Anna Croft

> A person must bear a burden as weighty as the future she sees, you know.
>
> Chapter 368

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**Anna Croft** is an American incarnation who leads the organization Zarathustra. She was the only person with the attribute of "prophet" in Ways of Survival and became Yoo Joonghyuk's archrival in the second half of the novel.

## Appearance

Anna Croft is a short, dazzling woman with neatly arranged blonde hair and foreign features. She has thin lips and an elegantly shaped nose. Her voice is described as relaxed and containing an "immeasurable depth". She has a beautiful, yet sometimes strange, smile. Anna Croft's general demeanor is calm: from her face and voice to her characteristically serene gaze. Her eyes are deep and mysterious. Kim Dokja calls her appearance in the Gourmet Association "dignified".

Anna Croft's left eye is an implant (The Great Demon's Eye) that she received in the early scenarios. It is said to contain an "ominous red swirl" as if to "ridicule everything in this world". The Great Demon's Eye glows yellow and is capable of spinning and emitting a "fierce pressure". However, it appears to glow red when Future Sight is activated. In the Great War of Constellations and Demons, she gains a prominent scar around her eye, presumably from constellations forcibly trying to remove it.

## Personality

Anna Croft is introduced as a formidable antagonist and the only woman in Ways of Survival who tried to "design the future of the world". Furthermore, she was originally described as one of the strongest incarnations along with Yoo Joonghyuk, and had skills that were uniquely suited to oppose him. She thus played the role of his nemesis and (likely) his narrative foil in Ways of Survival.

Anna Croft hates all constellations and vowed to use their power against them. Like Yoo Joonghyuk, she desperately wishes for a world in which humanity is free from their rule. Thus, she wants to change "the master" of Star Stream. Her end, The Perfect Night, indicates the complete absence of starlight and the ensuing liberty of mankind in darkness. Concerned with the survival of the absolute majority, her cause is built on "a foundation of righteousness", arguably making her "humanity's hero".

Despite these noble goals, Kim Dokja calls her thoughts "disturbing". What makes Anna Croft dangerous are not her lofty ideals, but her single-minded and unyielding pursuit of them. Well aware that not everyone can be convinced, she is a staunch realist and will do anything necessary to save the world and the human race.  Not only does she judge people by whether they will hinder or help her achieve that goal, she also has no qualms sacrificing others for the greater good. When faced with a dilemma, Anna Croft is therefore quick to cut her losses. Kim Dokja describes her as a "more brutal woman than anyone else", her actions surpassing even the "cruelty of constellations".

As the most competent incarnation in Ways of Survival, she is shrewd, efficient and always well-prepared. Though seemingly willing to take huge risks, Anna Croft is actually highly strategic and cautious, capable of predicting outcomes even without Future Sight by relying on the information she gathered. Furthermore, she is a very suspicious person. She never seems to fully trust anyone, even betraying companions in favor of gaining absolute control over them. She will omit important information when talking to allies; is described to lie and deceive. Anna Croft never makes a losing bet and will lay traps to ensure this.

Nonetheless, she is described to feel "strangely alone" after betraying Selena Kim in the 46th scenario, indicating that she is not without conscience. She protects her own people even when she puts them in danger and though seemingly cold-blooded, she saved her enemies Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk. Despite everything, Anna Croft ultimately remains an incarnation of the "Absolute Good". It should be noted also that even by the epilogue, Selena Kim chooses to stay by her side, implying that Anna Croft might have other facets as well.

Constantly preoccupied with gaining certainty over future outcomes, she often grows overconfident in her predictions, leading to her characteristic calmness. This is reflected by her measured speech, as she never really talks for the sake of it. Consequently, she appears serious and reserved. Anna Croft is also depicted as a skilled sophist, who will appeal to reason and presumed commonalities to gain other people's trust, even going so far as to play the devil's advocate. In situations where she has the upper hand, she taunts her opponents, not hesitating to provoke them with veiled threats. Her public speaking skills are excellent.

Anna Croft generally struggles to cope with her feelings, despite anticipating them well in advance. She is well aware that the knowledge of a future outcome is more often than not a burden. Nonetheless, unknown variables are her worst nightmare. Anna Croft is very bad at spontaneously adapting her plans to unforeseen changes and gets easily flustered when proven wrong. She has a horrible poker face and grows visibly panicked, dumbfounded or enraged when put on the spot. Upon being temporarily abandoned by her nebula and left to fend for herself, she fully lost her composure, even "growling like a beast" when cornered. Nonetheless, she is significantly more mentally resilient than the average incarnation, having managed to shoulder the knowledge of all the failed worldlines alongside Yoo Joonghyuk for at least 1000 regressions in Ways of Survival.

But no matter how level-headed she usually is, Anna Croft is ultimately still human. She is shown to be spiteful, to make mistakes out of pride, and to face enemies with rage, contempt and suspicion. When she is annoyed and not much is at stake, she will bluntly state her problem. Similarly, there are multiple instances of her seeming desperate or full of passion about her cause. Her prophetic abilities make her seem aloof at times, but she demonstrates a wide range of human emotions throughout ORV.

Also, it is strongly implied that Kim Dokja's prejudice towards Anna Croft skewed his perception of her significantly. Therefore, it is unclear to which degree his assertions about her personality can be trusted.

## History

Prior to the beginning of the scenarios, Anna Croft was a talented gambler known as the "Prophet of Las Vegas." Since the early scenarios exclusively take place in capital cities, it is strongly implied that Anna Croft was in Washington D.C. when the scenarios began. The circumstances of her first scenario and sponsorship contract are unknown. Similarly, there is little information about Zarathustra, beyond the fact that she originally established it to change the world.

In Yoo Joonghyuk's zeroth round, Anna Croft was his ally.

In his second round, she was his companion. However, Anna Croft betrayed him, causing him to fail the 46th scenario and lose everything he had. She then enslaved him until his death. According to her, this appeared to be the best course of action for reaching the end she wanted. However, it is unknown which scenario she managed to reach in the second regression before dying.

Few things are known about her actions in the following turns. In the original third round, she received the Grand Prize at the Duet Between Good and Evil, and later participated in the Giant Story Scenario Ragnarok in lieu of the Great War of Constellations and Demons. Furthermore, she did not stage the "Bracelet Expedition" scenario during the Gourmet Association, but hosted a similar event called "Hunting and Chasing" at a later point in time. In an unspecified regression, she discovered and exploited a bug in the 1.3 version of the Story Fusion Box, leading its sale to be discontinued.

According to Yoo Joonghyuk, she inherited not only the memories, but also the desires of the previous round. Anna Croft would continue to kill and backstab him more than ten times throughout his future regressions. By the 700th turn, she and Yoo Joonghyuk started changing as both grew progressively weaker under the weight of their memories. At some point after the 1000th regression, she decided to abandon Yoo Joonghyuk and give up her memories.

## Synopsis

Anna Croft has a short conversation with Kim Dokja in Main Scenario 3, after the latter swallows a Specter Stone and begins to hallucinate.

She has already started to contact the strongest Incarnations in the world by Main Scenario 6, including Nirvana Moebius, who failed to penetrate her mental barrier.

She and Kim Dokja meet in person for the first time after he enters her carriage on the way to Oro Castle; they both have been invited to dine with the Gourmet Association, as have Anna Croft's allies Selena Kim and Iris Vladimirovna Rebezova. Once there, she hosts the first main event of the gathering.

In Olympus, prior to the 60th scenario, Gigantomachia, she is tricked by Han Sooyoung into bidding three million coins on the Old to New Toad, an item Kim Dokja had donated to the auction house, but is unable to pay the prohibitively high price. Instead, she pays him a penalty of 500,000 coins without receiving the item. Afterwards, she proposes a bet, which she loses, and has to give Kim Dokja another 500,000 coins; however, she is satisfied with this turn of events, as he has to use a skill to win and is sent to Olympus's prison for disturbing the legal zone, which would have prevented him from participating in Gigantomachia if he hadn't made a deal with Hades and Persephone. She was unaware that the opportunity to meet the two had been his goal from the very beginning.

She and at least ten other party members would go on to participate in Gigantomachia. During the scenario, she sells Kim Dokja the item King Lycomedes' Leather Gloves for 800,000 coins.

Despite presumably being invited, she does not attend the Duet Between Good and Evil, leaving Selena Kim to receive the Top Excellence Award on behalf of Zarathustra.

Because Kim Dokja's interference prevented the achievements she would have made in the original timeline, Anna Croft's nebula decides she is no longer useful and abandons her to participate alone in the Great War of Constellations and Demons. While wounded and hiding in the pile of corpses left behind by the Constellation Michael on Reincarnation Island, she is called out by Kim Dokja, who forcibly heals her with a [Great Return Pill] and then offers to help her earn a Myth-grade Story in the scenario.

Her plan also entails transporting all surviving incarnations to a different, safe worldline with the ark's power.

TBD

## Abilities

### Personal Attributes

* **Prophet (Legend):** The only attribute in Ways of Survival that allows its user to see the future and nullifies all detection skills.
* **Savior (Legend)**
* **Elixir Maker:** Grants Anna Croft's blood the same medicinal effects as all the elixirs she consumed thus far. Feeding a large quantity of blood to a being with a lower status than her will place them under her control.

### Personal Skills

* **Future Sight/Precognition:** A skill that allows Anna Croft to view the short-term future. It does not allow her to see anything beyond the current worldline. She is unable to perceive the futures associated with Kim Dokja, but grows capable of catching glimpses of them "past an indistinct, faint wall" after he consumes the Fruit of Good and Evil. The presence of Corruption appears to impede the skill as well by introducing "noise". Future Sight triggers dizziness and a short headache. Repeated activations within the same day put a huge strain on the user's body and it is implied that there is a daily limit. The outcome of Future Sight does not change easily. In Ways of Survival, she is the only character with this ability.
* **Past Sight/Retrocognition:** Allows Anna Croft to regain a small portion of memories from the previous regression turns.
* **Insight**
* **Clairvoyance**
* **Advanced Magic Training**
* **Mental Barrier**
* **Lie Detection**
* **Great Demon's Eyes**
* **Covert Operations:** Implied to conceal its user from a target when they are a certain distance away.
* **Physical Sword Aura:** Unleashes "several strands of powerful energy from the tip of her shortsword like clockwork".
* **Voice Projection**
* **Phantom Barrier:** Appears to conjure a barrier of darkness between herself and the target. Anna Croft's specialty, apparently.
* **Way of the Storm Winds:** Movement skill that allows its user to fly at high speeds.

### Sponsor: Asgard

Rather than being sponsored by just one constellation, Anna Croft is sponsored by the entirety of the <Asgard> nebula. Any stigmas or other abilities granted to her through their contract are unknown. Unlike Yoo Sangah, she did not receive multiple stigmas by different constellations in Ways of Survival.

## Items

* **The Great Demon's Eye:** Originally belonging to a Wenny Man, the eye grants its user the ability to ignore spatial constraints and enter, in other words interfere with, people's minds and dreams. Furthermore, it displays a target's personal information. The eye has to be implanted with the power of an ichthyosaur's core (it is unknown whether a different monster's core would have sufficed). It was originally distributed via the Dokkaebi Bag for one million coins and sold out after the first scenario. Anna Croft received it from her sponsor and proceeded to "grow and destroy the beginner scenarios". Kim Dokja speculates that a Wenny Man originally informed Anna Croft about the powers of the Great Demon's Eye.
* **A Manticore's Teeth/Scales of an Ancient Dragon/Old Yeti's Leather:** Rare material item, identified through Future Sight and purchased by Anna Croft at the 8611th Constellation Auction to build a Giant Soldier for Gigantomachia.
* **King Lycomedes' Leather Gloves:** Another item Anna Croft purchased at the auction house. She initially refuses to give them to Kim Dokja and has to be persuaded to sell them by Selena Kim.
* **Old to New Toad:** A Star Relic in the shape of a toad that will repeat the catchphrase "I'll give a new house for an old house". It has a legendary story that allows it to replace old items with new ones of the same rating. Furthermore, it can exchange broken items with identical, new ones if a sacrifice is availble. Initially priced at 500.000 coins, Anna Croft tries to purchase it at the Constellation auction after verifying its value with Future Sight, but is tricked into bidding 3 million coins by Yoo Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung. The item is usually only available in late scenarios.

## Relationships

### Yoo Joonghyuk

Anna Croft is careful enough to avoid most direct confrontations with Yoo Joonghyuk, opting to send her companions in her stead.

TBD

### Kim Dokja

Kim Dokja hates Anna Croft for repeatedly betraying Yoo Joonghyuk and sacrificing her companions. Nonetheless, his understanding of her is very low. Despite acknowledging her intelligence and skill, he'll go out of his way to humiliate and "bully" her, even when requiring her help. Conversely, Anna Croft is very wary of Kim Dokja, as she can't read his future and he has the habit of crossing her plans in completely unpredictable ways. While initially somewhat formal around him, she quickly grows to resent him for his attitude and behavior to the point of losing her composure.

Anna Croft's and Kim Dokja's goals are fundamentally at odds with each other. While the former seeks to save mankind at all costs, Kim Dokja has no interest in anyone's well-being besides his companions'. His callous worldview is deeply disturbing to her, though she tries to appeal to his humanity until the very end. To her, a single man's desire to see the end of the world cannot be prioritized over the fate of the human race. Therefore, his decision to identify as a constellation over a regular human being shocks her greatly.

Despite their different ideologies and Kim Dokja's pre-existing grudge, they work well together. Both make notable exceptions for each other: Kim Dokja unexpectedly finds himself caring about Anna Croft's survival and well-being, while the latter saves the former's life and even offers to spare him in her perfect ending. After Kim Dokja consumes the Fruit of Good and Evil, he starts reflecting on their relationship and grows more open to the idea that he misjudged her. It is implied that his willingness to reconsider her character "softened" his mental barrier which finally allowed her to read parts of his future. Nonetheless, Kim Dokja remains suspicious of her intentions throughout the entire novel.

## Quotes

* Why…why can't I see anything…?
* I believe in you, Yoo Joonghyuk.
* This is fun. I never thought the Supreme King would be here.
* Yoo Joonghyuk, please become my ally.
* Yoo Joonghyuk, I won't be transferring the memories of everything that happened so far to the next turn. I can't do this anymore. I'm not like you. I can't keep fighting on while carrying all this burden. From here on, you'll be alone. Are you confident of carrying the burdens of everything?
* Looks like you'll be left alone again, Yoo Joonghyuk.
* Not one constellation can be left alive. Even if that includes you.

## Trivia

* Besides Kim Dokja, she is the only character whose mental barrier is strong enough to resist Nirvana's Thought Infection.
* Besides Kim Dokja, she is the only character to block Sage's Eye.
* According to Star Stream commentators "no one can beat Anna Croft when it comes to information".
* In Kim Dokja's opinion, Jang Hayoung would fair better in a one-on-one fight than her.
* She is an excellent fighter.
* Her weapon of choice appears to be a (short)sword.
* Anna Croft is the greatest incarnation in America and reputedly never loses a tactical battle.
* She has the tendency to refer to people by their titles or constellation monikers, rather than their real names.
* In Ways of Survival, she betrayed Yoo Joonghyuk over ten times.
* She is implied to have decent medical skills and knowledge of medicinal herbs.
* On the drive back from the Gourmet Association, she quarreled so badly with Kim Dokja that he had to be reseated.
* It is implied that "Anna Croft's Zarathustra" might still be active in the 1863rd round by the time Kim Dokja leaves.
* She successfully avoided detection by Eye of the Archangel.
* Yoo Joonghyuk can sense her aura.
* She gets annoyed when Kim Dokja uses impolite speech with her.
* It is likely that the name of her organization is a reference to Friedrich Nietzsche's book "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".
* By the final scenario, her status is roughly at the level of a strong narrative-grade constellation.
* While Kim Dokja's Company performed the group regression, Anna Croft was the strongest remaining incarnation in the 1864th worldline.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 497
2. ↑ Chapter 11
3. ↑ Chapter 364
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 ORV Novel Chapter 32 (read original)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 ORV Novel Chapter 390 (read original)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 ORV Novel Chapter 236 (read original)
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 ORV Novel Chapter 237 (read original)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 ORV Novel Chapter 320 (read original)
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 ORV Novel Chapter 239 (read original)
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 ORV Novel Chapter 497 (read original)
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 ORV Novel Chapter 14 (read original)
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 ORV Novel Chapter 36 (read original)
13. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 256 (read original)
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 ORV Novel Chapter 318 (read original)
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 ORV Novel Chapter 366 (read original)
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 ORV Novel Chapter 364 (read original)
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 ORV Novel Chapter 504 (read original)
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 ORV Novel Chapter 368 (read original)
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Chapter 137
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 ORV Novel Chapter 240 (read original)
21. ↑ Chapter 240
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 ORV Novel Chapter 319 (read original)
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 ORV Novel Chapter 246 (read original)
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Chapter 239
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 ORV Novel Chapter 137 (read original)
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 ORV Novel Chapter 241 (read original)
27. ↑ Chapter 246
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 ORV Novel Chapter 367 (read original)
29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 ORV Novel Chapter 391 (read original)
30. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 238 (read original)
31. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 291 (read original)
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 ORV Novel Chapter 365 (read original)
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Chapter 319
34. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 409 (read original)
35. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 524 (read original)
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 Chapter 310
37. ↑ Chapter 148
38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Chapter 350
39. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 257 (read original)
40. ↑ Chapter 237
41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Chapter 32
42. ↑ Chapter 236
43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Chapter 318
44. ↑ Chapter 320
45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Chapter 337
46. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 11 (read original)
47. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 38 (read original)
48. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 499 (read original)
49. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 87 (read original)
50. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 191 (read original)
51. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 336 (read original)
52. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 148 (read original)
53. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 423 (read original)
54. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 415 (read original)
55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 ORV Novel Chapter 208 (read original)
56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 ORV Novel Chapter 493 (read original)
57. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 298 (read original)
58. ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 544 (read original)