Kai stared at the clock as the time trickled away.
Tick-Tock! Tick-Tock!
And the last one. With this ticking sound, now, even if he could use D-Mail, he wouldn't be able to undo the events related to the curse.
This last ticking sound marked the end of the 5th day.
They had scarcely left the room in these last few days. Only Meg had gone and returned with news and plans about which Kai couldn't have cared less. Something seemed dead inside him. Something he knew mattered much, despite not having it now.
Five days he had spent thinking, tossing and turning, and rejecting theories after theories. Yet, Kai couldn't find what he lacked that would count as the Will of a Scientist. Didn't he have all the knowledge? Hadn't he experimented before? Questions after questions kept birthing inside him, agreeing with him positively, and yet, he couldn't play the ACT.
A formless, lifeless, and emotionless Skill was judging him.
And he could say nothing to argue for his case?!
"You look like a girl who lost her maidenhood to the wrong man just before her wedding night, my lord," Petyr quipped, sitting on a chair. "Surely it's not all that bad. Look at what you've gained from all this."
Kai saw Meg throwing a deep, nasty, and loathing stare at Petyr, but that she didn't retort meant she agreed with him. Even this did nothing to fill the emptiness of the pit in his stomach.
"Consider the knowledge about the Deep Ones," Petyr continued, smiling slyly. "You told us that the price of knowing about the Outer One was 10 billion Mission Credits, right? Then the price of knowing about Deep Ones could have been easily equal to that, if not higher. One can't just disregard this. In my opinion, even this knowledge is enough to compensate for the curse."
These words meant nothing to Kai. He stared at the clock that had now gone beyond his reach, the ticking of its hands echoing in his mind in a never-ending cycle.
Petyr stood up. "Then we have 10 million Mission Credits," he said, pacing around the room. "The auction is coming up. And god knows you need better sabers, my lord. Why are you fixated on a wand, anyway? There must be tons of Contestants who had never been to the Harry Potter Random World and yet managed to ascend to the top floors with other means. Isn't a wand an external object? I thought you loathed such power in the perspective of the long term."
It was Meg who answered. "It wouldn't have mattered before," she told them. "There is a reason that worlds with the highest affinity exist for Contestants. Not only are they more suited to a Contestant but also more rewarding in all possible ways. No one had just disregarded their Core Worlds after knowing about them. Much less needed to be said about the World with the Highest Affinity."
It wasn't the first time Kai had heard these words.
The ticking of the clock was like the ebb and flow of oceanic waves, hitting rocky beaches.
Suddenly, Petyr laughed. "You are intelligent, my lord," he said, jesting, "but not old enough to have wisdom (-Kai stared at him with dead eyes-). In your mourning, you have even forgotten that you will not teleport to the Harry Potter Random World, but reincarnate. What does a main storyline Character have to do with Contestant Red and his curse to never be chosen by true wands?
"Nothing."
This… Kai's eyes shot open. Yes. What did Harry Potter have to do with him? What did Draco Malfoy have to do with him?
Even Meg looked shaken by Petyr's words, her face beaming with brilliant rays of hope.
"Now that we can't do anything about the curse," Petyr said, returning to his seat, "I would counsel you to concentrate on the Tournament of Worth and the things we must do before your return to Random World, my lord. Why not go and have a girl? There must be quite a few brothels here, I hope. It would take your mind off these things. Not to mention that you look pathetic. You need some fresh air."
Kai smelled himself. He reeked.
Petyr's words and this new hope had enlivened him, reviving his senses enough to remember the notification he and Meg had received days ago.
…
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn
You are eligible to be a Candidate for the Tournament of Worth
Do you want to register yourself?
]
…
And then, upon nodding mechanically, a new notification had come up.
…
[
You are now a Candidate for the Tournament of Worth
Candidate Id: Red
Further details will be shared three days before the commencement of the Tournament
]
…
Kai shook his head. The ticking of the clock persisted, but it soon ebbed away for good, leaving his mind open.
Petyr is right, he thought. I need some fresh air.
"I am going out," Kai told them, standing up. "Meg, stay here and look after the tank. Petyr, go back to the Book. I am taking Okabe with me."
Meg nodded, looking concerned. Petyr bowed and disappeared right after. Kai took out the Book, took a deep breath, and opened the pages to the newest tale. As the Primordial Theater prepared the stage, the smoky veil parted, and Rintaro Okabe walked out, holding the flip mobile and wearing the same long white lab coat.
"Hahaha!" the lanky scientist burst out with a laugh. "I knew. I knew it all along. Only I can defy the advances of the organization. You did well to call me out, Mr. Storm. Where are we going? To the organization's HQ?"
"Come with me," Kai said, ignoring the nonsense.
He was still wearing the same shirt and pants in which he had arrived here, and when they walked out, the evening was just becoming night.
A blue-gray sheet of cloud had covered the sky, and the wind was gentle but strong, carrying a humid, rainy touch with it. The street that had been deserted once now looked crowded to Kai. Carriages with a varying number of horses were running up and down the street, and there was the smell of soot and dust everywhere.
The shops were still open, but Kai noticed a few were closed, their lights going out. They were at a market hub. Life was brimming here, unconcerned to him, and unknown to everything.
Kai kept to one side of the road.
Okabe followed him, looking around, his hands in the pockets of his long coat.
For long they walked, taking random turns, seeing ordinary and most irrelevant vistas. More lights kept going out of the shops, and by the time they felt they were lost, only a few were still glowing with a pale yellow color.
The only question was…
… would someone recognize the insane scientist or not?
***************
Bonus Chapter Deal (applicable for both Webnovel and ScribbleHub readers):
1. 70 Power Stones per day: +1 Bonus Chapter
2. 90 Power Stones per day: +2 Bonus Chapters
3. 750+ Powers Stones (at the end of the week): +3 Bonus Chapters (can stack over the 2nd point)