The Villain Is Destined to Die: But as the Creator, I know All Endings

Chapter 310: The Sleep-Deprived Genius

"So, the second semester starts next month."

That was what Professor Esther said.

She looked one last time at all her students present in the class before her.

"I hope I see all of your faces here next semester. Again.... remember, the final exam will decide who stays in Class S, especially for the bottom students."

Her eyes shortly fell on Tia Rudward.

She was ranked 100. If she were to fall even one rank down from there, she would go straight to Class A.

Esther’s eyes then gently settled on Alice, Rinna, Cyan, and finally at Leon.

"To all the top rankers. It does not mean you are free either, this is the time for you to outperform the one ranked above you. Who knows... you might get rank 2 or rank 1."

Her eyes then shot toward the empty seat beside Leon.

Ethan was not here today.

Esther had never received any prior message from him either. But anyways, it was not like it would matter to her.

"That is for today, we will meet tomorrow."

And with that, she left the classroom holding her books and a side purse in one hand.

The moment Professor Esther walked out through the door, the entire classroom erupted like a beehive that had just been kicked.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I am going to fail!"

"Nooooo my mother will marry me off to that old fart if I drop out of Class S!"

"Well, at least you are getting married—ow, ow! Shit, do not step on me, bitch—ow!"

"Move! I need to check my ranking again!"

"But you checked it three times already!"

The students were pushing, screaming, whining, and some were even holding their heads with genuine tears forming at the corners of their eyes.

A boy in the back had already put his head down on the desk in defeat, and two girls near the middle were arguing over who would help them study first.

Leon sighed as he watched the chaos unfold.

Honestly, whether it was his old world or this fantasy world, the fear of exams was canonically universal.

’Some things never changed no matter how many universes you crossed.’

At the corner of his eye, he saw a boy dramatically fall to his knees and shout something about begging his ancestors for divine intervention.

’And these are the future warriors and mages of the era...?’

Leon thought to himself.

’We are so screwed.’

On the other hand, Leon himself was not that worried.

He just needed to finalize his research, get it approved, and then present something worthwhile.

Easy...

For rankers like him or someone like Alice, the first semester of Eclipse would be super easy to clear.

....or so he thought.

"T-this is going to fuck me till I bleed."

Beside him, Alice held her head with both hands and agonized quietly under her breath.

Her dark circles were so deep that they almost looked like bruises smeared across her face.

The way she looked, it was as if she had not slept for a full week now.

And Leon actually believed that this might be the case.

"Who told you to take on three research papers?"

Leon mocked her casually.

"Oh shut up. I know, I know I brought it on myself. No need to remind me!"

Alice snapped back at him without lifting her head.

"Eclipse is a hellish place. If I want to stand out, then I have to push through it!"

Leon knew exactly why she was pushing this hard, but he did not want to discuss it up here.

"Haaah... just do not die."

’I have other weapons to make from you.’ He added silently in his head.

With that in mind, his eyes drifted toward the empty seat beside him.

That seat belonged to Ethan, who had still not returned yet.

Veronica had told him that Ethan had gone out alongside Lord Abacus to Moon Tower.

At this point, Leon wondered if Ethan had finally found out who his mother actually was.

This was the only thing which had gone according to the game’s original script.

In the game, Ethan too had found out about who his mother was after the Evana arc was done.

’So some things are bound to happen no matter what...’

Leon carefully noted it inside his head.

In the previous timeline, it was Dreamweaver who had stated who Ethan’s mother actually was, right before Ethan died.

And this time, it was again Dreamweaver who had directed Ethan toward Moon Tower to find it out for himself.

This made Leon think.

If some events in this world were predefined, and actually followed the script no matter what happened surrounding them.

Then these events could not be avoided, and they were somehow resistant to the butterfly effect itself.

And honestly, that was scary as hell.

What if events like Eula’s death, or the death of someone else Leon really did not want to lose, were also resistant to change?

Then things would go real, real bad for Leon.

’I need to be careful about which events are on the list of unchangeable ones.’

His fingers slightly tightened against the edge of his desk.

He would have to test this theory over time.

But for now...

"Alice, you told me yesterday you have something to show me."

Leon first needed to deal with the current matter in hand.

Alice’s ears perked up as soon as Leon made her recall.

"Oh right!"

She raised her head from the desk and turned to him.

"About your blueprints I have made a prototype after making a few changes to the circuits. Do you care to take a look?"

Leon blinked at her words.

"Wait.... What do you mean you changed a few things?"

Alice smirked.

Her exhausted eyes suddenly regained a spark that had been missing for the past week.

"Your design had some faults. So I had to remove and add a few of my own components and mind you, those components were wholly designed by me."

She puffed her chest out as she said those lines.

"...."

Leon was certain that the design he had given her was flawless to its very core.

He himself had crafted every single line of that blueprint with the knowledge of two worlds combined.

That circuit design was not made to be improved by any kind of engineer or scientist here.

That circuit design was made to be a mystery that only a select few could even begin to understand in decades.

Heck, Alice should have taken years to first understand the blueprint and much less create a prototype, then much less start redesigning it.

Leon gulped.

"...Tell me you are joking."

"Huh? Why would I be?"

Alice tilted her head with genuine confusion.

"I am serious. Honestly, it was your blueprint which had inspired me to redesign some existing components our kingdom had. So I get to be credited on the base research too you know. Ahh... do not worry though, I will give you credit as the design contributor too."

’No no, Alice. You take all the credit!’

’Please take all the credit!’

Leon internally screamed at her.

What did she mean his design inspired her?

That blueprint was supposed to confuse her.

It was supposed to make her question the very foundations of current mana technology this world had. But not her calmly reading the blueprint over a week and then improving it while running on three hours of sleep a day.

’What kind of monster have I made?’

Leon thought to himself, staring at the sleep-deprived, dark-circled, chaotic-energy incarnation sitting on the desk beside him.

Alice grinned, completely unaware of his internal panic.

"Come by Luntara with me, I will show you the prototype. Also, you owe me one big favor for this."

"...let’s go right now."

"Huh?"

"Yes."

He stood up, making Alice too follow behind him.

"H-hey Leon, wait for me."

If Alice ever found out that her so-called inspired improvements had accidentally advanced this world’s mana technology by two or three generations, she would probably explode from pride.

Or from overwork... whatever comes first.

. . .

[At the same time]

Right at the middle of Shinra District 77, where several luxurious stalls and vendors lined the busy city square.

The roads were normally overflowing with bull and horse carriages, and with the people of the Liora Kingdom and some foreigners walking by.

But today, everyone stood still at the same time.

Every single one of their eye sockets was glued on one particular thing which was slightly hovering above the road, making a weird humming sound.

Its flat structure had a metallic white and black gradient finish.

There were purple flames erupting from below it, releasing a low ground-shaking growl of repulsors underneath its body.

It basically melted a few of the road structures as it slowly began to land.

At first, the people had thought it was some kind of monster wearing metallic armor.

But—

Ging—!

The doors opened from both ends of the machine.

And from one side, a short-heighted boy stepped out first.

He had short chestnut hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a blue shirt and black pants with belt straps neatly hanging along his sides. On top of his head sat a round hat, and in one hand he was holding a wooden stick like an old traveler.

"Is this the place?"

He asked as he stepped forward.

Then he glanced back toward the other side of the vehicle.

"Xuo, I think we damaged the roads a little here."

Said the girl who stepped out from the other side of the strange machine.

The moment her feet touched the ground, all eyes looking at the strange machine had itself seemed to still only be on her.

She had long platinum-whtte hair that flowed gently past her shoulders, deep golden eyes that carried quiet mischief inside them.

Her figure was slim yet elegant, and her posture was that of someone who was born knowing exactly where she stood in this world.

She wore a dark blue coat trimmed in silver over a white blouse, with knee-high boots.

The passing people in the square were now frozen for a completely different reason.

Her beauty was simply unmatched.

Some of the noble ladies passing by immediately looked away in jealousy.

Some of the merchants had almost dropped their goods.

A few of the older travelers had genuinely whispered among themselves, wondering if a princess from a distant kingdom had suddenly arrived in Shinra.

"Madam Irene."

Xuo said with a small sigh.

"I told you it was a bad idea to take Volstreak here. Princess Lillian will be mad if she finds out."

"Oh come on."

Irene waved her hand casually.

"It was not my fault that their tech was lacking. Let my baby be a lesson for them to improve on."

She gently patted the roof of her hovering vehicle with the fondness of a mother patting her own child.

Xuo pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You are going to be the death of me, madam."