Currently Rio was lying down on his bed with his eyes wide open. Looking up at the shimmering stars and the shallow moon. His room was a mess, as the tables and chairs were pushed aside in the middle, while his bed was dragged near the window.
It was already way past midnight, and soon in an hour or two, the morning sun would rise again. But he couldn't sleep a wink the whole night.
Diaries and notebooks were thrown around on his bed, as he spent the last few hours of time, going over stuff from the novel and the stuff he changed. His mind kept making notes and wrote down everything he could think of.
At the beginning of his arrival in Arcadia, he remembered the plot too well, due to the memory flashes that resurfaced before his death. And then the merging scenes replay cleared all the other parts too. So he didn't write anything about the novel.
Then he awakened the system, who read his mind and copied all the plotlines, since the system made the notes itself for free. So his lazy brain didn't think about the need to write it all down again.
But then one day that useless AI died and all the work load came to his head.
He remembered how after that first birthday event, he was hold up in his room for over a week, trying to remember and write down the whole novel, from every arc to every event and even fillers. It took a while, but he wrote it all, down to the very last twist and turn he could recall. He named it "The book of a failed future"
Once that was done, he had to write 2 other more books, one which he titled "The book of changes" - a book, where he wrote down all the changes he brought and made in the original story. The second book was titled "The book of possibilities" - a book, where he wrote down all the potential ramifications of his alterations, and every possible outcome the changes he made might bring. The events that might change and be rushed or rooted out -every possibility that he could come up with was written there.
After a month of sleepless nights and lazy behaviors, he finally finished everything. One of the books about novel story was completed, while the other 2 were ongoing, which he would add and edit whenever he thought of something.
Today, he spent his whole night reading through everything, all 3 of his books, and as a result, his exhausted eyes were hurting now. It had been a while since he read through so much so fast, if not for the experience of skimming through stuff from Sky Ultima, he might need a whole week to read it all. But those 3 years of constant reading proved somewhat useful today. Plus some pills that increased his focus, and maybe one or two potions that kept him energetic enough to bear through everything, also helped a little.
Even after he finished reading and was tired as hell, he couldn't get himself to sleep. After all, tomorrow morning was the day when it'll all begin. The day he had been waiting and preparing for, for the past 8 years.
The plot of the novel was finally about to begin, the first chapter was about to start, and with that it would also start the ticking countdown to his impending doom, if he couldn't change everything.
Ever since he wrote the the book of failed future himself, he had come across dozens or maybe even more major plot holes in the novel story, that he didn't even notice back on earth. Maybe it was because it was his first novel, and he didn't focus hard on it, but those plot holes, those mysteries that were never explained were the most important to him now. As they might hold the key of his survival. They might be what can help him to avoid the ending, to avoid HIM, or maybe even the key to kill HIM without following the written path.
And that's why he was extra hellbent on joining the Zenith academy. As one such plot hole mystery was present there. If he could solve that puzzle, it might give him a clue or a lead, on how to stop the worst case scenario of the novel.
'I will never repeat what happened 2 years ago.' He thought, as the thoughts of his last failure came to his mind. If not for that one slip up, he wouldn't have to go through all that hell. He could've stayed leisurely and lived his life like everyone else, but due to his ignorance, he ended up falling into their traps. The haunting memories of the previous 2 years served as a constant reminder of the stakes at hand. Screaming at him, that he shouldn't fail again.
Remembering the faces of everyone he hasn't seen in 2 years, brought a cold, almost sinister smile to his face.
The ones who are still alive and living in the academy, the ones he played around and experimented with to learn about fate and its tricks, he'd come across them soon enough, and this time he wouldn't just be an observer but one of their targets too.
Artemis was right, many of the students, staff and others, weren't happy with the news of his survival. After all, he was the only one who returned alive, while all the others were killed in that dungeon incident.
"Some of them might try to put the blame of others' death on me, or try to fan those rumors of a new evil God, but since I have enough proof to prove my innocence, they'll all die down.' he mused, his smile morphing into a calculated grin.
'In the eyes of general public, Blake family's image has been good enough. Even though his death's reaction and his father's killings had ignited some false reports, but one charity policy or another new invention of cheap entertainment, would change it all back to normal. After all, he and Artemis have been doing that for years now.'
Rio thought remembering how his mother had transformed the Blake family's image into the most noble, noble family ever. The 8 years of her hard work, was the reason why whole of Damascus was sad for his death too.
"The rumors of me being a chosen one, who returned from the dead...," he pondered, this was an unexpected twist that had made him a central figure in the narrative. But it could also play out in my favor someday.
'The image of my genius talent and other nice stuff I did all these years, had already made me an angel-like figure in Damascus. I just have to maintain this image till it suits me, and use it to increase my influence outside Damascus now.'
He considered the likely reaction of the novel's beginning antagonists. The villains of academy arcs. They wouldn't move against him overtly, not when he was in the spotlight. And troubling him, would only highlight them too. But they would likely send their underlings and minions. He was confident in his ability to fend off such attacks and handle them cleanly. And if the situation ever escalated beyond his control, he had a reliable pawn ready to intercept them. He'll just have to redirect them to that lucky cockroach and enjoy the drama from the sidelines.
"My system should awaken tomorrow too, since the plot starts from then -wonder how long it'll take this time for it to count my points. I've literally ruined everything I possibly could with my power -so would I be a millionaire or a billionaire in points when it comes online."
'That system sounds like a cheapskate, so it better not shortchange me orcut my points. If it did I'll just buy a physical body for the system and then beat it up.'
System, who was peacefully sleeping in a silent tiny corner of his mind, had a shiver as it heard Rio's words.
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A/N - I'll post 2 more chaps today. In few hours or in the morning. My irl job is messing up my schedule
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)reeweb(n)ovel.com