The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 51: Arthur is the protagonist?

“Just get away from here. We’ll handle i—”

His words cut off abruptly.

The officer stiffened mid-sentence.

For half a second, Arthur didn’t understand what he was seeing. The cop’s body swayed strangely. His posture lost its firmness. His gun lowered slightly.

Then he saw it—protruding from the officer’s neck was a dagger buried deep into the flesh just beneath his jaw.

The officer’s eyes widened in shock. His mouth opened, but no words came out—only a faint, choking sound. Blood began spilling from the wound in streams, running down his collarbone, and dripping onto his uniform.

He collapsed lifelessly onto the road, his body hitting the ground with a dull, heavy thud as his gun slipped from his hand and clattered uselessly beside him.

Arthur stood there, staring.

He couldn’t understand what was happening.

“W-What?”

His voice came out as a barely audible whisper.

His mind instantly went blank, unable to process what had just unfolded in front of him.

He knew what he had seen. He was aware of the things he was seeing before him, but his mind just refused to believe it.

It felt unreal.

Impossible.

His legs felt like jelly, and his body trembled even more than before, almost looking like he was going through a seizure.

His breathing became uneven and sharp.

He was scared shitless.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

He had just gone out to fix his console.

He hadn’t done anything wrong in his entire life—at least, not in a way that mattered. He hadn’t killed anyone. He hadn’t stolen anything serious. He hadn’t taken someone’s girlfriend or ruined anyone’s career.

So—𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Why was this only happening to him?

‘Why am I so unlucky?’ the thought screamed inside his skull, blaming the entire world for making him go through this situation.

His vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes. His breathing became shallow and erratic. His chest tightened to the point it hurt.

Then—

Something warm and wet spread across his pants, soaking the fabric.

He had pissed himself.

But he didn’t even notice it.

He stepped backward blindly, and his foot slipped onto something.

He fell again—hard.

Pain shot up his spine, but it barely registered in his overwhelmed mind. His hands hit something cold and metallic.

A handgun.

The one the officer had dropped.

Arthur’s breathing grew even more erratic as he snatched it up with trembling fingers.

It was heavier than it looked.

His hands fumbled to hold it properly in his sweaty palms.

He tried to stand—

And froze.

The goblin he thought was dying had stood up again.

Its stomach was torn open as blood began pouring freely from the wound, yet it stood there.

Its body swayed slightly, as its yellow eyes locked onto Arthur.

Its face twisted, lips stretching into a disgusting, crooked grin.

Seeing Arthur’s terrified expression, it chuckled despite the wound on its stomach.

That chuckle alone made him tremble harder.

It was almost a miracle that he was conscious despite all the fear he was going through.

Slowly, it began walking toward him.

“A-Ah… no… no, no no…”

Arthur’s voice cracked as he scrambled backward on his butt, his clothes scraping onto the road, but right now, his mind barely registered the friction.

His hands shook violently. He raised the gun with his trembling arms, trying to aim properly.

His fingers felt numb.

He tried to tighten his grip, but instead—

The gun slipped from his hands and hit the ground with a dull clatter.

“Shit—!” he gasped.

Panic surged through his entire body as he lunged forward, grabbing the gun again, barely managing to hold it steadily this time.

He pointed it at the goblin, his vision still somewhat blurry due to the tears.

His finger rested on the trigger.

He tried to pull the trigger, but—

His body refused to move.

His fingers trembled as he tried to push the trigger, but he couldn’t.

Fear had already locked him in place.

His muscles didn’t obey him. His mind screamed at him to act, to shoot—but his body didn’t listen.

His thoughts spiralled wildly.

‘Why is this happening to me…?’ he thought again.

‘Why the fuck did I even have to come here today? I should’ve just stayed home!’

Then, something clicked in his mind.

‘It’s all because of that bitch! If she had given me more money, I would’ve taken a cab! I wouldn’t have walked here, and I definitely wouldn’t have to come across… this!’

His mind scrambled, and he couldn’t help but curse his mother inwardly.

Even now, even in the face of death, his mind searched for someone else to blame.

And the easiest target was always the same.

His mother.

The goblin stepped closer.

Its breathing was ragged. Blood dripped from its wound with every movement it made.

When it was close enough, it raised its dagger again, slowly and shakily, but each movement deliberate, as if savoring the fear radiating from him.

Arthur’s eyes squeezed shut.

Bang!

The shot rang out as his hand recoiled back with the recoil.

“!!!”

The goblin’s eyes widened in shock.

Its body jerked violently as a fresh wound burst open in its chest. It staggered, as its mouth opened and closed continuously, before it collapsed face-first onto the road.

Dead.

Truly dead.

Arthur stared at the unmoving body.

He had pulled the trigger.

He had killed it.

“AHH!!!!”

He screamed, his voice craking as he scrambled backward, throwing the handgun away as if it had been cursed, as if touching it for another second would stain him permanently.

It skidded across the road and clattered aside.

His chest heaved violently. His entire body shook uncontrollably as he stared at the goblin’s lifeless form.

The reality of what he had done pressed on him like a crushing weight.

He had just taken a life.

Even if it had tried to kill him.

His mind couldn’t process it.

But then—

{DING!~}

A sharp, loud, and unnatural chime echoed around him.

No—

It echoed inside him.

Arthur flinched as he looked around frantically, thinking that it was another monster or something.

But then he heard a voice. A cold, monotone, and emotionless voice that shook him up.

{First kill confirmed.}

Arthur’s eyes widened as a translucent golden screen materialised before him.

It floated in midair, glowing faintly.

{Recording data.}

{Initialising status window.}

{…}

The screen paused for a split second, as if analysing him, before another screen appeared.

{You have awakened your rank and talent.}

{…}

{You have obtained the Title: Child of Destiny}

{You have obtained the Title: Favoured by Asgard}

{You have been granted your status window.}

Then—

Another, larger screen expanded before him.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name – Arthur Brown

Race – Human

Rank – F

Titles – Child of Destiny, Favoured by Asgard

Bloodline – Solarion Lineage

Affinity – Light, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind

Talent – Transcendental

— — —

Arthur froze.

His mind, already overwhelmed beyond anything he had ever experienced in his entire life, was struck by yet another shock.

His eyes widened to their limits.

“What the fuck! Am I dreaming?!” he shouted hoarsely, almost thinking that everything was just a dream.

But it didn’t feel like a dream.

No dream had ever felt this painfully real.

He hesitantly reached out and tried to touch the screen, but his fingers passed through the golden interface as if it were nothing but an illusion.

“I have a status window?!” he exclaimed in disbelief.

For a moment, he forgot about everything else that had just happened.

The dead goblin, the police officer’s corpse, the blood on the road.

His brain didn’t even register them, erasing them temporarily and only focusing on the screen before him right now.

Slowly, his disbelief began to morph into excitement.

A grin crept across his face, looking even more disgusting against his tear-streaked cheeks. Snot ran down from his nose, nearly slipping past his trembling lips. His skin glistened with sweat, stretching over his bloated, acne-ridden face.

Yet the grin spread wider.

“Yes! Yes! I knew it!” he laughed breathlessly, pushing himself onto his feet despite the trembling legs.

“I knew I wasn’t ordinary! I was born for something bigger!”

His fear faded away, instantly replaced by wild exhilaration.

“I was born to be the protagonist!!” he shouted, throwing his arms out slightly, as his eyes shone with a weird, manic glint.

Then—

Right before his eyes, bright white, shining sparks began swirling around him.

Arthur’s grin faltered.

The sparks weren’t faint. They were bright, brighter than the LED bulb in his apartment.

They circled his body slowly at first, like fireflies gathering around him.

His eyes widened again.

“Is this another monster?” He muttered nervously as his heart began to race once again.

He almost took a step back.

Almost.

But before he could move, the sparks suddenly shot towards him.

They pierced through his skin like burning needles.

“Wha—”

His body swayed violently.

His vision blurred.

The world tilted sideways.

Slowly, his feet lifted off the ground as his body began to levitate.

His limbs hung limply as an invisible energy wrapped around him. His veins glowed faintly beneath his skin, golden light pulsing through them.

His lips twitched uncontrollably.

His expression twisted in pure agony.

Then—

“AAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

His voice tore through the air as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

The ground around him trembled. Cracks split the road beneath his floating body.

The temperature spiked rapidly, as the air grew hot and heavy.

Wind blew violently around him in a circular pattern. Dust and debris spiralled upward into the air.

Water droplets formed out of thin air, condensing into shimmering beads that hovered and rotated around him.

A blinding white light engulfed his entire body, so intense that anyone looking in his direction would have had to shield their eyes.

And still—

He screamed.

It wasn’t just the pain.

It was like something was tearing him apart from the inside and rebuilding him piece by piece.

His bones cracked slightly and reshaped themselves, becoming denser and stronger.

His muscles began to writh beneath his skin before tightening and condensing, burning away all the excess fat from his body and restructuring into something firmer, something more powerful.

Even his skin tone began to clear. His organs worked more efficiently, pumping blood cleaner and faster than before.

Everything about him was being remade.

But whether fortunate or unfortunate—everything that was happening to him was hidden behind the blinding white light that had swallowed him whole.

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