"Confusion."
That was the only word that could accurately describe what I was feeling right now. However, I had no time to search for information about what was happening. Before me, Brian was charging toward me, preparing to attack with his wooden sword.
He swung horizontally at me.
In response, I leaped backward to avoid the attack. For some reason, I could move this body with surprising ease, despite the fact that I rarely exercised and spent most of my time sitting in front of a computer.
"Even if this is only a sparring match, at least fight me seriously, Raul!"
Once again, Brian called me Raul—the name of one of the antagonists in the game I had created.
Had I somehow been transported into this character's body? Was that why I could move this body so effortlessly?
Judging by the armband on Brian's shoulder, he and Raul were both second-year students at Grunbelt Academy—a prestigious institution responsible for producing the Empire of Aragon's official Knights, Mages, and Priests.
That meant...
I was currently witnessing the first event of Path of Destiny, where Raul sparred with Brian during the first swordsmanship lesson in the Advanced Class.
Brian looked ready to attack again. Judging from his stance, he appeared to be preparing to use one of his signature techniques.
What choice should I make?
Should I let Brian land his attack and allow Raul to lose this sparring match?
If that happened, the storyline from the game would most likely proceed as intended.
The nobles would abandon Raul, causing him to become isolated from the other students. Eventually, he would sell his soul to a demon in exchange for the power to fight Brian—the Hero.
However, if I defeated Brian here, the academy's higher-ups would likely overlook him and fail to recognize his potential.
Brian's role was crucial. In a few years, he would be one of the key figures fighting against the invasion of the Demon Army.
What choice should I make?
From a distance, I saw a beautiful Silver-haired girl watching Brian with a worried expression.
She was Ariel de Lusignan—the one true love of Raul de Garcia, the previous owner of the body I currently inhabited.
For some reason, seeing Ariel looking at Brian with such concern made my emotions flare.
Were Raul's feelings still lingering inside this body?
I didn't know, but...
I supposed I would make your soul feel a little better, Raul, by beating Brian up a few times.
"Get ready, Raul! Here I come!" Brian shouted.
His wooden sword was faintly coated in a yellow glow.
Is he using Temper?
It was one of the enhancement spells that made an object you touched significantly stronger than it normally was.
Brian charged toward me, launching a horizontal slash followed by a diagonal strike.
I easily evaded both.
But his attack did not end there.
He unleashed a seven-hit combo.
I avoided four of his attacks and parried the remaining three.
"No way! You actually dodged my entire combo!?" Brian exclaimed, clearly shocked that I could read his attacks so easily.
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Well...
I was the one who designed your attacks, you know.
At the very least, I had memorized the movements of the techniques Brian used against several of the game's major villains.
"But don't think that's all I can do! Accelerate!" Brian shouted.
Particles of light began gathering around his legs.
He really was talented...
Even third-year students had difficulty properly utilizing the basic-level Accelerate spell.
Brian charged at me again.
This time, his speed had doubled compared to before.
*Clack!*
Our swords collided.
A crack appeared along the wooden sword in my hands.
Brian swung his sword with even greater force.
This time, I had to dodge.
I leaped backward to avoid Brian's slash.
However, he quickly pursued me and attacked again with a downward diagonal strike.
*Crack!*
My wooden sword shattered under the force of Brian's attack.
Seeing my defenses completely exposed, he immediately launched a wide sweeping strike, intending to inflict a serious injury on me.
Heh...
You're too naive, Brian.
A faint glow appeared around both of my hands as I activated Temper.
I caught Brian's slash with my left hand, then drove my right fist into his stomach.
"Guhhh!"
Brian dropped his weapon and doubled over, clutching his stomach in pain.
Not wasting the opportunity, I punched his handsome face several times.
He was completely unable to respond to my attacks.
"Stop! The battle is over!"
Hearing the instructor's command, I delivered one final strike toward Brian's chin, sending him flying backward until he lost consciousness.
Ariel and the instructor immediately rushed toward Brian to check his condition.
Ariel then cast a spell to heal him.
"The winner of this sparring match is—Brian!" the instructor announced, staring at me coldly. "Raul de Garcia, minus thirty points!"
Well...
I knew this would happen.
A sparring match was considered over when either one of the students lost consciousness or one of their swords was destroyed.
After healing Brian, Ariel walked toward me.
Judging by her expression, she clearly wasn't happy about seeing Brian beaten so badly by me.
Her beautiful silver hair flowed like strands of silk. Her eyes sparkled like precious gemstones, while her stunning face looked like the embodiment of a goddess.
My heart began pounding as I stared at the breathtakingly beautiful girl standing right in front of me.
My heartbeat quickened.
Ariel de Lusignan—the heroine of the game Path of Destiny that I had created—was far more beautiful in person than she had ever appeared on my computer screen.
"Why did you do that!?" Ariel shouted, her emotions reaching their peak. "The fight was already over when Brian broke your sword, wasn't it!?"
Tears began streaming down Ariel's cheeks.
Once again, my heart felt heavy at the sight.
The harsh words from the woman Raul loved struck my heart like a knife.
"Why have you become such a cruel man, Raul?"
My body trembled.
Hearing her words made it difficult for me to explain that I had only done it in self-defense. I wanted to tell her that Brian had been the one who attacked me first when my defenses were exposed.
Yet not a single word came out of my mouth in response to Ariel's questions.
As the creator of Ariel's character, I should not have been affected by the harsh words she directed at Raul.
And yet...
It seemed that Raul's emotions were still buried somewhere inside this body, making me feel his sadness as if it were my own.
I tried to ignore Ariel's words and walked out of the arena.
Even as I left, I could still feel the hatred in her gaze.
She was probably still staring at my back.
This was the first time I had truly experienced Raul's emotions.
Especially when Ariel had spoken those cruel words to him.
After leaving the duel arena, I headed toward the special dormitory of Grunbelt Academy.
This dormitory was exclusively reserved for noble families.
Its spacious structure and luxurious interior were noticeably different from those of the ordinary student dormitories.
Grunbelt Academy had around two hundred students in each year.
Raul belonged to the second-year Advanced Class, which consisted of twenty students.
The remaining 180 students were divided among six regular classes, with thirty students in each class.
Upon arriving at my dormitory room, I approached a mirror mounted on the wall.
Reflected in the mirror was the face of a black-haired man with a cold expression.
Raul de Garcia—
The heir of Duke Alvaro de Garcia.
One of the antagonists in the game I had created—Path of Destiny.
In every scenario of the game, this character survived for a maximum of only three chapters before being killed by Brian—the protagonist controlled by the Player in Path of Destiny.
His arrogant, conceited, and prideful personality caused Ariel—the woman he loved—to gradually distance herself from him.
Raul was not particularly talented in either swordsmanship or magic. His abilities were only slightly above average compared to the other students at the academy.
However, Raul possessed a unique Codex known as Villain Destiny.
A Codex was a unique ability possessed by every character born into this world.
Villain Destiny was an exceptionally useful ability for Raul.
When activated, it granted the user a buff that increased their pain tolerance while enhancing every aspect of their physical capabilities.
However, Raul frequently lost control whenever he used this Codex.
The only drawback of this ability was that the more someone hated you, the stronger the buff you received from it became.
In other words, if I wanted to become stronger, the risk of other people wanting to kill me would also become much greater.
"Could completing the ending of this game somehow allow me to return to my original world?"
I didn't know.
What I did know was...
This was the reality I was living in now.
I had to survive inside the body of Raul de Garcia, avoid every Death Flag, and make sure humanity was not destroyed by the Demons.