Tring—! Tring—! Tring—!
"Huaaa!"
Rubbing my eyes, I woke up from my sweet slumber when the alarm ring fell in my ears.
Sluggishly shutting it off, I got up from my bed, walked up to the closet and took out a bathrobe before entering the bathroom.
Although the clock was displaying [6:20 AM] right now, I was still feeling fresh despite it being so early in the morning.
Perhaps it's because I was now adapted to this routine, or maybe it's because I didn't sleep at all….
Yes, my sleep schedule is still messed up.
Anyway, my morning routine is something like this: I wake up early in the morning or do not sleep through the night at all. Then I freshen up and do a little exercise. After that, I dress up and go to the Academy.
It was a repetitive routine but not a boring one, as I was enjoying my time in this fantasy world.
To some extent, I could even say that I have accepted this world as my reality now.
It's been five days since I got that envelope and the red quill pen.
I wracked my brain all over the place to find plausible answers to my questions, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't come to a logical conclusion.
The only speculation I could come up with was that maybe, just maybe, Joe, the author who killed me, really was some kind of a god.
So by extension, he was also the reason I was in this world in the first place.
Maybe this served as my punishment for criticizing a god's work.
But then the question is, if he was punishing me for belittling his story, then why in the world would he give me a cheat item?
And why did he make me transmigrate as Lucas and not some other character who suffered more in the story?
Don't get me wrong, Lucas suffered in the story a lot, but the saddest part about his life was that he got beaten up by the protagonist and was used by the vampires as their pawn.
After those incidents, he was captured by the protagonist and his companions and was imprisoned by the Central Government for life under the charges of treason.
But compared to many other characters, his life wasn't that sad. Even the prison cell he was given was a VIP cell.
There were many, many other characters with a much worse fate than his. They suffered far greater tragedies than Lucas did throughout the story.
If he wanted to make me suffer, then why not make me into those characters?
I was not a religious person in my past life, so even coming to this conclusion and accepting the existence of a god made me abandon all my beliefs.
And besides, why me?
I mean, there were quite a few more editors excluding me who criticized his story.
So why did he only kill me?
Sigh… So many questions but no answers at all.
Arghh! If I could, I would just find Joe, grab his collar, and make him spit out all the answers I need!
…Ahem. I mean, if I could, I would just find Joe and politely ask him to answer all my queries. Politely.
After leaving the bathroom, I put on a bathrobe. My white hair was wet, so I used a towel to dry it.
Standing in front of the mirror, I couldn't help but admire my own appearance once again.
Yes, admiring my beauty has become a part of my daily routine now. This isn't what people call narcissism, is it?
Tiny water droplets were dripping down my chest down to my slim yet shredded waist, almost making my body sparkle.
And then my eyes went up to my face. Ahh~ Slicking back my drenched hair, I smirked.
"Mirror, mirror! Who's the most beautiful in the world? Me~! …Ahem!"
Nope! That was cringe as hell. Never doing that again!
After admiring my face, which I thought looked as if it had been sculpted by the gods, I turned my gaze to look at the living room couch.
As soon as my sight fell on it, a red translucent screen that I was very familiar with appeared in my field of vision
Item: Couch
Status: Modified
Ability: Cloud Cushion
Condition: Good
Rank: None
Edit (Active): A couch that provides a feeling of comfort and support, as if the user is sitting on clouds.
Yes, I used the red feathered pen on this couch.
I know! I know! Out of all the things I could've tested my pen on, I decided to go for a couch!
But there's a reason. Not a solid one, but still a valid reason.
The reason was that I didn't know the capabilities of the red pen back then. I didn't know what it could do.
Yes, there was an envelope and my modified status screen telling me its use, but how could I trust something at face value?
So, I decided to play it safe. I decided to test the pen on the safest thing I had in this apartment.
And what's safer than a couch, right? So I decided to test the pen and "Edit" the living room couch.
It took one Edit Point for the Edit to finalize. Since I was given five free Edit Points at the start, after this test, I only had four left.
Anyway, now I knew what the Pen could do.
The red feathered pen can help me view the status of any object. And in that status screen, I will be given an Edit column.
Anything that I write in that column would become true as long as I have enough Edit Points.
Let's look at that knife on the kitchen counter, for example.
Item: Ordinary Kitchen Knife
Status: Unable to modify. 1650 Edit Points are needed to complete the edit.
Ability: None
Condition: Rusting
Rank: None
Edit (Discarded): Become a nuclear warhead.
…Yeah. I tried to turn a knife into a nuclear warhead. Aren't I clever?
Anyhow, as I explained, as long as I have enough Points, anything I write in the edit column can become true.
Because I didn't have enough Points to turn an ordinary knife into a nuclear warhead, my edit was 'Discarded.'
The word 'Discarded' will appear in front of the Edits that can't be applied to an object.
Besides that, this pen has many more functions. For example, I can also Edit the property of an object.
Yesterday I lit a paper on fire and used the pen to extinguish it. I basically stripped the fire of its 'heat' property, and it extinguished itself.
In short, I can redefine the properties of existing items as long as I have enough points with me.
I can alter their physical features. I can also reshape and reconstruct them.
I can customize their properties, upgrade their overall capabilities, and even transform them into an entirely different type of item.
That is, as long as I have enough Edit Points.
One more thing, the closer an object is to the Edit that I desire to achieve, the fewer Edit Point I would have to spend.
Let me clarify. For example, if I wish to turn a normal kitchen knife into a sword, it would cost 20 Edit Points, whereas if I wish to turn a pillow into a sword, it would cost me more than 50 Edit Points.
Similarly, the shape and size of an object also affect the cost of the Edit I want to achieve.
For example, transforming a 5-inch big knife into a sword would cost me 20 Edit Points, whereas transforming a 3-inch knife would cost me more than 20 Edit Points.
But even with all these limitations, this pen was seriously overpowered.
Just imagine! I could create relics without being a Blacksmith! I could make high-quality potions without being an Alchemist! I could do anything!
If I dare say so myself, this power was almost godlike.
But for some reason, I was feeling frustrated more than feeling happy for reviving such an overpowered gift.
I don't know why I felt so, but I did.
Anyway, I won't talk about big-brain stuff anymore. There'll be many opportunities for me to use this pen in the future.
Oh, by the way, a new section named [Edit Points] was added to my status window the day I received this pen.
===Status===
Name→ Lucas Morningstar [Face Image]
Race→ Human
Attack→ 20
Defense→ 8
Speed→ 39
Stamina→ 32
Accuracy→ 76
Charm→ 439
Intelligence→ 187
Mana Capacity→ 500/500
Rank→ Iron 2
Potential→ Gold 3
Professions→ Spearman Lvl. 1 Archer Lvl. 1
Techniques→ None
Affinity→ Fire » Lightning Light
Spells→ Fireball ⟨Low⟩ Zap Touch ⟨Low⟩
Blessing→ Mana Burst
Possessions→ Phoenix's Embrace ⟨Semi-Divine⟩ Edit Pen ⟨Divine⟩
Edit Points: 2
I only have two Edit Points left.
One Edit requires at least one Point or more, depending on the extent of the Edit. The more bizarre the modification I want in an object, the more Points I need to have.
One Point was used on the couch, and two Points were used on the fire experiment I performed.
"Hmmm"
But what made me worry was how to gain more Points. I mean, the way to obtain more Points was clearly written in the envelope that I received.
I have to create an enjoyable enough story to entertain… 'him.'
It's a no-brainer that the 'him' in question was Joe— the very man who shot me, killed me, and then made me reincarnate in his world.
"Enjoyable story, huh?"
Is my entire existence nothing more than a source of entertainment for him?
If this deity truly holds the power of god and is watching over me, judging every move I make and every story I weave, then am I merely a pawn in his grand game of pleasure?
Will my fate be determined by the whims of an all-seeing deity whose sole purpose is to be entertained by my life?
Yeah, maybe this was the reason I was feeling so bitter the past few days.
The realization that someone was using me for his own sick enjoyment sent a wave of anger crashing over me.
I bit my thumbnail and came to a stern conclusion. I was going to do exactly what he wanted me to do.
"Very well," I said through clenched jaws, my voice low and dangerous.
"I will craft a story so mesmerizing, so filled with twists and turns, that it will leave you on the edge of your seat. And when it's all said and done, when the last chapter is written, and the final page is turned, I'll make sure you pay for your crimes. My revenge will be swift and unyielding, a relentless pursuit that will leave you nowhere to hide."
