Path of the Extra

Chapter 404: The Proctor’s Game

”An angel...? Master, is that really an angel!?”

Without even looking directly at Azriel, Nol kept poking his side while staring at the so-called angel in wide-eyed excitement.

Meanwhile, Azriel looked at it with a dark expression.

”...Possibly.”

Azriel did not deny what the angel had said, and that alone made Nol even more excited.

’I thought that since the Fourth Authority, Pollux, and the Second Authority were directly involved, no proctor would show up...’

From what Azriel knew, these proctors were among the lowest ranks of the Divine Court, responsible—as the proctor itself had already said—for things like keeping scenarios running smoothly and ensuring the gods were entertained.

Which made them, to humans, all the more terrifying.

’But why? Why would they show up now? The bugs are probably fixed? There is no way they’ve dealt with Pollux, right? Almost no one is even aware of him. Did that being called Lucifer deal with him, then...?’

For some reason, Azriel did not think so.

”First and foremost, my beloved humans, I would like to congratulate you all!” the proctor said with a beaming smile.

”Without much guidance, many of you have performed wonderfully so far! The final night is on the horizon, ladies and gentlemen! Buuuuuut—!”

Suddenly, he raised a single finger.

”It seems some of you participants have gone far above and beyond what you were supposed to in this scenario! I am so happy with how enthusiastic you humans are! You see! You see! This scenario actually has two different endings! Two different versions of the final night! One of them, called the normal ending, involves you participants choosing a side—either the nobles or the revolutionaries—and when the final night arrives, you all wage one great war against each other! Who falls? Who remains? No one knows! Your actions would determine which side wins in the end!”

The angel spread his arms wide, grinning.

”Yet instead of doing that, it seems some of you humans have chosen another brilliant strategy! Creating your own side! Which has effectively helped you complete the secret objectives and thuuuuuus unlock the secret ending route!!!”

The angel looked as though it might burst from excitement as it twirled happily through the air.

Then a glowing white panel appeared before Nol and Azriel, its edges shining gold.

[Secret Ending Route: Divine Wish]

[You have discovered strange tunnels deep beneath the world. They lead to strange doors, where strange, tooth-like objects serve as the keys to unlock them. Once half of the keys are placed inside, the doors open and lead you toward the unknown. Where does the other half go? Surviving the revolution is not enough for you. The future of this world does not matter to you. Your greed is that of a king. Your desire cannot be restrained. You wish for more... wish... wish... wish... Is a wish worth more than your life?]

Reading all of it...

Azriel felt an even worse premonition than before.

*****

Lumine, Yelena, and Anastasia stared up at the angel in disbelief, craning their necks.

At this point, it surprised no one that Vergil was the most composed among them...

Though was it just Lumine’s imagination, or did Vergil not look very pleased?

There was no time to dwell on it for long. Another panel appeared before them, right after they finished reading the [Secret Ending Route].

”Now, I must say, even I do not know what lies beyond those doors. This scenario seems to be one of the special ones! So do make sure to leave an impression. Trust me, humans, it will be worth it! And to motivate you...” the angel said, grinning wider, ”how about I show you which of you have contributed the most so far toward reaching this hidden ending route?”

A new panel appeared.

[- Leaderboard -

#1 Participant: Azriel Crimson

#2 Participant: Nol ???

#3/#4 Participant: Celestina Frost

#4/#3 Participant: Liliane Bellefleur

#5/#6 Participant: Lioren Dusk

#6/#5 Participant: Vergil Voss

#7 Participant: Ranni Everse

#8/#9 Participant: Jasmine Crimson

#9/#8 Participant: Felix Emberhart

#10 Participant: Jegudiel Storms

- Leaderboard -]

Lumine’s eyes widened as he stared at the leaderboard.

He was not in the top ten.

That part did not surprise him.

What surprised him was who stood at the very top.

Azriel Crimson.

One of the few participants who had met with everyone last.

No... actually, if Lumine thought about it, Azriel being first was not surprising at all. The prince had been the one who forced everyone to start thinking seriously about how to finish this scenario—or at the very least, he had pushed people like Prince Lioren Dusk into acting more aggressively than they already had.

But Lumine and the others were not the only ones looking at the panels.

They were in the garden, surrounded by other participants.

And those participants...

They did not seem entirely convinced by the names displayed there.

Which was funny, considering how little to no contribution most of them had made to the scenario.

Not that Lumine himself had much room to talk.

”You know...” the angel suddenly said again, a sadistic smile spreading across his face, ”participants who have not made even a single meaningful contribution to this scenario have already been warned that they would be erased from the records back in your Soul Realm. In other words, you won’t get any rewards. But since this is a special scenario... there should be special exceptions, no?”

A bad feeling spread through Lumine and everyone else as they looked up at the angel.

”This world... how should I put it...? Hmmm...” He tilted his head. ”It lacks the amount of color that should have already been painted across it.”

The panels vanished.

Then suddenly, everyone felt a wave of mana pass through them.

”Those who sloth before the gods are not worthy of receiving their grace.”

A cold voice came from the angel, and instantly Lumine shuddered, his heart beginning to thunder in his chest.

Then, just as suddenly, the angel’s smile returned.

”Buuuut! Even if you sin before the gods, the gods are ever forgiving! So, you lazy humans, you will be given one more chance to correct your mistake!”

The second Lumine blinked, he noticed something strange.

He looked at Yelena, and she looked back at him with equally wide eyes.

Floating above each of their heads was a marker shaped like a triangle, just like the sort seen in video games.

Yelena’s marker was green.

So was Lumine’s.

But when he turned toward Anastasia, hers was red.

Vergil’s, meanwhile, was shining gold.

Looking around the garden, Lumine quickly realized that most of the participants—no, all of the participants in this garden—had markers like Anastasia’s.

Red.

”Hey, what is this...?”

”Look over there! Vergil has a gold marker! Lumine and Yelena have green ones! Hey, angel! Why are theirs different from ours?!”

The angel looked delighted by the question.

”Good question, human!”

He pointed at Lumine, Yelena, and Vergil.

Vergil, who had already started slowly walking backward, stopped the instant the angel pointed at him and forced out an awkward smile.

”You see, all of you with red markers have been deemed absolutely boring, useless, and unworthy in the eyes of the gods! What have you done except cower behind the backs of the strong? These are times of war and death, and yet if all you do is rely on the powerful without ever trying to become stronger yourselves, then are you not simply the equivalent of dead weight? This is a trial. A trial in which you do nothing is no trial at all. Which is why all of you have red markers!”

Slowly, the faces of everyone marked in red darkened.

Then the proctor turned toward Lumine and Yelena.

”Those with green markers are in the clear. For now, at least. They have made some contribution, and the gods have decided to grant them a temporary pass.”

Then he turned toward Vergil, who had once again resumed carefully backing away until he was forced to stop.

”Fuck...” Lumine heard Vergil whisper.

”Now here we have someone impressive! A golden marker! Anyone in the top ten will have a golden marker above their head, signifying how pleased the gods are with them! So well done, Vergil Voss!”

The proctor floated a little closer to the participants and lowered his voice, as though sharing something important.

”But now, this is what truly matters... every single one of you with a red marker will die.”

”...!”

Immediately, everyone went pale.

”What?! You’re joking, right?!”

”W-wait, please, give us another chance! You can’t just kill us! W-we—this isn’t fair! How are we supposed to perform better when people like the Great Children and monsters with so much talent like Vergil are here?!”

”HahahahahahahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The proctor’s laughter cut through the rising storm of complaints like a blade, silencing everyone.

”Fairness? Performance? Talent?” he repeated, laughing like a maniac. ”You humans truly speak like losers! Why would the gods ever favor humans who cripple themselves with such pitiful mentalities? You humans are the joke here. But... you are lucky! For as I have said before, the gods forgive. And so we are giving you one chance... to earn that forgiveness.”

”W-what is it...? Please, we’ll do anything!”

Many nodded at once, desperate and frantic, echoing the same plea.

Lumine glanced behind him and noticed something.

’He really left...’

Vergil was gone.

Swallowing nervously, Lumine felt he should do the same. So he grabbed Yelena’s hand, catching her attention, while cautiously glancing toward Anastasia to make sure she was too focused on the angel to notice them.

Yelena did not look surprised.

She did not say a word.

She simply nodded, as though she had already been thinking the same thing.

Slowly, the two of them began backing away as the proctor spoke again.

”Anything? Well, I like your motivation, human. But what the gods ask of you is not much. All you have to do to turn your marker from red to green is actually very simple...”

The angel’s smile widened.

”You just have to kill.”

”...”

”...”

A deadly silence settled over the entire garden.

At last, someone stammered,

”K-kill...?”

The angel nodded happily.

”Yes, kill! Any human with a red marker who kills someone else can turn their marker green. All you have to do is kill one participant! Buuuut, here is the twist! Kill anyone from the top ten who has a golden marker, and you take their place! Meaning, if you kill Human Verg—oh, he already ran away! How smart! Well, anyway, if you kill Human Vergil, you take his place on the leaderboard!”

The proctor clasped his tiny hands together, positively glowing with delight.

”And not only that... anyone new who enters the leaderboard from this point onward will receive extra rewards from the gods themselves immediately, without having to wait for the scenario to end! And what is that reward, you ask? Well... your mana core will level up by one! Amazing, isn’t it?!”

”!!”

Naturally, Lumine and Yelena were forced to stop retreating as countless eyes turned toward them—toward the place where Vergil should have been standing beside them.

”We only have green markers...” Yelena whispered, trying to reassure Lumine. ”Honestly, I don’t think they would try and kill us...”

But Lumine was not convinced.

”They might start seeing us as competition.”

Yelena pressed her lips together.

Then the angel spoke one final sentence—one that shocked everyone even more.

”Oh, but there is one more thing, humans! The participant in first place on the leaderboard—Azriel Crimson... what an interesting human he is! I honestly have no idea how he got there! Ah, the gods and I are so frustrated that, for some reason, we are forbidden from seeing! What kind of suspense is being built around that human that I’m not even allowed to point cameras at him? Ahem! Ahem! Anyway... Azriel Crimson has, instead of a gold marker... a white marker!”

A sinister sort of glee flashed through the angel’s eyes.

”And a bounty has been placed on him!”

The garden fell completely silent.

Then the angel smiled even wider and said,

”Anyone who kills him will have their mana core leveled up by three.”