Villain of my own novel

***

Before night sky rippled.

Jiwoo was still thinking about Eshwar's words and found them quite convincing; he had been around Vinny and noticed that he had spent all of his time trying to get Katline back together with him but had never trained.

".... I, too, believe you are wasting time by not even attempting to get stronger because of how you lived prior to your regression." Jiwoo said, and Kathrine nodded in agreement.

"Eshwar has already left; please explain your reasoning." Katharine said with a scoff.

"I think you're spending too much time and attention on me; I'm flattered by your concern, but if Eshwar truly taught you how to use mana, I have to agree with him..." Katline said to Vinny.

".... Though I had no idea you had no mana before..." Katline mumbled, her head down, pondering.

".... I have no excuse, I thought that if I could survive until today by simply pushing my life and luck forward, I could survive in the future as well..." he said quietly but audibly enough for everyone to hear.

"..... I didn't think you would be a rank-S hero!" Jiwoo said trying to change the gloomy atmosphere.

"Yea, I didn't think you would be a rank-S hero." Katline said with a smile.

"What's the point of having strength if you don't know how to use it?" Katharine asked and Violet nodded her head.

'Can't you get a hint!? And like you are one to talk...' Jiwoo thought.

'Damn, me and my big mouth, I should have talked to him alone!' Jiwoo reflected as he observed Vinny and Katline's gloomy demeanour.

".... I have to say that Eshwar was strong as hell..." Katherine mumbled causing Violet to flinch.

".... Yes, even I get scared of him now and then, despite the fact that I have been in the middle of a battlefield while some of my own died right in front of my eyes.... I thought nothing could ever scare me in this life, but f**k that, Eshwar is one scary dude!" Vinny said while looking at everyone to show them how serious he was.

'.... is he serious? H-he is just an author though? I've read a lot of web s and web toons to understand that the strong recognize the strong, but not where the strong are afraid of the strong....' As silly as it sounded, he could only understand one thing from his silly concept, and that was...

"Eshwar is strong...." Jiwoo mumbled out involuntarily which made the others flinch at how serious his voice sounded.

DING (4x)

[SYSTEM INFLUENCE INCREASED BY 10.]

[SYSTEM INFLUENCE IS: 55.]

[NEW! MANA DENSITY INCREASED!]

[MONSTER'S [LEVEL] INCREASE BY 2.]

"Huh?" Jiwoo looked at the pop up with a puzzled expression that quickly twisted into disbelief.

"Huh!?" Jiwoo exclaimed in shock and furrowed his brows at the notification pop up.

"Graaaa!!" Eshwar's scream resounded from a distance.

"F**k! Do you think the assassins had an accomplice?" Katline mumbled and dashed in the direction of Eshwar's voice.

"..... Sh*t! He is still a human even if he's strong!" Vinny mumbled and dashed behind Katline as he pulled the training sword from his inventory.

".... Nobody said he wasn't one..." Violet mumbled which was heard by everyone and a smile appeared on their faces as they held back from laughing at Vinny.

"Pfft, Ahem!" Jiwoo laughed and dashed together with them.

'I think he, too, has read many web s to say such cringey words out loud..' Jiwoo inwardly laughed at Vinny.

When they arrived at their destination, they couldn't see Eshwar because he was hidden behind a black mana veil, but after a minute of loud screams, including Isha's, they saw her run out of the mana veil while carrying the unconscious Eshwar like a princess.

".... Did something happ-" Jiwoo asked but was cut short when he remembered the system notification.

'It must be related him somehow.... But, if system changes affect Eshwar then isn't there a possibility that he could be the individual X?' Jiwoo thought and turned pale at it.

***

In sector two.

I bit my tongue as I said 'my interest' instead of using a different word to explain and calm Isha down from her misapprehension.

"Ahem, anyway how are you related to m-" I was cut short by the system notification pop up.

DING

[User's level increased by 2.]

[Level: 7 (early access)[NEW!]]

"Huh?" I stared at notification, perplexed.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Isha asked with a worried look which was a flustered face just a second ago.

"Nothing, nothing." I waved my hand and dismissed the notification.

".... Mana is stronger." I muttered as I looked around, noticing a slight increase in the mana thread in the air.

'It used to be the size of a hair, but now it's the size of a thread....'

".... Do you feel anything different?" Isha asked and tilted her head a bit.

"No." I said and shook my head.

"Why? Did something happen?" I asked Isha and recalled the golden hue that had enveloped me before I lost consciousness.

I jumped off the bike and examined my body, closing my eyes and inspecting the inside of my body.

'F**k, this is the one and only time Nhifrogr's knowledge has come in handy!' No, it has aided my 'percent' technique, but.... It is still a curse-like knowledge.'

I noticed that my mana was flowing more fluently and quickly than before, and that some golden streaks were mixed in with it, but there were no significant changes. I tried and focused on the golden coloured mana, followed it, and ended up noticing that it had covered my heart, like oil on water.

'This feels familiar for some reason?'

"Huuu..." I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.

"I'm sober!" I said.

'.... There are many familiar feelings, many nostalgic feelings, and in the midst of them all is Isha. Only human, I occasionally feel familiar and longing. A blank slate where some of my memories should be.... Something happened because someone did something to me, and that someone is related to my blank slate. Isha is someone I long for, so now here's my theory!'

'Somebody did something and something happened to me, that somebody is somehow related to me and Isha, considering Isha's earlier outburst, she knows something about this someone but from the way she acted with me, I'm not included with this somebody but... the something that somebody did is related to both of us and this something is related to me as my condition about my pain that, that if I don't use mana to the certain limit and is related to her as her condition of untouchability!' I concluded my theory but was still left with some how's, something's and somebody's.

".... That's the only thing you noticed? That you are sober?" Isha asked with a slight frown.

"Eh?"

"I-Isha?" I asked and took a step back, scared at the thought that I did something wrong.

"You!" Isha said with a frown.

***

"You!" Isha frowned at Eshwar.

'You got sober? Really? I thought you were going to die! But then you suddenly awaken your divinity, and I recall you dying in front of me as if it had happened just an hour ago! And then there's that k-ki-ki... Ha! Goddammit! The k-word! Why am I getting worked up over a k-word? We did it in my previous life.... Wait! Why didn't we do anything else? ... But still! I was worried sick here, and you say that you're just sober? Sober!!!' Isha snarled inwardly at Eshwar.

"Y-you to-touched me he-" she realize that she was doing something dumb and stopped mid sentence.

'I can't believe I became like this!!' She thought, but her hand had moved faster than her mouth, and she was now pointing near her belly button.

"Huh?" Eshwar looked at Isha with wide eyes.

'Waaaa!!' Isha inwardly cried.

"Really? Lucky basta*ds!" Eshwar looked at his hands and cursed at them with a glare.

"Ahem, I'm really sorry; I would have asked your permission before touching you because I'm aware of your condition, even if I don't remember it all the time; I'll ask your permission before touching.... Only if I remember!! Ok?" Eshwar spoke up and asked for confirmation.

"O-ok!" Isha answered before she registered what he said in her mind.

'Huh? Huuhhhhh? Won't that be even more embarrassing? How can I agree or disagree while looking at his face???' she thought.

"So! Isha!" Eshwar called her out with a solemn voice.

"Yes!?" Isha asked.

"Can I?" Eshwar asked with a straight face.

"Huh? What?" Isha asked and tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Can I touch you there again? Because I was unconscious, I didn't know how it felt!" Eshwar said in a solemn voice with his chest puffed out and his hands in front of him.

"... Y-you idiot!" she kicked him using divinity, unconsciously.

"Ack!"

***

The next morning in sector five.

I sat on a bench in the side walk, leaned forward, my elbows resting on my knees, and stared at the ground.

"Haaa..." I sighed.

'In the end, I didn't get to touch her again, did I really have to lose my consciousness at that time?' I raised my hands and glared at them.

"Lucky basta*ds!" I said and sighed again.

PING

My smartwatch rang.

Old geezer: [Oi, do you remember you asked me call a press conference?]

'Did I ask him to call a press conference?'

"Huh? Oh! Of course I remember, if I said it, why wouldn't I remember it?" I waved my hand and scoffed.

[Of course I remember, why would I forget about it?]

Old geezer: [.... So you forgot.]

[No! No.]

Old geezer: [Haaa.... Then you're in luck boy.]

[Huh? What do you mean?]

Old geezer: [So much for someone who remembers.]

"This damn geezer!"

[So, what about it?]

Old geezer: [Cause the press conference is now and people are starting to gather! You idiot.]

"Huh? Now?"

Old geezer: [Come to switch now!]