Kaelen stared at the fountain.
It was a hideous marble monstrosity of a weeping goddess, situated in the center of the Lower Academy courtyard. It was covered in a thick, velvety layer of green slime and bird droppings. To a normal student, it was an eyesore. To Kaelen, it was his life support machine.
[Time until Interest Payment: 18 Hours, 12 Minutes.]
"Move, trash."
A heavy shoulder shoved Kaelen aside. He stumbled, his new, weaker body lacking the reflexive balance of a Void King. He looked up to see a trio of second-year students. They wore the red-trimmed capes of the 'Combat Class'—the elite. The leader, a blonde boy named Jaxen with a chin like a shovel, sneered at him.
"Well, if it isn't the 'Failure of the Void,'" Jaxen laughed. "I heard you fainted in your dorm room because your mana veins are too pathetic to hold a spark. Why are you staring at the fountain? Looking for a place to drown yourself?"
In his past life, Kaelen would have turned Jaxen's blood into obsidian glass with a flick of his finger. He felt his mana stir—dark, cold, and hungry.
[WARNING!] [Hostile intent detected. Use of 'Evil' force against a 'Lesser Ignorant' will result in a 2,000 Karma Tax.] [Current Balance: -999,999,999,999. Soul Liquidation will be IMMEDIATE.]
Kaelen froze. His fingers trembled. He had to pivot. Fast.
"Actually," Kaelen said, his voice dripping with a forced, sugary sweetness that felt like swallowing needles. "I was just thinking how such a noble and talented senior as yourself shouldn't have to look at such a filthy fountain. It... it pains my heart to see the Academy's beauty tarnished."
Jaxen blinked. His cronies looked at each other, confused. "What did you say, freak?"
"I'm going to clean it," Kaelen said, stepping forward with a manic grin. "For the good of the school. For the glory of the students. Please, let me work in peace so you may enjoy the view."
He grabbed a discarded scrub brush from a nearby gardener's shed and plunged his hands into the freezing, slimy water.
[NOTIFICATION!] [Initiating 'Selfless Community Service'.] [Karma accumulation rate: +1 KP per 10 minutes of manual labor.]
One point per ten minutes? Kaelen screamed internally. I need five hundred by tomorrow!
"He's finally lost his mind," Jaxen muttered, looking slightly disturbed. "Let's go. The smell of manual labor is making me sick."
As they walked away, Kaelen scrubbed with a fury that bordered on demonic. He wasn't cleaning marble; he was murdering grime. Every stroke of the brush was a strike against the System that had enslaved him.
Two hours passed. His hands were raw. His back was screaming. But the goddess's face was starting to peek through the slime.
[+12 Karma Points earned.] [Bonus: 'Thoroughness' detected. +5 KP.]
"At this rate, I'll be dead by midnight," Kaelen hissed, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Excuse me?"
A soft voice startled him. He turned to see a girl standing by the edge of the pool. She had silver hair tied in a practical ponytail and eyes the color of a summer sky. Kaelen's heart did a strange, painful flip. Not because of romance—but because of terror.
It was Elara. The Saintess of the Holy Light.
In the future, she was the one who had spent ten years hunting him across the Dead Lands. She was the one who had finally led the army to his gates. Right now, she was just a first-year student, holding a stack of books and looking at him with genuine concern.
"That's very kind of you," Elara said, pointing to the fountain. "Most people just complain about the mess, but you're actually doing something about it. I'm Elara. You're Kaelen, right? From the Magic Theory class?"
Kaelen looked at her small, delicate hand offered in friendship. If he killed her now, the future Hero would never rise.
[CAUTION!] [Plot-Critical Character Detected: 'The Saintess'.] [Harming this individual will result in the 'Grand Damnation' penalty: -10,000,000,000 Karma.]
Kaelen took a deep breath, forced the most "heroic" smile he could muster, and shook her hand with his slimy, blistered fingers.
"Just doing my duty, Elara," he chirped, feeling his soul wither. "I just... I just love this school so much. Is there anything I can help you with? Anything at all? Carrying books? Fighting a dragon? Scrubbing your shoes?"
Elara chuckled, a sound like silver bells. "Actually, I was looking for the old library archives, but the door is stuck. The janitor is away."
[QUEST POP-UP!] [Help the Saintess: 'The Stuck Door'.] [Reward: 50 Karma Points + 'Favor of Light' (Small).]
Kaelen dropped his scrub brush. "Lead the way," he said, his eyes gleaming with the hunger of a man who had just seen a steak. "I am feeling extremely helpful today."
Progress Report:
Current Karma: -999,999,999,982
Next Milestone: Survival (17 hours remaining)