When Alexi opened his eyes, he found himself in a new environment.
A rock-hard bed, dim, blinking lights, a terrible smell and uncomfortable heat. He jumped off the bed when he felt something crawling onto his lap.
"Eyah!"
He slapped off the cockroach. With a frown, he looked around the room some more, then back at the person who brought him here.
Fala had made no remarks on the situation and rather, was walking towards the door. She swung it wide open, then gestured for him to leave.
"Oh, uh. Sure. Sorry."
Alexi walked over to the door. He took another look at the room. Her living conditions were just as terrible as he'd written. It left a bad aftertaste in his mouth, but he shrugged it off.
After all, she was just another character in his story. All of this was a mere necessity for the story.
He left, promptly returning to his room.
*****
Alexi wasn't expecting a school field trip.
He especially didn't expect that they forgot to tell him about it. He was left alone in school, sitting in the classroom. Well, he wasn't alone.
Miss Sophia was there to punish him for skipping the trip.
She'd given him several tests to answer, as both a punishment and way to get him up to speed with the year's curriculum. It was a completely unreasonable task, but it was no shock that she'd behave that way.
"I'm done.", Alexi groaned, as he dropped the final paper on the podium where she stood.
"You are free to go then.", She waved him off, as she added the sheet to the others.
"Eh?", He blinked.
"What? You want to take more tests?"
"Hell no- ah, um. Uh, I'm not saying the tests were bad or anything. I mean, they were terrible. I never want to do those again. That monster theory test was written by the devil himself, honestly.",
Sophia's blank expression was replaced by a frown that in no way ruined her beautiful facial features.
'Oh… that's sexy.', Alexi found himself thinking.
"Mr. Alexi, are you comparing me to a devil?", Sophia's eyes narrowed on him.
Alexi stopped himself from digging a deeper hole. "I'll just take my leave now. Thank you."
He then ran out of the room.
Barely half the day had passed. Meaning, he had quite some time to do whatever he pleased. Under normal circumstances, he'd have returned to his room and read some web novels, but life wasn't so pleasant.
One moment, you were the top ranked author in a web novel site, the next you were trapped in high school in the book you made, trying to defy God. Well, a god.
'Hm, is she even a god?', Alexi pondered. He grabbed his chin. 'Sure, she sent me into this world, but clearly, she isn't all powerful. Rather than a god, she's just really powerful. An entity faking God. What would you call such a thing? A God Guise… Guise. Yeah, let's go with Guise!'
Alexi grinned.
He much rather preferred the name Guise over actual God. She wasn't worthy of the title. In the first place, such an entity simply couldn't exist. The concept of omnipotence in itself was flawed.
He shrugged off the thought.
Now wasn't the time for this.
He remembered his conversation with Simmons back in the Umbral Sphere.
***
"You… want to find the Great Devil… Laplace?"
Alexi didn't think he would manage to get such a reaction out of the boy. Rather than just surprise, it was a look full of confusion, apprehension and intrigue.
"In the first place, how do you even know of that devil's name?"
Alexi tapped the side of his head. "That's because I know somethings no one else knows, you know?"
The boy bit down on his finger and grinned, while muttering incomprehensible words to himself. The room trembled under the boy's excitement.
Alexi himself could feel his bones shake. The aura the boy exuded was more than enough to make him feel nauseous. He tried his hardest to hold himself back from giving any external reaction to the aura, but even he couldn't stop his sweat from flooding out.
The boy, after noticing just how much he affected his surroundings, looked at Alexi with blue eyes.
"Very well, Arbiter.", The boy folded his arms and nodded. "You wish to meet with the Great Devil Laplace? I can help with that. But you need to do something for me first."
Alexi, unable to muster any words, merely nodded.
***
He shuddered from the mere memory of that day.
"That guy was a bit much, wasn't he?", He grumbled, rubbing the temples of his head. "Well, since I have the time, I guess I can at least prepare to take on his request."
=====
QUEST REQUEST: ITEM RECOVERY (B grade)
=====
Alexi groaned as he thought over how he'd go over this. Just then, a light bulb lit up in his head.
This particular mission was hard because of his apparent infernal qualities. He needed human help, but no humans were willing to approach him, other than one. Even then, they weren't doing out of their own free will.
He took out his phone to call Amane Touka.
The phone rang for a few seconds before cutting off.
"She's not picking up? Guess she has class or something.", He shrugged. "I'll call her later then. Let's see what I can buy for now."
========
ITEMS
Combat Items
Consumable Items
Miscellaneous Items
========
"Oh, I see. Considering the mission, I should probably check out-"
"Infernal scum!", An irritatingly familiar voice erupted.
"You can't be serious…", Alexi muttered. He slowly turned around, only to be met by Cain's massive figure.
The boy tried to grab Alexi by the collar, but Alexi was faster. He stepped back, avoiding it.
"That was close. Almost got mob on me?", Alexi grinned at Cain. "Who are you?"
"I'll make sure your face remembers my fist today.", Cain threatened, putting up his large fist.
Alexi looked at the fist, then behind Cain. There was no one there.
'No lackeys today, huh?'
That meant, Alexi would have no problem if he were to use 15 points of mana for this fight. That is, of course, if he chose to fight.
At the end of the day, Alexi was at a huge disadvantage. And that was because he was an infernal. Regardless of the reason or the outcome, Alexi was losing here. That, is the type of world he made.
"Good luck with that, dumbass.", Alexi flipped him off, then bolted down the hallway.
He had no time to play with this random. Behind him, he could hear Cain's enraged footsteps as he chased after him.
'Seriously? You're actually chasing me? Fine. Come.'
Alexi kept running till he came up the boy's bathroom. He entered and hid behind the door. Cain came rushing through.
This entire situation with this mob was stupid. It was very stupid. And Alexi was starting to get annoyed by it.
He closed the bathroom door behind Cain, then locked it shut.
Cain turned around, frowning. He cracked his knuckles.
"What's this? You're trying to fight me fair this time?", Cain smirked as he put up his fists.
Alexi grinned.
=======
COMBAT INITIATED AGAINST CAIN
=======
'Just Cain? Does the system not recognise mobs as characters? That's curious.'
"Fighting fair?", Alexi turned on the taps one by one as he walked closer to Cain. Each cubicle door was kicked open loudly as he approached, causing Cain to flinch. "Don't forget. I'm an infernal. I don't fight fair."
If you weren't cheating, you weren't trying! That was Alexi's motto.
Cain was a second-year student. That meant, he knew the Mana Punch skill. A skill that was strong enough to knock out Jules was definitely more than enough to kill Alexi. He had to make sure Cain didn't hit him with that no matter what.
Cain's eyes fluttered around the bathroom as he looked around in search of what Alexi was planning. At this point, he had already fallen for Alexi's schemes. Alexi splashed a handful of water at Cain's face.
He raised his hands up to guard, but that was the wrong move.
In a split second, Alexi closed the distance between them and landed a clean mana punch with 15 points of mana, right in the solar plexus. Cain spat out saliva as he fell over. His eyes blanked out.
Instant K.O!
Alexi grunted silently. The punch hurt more than he'd like to admit. Even now, it felt numb. If possible, he'd like to acquire a skill that either reduced the recoil from the punch or numbed him to pain.
=====
YOU ACHIEVED A FLAWLESS VICTORY!
YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE REWARD: +5 Combat Points (CP)
=====
'Huh? A flawless victory also earns some rewards? Nice.'
He squatted next to Cain and lifted his head up by the hair.
"Now, what to do with this guy?"
He grinned maliciously.
*****
Jules stretched as soon as she jumped off the bus.
With all the money the school received, one would expect that they kept luxury buses at the very least.
"You're open to attack.", Tim poked Jules in the stomach.
She stared at him, deciding whether to ignore him or knock him.
"Hey, Lumiere. Come take a look. She's got a flab. Ow!"
Jules found her answer much faster than she anticipated.
"Stop teasing her, Tim.", Chris tapped Tim on the shoulder lightly, laughing.
A boy, about the same height as Chris, walked over to Jules. He said no words as he stood idly next to her.
Jules found herself staring at him. As usual she couldn't figure out what was going through his head. One thing she did figure out, was that she liked to watch him.
As if to purposefully disrupt this balance, a student walked up to Lumiere, grinning widely.
"Hey you guys, did you hear about what happened to Cain?"
Lumiere readjusted his glasses and frowned. "Who is Cain?"
"He's a senior student.", The student clarified. It was obvious he was trying hard to get on Lumiere's good side.
Jules looked at Lumiere. He looked confused, which was a rare occurrence. Suddenly, she was more interested in what was happening.
"What happened?"
"I think it's better if you guys just take a look. Here."
The boy handed over his phone to Lumiere.
Jules had to hold herself back from gasping.
It was the picture of a half-naked senior. He had toilet paper wrapped all around his torso, and was drenched in water. There were markings all over his body that said "I eat shit".
It was a scene so comical Jules had to cover her mouth to avoid laughing out loud.
Lumiere handed the phone back to the boy.
"Do they know who did this?"
"No. Not yet."
"The teachers are still investigating?"
"Only the students know about this."
"I see."
Lumiere nodded, then silently walked away.
Jules frowned. Even now, she still couldn't understand what was going through his head.