The Change in the New World

Third-person POV:

Gasp!

"Not again...," Raiden muttered, trembling in fear, while Lirael went completely pale. Eirian felt the same, believing this couldn't be happening again, but his expression shifted to confusion as he read what was on the purple screen.

"Congratulations?" he muttered, bewildered by the large word "Congratulations" on the screen. Raiden and Lirael were also bewildered, staring at the screen in front of them with dumbstruck expressions.

Ding!

The three of them flinched again when another 'ding' sound appeared, this time with a new message. They could also hear the commotion outside, which must have come from victims just like them. Eirian read the message out loud for the three of them.

"Congratulations to those who successfully survived the hide-and-seek game with the Grim Reaper that just occurred. As previously stated, those who succeeded will be given information about the changes in your world."

"The world? Our world? What changes?" Raiden asked, starting to panic, but Lirael rubbed his back to calm him down. Once the bright blond boy had calmed down a bit, Eirian continued reading with a frown.

"The world you are in now will change completely. Starting now, everyone, including those not involved in the main scenario, will have a system like a status window as a new identity. This will show your abilities, powers, name, age, and so on. Please learn to use it, as it will become a part of your life. You can also make your status window public or private.

Those who had powers from the previous world can still use them, but they will be slightly different from before, so it is very important to learn to use the status window. Those who did not have any powers before will be given powers according to their unique attributes. 

Please check the daily quests given in your respective status window; they are important for leveling up. Good luck getting used to the changes in this world, and please stay alert for the main scenarios that will happen^^"

The three of them were stunned speechless. The atmosphere in the room was silent, and each of them seemed to have stopped breathing. The noise from outside Darien's ward room seemed to drown out in the children's ears like they were submerged in water.

Their brains couldn't comprehend what this glowing thing was showing, but what they could grasp was that what happened today would happen again in the future.

"What's wrong with that^^ emoji?" Lirael asked, still with a dumbstruck expression. She actually wanted to ask about something else, but she didn't know how because none of this made sense to her. Why did their world suddenly change like...

"It's like the video game I saw noble children playing. If I'm not mistaken, the video game inside in pocket mirror girls always carry around, but that pocket mirror is a wide rectangle. It's also like a crystal orb...," Raiden said, with a hand on his chin, thinking like a detective.

"Oh! I've seen it too. It's popular now, isn't it? It just came out a week ago...," Lirael exclaimed with a shocked expression, then adopted the same detective-like pose as Raiden. The two children were in deep thought with serious expressions, unaware that Eirian was staring at them with a bewildered look. He truly didn't understand or know anything about what they were saying.

'Video games? Did I miss something again?' he thought, then facepalmed himself.

Two weeks later...

The sound of birds chirping, like a soft melody in a nearby tree next to someone's window, with the wind blowing into the room. There, Eirian could be seen with a serious expression, staring at his status window, not blinking at all when the wind passed in front of him and his hair swayed softly with its movement. 

He had already understood how to use this status window, but he still hadn't tried to use his powers or anything in it, especially not the daily quest.

'Learn to use your power. How am I supposed to learn to use my power when this thing doesn't give me any instructions? It doesn't even tell me what my power is. Raiden and Lirael's daily quests were the same before, and they looked normal, even with instructions. Why are mine and Darien's different? 

Is it because we two originally didn't have any powers? But seriously, what's wrong with this daily quest? It only gives me one task: learn to use your power. For some reason, I feel like this system is playing with me,' Eirian thought, starting to feel annoyed.

"I also don't know what Darien's power is or if his is also different from mine. I can't look at his status window after all... Sigh...," Eirian muttered to himself.

Perhaps because he was so deep in thought, Eirian didn't notice Darien's eyelashes flutter slightly, then move again before his face creased, and a 'grunt' sound came from Darien's lips.

Eirian, who heard the sound, was immediately jolted from his thoughts. He quickly turned to see that Darien had opened his eyes. He looked confused and lost. 

Eirian, on the other hand, felt relieved when he saw those familiar crimson eyes again after they had not been visible for two weeks.

When Darien looked around, he noticed the white ceiling and walls. There was a strange sound like a machine next to him and an unpleasant smell. 'This smell... Medicine? It smells like a hospital--,' his eyes widened as he realized where he was.

He tried to sit up, but someone held both his shoulders, then gently pushed him back onto the bed. Darien then glanced to see who it was with a shocked expression. His vision was still blurry, but after blinking a few times, he saw Eirian's worried face.

"... Eiri-niichan?" he whispered, sounding shocked and disbelieving. It seemed he had already gotten used to calling Eirian by that name. It came out of his mouth so naturally. Darien then became confused again; he tried to remember what had happened and why he was in the hospital.

When he managed to piece everything together, his body relaxed, and he let out a sigh of relief, even though it was a little shaky. But the 'writer' was genuinely relieved that everything had gone smoothly, though they almost died several times. 

'Still, I succeeded... Eirian is safe... We are safe... Wait, what about those two children?'

"Eiri-niichan... Where are Raiden and that girl?" Darien asked, which made Eirian look shocked for a moment before he gave a gentle look, then caressed Darien's head with full affection, even though his mind reminded him that this was not his Darien.

"My little brother... Don't worry, they are both fine and are in their new homes. You, the one who slept for almost two weeks, missed saying goodbye to them, hehehe, but don't worry. 

We will see them again someday... Now, instead of worrying about others, you have to focus on getting well quickly, okay, my little angel," Eirian said with a teasing tone and that damn smirk. Darien immediately turned into a tomato, and Eirian laughed at his brother's reaction.

'Seriously, I just woke up, and he's already teasing me? What a bad brother, but...,' While Eirian was still laughing, Darien gave a small adoring smile. It seemed he had just been overthinking things at the orphanage before.

'He's still the Eirian I know... It's no way for him to know I'm not the real Darien. I think my feelings and thoughts were just playing with me... But, what if one day he finds out? I don't think I'll be able to face him again, or worse... he might leave me. Alone.

No, I don't want that. I don't want to be abandoned again. I have started to genuinely love Eirian as my brother. I'll tell him when I'm truly ready. For now, I want it to stay this way...,' Darien thought, feeling anxious but at the same time guilty for deceiving Eirian.

Darien didn't realize that Eirian was staring at him with an unreadable expression. Because he was so deep in his thoughts, Eirian had stopped laughing and just kept staring at Darien. He then smiled, but it was a painful smile.

'I'm really terrible...,' Eirian thought, feeling bad as he clenched both his fists tightly until his knuckles turned white.

"Oh, what do you mean, Eiri-niichan, by Raiden and that girl being in their own homes?" Darien asked, trying to stop thinking about it. Eirian immediately went poker face, putting his teasing expression back on as a mask.

"I'll tell you later!" Eirian replied, while grinning playfully at him, which made him feel annoyed. He really wanted to knock his brother's head right now.

"... Eiri-niichan...," Darien sounded like he was already tired of his brother's remarks.

"Hahaha, okay, sorry, sorry. That girl's name is Lirael. She moved to her relatives' house a day after the... The Grim Reaper incident happened. They were supposed to pick her up next week, but after hearing what happened, they immediately came to get her.

Raiden is the same. After a week, a family decided to adopt him because... they lost their only child to the same incident..." Eirian explained with a wistful look.

Darien fell silent, then nodded in understanding, but he realized something, and that made him feel anxious, though he wasn't sure why. "Ah... Why are we still here? Where are we going to live after this?"

'Where are we going to live? According to the original plot, Darien was adopted by a family after the incident, but seeing that I'm still here... Did the plot change again? Sigh... It must be because Eirian and those two children, who were supposed to die, are still alive. So the plot has changed more significantly.

I don't regret my decision, but I'm still worried about what will happen... 

"I need to watch your status window first."

'Huh, why does Eirian want to see my status window though?' he thought, but he just did what his brother asked.

Besides, he didn't need to feel suspicious or wary of his brother; Eirian was the only person he trusted in this world. There was no problem if Eirian wanted to see his status window.

"Status window," as soon as he said it, many notifications and messages appeared and surrounded him. He was shocked but immediately steadied himself and read the ones that seemed important. 

'Hmm... It's the same as what I planned to write later when this world had used the status window as well... Huh? Wait a minute, how can that be? I haven't published that chapter yet. Chapter 1 only ended with Darien waking up in the hospital and becoming depressed after finding out Eirian had died. 

What is happening? The flow in this world isn't following my original story, is it? But if it is true, how can that happen? Aaaah! I'll think about that later!'

"Are you okay, Darien?" Eirian asked, noticing the flustered look on his face, but Eirian didn't question him, which made Darien feel a little relieved. 

"I'm okay, Eiri-niichan, just trying to catch up on what I've missed," Darien replied with a cute tone and smile at his brother, who then only gave a small smile and nodded.

"I will send a request to see your status window, oh, and add you to my contact list. With that, only I can see your status window, and you can also see mine," Eirian explained while moving his hand in front of him, using his status window to send a request to his brother, his movements seeming familiar.

That made Darien's mouth hang open with a foolish look, and he immediately said out loud what he had just thought, "How? How can Eiri-niichan use it like someone who is already used to it?" Eirian only stared at him with an innocent expression, then chuckled.

"Because I learned everything by myself for these two weeks, waiting for you to wake up."

'... I forgot that Eirian is indeed a smart person. The little brother and the older brother are the same. According to the original plot, many people struggled to use this status window because they weren't familiar with it; only Darien and a few characters quickly became familiar with this new system, but Eirian had already started to become familiar with all the functions of the status window. Wow, he's really amazing,' Darien thought with his eyes beaming with admiration for Eirian. His brother noticed and then chuckled softly.

Ting!

Darien looked in front of him, and there was a request message to add him to Eirian's contact list, and then a request to see his status window. 

Darien, with an innocent look, accepted all his brother's requests without thinking too much, unaware that Eirian's eyes had caught Darien's familiar movements in using the status window as well.

'... He knows how to use this status window, too, huh? Hm... Alright, let's see his status window--,' Eirian didn't finish his thought when his eyes widened at the sight of Darien's status window.

The novel writer himself also looked shocked when he saw his status window. 'What? Why is my status window like this?'