Scary Child: Your every move sends people into a fear! It’s getting harder to gain anyone’s favor.
Evil Child: A [Warrior] born somewhere in the world takes on the mission to hunt you down.
Well, if you indulge too much in the game, negative features start sprouting up like weeds. It happened with the Scary Child too.
Even when I felt I was doing something wrong, I kept enjoying myself, and bam! A feature that gave a strong penalty to my favorability popped up.
And this time? A higher-level penalty has been unlocked.
‘Dedicated Enemy System!’
An absolutely threatening NPC for the player. You wonder where such a pain in the neck came from.
Somewhere in the world, an NPC like that has been born.
‘So that’s why the rounds are such a mess, like being reincarnated after getting hit by a truck!’
The [All-In Power Level Expert] may not be a child, but they do have a teenage level of age.
While not identical, they certainly experienced something similar to the bad vs. good child dynamics.
Thinking of it as a child-version of the dedicated enemy system, I could understand the Evil Child function too.
‘From now on, as the Evil Child stacks up, the Warrior will get stronger and approach me faster!’
I guess many NPCs already have similar functions, even if not identical.
High Nobles, leaders of massive organizations, and kings in various countries.
Those who trample more people’s wishes to fulfill their own.
Those aiming for the pinnacle of the pyramid of desire or already sitting at its peak.
When their accumulated evil transforms into wickedness, somewhere in the world, a dedicated enemy will be born to hunt them down.
For instance, the revolutionary’s enemy was the Previous Hero, Destroyer.
For example, the Seonhwang’s enemy was the Three Great Evils.
However, the Destroyer, who did not engage in evil, is not targeted by new enemies, while the Three Great Evils are.
‘By someone named Player!’
The revolutionary has gone to a good place, and now it’s time for Man’s Representative to get active. The Chairman of the Foundation will prepare to send them to a good place based on today’s strike.
However, if one engages in too much evil play and immerses oneself in shortcuts, they may face a bad ending before achieving their goals, just like Seonhwang or the Three Great Evils who got held back by their enemies.
As usual, such risks arise within the Gift Academy.
‘Someone among the students.’
‘Someone with a favorability below zero, someone with hostility unlocked.’
‘The more the player succeeds, the more they are pushed back and have to deal with failures.’
Who could that be?
Such a senior student in the upper class.
I can think of many names.
The trio of the Three Great Meritorious Families upper class.
The arrogant spear-wielder, Honor Fried Chicken.
The cool-headed strategist, Cheddar Potato Pizza.
The reckless, violent Knight, Leff Iron Charcoal Barbecue.
Members of the Warrior Party.
The heir of an archery assignment to the archery position, Skola.
The guard leader chosen for portage, Vanilla.
The beastman fighter assigned for portage, Xenia.
The blackened nun from the Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church, who became angry due to the Howling Kraken incident, Nise.
Seniors from previous classes of Gift Academy.
The Plant Club head who had the Howling Mandragora ransacked has been watching the 3rd years below him closely, so it should be fine.
Those 2nd years caught in the Howling Kraken incident are driven by jealousy and have banded together while keeping an eye on their surroundings, so it’s okay.
‘Not that many, really?’
I really lived decently after becoming a goo!
With this much, I should be able to pass off as a [Good Child]!
To label such a child as an Evil Child? The feature panel is truly wicked!
Of course, I haven’t done nothing wrong either.
I didn’t verbally agree to the transfer of ownership for the lecture materials, but seniors who were lazy with anti-theft measures probably formed an unspoken agreement.
Locking down the escape magic for seniors who were crying and begging to be sent home from the professor’s lab, then reassembling the locks with attack spells instead of what I should have done, wasn’t exactly a noble act either.
And it wasn’t a bad deed to put down mental magic on the ground to make new students instinctively run away, as they were mistakenly trying to enter high-level hunting grounds.
I must have done some bad stuff, right?
The Gift Academy is pretty notorious for its unfair evaluations.
One of my dark evolution stealth mosquitoes once sucked blood for the first time by my orders. “Sniff sniff, I feel so sorry for the humans.” It may have raised my karma.
“You. You’ve been branded.”
Right then, a monstrous figure cloaked in a robe, standing quietly, over 2 meters tall, opened its mouth.
It wasn’t hard to recognize Alpha, one of the major sinners equal to Jonnas imprisoned in the Great Prison.
“Oh my god! Wasn’t that guy mute?!”
“He could talk, he could talk!!”
“So my greeting of wanting to be friends wasn’t unheard due to being deaf, but actually ignored!!”
“Alpha. I can’t figure you out at all.”
“Indeed, all major sinners are a little off!”
…
The commotion among the reform soldiers told the tale.
“Hello! I’ve occasionally heard the name Alpha from Professor Destroyer!”
…
“You were part of the retired Previous Hero Party, right? But why are you here alone? And in the special ward for major sinners on level 5 of the Great Prison. If you were part of the Warrior Party, you should have basic permission to kill and immunity from attacks on crime organizations. Did you wipe a city off the map or something? Huh? But that’s strange. The continental map looks just like the one I knew!”
Excitedly spitting out words, the reform soldiers were terrified.
“Yikes! We’re all dead now!”
“When Darknodi speaks, it usually means someone among us will die. How many will die if he keeps talking like this?”
“Goo. I’m just a little soldier. Help!”
Leaving behind the poor soldiers who regressed into childishness from shock, I earnestly tried to catch Alpha’s attention as his heavy mouth opened again.
“By hunting a branded existence, Warriors gain immense contributions. You are a [Target for the Benevolent Deities].”
…All the hard work I put into speaking was ignored.
Being ignored in front of me was even worse than being read and ignored!
That’s awful, really!
“Nevertheless, I feel the favor of the gods as well. Perhaps you are closer to me than to Destroyer.”
“Pfft. Nonsense. How could I be the same as an archaic, primitive NPC that just reads scripts and ignores what others say?”
My friends wouldn’t respond with, “Yes, Oknodie only says what he wants and disappears when needed!” in response to that.
The good life I’ve lived so far tells the difference between me and Previously Hero Alpha.
However, the Warrior Uncle had something else in mind.
“The gods are applying pressure on you. You’ve become an enemy of the Divine Alliance. Still, if you submit, they will release you from their pursuit. In other words, you will be in ever-increasing danger until you accept the Apostle contract.”
“Pfft. Considering that I’ve already thought this through when I took down the corruption of the Divine Alliance, Pope, and Saintess, I can handle that!”
“I also thought I could contend. Ni’alatotep also promised support. However, the strength of the gods exceeded our expectations. Our adventures reached their limits, and our journey has come to an end.”
Even though the Previous Hero is annoying, Destroyer Professor, who hadn’t even told me the reason why the Previous Hero Party retired, was about to unveil a great secret when my signal magic flickered on my hand, causing me to quickly shout.
“Wait a moment! I’ll listen later!”
…
“Oh shoot, Red Tide! What if the barrier is breached already? Under these circumstances, you have to cause chaos using a Mana Disaster and escape through the rift! If you follow the spell I’m sending now, you’ll find out how to safely escape to the Spirit Realm!”
…
“Who are you to help me? This is really annoying… How come newbies ask so many questions? Then let’s settle this with favorability. I have the title of Dark Princess, after all. This should work, right?”
Successfully persuading the Red Tide, who goaded me like a suspicious patient, to save him.
The Butler of the Foundation is quite busy working hard too.
Chasing after the already distant Red Tide.
Now I get why mysterious things are annoying.
With around 100 utility skills, my mobility and tracking ability are insane!
“Alright! But where did we leave off in our conversation?”
“…It seems you deserve to be punished by the Benevolent Deities.”
Alpha’s mouth clamped shut.
