Inside my room, I was lying down on my bed half-naked, wearing only my pants. Beside me was Emily. She was fully asleep, covered with only a blanket. After all, I didn't stop with just one round. That's for the weak. I made sure she wouldn't be able to walk properly for a week before I stopped.
"She's a Healer. Well, she'll figure it out." I thought to myself while opening my status window.
Name: Ethan Jones
Title: Villain: The Grand Instigator
Class: Instigator
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 2/50
Skills: WHISPERED PROVOCATION (E), SEED OF DISCORD (E), FALSE NARRATIVE (E), CHAIN REACTION (E), SMOKESCREEN TRUTH (E), READ THE ROOM (E), PANIC SPREAD (E), PUPPETEER (E)
STRENGTH: 8
AGILITY: 10
VITALITY: 10
INTELLIGENCE: 5
Current Stat Points: 5
"Put all my stat points into Intelligence." I said plainly.
DING!!!
Name: Ethan Jones
Title: Villain: The Grand Instigator
Class: Instigator
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 2/50 → 100/100
Skills: WHISPERED PROVOCATION (E), SEED OF DISCORD (E), FALSE NARRATIVE (E), CHAIN REACTION (E), SMOKESCREEN TRUTH (E), READ THE ROOM (E), PANIC SPREAD (E), PUPPETEER (E)
STRENGTH: 8
AGILITY: 10
VITALITY: 10
INTELLIGENCE: 5 → 10
Current Stat Points: 5 → 0
"Not bad. I can now use more skills with this. I'm looking forward to how strong the PUPPETEER skill will be when it reaches S-rank." My eyes gleamed brightly.
"Three weeks left until the so-called monsters invade Earth. I now have decent skills. Let's see... show me my title effects again." I thought to myself.
DINGG!!!
The hologram expanded and added the title effect.
Title Effect: Strength increases based on the scale of chaos indirectly caused by you.
"Chaos, huh? Tell me, can I also get stat points when I cause chaos?"
DINGGG!!!
The screen changed with one word.
"YES."
"Hmmm... Tell me more about it."
DINGG!!! DING!!!
The hologram screen changed to the next panel.
"The stat points you will receive will depend on how many people are affected. I will analyze your actions and give rewards accordingly."
I nodded. I understood.
The system doesn't intend to help me step by step. It wants me to think and plan for myself. It's only here to evaluate my performance and give me rewards depending on what I do from now on.
"Heh... You want chaos? You came to the right person."
I reached out for my phone.
I first activated my skill.
SMOKESCREEN TRUTH (E)
MP Cost: 12 MP
Cooldown: 40 seconds
Proficiency: 0.40%
Description: Conceal your involvement in recent events, making it difficult to trace actions back to you.
Name: Ethan Jones
Title: Villain: The Grand Instigator
Class: Instigator
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100 → 88/100
I first made an account with no picture, and the name was "SEER CLASS AWAKENER."
Then I posted a long paragraph.
"I AM A PLAYER WHO HAS A SEER CLASS WITH THE HIGHEST S+ RANK SKILL. I TRIED USING THE SKILL, AND IT GAVE ME A VISION. ONE OF THE PLAYERS WHO AWAKENED HAS AN EVIL CLASS. BEWARE! THAT PERSON WILL BRING CHAOS AND CAUSE THE FALL OF OUR WORLD!
THIS MESSAGE IS POSTED USING MY SKILL. DON'T BOTHER TRACKING ME DOWN, AS I DON'T PLAN ON JOINING ANY GUILDS. I WILL NOW POST UPDATES EVERY TIME A MAJOR EVENT HAPPENS."
Not even a minute had passed, and it already had thousands of likes and replies.
"MyMilkShakeIsJuicy: WHAT? SEER CLASS FR?"
"WHOTOUCHEDMYCAKE: Nice one, clout chaser."
"PoopOnMySlippers: THERE'S A HIDDEN CLASS? AND WHAT? S+ RANK SKILL? DIDN'T THEY SAY THE HIGHEST WAS S-RANK?"
"PrettyBlonde: Duh, obviously... Didn't they say thousands of people were sent back? There's obviously a rare class. Idiots."
"DingDong: Fr, I got Tank, but it's not listed on the class billboard."
"Hackergdjugyy: I tried tracing him. I even used my Tracker Spell, and he really can't be traced! What the hell? Isn't that just too OP?"
The discussions and shares exploded almost instantly.
Forums refreshed every second. Guild recruiters panicked. Conspiracy threads multiplied like wildfire.
Hidden class.
S+ Rank.
Evil class.
Untraceable Seer.
Exactly the kind of spark that starts a forest fire.
Meanwhile, I simply leaned back on my bed and smiled.
Using one more skill.
PANIC SPREAD (E)
MP Cost: 20 MP
Cooldown: 45 seconds
Proficiency: 0.23%
Description: Induce unease within a group, increasing fear and making coordinated action harder to maintain.
Name: Ethan Jones
Title: Villain: The Grand Instigator
Class: Instigator
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 88/100 → 68/100
I switched to my regular account and left a comment.
"ItAintRacistIfItsTrue: I just saw a guy kill someone, and then he changed into that person's face. Are you perhaps talking about that person? I didn't see his face clearly since I ran away using my Shadow Step skill... I'm an Assassin class."
Before posting it, I activated another skill.
SMOKESCREEN TRUTH (E)
MP Cost: 12 MP
Cooldown: 40 seconds
Proficiency: 1%
Description: Conceal your involvement in recent events, making it difficult to trace actions back to you.
Name: Ethan Jones
Title: Villain: The Grand Instigator
Class: Instigator
Level: 1
HP: 100/100
MP: 68/100 → 56/100
I pressed post.
Within seconds, the thread exploded again.
Fear spreads faster than facts.
And I just gave them a monster to imagine.
"CrimsonFlower: WHATTT? WTF? A SHAPE-SHIFTER???? WHERE ARE YOU FROM? I GOTTA FLY FAR AWAY FROM THAT COUNTRY!"
"TenaciousTentacles: Another clout chaser?"
"DoomedEarth: Better to believe him than be sorry when you get backstabbed lolololol."
"SourGrapes: fr fr."
"AllMenAreLiars: I'm sure it's a man again."
The replies multiplied by the second.
Regional arguments started.
Guild leaders began issuing warnings.
Players accused each other of hiding classes.
Assassins were suddenly viewed with suspicion.
Anyone with illusion, disguise, or transformation-type skills was now under scrutiny.
Paranoia doesn't need proof. It only needs possibility.
I leaned back in my chair, scrolling through the chaos I planted with just a few lines of text.
"Internet is really convenient…" I muttered.
Then I focused inward.
"Now calculate how much chaos and confusion I caused."
DINGGG!!!
A hologram screen materialized before me.
"You caused confusion. A seed of doubt has grown in people's hearts. Trust will now be harder to form. The more divided the group, the higher your chances of successful infiltration."
CALCULATING YOUR REWARD...
CONVERTING TO STAT POINTS...
DINGGG!!!
"It was an impressive idea, but it lacked depth. The system is degrading its actual value since it was not executed personally. Reward reduced by 50%."
REWARD FOR CAUSING CHAOS:
10 Stat Points
"What? Debuffing? What the hell?" I stared at the screen, irritation flashing across my face.
So that's how it works.
Indirect chaos gives rewards…
But detached chaos gives less.
I clicked my tongue.
"Heh… So you want me to get my hands dirty."
The system wasn't impressed by anonymous manipulation alone.
It wanted proximity.
Risk.
Precision.
My annoyance slowly faded.
In its place—
Excitement.
"Fine." I muttered, eyes gleaming. "Next time… I'll make it personal."