Chương 2: Backpedaling for My Life

In this setting, everyone was born with a Leveling System and a Natal Skill. Natal Skills were a roll of the dice. You could either win the lottery with an S-Rank skill, or get stuck with something useless. A person's Natal Skill often informed which class they would choose at Level 10. For example, someone born with a Fireball skill would never pursue ice magic. They would stick to their strengths and continue with fire. Lady Vyx had been one of these big winners. Her Natal Skill was the S-Rank [Observe] skill.

And Ophelia activated it by accidently staring the protagonist for too long. [Rin - Lvl 3] Description: The human reincarnation of Xal'yan the Blood Rain, one of the seven legendary blades from the Age of Divinity. After slaying countless enemies for many masters, absorbing their dying wishes and violent desires, Xal'yan began to develop its own dark soul… Natal Skill: S-Rank [CONSUME] - After killing, consume your victim's highest ranked skill.

If your victim has multiple skills of the same rank, you may select which one to take. Note: You may only consume skills equal to the rank of your [CONSUME] skill or lower. A backstory and a Natal Skill fit for a protagonist! Of course, the only reason why Lady Vyx of all people had such an OP Natal Skill was so that Rin could have it. A pretty good reward for killing an archmage, don't you think? She glanced down at her fingers, just to confirm one last thing.

[Ring of Whirling Mana] Increase your mana pool by 50%. [Ring of the River] A permanent fifty percent health shield, replenishing 5% per second. [Ring of Dark Subterfuge] Divert any divination attempts into a deadly domain, causing insanity in anyone below Level 1000. After Rin had stolen her [Observe] skill, she used it to take all of her enchanted rings. The last ring was the most important - it prevented everyone from being able to hunt her down through magical means.

Ophelia blinked away the information from [Observe], The girl had gone back to staring at the stone ground. Her muscles tensed like she was mentally preparing herself for the next round of torture. Her aura was sharp but contained, like a sword half an inch out of its sheath. It made a shiver run up Ophelia's spine. How the hell was she going to get out of this? Should she just tell Rin that the original Lady Vyx was gone, and that she was possessing her body now?

[WARNING: Alerting anyone about your Transmigration status or acting extremely OOC is prohibited, and will result in immediate termination.] Ophelia crossed her arms, suppressing the urge to pace around frantically.

"Then what can I do?" she mentally harrassed the system.

"Can you give me some tips, at least?" [Try to make Chapter One interesting] She froze as realization dawned on her. She wasn't just in the world of Slayer's Requiem… she was in the webtoon itself? A thousand thoughts flashed through her mind. Chapter one was extremely important - not only did it establish the main character and tell the audience why they should be sympathetic to them, but it also established the genre! Hang on, if this was chapter one, then… was there still a chance for her to change the genre?

Quick! Think! What genres had happy endings? The first thing to come to mind was obviously Romance. A Happily Ever After was basically a requirement in the genre. Then again, that might just be for the main character and their love interest, not a side character like her. What else? If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Slice of life was the safest, but there was no way she could salvage that from this opening. Oh… of course.

"You're still alive, I see," Ophelia said haughtily.

"You think you're special, surviving my training regimen longer than any of the others?" Rin's eyebrows furrowed.

"T-training?" The word was a dry rasp from her cracked lips.

"Obviously…" She let the word hang in the air.

"I don't accept just anyone as my apprentice." Now the poor girl looked truly confused.

"What's with the bewildered expression? I'm one of the premier mages in this country. You're extremely lucky I saw your potential and decided to take a chance on you." Ophelia scoffed.

"Well, I suppose you've passed. You're immune to all poisons and venoms, and you've stopped screaming every time I test your willpower. That's all I can really ask for from a beginner." Internally, she was sweating like crazy. She couldn't even believe the words coming out of her mouth right now. Eccentric masters were a staple of shounen! And guess what? They didn't always die.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Ophelia put a hand on her supple hip.

"You've been able to free yourself for some time now. I can only assume you haven't yet because you were eager for more training. But we can move on now." A moment of silence passed. Then, Rin yanked her arms and the shackles around her wrists burst from the wall. Stone cracked and crumbled. She kicked her legs free and dropped, stumbling to the ground onto her knees. She shut her red eyes in pain as her wounds made contact with the grit-covered stone floor.

Ophelia's human instincts screamed to help the girl up, to heal her wounds, but the system was flashing [OOC! OOC! OOC!] in her peripherals. Also, she couldn't find a single healing spell in her spell list. Slayer's Requiem had never elaborated on what kind of archmage Lady Vyx was. But she was seeing a lot of what could only be called Dark Magic. Patch Notes: [Genre Changed: Subversive Action/Comedy] [Transmigration System has evolved into the Mentor System] [Buff: A new way to earn points added! Helping the protagonist to level up will give you points, and unlock cool new rewards!] [Debuff: Occupational Hazard. Whenever the protagonist gets involved with an enemy 20 levels above herself, her mistress Lady Ophelia Vyx has a 75% chance of having a poison flare-up! You also have a 1% chance of having a flare-up every day!]"That's not fair!" Ophelia mentally hissed at the system.

"What's the point of being an overpowered mentor if I'm out of commission every time I can be relevant?" [HOWEVER, in the Shop, you can buy a Phial of Everlasting Waters for 200 points each. This one-use item will instantly suppress a flare-up!]"I'm already ten thousand points in the dirt. How do I get points?" [There are three main ways to earn points. First, every reader that comments on the current chapter is equivalent to one point. Second, helping the protagonist level up will give you points. Third, completing quests can give you points!] [One more thing. You must keep your points between -10, 000 and 10, 000. Too low, and you'll become a villain that the protagonist must kill. Too high, and you'll be killed in order to motivate the protagonist] If she could spend points, then she wasn't afraid of overcapping. She just needed to keep a careful eye on it. On the other hand… she was exactly one point away from becoming a villain that must die! Also… what did the system mean by comments?

Ophelia blinked before realizing that Rin was silently waiting for her to do something. Due to malnutrition, Rin looked younger than her fourteen years of age. But she was fourteen, only three years younger than Ophelia's seventeen. Could she really pretend to be an instructor? For "Lady Vyx" that obviously wasn't an issue - the character was an Archmage, with centuries of heroism behind her. But as for Ophelia, the transmigrator?

She had done online schooling to make time for her social media career, and she'd be the first to admit that "schooling" in her case was a generous description. Well, it was too late to change her mind now. But there was just one thing she had to know before her life as a webtoon character officially began.

"Hey…" Ophelia asked.

"If you had all the power in the world, what would you want for yourself? A life with Timothy?" [Warning: OOC] Shut up! I have to ask! A flash of alarm crossed Rin's dirty face before it was hidden.

"I don't know any Timothy."

"You say his name in your sleep," Ophelia lied. Timothy was her boy best friend from childhood, who she had ended up marrying and living a quiet farm life with. Before then, he had appeared a few times in the story, miraculously getting saved by Rin each time. A running gag. In a flashback, a seven year old Rin had yanked him out of the path of an aristocrat's carriage. Later, he became an assistant at a wand shop, which he got stuck in during a fire…

When Rin infiltrated a coven of witches, she recognized Timothy in one of the cages. He was - literally - the worst.

"If I had all the power in the world, wouldn't I be a god?" Rin rasped out.

"I suppose so," Ophelia said, tasting the words.

"Why? Think you can do a better job than the divines?" Her fists clenched.

"I would be far, far worse." A chill ran up Ophelia's spine. Maybe she shouldn't have asked that.

"Is that so? Well, I of all people appreciate a healthy sense of ambition," Ophelia said, the corners of her eyes crinkling with forced levity.

"Anyway. I can't let you and your rags track filth all over my castle. Come, we're going into the city - we'll turn you into a proper apprentice yet." A meal, clothes, healing potions, she thought, listing off the things she needed to buy for Rin. Hell, maybe even a teddy bear.