Chapter 161: Beneath the Spotlight’s Reach (B.C.-2)
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SCENARIO: "A SWORD WITHOUT REST"
STATUS: ONGOING
"A blade forged in grief never rests. Will it find its true edge—or shatter in the seeking?"
▸ OBJECTIVES:
- ???
▸ REWARDS:
- Depends on the outcome/performance
[Note]: "You set this domino in motion. Will you catch it when it falls?"
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I stared at the scenario window, the words "A blade forged in grief" carving themselves into my thoughts.
Aeron.
The idiot was probably out there right now, hacking at training dummies until his hands bled, convinced my "death" was somehow his fault. The System wasn’t subtle—this was his breaking point or his rebirth.
Should I intervene?
My fingers twitched at the thought—I could send a hint through Zephyr, or maybe—
No.
I forced my hand to be still.
Aeron wasn’t some side character needing rescue. If he was truly the "Sword" of his own story, he’d have to earn that title.
"You set this domino in motion," the System had said.
Fine.
But dominoes fell both ways.
I closed the window with a flick of thought and turned to the second storyline—Zephyr and Luna’s story.
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STORYLINE: "UNTIL THE STARS FORGET YOUR NAME"
"A vow sworn in starlight. A debt paid in oblivion."
▸ SCENARIOS/EVENTS:
◈ Two Souls, One Fate
◈ Winged Serpent’s Matchmaking Scheme
◈ Crimson Dream
◈ ...
◈ Where Stars Should Have Fallen (*)
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My gaze stayed on the description below the title for a while, my mind filled with many thoughts.
...This one must be a tragedy, too.
"..."
The silence stretched, thick as the tension in my chest. The holographic text pulsed faintly, its glow casting jagged shadows across the screen.
A vow sworn in starlight. A debt paid in oblivion.
I exhaled, long and slow, as if I could expel the unease coiled around my ribs.
"...Guess I’ll have to work even harder, then."
My words were soft, almost lost in the silence. But their weight settled on me like a second skin.
It wasn’t just about Aeron anymore.
It was all of them.
...
Aeron’s story, "My Sword Skills Are OP, But My Love Life is a Disaster!" , might wear the mask of a romcom—full of clichés, comedy, and harmless mischief. But I’d seen the cracks underneath.
A comedy skinned over a tragedy. A blade hidden beneath the punchline.
In the original storyline, he must have been destined to watch those he cared about slip away, one by one. And it must have carved him into a weapon, sharpened by loss until he shattered...
Thankfully, I managed to change a few things. The plot was changing. Aeron was changing.
Then...
Cassandra...
Her arc, "The Merchant Queen System: From Ruin to Riches," was an empire builder’s dream, probably a redemption, kingdom/business-building type story.
But success always came with a price. You couldn’t rise from ruin without losing pieces along the way. The way she looked at people—like weighing whether they were assets or threats—it wasn’t coldness. It was a form of survival.
I believe that her story isn’t just profit-driven, but personal.
Half tragedy. Half triumph. All pain, waiting to mature.
Nolan and Shaela, on the other hand—that one was obvious.
A Sky Too Small for the Both of Us.
Even the name was a warning label. One represented the sun, the other the moon. Radiant opposites orbiting the same battlefield. If they weren’t already lovers-to-enemies-to-lost-fates, they would be soon.
They were probably never meant to walk the same path.
Only collide on it.
As for the fifth—
My fingers hovered over the unnamed storyline, its lone description flickering:
"You gave hope to an individual in the abyss."
Even without a title, the pattern was clear.
I sat there, the weight of five stories pulling taut in my chest, and slowly raised a hand to my temple, massaging it as if I could knead the thoughts away.
They didn’t go, as expected.
"..."
Was I meant to stop these tragedies?
It sounded arrogant when spoken aloud. Delusional, even.
I wasn’t the protagonist of any of these tales. That much was clear.
But somehow, either by choice or force or simply coincidentally, I was in every one of them.
Tugging a thread.
Throwing off a script.
Saving someone who wasn’t supposed to be saved.
I hadn’t been meant to act.
But I had.
And so the stories had started to bend.
...
The system never told me what I really was.
Not a hero. Not a villain. Not even a named role.
Just an extra.
A background character.
Forgettable. Replaceable. Irrelevant.
But maybe... maybe that was the trick.
Maybe I could slip between the lines because no one was watching.
Because I wasn’t supposed to matter.
And maybe—just maybe—that meant I could matter in a way none of them could.
"..."
I sat with that thought for a long time.
Maybe I could matter in a way none of them could...
Not by shining the brightest.
Not by leading the charge.
But by being there— right there —in the blind spots where no one else looked. By stitching together what would’ve unraveled, even if no one remembered who did the stitching.
The kind of savior who never stands in the spotlight.
The kind who disappears the moment the light turns on.
Aman. A background character. Footnote.
But a footnote can change how you read the whole page.
A small laugh escaped me—half bitter, half tired, all real.
"...Maybe that’s enough."
I closed the unnecessary panels one by one, watching each one flicker out like dying stars.
The tragedies wouldn’t vanish just because I cared.
I wasn’t naïve.
Some people would still die. Some endings couldn’t be rewritten. Some might not even be discovered...
But even if I couldn’t stop the storms...
Maybe I could teach them how to survive them.
Maybe I could make sure that when the dust settled, someone was still standing. Someone who could carry the story forward—even if it wasn’t me.
Just like the last time...
Where I shouldn’t have mattered.
Where no one expected me to stand.
Where someone lived—because I didn’t walk away.
Maybe that’s what I can do.
Not rewrite the whole story.
Not become the hero.
Just be there—in the places no one looks.
Stitching together the broken parts.
Quietly.
Unseen.
Maybe that’s enough.
"..."
But...
Is that really true?
Or am I just overthinking it all?
Reaching conclusions built on my own delusions?
Even if I believe it...
Can I... really do it?