Chapter 50: The Birth of a Mastermind

I pulled up the feed for my new pet project, 'World #113-Nocturnus,' with the giddiness of a fan watching the premiere of a new season.

The scene opened in a dark alley. A young boy with plain, black hair and strikingly average features—now known as Jin Kageyama—was cornering a group of thuggish-looking slavers. He was dressed in a simple, unremarkable tunic. He looked utterly, completely normal.

"Who the heck are you, kid?" the lead slaver sneered.

Jin struck a pose, one hand shielding his face dramatically. "I am but a phantom, one who hunts in the twilight…" he murmured, his voice low and mysterious. He was clearly having the time of his life.

The slavers laughed. "Get him!"

What happened next was art. Jin didn't move with superhuman speed. He just… wasn't where the attacks landed. He flowed between their clumsy swings like water, his movements economical and precise. He dispatched them not with flashy spells, but with simple, brutally efficient strikes using a rusty iron crowbar he'd picked up. It was understated. It was cool. It was perfect.

He freed the captive: a young elf girl with blonde hair and terrified eyes. She was the first piece of his grand, improvised plan.

He leaned in close, his voice a conspiratorial whisper. "You are a descendant of the ancient heroes," he began, completely making things up on the spot. "And you have been cursed by the Umbral Covenant, a shadowy organization that controls the world from the darkness! But do not fear. I have broken your curse. Now, join me. We will form a new order, the 'Nocturne Phantoms,' to fight the covenant and reclaim the world!"

The [The Narrative Wills It] skill kicked in beautifully. A flicker of cosmic code rewrote the world's history. The Umbral Covenant, which hadn't existed five seconds ago, was now a very real, very ancient threat. The elf girl's bloodline was retroactively changed to that of a forgotten hero.

The girl's eyes widened, not with confusion, but with dawning realization and fanatical devotion. "My lord…" she breathed, falling to one knee. "You saved me. I pledge my life to you, and to the Nocturne Phantoms."

Jin gave a nonchalant wave. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Our first base will be in that abandoned shack over there. I'll be the leader, 'Zero.' You can be… 'Echo.' Go recruit some more people."

He had just founded a secret organization dedicated to fighting a global conspiracy he had invented two minutes ago, and it was now 100% real.

I watched, munching on a bag of star-dusted popcorn that had materialized in my hand. Forget Kenji's goblin empire. Forget Yui's clingy adventures. This was going to be the best show in the multiverse.