Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

The moonlight of the bluish moon illuminated Russell's dormitory room. It's been past midnight, Freya and Amelie were sleeping on the bed and couch respectively, while Russell was sleeping on the floor over some mat and a pillow.

Russell — who was lying on the floor with his two hands at the back of his head — looked at the ceiling of his dormitory room that's been illuminated by the moonlight.

Amidst the deafening silence of the night, various thoughts surfaced in his mind before he sat on the floor, taking out a certain plain-looking purple notebook which he called the Book of Changes.

After glancing at the soundly sleeping Freya and Amelie, he also took out a pen before he silently scurried towards the study desk between the bed and the long, cozy, gray couch.

"There's too much unexpected that happened."

He muttered in an exhausting manner, his words seemed to echo throughout his surroundings due to the pervading silence and serenity of the night.

After letting out a sigh that depicted his tiredness, not physically, but mentally, he opened the plain-looking purple notebook and wrote the important changes or the circumstances that were worth taking note of.

During the past month, he had written about his journey with Amelie in the Western Olympia, meeting with Maya and her strange reaction to them, raiding a Shadow Guild's branch where they saved Maya's parents, and encountered an element in his unpublished which was the one who managed to kill him.

Apart from the above-mentioned circumstances, he had written about the seemingly unusual behavior of Samantha Hall; her inquiry about his hobby of reading books and if he was a writer; her confidence in the upcoming Tower of Growth.

As Russell flipped the pages and reached that section, his facial expression twitched as he remembered what had transpired just a few hours ago.

He then started to write another name.

...

– Number X. Artorious Hall

His behavior was very unexpected, I didn't know how he came up with the idea of pulling us with his skill just because the first Close Mystery Tower would soon open, and we discovered the first Micro-Strayed Dungeon.

Although we lied about how and when we raided it, it's not enough reason for Artorious to take interest in us, but his thought process seemed more obsessed with "unknowns" than I had anticipated.

Probably... just probably... That it was because of the "lie" we made that made his interest be directed at us.

...

Russel looked at his soundly sleeping younger sister before adding a new sentence below the entry for Artorious Hall.

"With Freya's profession, Death Executioner, we devised a plan to take advantage of Artorious interest in us, to make him sign a Soul Contract that would not affect us because of our Trait: Chaos. It went successfully with other benefits just as the Player License.

"Then, there's that liar, too. Chancellor Alexander knew about the Soul Contract, should I praise him for acting that way?

"I also don't know if they became stupid or what; Freya showed an unnatural item, but it seemed they never intended to question us about our Status Windows which they didn't take time to check; because if they did, they would certainly question us about it even before the Soul Contract procedure started."

He muttered slowly as he wrote the following words.

After some time, he finished the entry for Artorious, and he then wrote a "certain name" that he was secretly eyeing during the past month.

...

– Number XX...

A very dangerous element.

...

Only one sentence was written under a certain name that Russell had monitored during the past month.

After closing the "Book of Changes", and putting it inside his Dimensional Inventory, he looked outside the window as his deep blue eyes reflected with the moonlight.

'I wonder how's Amery... she must be confused by System messages during the Soul Contract making, but she'll understand.'

Russell thought inwardly, before checking his Status Window that he seldom checks.

After at least three months of training at the Chaos Training Grounds, he became a C– rank with an average range of overall stats of 243 to 343.

'This is freaking slow.'

He lampooned inwardly; as one's rank became higher, the harder it was to raise one's stats just by mere training even though with the high Growth Rate.

It's one of the reasons that Russell considered the Chaos Training Grounds as a temporary training ground for raising stats because it would only be beneficial for some time.

'Nonetheless, it's a great place due to Time Difference.

'But I guess next month, raiding a Dungeon Tower is a must.'

Apart from training one's body, the "fastest way" to raise one's stats was to raid any kind of Dungeon Tower; Dungeon Tower, High Dungeon Tower, and Peak Dungeon Tower.

It's guaranteed to make a player grow stronger due to the hundred percent certainty of bonus stats upon successfully raiding it.

'I hope the Chaos Dungeons will have that kind of benefit, too.'

He poignantly said inwardly as he continued browsing his Status Window; he saw the unexplored, no, rather, the unused movements of the Swordsmanship of the Night (Zenith), and the Scythemanship of the Reaper (EX).

It's not because he hasn't grasped some of the movements of these unreal Passive Skills during some of his training in the Chaos Training Grounds, rather, the Goddess of Night had advised him to first use them in the Chaos Dungeons, and not anywhere on Earth.

Though he didn't know why that should be the case, the Goddess of Night never gave him a proper answer.

After some time, he saw his summoning skill... and was reminded of the Chaos Slime, Ceru who died in battle against the A- rank branch manager of the Shadow Guild.

He asked the Goddess of Night previously about whether Ceru could be resummoned, but unfortunately, it was a negative response, along with a positive one.

The negative side was that Ceru, the Chaos Slime wouldn't be resummoned again as Russell hoped, which was unusual for a Summoner's dead summon.

The positive side was that Ceru has been resurrected in one of the Chaos Dungeons, and if somehow he got stumbled on it, and got recognized, Russell would be able to bring Ceru back.

'Then there's that three dice, too.'

His head seemed to ache upon being reminded of something he didn't want to be reminded of.

He recalled the Dice of Chaos (Ancient) that he could use once every 15 days, but during his few latest usage, all he received was crap Lowest to Low-Grade Consumables instead of Skillbooks by throwing "two" dice at the same time.

"Sigh... I guess this is enough stress for now."

Letting out a sigh, he fell asleep on the study desk as the moonlight continued to spread its serenity.

...

October 15, 2062, 12:01 A.M.

One day before the first Close Mystery Tower would open.

It's been at least a month since Artorious kidnapped a bunch of students due to being obsessed with getting an answer about the disappearance of his wife.

During the past month, Russell took care of Azalea by making her sign a Mana Contract, although she was curious about what happened, she did what she told obediently because, in the first place, she had no intention of spreading a rumor about Artorious' uncalled actions. It would only strongly affect or jeopardize her secret identity and business if the issue about what happened had spread and become deeper than what it was.

The rumors about Russell and Victoria, the former Student Council Secretary had started to die down, but new rumors emerged during the past month: that Victoria only did such a disgusting deed because she wanted to make Aisha Whispercrest, the Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee envy her in having a sexual life.

These rumors caused Russell to almost lose his patience and to just outright murder the Student Council President, Arthur Wolfson. But with the plan waiting to be implemented, Russell contained his lividness, waiting for the right time.

...

The two Princesses; Rumia Flora and Elizabeth von Etherion had finished their preparation for the execution of several death row prisoners.

The time and date were scheduled after the opening of the Close Mystery Tower: Tower of Growth.

It would be a fitting time as they planned to get some intel first about the Tower before they attempt to raid it with the party they made prior to its opening.

This time, their respective mothers had told them that they would be in pairs in execution — something that never happened since they were kids.

...

Han Jiho and Anya Amasawa somewhat became unnaturally close, something that Russell didn't expect, but it's to the point within the acceptable range of change unlike what Artorious did.

He thought that these two introverts; one was initially clueless about society, and the other was clueless about how people view her, would "still" be a great partners in crime in the future.

For some time, these two were honing each other's strengths and learning from their weaknesses.

Based on Russell's memory, it was only Han Jiho's Status Window that initially didn't change when compared to his unpublished , while the other major characters had some changes in them, especially with Samantha's case of possessing a Stigma.

He also noticed Leon's behavior; there was that arrogant attitude that never changed that's directed to Han Jiho, but in the past few weeks, Russell seemed to unnecessarily garner Leon's attention.

Although that's the case, Russell noticed that Leon was somewhat silently admiring the dedication of his younger sister, Mira von Obreyon. He even thought that maybe, as an Unknown Element, Mira would die through Leon's hands if his envy intensified towards his younger sister; if she somehow became as strong as Leon himself, if not stronger.

...

During the start of the second week of October, the Midterm, written and practical exams ended, along with the less formal Ranking of Exchange that had "first" transpired during the celebration or remembrance of the 40th Emergence.

The Ranking of Exchange that happened this month resulted in Mira's two friends that were left before in the A-11 becoming A-1 students, kicking out some lower-ranked students in the A-1 class.

Then, the midterms were almost ace by the A-1 class students except for Russell, who became the epitome of the "I knew it, but I can't explain it" kind of person, and Han Jiho, who learned many things but couldn't process everything as his thoughts were still occupied by the truth behind the Monster Stampede that occurred in his secluded village: Sanctus Solaris, killing his entire family.

Apart from the written exam, the practical test was another Virtual War; courtesy of Professor Murak, the Player Physical Education professor for the A-1 class. This time, the pairings or leaders never changed, as well as the result. It's like the balance of power between the TOP rank students was like flowing water that wasn't experiencing any kind of disruption.

...

"Russell... Arthur said that he got the money for the artifact he needed, and he'll buy it tomorrow evening after the students are allowed to go on vacation."

Presently, Amelie spoke to him — who was sitting on the stool; this time, they were in the kitchen.

"Alright, tell him it's a deal."

Tap. Tap.

Amelie tapped on her smartwatch, replying to Arthur Wolfson whom she had contact with due to her being a member of the so-called Weaver Faction.

"Oppa... I'll be starting to roam the Soul Realm soon. I need some help first, but if I get used to it, and if the Evil Spirits are not strong enough, I'll handle them by myself and with Estelle."

Freya interjected as she closed one of the books she received regarding the Nether Realm.

"Aside from that... Oppa, do you plan on..."

"Yes."

Russell said succinctly, stopping Freya's next words.

Amelie looked confused because she didn't know anything about it; and Russell, who saw her reaction spoke with a faint, seemingly tired smile.

"Don't worry about it, Amelie... It's about a part of our family's past. I'll personally handle it."