Setting up the chess board

"No way! Hyosung's been convicted," Black yelled to himself in an isolated corner of the poor district's alleys.

Confused by the unpredictable set of events that occurred during his few hours of training, not to mention the strange yet dark presence he felt lurking in Hadon.

The presence was foreign, thus Mintugakye couldn't identify its source, but the aura it oozed was felt from an outrageous distance. The sheer power felt like ants crawled all over his body.

"This presence has been bothering me for a while. Should I inform Urane? Though it's possible she's busy helping Hyosung," he leaned on the cold alley wall, wondering. "Should I deal with this myself? I have the highest Hz in the village, so I'm probably the only person who can take it on."

"Black, where have you been?" A woman's worried voice snapped him out of his daze.

Her red curly bowl cut decorated with cute bunny ear pins, with a long grey coat reaching from her neck to feet, concealing the attire she wore underneath. Only revealing a small glimpse of her skirt wrapped tightly across her waist.

A small badge depicting a snake's body tied along an iron pole was hung at the side of her breast pocket. Her name was Anita Loid, a member of the Hadon's noble clans, the Loid clan, or as popularly known, the '7th Nobles.'

"Huff... huff... We've been looking for you and Laura everywhere!" her worried tone shifted to annoyance. "Do you know how much stress it was finding you? I had to work overtime, damn it!"

Her annoyed tone laced with impatience as she clenched her palms tightly on the alley's palisade, her body woozy, as though it were about to topple over, staring at him with a large scowl drawn on her face.

A mix of emotions surged within Black.

Requesting Mintugakye's help was a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence for the noble clans. Each clan having a sense of pride and arrogance larger than Sylza Tower, it only made sense they'd be skeptical about involving a mere commoner in anything.

Anita straightened her leaning stance. "Our heaven has been breached," her weary tone became brisk. "Not by Hyosung, we might be taking on a 6.5Hz level beast," her uttered sentence evoked fear with each word.

"An A-Rank beast? I never thought they actually existed! Could it be a humanoid?" Black asked in a frightened tone. His moist lips turned dry as he spoke.

"We don't know yet, but... From what we've gathered thus far, it definitely exists, and Urane might be planning to confront it," her tense scowl immersed. "The only person who can help us now more than ever is you, Black... You have the highest mana count in Hadon, the only child born with a 5 in its history!"

"Mintugakye, you're a natural-born prodigy!" Her words aimed to persuade Black.

Though the pep talk was poorly received. Black would nearly wretch whenever he was referred to as a 'natural-born prodigy.' His blood boiled where he stood. He hated the label more than anything, for reasons unknown to many.

Thankfully, his seething rage simmered when a recollecting of Urane's words came flooding back to him.

When Black was little, he was teased by other kids out of spite, mainly by the nobles and prestigious, for being born with talent, something unattainable for many generations.

"How did a mere commoner attain such a gift?" Some said. "An orphan at that. Someone born of unknown blood by a whore who abandoned him," commented others. Stares of jealousy and disdain, along with curses, were his daily bread.

At least until the day he met her, 'An angel amongst the devils of this false heaven,' as he referred.

"Why so edgy, young man?" Urane's words soothed him like a gentle evening's breeze.

Quite often, Urane visited the orphanage where Black was sheltered, bringing him meals and clothes once she arrived. Though there was a certain time Urane came empty-handed, her only gift: 3 pieces of advice she urged Black to follow in his lifetime.

The first, "Whenever you're in trouble, just give me a call, and it doesn't matter where I am, I'll always find a way to support you in any way I can," she spoke to Black softly as she crouched, leaning her body on his.

The second, "Protect those you love no matter what, just like I'll do to you from now on. Bonds are special, that's why you have to cherish every thread in this life."

And the third... well, Black never really kept it in mind, since he deemed it unnecessary.

His reminiscing thoughts darted back to the present, where Anita stood in silence, her scowl lightened, with her eyes glued on Mintugakye, anticipation gleaming from them.

Letting out a calming sigh, "As long as Urane's involved, I'll even become a dog for the nobles," his tone mild yet eerily serious.

"I'm glad you're on board," she replied with a cheeky expression.

As expected fr

om a noble, feeling superior over the littlest things.

"I might be in a bit of trouble," Hyosung continued to stare at the transparent screen with a hint of worry etched on his face.

All the pieces finally started coming together, such as why, despite being the book's author, the majority of what happened came as a surprise, or how the characters and topography never truly rang a bell.

During his days of writing "Tales of Taken" as a struggling author in his old world, he had planned on tying up a few plot holes along with deepening the series' lore, world-building, and characters, though it was barely even up to 500 words before he drafted the chapter and abandoned the entire novel.

However, all the little details he wrote within those 500 words were similar - the artificial sky, the 3 Elders, the three districts. He didn't remember until now since he barely put his heart into it, just writing to cater to the whims of his fans. But one thing he remembers clearly was that he'd set it 1 year prior to the novel's main events, even before the rise of the MC.

A background character's backstory to shed more light on their motives before making them useless to the overall plot.

But he didn't write any of this. The dungeon, Impera, Sylzao, White, Black, none of them were his doing, so where did all THIS even come from? The system wasn't much help either, only providing character info excluding his. He didn't even have info on his stats in the overall story.

On the bright side, he had a whole year to prepare for the upcoming chaos that awaited, possibly even gain the MC's trust and care before he turns OP, guaranteeing his safety. Until then, he'd have to escape this "land of extras" and make it to the novel's main world, Afrera, while peace still remained.

'Return to home screen'

[Username: user 6638]

/Stats/

[Level: 1]

[Status: Background character]

[Chapters completed: 0]

[Current chapter: 5]

[Coins: 20,000]

[Free pass: None]

/Authors center/

"Authors center"

[Authors center: Active]

[Author: Hyosung slay]

[Privileges: none]

[Books published: 1]

[Book Title: Tales of taken]

[Chapters released: 600]

"Haaaa..." He let out. "Thanks to the system, I still have an edge. I'll escape this cell... no, this place, and head straight for Afrera!"

'Novel Info'

{Novel info}

[Power system]

[Characters]

[Arcs]

[Locations]

Grinning at the view, "Even a writer must read his work to understand where he's going with the story."

Meanwhile, at the Impera.

The increasing tension felt by the top tiers crept through the cramped corners, with all the Nobles and leaders on pins and needles, waiting for Mintugakye's arrival.

Sylzao was more worried about Urane, knowing her well. The fear she might do something crazy gripped his heart as he paced through the judging altar, anxiety wrapping his face like cloth.

White... just stood behind him with almost inhuman composure.

"Are we just going to stand here and wait?" Welby asked, his tone filled with anticipation.

"We don't have any other options," replied Yadohabi.

They could mouth an all-out attack, but that would be rather foolish, considering they were already suffering from scarce resources.

Over the years, the people who applied for a spot in Hadon's guard force steadily decreased, along with that, so did valuable manpower, leading to the decrease in the need for ammunition and training schools as well.

Since Hadon was separated, the need for security reduced. There were no wars, only crimes of light theft, no dangerous attacks which needed to be ready for, except for small arguments within citizens. The few years of peace made them soft, turning into a mistake they would soon regret, only the Noble families kept themselves sharp during those years.

"We've lost our last few fleets of men to the enemy. I don't know how we'll explain the loss to their families, and there's the problem of that intruder..." spoke the first Elder, crutching on his brown cane.

Sylzao spoke in a raged tone, "I told all of you, didn't I? But my words were set aside for the sake of an outsider. Now we're all stuck in this mess together, which could have been avoided..."

"If we listened to you and just offed him when we saw him? Typical one-brain planning," Weldy cut in, clearly disgusted.

"Say that again, you arrogant little punk!"

A white smoke oozed out both their skins, exchanging fierce gazes with each other from the distance.

This time, Yadohabi and the others weren't the least bit interested in interfering. They were both grown men, after all.

"I don't think fighting is the best option," White's stance remained composed as she spoke in a calm tone...

Before being shot a stare by Sylzao, whose blood nearly evaporated in his body. He never did like Weldy in the first place. That moment was the best chance to show him his place.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion echoed from the far distance, startling almost everyone in Hadon. Suddenly, a powerful gush of heavy wind swept through the Impera of Sylza Tower like a fired bullet, its force nearly sending everything that stood on it flying.

"This strong wind... where is it coming from?" Sylzao's fingers dug into the hard floor, clenching it tightly, trying to resist the tenacious force almost sweeping him away like mere dust. What or whom could generate this much power? After all, the top tiers capable of such stood atop Sylza Tower, struggling against being pushed away, some using magic barriers to block, tearing through the speeding winds like paper.

Sylzao shielded his eyes from the debris until the winds' dying howls increased, the force trying to lift him lessened, feeling his weight once more. "Wait!?" Removing his arm

s which blocked his eyes returned his sight, yet he still couldn't believe what he saw.