Chapter 154: Critical Trigger
[Ding!]
[4 Stolen Endings have been added.]
[Total Stolen Endings: 11 (Click to see them).]
[Death Flag System has unlocked another low-level feature!]
[Congratulations, Cillian!]
[A scent of Death within you grows stronger]
It would’ve been fine if the words he had seen were encouraging words from the Death Flag System, but this bastard of a scent just had to ruin everything, as always.
"Still, I went through all of that just to get one ability..."
Cillian couldn’t help but complain about all the hard work he had put in. It might have been because his System was slowly growing, hence giving out abilities without any problems posed some risks, in a sense?
After all, this was just a low-level feature of the Death Flag System. It might have been preparing to advance since he had been doing a good job lately.
"Okay, let’s look at this ability again..."
Cillian gazed at the new ability he had gained from the Death Flag System.
[Name: Critical Trigger
Description: A possibility rarely collapses all at once. Before every disaster exists a pivotal moment where countless favorable futures suddenly disappear, leaving only a handful of paths that lead closer to ruin.
Active Ability: Identifies a single pivotal trigger connected to the selected flag that drastically increases the likelihood of its dangerous possibilities becoming reality. A single flag may possess multiple Critical Triggers, but only one is revealed per activation. Once the future changes, the revealed trigger may cease to exist as another takes its place. It has a cooldown of 12 Hours.
Note: Mental load increased twice the amount of each use.
Note: Prying eyes of the Planes will take notice of your existence.
Warning: Excessive use causes decision paralysis as the mind becomes overwhelmed by the weight of countless possible turning points. Even ordinary choices may become increasingly difficult to make.]
Cillian had carefully looked at the Critical Trigger countless times already, something he had done over the past two weeks as he busied himself with life.
Now that the situation was becoming calmer as the Viola Family continued to stabilize itself, Cillian knew he could finally put more focus on himself. Obviously, he still trained, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from having some time alone, unlike today.
"Critical Trigger..."
At first, Cillian thought it was similar to his Domino Trace, which traced the cause responsible for a flag’s current existence. However, the more carefully he analyzed it over the past two weeks without using it, merely studying its description because he was afraid of making the same mistake as before, the more Cillian realized that it was an entirely different thing.
For a moment, Cillian made some deductions based on what he could understand about the strange ability while differentiating it from an ability he already had that somehow bore some resemblance to it.
"Domino Trace looks backward. Critical Trigger looks forward."
Domino Trace was akin to a chain of causes that had already happened and ultimately led to the flag’s existence. Critical Trigger, on the other hand, looked toward the future, identifying a turning point that would drastically narrow the remaining favorable possibilities of the current flag.
In a way, it revealed one of the focal points where the flag could shift into something worse, such as a White Flag becoming a Red Flag or a Black Flag becoming a Death Flag.
"In a simple sense, if I use my Possibility Flags as an analogy, a White Flag’s current existence might have thousands of ’triggers.’ If I use Critical Trigger, it would identify one that could play a major role in why that White Flag might turn into a Red Flag. The possibilities would keep narrowing down until they eventually turn into a Death Flag. And the situation would vary because the future could always change."
After making an analysis, a soft sigh escaped Cillian’s lips.
"Hahh... looks like I wasn’t wrong about how unique this new ability is. The unpredictability it contains is insane."
It’s like creating branches of flags leading to this route or that route, and eventually, the Critical Trigger will identify the turning point that leads to someone’s death when they reach the highest level of a Possibility Flag, the Death Flag.
Again, it was a great ability.
However, Cillian was slightly frightened by what it contained and knew he needed to pay attention to both the notes and the warning.
"Prying eyes of the Planes..."
Cillian was already aware of what Mental Load was. Well, not much, since he hadn’t even gotten the chance to study it aside from the fact that it used his mental state as an equivalent exchange for using some of his Death Flag System’s abilities.
It even began to appear every time he used an ability of Faceless if he pushed himself too much, since it was deeply connected to his System now. This was already evident on his first day of acquiring the Piece, when the System wasn’t fully activated yet, but he was still able to see the description of the Piece’s ability.
However, the Planes were something he had only heard about recently, and it was from the mouth of Troy’s older brother when he tried to talk to the Hidden One back in the Ancient Ruin.
"Lower Planes and Higher Planes. I mean, if I base it on the names and don’t overthink it like what I’m doing with this ability of mine, then there’s a Plane outside of this world? Mouthful Eye’s adventure across the Worlds is located in the Lower Planes since, according to his main body, he had no idea what these words meant. This was my assumption."
When Mouthful Eye was still active a week ago, they discussed the fight that had happened in the Ancient Ruin, which led them to talk about the Lower Planes and Higher Planes.
And what did he say about it?
-I don’t have any idea what those words mean. If the Shepherds are aware of this Plane’s existence, which we assumed to be part of the Lower Planes, then they’re probably aware of what’s going on in the Higher Plane as well.
It was such an odd thing for Cillian to hear Aiden, the supposed strongest Ruiner in his eyes and someone who had traveled between the Worlds, utter the words, "I don’t have any idea," making him realize that the world he was in was very small compared to what lay beyond it.
Did it make him feel scared?
Obviously, there were doubts in his mind. He was also aware that the more he learned about these existences that had been hiding in plain sight, the more danger he would encounter from time to time.
Even so, Cillian felt excited.
He was looking forward to the future that would come, one that would make him burst with satisfaction. The thrill of adventure was making his hands antsy in excitement as he was especially looking forward to destroying the Xesie Family, whom he presumed to be working with the Shepherds.
"I really can’t afford to lose, am I?"
A small, expectant smile appeared on Cillian’s lips.
’There’s no way I’ll lose.’
He might make risky moves and take actions that would definitely make some developments worse, but he would definitely not lose.
He’ll find a way every time.
After all, losing means getting killed.
"I’ll do the things that I can be satisfied with. That way, I’ll have fun. That way, there will be no regrets in the future."
For him to do that, Cillian knew he needed to strengthen himself.
That was why Cillian grabbed the Piece that presented itself to him back then, seeing it as another reward after they had successfully killed the rampaging God.
[Name: The Honored One]
It was now time to level himself up.