It is now 18:00. My heart is thumping against my ribs, and I am aggressively clutching my head while staring blankly at the monitor.
The footage is 106 hours long.
Might I remind you that this is 1080p and 60fps footage? How? Don't ask me. Honestly, it feels like a total plot hole by the author of my life.
Just what kind of absurd storage capacity is inside this government USB to hold like 800 GB worth of raw data? It makes absolutely no sense.
I am so cooked. There is no saving me.
Now, on some Spiderman backstory shit, you are probably wondering how I got to this absolute rock bottom. Why am I only studying the footage during the evening? What exactly did I do with my entire morning and afternoon?
So let's begin the epik kath adventa back story.
***
My day was actually really adventurous. I had to use Talk no Jutsu against the Joker from DC for hours straight while getting tortured and watching him commit mass murder. Not to point out the obvious, but Talk no Jutsu failed completely, and he just kept torturing me right to the brink of death.
But that one actually had a good ending. After some days of nonstop Talk no Jutsu and brutal torture, the Joker finally listened to me and became a ninja of the Hidden Leaf. Together, we joined the Jujutsu Sorcerers to fight against some probably average cultivator with long black hair. I think he was called the Great Love Immortal Venerable, or the chair guy. We were all posing up like the Power Rangers, ready to cook this guy.
And then I woke up.
My head slowly turned toward the clock to see it was just three AM. I hadn't eaten any food that day, so I was starving. I made my way toward the kitchen, opened up the freezer, and instantly fell down to my knees.
Why the fuck was the refrigerator filled with raw stuff? I didn't have any particular preference for food and could eat just about anything, but not raw. I didn't know how to cook anything other than my enemies.
I was one hundred percent sure Pain in the Ass had purposely done this despite knowing that I couldn't cook. Back at the facility, he always used to look at me, point his finger, and yell, "You woman, go to the kitchen!" Then he would sprint away before I could actually hit him.
I had no choice but to eat raw vegetables like the GOAT I am.
I wasn't going to bother trying to prepare them with my deadly cooking. No pun intended, my cooking was so genuinely toxic it could food poison even an Ascended. Pita himself was once admitted to the hospital for an entire week because of it. Yes, he is somehow an Ascended.
So, I ate the raw vegetables and went back to sleep. Is that what you thought I would say?
Instead, I went back to my bed, pulled out a smartphone that I had hidden inside my clothes, and started reading romance manga. Pita had actually recommended a specific romance manga for me to read.
Rent-A-Girlfriend.
Because Pita recommended it, I assumed it had to be peak. Surprisingly, he usually had really good taste in manga and only suggested series that were deep, so I was actually looking forward to it.
To say the least, the title was really unique. I expected a deep dive into the psychological struggle of having to rent yourself out, how a person views themselves after being bought, and the emotional hardships of the job.
Pita also told me that the main character was really smart, good-looking, an honorable character, and most of all, absolutely not a simp.
My expectations were sky-high.
...
Pita, I hope you die the worst death possible. You gained my trust just to betray me.
The story was absolute garbage, but I couldn't stop. I read one hundred and fifty chapters just waiting for it to get good. After that, I had no choice but to hate-read the entire thing to completion.
...
...
...
...
My smartphone was violently smashed against the wall the exact second the manga finished. I didn't even want to think about it anymore.
The time was 08:00. I couldn't sleep a single wink all night, so I decided to just sleep the day away until 13:00.
***
That was the whole story. I did not wake up at 13:00, I woke up at 16:45 instead. Then came the usual routine after getting out of bed.
"Hahhh."
I should probably start taking this a little seriously.
I took the remote and opened the 106 hours of footage. I did not watch it yet. Instead, I skipped all the way to the end, which took about ten boring minutes of fast-forwarding.
Alright, so most of it was just him sitting in the library, and the rest was him spending time with the blind girl, Cassie.
Honestly, it was not that much. The video of Kiyotaka fighting Caster was already famous at the facility, and I already knew about his power and his talk with John.
My actual job was to figure out how his mind works, not just look at what he did.
I finally pressed play, ready to face this huge pile of video.
For the next twelve hours, I did not take a single break. I just kept watching, completely hooked. When the footage ended, I sat there for a moment, closed my eyes, and let my mind process everything.
In my mind, it looked like a dark world with nothing around, just a black space where I was falling down. I hit the ground and started walking. Slowly, colors started to show up in the dark.
First clue, we have Sunless and Kiyotaka going to the exact same place. They leave at different times, they also sit together in the cafeteria. Also, Sunless is the shadow Pita warned me about.
I moved past that memory and walked to the next one in the dark.
Kiyotaka was helping Cassie walk by tapping the walls. Pita left a note on the screen saying Cassie went in and out of her door all night long. It is already scary enough that Cassie did not kill herself after going blind from her Flaw, so there is definately something terrifying about her.
Cassie gave a notebook to her worker, Gene, and a note every single day. She has given her seven notes so far. I will definitely steal a look at those later, thank you very much.
What does Kiyotaka want from Cassie? Why is he making her so obsessed with him?
I walked further into the dark to the next video.
A bunch of Sleepers and Legacies are following Kiyotaka. Those Legacies and Caster go to the same spot at different times, and they leave at different times. This only started after their fight.
There is footage of Kiyotaka going into the boys' bathroom alone. A bit later, a Legacy goes inside too. A few minutes pass, and Kiyotaka walks out perfectly fine. But when the Legacy comes out, he is cursing and completely soaked from head to toe.
That same Legacy then goes to the same spot as Caster a few moments later. These guys are using totally different paths to reach the same room, and different paths to leave. The meeting room has no cameras, but the timing matches perfectly when they enter and leave the camera frames.
Then, Kiyotaka faints right in front of Caster on the seventh day, right where Cassie can hear him. Kiyotaka knew the exact minute he would fall. If he actually cared about Cassie, he would never make a blind girl go through that panic. He is definitely trying to make her dependent on him.
A blind man's stick is a popular saying.
Also, John and Kiyotaka are meeting at very strange times, and so are other government workers. Knowing his Aspect, this is a really bad sign.
For a few minutes, I ran the whole video through my head again and again, watching the pieces click.
This is a very deep web.
I opened my eyes, got out of bed, got dressed, and walked out the door toward the academy.
I used my keypad to call Pita.
The line picked up.
"Good morning to you too, Now that your smartphone is out of the play, work properly."
I knew it. He knows that I fake my loud emotions just to try and act human, and he used that to break my phone.
This is his way of saying that by pretending to be what I am not, I present myself to be predictable... Should I fuck him up?
No, I had to talk business. I am not being a pretender right now.
Pita always keeps his phone on speaker when he talks to me because he has never seen how I am in my own head. But now I can play along, making him think this reply is just the personality I chose.
[Mockingbird]
"Oh, Senior, I didn't know you felt that way about me. But I am still just a minor, you shouldn't send me offers to be your rental girlfriend, and please don't ask me for a one-night stand-"
The line went dead. He hung up. He completely deserved it, and I can already picture him panicking on the other end.
But I let my stupid joke get in the way and ruined the call, even though I actually needed to talk about the mission.
He is probably a blushing mess right now, a thirty-three-year-old virgin.
We both know he likes me, but some feelings can never happen. After all, I don't have real emotions to give him.
Because of my past missions, I had to use my body too many times. That is one of the reason I want to quit the government. Even if I can't feel love for anyone, I still want to live for myself.
But I know for a fact, No matter how much I try, I will never be able to leave goverment, I have strength to be a tool but not the power to be free. My ending is a tragedy.
I could possibly use Pita's feeling to get his power and manipulate him to be free of it all...
But, If to become human... The first thing I do is devilish, Can I really call myself one?
Maybe I am better as the villain, My entire life is based on just the mountain of lives I have ruined, I joined one faction destroyed them and used it to go to the higher faction.
Hahhh, stop crying over your sad past, idiot. There are no magical power-ups in your life.
That is my biggest problem. The moment I stop playing the comedian and actually think, my brain overflows with all the bad things that have happened to me.
I closed my eyes for a second.
...
..
.
Nurse kath has reached the academy for her last mission, lets go!
***
I was walking down the stairs, and you already know the routine. It is completely mandatory to say fuck Daniel whenever you use them. Honestly, what is even the point of stairs? We are literally superhumans, so we can jump up and down easily anyway.
I kept walking toward the place I needed to be inside the academy.
Soon, I reached a crossroad. If you go right, you reach the medical wing. If you go left, you reach the library.
Hello, I am Dora the Nurse, can you please tell me my destination?
What? The medical wing? Yes, that is the correct answer. I am a government agent on a super duper secret mission disguised as a nurse, so it is safe for me to act like one.
[Mockingbird]
A large grin appeared on my face.
But that is how losers think.
We are going headfirst into the library. Target, you better be ready, because I am about to rage bait you into having emotions.
After saying that, I turned left at the crossroad and entered the library. There were a few Sleepers inside, but just a few tables away sat the target.
He looked toward me once and then looked back down. Yes, keep looking down, target. You cannot endure my supreme aura.
I walked directly toward him and just stared. Whatever he was studying was really unique.
It was a physical map of the region we are in. Heh. When Caster talked with you, the book you had was Hierarchy of the Clans. I really wanted to see if you would be reading something about being a double agent this time.
He was now staring right back at me.
"Can I help you with something."
I did not reply. I just kept staring at him. His voice was just as monotonous as mine when I do not use my ability.
Finally, I replied.
"Why are you asking me?"
Now, we are going to take a look at how to rage bait someone like a pro. The first step is to be completely illogical. If you are trying to rage bait someone, your mind should already stop working. Why would you waste time being an ass? That is why the first step is to just eat the logic entirely.
"Because... You are standing in front of me and Staring.... at me."
I told you to be illogical, but right at this very moment, you can actually use logic. Why? Because there is absolutely no correlation here.
What he said can be paraphrased like this: You have two apples, I beat you up and ate both of them, so what is the total number of leaves on a tree?
See? No correlation at all.
"Yes, I am standing here, but it does not mean I know why I am standing here. This is really offensive. You are judging me and asking for my motive when I did not even disturb you. Is it because I am a woman?"
"I am only asking.... a question."
"That is exactly what a judge does right before they throw someone in jail, Next thing I know, you will say I am blocking your view of the map."
"The map... is flat on the desk, so you are not blocking it."
"See, You are doing it again, Your entire vibe is completely hostile right now, Go back to school."
I saw him close the map. He shifted his chair to face me, slowly raised his fingers to his lips, curled them, and closed his eyes.
"Guess we are in the same position. I am sitting here and I also do... not know what you are doing. We should ask the opinion of a third party."
Look at him trying to break the rules. You should have enough guts to one V one a woman. Trying to two V one is just cowardly.
But you are in deep trouble, target. I am not just any woman. I am the woman.
I looked toward a random male Sleeper sitting nearby.
"Hey you, reading that hentai manga in the library, get over here. We need your opinion."
There was no librarian in this library to tell me to shut up. Another total plot hole. Still, the other Sleepers were all staring at the kid now as he looked down and slowly dragged himself over to us.
Oh, you poor, horny soul.
I slowly wrapped my hand around him and activated my second and first Aspect.
[Mockingbird] [Blank Canvas]
a sweet smile appeared on my face, and my voice turned completely lovely.
"Who is correct, you little boy?"
The target just sat there, watching me pull off this absolute bullshit.
"Y-you are correct."
That is the second step of rage baiting someone. If they try to involve someone else, you have to make sure that third party sides with you to keep things illogical. For that, you need top-tier looks like mine.
I pushed the kid away. He fell down onto the floor and immediately ran away out of pure humiliation.
Nice. I successfully bullied another kid today.
Kiyotaka looked at the empty doorway, then looked back at me.
"I Guess the mistake was indeed mine. I apologize."
After saying that, he casually started picking up his map and walking out of the library.
Hm. Weird. I gave him so many gaps where he could attack me back, but he just refused to follow through.
I decided I needed to change my attacking pattern just a little bit.
He walked out of the library, and I just followed right behind him. I made sure that our shadows did not align even for a single second.
Suddenly, he took a right turn. I could do nothing but stop dead in my tracks, gritting my teeth in total defeat.
He went inside the men's restroom.
Wow. I cannot even stand outside the door without making the other Sleepers feel incredibly uncomfortable. Plus, I still have to make sure I do not pass through any random shadows while waiting.
Before I walked away, I made sure to shout some parting words through the door.
"If you decide the place, I can help you hide there once Winter Solstice comes."
After saying that, I finally turned around and left.
Result of this battle: I was the one who got rage baited.
Awwwww dang it.
***
I was now standing in front of the staff room. I did not bother knocking normally, I just said it out loud.
"Knock knock."
Soon after, the door opened. This guy... You were supposed to say who is there.
The person who opened the door was John, and accompanying him was Cassie's social worker, Gene. I had asked Pita before leaving the flat to get both of them into the staff room and absolutely anyone else out.
John seemed to be pretty good at keeping his emotions in check, while Gene was already sweating buckets.
"I got to know you were coming, It is my honor to meet you."
Hmm. John... According to the footage I saw, this guy has a silver tongue. He knows exactly when to attack and when to pull away. He is a total opportunist.
I did not reply and just walked straight inside. I had to lock in for this one.
They locked the door behind me as I looked around the room. There were computers everywhere, an AC unit running, and some lockers for the staff members to use. There was also a sofa to sit on and a clock hanging on the wall. Honestly, I really cannot find the reason for these guys and their obsession with the color white.
I looked toward Gene. According to the footage, she is usually rather open about what is on her mind, but currently, she seemed to be completely on edge.
I won't even need Mockingbird for this.
They were waiting for me to reply, just standing there awkwardly. Carelessly, I took out my keypad and called Pita. A moment later, the line picked up.
"Are you still embarrassed?"
I could practically see the immense surprise on the faces of the two in front of me. I called them all the way here just to ignore them and make a phone call. Heh. It must be so humiliating for them.
"You have no idea what words I am being called here."
Wow... I almost gave a fuck.
"Let's leave the past in the past and talk about the present, I have a way to make the target trust us."
I could hear our other coworkers laughing at Pita in the background. He deserved every single bit of it for making me read whatever the hell that manga was.
"Kath, the first way to make the target trust us is to not call him a target in the first place."
Wow. Absolutely no correlation at all.
"Teaching the expert, are we? Target is target, and eventually, I will throw darts at him."
My eyes moved back toward John and Gene. They were still standing there, frozen.
I heard a heavy sigh coming through the phone.
"You wouldn't call me just to rage bait me, What do you need a suggestion with?"
But... I literally called you just to rage bait you. After my rage bait failed so miserably on the actual target in the library, I had to rage bait someone else just to gain my supreme aura back. So right now, I am rage baiting you, John, and Gene all at the same time.
"So my plan to make the target trust us... Is to not have a plan at all."
Yes. My plan was completely flawless. How are you supposed to predict a completely incompetent government agent?
"I see... Actually, I had the same plan. My studies of him have shown that the smarter someone is, the easier it becomes for him to predict their movements and patterns because they strictly follow logic. If what I think you are going to do is what you are actually going to do, there are high chances of us securing him before any of the Great Clans do."
Can I really never get away from this guy's predictions? I seriously hate him and his Aspect.
I cut the phone call off, completely pissed for being looked through yet again. He probably did that on purpose just to get revenge on me.
Result of this sub-battle: I got rage baited again instead of rage baiting the other party.
Finally, I addressed the elephant in the room.
"So, John, I would like to know who you are allying yourself with. You don't actually think that you can play double agent on both Kiyotaka and our side and just reap the fruits of whichever party wins, right?"
John, the question might seem like I am giving you an option, but there really isn't one here. You either join us, or you will be permanently silenced. I highly hope you know which side to choose.
John went completely silent for a full minute. I kept staring directly at him to let the pressure build in the room.
"I... Join the government."
I walked past him and casually placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Don't think just because there is corruption within it that we are not watching everything. Soon, we will get rid of the corruption and the people who took advantage of us altogether."
After saying that, I kept walking past him and moved straight toward Gene.
Hehe. I must have looked really badass saying that line.
"Social worker Gene, I wish to see the notebook and the notes given to you by Cassie."
I saw her entire posture straighten up instantly as she began to look down, completely refusing to look me in the eyes.
I approached much closer to her. I grabbed her chin like the smooth Romeo that I am, forcing her to look up while running my other hand down her cheek. The warmth left my touch instantly. I took my hand off her face, gripped one side of her shoulder, and rested my head right against it. My lips were dangerously close to her ear as I whispered.
"Dear, you are really not going to choose a blind girl over your younger sister, are you? Trust me, I will personally make sure she doesn't escape the Clan if you refuse to comply. Or, I might just tell you how you can get her out of there safely."
The government is weak in front of the Great Clans, and that is the sole reason parasites like these two even dare to join a government facility without actually working for them.
"Gene, my girl, let me tell you something honestly. You are going to die in your Second Nightmare. You are simply too weak to clear it. This is not the time to do good deeds for total strangers. Look after your own family's future while you still can. I am giving you a hand here, so take it."
Welp, something was wrong. After a threat like that, she should have started crying her bowels out, but she was just shaking violently in place.
I stepped away from her and stood by the lockers, leaning my back against the metal surface.
"You don't actually think you have enough time to think everything through, right? Either choose your sister or Cassie right here, right now."
While saying that, I took my keypad and dialed Pita yet again. He picked up instantly.
Good boy.
"Guess the social worker doesn't love her si-"
She saw me actively calling the government right in front of her eyes, and she finally broke.
"Please... Stop. I will give them to you."
Pita's voice came through the phone too.
"Yes, stop calling me every hour too, or I will give your private number to Morgan of Va-"
Lalalalalala, can't hear you. I cut off the call again.
Gene stood there trembling for a while, looking down at the floor, until she slowly walked into the bathroom. She came back out holding the notebook and the loose notes.
I took them from her hands and started reading the notes one by one, saving the notebook for last.
...
..
.
Uh. Looking into the future and predicting your own actions? Cassie does not seem to be working with the target at all. In fact, she is actively working against him. I will leave her alone. She probably has whatever trouble she is in fully under control. This batch of sleepers is filled with freaks, geez.
I handed the items straight back to Gene and started leaving the staff room. Before crossing the threshold, I made sure to leave some parting words.
"The way for you to save your sister is Cassie. She is way more than what meets the surface. Help her, and ask for her help for your sister once she comes back from the dream realm."
Cassie... She really does not seem to be the type of girl who will die easily.
With that, I left the staff room.
***
Woah. A nurse is finally going to the medical wing after wasting her entire day in the library and the staff room. What an absolute loser.
I walked through the long corridors until I finally reached the medical wing, and would you look at that. We have the target himself standing right outside of it, seemingly waiting for me.
He looked toward me and gave a slight nod.
The conversation we had in the library was not just a simple rage bait attempt, actually. It was my genuine attempt to understand his character on a much deeper level. I am not as naturally smart as Pita, who can just look through someone's entire soul through a piece of security footage, nor do I really understand human emotions anymore.
The footage showed his actions to be highly based on strict logic, so my attempt at rage baiting him was a controlled study. If he had just acted logically, it would fit the standard picture I had of him.
But instead, he actively attempted humor, even if it was completely shit. The weird pauses between his words, and the fact that he chose to run into the restroom instead of calling an authority figure to handle me, proved something else entirely.
Heh. You are still just a newbie.
I reached him and gave him my normal greetings.
"So you have finally made up your mind, target."
I did not give him a single chance to reply. There were not any facial changes to study on his blank expression anyway.
I opened the door to the medical wing, but instead of walking through, I stood directly between him and the entryway, completely blocking his path.
He tilted his head slightly, signaling silently to ask why I was not letting him inside.
Haha. Perfect.
[Mockingbird]
Instantly, my face shifted. It became completely filled with pure disgust and deep anger as I glared right into his empty eyes.
"You motherfucker. You already harassed me enough two days ago, so why the hell are you coming back here during my official working hours?!"
The moment the loud words left my mouth, I grabbed the handle and slammed the door right in his face.
I locked it from the inside, turned around, and casually walked over to the window. I opened it wide, leaning against the frame while peacefully looking at the birds and butterflies flying around outside.
Wow. This is so satisfying.
I really wanna know what he is thinking right now.
***
It was night now, 22:00 to be exact. I had not left the medical wing yet, just sitting alone in the dark and thinking about exactly where my life went wrong. I kept the medical wing door locked for the time being.
Eventually, I walked past all the s corridors and reached the main exit of the academy, but I just sat down right on the stairs that go up instead of heading back to my flat.
Today is the ninth day. I have to be stuck in this academy for the next nineteen days. Welp, not that I am complaining. This is honestly way more peaceful and far less exhausting than the regular missions I usually do. Those usually go on for more than a year at times.
So, a mission where I can just sit around and look out the window is far more appreciated. I can also sleep for hours straight instead of having to stay awake for days on end.
Step.
Guess he is finally here.
In front of me came the target I had been waiting for all evening. It was time for me to finally confront him.
I was here disguised as a nurse, so the correct way to approach this mission would have been to act like a real one. Take patients, act respectfully, and do my job. But that is exactly what comes under the category of being logical.
According to Pita, if you use standard logic in front of this guy, you just make yourself entirely predictable.
I stood up from the stairs and looked down at him from the top.
"Follow me."
I really wanted to give a really cool, cinematic dialogue line right there, but I could not find any good ones in my brain. I will just imagine in my own head that I said something deeply philosophical.
He did not say a single word back, he just followed quietly behind me as we went past the stairs and out into the outer world. There were buildings all around with good-looking architecture, but that is only show around the academy grounds.
Everything here is just for show. In reality, just a single kilometer away, things start to become completely barren, filled with broken houses and uneven dirt roads everywhere. We truly live in a dystopia.
We walked in silence for a few long moments.
"They say once the Nightmare Spell infects you, your fate is sealed, You either become the god who reaches the skies, or you become the stairs that others step on to get there, The lucky ones achieve every single thing they ever dreamed of, while the unlucky ones just become the fuel burned to build the path."
I stopped dead in my tracks and spun around on my heel, making sure my hair flew up perfectly in the air. I am a tragic heroine for real.
"I like to call a person's lifetime goal their final destination, Because as long as you are still traveling toward your destination, life still has meaning and things to look forward to, But the exact moment you reach it, the momentum dies, You no longer live, you just breathe blindly without a single purpose left, That is a death sentence for people like us, whose paths are paved with corpses upon corpses of others, The only way creatures like us can feel alive is through tears."
I turned my eyes directly toward the target to see if my speech hit his soul.
"The road leading to that destination is what I call the story, and the final chapter."
He was just following a few steps behind me with his usual monotonous face. It made me wonder what really goes on behind that empty mind of his. Suddenly, he actually spoke up.
"And what about your own story, Have you done anything to reach your final destination?"
Hmmm. Welp. He caught me a bit off guard with that one.
[Mockingbird]
Small bits of laughter escaped my lips.
"Didn't I tell you, There are some who are meant to reach the skies, and others who are destined to become the stairs for them, I absolutely despise walking up and down those steps because every single motion reminds me that my own back is just a stair for someone else's feet."
This target can easily see through people, so I cannot hide anything real from him. The only way to make him truly trust us is to not hide anything at all.
"Well to answer you... my final destination, hah... I want to gain enough power that I somehow break the cycle and become completely different from the stairs."
[Mockingbird]
Now there was a massive, bright smile pasted across my face.
He can no longer feign ignorance about me being an agent. I have made the reality of the situation way too obvious for him to ignore.
"You know, sometimes human beings just want a single witness to listen, Someone to assure them that their existence actually matters before they turn to dust, I want you to completely forget that I am an agent sent here to steal your trust, Strip away the lies and tell me your real story, tell me your final destination, If your path requires it, I don't mind playing the role of the stairs to lift you up."
I could feel a dramatic glint coming out of my eyes. That absolutely had to look cool as well as deeply philosophical. I totally looked like a female main character from a tragic anime. I will eat your pancreas, target.
The target just stood there, looking incredibly scary while staring me dead in the eyes without saying a single word back. I can almost see his brain debating if he should just kill me right here or not.
Shiver me timbers lilbro.
"Oh, I see, The silence of suspicion, You don't trust a single word coming out of my mouth, do you? Luckily for you, I know the perfect method to instantly build trust."
I said the words out loud as I opened my left palm and slammed it with my right fist.
[Mockingbird]
"Trust is bought by trading secrets, Wooo, Imma tell you a massive secret."
Slowly, the fake expression on my face began to completely fade away, letting the pressure drop into the air to suffocate him with my aura. He just stared back at me without saying anything.
He is probably debating what his next move should be. I am doing exactly what a trained agent would never do, after all. I am actively exposing classified intelligence to a potential threat.
"The government is fully aware that you purposely failed the test and designed a flawless trap to keep me anchored here, But you made one fatal mistake, Kiyotaka, You assumed a loyal tool could never manipulate the corrupted officials to keep the entire board under control."
Now show me, Kiyotaka, what will be your reaction to that. I have completely exposed the upper hand I had on you. This can basically be considered treason. Show me what your next move is.
Still just staring at me, are we? Alright, fine, here is a deeply personal secret instead.
"Tell me, target, have you ever performed a lie so perfectly that you deceived your own reflection? Because I do it every second, In reality, my chest is just an empty cavity, You see me acting bubbly? Fake, Disgusted? Fake, I even do this in my own mind, playing the comedian and giving myself fake hopes of a last mission just to mimic a human being, because the truth is, I exist without emotions."
Flaw: [Blank Slate]
Description: [You are emotionless.]
Finally, a real reaction. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second before immediately becoming normal again as he let out a quiet sigh.
"That is an interesting Flaw, We seem to be similar yet polar opposites, I guess I have no choice but to answer you."
He started looking up at the dark sky for a brief second and then slowly closed his eyes.
"A story that acts as a guide to my final destination, Yes... My life has been a story for others to analyze for as long as I can remember... A page of white data, you could say, But that is all you are going to get from me, I do not wish for anyone, no matter who they are, to read my story.... As for my final destination... I intend to uncover every single secret hidden by the Spell, and then vanish far away from everyone to live a completely normal life."
White data. That is an incredibly interesting choice of words.
He definitely does not seem to be from the rough streets based on his physical build, but there is not a single document about his existence anywhere in the database, and there is no way for me to know if what he just said is correct or not.
"That is a tough final destination you are crawling towards."
His final destination is to just be away from any conflict and live a quiet, normal life. And he is certainly not the first person who has told me they wanted to uncover what the Spell hides. There have been many before him. All of them also ended up dead.
But there is a fatal flaw regarding his idea of a normal life.
"But... tell me something, Do you even know what a normal life actually means? Because according to me, you are already living one right now."
He stopped talking entirely and just looked down at the ground, perhaps trying to process the what I just said to him. I see. He is walking down a very dark road.
"So you really do not know, huh, You are walking blindly through the fog, Your final destination is completely flawed because you have already achieved the normal baseline of a Sleeper, That is all you are getting from me tonight, unless you have the courage to ask me to break it down."
I began to casually turn around after saying that, preparing to walk away. Just then, I heard his flat voice cut through the night.
"Explain what is so flawed about it."
Wow what a cold voice that is.
I turned back slightly, casually flapping my hand around in the air.
"When a monster who kills for a living suddenly drops his sword, he isn't living normally, he is actually living an abnormal life, In the same way, when a wealthy man forces himself to eat dirt, the dirt doesn't make him a peasant, it just makes him a lunatic, Normal life is defined by the baseline of what we are, If you suddenly run away from the conflict to force yourself into a quiet room, that isn't normal for you, but rather completely abnormal."
After saying that, we just walked around the barren area for a bit, just exchanging small talk at times but moving silently most of the time.
This mission is getting incredibly tricky.
***
We reached the academy again. The target began walking down the dark stairs while I remained standing right at the very top, frozen under the moonlight. It was midnight now.
He walked down and down into the shadows, until I suddenly called out to stop him.
"Target, Currently you are on the eleventh step, and this entire staircase has a total of twenty-one steps, That means you are standing exactly halfway through, Now I have a single question for you."
He stopped dead in his tracks right in the dead center of the twenty-one stairs, spinning around slowly to look all the way up toward me.
Time for me to be deeply philosophical again.
"If you choose to take ten steps down, you are choosing to stand against me, and you are willingly entering hell, But if you choose to turn around and come ten steps back up, we will walk the entire night together and explore this city, That will be our heaven, Tell me, target, which steps are you taking?"
Now tell me the absolute truth. This is the very first day we have actually spoken to each other with total honesty, so I expect nothing less than an honest answer from you right now. Tell me which side you choose.
Are you with me, or are you against me?
He stood there completely motionless in the dark for what felt like an eternity, before his boots finally struck the stone.
Step. Step. Step.
...
I wonder, if I were placed in his exact position, would I even have the courage to make the same decision as him? It takes an immense amount of guts to go against everything you have carefully set up just to take these steps.
Step. Step. Step.
No, if it were me, I simply would not have been able to do it. Even without any real emotions left inside me, I still try to force myself to be human with my own mind just to feel a fraction of whata I once was, even though I cannot actually feel any real emotions at all.
Step. Step. Step.
This is going to be a catastrophically hard mission.
He took his final step.
Step.
The result of his choice was the descent into the darkness. He reached the bottom, looked back up at me one single time through the shadows, and turned to walk straight into the academy.
I watched his silhouette fade.
[Mockingbird]
A small smile appearing on my face because I knew I couldn't have done it.
In reality, the puzzle was completely inverted. If the target had actually turned around and walked up the stairs toward me, it would have meant he chose hell, because he would be lying to my face just to make me drop my guard. That would be a manipulative, dishonest decision, and in a true heaven, even a single drop of deception instantly throws you headfirst into the abyss. So the top of the stairs, the place where I am currently standing, was the real hell.
But he was completely, brutally honest about wanting to protect his own freedom, choosing to walk straight down into the dark without a single drop of fake compliance or cheap manipulation.
That terrifying honesty while walking down into the dark... that baseline truth is what actually defines heaven.
I turned around and finally started heading back to the flat.
There is real hope to win his trust after all.
***
How was this chapter?
One last chapter before volume 2.
Peace.