Chapter 35: [35]: Crimson Warning, The World Will

The warning faded. The apartment was quiet again. Martha coughed once in her sleep. Leo whispered something about swords.

Alvian stared at the empty space where the red text had been. His hands were shaking.

Fear of being erased.

The Bloodhounds wanted to kill him. Duke Magnus wanted him dead. The Guild judge had signed a contract on his life. Those were human threats. Human problems with human answers. You fight a human threat with a blade, acid, and high stats.

But Fate Enforcers were not human.

’Special beings made to fix errors by removing the source,’ he repeated in his head. ’Removing the source. Not killing me. Removing me. Like deleting a line of code.’

He stood up and walked back and forth in the small room. Three steps one way. Three steps back. His INT 22 searched through everything he knew about the System, looking for anything about the World Will, Fate Enforcers, or world-level threats.

Nothing. The System had never warned him about this before. The messages had always been silly and playful. Funny comments about his luck. Dumb jokes about his choices in battle. This was the first time the System sounded scared.

’If the System is worried,’ Alvian thought, ’then the World Will must be stronger than the System. The System can cheat luck, but it cannot cheat the price of cheating luck.’

He opened his status panel with a thought.

┌──────[ Profile]──────┐

│ [Host]: Alvian Vance

│ [Level]: 32 (Mortal Tier)

│ [Talent]: Clearwater [E-Rank, S-Rank effective output]

│ [Skills]: Abyssal Dissolution Domain [S-Rank]

│ Clearwater Coating [E-Rank]

│ Severing Sword Aura [A-Rank]

│ [Weapon Mastery]: Short-Sword [MAXIMUM, evolved]

│ [STR]: 40 | [AGI]: 38 | [VIT]: 55

│ [INT]: 22 | [Essence]: 28

│ [Karma Points]: 8

│ [EXP Bank]: 0 / ∞

│ [System Version]: 2.0 (Proficiency Tier)

│ [World Will Attention Level]: ELEVATED

└─────────────────┘

Eight Karma Points. The System’s advice was clear. Collect KP. The same currency he had ignored since, using it as a tiny bonus for bad rolls. Now it was a tool for survival.

He opened the System Shop. The main Shop tab opened first. The items were simple. Minor Health Potions. Ironjaw Bait. Weapon Reinforcement. All small items. Then he checked the locked items at the bottom.

[VIP System Shop]

[Unlock Requirement: 500 Karma Points (cumulative)]

[Current Progress: 8 / 500]

[Locked Items:]

[Fate’s Loaded Dice - Cost: 500 KP]

[Guarantees next roll at Epic tier or above]

[Concept Override Token - Cost: 2,000 KP]

[Locked. Requires 2,000 KP]

[Flesh Limit Permanent Expansion - Cost: 1,000 KP]

[Locked. Requires 1,000 KP]

...

Five hundred Karma Points. He had eight. The gap was huge.

’Four hundred ninety-two more KP,’ he calculated. ’Every roll below 5x gives me one KP. At my current speed in the Warrens, that means months of grinding. Months I do not have.’

The World Will was already alert. Every S-Rank Skill use would push it higher. The Magnus Estate attack would need the Domain. One more use and the attention level might change from elevated to active monitoring. Two more uses and the Fate Enforcers might appear.

He was stuck between two clocks. Duke Magnus would have learnt about the Bloodhound. The World Will would see him if he used the Domain again. He needed to stop the Magnus threat quickly without using the Skill that could win the fight.

’Unless I have enough KP to buy items first.’

Alvian sat back down on his mattress. His mind searched for options. Farming KP was slow. Farming EXP was faster, but it did not help against the World Will. Farming Proficiency was somewhere in between.

Then an idea came to him.

The System gave KP for rolls below 5x. Low rolls happened most often during low-stress, low-efficiency combat. The System’s luck rolls were not random. They changed based on the situation. Hard fights gave higher rolls. Easy fights gave lower rolls.

’I need to fight badly,’ Alvian realized. ’On purpose. Against enemies strong enough to count for the System, but weak enough that I can be sloppy.’

The mid-Warrens. Rank 3 monsters. Strong enough to trigger real combat. Weak enough that his Level 32 stats with VIT 55 made them safe, even if he fought poorly.

He could make it harder for himself. Fight without weapons. Fight blindfolded. Fight in ways that lowered his combat output to get the low rolls that gave KP.

It was strange. He had spent weeks making his combat fast and clean. Now he needed to make it bad. Bad luck was the money. Pain was the investment.

’The System’s pity rule is made to give items to hosts when they lose,’ he thought. ’And now I need to lose on purpose four hundred ninety-two times.’

[DING!]

[The System sees Host planning to get bad luck on purpose.]

[The System finds this funny and concerning.]

[For the record, the System did not make the pity rule as a farming tool. But it will not stop you.]

[Good luck. Or bad luck. You know what we mean.]

Alvian closed the message. He looked at his mother and brother sleeping. Martha’s breathing was smooth.

The World Will wanted to erase him. Fate Enforcers were coming. Duke Magnus was sending more killers. Martha was still sick. Leo was still drawing warriors on walls instead of learning at school.

’I need KP. I need EXP. I need proficiency. Three resources, three farming paths, one body. And I must do all of it before the World Will or Duke Magnus catches me.’

He lay down on his mattress. Sleep was hard to find. His mind was full of numbers, threats, and the red warning message burning in his vision.

’Removing the source.’

He closed his eyes. Tomorrow he would start farming Karma Points. The hard way. The painful way. The way that made him fail on purpose in a world where failing meant dying.

The System buzzed quietly in his mind. No mean comments. No jokes. Just the steady interface waiting for its host to make a choice.

Alvian had made his choice.

Four hundred ninety-two Karma Points. One way or another.