How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

I reflected on whether anything special had happened to me recently.

The only “special” things were my Awakening and meeting the protagonist. But considering the Awakening happened a while ago, it couldn’t be the condition for the update. It must have been triggered by meeting the protagonist. What an annoyingly difficult condition to fulfill.

But more than that, the term “character” stuck out. Me? A character?

I recalled the message I had seen earlier:

[‘Kang Nahyeon’ has appeared in the novel.]

[You are both a character in this story and a reader.]

I read over the parts that stood out again, especially the line about receiving “meta points based on reader reactions and interest.”

So, does that mean there are “readers” of this novel?

If my every action is visible to those readers, that would be quite burdensome.

On top of that, they mentioned I could earn some kind of points based on their reactions. I wonder if these points are actually valuable.

Hmm, well, since I have something called points, let’s check out the shop first. I need to know what I can buy before deciding whether it’s worth earning more.

If the points are useless, I’m not going to waste time worrying about them.

Just because someone is watching me doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to turn into a good person. I don’t have the luxury for that.

With that thought, I clicked on the “Meta Point Shop.”

[Meta Point Shop]

Purchase various special items with meta points!
Prices vary based on story relevance and item difficulty.

[Story Twist – ? points]
[Academy Standard Magic Gun – 1 point]
……
[Elixir – 10,000 points]
[Mistilteinn Magic Gun – 100,000 points]

My jaw dropped.

Scrolling through, I found all sorts of items—potions, equipment, and more.

There were even…

[Strength Stat +1 – 20 points]

[Agility Stat +1 – 70 points]

[Stamina Stat +1 – 140 points]

[Magic Power Stat +1 – 70 points]

They were selling stats.

…Is this for real?

If it is, it’s not just useful, it’s incredibly valuable.

I tapped on “Academy Standard Magic Gun” and purchased it.

A gun materialized out of thin air and dropped in front of me. My points dropped by 1 as reflected in the status screen.

Upon inspecting it, I realized it was a fully functional weapon.

Wow… this is the real deal.

It was a better feature than I had imagined, and I couldn’t help but smile.

But when I glanced at my remaining points, that smile quickly faded.

It’s a great feature, sure. But what good is it when I only have 10 points? It’s like looking at candy I can’t afford.

I could only sit there, staring at my tiny stash of points.

Still, there was a silver lining. There was a filter for searching by price, so I used that.

[Price: 10 points]

[Academy Standard Magic Gun – 1 point]

[Durable Mass-Produced Magic Gun – 5 points]

[F-Rank Potion – 2 points]

[E-Rank Potion – 5 points]

[D-Rank Potion – 10 points]

Turns out there’s a decent number of things I could buy with 10 points.

It seems that meta points are more valuable than I initially thought.

For now, I decided to save my points and not spend any more.

Next up: Story Role and Reader Reactions.

I could guess what these were—my appearances in the novel and how the readers reacted to me.

First, I decided to check the Story Role.

[Chapter 5: Character Appearance]

This part features ‘Kang Nahyeon.’
Roles are updated continuously.
View both recent and past appearances.

***

85

The cold stares felt like they were piercing through me, as if I didn’t belong here.

Now that I had cut off support from my family—the very family that had shielded me—I was nothing more than an easy target.

Ha, did they think I’d just give up?

I clenched my fists.

“Freshman oath, Park Siwoo.”

I’ve mastered everything about this game. I’m a die-hard fan.

With all the knowledge I’ve gathered…

“As a student of this academy-”

I will survive,

“I solemnly swear to become a bulwark for humanity.”

In this world…!

“Hey there,”

First things first, I need to do something about these piercing stares.

“Excuse me,”

How do I turn my reputation around—?

“Hey, hi!”

While I was deep in thought, a girl’s voice interrupted me.

“Huh? Oh, hi.”

“What’s your name? I’m Kang Nahyeon!”

To approach me, ignoring the hostile gazes around us… Either she’s really clueless or she’s terribly slow on the uptake.

“I’m a government-supported Awakener. So, I don’t know anyone here, and it feels a little awkward.”

“Ahh…”

That explains it.

We exchanged introductions and continued with light conversation.

A government-supported Awakener, slower to catch on to things than those from Awakener families… Could be a useful pawn.

I walked alongside her, quietly observing my surroundings.

Indeed, these unfamiliar faces didn’t stare at me as intensely as others. Their gazes leaned more toward curiosity, like looking at something strange, rather than outright hostility.

I thought things over.

The lower the class, the higher the ratio of government-supported Awakeners. If I want to build a foundation here, I’ll need to start by winning over the government-supported students and work my way up.

In that sense, being placed in Class F might be a stroke of luck.

I started answering the barrage of questions from Class F students, using my Insight skill to check their stats.

Other than the protagonist in Class D, there weren’t any notable characters. Maybe that one student in Class E who’s set to be expelled.

Class F students are all background characters, but I’ll make do with what I have. There might be a few useful cards among them.

For example…

“Even though we’re in Class F, I believe we can work our way up! Let’s do our best together!”

[Kang Nahyeon]
Class: Sniper

This one.

A sniper, huh… Buffed stats for firearms. Might be useful when we tackle that dungeon.

I briefly glanced over her skills.

[Skills]

– Passive: Eagle Eye
– Passive: Bullseye
– Active: Magic Bullet

Not bad. Low stats, fitting for Class F, but the skills are good.

And,

“Wait, you’re famous?”

“Yuhan! Come sit with us!”

She genuinely seems clueless about who I am…

Whether it’s because of my decent appearance or how I handled myself, she seemed to have taken a liking to me.

I’ll keep observing her and see if she’s worth recruiting.

It seems like I’ve made decent progress with the students in Class F. As I lightly tapped shoulders and exchanged smiles with them, I continued planning my next steps.

I should head to the training hall and start building connections with the protagonist. Wasn’t the protagonist’s usual training spot Room 7?

Just then, Kang Nahyeon smiled brightly and asked,

“Yuhan, do you have any siblings?”

The conversation had shifted to family matters while I was lost in thought.

“I do. A sibling I get along with terribly.”

A bitter smile crept onto my face.

I’m the brother of one of the game’s main heroines. But my relationship with that little sister? It’s terrible, which makes it all the more painful.

185

Wow, this jerk didn’t even mention how I set the stage for him!

You little…