“You’re clearly a player… but why are you disrupting the system’s flow? Almost like a bug.”

Listening to his puzzled murmurs, I slowly turned around.

There stood a familiar-faced man, staring intently at me.

Second Prince Orent’s aide,

“You’re the one, aren’t you? The one who gave the horn flute to Haezen and manipulated the saintess of Taal Kingdom into issuing strange prophecies.”

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue, and at that moment, the letters above his head changed.

Manager of Brilanta Subdivision

“I am Cedric, the manager of the Brilanta subdivision. You can call me the System Manager (SM).”

He greeted me gracefully.

“Of course, you won’t have the chance to address me again. It seems this round of play has failed.”

“Why did you do it?”

I raised my voice to him, who easily revealed his identity.

“Your actions put people in danger. And giving the horn flute to Orent and Duke Hamilton has nothing to do with progressing the scenario!”

“Orent was a rival figure to Haezen, the real player.”

He answered with a grimace, as if the thought alone irritated him.

“That stupid guy kept neglecting the scenario, only pursuing female characters, so he needed something to provoke him.”

“What…?”

“So I gave the horn flute to Orent. I thought that if Orent’s reputation rose, it would stimulate the player to advance the scenario.”

“…”

So, the system manager had been moving with one sole purpose all this time.

‘Their role is also to ensure the smooth progression of the scenario.’

The actions he took were no different from when he tried to kill me for Haezen’s awakening – all for the damned order of the system.

“Just for that reason…”
In the midst of the standoff with Cedric, I suddenly felt an odd shift in the air around me.

“Assassinate her.”

The moment Cedric spoke those words, the air, which had been flowing lazily, turned icy cold.

“Assassinate .”

“Assassinate .”

“Assassinate .”

People with dull gray eyes charged at me.

[Danger, Player!!!!]

With the system window’s warning, my vision flashed.

[SYSTEM] Switching to automatic combat mode.

[SYSTEM] Activating skill .

[SYSTEM] Your movement speed temporarily increases by +500%.

As [Automatic Combat Mode] was activated, skills I hadn’t used before were now engaged.

In the blink of an eye, my body automatically dodged the attacks.

“Gasp, Huff…”

Breathing heavily, I turned to see deep marks of attack where I had just been standing.

Though I had seen Haezen use skills, this was my first time using them since becoming a player.

A skill icon appeared before my eyes with a description.

Skill

Persistent Effect: +500% increase in movement speed

Remaining Time: 4 minutes 52 seconds

Cooldown: 5 hours 59 minutes 52 seconds

was practically a one-time use skill due to its long cooldown. I had to conclude this within the remaining 4 minutes.

“An envoy causing such a disturbance.”

Cedric muttered disdainfully, glaring at the system window.

[P, but she’s a Player! Not a bug, but a Player….!]

“It’s my role as a manager to judge whether something harms the system’s order or not.”

“If this is what you call the system’s order, then I’ll break it.”

I glared back at Cedric, drawing my sword from my waist.

“Oh, that’s quite a buggy thing to say.”

As we faced off, new cleaners gathered one by one. At Cedric’s gesture, they rushed at me again.

Red targeting icons appeared above their heads.

It was the effect of [Automatic Combat Mode], recognizing them as enemies and attacking automatically.

My body swung the sword at those marked with red targeting icons without needing my direct attention. However, this wouldn’t resolve the situation as the stream of cleaners seemed endless.

‘Endlessly rushing in… Wait?’

I paused, my eyes widening upon recognizing a familiar face.

“Elizabeth sister…?”

Like the others, Elizabeth sister with gray eyes didn’t recognize me and charged at me.

My body was about to attack her in response.

I quickly disabled [Automatic Combat Mode].

[SYSTEM] Automatic combat mode is disabled.

I dodged Elizabeth sister’s attack instead of countering.

[Player!!!!]

“Indeed. Human hearts are so weak.”

Cedric mocked me as I hesitated.

He must have deliberately turned Elizabeth sister into a cleaner to make me waver.

Fury surged at Cedric’s vile tactics.

“This isn’t weakness.”

Wanting to protect someone is not a sign of weakness. It’s what can make one strongest in the world.

‘I won’t fall for such dirty tricks.’

I opened my inventory and took out a book.

It was the I had bought from the Dark Guild Shop.

‘Anyone with a certain level of faith becomes a cleaner and moves according to the manager’s command.’

Anselot had said that those manipulated by the system manager were all highly faithful individuals.

‘Then lowering their faith should work.’

I read a passage from the open scripture.

“In the beginning, the Creator separated light from darkness and thus made the world!”

[SYSTEM] Using .

The system notification appeared instantly.

I looked up confidently and then glanced at the system alert window that popped up before me.
[SYSTEM] The faith of all individuals in the area decreases by 1.

What? Just by 1?