[27 March 2023, 12:30 PM]

[Cafeteria]

Today my [Arash Bow] arrived, and I got confirmation from Park Injun that he had recovered the [Elizabeth Painting] from the location that I told him.

The place where the [Elizabeth Painting] was hidden away was a famous one, so he had to wait for people to leave before recovering it. It was hidden at the Santa Monica Pier, a famous place that was crowded all day.

Now I was sitting in the cafeteria trying to enjoy my meal. However, for some reason, Zaiden sat in front of me again.

This time, he was alone. It had been a minute since then. A silence was formed between us, and the students who ate in the cafeteria glanced at us every now and then.

I couldn’t stand the silence, so I spoke.

“What do you want?”

Imitating a delinquent tone, I glared at Zaiden. His fork stopped midway. He then put it on his plate and smiled at me.

“Well… I want to apologize for what Mirana did yesterday. I heard from Lisa that you were listening to what she said yesterday.”

This guy. Was he serious?

I didn’t ask for it. Not only that, I believe that Lisa had told her that I didn’t need any apologies. Heck, I even ignored Mirana because I knew her personality. She hated delinquents because they had made her grandmother hospitalized in the past.

It was natural for her to hate me, as she thought that I was a delinquent.

“I don’t care about that. You don’t need to apologize.” I answered him without changing my expression and continued eating my meal.

The meals in this cafeteria were delicious. I liked it.

“I also want to know more about you, Vincent.”

When he said that, I stopped moving and glanced at him. He was smiling.

This guy, was he crazy? Lisa said he never thought of them as his girlfriends._-.

Could it be? Did this guy swing that way?

I needed to be careful around him.

Zaiden’s face paled a little, and he quickly waved his hands in an attempt to make himself clear.

“Ah, no. I mean, I want to be your friend.”

Oh, were my thoughts written on my face? My expression must’ve changed unconsciously.

This guy wanted to be my friend? There was nothing wrong with that.

It has been my goal from the beginning. I planned to act with him as Vincent to make him stronger. Also, Rai would guide him as well as make him go through suffering.

That way, he would get stronger faster, and I would leave it to him to save the world when that time had arrived.

“Sure, I don’t mind. Then let’s do this from the start. I am Vincent Dihart.”

Zaiden’s face brightened with my answer.

“Really? I thought you would refuse. Oh, right. My name is Zaiden Archman. Nice to meet you!” A relieved smile formed on his face. “I’m glad that you didn’t mind becoming my friend.”

Archman. Zaiden’s family name.

In the novel, only he survived the monster outbreak. He did, however, save Lily in this world. So it’s not completely unthinkable for him to do the same for his family.

After all, he was not the Zaiden that I wrote.

While I couldn’t care less about that as I had thrown away the idea of knowing the past, as it had changed from the backstory that I wrote after I saw Lily, I must investigate the past by myself.

“When I think about it again. I think I will refuse… you are too creepy.”

“Eh? Don’t say that! You agreed to it, so you can’t refuse!”

Unexpectedly, I could talk with him normally. He was kind, just as Lisa said, too kind that he even approached me, who was branded as a delinquent.

After I knew his personality, I realized how stupid it was—both me and him. We were just stupid people who knew the future of this world.

However, if there was something that made us different, then it was my knowledge of the ending.

I knew the ending of my novel, but he didn’t.

It was that simple. For such a simple thing, it made me troubled for a day, thinking about whether Zaiden was a reincarnator or not.

In the end, it didn’t matter. I just needed to guide him, like in my original plan. As long as he was the protagonist, he would be able to save the world. He had no plot armor, but he had me, the author himself. I laughed at the thought.

“Hahahaha.”

Zaiden looked confused, even the students in the cafeteria were looking at me strangely. I, on the other hand, paid no attention to them and laughed even louder.

***

[03:20 PM]

The classes had ended. Our classmates were confused when Zaiden suddenly approached and invited me to hang out with him.

They couldn’t believe that Zaiden was talking to me in a friendly tone.

But I had something to do today, so I refused Zaiden’s invitation before exiting the class. He looked disappointed, but he beamed into a smile after I promised to hang out with him tomorrow.

Like that, I made a promise to hang out with him.

I was now inside Park Injun’s store, looking at the black bow with an elaborate red design on the table. The bow had no string, but I quickly knew why after I looked at its status.

“Woah!” I exclaimed loudly because the bow’s specs were amazing.

—–

[Arash Bow] [Artifact]

[Composite Attribute: Light and Dark]

The bow was used by the Persian Hero, Arash, to end the war between Persia and Turan.

Special Skill:

– [Stellar] Lone Meteor

Fire a single arrow that can travel anywhere on Earth. Enhanced with Mana, the arrow will be divided into five and destroy any single enemy in its path.

Activation Cost: You will die.

Effect:

– Mana Arrow

Create a mana arrow.

– Mana Bowstring

Create a mana bowstring. It’s more durable than a normal bowstring.

—–

The bow was amazing. I loved it already.

An artifact would have one special skill related to its legend. For [Arash Bow], it was related to the legend where Arash stopped a war by firing a single arrow. However, his body shattered, and he lost his life because this special move exceeded the limits of human beings.

But that would be no problem. I planned to enhance this bow before using it. I should be able to at least reduce the penalty of using its Special Skill.

“Are you satisfied?” Asked Park Injun with a smile.

He didn’t even look at me. He was busy admiring [Elizabeth Painting] that he hung on the wall across from his chair.

“Yeah, thanks. It should do.” I put the [Arash Bow] into my magic bag. “How about the dark arrow? Do you have it?”

“No, I don’t. But, what do you need the dark arrow for? That bow can create a Mana Arrow, which is more destructive than a physical arrow.”

“Are you kidding me?” I asked seriously. He must be joking.

However, Park Injun didn’t seem to be joking. He was serious about thinking that the Mana Arrow was more destructive than a physical arrow.

“Hey, Park Injun. As thanks, I will tell you something.”

“What is it? Another Artifact’s location?” He was interested, but I wouldn’t tell him Artifact’s location that easily.

“No. The Physical arrow is more destructive than the Mana Arrow. I mean, it can be enhanced and imbued with Mana. The power is two times more destructive than the usual Mana Arrow, and it can achieve more if the enhancement that is put into the arrow is good.”

When I said that, Park Injun looked at me as if he was looking at an idiot.

“I know that.”

“Then why do you say that Mana Arrow is more destructive?”

“Well, everyone will say that. I mean, why bother enhancing an arrow that you use for one-time only? Only an idiot would do that.”

I now understood what he meant by that.

It was my fault after all. I misunderstood him. Of course, everyone knew about it.

Even I knew that. But I never thought about the enhancement.

In the novel, I made many Awakaners use guns instead of Bows and Arrows. Some Awakeners used Bows and Arrows, but they used Mana Arrows instead of Physical Arrows.

Only one person used Physical Arrows. She was the best Archer in this world. She took the name of the famous huntress, Atalanta, and she even had an Artifact related to Atalanta, her bow [Atalanta’s Bow].

Even though Physical Arrows needed no Mana to be fired, Mana Arrows were more widespread because of its convenience and its power.

It was normal for Park Injun to think that I would use Mana Arrow even though I asked for Dark Arrow alongside the bow. Maybe he thought that I didn’t know that the Bow already had an effect on making Mana Arrow.

“My bad. I forgot that most Archers used Mana Arrow. But, Park Injun…”

It was indeed my fault, but only partially. Park Injun was at fault too.

“I requested Dark Arrow because I intend to use Physical Arrows. Do you have it or not?”

“Sigh– You are really a difficult customer.” Sighed Park Injun.

“But I am the most profitable customer too.” I replied to him with a grin.

Realizing that I was serious,he then pulled a quiver with ten Dark Arrows in it from the shelf behind him.

“Here. I only have ten of them.”

“Good. Glad to have business with you.”

“Yes yes, just go. I can’t deal with you anymore today; there is another guest who will come shortly.”

Another guest?

He must be someone influential enough to be able to make an appointment with Park Injun.

“Sure. I will go without you asking me to. Thanks for this. I will come again in the future.”

Park Injun waved his hand, gesturing for me to leave. “Shoo– Shoo–”

This was unusual. The guest that he was expecting must have been really important then.

If that was the case…

‘Let’s take a look. I wonder who Park Injun’s customer is.’

I then entered the back alley near Park Injun’s store and changed into Rai’s clothes.