Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 3: 3-Are You Out Of Your Mind, Merlin Tyrrell?!

Read chapter 3 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

Nora stared at her brother in silence, and Merlin stared back. That was, until a loud thwack came from the back of his head, forcing his gaze down to the table as a searing pain shot through it. “Hey! What was that for?!” he screamed with a clenched chin as soon as he realized what had just happened. Nora’s hand was still up where she had slapped him. “Are you out of your mind, Merlin Tyrrell?!” she roared. “Why do you look so happy? Don’t you see what’s wrong with this thing? A System? That doesn’t exist. You’ll be lucky if you’ve not been infected by a virus.” Merlin clicked his tongue and showed her the interface on his screen. “This is hovering before my eyes at this moment. I’m not being delusional.” “Then… A virus that makes you hallucinate. There are a lot of things that the cataclysm brought to this world; perhaps new viruses are one of those,” Nora argued. Hey, Merlin wouldn’t dispute the fact that his sister was right in her way of thinking. Being infected was a more plausible conclusion than being in possession of a System. However, because it was implausible at first glance didn’t mean that it should be discarded as useless. After all… “Let’s say we were born before the cataclysm, if I told you that one day humans would cast spells and fight monsters coming out of things called gates, would you have believed me?” Nora flinched, and finally lowered her hand. Had she really been meaning to slap him once more if needed? She was probably the only sister in the world that slapped her twin brother when he got on her nerves. “That’s…” She struggled to find a reply to that. Jackpot! “So, you see? I’m not wrong for thinking that there’s a chance this is real,” Merlin said with a sigh, turning his gaze back to his phone. “But it’s also possible that it’s as you say. Maybe I’ve been infected with a virus, and I should probably seek treatment. But wouldn’t that be rash of me? Thinking like that? The damage has been done, the least I can do is test it out.” It’s one thing to receive a, quote and un-quote, System. And it’s another for it to actually be real. Nora exhaled and sat down beside him. “Well, I guess you’re somewhat right. Earth is already a completely different place than it used to be.” She rested her cheek on her palm and pointed a languid finger at his phone. “So, you received it from the author of that novel you’re always reading, right? If what you told me and everything I read is correct.” Merlin nodded. “Yeah. It’s a System I helped build—apparently,” he said. “It was an interactive novel, you see. And I contributed in deciding what skills the protagonist got.” “The Kieran?” “Yes, the Kieran ,” Merlin replied with a frown. “Who else would I be referring to?” “Don’t ask me.” Nora shrugged. “Anyways, it poses a lot of questions. For example, why were you the one he gifted that?” “Duh… Because I was the only reader?” “Then who is he to be able to gift you something like that? And that Reader Mage Perk you got. Analyze and deconstruct spells… Is it what I’m thinking it is?” Merlin grinned. “Of course!” He was so loud with that reply of his, and that was because Reader Mage was his baby—the first and best skill he had created for Kieran. If the System really was real, then he would become the bane of Mages and monsters, considering what Reader Mage could do. Magic as a whole would be ineffective against him. And, maybe—just maybe—there would be a reason for him to be accepted into Prestige Academy. He almost scoffed at himself. He had read Singularity Mage solely because he wanted to see Kieran rise from the weakling he was into the greatest Mage ever, not because he saw himself in the character. But, now, he had become exactly that character. He’d become what he’d read. Ironic… “That’s actually crazy,” Nora said, she almost sounded glum. Was she? “You being able to stop any spells cast your way would be the worst thing for humanity.” Merlin reddened. “What do you mean?!” She raised her shoulders and stretched out h