"Casualties on the World Battlefield have been brought under control. All forces in World 1 and Second World have freed up their hands. The next Tri-World Joint Conference is expected to be held soon, at which time some of the benefits gained from your power, Master Shadow, will inevitably be lost."
"But at the same time, through the World Battlefield, Mitsugoshi Company has monopolized 30% of military supplies. In terms of ordinary civilian goods, Mitsugoshi Company has also established a reputation for cost-effectiveness compared to other companies. With quality and price being overwhelmingly superior, holding the card of World Battlefield material supplier, and the various forces not caring much about civilian goods, monopolizing the entire world is only a matter of time."
"Based on this, your subordinate is considering whether to transfer the portion of benefits destined to be lost in this conference to the various countries in our world, thereby protecting Shadow Garden's interests, striking at the Diabolos Cult's economic chain, and at the same time demonstrating Mitsugoshi Company's neutral status."
...
The young man standing by the window, looking out at the campus, seemed to have heard something in the report that caught his attention.
His unfathomable eyes, full of mystery and depth, as if contemplating the past, future, and present, lit up with a red glow. He turned his head to look at the beautiful blue-haired elf beside him—an astonishing beauty with a model-like figure, dressed in a black JK school uniform. Behind her were several other beauties, including elves, fox-people, and humans, all engrossed in their work.
The elf, who had been confidently reporting information that could shake the world, instantly panicked when she saw the young man's gaze fall upon her.
"My Lord, is there a problem with your subordinate's information? I will immediately have the intelligence team re-investigate."
Seeing this, the young man could only raise his hand to signal the elf and the others behind her, who had already prepared to order a re-investigation of the intelligence after hearing what the elf said.
"Gamma, I told you, you don't need to report this information to me anymore.
We are not on the same path. Seize this opportunity to lead the Garden into the light. Remember, flowers cannot bloom in the darkness.
I alone am enough to bear all the darkness and sin of this world; you do not need to, nor should you, face it."
The young man's low voice echoed in the room, but those who heard it merely lowered their heads in silence. However, their trembling bodies and tightly pressed lips revealed the turmoil in their hearts.
Seeing this scene, the young man merely sighed softly, turned, and walked towards the door, stopping just before it.
"All I can do is remove the darkness from your path to the light. Also, Gamma, think carefully about what I've told you before."
With that, the young man left the deepest room of the student council without looking back.
----
The moment the young man stepped out the door, his previously straight posture hunched, and his reassuring shoulders drooped. He instantly transformed from a powerful individual whose mere presence attracted all eyes into an utterly unnoticeable background character.
"How was it, Sid? Is President Luna in a good mood today? Was she angry?"
The people gathered at the door didn't notice Sid's change at all. Of course, in their eyes, Sid had always been like that.
"Of course, President Luna is in a super good mood today. I just joked with her, and she didn't even scold me."
In front of everyone, Sid displayed a standard background character smile, telling them about the situation in the president's office.
"That's good. The president has been in a bad mood lately, I don't know why. She would scold us for even small issues. It's a good thing we have you, Sid, as our vanguard. After all, you're the only one among us who is from the same world as the president."
This person seems to be Fuli Duo... right? He seems to be Sona's subordinate.
"Yes, that's how it is. In short, reporting to the president now is fine. If there's nothing else, I'll head back first."
"Alright, go on, go on."
Hearing Fuli Duo's reply, Sid quickly left the crowded corridor.
As for the subsequent news of the president's hours-long scolding and the school training ground being leveled by elemental magic, that had nothing to do with him.
After all, campus gossip was never something he cared about. No, a background character Sid should care about this information, so he would still know it. As for the reason for Gamma's anger, he truly didn't know.
Sid Kageno is his name. He is someone who wanted to be a Shadow Powerhouse in his previous life, and now he is playing the role of a background student.
What is a Shadow Powerhouse?
Before answering this question, I want to ask: most people probably yearned to be heroes when they were young, right? Heroes, Ultraman are all heroes. Listening to stories of heroes defeating evil dragons, watching Ultraman defeat monsters on TV, didn't most people feel an urge to become them?
He was the same.
But he yearned not for heroes, but for a Shadow Powerhouse.
What is a Shadow Powerhouse?
Neither the protagonist nor the final boss, but an existence that intervenes in the story from the shadows and demonstrates power.
He yearned for such a role. If you must ask why? Because he thought it was cool.
Think about it: suddenly appearing in the story, effortlessly defeating an enemy that is invincible to the protagonist, resolving the crisis, saying a bunch of ambiguous words, and then turning around and leaving coolly.
Even in the grand finale, he can fight against the protagonist and the villain, defeat them, and say to the protagonist, 'Is this all your power? What can you do?' — that's super cool, alright?
Especially when he's usually a mediocre background character, but at a critical moment, he suddenly stabs someone and says a series of flashy lines—that's even cooler. Although at this point, he would have changed from a Shadow Powerhouse to the new villain, one must admit, this kind of Shadow Powerhouse revealing their identity is an enduring classic scene.
Unlike most children's three-minute passions, perhaps he was born with chuunibyou. To become a Shadow Powerhouse, he dedicated all his free time in his previous life to it—kendo, karate, martial arts... he learned anything that could make him stronger.
But people have to face reality. No matter how much he learned, in reality, if the opponent held a gun, he could still lose.
He could not accept a Shadow Powerhouse having such limited strength, so he began to seek other powers.
Magic, spiritual power, immortal energy, mana, qi... anything was fine, as long as it could give him the power to become a Shadow Powerhouse.
He knew it was far-fetched to look for these in reality, but wanting to become a Shadow Powerhouse was already far-fetched enough, so what if it was a little more far-fetched?
No one can prove the existence of supernatural power, but no one can prove the non-existence of supernatural power either.
In his opinion, even dying on the path of seeking supernatural power was dying on his own dream pursuit.
Then, he successfully died in the process of seeking supernatural power.
Thanks to this, he successfully found magic in another world, which was probably during the First Industrial Revolution period.
However, the other world he reincarnated into, while not exactly peaceful, certainly had no major disasters. There were no opportunities suitable for a Shadow Powerhouse to make an appearance.
The usual enemies were all bandits, occasionally school kidnappers, or rebellious subjects who wanted to become king, but there were definitely no villainous cults seeking to secretly rule the world or achieve immortality.