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The flames licked the letter, emitting a faint hissing sound.
The 'telepathic conversation' continued.
Allen leaned back in his chair, relaxed, propping his chin with his hand as he watched the letter burn with a smile.
'Since the childhood arc has been perfectly scored, does that mean I can now move into the tutor period on the system's task level? Or do I have to wait until next summer, when Rudy goes to Roa, to officially enter it, following the original storyline?'
[According to the original plot, it would be next summer. But since you've already achieved the childhood arc completion, you can indeed enter the adolescent period early on your own.]
[As I've said before, this is your own transmigration journey.]
'Enter early on my own? How? Will the score reset?'
[Similar to how you entered Sylphie's affection quest, the way to enter early is to interact with the original characters of the tutoring period. The moment you engage with them...]
The smoke trembled slightly, and the text paused, as if pleased.
[…is when you—Allen—officially enter the tutoring period.]
[As for the score, of course, it will reset. Work hard, host. This time, strive to reach the 60-point passing mark.]
'Is there still a perfect score reward this time?'
[Of course.]
'What is it?'
[Same as the childhood arc. After passing, work hard to achieve a 60-point evaluation. Only then will you be qualified to know. And after fully experiencing the childhood arc, you should now understand the underlying logic of how points are earned.]
Allen looked at the system panel and murmured.
'The step toward a perfect score was the moment I decided to save Zenith and Paul.'
'Every ripple caused by the butterfly's wings is a trace of my existence.'
'The more turbulent the ripples, the deeper the mark I leave in everyone's eyes.'
'The more turbulent the ripples...'
'The more it proves I am alive.'
'The butterfly effect shouldn't be deliberately avoided because of so-called 'future sight,' and my own emotions shouldn't be deliberately suppressed because of the instinct to seek profit and avoid harm.'
'Do what you want to do, meet who you want to meet, and live 'freely' like a human being.'
'Only then is this a true 'reincarnation' for 'Allen.''
[Heh... How long have you been holding these words in your heart? You clearly know everything, but you just don't act.]
The flame was about to reach Allen's fingers. He instinctively shook the letter, and the burning piece fell.
But the flame didn't go out.
The flame continued to fall in Allen's gray pupils. He didn't respond to the system's teasing, only silently recited in his mind.
'Follow your heart, align knowledge with action.'
As he watched, the flame that had just slipped through his fingers seemed to split the air smoothly, dividing into two.
Then it fell onto the table.
Allen stared at the flame on the table, a smile forming on his lips.
The flame illuminated his face.
'I see, I cut. It's not just about vision; mindset is more important. The Sword God Style truly relies on epiphanies.'
[Oh?]
'...The moment I burned the letter, my heart told me.'
'Silent Blade.'
'I have reached the pinnacle.'
[Hmm... That sounds pretty cool.]
'Not bad, thanks for the compliment.'
[The table's on fire.]
'Yeah, thanks—wait, what?!'
Allen's eyes widened as he watched the flames rising from the table. He jumped to his feet!
The chair behind him fell to the ground with a thud.
The once-cool Bking was now in a sorry state, flustered and panicked as he slapped the table to put out the fire.
Well.
This must be what "reaching the pinnacle" looks like.
From next door came Zenith's concerned voice.
"Allen? Is something wrong?"
"No! Nothing!!!"
'Nothing my ass!!!'
Allen stared at the two charred holes on the table, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.
This idiotic behavior wasn't because he was stupid. By now, he had been awake for nearly 40 hours. In the Water God Style's perception, his brain was screaming at him.
"Take a damn break already!!"
But Allen, with his "to hell with future sight" attitude, had been burning the letter with such fervor that his emotions were running high. How could he possibly feel sleepy now?
Still, his brain wasn't reacting as quickly as usual.
[It's understandable to fail at looking cool. Just don't add more drama to it.]
Allen just stared at the two charred holes on the table, speechless.
'I'll apologize properly tomorrow.'
'Yeah... I'm sure Zenith and the others will forgive me.'
'But I need to come up with a reason.'
'At least the only silver lining is that the flames didn't reach the Roxy figurine on the table.'
Thinking this, he shifted his gaze to the figurine, but once he did, he couldn't look away.
On the table, 'Roxy' held her staff high, casting a spell with a solemn expression.
Well, it looked pretty cool.
But in Allen's memory, the real Roxy wasn't like this.
This figurine's expression was too serious.
In Allen's memory, the real Roxy wasn't like this.
Rudy was too much of a perfectionist. This highly detailed figurine seemed more like something meant for sale, while a flustered or embarrassed 'Roxy' would have been more fitting for personal keepsakes, right?
Like the wooden doll he had carved.
Allen blinked, staring at the 'Roxy' on the table.
'Follow your heart, align knowledge with action. This is undoubtedly the right path, right?'
[Yes. What about it?]
Allen looked at the face of the 'Roxy' in his hand, a smile spreading across his lips.
'System.'
'Activate location tracking. Target...'
'Roxy!'
It might have been his imagination, but the system panel seemed to freeze for a moment, as if it hadn't expected Allen to make such a request out of the blue.
In the next instant, the smoke in the air flickered rapidly, almost joyfully.
It seemed to be celebrating something.
Streams of smoke condensed into a massive world map, floating before him.
It was the world map from the novel.
Allen's eyes moved, and without even needing to search, he saw a solid black dot in the southeastern part of the Central Continent, in the "Kingdom of Shirone." The dot pulsed like a heartbeat, rippling outward in waves.
Zooming in, the map expanded until he could even see the outlines of the palace buildings.
So this is the precision of a 100-meter radius?
Allen rested his chin on his hand, watching the pulsating dot in the Kingdom of Shirone, and smiled wryly.
Although he still couldn't see Roxy, seeing her location on the map was at least some small comfort.
For now, the location tracking ability wasn't of much use. A one-week cooldown was manageable.
It's a pity... Although aligning knowledge with action is important, I can't just recklessly go looking for Roxy.
After all, the jobless event quest is still there. Without even 60 points, I could be erased. Aligning knowledge with action means following your heart, but it doesn't mean following your heart to your death.
Still, it's so annoying. Why do these systems always resort to erasure?
Before transmigrating, I always thought these novel settings were ridiculous and hilarious. But now that it's happening to me, it's not so funny anymore.
I guess that's just how transmigration is.
As Allen's thoughts wandered, his gaze suddenly froze.
Below the smoke-condensed map, lines of text floated up and down.
[Would you like to use 'Gaze'? Duration: 10 seconds.]
Allen's eyes widened, and he suddenly felt his throat go dry.
'System...'
[Speak.]
'What does 'Gaze' mean?'
[Location Tracking Ability: A panel-based representation of the Clairvoyance Eye.]
[So, what do you think 'Gaze' means?]
[Allen.)]
Note: So far this story is published up to chapter 135 on my patreon, go check it out and remember that if we reach the goal of 80 power stones I will publish the next chapter.