Chapter 16: Tears of Chronos
[Act V: Chapter 5 – The Epilogue]
In the game, there are three final bosses you will have to face at the end, depending on the route and direction of the gameplay you pursued.
[Epilogue: Chaos Dragon of Destruction] [Completion Chance:85%]
– Failure of the Liyana route
[Epilogue: The Great Evil] [Completion Chance:5%]
– Harem route final boss
[Epilogue: A Broken Queen] [Completion Chance: 10%]
– Alice route final boss
Although there were other endings those can be considered as more abrupt bad endings, rather than true ends.
Three paths to the true endings of this world…
These epilogues represent world-threatening events that forecast the outcome of the player’s choices.
Failure to defeat the bosses behind these events means game over without any restarts. It’s a dreaded game mechanic, where even checkpoints can’t save you.
All of these end-game bosses require one crucial factor: ensuring the protagonist’s proper growth and strength.
Even if I didn’t want to interfere with certain main scenarios of Lucas, if he embarked on a path that hindered his growth, it would spell doom for me. So, I must be attentive about his overall growth and specs as well.
Despite the chances of avoiding my fate of being devoured by my fiancé, failing to secure Lucas’s development would still result in an irreversible end for me.
As the other bosses would start acting up the moment Lilyana is out of the picture.
it was very evident that Lucas was the most crucial human being in this world right now.
Unlike all of us, he was blessed with the absurd Special ability called “Limit Breaker.”
This ability allowed him to grow his skills and stats beyond the level cap of what the game was developed for. He was the sole individual capable of surpassing level 150.
Not to mention his future S skill, [Lord of Light], and unique skill, [Sword of the Divine] a legendary skill that grants extraordinary powers.
It gives its wielder the ability to see the weaknesses of their enemies, no matter how hidden they may be.
Additionally, his sword would be able to cut through almost virtually anything, even things that seem impossible to break through.
A Unique skill that I won’t ever have access to… and a skill one greatly needed in order to cut through Liyana’s scales.
How I wish I could trade it off with my own unique skill if possible… not to mention limit breaker, why does my special ability have to be that Crazy Magnet?
What’s the point of being likable towards evil people anyway…?
I knew I was a disposable character, but couldn’t the devs add some certain uniqueness to Riley?
[Note: Crazy Magnet is what makes you unique~!]
[People charmed: 2/∞ ]
Shut up useless system!
Considering the amount of crazy and evil people this world had to offer, Crazy magnet is the very thing that will guarantee my death in the future… and what’s up with the 2 over infinity people charmed?
Did my special ability already affect 2 people?
I knew Liyana was probably one of them but who is the other one?
Did I meet someone Evil along the way?
But who though?
[People charmed: 1/∞ ]
So this fucker was just trolling me.
Anyways…
Three Final bosses.
A chaotic dragon, bound to destroy the world if ever her love wasn’t accomplished: “Liyana Heavens”.
A sealed evil god, vowing revenge upon the very humans who castrated and forgotten about him: “Erebil”.
And finally, a woman betrayed by the man she loved: “White Queen”.
Each of these adversaries posed a significant threat, their stories intertwining with Lucas’s fate in profound ways.
Of all the three great bosses, the one I feared the most right now was the chaotic dragon, my fiancée, Liyana Heavens, the future ender of my fate.
But regardless of my fear, I had already made a promise to secure my happy ending, and I intended to keep it.
When the time came, if it came down to a fight, I would do my utmost to defy the fate that awaited me in this world.
For that, I needed to not only grow stronger myself but also ensure that dense Lucas did as well.
It wasn’t just about Liyana; it was about defeating the other world-enders too.
Right now. Interfering with things required a certain balance to maintain; I couldn’t meddle too much.
As long as Lucas’s main scenarios unfolded as intended, he would surely grow.
As of right now, although I had messed up the main scenarios for the first act, they were still ongoing, which was a silver lining in itself.
It meant there was still hope, still a chance to set things right…. Seriously just how did that rat of an old general managed to escape Alice?
Though the first act doesn’t really provide much in terms of stats and levels, as it was more focused on story and character introduction, having to worry about variables wasn’t my type of thing.
Well, there was no use dwelling too much on it now….
That man was essentially trapped in a spider’s web, and just like in the game, he would become desperate enough to carry out his intentions.
Ultimately, he would seal his fate of death by the hands of the protagonist.
Arriving in the library, I was awestruck by the sheer size of it.
Before my eyes lay thousands of books encased in shelves, creating a gigantic maze of knowledge.
Everywhere I looked, it was as if I had stepped into a world of endless literature.
No wonder the academy and the principal herself was proud of this place; it was truly impressive.
In the game, you couldn’t fully appreciate this place as it would just come out as a background.
“How long are you planning to stay, sir?” Suddenly, a woman called out to me in a hushed voice.
Judging from the nameplate on her vest, she must be the librarian. With slightly closed eyes, she looked at me curiously, waiting for my answer.
“About an hour, Miss Anis?” I replied, while looking at her name plate.
“Ah, yes,” she nodded before murmuring, “About an hour, I see. That checks out. Can you please give me your brooch?”
Handing over my red brooch, which served as my ID in the school, she performed some magical ritual on the crystal below her.
I couldn’t understand the specifics of it, but it seemed to be some sort of identification process. After a moment, she returned it to me.
“Is there any particular reason you asked for the time, Miss Anis?”
“Yes, as the library is closing in three hours from now, we want to limit the number of students coming, as well as preventing anyone from wanting to stay here for the night. Unless they’re a senior, no one shall enter the grand Library during curfew hours,” Miss Anis explained with a calm demeanor.
“I see… thank you.” I responded, taking note of the strict rules.
“You’re welcome… Ah, before you go… remember to always remain quiet. And if you want to borrow a book, you must pay the down payment fee of 3,000 Gems and another 1,500 Gem fine if you can’t return it on the designated date for returns got it?” she added with a slight wink.
This woman ….
Not only informed me that my time in this place was already limited, but she also dropped an absurd bombshell. 3,000 Gems to borrow a book?
What kind of pyramid scam like shit was this place running?
“….Got it”
Nodding in front of her, I made my way to the back, hurrying to do what I came here for.
Unique item [Tears of Chronos]
A pretty powerful starting item, it was probably the most useful of all the unique items given throughout the game.
Although it lacked firepower or adaptability in battle, the unique support it provided for the players made up for it. It was one of the few starting items you would want to equip even during the final battle.
You would probably need to finish at least one or two routes, as well as try to experience a bunch of different game endings, before finding out about this item early on.
It was an item that you would only discover through the principal’s words, whether you would find out about the meaning of his said words would be up to chance though… as I myself was probably at my fifteenth playthrough when I later find out about this item.
Though I did win some proper endings without the item it did grant me a smoother gameplay throughout my dozens of other gameplays ever since.
The game was all about surprises, and of all the surprises it could give, this was the best one. In the game description, it was said to be located at the back end of the center row of bookshelves here. I just needed to find the book with the colors of the sky on it.
As a sky-blue book gleamed in the dimly lit area of the library, I quickly approached it, certain it was the book I needed. It fit the design it had in the game as well.
With excitement coursing through me, I extended my hand to grab the book when suddenly, another hand landed on mine.
“Hey, that’s mine!” a somewhat loud voice resonated beside me.
Turning around, I saw a girl looking at me with twitched brows as she crossed her arms.
Long reddish-brown hair framed her face, and uniquely serious green eyes stared back at me.
Coupled with the black shawl and uniform that perfectly fitted her beautiful body, and a beautiful face that I had seen a couple of times by now.
So, she was here…
The protagonist’s one and only childhood friend, as well as the game’s OG heroine if you don’t romance any other girls.
‘Janica Mortelina.’
Right now, she was standing right in front of me, looking at the book I had just taken.
Now that I think about it, why the heck am I meeting the main casts randomly today?
