The crescent moon high in the sky was gradually covered by dark, drifting clouds.

Inside of a large park, the night lamps lit the surroundings, disconnecting the darkness that had spread throughout the environment.

"hu..."

Sitting on a bench, the faint rhythmical breathing of a youth disrupted the tranquil and silent surroundings.

"ah!"

Waking up, I found myself sitting on a bench in the middle of the park.

Squinting my eyes to familiarize myself with the lighting coming from the lamps, I rubbed my forehead.

Instantly, I recalled everything that had happened inside of my consciousness...

"Fuuuu..."

As I did, I took a deep breath.

To think Ren's story was so tragic...

To have his own best friend turn into a villain and in the process have him curse his very own parents as well as blackmailing him into doing his bidding...

'Tragic' was the perfect word to describe what he went through.

Remembering Ren's lonely figure as he went through his memories inside of my consciousness, I recalled focusing my attention towards his eyes.

...Those eyes filled with sorrow and loneliness as he shared his memories with me.

Thinking back, all of this wouldn't have happened if Matthew didn't sign a pact with a demon and became a villain...

As soon as he made a pact with a demon in exchange for power, Matthew lost control of his emotions...and by letting his emotions overtake his sanity, Matthew must've discarded all his previous feelings for Ren and the people he was close with for the sake of that power

...In doing so, he chose to destroy Ren's life.

The one person that never abandoned him...

-Ring! -Ring!

As I was staring at the moon in deep thought, my phone rang.

"..hm?"

Looking at the phone log, I instantly noticed a large notification appearing before me.

[Mom has called 5 times]

Seeing the notification, I instantly picked up the phone.

Ren! where have you been!

As I answered the call, a loud voice escaped from the speakers of the phone. Without skipping a beat, I moved the phone away from my ear.

As I had seen the caller ID, I already knew this was going to happen.

After making sure my mother calmed down, putting the phone back on my ear I responded

"Ah...I'm actually at the park at the moment"

At the park?

"Well, I was training and I somehow lost track of time "

In the end, that's the excuse I came up with.

Since I was caught off-guard by the call, that was the most plausible excuse I could use to avoid arousing any suspicion from her.

Fortunately, she didn't press any further and sighed.

Sigh, what am I going to do with you? Alright, hurry up and come back home or else there won't be dinner for you.

"Alright, be there soon"

Be quick!

"Understood"

-Tak

Hanging up the phone, I put it in my pocket and stood up. It was time to head back home.

The walk home wasn't long, about five minutes. It was short and relaxing. Especially with the autumn wind lightly blowing against my clothes, refreshing my mind.

Midway through my journey home, I couldn't help but look back at my decision.

...Was I really going to interfere with the plotline for the sake of a few individuals whom I just met for a few days?

Yeah, Ren's emotions that dwelled inside of me had somewhat affected my decision-making process.

Maybe I was impulsive when answering Ren...but a part of me feels that that wasn't the only reason that prompted me to make a move.

There was something else...but I just quite couldn't place my finger on it.

Only with due time will I be able to determine what I was feeling.

If it were the old me, I would've refused Ren's request without hesitation...and this mainly had to do with my personality.

There was a reason why I always wanted to keep the plotline intact...

Control.

That's what mattered to me.

...I was fine with the plotline changing as long as the major events didn't change, at least to the point where I still had a general idea of what was to come in the future.

I guess it mostly had to do with my personality...but I just wanted everything to be under my control.

I didn't like when things didn't go as I dictated.

I disliked being put into situations where I wasn't in control of the flow...

Especially if my meddling would result in the demon king appearing way earlier than he should've.

...If that happened, then all the preparation I had made in order to fight him would become useless.

Maybe if I was strong like Kevin I wouldn't have cared...but I wasn't.

For someone like me, every little detail mattered.

If I suddenly took a cheat item and my action resulted in Kevin's death in the process, what was I supposed to do?

Replace him?

...No. That was not something I was willing to do.

I wasn't someone who wanted to bear the responsibility of saving the world. That responsibility weighed heavier than anyone could possibly imagine.

I was no Hero, nor did I wish to become one...

I didn't have a grand goal or anything like that per se.

As long as the universe didn't get destroyed by the hands of the Demon King, I was content.

That's why I was so obsessed with keeping the plotline fixed.

...so that I could fight the Demon King with the most optimal preparations.

"Ha.."

Sighing, I could only lament the fact that that was no longer possible.

...Especially since I needed to find the cure for the Mindbreaker curse...an extremely terrifying curse that dictated someone's life and death.

In the future, towards the ending of the second volume, Kevin and his friend would be put in a position where they would have to find the cure for the curse at all cost.

In the process of finding the cure, they will go through many trials that will shape their character as well as improve their strength. Many schemes made by the demons would end up being destroyed in the process.

...though it wasn't the most important arc, it was still very important for their character development.

If I chose to go find the cure for the curse, my actions would definitely cause a butterfly effect but...I just wasn't sure how big.

Fortunately, time was on my side.

Because my parent's guild was already on the verge of collapse, Matthew had no use for me.

The only reason he used to blackmail the old Ren was so that he could weaken my parent's guild.

Although the old Ren didn't tell me, I could pretty much guess the motives behind Matthew's blackmailing.

He wanted to absorb Galxicus.

With the fact that his father owned a gold-graded guild...wanting to absorb smaller silver-graded guilds wasn't strange. In fact, it was quite common. However, the process usually took a very long time hence why they try to use all sorts of dirty tricks in the book to try to force them to sell the guild to them.

Knowing this fact, I knew that I wasn't pressed for time.

Before he would completely kill my parents, due to them no longer having any use, he would first need to completely absorb Glaxicus. Which by my estimation would take approximately one year.

...and this was ideal since I needed to make a lot of preparations.

Finding the cure for the curse wasn't going to be easy...no, I would say it would probably be one of the most dangerous trips I would ever make.

However, it wouldn't be all for nothing.

In fact, the trip wouldn't just consist of me finding a cure. Perhaps this was the other reason why I chose to accept Ren's request, but...there was an item I was extremely interested in. More specifically, one that was tailor-made for one of the future members of my mercenary group.

Named after Artemis, the goddess of animals...The ultimate beast tamer cheat item.

[The flute of Artemis]

An item that allowed beast tamers to control multiple beasts at a time.

The item that helped Ava's monster tamer class shine in the original novel. Prompting her into becoming one of the strongest humans in the novel.

Well, although I said all of that. There was just one teeny-tiny problem

The place I wanted to go get the cure wasn't actually on earth...