The adrenaline that had sustained Cian during the confrontation with Elena dissipated the moment he reached the sanctuary of his dorm room. He slammed the heavy oak door shut and collapsed against it, his lungs burning.
"Status..." he wheezed. "System... show me everything."
A holographic interface, invisible to anyone but him, flickered into existence. It wasn't the sterile, blue screen of the original novel's world. This was the Otaku Archive, and it pulsed with the neon energy of a thousand different worlds he had once watched through a screen.
[Host: Cian von Astrea (Soul: Sato)]
[Realm: Aura Initiate (Level 2)]
[Aura Capacity: 150/150]
[Fate Points: 500]
[Active Skills: Limitless (Stage 1: Infinity)]
"Level 2," he muttered, watching his Aura capacity tick up. "In the original story, Cian stayed at Level 1 for three years until he was expelled. I've already surpassed him in ten minutes."
He swiped his hand across the air, opening the Skill Library. This was what he really wanted to see. The screen expanded into a massive, rotating constellation of icons. Each icon represented a technique, a weapon, or a bloodline from the anime of Earth.
However, as his eyes scanned the icons, his excitement was met with a harsh reality. Almost the entire screen was shrouded in a heavy, pulsating red mist.
[SKILL TREE: OTAKU ARCHIVE]
* [Locked: Level 10] — Sharingan (Naruto): The Eye of Insight. Cost: 2,000 Fate Points.
* Note: Requires Aura Disciple rank to handle the ocular strain.
* [Locked: Level 25] — Gate of Babylon (Fate Series): The King's Treasury. Cost: 10,000 Fate Points.
* Note: Requires Aura Master rank to stabilize spatial portals.
* [Locked: Level 40] — Super Saiyan Transformation (Dragon Ball): Multiplier of Life-Force. Cost: 50,000 Fate Points.
* Note: Requires Aura Grandmaster rank. Current body would explode upon activation.
* [Locked: Level 60] — Hogyoku Integration (Bleach): The Will of Evolution.
"Damn it," Cian cursed, his fingers hovering over the darkened icon of the Hogyoku. "The power is right there, but my body is a glass cup trying to hold an ocean's worth of water."
He realized then that the System wasn't just a cheat; it was a cage. It prevented him from killing himself by using powers his "Aura Initiate" body couldn't sustain. Even Infinity, the most basic application of the Limitless technique, was currently draining him dry.
[Notice: You have 500 Fate Points. Would you like to browse the 'Initiate Tier' store?]
"Yes. Show me what I can actually use now."
The screen shifted. A few icons turned gold.
* [Skill: Mana Breathing (Demon Slayer Inspiration)] - Increases Aura recovery speed by 20%. (Cost: 300 FP)
* [Item: Senzu Bean (Prototype)] - Heals minor wounds and restores 50% Aura. (Cost: 100 FP each)
* [Passive: Presence Masking (Hunter x Hunter - 'Zetsu')] - Allows the user to hide their Aura from those of a higher rank. (Cost: 500 FP)
Cian hesitated. Zetsu would be invaluable for a villain. If the Hero, Leo, couldn't gauge his power, he couldn't prepare for it. But his eyes drifted back to the Limitless skill.
[Skill Evolution: Limitless Stage 1 → Stage 2]
[Requirement: Level 5 & 1,000 Fate Points]
[Effect: Unlock 'Azure Glow' (Blue) - High-speed attraction and spatial crushing.]
"I need to level up fast," Cian decided. "The academy entrance ceremony is tomorrow. In the original plot, that's when Leo 'shines' by defeating a mid-tier monster brought in for a demonstration. If I steal that spotlight, the Fate Points will be massive."
A sharp knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. Cian stiffened. He hadn't turned off the system, but he remembered only he could see it.
"Who is it?"
"It's... it's Elena."
Cian froze. The Duchess's daughter? The one he had just humiliated in front of the entire student body? He expected her to come back with a group of guards or her father's knights. Instead, her voice sounded... hesitant.
He opened the door just a crack. Elena von Hestia stood there, her silver hair slightly disheveled, her blue eyes scanning him with an intensity that made his skin crawl. She wasn't holding her spear.
"How did you do it?" she demanded, skipping any greeting.
Cian leaned against the doorframe, adopting the persona of the arrogant villain. "I told you. You're just slow."
"Don't lie to me!" she snapped, stepping into his personal space. The scent of winter lilies drifted off her. "I am an Aura Disciple. My speed is three times that of a normal human. My palm was an inch from your face, and then it... it didn't move. The air felt solid. That isn't an Initiate level technique. That isn't even a Master level technique."
Cian looked at her. In the novel, Elena was the "Cold Beauty" who eventually fell for Leo because he was the only one strong enough to "melt her heart." But looking at her now, he didn't see a heroine. He saw a variable.
"The world is bigger than your textbooks, Elena," Cian said coldly. "The Astrea family might be disgraced, but we have secrets that would make your Duchess mother tremble."
It was a total bluff, but the System chimed in his ear.
[DING! Manipulating a Key Character's Perception.]
[Elena von Hestia is 'Intrigued'.]
[Reward: 50 Fate Points.]
Elena's eyes narrowed. "If you're so strong, why have you been acting like a groveling pig for the last two years? Why let everyone spit on you?"
"Because," Cian leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper, "it's much more fun to watch people like you look down on me, only to realize you're the ones at the bottom of the mountain."
Elena recoiled as if stung. Her face flushed—not with anger this time, but with something else. A spark of challenge. "Tomorrow. At the Entrance Ceremony. The combat trials. I'll be watching you, Cian. If that 'wall' of yours was a fluke, I'll break every bone in your body myself."
She turned and marched away, her cape snapping in the wind.
Cian watched her go and then exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding. He checked his System clock.
[Time until Entrance Ceremony: 14 Hours.]
[Current Objective: Reach Level 5 to unlock 'Blue'.]
"Fourteen hours to bridge a gap that takes most people years," Cian muttered to himself. He sat cross-legged on the floor. "System, spend 300 Fate Points on 'Mana Breathing'. I'm going to cultivate until my meridians scream."
As the knowledge of the Demon Slayer breathing techniques flooded his mind, Cian felt his Aura begin to swirl with a new, aggressive rhythm. Outside, the moon rose over the academy, but inside the dorm, the "Third-Rate Villain" was beginning to rewrite the laws of the world.
He wasn't just an anime addict anymore. He was the glitch in the Hero's perfect story. And tomorrow, he was going to show them that "Infinity" was just the beginning.