Did the villainous professor survive today?

Ding!

A crisp sound echoed in my ears, accompanied by a strange light flashing, and the panel in front of me changed accordingly.

[You have spent 720 points, and your mana level has been upgraded to Lv23]

[You have spent 800 points, and your mana level has been upgraded to Lv24]

[You have spent 880 points, and your mana level has been upgraded to Lv25]

[You have spent 960 points, and your mana level has been upgraded to Lv26]

[You have spent 1040 points, and your mana level has been upgraded to Lv27]

The bright blue subtitles refreshed the screen like spam text messages, but Krenk watched it all calmly, showing no intention of stopping.

Finally, after using up the 4800 points I had just acquired, the panel in front of me stopped flashing.

【Mana Lv27 (400/1120)】

As the bright blue numbers on the screen stopped refreshing, Krenk felt countless streams of heat slowly flowing into his body from all directions.

The heat surged in, washing away the fatigue caused by the depletion of magic power.

A strange magic flowed along with the blood pumped from the heart, filling every corner of the body.

If Kroenke were to use an analogy, it would be like a torrential downpour suddenly arriving at a riverbed cracked during the dry season, causing the once-dry stream to gradually become full again, splashing up white spray.

Kroenke blinked and turned to look at the panel.

[Spirit Lv22 (0/720)]

【Mana Lv27 (400/1120)】

Strength Lv12 (0/260)

[Constitution Lv15 (0/380)]

【Characteristics: Prone to misfortune, exquisite technique, and endless charm】

Kroenke nodded, and said thoughtfully:

"Hmm, it seems that simply upgrading mana doesn't increase the experience gained from other abilities."

In the game, players control characters to complete tasks, defeat monsters, and level up in a spiral-like manner.

The experience gained by players affects the character as a whole. Although the level increase is not as fast as that of a specialization, it will still increase slowly.

Kroenke shrugged again, making a self-deprecating remark.

"I thought we could upgrade first and then upgrade later."

He then turned his attention to the basic panel.

【Magic Power: 481/1600】

"Hmm, my maximum mana has increased by 400, and..." Krenk observed the changes in himself, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Magic Vortex?"

Krenk closed his eyes, tilted his head back slightly, and breathed calmly.

He could sense that as his magical power level increased, other subtle changes were also occurring within his body.

Not only is the flow of magic faster and more abundant, but there is another change as well.

The flow of magic.

The air is filled with magic, which enters the body when you breathe, then spreads throughout the body with the blood, and is finally expelled from the body.

Only a small portion of the magic will accidentally remain in a person's body.

But now, a small amount of magic has begun to flow against the direction of blood flow, actively converging towards the area below his navel.

This means that a stable, slowly absorbing magical vortex has begun to form within one's body.

"good."

Krenk said with a hint of delight.

With the Magic Vortex, even without the 400 magic points from the instant level-up, he can still cast the spells he needs thanks to the faster magic recovery rate.

He had already stepped halfway into the threshold of the third level.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Krenk turned his attention back to the corpse on the bed.

He approached "V," whose face had been cut off, tore open the sheets and blankets tucked under the mattress, and then wrapped the bleeding corpse in them.

Then, he grabbed "V" by the back of his knee and shoulders and exerted force.

Krenk carried the heavy corpse, swaying slightly as he walked into the washroom and went to the shower area.

thump!

Kroenke threw the sheet covering the body into the bathtub.

He reached out, aimed at the blood-stained sheet, and slowly activated his magic.

Pale yellow flames erupted from his palm, engulfing the entire corpse.

The corpse crackled and burned, emitting a sweet, strange aroma of roasted meat.

Krenk frowned deeply, his stomach churning; the wine he had just drunk seemed to want to escape from his throat.

He closed the glass door to the shower area and went to the washbasin.

Krenk stared at himself in the mirror without saying a word.

In his view, the panel had switched to the "Features" tab.

His sapphire-blue eyes were fixed intently on the first characteristic, without moving an inch.

【Characteristic: Prone to Misfortune】

As a mid-game antagonist, calamity will always haunt you, like a shadow.

After staring at the subtitle in silence for several tens of seconds, Krenk closed his eyes and pinched his temples in slight pain.

"Of all the characters I transmigrated into, I ended up as the only villain who failed to survive any of the thousands of different endings."

Klenk Ludwig.

A mid-game antagonist whose storyline is closely intertwined with many supporting characters, and also boasts the best-looking character model in the entire game.

So, some time after the game was released, many female players launched a joint petition, hoping to give this handsome and rich villain a chance to live.

Just like Mayuri's death in Steins;Gate, this villain's death is an inevitable event in the game, and can even be considered part of the game's underlying code.

Many of the game's supporting characters are equipped with independent AI models, and every choice the player makes will lead to huge changes in the storyline. In order to ensure the game experience, the development team spent a long time finding a perfect balance point to ensure that the story can proceed smoothly no matter what.

If you mess with the underlying code, the entire game could get stuck at some point.

Therefore, the design team ultimately did not listen to the players' suggestions and was determined to kill him off.

Krenk let out a heavy sigh and shouted:

"Who on earth is it?! Using the death of a villain as the underlying code, really..."

Halfway through his rant, Kroenke suddenly fell silent.

The person who created this code in their past life...

It seems to be me...

That's alright then...

Boom boom boom!

A knocking sound suddenly came from outside.

Krenk emerged from the bathroom and went to the center of the bedroom, where he warily stared at the closed door:

"Who?"

"Young Master, it's me."

An old, deep voice came from behind the door.

"Sebastian?" Krenk called out the name of the mansion's butler.

"It's me, young master. Are you... alright?" As a professional butler, Sebastian tried to sound calm, but a hint of panic could still be heard in his voice.

"I'm fine, the assassin is dead."

"Then, is there anything else I need to do? I smell blood in the room."

"No need, don't worry. By the way, where's my sister?"

Kroenke changed the subject; he didn't want the butler to know there was another corpse in the house.

He also planned to use "V" to lure out another enemy. The more people who knew about being assassinated by "V", the more likely things would go wrong.

"Miss Sophia is still asleep," the butler replied truthfully. "Should I go and wake her now?"

"No, I'll come later, Sebastian. You wait in the hall for now."

As he spoke, Klenk glanced at the bathtub in the bathroom.

Under the scorching heat of the flames, the body had been burned to almost nothing but black embers and a few fragments, and moisture remained on the tightly closed glass door.

"How could it burn so quickly? There wasn't even a trace of bone left?" Krenk asked, somewhat astonished.

"Is this magic?"

He pinched his nose and went to the bathtub, opened the blinds to let in some fresh air, and turned on the water valve to start dealing with the remaining residue from the burning corpse.

Half an hour later.

After confirming that most of the traces had been removed, Krenk left the bedroom.

An elderly man with silver hair, dressed in a black suit and standing as straight as a javelin, stood motionless at the entrance of the hall, his eyes fixed intently on Krenk, awaiting orders.

"Sebastian, clean up the house. Smash and burn all the furniture. Don't leave anything behind."

Krenk pointed to the house behind him with his thumb and gave the order.

"yes!"

The butler faithfully carried out Krenk's orders, entering the house to assess the situation.

Krenk watched as the butler entered his master bedroom and then proceeded to a door diagonally opposite.

He stared at the reddish-brown oak door before him and said softly, in a voice only he could hear:

"The original owner's younger sister, is that right?"

After saying that, Kroenke hesitated for a moment, but still grasped the doorknob and turned it.

With a click, Krenk pushed open the door to the second bedroom.