simulation, but Alexander wasn't in a hurry.

He knew that the 'self' in simulation wasn't as flexible as him, so he decided to analyze the situation before going in.

Thinking about it, he was very lucky that his enemies were a Judge and a Faceless.

Although Beyonders of this pathway were tricky to deal with, Alexander could say with confidence that he is the person who knows the most about the abilities of this pathway.

Coupled with his promotion to a Briber and his extraordinary items, he should be able to win against him, unless something unexpected happens.

On the other hand, usually, Beyonders of higher sequences have a certain suppression effect against Beyonders of adjacent sequences.

However, in the Black Emperor and Justiciar pathways, this isn't the case, as the Justiciar pathway is geared towards enforcing laws and rules, while the Black Emperor is meant to break those rules.

Alexander's hypothesis is that the Black Emperor pathway restrains the Justiciar pathway, as evidenced by the Above the Sequence title "Shadow of Order".

In the worst case scenario, even if Alexander failed to fight against either of them, he could always choose to leave Backlund and go to the sea.

So far, he knew that he couldn't visit Tingen and influence Klein, and Backlund limited his actions, as he never knew when a random angel would pop up.

After forming a possible escape plan, Alexander found that he didn't have enough information about his predicament.

Although he currently suffered from bad luck, it still wouldn't make sense for two agents to invite him in their intelligence agencies.

The MI9 agent had some reason to trust him, as he was a friend of his late father, but the Intis spy had no reason to trust him at all.

Moreover, how was the MI9 sure that he could successfully join the Intis intelligence agency even though he was a Loen Kingdom citizen?

Of course, at this point, it was way more important to find further information about the agents, such as their extraordinary items and their true strength.

This would not only make it easier to fight against them, but it could prevent any unforseeable events.

Opening the window, Alexander started the simulation.

[Simulation starting...]

[3 weeks after your awakening, you have managed to become a Sequence 7 Briber and you possess the Red Tyrant and the Quill of Fate, further improving your power.]

[You managed to orchestrate a performance, succesfully killing two Sequence 6 Beyonders.]

[As a consequence however, you suffer bad luck for the next 24 hours.]

[You already know that your Intis spy neighbor and your father's MI9 friend are going to visit you.]

[With your promotion to a Sequence 7 Briber, you have more confidence in fighting against both of them.]

[An hour later, the Intis spy arrives.]

[For some reason, instead of inviting you, he looks panicked and straight up attacks you.]

[Reacting quickly, you find out that the Faceless' strength is worse than you thought.]

[You manage to injure your opponent, but he successfully escapes by traveling through the Spirit World.]

[You guess that he most likely possesses an extraordinary item, but there is nothing you can do to stop him.]

[Normally, after such a fight, you would not continue to stay here, but something inside you tells you that fighting the Judge is very important.]

[Four hours later, the MI9 agent arrives.]

[While you were expecting an attack, he instead tells you that he is a friend of your father and wants you to join MI9.]

[Just when he is about to give you the Notary contract, you sneak attack him.]

[You successfully injure him, but instead of escaping, he fights back.]

[Inwardly, you are shocked about the huge power difference between a Faceless and a Judge.]

[Trading injuries, you manage to defeat him, but you know that you can't kill him, as MI9 will be alerted.]

[You force him to sign his own Notary contract and become your own undercover spy in MI9.]

[Before he leaves, you ask him about your doubts.]

[He admits that your mother was a retired Intis intelligence agency officer.]

[Some of your doubts have been answered, but you don't actually care about such a cliche scenario and let him leave.]

[The next day, you learn that your neighbor has left, you feel that the downside of the Quill of Fate had been solved.]

[Today, Klein descends from the Origin Castle.]

[You expect nothing, but you are shocked to find out that you were pulled up the Origin Castle.]

[You find yourself in a world filled with fog and three other people.]

[Just as you thought that you were going to become a Tarot Club member, the Origin Castle trembles and attacks you.]

[You feel that you are about to die, but instead find yourself back to reality.]

[Just as you are about to take a breath of relief, the Faceless that escaped yesterday sneak attacks you.]

[You die.]

[Simulation ends...]

[Choose one of the following options:]

[1. Aura of the Origin Castle. Cost: 20000 FP]

[2. Sequence 6 Baron of Corruption Ability: Distortion. Cost: 200 FP]

[3. Trait: The Orphan Protagonist. Cost: 50 FP]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's notes. [Somewhat relevant to the story]

A single longer chapter today. The following chapters are going to have a huge influence in the rest of the plot and I want to double check them before uploading. I'd rather not rush them than find out later that they destroy my vision of how the rest of the story is going to unfold. By the way, many of you have pointed out that the protagonist is too unlucky in the simulations, but I want to say that there is a reason for that. I've already left some tiny clues in the story and it will continue to become more and more obvious as the story goes on.

Thanks for reading.