The Game Of Fate

Night folded over the town like a quiet conspiracy.

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Ariana pulled her hood lower and slipped through the back gate of the estate.

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No escort.

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No announcement.

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In the game, this event triggered randomly after Chapter 1.

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Most players skipped it.

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She wouldn’t.

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The tavern at the edge of town was still alive with noise — laughter, clinking mugs, the low hum of bad decisions.

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She stepped inside.

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The smell hit first.

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Ale. Smoke. Regret.

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Her eyes scanned the room quickly.

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Corner table.

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Messy gray hair.

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Half-empty bottle.

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Muttering to himself while scribbling strange diagrams onto a napkin with charcoal.

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There he was.

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The drunkard genius.

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In the game his name was barely mentioned until much later.

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Magic engineer.

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Specialized in mana circuitry optimization — the art of carving channels into metal, stone, or even the body to increase output efficiency.

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A hidden mechanic.

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A broken mechanic, if you knew how to use it.

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She walked straight to his table and grabbed his sleeve.

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He blinked up at her, unfocused.

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“Kid,” he slurred, “unless you’re here to buy me another drink, I’m not inventing fireworks tonight.”

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She tightened her grip.

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“I’m not here for fireworks.”

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He squinted.

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She leaned closer.

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“You designed the prototype stabilizer used in the Western Gate incident three years ago.”

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His expression changed.

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Just slightly.

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“You drafted mana compression diagrams that were rejected by the royal research council because they claimed it was ‘too unstable.’”

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The bottle lowered from his lips.

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“And you wrote a thesis on dual-channel internal circuits that was never published.”

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Now he was staring at her properly.

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The tavern noise felt farther away.

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“…Who are you?”

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“A future problem-solver,” she replied calmly.

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In the game, this was the persuasion check moment.

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Get it wrong and he laughed you off.

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Get it right and you unlocked the engineering sub-tree.

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She didn’t hesitate.

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“I want you to teach me magical engineering.”

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He barked a laugh.

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“You can’t even be of academy age.”

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“Correct.”

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“And you think you can understand mana circuitry?”

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“Yes.”

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He leaned back, studying her.

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“Why?”

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She didn’t answer immediately.

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Because the real answer was: to kill Lucifer.

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Instead she said—

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“Because raw power is inefficient. And inefficient power loses.”

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That made him pause.

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He slowly looked at the napkin covered in symbols.

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Then back at her.

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“…You’re not normal.”

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“Neither are you,” she replied.

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A long silence.

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Then he stood abruptly, wobbling slightly.

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“If this is a prank, I’ll curse your lineage.”

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“It’s not.”

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He grabbed his coat.

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“Fine. But I don’t teach for free.”

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She placed a small pouch of coins on the table.

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He stared at it.

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Then at her again.

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“…You’re serious.”

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“Very.”

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He sighed, rubbing his face.

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“Do your parents know you’re dragging a disgraced engineer to the royal district at midnight?”

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“No.”

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He chuckled faintly.

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“Good.”

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They stepped back into the night together.

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Above them, the moon hung pale and indifferent.

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Ariana walked half a step ahead, steady.

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Because in the game, magical engineering allowed you to:

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Increase mana efficiency.

Reduce casting lag.

Reinforce weapons with custom channels.

And eventually — if mastered — disrupt demonic energy patterns.

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Most players never unlocked that last one.

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It was hidden behind obscure dialogue flags.

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She remembered.

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And if Lucifer’s strength came from overwhelming mana density—

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Then she wouldn’t match it.

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She would out-engineer it.

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Somewhere far north, a demon sovereign whispered about balance.

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In the south, under quiet starlight—

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A girl was preparing to rewrite the rules of magic itself.

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