Chapter 12: The Defying System
“Wake up! Wake up!”
In a half-asleep daze, Lynn felt a few slaps across his face.
He slowly opened his sleepy eyes.
As he took in his surroundings, Lynn was immediately thrown into a state of confusion.
Who am I?
Where am I?
And... why on earth am I completely naked?!
When he realized he was stark naked, tied to a chair, he fell into stunned silence.
He was in some sort of underground facility.Around him were old, odd machines, multicolored gemstones, and sheets of parchment marked with complex magical formations, intricately drawn and arcane.
Not far away on a stone table lay an open magical tome.
One page was marked with an eye-like pattern that looked disturbingly lifelike, sending chills down his spine.
It seemed to pierce through him, imposing some sort of suggestion directly into his mind.
Lynn vaguely recalled that in the original story, this symbol was associated with the Mind Cult, active during the Second and Third Ages.
Later, an empire declared them a heretical sect and wiped them out entirely.
“You’re finally awake, Experiment No. 126.”
The same voice sounded again.
Lynn looked around but saw no one; the lab was empty.
Was this place haunted?
“Hey, I’m down here.”
Finally, Lynn lowered his head and spotted a small girl standing on the steps below.
She was around twelve or thirteen, clad in an oversized lab coat, with messy, short brown hair and a sprinkling of freckles on her nose, scrutinizing him with intense focus.
“Who are you?”
Lynn eyed her warily, attempting to cross his legs.
Simultaneously, he habitually activated his system.
[Character Name: Milanie Valenera]
[Plot Level: D]
[Plot Deviation: 0.00%]
Sure enough, her introduction soon followed.
“My name’s Milanie. You can call me Miss Milanie,” the young girl scratched her mop of hair, hands stuffed in her pockets. “No need for extra chatter. You should know why Her Highness Evester sent you here, right?”
Hearing this, recent memories came rushing back to Lynn.
He gasped.
Did I…do something serious?
From the looks of it, removing her mask had definitely angered the villainous Princess.
Recalling the piercing chill he’d felt, Lynn couldn’t suppress a shiver.
Some things you only appreciate after narrowly avoiding death.
At this moment, he would rather run through the streets shouting “I’m into men” than face that enraged woman again.
Yet for some reason, she had spared his life.
But it seemed the experiment mentioned in the underground prison was unavoidable.
“You’re going to brainwash me?”
Lynn frowned.
Milanie shook her head. “Not low-grade mind control. It’s hypnosis. Understand?”
“Abilities and magic involving the mind are exceedingly rare, and currently, humanity’s control over them is limited to charm, forgetfulness, and psychological suggestion—each one shunned by the Saint Roland Empire’s three major churches.”
“Each of these abilities comes with its own downsides.”
“For example, charm easily stirs up people’s desires, making them lose reason; and suggestions aren’t effective on those with strong willpower.”
“So, research into the mind has always intrigued me. I’ve been exploring this field for a long time.”
“In short, my aim with hypnosis is to achieve total control over a person’s mind and body in a subtle way.”
“Ordinarily, the hypnotized person is no different from others, completely unaware of their state. But once a trigger is activated, they enter a subconscious state, obeying every command of the hypnotist.”
“The hypnotist’s orders become imprinted upon the subject’s mind, even able to alter their understanding of reality.”
“So, Experiment No. 126, understand that you are part of a groundbreaking experiment.”
Milanie tiptoed closer, peering into Lynn’s eyes with an odd intensity.
Lynn’s lip twitched. “Can I decline?”
“Of course not.” Milanie patted his head affectionately, then placed a crude helmet-like device on his head. “Enough whining. Now that you’re awake, we can begin.”
As she spoke, Milanie moved toward a slab covered in soil.
On it, the eye from the magical tome was engraved, surrounded by a web of magical formations and several slots for mana stones.
The slab was wired to a series of rickety machines, which were connected to the helmet on Lynn’s head.
Feels like I’m sitting in an electric chair.
Lynn grimaced.
His fate was in someone else’s hands, and there was no way to resist.
“Just out of curiosity, what happened to the previous 125 test subjects?” Lynn asked with a strained smile.
Milanie flashed him a sly grin. “Heh.”
That said it all.
Seeing this, Lynn abandoned any idea of using charm to talk his way out.
This girl was clearly a mad scientist, far too engrossed in her work to be swayed by a few words.
Especially when this was a command from Her Highness.
No, I need to find a way out myself.
Lynn glanced down at his body.
His hands and legs were shackled to the armrests, and several leather straps bound his waist securely to the chair.
It seemed Evester and her people were highly cautious of him.
Currently, he was just an ordinary person with no powers, making escape impossible.
Realizing this, he stopped trying to struggle and instead focused on his last hope.
“System!”
The next second, a screen appeared before him.
But it looked different from the simple interface he remembered.
This time, the system seemed fully unlocked.
[Name: Lynn]
[Species: Human]
[Age: 17]
[Faith: None]
[Rank: None]
[Extraordinary Power: None]
[Divine Factor: 0]
[Remaining System Points: 1]
The empty screen made Lynn feel somewhat disheartened.
He remembered that his original self once had faith in one of the empire’s three main churches, reaching a peak of 136 Divine Factors, an outstanding level for his age.
But there was no time to reminisce; his attention shifted to another entry.
“Why do I have one system point?”
He mentally asked the system.
[Host has successfully increased the Plot Deviation of S-Rank character “Evester Roland Alexini” to 0.01%, earning 1 system point as a reward.]
[Additionally, the host can spend points to acquire and enhance various extraordinary abilities or ignite new Divine Factors to strengthen their power.]
Lynn was stunned.
Only one point for influencing an S-Rank character? How pitiful must E and F ranks be?
On second thought, though, most people fell under E and F ranks, and with enough numbers, that could become substantial.
This system was truly defying the odds in every sense.
All those half months of suffering were starting to pay off.
After a moment, Lynn focused his gaze on the system interface’s right side.
There was a circular disc resembling a bas-relief, divided into thirty-six sectors, each inscribed with a unique ancient symbol.
One symbol in particular was familiar, resembling stars linked together, the exclusive mark of the Divine Order.
Could it be that each symbol represented a deity?
The original story hadn’t mentioned anything like this—could there really be so many?
Holding his breath, Lynn touched the pointer at the center of the disc, and a prompt popped up.
[Would you like to spend 1 system point to draw a random ability?]
“Yes.”
The circular disc began spinning wildly.
Meanwhile, Milanie inserted various mana stones into the slots on the stone slab, completing the final steps of her procedure.
So Lynn began to murmur to himself.
Please, dear system, your brother’s begging here.
Give me a decent ability!
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