Chapter 13 - The One Where Things Go Off Script

Blue sword qi pulsed from the Seven-Branched Sword, cloaking the blade in a sharp glow. The pure mana made it shine like polished steel under the sun.

Melissa glanced at the sword in Ethan's hand and asked, "You ready?"

"Yeah."

I quietly stepped back. There wasn't anything I could do here. The protagonist would bring out his hidden power and handle this djinn without a hitch. And Melissa? She'd probably stop trying to compete with him after this and start admiring him instead.

"Support me," Ethan said, adjusting his grip.

"Support? Please, I'm going to be the one who finishes him off." Melissa smiled as she nocked another magic arrow.

The djinn beat her to it. He let out a roar and launched a wave of black mana, like a flame from hell. A streak of sword light cut right through it. A sword saint could slice anything, fire, air, even raw magic.

With the path cleared, Melissa's arrow flew straight and true, embedding itself in the djinn's shoulder.

Ethan didn't hesitate. He jumped and brought his sword down in a diagonal slash. It should've stopped the djinn in his tracks.

But the djinn just grinned.

Something felt wrong.

A second later, magic power erupted from the djinn's wound, blasting Ethan across the room like he got hit by a truck. He slammed into a wall and crumpled to the floor.

"…" "…" We were both frozen.

This wasn't supposed to happen. After taking a hit like that, Ethan was supposed to get serious and crush the djinn.

"Ugh…"

He stood up, barely. Definitely not okay.

"You alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine… Kuu."

He clearly wasn't. He needed time to recover. Meanwhile, the djinn began walking toward Melissa. Her expression stiffened.

Chweek... Chweek...

She fired off two arrows in quick succession. No effect. The djinn kept coming, now with arrows sticking out of him like some cursed pincushion.

"This isn't regeneration…" she muttered.

She was right. He wasn't healing. His body was just absurdly durable. And this version of the djinn? I hadn't written him like this. Melissa was never supposed to win this fight.

She went pale as fear started creeping in.

"Just support me!" Ethan shouted, stepping in front of her.

The djinn didn't even glance at him. His eyes were locked onto her. Black mana swirled around his arm, forming into a huge wolf-shaped construct that lunged at Ethan.

"Uuuk!"

The djinn fought Ethan with one arm and grabbed Melissa's face with the other.

"…Are we screwed?" I muttered.

I had already made it to the back of the exhibit hall, trying to find a safe corner. But there was a father and child already crouched there.

"Go that way," I told them.

"H-Huh?"

"Farther back. It's not safe here."

I could hear my voice shake. Yeah, I was scared out of my mind.

"B-But…"

"While he's distracted, just go!"

They didn't need to be told twice. They ran. I pulled out my laptop from my cross bag and opened it. This djinn wasn't supposed to be this strong. What the hell was up with that arm?

I peeked out. The wolf-like arm was still evenly matched with the protagonist's sword. That wasn't in the setting. I never gave him that ability.

At this rate, they might both die.

I took out my gun and removed the magazine, placing a bullet on the laptop.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I checked the bullet's current setting:

[Mana Bullet] [Null Attribute] [Attack Power: 3/10] - A bullet infused with mana. Stronger than standard bullets.

Way too weak. Even scratching the djinn would be a stretch.

I needed more power. But the solution wasn't just strength, it was attributes. That's why heroes needed variety. Attributes could flip the table on a stronger opponent.

This djinn was clearly darkness-aligned. So, I just had to switch the bullet to light.

[Mana Bullet] [Light Attribute] [Attack Power: 5/10] — A bullet condensed with light essence. Explodes twice on impact.

[This change will cost 104 SP. Save settings?]

That was 80% of what I'd earned this week. And even then, I wasn't sure if it was enough.

I cranked the attack up to 6.

[Not enough SP. Adjusting value to: 5.6/10. Save?]

I saved it.

The laptop glowed as the bullet changed, its casing now sleek and shimmering. Done.

I loaded the new bullet, took a breath, and looked out again.

Melissa was barely hanging on. Her skin was turning purple, maybe suffocation, maybe poison. Ethan was finally gaining the upper hand against the djinn's right arm, but it might not be fast enough.

I stepped out from cover.

"Hey!"

"Move!"

He dove to the side without looking back. The djinn's arm followed him, giving me a clear shot.

I pulled the trigger.

A blinding flash shot from the barrel. The force was so intense, the handgun exploded in my hand. Shards flew everywhere as I dropped the ruined weapon and grabbed my wrist in pain.

But the bullet didn't miss.

It hit the djinn's left shoulder dead-on.

A second later, the light burst outward, purifying the djinn's arm completely.

His arm was gone.

Melissa collapsed, gasping. Ethan didn't let the moment slip. His sword lit up with metal qi. He activated the sword saint's all-severing strike, something he could only use once or twice a day.

That was all it took.

I could step back now.

"Hmm?"

A small kid ran up to me. The same kid I'd helped earlier. Couldn't tell if they were a boy or girl, but they had a gentle face and short hair. They grabbed my hand, and healed it completely.

Ah. The Association's secret healing authority. So this was them.

"Thanks."

I ruffled the kid's hair and smiled.

Guuuu!

I flinched and turned. The djinn dropped to his knees in front of Ethan, now missing an arm.

It was over.

"Huuu…"

I slumped to the ground. My legs gave out completely.

***

"Gueeek!"

Melissa jerked awake and immediately started vomiting. It didn't stop after one heave. She kept going, coughing up everything she'd eaten and drank. Her hands clutched at the floor, and her whole body trembled like she was trying to keep herself from falling apart.

I winced watching her. Honestly, I got it. That scene earlier… not something you walk away from without feeling sick.

The reason she chose a bow wasn't just because she liked it. Deep down, she didn't want to get too close to this kind of horror. She put on a tough front, but at heart, she was still a pampered kid raised in a nice home. It'd take time for her to toughen up for real.

"…"

Ethan approached her, looking like he wanted to help. He gently reached out to touch her back, maybe to comfort her.

Whap...

She smacked his hand away.

He flinched, pulled back, and didn't try again.

"Leave her alone. Her brother should be showing up soon."

I said it casually, not really thinking. I already knew the script. Her older brother would arrive first. Then her dad would come clean up the rest.

But apparently, that wasn't the thing to say.

"You, you… Gueeek!"

She shot me a look like she wanted to bury an arrow in my skull. Her eyes were bloodshot, her expression somewhere between rage and total breakdown.

Yeah, maybe she just needed someone to blame.

And I wasn't wrong, unlike Celeste, Melissa had always been sensitive. Even just seeing a bug in her food could ruin her day. Getting grabbed by a djinn and nearly killed? It made sense she was falling apart.

"…You."

I didn't wait for whatever insult she was about to throw.

"I'll head out first."

Ethan seemed like he wanted to say something too, but for some reason, he stayed quiet. His face had gone weirdly stiff. Maybe he sensed something I didn't. Whatever it was, I didn't stick around. I had my own stuff to worry about.

The djinn's power level had been all wrong.

Way stronger than anything I had set.

I needed to figure out why.

---

A sword sliced through the air, leaving a trail of white magic behind it. In a single sweep, the monsters in front of Elena were reduced to corpses.

She retracted her sword and turned with her usual grace, her hair catching the breeze just right.

Around her, the crowd of civilians gawked like they'd just seen a miracle. Some of them would probably be telling this story for the rest of their lives, I saw her. The Elena. In person.

"You're safe now."

"Vice-leader!"

Someone ran up to her, out of breath, and pulled out a transceiver from his ear.

"A djinn just showed up at the National Weapons Museum!"

"What?"

"You should get over there right away, wait… huh?" He blinked and tapped his earpiece. "Yes? …Ah. Understood."

"What's wrong?"

"Apparently, it's already been handled. Three Valor cadets were there."

"That's… convenient. Which cadets?"

"Ethan Ward, Melissa Cross, and... ugh!"

A gust of wind hit him in the face mid-sentence. By the time he looked up, the vice-president was gone.

---

She arrived at the museum just as a young man walked out. He froze when he spotted her, then gave a polite bow.

"Hello."

He was calm. That was odd. Elena might act humble, but she was still one of the most famous heroes in the country. Most cadets would stammer or at least look nervous.

"Did something happen inside?" she asked.

"A djinn showed up. He's dead now," the young man said with a shrug.

"I see… and you are?"

"I'm a cadet."

He grinned.

There it was again, that strange feeling. Ele a didn't recognize his name, but something about his attitude stuck out.

"Oh, I see."

"The others are still inside. You'll find them easily."

With that, he introduced himself as Noah Swagger and walked off, casual as ever.

The vice-president watched him go, mildly intrigued.

"…Who is he?"

She made a mental note and stepped into the building.

Inside, the place was wrecked. Cracked tiles. Burn marks. A faint residue of magic power still floating in the air.

"Melissa!"

She turned toward the entrance. A middle-aged man ran in, eyes wide with panic. Jayce Cross.

"Jayce Cross?"

Elena greeted him with a slight smile.

"Vice-leader Elena Vaughn?"

"It's been a while. Should we go in together?"

She pointed farther in, where the cadets were still recovering.

---

I sat on a bent bench next to a tilted telephone pole. A car stuck halfway out of a second-story window behind me. Around me, cleanup crews and heroes moved in organized chaos.

And I just sat there, completely out of it.

This wasn't right.

The story wasn't supposed to go like this.

Noah Swagger wasn't supposed to be important. His role was small, background, at best. I'd been careful not to interfere with anything major.

But something had changed.

And then it hit me.

"Ah, that's right…"

This wasn't my novel anymore.

I wasn't the only author.

This world, the one I woke up in, wasn't the original. It was a remake.

"There's a co-author…"

A weird kind of emptiness washed over me.

Why did I think I could live here comfortably? Like none of this would catch up to me?

Whoever they were, the one messing with the settings, they wouldn't just let me do whatever I wanted.

Wiing...

My laptop buzzed.

A message popped up on screen.

> [Flaw. There was no real danger for the protagonist or others. If this continues, readers will get bored and say, "The main character always wins anyway."]

I stared at it, jaw tightening.

"This crazy motherfu..."

No danger? That was the whole point! Readers hated cheap danger. I knew that. I wrote like that for a reason. But this co-author? No clue what they were doing.

Then another message appeared.

> [Makeshift solution: Antagonists have been strengthened.]

My hand hovered over the keys.

This wasn't going to be easy anymore.