CHAPTER 42: DISCIPLE CULTIVATION SYSTEM CH42 FAILURE.

The metallic scent of blood filled the air in the dark alleyway, the aftermath of a bloody conflict evident.

The walls were sliced apart, the ground ravaged with strikes and flowing with blood.

Two bodies lay motionless in one corner—a part spared from the ruins—while the other end of the alley had trails of blood leading to a green-haired woman leaning against a wall.

She sat motionless, her clothes half-torn and her body covered in wounds. Her expression displayed glimpses of anguish and agony as she looked at her left arm lying limp beside her on the ground.

Her own dagger had been used to stab her, and now she was left in utter humiliation at how the person she was supposed to protect others from had left her alive.

Looking back, she had been too confident. When Valerie had called her about an assassin chasing her, she’d expected someone strong enough to handle a student—but not at the level to leave her in such a miserable state.

Even poor Art, who had arrived before her, had been knocked out cold for minutes on end.

The case in point was that she had lost—but at least, on the bright side, Valerie hadn’t been taken.

"Who am I kidding? I’m pissed."

She had been humiliated.

Her attacker was no ordinary assassin but a bona fide warrior.

At first, she thought she had a chance—after all, she’d landed the first hit—but that was mere delusion on her part.

Speed, technique, endurance, even strength... she had been completely outclassed the moment the assassin shed her armor.

Losing a fight wasn’t rare for her, but being utterly outclassed and humiliated to this state? This was something only the Twin Blades had done to her.

"Sob... it hurts."

Pulling the dagger from her palm, she placed it over her face and began to sob.

She didn’t like to talk about it, but she had a massive inferiority complex.

She’d spent the first ten years of her life thinking of how to survive in an orphanage, another decade roaming the world while killing others to make a living.

From her twenties to early thirties, she’d worked as a mercenary and part-time assassin.

Throughout those years, she had trained day and night just to become strong enough to survive—but even hard work had its limits.

She’d learned that the hard way against the Twin Blades, and now she’d learned it again.

The main reason she had lost wasn’t because her opponent was better—but because they weren’t human.

The assassin was a demon, one with the regenerative capabilities of a vampire.

For every fatal hit she landed, they merely shrugged it off. But she was human.

In a battle of endurance, her opponent could heal from any wound—but she would continue to accumulate injuries until her movements slowed, her guard broke, and finally, she made a mistake.

Unlike Sunbringer, where she’d caught him off guard, this assassin had been in full health. She lost simply because she was human.

---

"Argh..."

Stepping out of the siren-infested hospital with bandages wrapped around his head, Art groaned in annoyance, the orange hue of the sky depressing to look at.

The plot had just begun, and already he was experiencing two anomalies:

Valerie’s lost memories and now the assassin attack.

None of this had happened in the original story.

The first time someone should have tried to attack Valerie was at the end of the semester, and the attacker should have been Villier—but...

"Did someone cause a butterfly effect?"

First and foremost, he’d only arrived in this world less than a month ago, and during his first week, he hadn’t done anything potent enough to influence it.

Apart from the academy grounds, he’d hardly interacted with anyone else—so how the heck was a butterfly effect already happening?

The only people he’d exerted influence on were Trish and Cheshire, and neither those instances were significant enough to bring about such a change.

"Could there be another transmigrator?"

Right now, that was the only conclusion he could come to.

If someone had arrived before him and changed something, then...

"You’re also worried."

A figure brushed past him, causing Art to shift slightly as he found Valerie—also covered in bandages—observing him with a curious smile.

She was in far worse condition than him, with her shoulder having been dislocated and forcibly mended by the doctors.

It had taken a lot of screaming on her part before she could smile again, and even now, while she was trying to hide it, Art could see traces of fear and exhaustion all over her face.

"Well, I’m an elder. I’m always under pressure."

He really was under pressure, but he tried to play it off as a joke—because honestly, he needed a bit of humor in his life right now.

"Ar—no, I mean... Teacher, what will happen to me now?"

With tense shoulders, she grasped her arms as her body shivered in fright.

She wasn’t safe.

She was scared.

She didn’t want to be taken away.

She had so much to live for, and she couldn’t let it end now.

Not when she was finally beginning to understand... will.

"It will be alright."

Stretching his hand toward her head, he patted her gently, causing Valerie to look up at him in confusion.

"You’re scared... we’ve all been there."

Compared to Valerie, Art believed himself to be in an even worse situation. He already had only a few years before his in-game death, his memories seemed to be gaslighting him, and the story was already veering off its original path.

Valerie was the protagonist—the chances of her dying, especially now, were slim. But he wasn’t.

He might not be an extra nor a villain, but that didn’t mean he was free from death.

But even so—what?

Even if he didn’t know how, he was sure he’d already died once. So there was nothing to fear.

He just needed to comfort the protagonist, make her feel safe.

"I know my words might be deaf to your ears since I couldn’t protect you, but... I promise I’ll do a much better job next time."

Valerie said nothing and lowered her head, her expression hidden beneath her plentiful snow-white hair.

"Will you die trying?"