Chapter 246 - 245: I Only Need Three Seconds

Chapter 246: Chapter 245: I Only Need Three Seconds

Lloyd listened to the narration in his ear as the scenery before him changed, finally settling on a classroom.

According to the "narration," he was a new student at this academy, here to learn the knowledge and skills of the mysterious and Extraordinary Realm...

Across from him stood several characters in student uniforms, each with a stern, dead-serious expression.

One of them was yelling at the top of his lungs:

"I am a fourth-year student..."

"In the name of Veto!"

Lloyd couldn’t be bothered to let him finish his lines. The moment they met, he smashed a [Blessing Distortion] into the guy’s forehead.

"Why are you yelling so loud?"

With a dull THUD, Lloyd’s vision blurred and flickered, and he found himself back in the previous room.

This [Story] ended just like that, over just as it had "begun"...

A few seconds later, the voice of a middle-aged woman sounded in his ear:

"You little punk! Couldn’t you have at least shown me some respect? You were done in three seconds? Can’t you show some deference to my Tier? Honestly... a boy that fast will never be popular with the girls!"

Her tone was flustered and exasperated, almost making Lloyd laugh out loud.

Next, Master Olga’s disembodied voice offered his commentary:

"Well done, young man! I most admire your simple and direct style!"

His tone was tinged with schadenfreude. ’He’s probably laughing his head off, isn’t he?’

Finally, the butler chimed in with his own critique:

"A bit too hasty... There would have been no harm in experiencing a little of Inesha’s [Story]. She was a famous bestselling author, you know."

Hearing the butler say that, Lloyd immediately felt a twinge of regret. He had been in such a hurry to get out that now he had nothing to do for the next several hours...

Fortunately, with another [Story] cracked, the analysis of the Unknown Fragment reached 77.5%. More knowledge bloomed in Lloyd’s mind, giving him something to pass the time.

This knowledge was still related to [Projections]. It seemed to be at a fairly basic level, focusing on making [Projections] perform simple autonomous actions, similar to the AI in a Krypton Gold Mobile Game.

It might be basic and simple, but it was exactly what Lloyd wanted.

In the future, whether it was deploying an Orbit, cleaning the house, or cooking a meal, having a helper with simple intelligence would surely be better than having to control and operate everything himself.

’It’d be best if I could just hit an "auto" button and have it do everything on its own.’

’That way, when my "get rich quick" plan kicks off, I won’t have to hire too many workers. I can just exploit all the surplus value. Just thinking about it is delightful.’

With that, Lloyd sat down at the table in the room, took out his copy of *Lloyd’s Notes*, and began to record his thoughts and findings from the recent event while browsing the new knowledge in his mind.

And as he perused this knowledge, panel notifications followed one after another:

[DING~ Madness Value +200]

[DING~ Madness Value +200]

’Sigh... The Madness Value is nice and all, but is this knowledge really safe?’

...

Meanwhile, on the third floor, Master Inesha wore a long face, her expression full of displeasure.

Her [Story] had only lasted three seconds against that little punk Lloyd—even worse than Olga’s. It was a complete loss of face, and she was finding it hard to stomach.

"My ’plot’ is clearly the most suitable for young people. For him to do that... it makes me question my own writing skills."

"Don’t be too hard on him for it. He just wanted to make sure I won; it wasn’t a deliberate slight against you."

The butler quickly tried to smooth things over.

But Master Inesha immediately broke into a smile, her expression changing faster than flipping through a book.

"I know. That’s why I was just saying. I could never bring myself to be hard on my little cutie."

From the perspective of an outside observer, her [Story] was arguably the most relaxed and enjoyable of the three.

It wasn’t "suffocating" like the butler’s, nor "pervaded by indecision" like Master Olga’s. The main theme of Master Inesha’s story was that it was utterly captivating.

Simply put, after entering the academy, the protagonist would encounter all sorts of beautiful girls and handsome boys: the intelligent upperclasswoman, the well-behaved underclasswoman, the gentle girl next door, the domineering Senior, the perfect teacher, and the loyal best friend.

The ’plot’ was a mix of heartwarming slice-of-life scenes, thrilling-but-safe combat, and a sprinkle of comedy and opportunities for the protagonist to show off. All this allowed the protagonist to reach the pinnacle of life, surrounded and accompanied by a bevy of beautiful companions.

Because she dedicated a large portion of the ’story’ to character development, her ’characters’ were more vivid and realistic than those of the other two masters, providing an excellent reading experience.

Even if it were sold as a normal story, it would undoubtedly be a bestseller.

Some ’readers’ who entered it, even after realizing there was a problem, were reluctant to leave. Some even wanted to go back in after they had already escaped.

This choice of focus also revealed how Master Inesha used her stories. Unlike the butler, whose stories were lethal, or Olga, whose stories targeted a person’s thoughts and consciousness, her goal was to cultivate fans and followers for herself.

It was precisely because their three [Stories] each had their own focus, strengths, and weaknesses that today’s bet existed. The winner would absorb the other two stories, shoring up their own shortcomings and gaining more ’narrative space’ to ascend to the Eighth Tier and create an even more real and complete [Story].

"So... after you ascend to the Eighth Tier? What are your plans then?"

Master Olga, standing to the side, was no longer concerned with the outcome of the bet or the performance of the other ’readers.’ Instead, he began to ask about the butler’s future plans.

The butler answered frankly:

"Revenge."

As soon as he said it, the other two masters immediately switched to their ’old friend’ roles and spoke up.

"Er... It’s been so many years. You still can’t let it go?"

"But you should know, it’s very dangerous. Even at the Eighth Tier, or even Tier Nine, you might not be able to stand against the one you’ve described."

"I know. But it is my motivation, and it is my [Destiny]."

"Haven’t you considered ascending to Tier Nine? Everyone outside thinks the seventh Saint will come from our [Manifestation] system. You’ll be the newest Eighth Tier, but you might still have a chance. After all, [Extraordinary Ascension] in our system is different from the others."

"Perhaps I’ll consider it after I’ve had my revenge."

"And what if you don’t come back?"

"Then... I won’t come back."