Chapter 591: A Cliche Protagonist’s Story

[Don’t tell anyone about our conversation. Not even your girlfriend.]

Amon sighed tiredly.

"Of course I won’t..."

But then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

’Girlfriend... not girlfriends.’

Amon narrowed his eyes slightly.

’Does this System not know that I have two lovers?’

Since he had been with Seraphina when the System first appeared, it was probably referring to her.

’Which means... it might not know about Scarlett.’

That realization made Amon slightly more cautious. He nodded and looked back at the golden screen.

"Okay... is that everything you wanted to tell me?" He paused. "Or is there something else?"

[Yes. There is one more thing.]

Amon raised an eyebrow.

[During your summer vacation, I have a mission for Arnold. I hope you can accompany him.]

Amon’s expression immediately became displeased.

"Like hell I will." He crossed his arms. "I don’t want to die."

[That is precisely why I told you about the danger awaiting you in the future.]

The System’s voice remained calm.

[I don’t want you to die, Amon. We don’t want that.]

Amon stared at the golden screen suspiciously.

[Furthermore, it will only be the two of you. No one you care about will be involved or harmed.]

A brief pause.

[I promise.]

Amon’s eyes shifted toward Arnold.

"Has this System ever promised you something and actually kept its promise?"

Arnold looked back at him.

He shrugged. "Well... it promised me power and assistance to survive. I’ve been relying on it for more than a year now, and I’m still alive."

Amon stared at him for a moment.

"Sigh..."

He rubbed his forehead.

"That wasn’t helpful at all. You are host of system, so naturally it wants you to become strong and survive the danger."

Arnold simply shrugged again.

The System spoke.

[Amon]

Amon glanced back at the golden screen.

[Take your time and think about it. If you choose to work with us, I can help you survive the mission...]

The System paused briefly.

[...and become stronger.]

Amon remained silent.

There was no way he could make such an important decision right now. His mind was already overflowing with questions.

The Devils, Cruoris, and those cultist.

The mysterious being behind the System. His strange abilities. And unknown future that might be known to the system.

And now a dangerous event waiting for him during the second semester of his second year.

"Okay..."

Amon finally sighed. "I’ll think about it."

He looked away. "For now, my brain is a complete mess. I need some time to sort everything out."

[Of course. Take all the time you need.]

The golden screen flickered softly.

[It was nice talking with you, Amon.]

The next instant.

Flicker.

The golden screen vanished as it never existed. The forest returned to its usual silence.

Only Amon and Arnold remained beneath the trees. For a while, neither of them spoke.

Amon stared at the empty space where the System had been. He had entered this forest thinking he would finally get some answers.

Instead he had walked away with even more questions than before. And somehow, he had the feeling that this was only the beginning.

"Shall we head back to the academy?" Arnold asked, glancing at Amon.

The man who had just revealed such a massive secret now stood beside him as if nothing had happened.

Amon’s anger was gone.

What remained was something much more uncomfortable.

Uncertainty.

The knowledge that something dangerous awaited him in the future had planted a seed of worry in his mind. For the first time, he almost wished he had remained ignorant.

Maybe not knowing about the future really was better...

What was he supposed to do now?

He couldn’t change something he knew nothing about, but knowing that danger was coming didn’t necessarily mean he could stop it either.

"Don’t worry too much," Arnold said as he walked over and stopped beside him. "You’ve already survived plenty of dangerous situations and become stronger because of them. You’ll survive whatever comes next too."

Amon’s eye twitched.

He really wanted to punch that annoyingly nonchalant face.

But he restrained himself. ’There’s no point fighting with Arnold.’

"Let’s just go back to the academy."

Amon sighed. "It should be dinner time by now, and I’m starving."

The two began walking toward the academy.

The sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving the forest wrapped in darkness. The distant lights of the academy could be seen through the trees.

As they walked, Amon glanced ahead.

"I have a question."

"What?"

"How did you obtain the System?"

Arnold’s expression became slightly more serious.

He continued walking with both hands buried inside his trouser pockets.

"I received the System when I was on the verge of death."

Amon’s curiosity immediately grew.

"Oh?"

He turned his head toward Arnold.

"Now that you’ve mentioned it, care to tell me the story?"

Arnold remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he sighed."There’s nothing particularly interesting about it."

He looked ahead.

"I have four siblings. Two brothers and two sisters. Among all of us, I was the least talented."

Amon listened quietly.

"I wasn’t good at anything. Swordsmanship, spear techniques, magic, theoretical studies... no matter what I tried, I was always mediocre."

Arnold gave a faint, bitter smile. "Because of that, I was constantly mocked."

He paused. "Everyone considered me a good-for-nothing."

Amon nodded slightly.

’Classic cliché protagonist setup.’

He almost smiled at the thought.

’The useless young master who suddenly obtains a System and rises above everyone...’

Still, Arnold’s story was clearly more complicated than the usual cliché.

"That’s harsh," Amon said. "Especially when it’s your own siblings treating you that way."

Arnold chuckled quietly. "Well... I suppose it’s more accurate to call them my half-siblings."

Amon glanced at him.

"My mother was a commoner. My father married two women, and I was the son of his second wife."

He paused before continuing.

"Because of that, I was treated differently from my siblings from the moment I was born."

"Oh..."

Amon’s expression softened.

"So even your father treated you differently?"

Arnold shook his head.

"No."

His answer came immediately.

"My father loves my mother. He’s never treated either of us badly. My parents are good people."

He looked down at the path for a moment.

"But that doesn’t mean my father was going to follow me around everywhere just to stop people from mocking me."

Amon remained silent.

"And honestly..."

Arnold clenched one hand inside his pocket.

"I never wanted that kind of protection."

His voice became firmer.

"Because the things they said about me weren’t completely wrong."

Amon looked at him.

"I really wasn’t talented."

Arnold’s eyes remained fixed ahead.

"So I never rebelled against them. I never complained to my parents or demanded that they defend me. Instead... I trained."

His voice carried a quiet determination.

"Again and again. Every day."

He slowly clenched his fist.

"I trained harder because I knew that if I wanted people to acknowledge me, I had to earn it myself."

Amon listened without interrupting.

"Then, one day, all of us siblings went into the forest for a hunting exercise."

Arnold’s expression became slightly darker.

"It was supposed to be a simple practice hunt. We weren’t supposed to venture too far from the designated area."

He sighed. "But I ended up going deeper into the forest than I should have."

Amon raised an eyebrow.

"You got lost?"

"Yeah."

Arnold nodded.

"I tried to find my way back, but I only ended up going deeper."

He looked toward the dark forest around them.

"I spent hours searching for a way out, thinking that eventually someone would come looking for me."

But no one came. "The entire day passed."

Arnold’s voice became quieter. "Eventually, night fell."

Amon’s expression became serious. "And that’s when things became dangerous."

Arnold nodded. "I encountered a Rank Two monster."

Amon’s eyes narrowed slightly. "At that time, I was far too weak to fight something like that."

He paused. "I tried to run." His expression darkened as he recalled the memory. "But it was faster than me."

Amon could almost imagine the scene.

A young nobleman, lost deep within a forest, alone in the darkness with a monster far beyond his ability to defeat.

"I knew I was going to die."

Arnold’s voice was calm, but there was a trace of the fear he had felt back then.

"I had exhausted myself searching for a way back. I was hungry, tired, and completely alone."

He stopped walking for a moment.

"The monster cornered me."

Amon remained silent.

"And just when I thought it was over..."

Arnold looked at his own hand.

"The System awakened."

Amon’s eyes narrowed.

’So that’s when it happened... it’s... cliche’

The useless young master who had been ridiculed by his siblings. The boy who had spent years desperately trying to become stronger.

The boy who had finally reached the point where he could no longer save himself. That was when the System appeared.

"It gave me the strength I needed to survive," Arnold continued. "And from that night onward..."

He looked toward Amon. "My life changed completely."

Amon stared at him for a moment.

"So that’s how you obtained it."

Arnold nodded.

"Yeah."

The two resumed walking toward the academy. Amon looked ahead, his expression thoughtful.

’So Arnold really was on the verge of death when the System chose him. Or maybe it was waiting for that exact moment.’

He had initially thought Arnold’s story was just another cliché.

But after everything he had learned tonight...

Amon wasn’t so sure anymore.

’Why did that System choose Arnold?’

"Your mother... she’s alive?"

Arnold frowned at first and then nodded. "Yes, she is, why did you asked?"

"Nothing..."

’Weird, in most NovelPhoenixs, protagonists’ mothers are dead after their birth, and then they suffer bullying from siblings and stepmother.’

Amon thought. ’He’s kind of lucky man.... fuck! It’s me who don’t have parents! shitt! Curse you goddess!’

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[A/N: Should I slowly make them suffer and kill their love ones hehehe~ cough!! well killing them just for some weird character development is not to my liking. Sigh... well hope I won’t kill anyone they love.]