Chapter 361: I Need You To Be Generous Tonight
The Narrative Coupon rewarded effort. Solaris had already proven how viciously the system could cut a creation cost when Lancet gave it a backstory, motive and personality that worked together properly.
He really couldn't afford Opaline as she was, so Lancet needed to replicate his success with Solaris and woo this greedy system.
He started thinking about what being Opaline Asrephath would actually be like.
Her parents would realize what she could do almost immediately after her Awakening. A daughter capable of finding rare magical items anywhere in the world would be worth more to a merchant family than every store they owned combined.
The Asrephaths had already been millionaires before her birth, but Opaline's Class would be what turned them into billionaires.
That part was easy.
The more interesting question was what that would do to Opaline.
Lancet considered making her parents cruel and discarded the idea almost immediately. Too simple. It would be much more interesting if they genuinely loved her while still treating her like the family's greatest possession.
They wouldn't beat her, starve her or any overdone shit like her in an attempt to farm pity.
Heck, they wouldn't even think they were mistreating her.
They would give her everything money could buy and then refuse to give her the one thing she actually wanted.
Freedom.
Lancet's fingers started moving again.
Instead of allowing Opaline to attend Awakener Supreme after she awakened, her parents would use their wealth to make an arrangement with professors and tutors.
She could receive an Academy-level education without ever leaving the Asrephath estate. From their perspective, it was perfect. Their daughter remained protected, their greatest asset stayed close, and Opaline still received the education required to develop her Class.
From Opaline's perspective, her enormous home became a very beautiful prison.
Lancet liked that.
He developed the contradiction further. Even with everything happening to her, Opaline didn't become bitter or hateful. She remained bubbly, excitable and full of life even when there was very little life actually happening around her.
She loved to watch television constantly because it showed her the world outside. She climbed trees around the estate just to see neighboring children playing. She talked the ears off servants because there weren't many people her own age around, and eventually the household butler became her closest friend simply because he was the first to listen to her rambles.
However, this didn't mean she was oblivious.
Opaline knew she was being used.
She knew every new relic her parents asked her to summon made the family richer. She knew every auction became another reason she was not allowed to leave. She knew that when they called her their treasure, there was another meaning buried beneath the affection.
And she smiled anyway. Smiling was how she dealt with it.
Opaline loved her parents. She did not want to escape them, ruin them or punish them. She wanted them to finally understand that loving her did not mean owning her.
But she was scared of rebelling, scared of hurting them, and scared that if she finally forced her way outside, something terrible would happen and prove every warning they had given her correct.
Now she had a dilemma.
After he had written her Background and Event, Lancet opened the Motive field.
⸢ Motive: To finally experience the world outside the Asrephath estate, make friends and discover a life that belongs to her rather than her family's business. She wants the courage to choose her own future without abandoning or hurting the parents she still genuinely loves. ⸥
Lancet read it and liked it. Now what was left was to see if the Narrative Coupon liked it too.
Lancet folded his arms and let out a deep breath. "Come on, Coupie. I need you to be generous tonight."
⸢ Analyzing Narrative Depth… ⸥
⸢ … ⸥
⸢ … ⸥
⸢ Complexity: S-Tier ⸥
⸢ Character Backstory: B-Tier ⸥
⸢ Personality: A-Tier ⸥
⸢ Motive: A-Tier ⸥
Lancet leaned closer, eyes widening with excitement.
⸢ Lore Attunement: S-Tier ⸥
He slapped both hands together. "Alright! I'll take it!"
Lore Attunement pleased him the most out of the other results. He had worked really hard on it and liked that he was rewarded for the hard work.
Opaline did not only fit inside the existing story; her existence explained one of those pieces of lazy worldbuilding the author had never bothered developing. The Asrephaths had always been one of the world's greatest magical trade families. Now there was actually a reason why.
The next line appeared.
⸢ Applying Narrative Coupon… ⸥
Lancet watched the creation price begin to fall.
4,400…
4,050…
3,800…
3,550…
He leaned closer.
"Keep going."
3,400…
3,250…
Then the number stopped.
⸢ Final Cost: 2,800 CP ⸥
Lancet threw a fist into the air. "Yes!"
A bright chime followed.
⸢ Narrative Coupon Discount: 1,500 CP ⸥
Lancet finished the rest of the creation panel,adding the smaller details that made Opaline feel like a real human being.
⸢ Minor Details: Loves adventure broadcasts, sweets and watching ordinary city life from the estate grounds. Frequently annoys her butler with endless conversation and treats him as her closest friend. Views everything from an it's-going-to-be-alright lens. Terrified of being angry. ⸥
With everything finally complete, he selected finalization.
⸢ HEROINE SHEET FINALIZATION ⸥
⸢ Name: Opaline Asrephath ⸥
⸢ Rank: Gold ⸥
⸢ Class: Merchant ⸥
⸢ Advanced Class: Universal Merchant ⸥
⸢ Weapon: None ⸥
⸢ Appearance: 18 years old, blue long wavy hair, golden eyes and soft youthful features. Blue, black and golden merchant-inspired garment, leather shorts with a half-gown drapping behind her. ⸥
⸢ Personality: Bubbly, energetic, curious, happy-go-lucky and stubbornly optimistic. Smiles through loneliness and mistreatment, loves her family. ⸥
⸢ Motive: To experience the world beyond the Asrephath estate, make genuine friends and discover what she wants from her own life while finding the courage to choose freedom without losing the parents she still loves. ⸥
⸢ Event: Born as the only daughter of the wealthy Asrephath merchant family, Opaline awakened the unique Merchant Class and later its Universal Merchant Advancement. Her ability to locate rare magical weapons, armor, relics and artifacts became the foundation that transformed House Asrephath from a millionaire family into one of the world's greatest magical trade dynasties. Her parents refused to send her to Awakener Supreme and instead contracted professors to educate her inside the family estate, keeping their daughter protected and their greatest asset under their control. ⸥
⸢ Creation Cost: 3,100 CP | 1 Gold Archetype Key ⸥
⸢ Create? [YES] / [NO] / [LATER] ⸥
Lancet looked over the sheet one last time.
Opaline would be a Bound Summon, which meant pressing YES would not drop her into his Summon Space like Thor, Kestrel and Astensia.
She belonged to the present. Once created, she would have parents, tutors, a home, years of memories and an entire history woven naturally into the Asrephath family.
Lancet smiled and selected [YES].
[ 3,100 CP has been spent | 1 Gold Archetype Key has been used ]
⸢ Heroine is being created. Please wait. ⸥
⸢ … ⸥
⸢ … ⸥
Ding!
⸢ Heroine created successfully. ⸥
Somewhere in Rosenblum, Opaline Asrephath now existed inside the enormous life Lancet had written for her, with parents who remembered raising her, professors who remembered teaching her, a butler who remembered listening to her talk for hours and a magical trade empire whose entire rise now made considerably more sense.
Lancet dismissed the screen with a satisfied grin.
Now he had a backup plan.