"A past life?" Sera’s brows knit together.

Beside her, Elira remained dead silent, her intense gaze boring into Lucian, waiting.

Lucian let out a heavy sigh. "Yes..."

He sat back down on the edge of the bed. For a few moments, he remained completely silent. Then let the quiet stretch out, allowing the atmosphere in the room to slowly shift, growing thick and heavy with anticipation. When the tension peaked, he finally began.

"I don’t remember all the details perfectly. This memory only awakened the day before I first stepped foot into this academy... In that memory, my soul was residing in someone else’s body, in an entirely different world. A country called ’Japan’, where the knowledge and civilization were different and more advanced than our own."

"But none of that is what’s important right now. The memory that actually matters... is something I gained during my ’college’ life."

"’College’?" Sera echoed blankly.

"Yeah... it’s a place similar to an academy. While I was there, I read a story. A novel titled Hero’s Radiant Path."

He paused, letting the title sink in before looking deeply into both of their eyes.

"The protagonist of that novel... was Cassian Brightmore. And he had three main heroines destined to be by his side."

"Seraphina Ashenblade, Elira Frostviel, and Aria Lighthollow."

"And the villain of this story..." He curled and uncurled his fist.

"...is me. Lucian Valemont."

"Wait, hold on... what do you mean, villain and hero?"

Lucian looked at Sera.

"Yes. I’m the minor bad guy who dies by Elira’s hands... I mean, I was supposed to. The hero of that novel, Cassian, ends up building a harem with all three heroines."

"So you’re telling me that I would kill you in the tournament, and Cassian—the same Cassian who was getting a blowjob from Miss Mireille that day — we would end up with him?"

Lucian nodded.

"In a way, yes. In the novel’s tournament, I’m just a nobody whose only job is to die by the heroine’s hands. Though, nothing like that can happen now, because everything has changed..."

"Okay. I believe you," Elira said flatly.

Sera flinched. "Wait, you really... It doesn’t make any sense... Lucian is saying we are just characters in a novel..."

"Yes... Sera’s, doubts are completely justified,"

Lucian sighed.

"From the very beginning, my only goal was to stop my fate. I did whatever I could to achieve that. I had no strength, no family support, no magical or physical power. I had no other choice but to scheme — to do whatever it took to win the trust of you three and stop my fate correction."

"And that’s exactly what I did... At first, I thought I would just use both of you for my own benefit. But over the time, after spending so much time with you both, things started to change. I realized how wrong I was to do that to you... and I just couldn’t hide it anymore."

Lucian rested both his elbows on his knees, looking down at the floor as he spoke. A few tears slipped from his eyes and hit the floor, which Elira immediately noticed.

She cupped both of his cheeks, lifting his face, and looked deeply into his glassy, tear-filled eyes.

"Lucian... you didn’t do anything wrong," she said softly. "If I were in your place, I would have done the exact same thing."

Sera came from behind, wrapping her arms around him in a back hug. She pressed her face against his back, her voice muffled as she spoke.

"Yeah... Elira is right. Don’t think so much about all these things. As long as Elira and I are with you, I swear we won’t let anything happen to you..."

Elira also nodded and hugged him back...

Just as she hugged him, Lucian’s face told a completely different story. He let out a long, silent exhale, as if he had been holding his breath for a very long time.

Ahhh... finally, Now I won’t have to see their wrathful goddess faces whenever I talk about another girl... and now I’ll be able to keep Aria by my side too... without causing any major trainwrecks.

Man oh man... What a massive scum I am...

From behind, Sera muttered in a low voice, sounding a bit hesitant to speak.

"So... Um... Lucian..."

"Hm?"

"You said that your fate correction stops as long as you stay with us three..." "Yeah..."

Sera actually had a ton of questions swarming in her mind. If Lucian really had memories of this ’novel’, he must know what happens to her in the end. Does she really die by the ashenblade bloodline curse? But looking at the mood, she decided it wasn’t the right time to ask.

"I have something else to show you both..." Lucian suddenly said.

"Wait a second."

Both girls released the hug and sat back.

"System, show them the screen stats,"

[Hold up, what do you mean ’show them’?! This screen is explicitly tied to your soul only!]

’Yeah, I know. But I also know you can easily make a projection visible to them too...’

[Nope. Not hap — not possible.]

Lucian’s demeanor instantly shifted into an extremely smug, punchable look.

’Fine, don’t do it. Um... anyway, I have 55,000 FP now. I guess they are pretty much useless to me since my stats are already high enough. I’ll just sell those green stones, drop out, and live a nice, peaceful life in the countryside—’

Ding!

[You have received an extra title: ’Absolute Scumbag’.]

Suddenly, the same screen — popped up right in front of Elira and Sera’s faces. Their personal stats were clearly written in glowing text.

"What the heck... what kind of magic is this?" Sera flinched, leaning back.

[Seraphina Ashenblade]

[Age: 18]

[Mana: 17,000 / 50,000]

[Physical Strength: A]

[Magical Aptitude: A+]

[Mana Stage: Flow]

[Special Attribute: SSS Sword Art Potential]

[Affection: 115]

[Elira Frostviel]

[Age: 18]

[Mana: 9,900 / 10,000]

[Physical Strength: S+]

[Magical Aptitude: A+]

[Mana Stage: Late Force]

[Affection: 115]

Sera curiously poked her finger at the screen, watching it phase right through the light. Meanwhile, Elira was deeply focused as she analyzed the digits hovering in front of her.

Though Sera couldn’t hold herself to peek at Elira’s screen. The moment her eyes spot on the physical strength and mana stage, her jaw dropped.

"E-Ehhh?!" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

she pointed an accusing finger at the blue panel.

"H-Hey! I demand a recheck!"

"This stupid floating glass is broken! How does she have an ’S+’ in Physical Strength while I only have an ’A’?! I swing a massive sword every single day, and all she does is sleep on desks and shoot ice!"

Elira didn’t flinch. Eyes still locked on her screen as she spoke in her usual deadpan.

"This will suffice." And then she cast a fleeting, half-lidded glance at Sera.

"I bear the blood of ancient dragons. You, on the other hand, merely have a loud voice."

Sera flushed a cartoonish crimson, fists clenching instantly. "Why you little—!"

Watching from the sidelines, Lucian just let out an awkward chuckle.

Eventually, the whining got a bit too loud, so he clapped.

"Alright, alright, settle down you two."

"Before you two tear the room apart... let me give you both a little present."