A Presentation Using Light Show, Because Why Not

"Before that," Garrett said, lifting his finger. "How exactly did you come from the future? Did you use a time machine or something?"

Knowing his friend was a bit of a nerd, Magnus wasn't surprised that he felt the need to bring up this technicality. "No, I didn't use a time machine. I…actually died in the future, and next thing I knew, I woke up in my seventeen-year-old body, exactly eight years back in the past."

"Huh, so like, you were reincarnated?"

"Something like that."

"And somehow, you've kept your powers from the future, judging by the barrier standing there outside. I'm guessing that was you?"

"That's right."

"Hmm, interesting," said Garrett while stroking his chin, before he finally went quiet to let Magnus start explaining everything.

When Magnus mentioned that he'd died in the future, he immediately noticed the concern on both his parents' as well as Summer's faces. Not wanting them to worry needlessly, he flashed them a reassuring smile.

"Now, I'm going to tell you all that I can. But first, Mrs. Haysmith, could you turn off the light, please?" asked Magnus, seeing as how the woman was standing right by the light switch.

She nodded and flicked it, eliminating the only current source of light in the room. After that, there was only dim lighting coming from outside through the windows.

"Thank you," he said to TJ's mother.

Making sure everybody was paying attention, Magnus prepared to cast [Illuminate]. Strangely, he could feel that the mana being consumed was slightly less than the last time he'd had to cast the skill. But that didn't really matter for now.

"Hmm, where do I start," he mumbled, before raising his hand and letting the light element mana flow out of the tip of his pointed index finger. "This is us, in this house," he started explaining while moving his finger around, drawing strokes made of white light in the air, until they formed the shape that roughly resembled TJ's house. He could hear faint gasps when his audience saw the bright lines that looked like neon words you'd see on board signs at night.

"And around it, I've put up a protective dome that could protect us from most dangers, including the eyes of the gods," he said, moving his hand above the house and drew multiple small eyes, and then added several short arrows below the eyes that pointed down toward the house.

"The gods?" one person asked.

"Yes, Garrett. The gods. But not the ones you know from religions. These gods are more like...a bunch of scums equipped with an overpowered tool. Thing is, they are the ones who, for the most part, are and will be responsible for the chaos, deaths, and destructions in all the Realms." Magnus then drew the word 'Universe' away from the drawing of the house. Below that, he drew multiple circles, with the one at the upper left labeled 'Earth'. "If you guys remember, one message written on your screens said the word 'Universe', and mentioned the word 'worlds'. Yes, worlds, plural. It turns out, that Earth is just one of the many worlds, a.k.a Realms existing in this Universe. These Realms might also be other planets from some other galaxies, but I'm not sure."

"Okay, so that means the gods caused this situation we're in right now?" asked Garrett again. "Are you saying they brought down apocalypse upon the world? I mean worlds?"

'Technically, the real culprit might be The Viewers,' Magnus thought to himself. 'The gods might only be their pawns, but who knows.'

"In a way, yes. They did just that," Magnus answered.

"Why?"

"To start our stories."

Hearing this answer, everybody was reminded of the first line they read on the Prolog message. It mentioned that today had marked the opening of their stories.

Magnus then moved to draw the words 'GODS', and then the word 'Authors' in brackets right below it. "They are the Authors, therefore they have the power to narrate our stories. Their job is to move their pawns, otherwise known as Protagonists, in order to design scenes and scenarios in which conflicts, drama, and battles take place." He then drew the word 'Protagonist' in smaller size below the word 'Authors'. After that, he drew several more of 'Protagonist' to the left and right of the first. And then, he connected them all using lines that converged up toward 'Authors'.

"These Authors select their Protagonists from among mortals. And by mortals, I mean people like us. Using their power, the Authors manipulate the Protagonists' thoughts and emotions according to their plots. They also control their actions either by assigning them with tasks, also known as Objectives, or directly narrating specific things they will do. The gods also like to make their Protagonists say the lines they've written, in order to make the scenes more entertaining or to reinforce their overall actions and goals."

"Wait, hold up," Garrett's father spoke up. "Why exactly do these gods pick these so-called Protagonists and make them do things? What are they aiming for?"

"They're aiming to create good stories, of course. Mr. Williams, when you, for example, write a book, what do you do to make a good story? You make a character with potentials as the protagonist, have them be accompanied by some supporting characters, and then make them encounter problems and conflicts that will drive them to look for solutions. And for that, they have to go through one or several journeys to find these solutions. As a result, they get rewarded for their actions by receiving powers as well as the solutions they were looking for. It's the classic structure of a story: expositions, problems arising, and finally, resolutions."

It was then that Magnus saw Summer raising her hand. It was cute how, whereas the others just spoke up whenever they wanted, the girl somehow felt the need to still be polite enough to raise her hand. Not to mention she was standing right next to him. "In the other future, were you a Protagonist?"

For a moment, Magnus was stunned. His girlfriend had hit the nail on the head.

Seeing his reaction, Summer said, "How long have we been dating, Magnus? It was clear to me that you spoke of the gods as if you had a personal grudge against them. It showed on your face."

"Ah, I guess I really am a bit see-through," Magnus mumbled, scratching his head. "Yes, I was a Protagonist. The god who chose me is called Atlantis. He might not be as controlling as some other Authors, but he still made me do things and manipulated my thoughts and emotions. Honestly, it was disgusting how those gods made us their puppets, even robbing us of our ability to feel things without their intervention and influence," said Magnus, making a fist toward the end of his speech and pressing his fingers until the knuckles turned paper-white. His emotions threatened to explode, until he felt a hand softly touching his fist. That gentle action from Summer calmed him down instantly. Taking a deep breath, he loosened his fist and touched her hand back, slightly hooking his finger around her pinky. "Thanks," he whispered.

Seeing his display of erupting emotions, the others became even more convinced that Magnus hadn't been telling a lie. He really had gone through a lot.

Magnus himself didn't mind revealing the truths—well, most of the truths—to these people, as they were all things they would find out eventually. Which included what he was about to say next. "And uuh, before I died and went back into the past, I happened to obtain the power the gods use to become an Author."

Instantly, everybody raised their eyebrows.

"Shit, seriously?" again, it was Garrett who spoke up. "So, you're an Author now? You can select your Protagonists and everything?"

"Uh-huh," replied Magnus. "Although, for now I can only select three Protagonists. I've appointed myself as the first Protagonist. Yes, I know it sounds kinda weird that I am both an Author and a Protagonist. But I just want to have authority over my own life. Plus, I need to be able to empower myself to be able to protect all of you. For example, right now, I'm using my authority to shield us from the eyes of the gods.

"And as for the second and third Protagonists, I have to first apologize for doing this without your consent. However, please understand that I had no other choice. The gods have been keeping their eyes on me since they've noticed I'm an anomaly in this timeline. I didn't want anyone close to me to be turned into their victim, a.k.a their Protagonist. Which is why, I have selected two people here to be the second and third Protagonists, so I can prevent them from falling into the gods' hands."

Magnus then nodded at TJ, who nodded back with a neutral expression, and then turned to Summer. "I have assigned both TJ and Summer as my Protagonists."

Everyone immediately stole glances at the two people being mentioned. Unexpectedly, neither showed any hint of surprise.

"Tyler, did you know about this?" asked Victoria Haysmith, TJ's mother. She then moved to flick the light switch, wanting to clearly see her son's face.

TJ squinted his eyes upon the sudden bright light invading his vision, before nodding to his mother. "I've known about everything too, actually. In fact, I've been helping him with what you guys will find in the basement."

"What?" Matt asked, with a slight terror on his face. "Why does that sound kinda ominous? What's in the basement, Tyler? Are you hiding a dead body?"

As a response to that question, TJ gave the big guy a middle finger. His mother could only sigh at her son's vulgar behavior.

"Anyway," Magnus said, stealing a glance at Summer's father, who was clearly concerned about his daughter. "I just want to say that I promise I will never make them do anything against their will, or manipulate them in any way, or influence their choices using this power. Any and all kinds of decisions they make will be entirely up to them. All I'm going to do is give them some power boosts every now and then and some skills if they need them. With that said, I'm still going to let them make their choice now. If they wanted to cancel their status as my Protagonist, I would undo it immediately. However, I really hope you wouldn't choose that. There's another reason why I appointed both of you specifically.

"You see, Protagonists have an option to make a Team consisting of what are called Supporting Characters. I will explain to you about this term later. But for now, I'd like you guys to know that with TJ and Summer as Protagonists, they will be able to make a Team each, and then take people under their wings." He then turned to Summer. "I was thinking that maybe both of you will want to keep your families safe by recruiting them into your Team."

With a calm expression, Summer said without hesitation, "I trust you, Magnus. I can understand your reasons for doing what you did. However, I'm a little sad that you chose to tell your best friend about everything, but not me. I wish you would rely on me and trust me more."

'Oh, so I guess that's why she looked a bit sad earlier,' said Magnus 2.0.

"I do trust you, babe. It's just…you know, all this," Magnus said, waving his hand toward the drawings made of light and toward the blue barrier as well as the aftermath of the earthquake outside. "I really wasn't sure if you would've believed any of this. With TJ, his personality is just…a bit unusual, so I felt like he wouldn't have a hard time believing my story."

'Besides, he's known me for much longer, and therefore would be able to smell any bullshit coming from me,' Magnus thought, unsure if he should say this out loud.

Summer sighed. Seeing the unease in her boyfriend's expression, she decided to let go of the issue. "Alright, I understand. I guess I would've done the same if I were in your position. As for being your Protagonist," she said, taking his hand in hers. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised and a bit suspecting of you when I saw that line on my Status Window. And after hearing your explanation about Authors and Protagonists, at first it felt iffy knowing that you have the power to make me do whatever you want. However, you clearly have never done any of that to me."

'I mean, you wouldn't realize it even if I did. Not at first, at least,' thought Magnus, making sure to seal his lips tight so he wouldn't accidentally say it out lout.

"You have proven many times that I can put my trust in you," Summer continued. "So, I say this again, in part because I want dad to also hear this. I trust Magnus," she said, before looking into Magnus' eyes and adding, "And I hope you will never break that trust."

Magnus gulped, having to face this serious and stern side of his girlfriend. "Understood, ma'am."