[The invasion will start in 60 seconds. Enemies will approach from Terminals A-1, A-4, A-7, A-10, B-1, B-5, B-12, C-4, C-5, C-7, D-1, D-4. I wish you all good luck]

Seven was calm. The fear he had felt on the first invasion was nowhere to be seen, and the others seemed more serene, too, although he could see it was just a measure of self-control. Fear still existed.

Even now, he was still thinking of Kate’s words.

How would he know if he was the protagonist? He couldn’t tell. He didn’t want to insert himself in a book as the main character, that much was a given. But as for the rest... He genuinely couldn’t say.

||Invasion started||

||Number of enemies: 180||

||Time limit: Two hours||

[If the objectives aren’t completed during the time given, rewards won’t be distributed. Special rewards will continue to be administered, regardless]

-Everyone, follow the plan! Do not make any mistakes!

-We can do it, come on!

-Let’s go!

Arthur’s group was much livelier than before. The casualties among the members were exclusively among those that couldn’t follow orders.

Arthur was very responsible about his role, and the most important job he trusted to no one but himself. Intentionally, he carried the biggest burden and took the blame for the failures – he knew that few people could take on that role, so he willingly chose it.

On the other hand, Kyel’s group was nowhere to be seen. It was for the best that they worked separately, together there would be only strife.

Natalya detached from the main force as soon as the invasion started, and Seven followed after her. Only that, this time, there was an unwanted guest.

-Hey kid, still chasing after her, huh? Heh, you’re really somethin’ I tell ya!

“This guy again”

-Oy, ignoring me, ya bastard? Hahaha, don’t think you’re going alone this time!

He really did ignore him. He had no time to deal with Nathan, the battle had just started.

Seven looked around, the Terminals were much more evenly distributed this time, and ants swarmed from everywhere. Yes, even from the highest terminals C and D. They were all older warrior ants, with wings that made them resemble wasps.

However, the ones from the highest terminals were headed directly to the center of the district, where the rest of them were positioned. The edges were more distant from each other but it was still more dangerous than the other day.

“Also, if we start from the outside of the ant encirclement, there’s a possibility we will be turned upon...”

Arthur’s group was well prepared and protected, the ants would definitely choose easier prey, Natalya. That just might give the others time to launch a counterattack.

He caught up with Natalya and proceeded to deal with the ants.

They weren’t much different to Seven, it didn’t change that it was one hit and he was over. But for Natalya it was different.

She dealt severe damage to the ants, and as soon as the first few fell to her hands, the others started to fly trying to shake her off. They weren’t following the bait of using their bite only to get crushed under the knuckle, they’d rather choose the safer path: throw her to the ground and then attack.

But Natalya once again broke his standards, and watching her maneuver in the air was nothing short of beautiful. She was like an artistic skater, gliding through the hardened flesh of the insects with grace and elegance – he hadn’t seen that side of her yet.

Everything he had seen was efficiency, ruthlessness. But not this time.

He was mesmerized.

“How much further will you go?”

Natalya led the ants through their antennae's and used their strength to bounce herself up on the air and launch an attack on other ants. She was like a human bullet darting around continuously, while still dancing like a butterfly.

“But this... Isn’t she afraid of losing her life?”

The risk of dying always existed, but the way she was fighting was worse off than suicide. From his view, it seemed like she was willingly destroying her own body to achieve the ideal of elegance, power, and efficiency.

If there was any more beauty to her moves, it would be the fragments of her life force scattering in the wind, an ominous red.

He regretted being unable to watch it through the end, he had to fight. He had to earn the right to see that bloody performance.

Why go to such lengths? He gained insight from Natalya’s actions that went beyond everything he had written about her.

Strong.

Fast.

Precise.

“What else do you want? Beauty? Why?”

Did she want to be seen?

He remembered one of his first thoughts about her.

“The view from the top is lonely... Is it really like that? Do you wish the courage to come down, or do you wish for someone to reach their hands to you?”

“...”

“...”

“I don’t understand...”

There was no more time. He was so insignificant in front of the ants, their hardened exoskeleton couldn’t be hurt by just the strength of his blade. He could only move, helpless, against their might.

They dove in on the ground and he always managed in the nick of time. But there was one thing he noticed that was different.

“They’re slower...”

Was it because they were older? He couldn’t tell, but it helped him immensely into choosing the right path and dodging.

He was surrounded by all sides, but with just a few extra seconds he was given, he was able to avoid death.

Seven felt quite lucky, and for a moment he thought himself crazy. There was no explanation for what he was doing.

“No... High risk, high reward. Just like her, I’m getting good returns”

He had to get stronger as fast as possible, nothing could guarantee his survival if he chose a safer path with stable rewards. Although influenced by Natalya, he didn’t mind gambling everything.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Silence.

It wasn’t like the first two times.

Seven steadied his grip on the sword. On a moment, he thought it was ridiculous to rely on a weapon meant to fight humans and not monsters, but didn’t Natalya only use her fists? It was a direct influence from watching her fight.

Not like it would be much of a difference if he chose a normal weapon either way.

He had done it before.

He could do it again.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Start.

“I can’t do anything about my strength right now...”

He gave up on attacking.

Dodge.

Dodge.

Run.

It was much easier to simply avoid combat than to try to kill the ants. They had appeared as fast and scary the first two days, but now they were dull and slow.

It was like the world itself was slow in the middle of combat, and he only lacked the ability to move inside it.

Dodge.

Dodge.

An opportunity.

Attack!

-Ah...

His body was pushed forwards as he lost all strength on his arm. His mind drew a few blanks before a throbbing pain burst forth.

He looked at his arm in a hurry, he was in an extremely unfavorable situation.

It was a spear, embedded in his right arm, the one he wielded the blade with. The sword has been dropped on the ground.

“...”

“...”

“I see... Now it makes sense”

It was Nathan.

But why did Nathan attack him? No, why did Nathan kill him? If it was because of some stupid reason like chasing after Natalya’s shadow, he simply couldn’t believe it.

“Do I die here?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

The same opportunity he had found to attack, once he took it and failed, it was the same as throwing himself into the jaws of death.

But there was a way.

And he sacrificed his arm without a minute’s thought.

The throbbing disappeared, superposed by nasty feeling of having his bones sliced sloppily, taking along his nerves and muscles in a frenzy of cuts. It was like a piece of wood being chopped before strategically chiseled by a sculptor, as flesh and bones proved to be unrealistically sturdy, or maybe it was his desperation and lack of strength accumulated in a single point, and together they crushed any feeling of pain that emerged.

“I still die of hemorrhage...”, he realized after the deed was done.

Not much had changed.

He continued to dodge.

He continued to defy his fate.

But, in the end, he felt like sleeping.

His movements became sluggish, and he forced himself to avoid the narrow edges that would lead him to immediate death.

He couldn’t die like this, he hadn’t finished the story yet.

It wasn’t meant to go this way, dying like that was... Boring.

He didn’t know what happened afterward, only that he was in a pile of ant corpses and his sight was red.

Drip.

Through that curtain of red, he saw a girl. The lyrics of a song he liked passed through his mind.

“... Where the sweat of a dictator mixes with the blood of a slave... It would be a good line”

He smiled. It was out of context.

And just like the analogy, they were completely different existences.

“I’m not fit to be a protagonist”

-Are you still alive?

He had no strength to lift a single muscle, and his breathing was so shallow that unless he was watched carefully, he would be passed off as dead. But even if he could stand up and accept her extended hand, he wouldn’t do so.

He would die before being able to receive any help.

But he was also a bit disappointed.

She didn’t follow the character progression he was expecting. The mystery has been solved. He didn’t feel like continuing the story.

“So, you chose to give up your throne... I expected you to wait for someone to catch up to you. But you were strong enough to act first to break the shell... Of course you were, you’re way too good a protagonist”

A perfect character was not interesting, and one of the main points of her personality suffered an unexpected turn. Or, to better describe it, an expected but unwanted result. There was a myriad of other themes he could later include, to completely change the flow of the narrative, but he couldn’t avoid this stinging feeling of betrayal.

It wasn’t the story he wanted to write.

“If it happened later, I wouldn’t mind, but it’s too early”

He would laugh if he could.

“Not like I can continue writing...”

The girl approached him and covered his eyelids, wiping the blood off his face to take a look.

-…

He felt like she wanted to say something, but restrained herself. The sound of her steps faded in the distance.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Ai, can you read my thoughts?”

[Yes.]

“Can you take me into the hospital?”

[I cannot proceed with this action]

“...”

“...”

“Wouldn’t it be a waste of your efforts, leaving me to die like this?”

It would take one minute at best for him to die of blood loss, and clearly, Natalya couldn’t wipe out all the ants and reach out for him in such a small amount of time. Something was up, and the only one capable of changing his fate was the world itself.

So why stop now?

[I cannot proceed with this action]

“Let’s make a deal. I will give you an interesting story, just let me live until it’s finished... Give me a month, at the end of this damned tutorial I will happily accept my death”

[….......]

“So... Am I really going to die, then...? Truly boring...”

He had been analyzing this world ever since he came here, and everything seemed to converge to one conclusion: whoever captured them and put them here was bored out of his mind. So bored he turned desperate.

In fact, because he could sympathize with such a person, and as an avid reader himself, he thought this possibility was more likely. But even if he was wrong, he could at least assure he would receive help from the system.

If it wasn’t a type of “bored reader” like himself, it would be a flawed system to save humanity.

But he was wrong, and that was the end.

[….......]

[….......]

[….......]

[I’ve read your book. It is very interesting]

Seven blinked his eyes in surprise.

He was both shocked and elated.

[I want you to finish it]

"…"

[I will fulfill your request. I expect you to give me a satisfying conclusion]

He heard a sleek sound rolling through the floor. It was heavy, and he felt it even more distinctly than before.

They were the machines who would take him to the hospital.

He was brought up a few centimeters, but the robot stopped suddenly and put him back where he was.

[How troublesome, I cannot wipe out your memory, but I cannot go back on my word]

“...”

[I will make an exception this time.]

Seven felt a cool sensation wash over him and before he knew it, he was in the hospital bed while the war raged on with the ants just outside.

"Magic...?"

[Since I have gone that far, I might as well make you recover more quickly]

“...”

[Remember the deal]