The Place Where Everything Begins

He was thinking about the tragic deaths of Charlotte and Samuel in the tutorial.

Actually, he didn't know that it was tragic or not. But considering the environment and conditions within the tutorial, he knew that it would be pretty miserable.

'Heck, this talkative and arrogant prick, Charlotte, might become a headless corpse even before the tutorial starts. Those damn Cupids...'

'And Sam, he might be killed by those savage monsters while trying to protect some hot chicks. Or he might be stabbed in the back by his 'trusted companions' in the tutorial.'

'Well, as for Owen, I had seen him only once after many days later after the tutorial ended. He was a completely different person from before. He acted like he didn't know me at all... No... he might even forget about me completely, even after I had talked to him, he totally ignored me.'

'Should I tell them to prepare or not... D*mn it, this is hard.'

He was contemplating about the upcoming tutorial. Should he be telling them about the tutorial or not.

If he told them to prepare beforehand, and they managed to survive the ordeals safely, would there be any butterfly effect in the future or not.

Many thoughts were running through his head at light speed while listening to the story of Charlotte.

Right now, within his head, there were 2 options to consider. The first one was to not tell them about the tutorial. As a result, only Owen would survive the ordeals; meanwhile, Charlotte and Sam would die...

As for the second one, it was to tell them about the tutorial. This one may look simple at first glance, as it was just telling them about the destined events and showing them some proves to convince them (Of course, by using some magic means).

However...

He not only had to consider about the following butterfly effects that he didn't want to happen so soon.

There was also another factor related to this option. That was... the trio's family members, friends, relatives, and loved ones...

If he told them about the events, what about those three's close relatives?

Charlotte, Sam, and Owen must certainly want their loved ones to survive the hellish tutorials...

'This was a huge dilemma.' Jeremy thought seriously.

'...'

'Anyway, I have to come to terms with my own interests and benefits as much as possible. Meanwhile, I have to make sure that my 3 friends survive...'

'After all, they are my friends. Even though I might not be able to trust them completely because of Ortus' dangerous and mysterious threats. In the future, they can still be my useful right-hand men that I can rely and depend upon.'

Unbeknownst to him, Jeremy had already cut out the option of not telling them about the tutorials.

Well, actually, that option had only been lingering within his mind for a split second before it disappeared completely.

Within his subconscious mind, he still couldn't abandon his own friends who had always been staying with him in both good and bad moments of his life.

Not even had to mention that they cared and worried about him so much.

If he decided to leave them on their own, they would undoubtedly die sooner or later. Like that, he would not forgive himself, which might be fatal and obstruct his cultivation road in the later stages.

Nevertheless, inside his deepest mind, Jeremy still valued his interests and benefits greatly, as he was a really greedy person who viewed his own interest as the highest priority.

'That's why I had received the trait 'Greedy' in the first place.'

Jeremy thought bitterly to himself...

Because there were too many things to consider if he decided to tell them about the incoming events. He must be careful about his future approaches not to cause a significant butterfly effect so soon.

'What should I do...'

After pondering for a short while, some plans and future actions started to be formed within his head.

Within his head was running like this...

Tell 'them' about tutorial events > Make sure that 'they' would not tell anyone about the events > Plan the future roles and duties for 'them' > Make sure that 'their' existences and actions would not change the future occurrences > As a result, 'they' survive and I also retain most of my benefits from my regression.

[A/N: Regrettably, our MC still does not realize his regression's chain of reactions of which had already caused an 'unsurmountable' ripple effect to the current timeline. Furthermore, he is also very greedy to the point of willing to chain his own friends if necessary.]

'Alright, I've decided...'

With a hardened facial expression, Jeremy determined his resolves inwardly.

...

When the time almost hit 6 p.m. in the evening, Sam couldn't stand it anymore. Thus, he decided to talk them back home.

He had the right to go back home!!

But before he could even speak, the voice of Jeremy interrupted him and left him speechless.

"Do you believe in magic?" Said Jeremy for the three of them to hear.

"..."

"..."

"The name of a song or a movie? What is that?" Said Charlotte, who had been talking incessantly a moment ago after being abruptly interrupted mid-speech by Jeremy's question.

"Wow... bro, don't tell me that you can do some magic tricks? I really want to see it. Why don't you show us some?"

"..."

Sam utterly disregarded Charlotte and spoke his mind out loud.

Because he was bored to death by the lengthened gathering, they had here. In addition, Owen didn't say anything, but he still nodded his head up and down 2 times after hearing Sam's questions.

As for Charlotte, she pouted cutely and kept quiet, waiting to see some lame magic tricks that Jeremy would pull off.

After seeing them reacted like that, he knew that no matter what things he told them, whether it be magic, tutorial, or Ortus, they wouldn't believe a single thing from him.

So, Jeremy could only shake his head and told them to look at his fingers carefully.

'Better proving it with actions first, then talk later.' Thought, Jeremy.

"Look at my fingers." Jeremy declared lightly.

That made them focus on Jeremy's fingers except one, Charlotte, who was trying to act clever.

She believed that Jeremy's fingers were just a decoy to divert their attention from the real tricks. So, she rapidly scrutinized Jeremy's entire body to see through his tricks.

But unfortunately, there was none...

*Snap*

Once and for all, Jeremy snapped his fingers.

Then...

There was no then, again, because nothing notable had happened at all.

That caused the trio to feel confused, so they tried to size Jeremy up and down, left and right. They still found nothing out of the ordinary. Then they looked at one another to see that they received the same results or not.

Until Charlotte couldn't endure anymore, she wanted to reprimand Jeremy for pulling a prank on them instead of showing them some lame magic tricks.

She opened her mouth incessantly to rebuke Jeremy, word by word, sentence by sentence.

But soon, she realized that her other 2 friends were looking at her weirdly.

"..."

Right then, she finally figured out that when she talked... there was no sound coming out from her mouth at all.

She was terrified yet again...

She realized that breath and wind were coming out of her mouth, but the sounds just didn't generate themselves. She tried yelling and screaming so hard that her throat felt hurt, but nothing came out of her mouth at all except for some hot air.

Right about now, the other two people also realized that there was something wrong with Charlotte. Why she didn't let out even a single sound as she yelled and screamed like that.

Thus, Sam opened his mouth to talk too...

But shockingly, he couldn't hear his own voice.

And the feeling of terrors hit him once again for the second time after coming into this haunted house. But this time, he was really pissing himself.

Meanwhile, Owen also opened his mouth to speak but found no sounds coming out from his mouth. He felt like God was trying to punish him.

So, he prayed to God for forgiveness while his body was shaking nonstop.

Furthermore, the three of them finally realized that the TV, which was still playing as usual... didn't produce any sound at all...

How was that even possible?

As for Jeremy, he was currently shaking his head from side to side and started talking mockingly to the trio.

"See? I've shown you some magic tricks. Where is my payment for the show?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

The 3 guys' eyes went wide open after noticing that Jeremy could still talk like usual.

"Why aren't you guys talking? Are you guys deaf?"

The three of them shook their head incessantly, trying to deny Jeremy. They could clearly hear his voice, but they could not create a single sound at all.

*Snap*

Suddenly, Jeremy snapped his fingers again.

"Momma, help me. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, *sob sob*" Charlotte was calling for her mother and crying loudly.

"No no no no, my voice, my voice, noooo... *Huuk Huuk*" Sam was whining like a chicken being chased by a scary predator.

"Pa... Plea... Please, god. Forgive my sins. I will quit going to the brothel, I promise. Please..."

As for Owen, he was trying to confess his sins.

It was only after several seconds before they figured out that their voices had already come back to them.

That made them felt very relieved, then they started to thank everything. Thank God, thank mom, thank goodness, thank this, thank that.

But they never thanked Jeremy...

So, Jeremy lifted his right hand again, going to snap his fingers.

When the trio saw this scene, they started to stick and cling onto every limb of Jeremy's. They tried so hard to beg him not to snap the goddamn fingers of his.

"Please... Don't..."

"No No No No!!"

"Don't do it again, Jerem. I'm scared. You can do anything to me however you want but not this..."

After the constant begging from them, Jeremy decided that this was enough for now.

"Alright, alright, go away from me. Or else, I'd snap my fingers again for real, and this time I won't lift the mute mode ever again." Said amusingly, Jeremy.

The trio then hurriedly went away from him. Charlotte even ran as fast as possible to the living room corner, followed swiftly by the other two people.

"How is it? Now, I will ask you again."

Jeremy grinned widely while asking the same question to the 3 scaredy cats, but this time he was exuding an inexplicable aura enclosing the entire room.

"Do you believe in magic?"

His grins were evil...