Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

"Freya, what's your older brother's hobby when he was a kid?"

Out of nowhere, Samantha Hall asked Freya as she was sitting beside her.

This came as an unexpected question from Samantha, causing Freya to be momentarily at a loss for words, she then pondered for a moment as her right index finger repeatedly tapped her right cheek unconsciously, remembering her older brother's childhood.

After ten seconds, Freya spoke casually, but her tone seemed as if she remembered something she wanted to forget.

"Oppa... he likes to read books and newspapers when he was a kid, especially when he reached 7 years old, but..."

Freya pondered for a moment and proceeded to ask Samantha first.

"Uhmm... Samantha, do you perhaps... investigated our family?"

Without a moment of hesitation, Samantha replied.

"Yes. It might look weird from your perspective, but I was just curious... I apologize, that wasn't good on my part."

Freya unconsciously clenched her left fist, but she recalled that her older brother said it was of no concern to be friends with Samantha, and with their family status outside or the whole human domain, they were like ants compared to the Hall family. So, it's better to know about it openly than to be investigated secretly. In a world where power was something in the player industry most valued, they even have no choice or no way to avoid investigations from people with high status.

'I remember Oppa's facial expression when Rumia unexpectedly came with us in the Cafeteria before... as if he wanted to avoid her at all cost.'

As she sighed, Freya then spoke...

"It's alright... By the way, I don't know how deep the information you acquired, but we lacked financial resources and managed to just make out for it at least 3 years ago... Back then, we couldn't even afford to buy a training weapon. Perhaps, you already know where we lived before.

As she said that last line, Freya scratched her head with a hint of 'instinctive' embarrassment.

After five seconds, she continued telling Samantha about her older brother.

"During that time, all Oppa and I did was enjoy our childhood normally.

And Oppa only managed to hold a sword when he was 13, I was 12 at that time.

To be honest, he was very weak at that time, you know. Maybe it was because he just keep on reading books and newspapers almost every day.

He was very timid in holding a weapon as if he wasn't up for it, but when it comes to reading, he was like pursuing knowledge...

He's more suited to be a librarian or scholar if you're going to ask me. Hahaha."

Samantha, who listened to Freya's words as she smiled, had a moment of contemplation as she absorbed the information about Russell... and one thing caught her attention the most...

'Enjoy childhood normally...'

"WOAHHHH!!!"

"What the heck is that!?"

Samantha Hall and Freya Moon suddenly snapped off their thoughts as they heard other students exclaiming because of the spectacle being shown on the holographic screen.

They were reminded that they were still at the Obelisk of Virtual Technology Building, and they were the next group to participate after this.

...

At Leon's group side, Eastern Desert.

They started to traverse the vast desert as they came from the East.

Using the Gemless-Tailed Scorpions as their mount, their speed increased drastically.

Each of them was riding a five to six meters scorpion except for Leon who was on the back of an intelligent monster called 'Gemless-Tailed Scorpion King'.

Leon and his group members were informed about the situation regarding the tyrannical rule of the Luminous Scorpion King, the Strongest King of the Desert out of the Three Kings.

Leon also assumed that Anya's group probably encountered the other King which was the Sand Beetle King.

He also asked the Gemless-Tailed Scorpion King a question about why they needed to go to war against the Sand Beetle Species.

Aside from the lack of resources that were stolen by the Gem-Species Scorpions under the Luminous Scorpion King, the reply he received was very simple, 'We can't beat him.'

Leon remembered the details of the Main Quest...

'There's another way to clear the quest...'

As he thought about it, he asked again the Gemless-Tailed Scorpion King as he sat on its back.

"You sure there's no other reason why you are at war with the Sand Beetles?"

After a moment of silence, the Gemless-Tailed Scorpion King let out a sigh that was like of human's before it spoke.

"There is no use hiding it from you. Alright... The other reason is that our species will be accommodated by the Luminous Scorpion King if we kill the Sand Beetles."

Leon, who heard what the Gemless-Tailed Scorpion King said, frowned as he felt something ominous.

He also felt like he grasps the another way to clear the quest.

...

At Anya's group side, Western Desert.

After more conversations with the Sand Beetle King, Anya realized what the other clear condition was.

'It's to kill the Luminous Scorpion King that will appear during the war.'

It's not very difficult to predict considering the predicament of the Gemless-Species, and the Sand Beetles.

But for some reason, Anya felt something was amiss as she reined in her thoughts, making some deductions.

First, they might need to cooperate with Leon's group which might result in getting stabbed in the back. Especially, with the strict rule of not using an attack skill 'directly' against the opposing group, it would be troublesome that during the upcoming war, they jumped in the skill that was meant for scorpions, committing suicide in the process, thus resulting in our disqualification.

'Although we could do the same. I'm not low enough to sacrifice someone for my gain, I'm not sure about him though.'

Second, due to the lack of resources and plundering, the Gemless-Tailed Scorpions and Sand Beetles already had animosity with each other.

Third, the Luminous Scorpion King that has a high chance of appearing was probably lying about accommodating the winner between the two Species, and there's a certain reason why 'he' or 'it' wanted the extermination of the other two Species.

"Miss Anya, we are seeing the Gemless-Tailed Scorpions. It also has humans on top of some of them."

The Sand Beetle King who referred to Anya politely spoke.

pAn,Da-n0v e1,c She then reined in her thoughts, looking ahead to the vast, plain desert that was devoid of life from nature.

About 150 meters away, she saw Leon and his group members staying in their positions as if waiting for an order.

The Sand Beetles also came to a stop after seeing the enemies.

"I guess this is it, huh..."

Erina spoke with a tone of anticipation.

Although it was only in the virtual world, participating in a virtual reality war that didn't have a Pain Reduction would feel so real.

After a few seconds, the ground quaked from the Northern part of the desert as they saw scorpions with colorful gems on their tails.

Some had red, representing ruby.

Some had yellow, representing topaz.

Some had blue, representing sapphire.

One stands out among them, it was a 15-meter-tall Scorpion that had various colorful gems on its tail, unlike other Gem-Species that only had one.

And it was holding a gigantic sword!

"Oh, humans, humans! I didn't expect to see you here. What a great sight to behold!

Now, puny humans, I see that you also have something to settle with each other. Do what you want! The species that will win this war will be part of my army! Hahahaha! We will watch what you can show us!

The tyrannical laugh of the Luminous Scorpion King sent shivers to every other creature including Anya and Leon's group.

Although it was bearable for them, it was different from the Sand Beetles and Gemless-Tailed Scorpions as some of them have evidence of fear in their eyes.

Anya looked at Leon's side as she estimated the numbers of their enemies to be at least 600 to 700.

'What?... There are only four of them... I see, one of them died.'

It's almost the same with the Sand Beetles, but when she looked at the Luminous Scorpion King's side, 'it' has at least an army of 1,000 to 1,100 strong.

After five seconds, she swept a glance at the Luminous Scorpion King to check its stats.

[Luminous Scorpion King]

The Strongest of the Three Kings of the Desert.

As he witnessed something incredible thousands of years ago, he developed, exceeding the limit of his species by gaining intelligence.

After he became drunk with power, he ruled over the Gemless-Species and the Sand Beetle Species.

He plundered both species to raise his army as others were not deemed worthy in his sight!

Health Points: 5000

Stamina Points: 5000

Mana Points: 5000

Stats:

Strength: 500

Dexterity: 500

Constitution: 500

Agility: 500

Vitality: 500

Perception: 500

Willpower: 500

Tenacity: 500

Charm: 6

Luck: 6

Magic Power: 500

Unique Skill:

Gem Utilization (Passive)

Upon its activation based on the Luminous Scorpion King's will, 'his' next attack will have the corresponding element based on the degree of luster of a gem on its back.

Rank: D+

Effects:

The five colorful gems attached to 'his' back have different kinds of power, representing elements.

- Red represents fire element attack.

- Yellow represents sand element attack.

- Blue represents water element attack.

- Green represents plant element attack.

- White represents a non-elemental attack.

Skills:

Intermediate Weapon Mastery

Upon witnessing a mystery from before, it has attained a level of intelligence, resulting from the System granting it such skill.

Rank: D+

Effects:

Grants the Luminous Scorpion King the ability to wield any weapons, but for some reason, 'he' chose a sword.

Wave Slash

With the utilization of 'his' Unique Skill, the Luminous Scorpion King has the ability to send wave slashes with different elements.

Rank: D+

Cost: 200 Mana per Slash

Cooldown: 0 seconds

Effects:

- A wave of elements that has a length of 10 meters will be sent at the targeted distance. It has a range of 20 meters.

...

Anya's eyes constricted as she inspected the information of the Luminous Scorpion King, standing in front of its army, 150 meters away from them due North of the desert. It's like watching a play from a theatre as it's spectating from the audience seat.

'It has stats equivalent to C+ rank, I mean he has...'

Anya thought as she recalled that the Virtual System referred to the Luminous Scorpion King as a 'he', not 'it'.

As Anya reined in her thoughts, she heard the sounds of stomps from afar.

Leon started to attack!

It has only been five minutes since they got into position.

"Hahahaha! Great! Great! What bravery that is!"

The deep, tyrannical voice of the Luminous Scorpion King reverberated across the desert.

After one to two seconds, Anya decided to attack as her voice echoed in everyone's ears on her side.

"ATTACK!!!"

She stood up on the back of the Sand Beetle King as their army marched towards Leon's army.

Then, on her declaration to attack, the Virtual System notified them of another message.

Anya and Leon's group instinctively knew what it meant.

The other way to clear the main quest!

[Main Quest update!]

[The another way to clear this quest is to unite the two Species to rebel against the tyranny of the Luminous Scorpion King!

Upon deciding so, the Data Copy reward will be lost as the unification of the two species, together with your 'groups' will 'certainly' bring victory!

Hence, both groups will receive different unknown rewards upon completion!

Virtual System Note:

The original clear condition of killing the opposing leader or stealing the Obelisk Token and running for ten minutes will still be applied in this situation!]

...

Leon von Obreyon, who quickly read the Virtual System messages about the main quest update, couldn't help but curse inwardly at the situation as he felt a sense of urgency, causing him not to be able to think properly.

'F*ck, f*ck!!!'

"ATTACK!!!"

He shouted again towards his army as the distance between both armies was reducing fast.

50 meters...

35 meters...

15 meters...

5 meters...

~ Bang-!!!

~ Hup-!

The Gemless-Tailed Scorpion King and the Sand Beetle King crash against each other, as well as other species who proceed in their own battles!

As both of them crashed, Leon and Anya jumped off them, they then swung their weapons mid-air!

~ Clang-!

~ Shing-!

...

Anya's thoughts flowed with numerous deductions and questions as she keep exchanging attacks with Leon.

'Does the Luminous Scorpion King knows that if one of us died, this will end?'

'Or the Obelisk Academy has decided on another way to nurture students after this?'

'Unite... Unknown rewards... Against tyranny...'

As her thoughts raced, she felt like lightning struck her head as she came to a realization...

'If Leon died, they will lose... but it won't end yet for my group! There's a loophole to this! If we unite and directly attack the Luminous Scorpion King, we won't receive the Data Copy as a reward... but if one of us died, and the remaining one unites the two species to rebel against 'him'... it might be a different case.'

Anya decided to finish Leon off and then take his army of Gemless-Tailed Scorpions to fight against the Luminous Scorpion King.

If her guess was correct, it wouldn't end yet through Leon's death. It was like a bonus challenge.

"Ha!!!"

After flipping in the air, Anya swung one of her two Sickles, pushing back Leon on the ground as he defended with his sword that has a design depicting a 'Dragon's Tail'.

...

After ten minutes in the virtual world...

The difference between Rank 6 and Rank 3 in the A-1 of the First Year was very clear as the blood from a blonde man and deep blue eyes gushes out of his neck.

...

The students who were watching the holographic screen where a great spectacle was happening saw Leon's head fly off as a quick slice from the back hit him. Something he didn't expect as he forgot to account for the other sickle on Anya's weapon.

It was a two-end Sickle with a chain binding them.

'What a weapon control...'

Amery Blight, who was watching silently with her aloof and cold atmosphere thought.