Chapter 4: Swapped Fate
The roar of the crowd, previously a distant hum, now seemed to press in on me from all sides. I sat stiffly on the velvet cushion, my gaze fixed on the arena floor. Theodric Von Alder, his rapier still dripping, stood over the fallen commoner. The man’s eyes were wide, staring blankly at the sky, his life extinguished. My life.
A wave of nausea washed over me, cold and clammy. This wasn’t a dream, wasn’t a game. Someone had just died in my place. A man I didn’t know, whose life was sacrificed so mine could continue. The weight of it settled in my gut, a heavy, sickening feeling. I had chosen to survive, and in doing so, I had condemned another.
Theodric, for his part, looked mildly annoyed. He kicked the commoner’s body gently with his foot, a dismissive gesture. The story expected me, Kai Lorne, the scrawny extra, to be there. The novel described his reaction to Kai’s death as one of cold satisfaction. Now, there was a flicker of confusion in his steel-gray eyes, quickly replaced by a shrug of indifference. To him, one dead commoner was much like another. The spectacle had been delivered, the ’Tutorial’ completed.
The booming voice from above announced the conclusion of the bout, praising Theodric’s unmatched skill and swift victory. The crowd roared its approval, oblivious to the subtle shift in fate that had just occurred.
As the cheers continued, a familiar blue shimmer appeared at the edge of my vision. The system. It was back.
[ WARNING: STORY DIVERGENCE INCREASED BY 4PPT ]
Four percentage points. That was the cost of my choice, the immediate consequence of altering my fate. It was exactly what the system had warned me about.
Before I could fully process that, another message appeared:
[ GLITCH COEFFICIENT INCREASED BY 2PPT ]
And then, the system began to flicker. Not a full-blown chaotic glitch like before, but a subtle shimmer that would appear and disappear every minute or so. It was like a faulty lightbulb, a constant reminder of its instability, a digital pulse reflecting the abnormality of my new existence. It was unsettling, a constant visual hum in my fixed vision.
"My dear," Lady Sapphire’s voice, soft and refined, broke through my thoughts. I turned to her. She was a woman of delicate features, currently etched with a faint distaste. Her eyes, the color of warm honey, were fixed on the arena floor, where attendants were now dragging away the commoner’s body. "This display is... rather uncouth. I believe I’ve seen enough for today."
Lord Sapphire, a man with a neatly trimmed beard and an air of quiet authority, nodded gravely. "Indeed, my dear. Perhaps it is time we took our leave. The purpose of the ’