Chapter 13: "The Trap of Revolution."
System sanctions
Romulus awoke to a sharp, throbbing pain in his temples, as if a hammer had struck an anvil.
[⚠️ **WARNING** ]
■ You are **overdue for class selection**.
■ Sanction: **hidden quest** activated.
A new text popped up before my eyes like an ominous prophecy:
[🕵️ **Hidden Quest: "Trap of the Revolution "** ] ]
■ Objective:
- Destroy **dangerous blueprints**.
- Create a **trap** for thieves.
- Overcome **sabotage by merchants**.
■ Reward:
- **Re-select a class**.
- **New Skill**.
Romulus jumped out of bed, barefoot, and rushed barefoot to his father's study without wasting a second.
A conversation with the Count
He flew into the study, swinging the door open with such force that Count Lucian nearly dropped his quill as if he had disturbed a bird of prey's nest.
- "Father! The blueprints for the revolver, they must be burned!"
The Count, slowly, raised his eyes, as if assessing the seriousness of the situation:
- **"Are you sure? It's your greatest creation."
- **"If they fall into the wrong hands... there will be a bloodbath."
The Count hesitated, frowning his eyebrows, then smirked as if playfully:
- "Why don't we not just burn it down, but set a trap?"
Romulus froze, startled by the unexpected suggestion.
- **"Can you **make* something that will capture a thief?"
The system, as if prompted from above, flickered:
[🎯 **Quest Objective Updated** ]
■ Create a **mechanical trap**.
■ Use **false drawings**.
- **"Yes. And even **more."
A thief's trap
1- False drawings
Romulus, deliberately, left "random" errors in the scheme, as if setting booby traps:
Incorrect composition of gunpowder (explodes in your hands like a fiery devil).
Offset percussion mechanism (jams after the first shot like a curse).
2. Mechanical trap
Pressure to page→ hidden needles with sleepy venom like a death touch.
Trying to carry→ the lock on the door automatically slams shut like the jaws of a steel beast.
3. Witnesses
The knights are hidden behind hidden panels like shadows waiting to be discovered.
Alicia (at her urging) perched on a cabinet with a bucket of paint ("I want to catch baddies too!") like an angel of retribution.
Sabotage the trade guild
When Romulus embarked on his "Bicycle for the Poor" project, the blacksmiths came with alarming news, like messengers of distress:
- **"Sir... *Iron has tripled in price*."
- "What?"
- **"The Trade Guild *declares* that *metal* is now only for weapons, "** as if declaring war.
Romulus gritted his teeth, holding back his anger.
"They know...they don't want the poor to get bicycles?"
The system, like a wise counselor, prompted:
[💡 **Passage** ]
■ Alternative Materials:
- **Wood** (less durable, but cheap).
- **Melting down old armor** (the count **has a warehouse**).
- **"Okay. *"We make the frames out of oak and reinforce them with metal inlays," as if creating a new weapon of hope.
Overnight guest
Three days later, the trap went off as if fate had caught up with its victim.
Romulus awoke to rumbling and screaming as if awakened from a nightmare.
He rushed into the office - and he saw:
A masked stranger, pinned to the floor by the knights like a captured demon.
Alicia sitting on a closet and cheering like a victor in a battle (everything around her is smeared with blue paint, like a battlefield).
The Count, holding up the ruined blueprints and laughing like a triumphant man.
- "Congratulations, son. You've **caught a spy," as if you've caught death itself.
The mask came off - underneath it was the face of a royal spy, like a snake shedding its skin.
System Reward
[🎉 **Revolutionary Trap Quest Complete! ** ]
■ Reward:
- **Re-select a class** (24 hours to decide).
- **New skill: "Inventor's Intuition "** (senses a **trick** in blueprints, as if sensing a lie).
Romulus sighed, unburdening himself, and looked at the new options as if at a fork in the road:
■ 1. **Master of Mechanics** (creating **complex devices** like a creator of a new world).
■ 2. **Tactical Genius** (**improving** existing technologies like a strategist leading an army to victory).
■ 3. **???** (hidden, like a mystery waiting to be discovered).
"What's the third way...?"