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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Reckless Act
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"Quiet, everyone! I know you're all anxious, but this is unavoidable. There have been a lot of incidents lately, after all."
Teacher Claire cast a displeased glance at the guards outside the classroom.
The number of guards had suddenly increased over the past few days. They were probably deployed by the higher-ups due to all the incidents.
I understood their position, but...
Perhaps it was the students' anxiety that bothered her?
She was trying to calm the students, but it seemed like she was the one with the most to say. She was probably holding back to reassure them.
"As you all know, crimes targeting academy students have surged recently. Of course, you are all metahumans, you are strong. But villains are metahumans too. It's best to be careful."
Hmm, I don't think that's right.
Of course, generally speaking, Teacher Claire was right, but the Übermensch's riff-raff were just ordinary people who went around shooting guns.
They're probably people with low compatibility for the pills. I don't think metahumans would lose to guys like that, but...
It's also true that the number of metahumans is overwhelmingly higher than other villain organizations. Should I just stay quiet?
"So, don't mind those people and focus on your class. Aren't you becoming targets of crime because you're being underestimated by those kinds of guys?!"
"...She has a point."
"If they're just criminals, aren't they nobodies? And those guys are targeting us?"
The students' complaints instantly turned towards the villains.
Wow, her ability to rein them in is no joke.
To instantly turn the students' anxiety into anger at the villains' arrogance. That's a teacher for you, I guess.
She subtly implied that the villains were weak and that the students were being underestimated, boosting their morale.
"...And remember, final exam season is just a month away. You'll need to work even harder to get good grades, won't you?"
"Ugh. I'd forgotten about that."
"Teacher, please don't remind us..."
And her skill at plummeting the students' motivation was also no joke.
Where had the enthusiastic students from before gone? Everyone started groaning.
"Final exams... What will the content be?"
[Hmm, I wonder? What would be good...]
The Author began to ponder various things.
...But this time, I had no intention of coaxing or placating the Author.
Drawing pictures at crime scenes without my knowledge, the sudden appearance of twelve Übermensch executives. The Lyra Furry incident, and even the beast attack on the academy entrance ceremony day.
Looking back now, there had been an incredible number of twists and turns.
I had stood by, letting the Author slowly grow, intervening only when things got dangerous, but here, I decided to cross a line.
Was it dangerous? ...No, if not now, there might never be another chance.
If things continued like this, the final boss the protagonist had to defeat might become something on the scale of a world-destroying cosmic monster.
To prevent that, I needed to find out how much influence I could exert over the Author.
Up until now, I had only offered suggestions to the Author. I had never manipulated the story as I pleased.
But this couldn't go on. What if an incident too big to handle happened someday?
What if, due to a slight mistake, the protagonist actually died? And what if the Author then abandoned this world?
Now, while I still had some leeway, I had to try.
To test the limits of what the Author would allow.
...And for one more purpose.
Steeling myself, I subtly shifted my position and approached Amelia.
"Amelia, do you happen to know?"
"Uh, huh...? No, I don't know. Didn't you say you didn't know either, Senior?"
Right. The Author hadn't set up the details, so the final exam content hadn't been decided.
Given the nature of this world, where undecided things are filled in appropriately, there's probably a story about it changing every year.
"I didn't know either, but I heard the exam content changes every year to prevent leaks. Sometimes it's even the same as last year, so it's completely random."
See? Just as I expected, the exam content was completely random.
...But that's not what's important. What's important is what happens now.
"Ahaha. I heard something through the grapevine."
"Really?!"
"Yes. I think it's pretty accurate? It sounds plausible. I heard the final exam is a tournament."
"A tournament?"
"Yes. A tournament for all freshmen."
[?! R-Reader! What are you doing?!]
The Author, realizing what I had done, recoiled in horror.
Of course. The Author is the one who determines the story's direction.
But she isn't an omnipotent god. She's someone who transcribes the stories of this world. She can change the story to her liking, but there are limits.
Even a puppeteer controlling puppets can't manipulate hundreds of millions of puppets at once.
Besides, the Author has to show this puppet show to other people. There's a loophole there.
I'm probably a major character in the Author's novel. There's no way she wouldn't use me, given how much I've been around the protagonist.
And for me, to tell Amelia, who is presumed to be the main heroine, a story without any basis? Not from a novel development perspective.
Amelia would naturally tell the protagonist that I said this.
But what if the exam method is completely different from what I said?
In reality, something like this wouldn't even be an issue.
It would just be a rumor, a 'they say' kind of story.
But in a novel, it's a different story. It's not some trivial gossip; it's about the final exams. It's a plot hook.
In a situation with no other hints, is there any reason why readers wouldn't accept what I'm saying as a plot hook?
No, there isn't. It's certain. Readers will believe that single piece of information.
They will accept the plot hook that the final exam is a tournament.
Of course, the Author could just not write it in the novel. But I've already told Amelia.
The protagonist and heroine would surely start to believe my words to some extent.
Well, they wouldn't normally think I'd just say something without any basis, would they? They'd assume I picked up the information somewhere.
Besides, I've solved various incidents with them so far. I have some credibility.
Now, they'll act based on that information.
They'll truly believe it's a tournament and prepare for the final exams accordingly.
What if the Author brings in a different exam?
The plot would get tangled. Yoo Si-woo and Amelia would know the exam as a tournament, after all.
It's obvious they'd prepare for the exam mainly for one-on-one combat.
In such a situation, a development like a beast subjugation? The important heroine and protagonist would fall into confusion.
Ultimately, the Author will have no choice but to make it a tournament, exactly as I said.
...And that's what I'm aiming for.
This was an action I could take because the Author couldn't modify events that had already happened.
"Just keep it in mind. ...Well, I'll be going now."
"Uh, huh... Thank you."
I bid Amelia farewell, naturally exited the classroom, and entered an alleyway.
...I wonder how it will turn out.
My hands trembled.
[Well, a tournament isn't so bad!]
"...Is that so?"
[Yes. ...But you can't do that again, okay? I'll get angry! You told me to speak and act, but what happens if you do that, Reader?!]
"Ha, haha... Right? I'm sorry."
I'm off the hook.
My entire body went limp with a mix of relief and disappointment.
This was different from how I had coaxed and placated the Author until now.
Lecturing the Author, getting angry at the Author. This was an act of rudeness incomparable to those.
This was, quite literally, an act of seizing and shaking the work.
Because it was an action that swayed the plot of the work the Author was writing to my liking.
...To forgive this. Does it mean the Author trusts me? Or is it that the Author can't change me?
Of course, it was good that the Author didn't get angry, but it was a bit disappointing that I couldn't achieve my second objective.
What was that, you ask?
...Am I truly human, or just a doll? I wanted to know the truth.
Am I a doll who believes I'm human? Or am I truly human?
I couldn't judge. That's why I wanted the Author to get angry.
If she could tinker with my settings, then I would just be a doll.
If memories of a family I didn't know appeared in my mind. If that happened, would I have been a doll too?
...This body is a manufactured doll. A doll molded by the Author's hands.
Hadn't she said it herself? That she made my chest. She said it while looking at my chest.
If a colorless, odorless doll goes on stage, it naturally needs to be adjusted.
So, when she inserted the setting of me being an academy student, I didn't think much of it. Because I wasn't changing.
She merely put something into an empty space. My memories and recollections weren't altered.
If a human is placed inside a doll that looks exactly like a human, is it a doll? Or a human?
I decided to think of myself as human.
Unlike those dolls, my life, my personality, hadn't been switched.
I didn't suddenly harbor an inferiority complex like Lyra, nor did my life change in an instant like the nearly 2,400 villains.
Just some minor background details were filled in.
"Author. What do you think a human is?"
[...? That's a sudden question.]
"Quickly."
[Hmm, I wonder...? I'm not sure.]
"I believe it's whether one possesses free will. That's what determines if someone is human or not."
[Free will?]
"Yes."
If the world moved by the hand of an omnipotent god.
And if people moved as the god wished, and died as the god wished.
...Could they truly be called people? No, no.
They would be no different from dolls. Poor dolls, tied by the strings of fate.
Poor dolls who believe they are truly acting on their own will, yet don't even realize they are being manipulated by the strings of fate.
I'm different.
I can oppose her opinions, interact with her, and move as I wish.
But what about others? Their lives change with a single phrase she inserts.
Their destinies change. Their thoughts change.
"Humans without free will are no different from dolls."
[...Is that so?]
"That's right."
"I don't really understand what you mean."
I smiled brightly, making sure the Author, who was groaning as she said that, could see me.
In this world, only the Author and I are human.
I decided to think that way.
If I were to ask the Author if she could change me, and she answered yes...
...If that were to happen, I felt like I wouldn't be able to bear it.