VIP Chapter 195: What If the Affection Had Shifted to Me?
Will Systom reread the letter.
After committing its contents to memory, he turned on the shower. He could still feel a faint coolness lingering from the Blood Mint Essential Oil he’d touched earlier. While it wasn’t the intense “burning desire” that had previously set his body’s circuits into overdrive, it was still a distinctly different experience.
And now…
He needed to properly process this colossal joke about “fate” and “clues” himself, while Shuna wasn’t observing his facial expressions.
Regarding the letter…
His first thought was that if he didn’t have an urgent matter preventing him from returning immediately, he would definitely go to Nov and give Iaar a thorough lesson in grammar.
Secondly…
That’s right.
Liya’s confession had been too passionate, and the reason she gave for “falling in love with him” had been too plausible after he’d experienced it firsthand. It had made him forget a crucial factor.
Assuming this was indeed a novel’s world, from the perspective of “story logic,” a girl who was once part of the harem but destined to become a “lost cause” wouldn’t fall for a Cannon Fodder villain who would die in a year, no matter what he had done.
This wasn’t a lack of confidence on his part.
Rather, if he were to detach himself slightly from the perspective of “Will Systom” and adopt the mindset of an experienced former system planner, he might be able to identify the reasons for certain strange phenomena from an external viewpoint.
For this “world,” which was entirely built on “narrative,” it was like a dating game with an affection system.
But, precisely because of this, such a system would surely only be accessible to the “Protagonist.”
The “affection points” on the girls were merely an attribute attached to them, with the trigger solely possessed by the “Protagonist.”
But…
What if…
What if this “Protagonist,” like the one he was seeing now…
had disappeared?
And it wasn’t just a case of “not appearing at the right time and place,” but perhaps a critical bug like “the character’s model, class, or tag being lost.”
—Ah, well, the previous company boss had actually hired programmers for a monthly salary of three thousand, and they had done something like that.
Then, the numerical values of the heroines’ “affection points” might have had to flow elsewhere.
Perhaps because of this…
Their “interpersonal relationships.”
Their “focus.”
Their “affection points.”
had shifted to someone as ordinary as himself, a mere “Cannon Fodder villain”?
For example…
Things he had done in the past…
Wall-slamming Liya for the first time, +10 affection.
Helping Liya overcome the Gentle Blessing of Warmth’s difficulties, +20 affection.
Being locked in the cold storage with Liya and then forcefully draining her blood, +20 affection (?).
Being Liya’s good student and diligent assistant for three years, doing many… experiments, +100 affection (?).
Then, due to his poor guidance, this value would reach a certain level, and through some stress-inducing events, it would trigger the “blackening value,” leading to a yandere outcome.
Thinking of Liya, whom he’d encountered last night—oh, it was already two weeks ago in terms of the current timeline—Will still swallowed hard.
“This seems like the most plausible explanation for now.”
“At least it connects the matter regarding Liya with Shuna’s absence.”
“As expected, sometimes you need to think like a planner.”
“It’s just…”
Watching the water flow down his body, especially where it traced his collarbone, which Liya had once injected.
There was still a slight ache.
However, Adventurers in this world were quite tough; no one would be so delicate as to avoid a bath because of such a minor injury.
The pain was so real, not something that could be dismissed with a few damage numbers and debuffs displayed below a portrait.
“These are just isolated speculations, there’s no other evidence to confirm them yet.”
While lathering himself with soap, Will glanced at the ventilation window at the top of the bathroom.
The Shining Star hung in the sky.
He then realized that it was already nearing evening when he woke up. With autumn setting in, darkness fell early and quickly.
The Shining Star…
Shining Star…!?
This very familiar team name suddenly sparked an idea in Will.
“No, no, no, there’s one more thing, maybe it’s related to this, no… it definitely is related!”
“The earliest clue was… the disappearance of the original ‘Shining Star’.”
Although he hadn’t yet seen why the original work had chosen this name, it was obvious…
Shuna didn’t disappear now!
With his entire former team gone, he might have vanished a year ago!
And along with him…
It’s highly likely that…
His bro, who had founded “Shining Star” with him and died during an adventure in a Dungeon due to their poor logistics.
Thinking further…
Could he not be in this story at all?
“If this is a storyline where he completely doesn’t exist, how will the story unfold?”
“Damn it, I wish I could just skip ahead a year. This current point in time is so awkward.”
The current time he was in was still some time before the original story truly began. It was the year that was briefly glossed over as “Shun and his teammates developed conflicts amidst the deteriorating Adventuring Team system in the Dungeon,” and there were no historical events to reference.
But from the information he had gathered so far…
The broad strokes of “history” had barely changed.
Especially the development of the Dungeons—the Hysterm Family was systematically implementing policies to commercialize Dungeons, thereby slowly gaining control of Entak’s economic lifeline. They were even training an army-like fighting force by cultivating their own rescue teams.
Truly reassuring were the Hysterm Family and the Carver Family head.
Additionally, the Royal Family of Entak, as seen from Treya’s lessons, was in rapid decline.
Also in decline was the health of King Edward, whose severe baldness prevented his hair color from being passed down.
He hadn’t appeared in any major events for half a year, and external speculation about his health was not optimistic.
According to the original timeline, he would die in one year, three months, and fifteen days—and based on Treya’s constant care for his health, this was consistent.
His death should be the most easily anchored point in time in the entire book, as the date was explicitly stated.
Moreover, the Novice Village’s Dungeon was still in Nov—according to the original work, it would only be cleared in two months’ time, as more beginner-friendly Dungeons would become available.
“Great!”
“Although the ‘story’ would change drastically due to the disappearance of one person, history doesn’t seem to change so easily because of one person’s absence.”
At least Will could rest assured that…
“Major events” unrelated to Shun should still proceed as planned.
It’s just…
He would need to be more careful going forward.
“It’s okay! No need to panic, the situation is still under control!”
Then, he stepped on a bar of soap.
Perhaps because the Slime that had killed him seemed to be water-elemental, he was particularly vulnerable to it.
A deafening roar echoed from the bathroom.
“Will—are you okay?”
Shuna then saw Will lying on his back, and the bar of soap that had flown to her feet.
“Hmm… does this have any symbolic meaning?”
