An Anomaly's Perspective

I eye up the entrance sign of the Capital of Crescentia up and down, my eyes lit up with curiosity and interest.

So this is Crescentia huh, no wonder so many rich people live here. It's amazing.

...

But I hope I don't meet any spoiled brats. They make me lose braincells and feel sick in the head.

As I walked, I looked to my left and right, taking in the scenery of the street's mood.

The bustling streets filled with vendors left and right, the clean, symmetrical pattern of the cobblestone path, the 2 story buildings covering the street with its shadows, the streetlamps that lit up the road faintly with a yellow hue, and my destination, the Central Square.

Woah...

I walk slowly as I traversed my way over the crowds and analyzed my surroundings, taking each and every detail about its infrastructure, dodging everyone that comes into my way, finally making my way to the Central Square.

...

There's a large, fancy fountain here. The system said my objective was to head over to the Square for the First Act.

Just then, as I eyed up the design of the buildings with interest, when I had least expected it, the system gave me a notification.

[You have used your skill: Anomaly's Perspective (SSS).]

I don't know why, but for some reason, I instantly, instinctively, looked back. My eyes glow a deep blue color once more, shifting my position into a defensive one, and looked serious.

I stood tilting my body and head to my right, facing back to where I went, and there he was-

-the main character of this world.

He had golden hair and golden eyes, a prominent, striking figure with a handsome face that stands out, a golden medal that signifies royalty, the luxurious clothes he wore, the amount of magic items he had- everything about him seems "Main Character".

...I'm jealous, but I should be thankful, since I'm an anomaly anyway.

[Katsuro Houseki

Age: 18 Gender: M

Level: 61 (542/1142) Race: Human

Class: Magic Swordsman (S)

HP: 622

MP:568

STR: 364 (+15)

VIT: 333 (+15)

AGI: 215 (+15)

INT: 102 (+15)

DEX: 102 (+15)

LUK: 602 (+15)

Special: Hero(SS), Swordsmanship (B), Mana Overload (A), Magic Slash (B), All-Attribute (A), Blessed (A), The Lucky One (C)]

Hmm, it really made sense that his luck is like- 600. I don't believe you would get that kind that royalty and luxury without that kind of luck, meanwhile there's mine..

[Zankoku Hanzou

Age: 16 Gender: M

Level: 34 (+1) (25/528) Race: Human

Class: All-Rounder (Adaptable)

HP: 304

MP:164

STR: 42 (-5)

VIT: 48 (-5)

AGI: 26 (-5)

INT: 68 (-5)

DEX: 24 (-5)

LUK: 26 (-10)

Special: Anomaly's Perspective(SSS), Willpower (B), Focus (B), Unlucky One (F), The Cursed(F)]

Haha, it's really laughable, isn't it?

I stood there looking at the blue sky as I thought about his carefreeness.

I grit my teeth as I looked at him with madness and jealousy- to think someone would be born with a golden spoon to be so unfazed with reality.

Meanwhile me, I had to fight and eat cold, hard bread just to survive as a kid in an orphanage, I had to deal with my adventuring teammates running between their tails to abandon me and use me as fodder- I had to do everything to survive, even if it made me lose something I loved. Like-

-never mind. I'm being jealous and angry for no reason.

I think while sighing and closing my eyes to relieve myself to the anger dwelling inside. My focus right now isn't to be jealous of his luxuries, but rather to survive.

But still, it really makes me sick to see people living life that carefree.

[I really need to catch up training, huh.. I'll go to Kenzou's Bar to stop by there for a drink, then I'll go back to meditating. Katsuro thinks as he smiled to a person that recognized him, waving his hands to other people as he walked.]

My head is really highlighting "Kenzou's Bar" huh, does it want me to go there, or does it want me to avoid it?

The system should really just tell me what to do because I don't know. I don't really care as long as I get stronger.

...

I'll take a risk, and I'll gamble that I need to go to that bar rather than avoiding it.

A few minutes later, I followed Katsuro with silent footsteps as I blended in the crowd well enough to not notice me, while also concealing my mana for him to not instinctively feel "watched".

Oh look, there he goes. He's inside, now I have to act natural and go in as well..

I open the door to the bar, acting natural and sitting down, ordering a cheap drink I could afford, which was beer.

Nobody seemed to assume I was a suspicious guy, and they think I'm normal.

Mission success! I'm now one table away from him, on my left.

[You have used your skill: Anomaly's Perspective (SSS).]

[While Katsuro enjoyed his drink, a burglar rushed inside yelling the bar owner to give the gold. Katsuro takes notice of this, stood up, and in one fell swoop, he decapitated him.

"Annoying. Give me a break. "He said unyielding and cold, while the others cheered for him and praised him as their savior.]

..!

If I interfere now, does that mean I can change the turn of events from this story?

I think as I had a flashback from a few days ago, where I first encountered the man and when I first got the system.

"[This world has a set storyline. You are a threat to the balance in this world.]"

Do I really have to intervene now? He's going to kill the burglar anyway..

I had a sudden realization as my eyes go wide and this singular thought went rampant on my mind.

What if that set story, had a bad ending? Is that why the system is telling me to go there? What if the system's telling me to change it? But, It clearly said it was a threat to the balance..

I don't have any options, I've already walked all the way to this place.

"Hands up! Give me all your money or you die by my hands!" A burglar came in and held a sword, dashing in front and taking the burglar hostage.

..The burglar's here.

I stood up the same time Katsuro did, dashing towards the burglar as I stopped Katsuro's fast strike at the very last second, our swords clashing together when I smiled unknowingly, knowing all well that I'm fucked.

"Who are you?" Katsuro said, with a suspicious glare.

I took a gulp, and told him about an idea in my mind.

"You shouldn't recklessly kill that burglar, you know? You might be missing some information if you don't capture him." I reply contemplatively, the burglar sweating as he dropped his weapon and showed a sign of surrender.

...

"You've got a point, but you're suspicious. I don't remember anyone with the ability to clash with my sword other than my relatives." He adds, his eyes narrowed as his suspicion grew.

"You don't need to worry about that, I'm just a regular guy. See, I even got this burglar for you." I say, pushing his sword aside, then aiming my sword to the burglar.

"How about I do this job for you, would you mind me giving some coins? I'm pretty poor myself."

I say, my sword nearing the burglar's neck.

"...I'm sorry, I'll tell you everything-" The burglar lets out, I interrupted him by covering his mouth.

"Don't say it like that. It makes me look like the bad guy instead." I say as I pushed him towards Katsuro, him still glaring at me with eyes, finally averting away as he arrested the burglar.

The people in the bar were stunned and didn't know what to say. At that moment, the silence was the loudest sound in the room, and not even a murmur could be heard.

I chuckle as I fiddle with my sword, Katsuro glares at me one last time.

"I'll let you go this time. You're too suspicious, I'll look into you more." He says.

"Whatever you say." I reply, enjoying the overall situation, assessing if I had changed the direction of the story or not.

Katsuro left as he held the burglar's hands leading to his jail room, when I left as well a few seconds after. I look around the bustling street and decided to go inside an alleyway to assess my thought.

"...So, did I change the path of the story or did I just fail?" I say, contemplating my decisions.

What if I made a bad first impression of the main character, will that be a threat to my own survival now?

My mind glitched a little bit, and my Anomaly's Perspective Skill had did something it does not usually do. The information of the story that was supposed to happen- changed a little bit.

[While Katsuro enjoyed his drink, a burglar rushed inside yelling the bar owner to give the gold. Katsuro takes notice of this, stood up, and in one fell swoop, he decapitated him.

"Annoying. Give me a break." He said unyielding and cold, while the others cheered for him and praised him as their savior.]

...

[While Katsuro enjoyed his drink, a burglar rushed inside yelling the bar owner to give the gold. Katsuro takes notice of this, stood up, and in one fell swoop, he tried to decapitate him-

-but someone mysterious clashed his sword, which made Katsuro avoid decapitating the burglar, saying that he should let the burglar live and capture him to get any potential information. Katsuro narrowed his eyes as they clash face to face, his suspicions never faltering.

"Who are you?"]

[...]

[First Act completed! You have successfully changed the path of Act 1, Scene 1 of the novel: "############", calculating rewards..]