“Everyone quiet! I understand you’re anxious, but there’s nothing we can do about it. There have been a lot of incidents lately.”  

Claire looked at the security guards outside the classroom with an unsatisfied gaze. 

There was a sudden increase over the past few days. 

They were probably stationed by the higher-ups due to the various incidents.

I could understand her position, but…

Was it because seeing the anxious students made Claire feel bad?  

While trying to calm the students down, she seemed to have the most to say. 

Perhaps she was holding back to reassure the students.

“As you all know, crimes targeting academy students have been surging recently. Of course, you’re superhumans and strong. But the villains are superhumans, too. It’s best to be careful.”

Hmm, that didn’t seem right. 

While Claire’s words were generally correct, the grunts of Übermensch were just ordinary people running around shooting guns.

They were probably people with low compatibility for enhancers. 

I don’t think superhumans would lose to such people.

However, the fact that villains vastly outnumbered us was also true, so I decided to stay quiet.

“So don’t pay attention to those people. Just focus on your lessons. Isn’t it because you look down on those kinds of people that you become targets for crime?”

“…Indeed.”

“If they’re the kind to become criminals, they’re not worth our attention, are they?”

The students’ dissatisfaction instantly shifted towards the villains.

Wow, the teacher was incredibly skilled.

She instantly turned the students’ anxiety into anger toward the villains’ arrogance.

As expected of a teacher.

She subtly gave the impression that the villains were weak, emboldening the students by implying they were being underestimated.

“…And remember, finals season is coming up in a month. You’ll have to work harder to get good grades, won’t you?”

“Ugh. I had forgotten about that.”

“Please don’t remind us, teacher…”

And her ability to completely deflate the students’ enthusiasm was no joke either.

The energized students from before were now letting out groans of frustration.

“Finals…what will be on them?”

[Hmm, I wonder? What should it be…]

The Author began pondering over this and that.

…But this time, I had no intention of guiding or helping her.

From drawings at the crime scene behind my back,

The sudden appearance of twelve Übermensch executives,

The Lyla incident,

The monster at the entrance ceremony. 

Thinking back, there have been an awful lot of twists and turns.

Except for dangerous situations, I had been watching and letting the Author slowly grow. Still, I decided to cross the line a bit here.

Is it dangerous? No, this might be my only chance.

At this rate, the final boss that the protagonist has to catch could become a universe-destroying monster on a tremendous scale.

To prevent that, I needed to determine how much I could influence the Author.

So far, I have only made suggestions to the Author. I had never twisted the story as I pleased.

But this couldn’t continue. What if an incident that was too big for me to handle occurred one day?

What if the protagonist died due to a small mistake? What if the Author then gave up on this world?

I had to try while there was still some leeway.  

To test the limits of what the Author would allow.

…And for one other purpose.

Steeling my resolve, I slyly moved closer to Amelia.

“Do you know, Amelia?”

“Huh? Oh…no, I don’t. Didn’t the senior she couldn’t help us with this either?”

Right. The final exam content was undecided since the Author hadn’t set the details.

Given the nature of this world, where undecided things get filled in accordingly, there was probably a setting where the contents were changed every year.

“I didn’t know either, but apparently, the exam content changes yearly to prevent leaks. Sometimes it’s the same as last year’s, so it’s completely random.”

See? As expected, the exam content was completely random. 

…But that wasn’t the important part. What mattered was from now on.

“Ahahaha. I heard a rumor about it.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. It seems credible enough. Apparently, the final exam is a tournament.”  

“A tournament?”

“Yes. A tournament for all the freshmen.”

[?! R-Reader-nim! What are you doing!]

The Author, realizing what I had done, was aghast.

Well, of course. Determining the story’s direction is the Author’s role.

But she is not an all-powerful god. She is someone who transcribes the tales of this world. While she can modify the story to her taste, there are limits.

Even a puppeteer cannot control billions of puppets at once.

Moreover, the Author has to perform this puppet show for others. That’s where the opening lies.

I must also be a major character in the novel. There’s no way she wouldn’t utilize me when I’ve been staying so close to the protagonist.

As such, for me to tell a story with no basis to Amelia, the presumed main heroine, wouldn’t make sense from a storytelling perspective.

Amelia would naturally tell the protagonist what I said.  

But if the exam format I described ended up being completely different? 

In reality, this wouldn’t even be an issue.

It was just a rumor, no more than hearsay.

But in a novel, it’s a different story. Not some trivial tale, but one about the final exams. A narrative trigger.

In a situation devoid of any triggers, would readers not take the only information given as foreshadowing?

No, they definitely would. Without a doubt, readers would accept the trigger that the final exams are a tournament.

Of course, it’s nullified if the Author doesn’t put it in the novel. But I had already told Amelia.

The protagonist and heroine would undoubtedly start believing my words to some extent.

Well, one usually doesn’t think I’m saying it without any basis, right? They’d probably think I got the information from somewhere.  

I’ve also worked through various incidents with them until now, so I have a certain level of credibility.

Now, they’ll act based on that information.

They’ll genuinely think the final exams are a tournament and prepare accordingly.

If the Author then comes up with a different exam format?

The narrative will be disrupted. Siwoo and Amelia would have been under the impression it was a tournament.  

They would have prepared with a focus on 1-on-1 scenarios.

To proceed with something like monster subjugation under those circumstances? 

The important heroine and protagonist would be thrown into confusion.

Ultimately, as I had said, the Author has no choice but to make it a tournament.

…And that’s exactly what I was aiming for.

It was the only action I could take since the Author cannot modify events that have already occurred.

“… I’ll keep that in mind. Well, I’ll be going then.”

“Oh, uh…thanks.”

After bidding Amelia farewell, I naturally exited the classroom and entered an alleyway.

…I wonder how this will turn out.

My hands were trembling uncontrollably.

[Well, a tournament doesn’t sound too bad!]

“…Is that so?”

[Yes…But you mustn’t do that again, okay? I’ll get angry! You told me to speak before acting, but what am I supposed to do if you do that!]

“Haha… You’re right? My apologies.”

I made it.

A wave of relief and disappointment washed over me, draining all strength from my body.

This was different from the persuading and scolding I did until now.

It was an act of incomparable disrespect.

This was, quite literally, seizing and shaking the work itself.  

An act of disrupting the narrative flow penned by the Author to suit my own tastes.

…For her to forgive me for this. Does it mean she trusts me? Or is it that she cannot change me?

While it was good that she didn’t get angry, I was a bit disappointed that I failed to achieve my second objective.

What was that, you ask?

…I wanted to know whether I was human or a puppet. 

The truth.

Am I a human who merely believes I am human? Or am I truly human?  

I couldn’t tell. So, I had hoped the Author would get angry.

If she could tamper with my settings, then I must just be a puppet.

If memories of a family I didn’t know suddenly appeared in my head, would that make me a puppet?

…This body was created. A puppet molded by her hands.

Didn’t she say so herself? She said she made my chest with her own hands.

When a colorless puppet takes the stage, adjustments are naturally necessary.

So, when the academy student setting was added, I didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t me changing.  

It was simply filling an empty space with something. My memories and recollections weren’t altered.

If a human is inside a puppet that resembles a human, is that a puppet or a human?

I chose to believe I was human.  

My life, my persona, wasn’t being rewritten like those puppets.

I didn’t suddenly develop an inferiority complex like Lyla, nor did my life change in an instant like the nearly 2,400 villains.

Just some minor background details were filled in.

“Author-nim. What do you think it means to be human?”

[…? That’s an odd question to ask.]

“Hurry up.”

[Umm, I don’t really know…?]

“I believe it’s determined by whether one has free will or not. That’s what separates humans from non-humans.”

[Free will?]

“Yes.”

If the world moved according to the whims of an all-powerful god.

If people only acted and died as that god desired.

…Could you really call that being human? No, you could not.

It would be no different from puppets. Pitiful puppets bound by the strings of fate.

Believing their actions are of their own free will, yet failing to realize they are merely being manipulated by the strings of fate. Pitiful puppets.

Unlike me.

I can defy her opinions, interact with her, and move as I desire.

But what about others? Their lives, fates, and thoughts change with a single line she writes.

“Humans without free will are no different from puppets.”

[…Is that so?]

“Indeed.”

With a wry smile towards Author, who responded with a pained groan as if not quite understanding.

But I came to a conclusion.

The only humans in this world were the Author and I.  

If I asked her if she could change me, she said yes…

…I didn’t dare to ask such a question.

Author’s Notes

Hmm, there was quite a bit of introspection today. 

Even I found it a little confusing…

If we assume there is a god who can change the world, would you consider that world to be fake? Or real?

Depending on your thoughts, it will determine how you perceive Arte!

…Will Arte’s psyche be influenced by Author’s added settings, or not?

Is she human or a puppet who believes herself to be human?

Translator’s Corner

Questions like this make me happy I crunch numbers in school.

-Ruminas