Chapter 87 Book Of Changes

The 'Book of Changes' was something that Russell came up with after witnessing the changes in the original story of his unpublished novel.

As the author who wrote the novel, [The Forgotten Swordsman of Ruined Star], for at least three years in his previous life, and as someone who only did it to pass his time while waiting for his stocks result or to let out his imaginations, he couldn't remember every minor details, but following the chronological events in his unpublished novel, everything would come back at the back of his head as the time passes when the events starting to unfold one by one.

And with the plain purple book in his hand, he decided to write the changes or new elements that happened in reality. By doing this, it might help him predict with more precision what might happen in the future that was brought by the forwarded events just like the Ranking of Exchange that should happen after the midterm exam in October, and not in the Emergence Anniversary that just ended.

Although there would be another Ranking of Exchange as per the Obelisk's Curriculum as the way of prospering the maturity of promising Players for the future, there's a hundred percent certainty that the difference has already been made due to the Ranking of Exchange being done in the Emergence Anniversary.

"Sigh... the story is already f*cked up."

Russell muttered as he took a black pen from a small cabinet under his study desk, and wrote the following in the first few pages of the plain purple book that he named as 'Book of Changes'.

~ Book of Changes ~

First Page

July 23, 2062

"1. The Seed of Chaos

"In the hidden dungeon called the 'Oldest Root of Yggdrasil' where the Goddess of Night's vision was present, I met 'Her' personally which would surely killed me if not for 'Her' barrier that was cast on me.

"I still remember 'Her' slender body and pitch black hair, as well as 'Her' deep blue eyes which would be an insult to be even compared to mine. This passage might seem unnecessary, but I couldn't help but think about 'Her' for some inexplicable reason.

"My idiocy at that time as I didn't consider any possible changes brought my interaction with the Goddess of Night that was supposed to be uninterested in the mortal business whom 'She' viewed as nothing more than insects.

"This brought the existence of the mysterious Egg that I didn't know anything about.

"This Egg entrusted to me by the Goddess of Night in exchange for a contract or the mysterious Symbol of Night which gave me a power that seems overpowered... At least at this point in time.

"I was then branded in my heart by something called the 'Symbol of Night' which was painful enough to knock me out during the process of carving it. And when I woke up, I found myself lying comfortably on the ground of the hidden dungeon.

"Sometimes I wondered about the way I woke up, did 'She' put me on 'Her' lap or something? Haha! What a ridiculous thought."

Russell chuckled at one of the unnecessary passages he wrote before he turned to the second page of the plain purple notebook, then he wrote the following words:

Second Page

"2. Ancient Treasure Chest of Chaos

"This treasure chest presumably left by the Goddess 'Herself' contained items beyond this Post-Emergence World's imagination.

"The items that left a deep impression on me are the dark purple Jar of Nothingness, the dirty white Mask of Night, the two weapons which were the sealed sword and scythe, the keys which turned into a key, then the out of place three dice which came out from the combination of tainted stuff. Sigh...

"Although Growth-type items were very rare and expensive on their own based on the growth or rank limit, I acquired a growth-type sword and scythe whose names were still with question marks.

"And thankfully, with a covert interference of a Blacksmith God, the Constellation, 'One Who Eats Fire For Breakfast', the weapons' one function was unlocked called Eater of Power.

"But one thing is certain, I need to kill Monsters of Chaos origin for those weapons to grow and their sealed features to be unlocked.

"I wonder if the end-game rank I wrote in my unpublished novel is still the same in this world? Well, considering how monstrous it is... I bet it is still the same.

"According to what I remember, at this point in time, the highest grade weapon and armor that humanity possessed is at Mythical.

"Normal, Rare, Unique, Legendary, and Mythical...

"Ha... It's in the fifth rank out of ten."

Russell stopped writing on the second page of the Book of Changes.

'I just made a very confidential item at this very moment.'

Although he could store the Book of Changes in his Dimensional Inventory, he still needed to be careful because there was a certain type of profession or beings that could directly steal something inside the Dimensional Inventory.

A Dimensional Thief and the Cosmos Plunderer.

'Well, I'm confident I won't encounter them this early in the story, and by the time I might do so, many things would already change, and I just have to be prepared as there are ways to counter or even kill them.'

Russell said firmly in his thoughts as he flipped to the third page of the Book of Changes, then after taking a deep breath, he wrote the title of the third change according to his experience.

Third Page

"3. Mira von Obreyon

"I don't know how would she affect the future just like the existence of salesclerk 'Maya' from the Player General Store.

"But one thing is certain... No, I'm not sure anymore... If she will perish in the future."

"This is one of the Untouched Elements that might greatly impact the original story... But who am I to say such a thing? I am an anomaly myself..."

Russell stopped writing as his mind became clouded causing unnecessary thoughts to start to surface within his head, disrupting his train of thought.

He then tore the third page, threw it inside his Dimensional Inventory, and wrote the same thing again on the new third page, but with the exception of the third line he previously wrote, instead, after some thinking, two new lines were added.

Third Page

"3. Mira von Obreyon

"I don't know how would she affect the future just like the existence of salesclerk 'Maya' from the Player General Store.

"But one thing is certain... No, I'm not sure anymore... If she will perish in the future...

"I don't know if I'd wish for someone to perish for the sake of slightly aligning with the correct story route.

"What a simple yet complicated dilemma."

A sigh escaped from Russell's mouth as he ended the third page of Book of Changes with complicated emotion.

As someone who experienced killing another person for the first time when some goons intruded on his dorm room under Reinhardt von Apollon's order just the time after the Banquet of Obelisk, the case was very different when compared to Mira's situation. He could kill with a resolve as long as it's reasonable, especially in self-defense, but when it comes to hoping for someone to die, especially with someone like Mira — who did nothing wrong — was just outrageous.

'But, time will tell...'

He said inwardly because something about Mira would certainly take place in the future, and he would just need to consider the necessary actions at that moment in case his and the others' safety get compromised.

...

Fourth Page

"4. A certain beautiful woman with gold-rimmed eyeglasses.

"The unplanned meeting in the Obelisk Tracking Field brought forth the relationship I currently have at this moment which caused a chain reaction with others.

"But... Ah f*ck.

"That certain Close Mystery Tower..."

Russell simply ended the fourth page of the Book of Changes with a very heavy emotion as he recalled something in his unpublished novel that would happen in the future.

​ It was one of the major events that would greatly change everything.

'If ever that event changes, I'd hope that it wouldn't bring greater repercussions.'

After scratching his head a few times, he flipped to the fifth page and wrote the fifth change he had in his mind.

Fifth Page

5. Chaos Companions

"With my encounter with the Goddess of Night, and becoming a Mediator of Chaos whatever that is, I was able to give the trio the Chaos trait.

"The first one of them became a contractee of the subordinate of the Goddess.

"The second one of them was visited in her sleep, causing her to receive a strange dream for a few consecutive days.

"And the last one of them was requested by the mysterious Egg to drop out of the academy and just train, and train as if it is the only thing in the world.

"These changes simply answer my dilemma... it wouldn't matter if Mira's existence brings changes in the future. We just need to adapt to it because compared to her, these trio already became a part of history that would happen yet in the future."

Russell shook his head slightly as a smile of ridiculousness formed on his lips.

...

After an unknown period of time, he finished writing every change he noticed as he flipped slowly through the plain purple book from the first page, then Russell read with a soft voice the title of the sixth and its subsequent pages.

Sixth Page

"6. System's Behavior..."

It was about the attitude of the System towards him like the delay notifications, he suspected that the System might be playing with him, or the Goddess was just teasing him.

Seventh Page

"7. The Two World Announcements..."

It was about the time when he grumbled because of the System's late response and Amelie's instant growth which caused the mysterious Egg to give him the Fruit of Chaos, but that interaction which was initiated by the mysterious Egg created a ripple that allowed some True Ancient Constellations to feel the mysterious presence in the planet for a brief moment. Thankfully, with the mysterious nihility, the Egg's presence felt like an illusion as it even avoided the eyes of True Ancients.

Eight Page

"8. Fortieth Emergence Anniversary's Ranking of Exchange Event..."

The supposed-to-be conducted after the midterm exam happened too early when Leon challenged Jiho, while Jiho challenged Samantha.

"This is it for now..."

Russell said in a low voice that still made a bit of reverberation due to the silent environment inside his new dorm room.

Just as Russell was about to close the plain purple book, he flipped it from the back of the book where countless blank pages were attached.

Then, after some time, he wrote something on the last page of the plain purple book, although he had no interest in digging deeper into it, he just wrote the following words as a reminder of his identity of the past.

"0. My Reincarnation."