The Trash Author Cleans his Novel

Arcine walked past a few shops selling holographic televisions. Taking note of the date once again, he began browsing his memories for possible targets.

August 15, 4016.

Three days before the start of the original plotline.

A rather awkward time to begin existing, but Arcine had no one to complain to.

"Let's see..."

Pages flipped within the depths of his mind. Names surfaced and disappeared in a rapid cycle. Dates flitted past his eyes like a hallucination.

"Ah,"

A grin broke free on Arcine's face.

"Found you,"

He had figured out his target. The perfect one if he truly wished to climb to the top.

"Damned Regressor."

***

"Hah... hah... hah...!"

Heavy breaths, ragged and raspy from pooling blood in one's throat.

"Shit...!"

A rage-filled curse as a boy crossed his arms and braced for impact.

—Thud.

A dull resonance burst through his bones, straining his shoulders as he was knocked into the alleyway wall.

—Crack.

The boy's shoulder bone cracked upon impact.

"Khhhk—!"

He stifled a scream. Despair was etched on his face, yet a bludgeoning rage was hidden in his gaze.

'Bastards— I'll kill you all!'

Unfortunately, he was weak.

His blurry vision could no longer see the faces of his assailants. The throbbing of his swollen cheek and the dull pain of his black eye further pushed his vision into darkness.

The boy was rapidly losing consciousness as they rained fists and kicks upon his body.

All that eeked out of him were groans and coughs.

"O-oi, we should stop here."

A voice said, and a moment of respite arrived as the boy teetered on the edge of unconsciousness.

"Y-yeah, boss. He might die at this rate."

Another added.

"Tsk,"

Finally, the third one reached the boy's ears.

"Let's go."

The cruel trio thus fled the scene, unwilling to be bound by any passing authorities. Though their uniforms were stained with his blood, they didn't seem to care.

'I... hate... those... bastards...'

The boy, relieved, lost himself to his exhaustion. He closed his eyes as tears poured onto the cold concrete beneath him.

He's had enough.

He wished he could end it all, then and there.

However, he had a sister to take care of. Someone he could not simply leave behind.

"Please, god..."

It was then—

A searing migraine pierced his mind, shattering his brain a thousand times.

"Ack—!"

A thousand lifetimes flooded into his mind. A thousand different timelines.

This pain went on for several minutes as he writhed on the ground, bouncing between sanity and insanity. The pain of all those lives— the suffering, the torment, and the lost loved ones he had to move past.

It was horrendous.

The boy thus realized at this very moment:

"I... am a Regressor."

A light shone in his eyes. This would be his 1001th life. In his mind, it would be a new beginning. A true chance to restart. He had made his preparations for all 1000 times in the past.

Now, all he had to do was put it all into action.

"Hehe,"

A grin began to spread across his lips.

There was much to do.

Unfortunately...

"Good to know."

A voice echoed out from the darkness. The boy's eyes widened and his irises shrunk into tiny dots.

"Huh..?!"

A hand gripped his throat. It was weak... however, in his current state, he could do nothing against it.

"Y-you...!"

A face the boy had never seen before. Someone who had never appeared in all 1000 lifetimes.

"Who are you!?"

Unfortunately, he would have no answer.

—Crack.

The boy's neck was snapped like a twig. He was dead. As simple as that.

"Go on to your next regression." A grin spread across the demon's face. "Unfortunately, you won't have a chance for any kind of revenge."

Words falling upon deaf ears.

"After all, I won't be there."

Arcine existed only here. In this one timeline.

This one chance.

Arcine's shadow suddenly expanded, swallowing up the boy whose neck he just snapped. Into an abyssal maw, the corpse disappeared to become food for the Shadow Demon's evolution.

A warm feeling engulfed his body just then.

"Mm,"

...And a moan escaped his lips.

"Ah, shit... That could get addicting." Arcine had to wipe the drool that dripped down his chin.

There was this immense urge to kill that consumed his mind. Eyeing the bustling crowd just beyond the confines of this thin alleyway, his mouth had long begun to water.

"Ugh,"

Arcine spat out the saliva pooling in his mouth. This was no time to fulfill his demonic cravings. Feeling the roiling energy in his body, he knew he had to find a safe place to evolve.

He forcefully pushed his urges down, using sheer rationality as a crutch. The fear of torture and death filled his mind, warping his cravings and curbing them from lashing out.

Arcine found a moment of respite as he walked through the crowds.

Calmed by the feeling that no one cared about him.

"Hmm,"

Within his gaze, a screen lingered, speaking of his accomplishment.

[ > Shadow Demon Body (Physique): F-Rank (3/3) [Evolution Imminent!] ]

—Crack!

And so began his evolution.

***

"Khhhhk,"

A hiss left my lips.

Having died from a variety of terminal illnesses, I was familiar with pain. Feeling my own shadow creep up my body, devouring it from the bottom up, I was reminded of my time in the hospital.

Years of endless suffering with no hope of survival. Of course, I had been optimistic at first, especially when all I had was a single cancer.

However, when I was diagnosed with even more... I had lost the light in my eyes.

I mean, who wouldn't?

Pain does that. Especially when you no longer have any hope for respite.

Depression would be all that would be left of the shell of your existence.

Thus, this mind-numbing pain felt... familiar. Like the embrace of a hot bath, the pain stung yet brought me peace.

The anxiety that had been gnawing at me eased.

I felt good.

—Shhhhhh!

When the sizzling sound of my skin, flesh, and bones dissolving finally stopped, I knew that my evolution was complete.

'Status,'

[]=[]=[]=[]=[]

Name: Arcine d'Vyde

Race: Shadow Demon [F-Rank (0/3)]

Age: 15

=======

TRAITS

> Author's Authority: F-Rank (0/3)

> Angelic Light (Elemental Affinity): F-Rank (0/3)

> Shadow Demon Body (Physique): E-Rank (0/9) 

> True Shadow (Racial Trait): F-Rank (0/3)

> (NEW!) Eight Senses (Unique Trait): F-Rank (0/3)

PHYSIQUE

> STR: F-Rank (0/3) -> (1/3)

> DEX: F-Rank (0/3) -> (1/3)

> RES: F-Rank (0/3) -> (1/3)

MAGIC

> INT: F-Rank (0/3)

> FLUX: F-Rank (0/3) -> (1/3)

> M-RES: F-Rank (0/3)

MISC

> LCK: F-Rank (0/3) -> (2/3)

> PER: F-Rank (0/3)

> CHA: F-Rank (0/3)

> WIL: F-Rank (0/3) -> (1/3)

[]=[]=[]=[]=[]

With this, I've set the stage.