Phaser leaned against the wall in her room. Hinesia sat across from him, reading and scribbling notes.
"We're wasting time if we just let the University Arc crawl out to three years. By then, the Outers who landed in the big Houses will be absurdly entrenched. They'll have money, Fast Travel, unique Flux artifacts and political ties. Commoner Outers won't even be a footnote. You know this."
Phaser tilted his head, smirking just slightly.
"So what's your suggestion? Skip class until graduation throws us out on our asses?"
"No. We speedrun it. Remember the hidden achievement 'Early Graduation?'"
He blinked, then frowned. "The hidden condition, right? It's where you have to do three outstanding results before the third year's over?"
"Exactly. The game called them Merit Badges. Most players never bothered. Why would they? The University Arc is the cozy tutorial period, where you get to know the love interests, build connections and test Flux mechanics. Everyone wanted that safe space. But the developers coded a loophole. If Verdamona clears three open-world quests before the clock runs out, she earns an automatic Officia Flux degree. That cuts the Arc short."
"And if we cut it short…"
"We force every Outer to readjust their schedule. Outers who spent their gacha Pearlesia and those who planned for three years of padding before the main stage kicks in will suddenly lose two years of prep. Their precious timelines, their assassination schemes and their 'romance routes' will be gone. The system won't let them continue padding. Once the University Arc closes, it closes."
Phaser ran a hand through his hair with a chuckle.
"You devious genius. That means if we succeed, every Outer banking on the long game will lose. We'd be dragging the story into Act Two while half of them are still playing tutorial."
"Exactly. We break the sandbox before anyone else has finished building castles. Some will die in the process but who cares? We are planning to survive."
But Phaser wasn't done yet. He tapped his chin, his mind working through layers.
"Okay, let's test this. Early graduation is three quests. I didn't do this because I wanted to enjoy the game. Did you?"
Hinesia nodded. "Accidentally. I did three Open World Quests because I was bored of the romance grind. Suddenly, Verdamona graduated early in my save, and it cut the whole University Arc before the updates of the University Arc appears. I thought it was a bug at first. Then I tried it again on a fresh run. It didn't work."
"Three quests," Phaser muttered, pacing. "That means we don't just tag along. We have to funnel Verdamona into those quests. And it has to be her. She's the protagonist. If Thales or any other lead clears them, it doesn't count."
"Right."
"So it's us, babysitting the heroine and making sure she actually triggers the right flags."
"And that's where your little Azure Sword subplot comes in, The first University Arc quest. Normally Thales takes the lead, The Azure Sword Shining in Moonlight, blah blah blah, you know how it goes. But you already saw Thales get the first clue and you're the Witness. In the game Verdamona is the Witness and she took the second and third clues without trouble. That means you can hijack the whole thing."
Phaser's smirk widened. "So instead of Thales grand standing with his glowing sword, I collect the clues."
"Exactly. That's one merit right there. With the sword in your hand instead of his, we're already off-script. Then we drag Verdamona, Thales and the second male lead along into three more open-world quests. Boom, the first Dominia Quest ends."
"So basically our plan screws with every Outer in three ways. One, we deprive them of years of comfy prep. Two, we take a main quest reward that was supposed to belong to Thales and tie it to us instead. Three, we flip the system's timeline on its head and send everyone scrambling."
"Four," Hinesia corrected, "we make ourselves indispensable to Verdamona. If she clears the three quests with us by her side, she'll never cut ties. The story will be locked into our orbit."
Phaser whistled again, longer this time.
"That's… actually insane. You realize what this means? We're not just speed running the Arc. We're hijacking the game's code."
"That's the point. Outers want to romance the male leads for themselves. Some want to sabotage Verdamona out of jealousy. Some want to kill her just to see if the game lets them. If we let this drag on, the chaos only multiplies. But if we rush the Arc, we seize control of the story before the vultures descend."
Silence stretched between them for a moment before Phaser laughed.
"Goddamn it, Hinesia. You're right. This is crazy, it's suicidal and it's absolutely perfect. We're going to speedrun a fucking otome apocalypse."
Hinesia allowed herself a small smile. "So you're in?"
"I'm in. We hijack the Azure Sword clues, we steer Verdamona through three open-world quests, cut the University Arc short and break every Outer's plan. And when the system screams, we'll be the only ones already moving into Act Two while everyone else is still amazed."
Unfortunately, it had to wait.
The Azure Sword, the three Open World Quests and the plan to speed run the University Arc was bound by time. Just as the game had locked events behind seasonal triggers, the real world did too. The Azure Sword's clues would only activate during summer, and the first of the three quests could only be done in that same narrow window before autumn.
"Thankfully," Hinesia added, brushing a loose strand of hair back behind her ear, "summer's the holiday season. She'll be free. She's an orphan after all. Anyway, we should be focusing on the Continental Arcanum Tournament of Flux, the CATF."
The name alone made Phaser's stomach twist. He knew it from the game. Seirath told the two of them that they will be going there with other members of the Rameses bloodline to participate.
It's a seasonal event, recurring every spring stretching across the world. In MoDS, players called it a "loot treadmill." It was a way to farm upgrade materials, cash and level experience while waiting for the main story to pick back up. But here, it's far more than that. Phaser, you've been identified as a God-touched Fluxer. That alone changes everything. We're all going there you know."
Phaser exhaled slowly. His mind was already racing through the implications. The CATF wasn't just a tournament. In the game, it had always been an optional grind. In reality, it was a way to climb social ladders, to stake claims and earn the kind of money and renown that even Houses respected.
Even for people born into Fluxer bloodlines like Hinesia and himself, money was still necessary. And for Phaser, who was walking around with a mark of the gods burned into his soul, money would buy silence, leverage and the freedom to move without a dozen Outers or rival Houses breathing down his neck. Still, the thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"So I'm basically a showpiece now. The God-touched novelty on parade."
"Or," Hinesia corrected with that unflinching smirk of hers, "you're the player who just pulled a secret six star character in a gacha no one else even knew existed. Stop whining and use it."
Phaser said nothing. But inside, he knew he had no choice. The CATF would dominate their spring.
It was the perfect training ground with a rolling series of battles against Fluxers from every corner of the continent of Africa. He would need an alias and a persona though. In-game, the CATF had been a farm but here, it was also a hunting ground. Hinesia seemed to sense the thought crossing his mind.
"It's not just about the money, Phaser. This is about survival. You're God-touched now. That puts a target on your back if you're found out. If we don't make you stronger here, you won't survive summer. I inherited everything about Hinesia so I'm as strong as her."
Phaser turned his gaze to his silver-tinged Xana, swirling faintly around his. The Goddess had touched him. He didn't know if it was blessing or curse but it had changed him. He wasn't an ordinary Fluxer anymore.
"Well then, time for us to go to the tournament. This is going to be fun..."