When I opened my eyes, I saw the night sky studded with stars.
Unfortunately, I only had access to a view of half the sky, as the other half was obscured by something. Trying to remove it, my hand grabbed onto something very soft. A scream immediately followed.
"Hiiiiiiiiiic"
"E-eden?"
Immediately afterward, Kelly's flushed face appeared from behind the obstacle blocking my view.
Ah, those are her breasts.
It flashed through my head as the realization came to me that I was lying in her lap.
Damn, that feels good.
All the fatigue and stress that had accumulated over the past couple of hours seemed to wash away.
Enjoying the moment of rest, I lay in silence for a few more minutes. Then it was time to make sense of what had happened.
"Kelly, are you all right?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
She asked, looking at me curiously.
"Didn't anything happen to you?"
I asked, looking at her in confusion.
Had she been kidnapped so often that she didn't think it was dangerous anymore?
"With me? You're the one who made me worry."
Seeing my questioning look, she continued.
"You passed out the moment we entered the ruins area. I freaked out and quickly carried you to safety, where I continued to guard you until your *ahem* awakening."
She blushed slightly, remembering my first actions after waking up.
So everything that happened in the ruins was just an illusion. That explains a lot.
After figuring out what had happened, I shifted my gaze to Kelly's status.
[Affection score: 85]
It's grown a lot. She didn't do anything to me while I was unconscious, did she?
I looked over at her and saw her rapidly changing face, suddenly red, then hesitant.
Driven by curiosity, I decided to use Limenna's Ring and peek into her thoughts.
I focused my attention on the ring, glancing at Kelly. The ring emitted a faint glow, visible only to me, and after a moment I heard her inner monologue.
'Eden likes my breasts?'
'He instinctively reached for it when he regained consciousness...'
'Are all men like that?'
'No, it's just that he's still as perverted as ever.'
'But why... do I like it?'
'No, no I mustn't!'
'But he's my employer, after all, if he orders it... can I refuse?'
'And more importantly… do I want to refuse?'
Under the weight of her inner struggle, her affection continued to grow.
[Affection score: 85 → 87]
Noticing my gaze, she lowered her head awkwardly.
Despite everything I've been through today, my system still hasn't been unlocked, which means the second condition hasn't been met yet. And given the system's preferences, I can guess what will definitely wake her up.
I shifted my gaze again to Kelly, who was still silent, mired in her conflicting thoughts.
Should I do it right now?
Waves of desire began to rise in me, clouding my mind.
Only by gathering all my willpower did I manage to quiet this urge. First I must leave this cursed place and return to our camp, and there I will take care of her.
Suddenly I realized that I hadn't yet verified what I had received. Calling up the system, I came across a bunch of notifications that I hadn't had a chance to review yet.
[Your mind is under powerful mental attack.]
[Host protection activation... activation failed, function locked.]
[Obtained cursed artifact Eclipse of Eternity.]
[You're entering someone else's memories.]
[The merger with the cursed artifact was successful.]
Only after that did the system show me my status.
__________________________
[Name: Eden von Thunderheart]
[Age: 19] [Race: Human]
[Rank: 1 star]
[Agility: 22]
[Strength:14]
[Stamina: 19]
[Mana: 12]
[Intelligence: 17]
[Charm: 50]
[Luck:0]
[Talent(SS): Perfect Affinity(sealed)]
[Blessing:---]
[Artifacts: Eclipse of Eternity]
[Items: Ring of Limenna]
__________________________
I immediately opened the description of the new artifact.
__________________________
[Eclipse of Eternity]
[Type: Cursed] [Rarity: ????]
[You were chosen by Katrex, the Demonic Dragon God, who dedicated his life to fighting fate but was never able to defeat it. He threw his life away and put all his power, knowledge, will, and everything he had achieved in confronting fate into this artifact. The artifact has the power to strengthen you in proportion to how much you change the fate of this world. In contrast, if you continue to follow the path of fate without trying to change it, you will grow weaker until you finally die.]
[Katrex's will: Change the fate of this world to obtain everything I own.]
[Revealed artifact abilities: 1/???]
[Current bonus: +2 to all stats.]
__________________________
After reading the description, I thought deeply.
The novel didn't mention Katrex's history in detail and only said that he was one of the Ancient Demon Gods. Perhaps, without seeing his memories, I wouldn't have even realized what was behind the artifact.
But it was the other thing that bothered me more.
My artifact is completely different from what the main character got in the novel. What I got had much more power and potential.
Is it because I came too early?
Or was there a secret mastermind in the original story who took the artifact and left a pathetic fake for the main character?
There was no way to find out now, so I focused on a particular point.
Change of fate.
If you equate fate with the original plot of the novel, it's entirely possible to change it, and I'm probably the best candidate for that role.
Although I knew that changing the original story might reduce my advantage of knowing the future, I didn't try to keep the plot unchanged. From the moment I was in this world and became aware of it, I knew I would dramatically change it, regardless of my actions.
In any case, once I became strong enough, what did it matter if I knew the future or not?
Although the item was labeled as cursed, it was a hidden blessing for me, allowing me to greatly accelerate my growth.
Elated, I got up from my seat.
"It's time to go back, Kelly."
"Go back? What about what you wanted to find here?"
With obvious confusion in her voice, the girl knight asked.
To which I only smiled weakly.
"Now we have better things to do."
She didn't understand what I meant, still looking at me confused, but she too rose from her seat, preparing to leave.
***
Thanks for reading, everyone.