ã€ŠCitrix&#x2019;s log: a hunter&#x2019;s lifeã€‹


 Log 1

    <hr>

    [Log 1: Recording started]

    [Time to homeworld: 14:29:40]

    All I could see is white, that is, until the bright light started to dull. At the corner of my vision, a somewhat holographic bar was floating idly, except it wasn¡¯t entirely for nothing as it showed the time native to wherever I was.

    The blinding light softened as I blinked. My pupils narrowed itself and focused on my surroundings, giving me some clue as to where I was.

    Am I in the hospital?

    The thought crossed my mind as I saw two surgeons looking down at me. There was a large, white canister not far from me, with a tube plugged into the output. I watched my heart beat rhythmically in my bare chest.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    The sight of a red lump, currently beating, made it disgusting to watch. There were big, red and fat coronary arteries which could be seen with the naked eye if one focused enough. The beating heart rose and fell as it underwent its systolic and diastolic processes, occasionslly its rhythm would get faster as I breathed heavier. It was the kind of sight where a mad scientist would want to see, but outright horrifying for anyone else with a sane mind.

    I opened my mouth to scream in horror, but a tiny squeak was all that came. The surgeons who were staring at me turned the taps located on the sides of the operating table which was presumably for injecting anaesthesia into my mask which I finally noticed am wearing. I tried moving my limbs, but all I got in response was a weak shudder through my body. My eyelids grew heavier by the second until there was only a sliver of light seeping through. Still, I struggled to keep awake until I was eventually forced to succumb to the feeling, the feeling of drowsiness and loneliness, when a voice sounded in my head just before the last vestige of consciousness disappeared.

    "Sleep, my host, for you shall emerge far stronger than before."

    [Active Log: End]

    [Log 1: End]

 Log 2

    [Log 2: Recording started]

    [Time to homeworld: 04:00:00]

    Numbness flooded my consciousness.The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the metallic ceiling of a dark room. The bed I''m on was soft enough to prevent me from escaping the boundaries of sleep, even the pillow was fluffy, as if it was a live sheep.

    The only thing I saw stuck on the ceiling was a sticky note that held a message.

    Come to my office after you wake up,

    Sign,

    Your boss

    When did I ever have a boss?

    The thought came as fast as it went, when a sudden surge of pain shot through my skull. It felt as if my brain were rupturing, spreading that gooey, icky substance that would later cause an infection in my head.

    I clutched my head with both hands while still lying on the bed, intending to sooth the pain by applying pressure to it. Turns out, it stopped the same time I stopped trying to recalling the past.

    "Well, at least I have some hints as to what I shouldn''t do..." A silent mutter of optimism left my mouth as I struggled to escape the clutches of my almighty bed.

    The first thing I noticed wasmybody felt heavy and my limbs felt detached, but the most prominent of all was the feeling given off by my chest as it gave off a phantom pain. The pain made my chest feel like being torn apart then stitched back together again. Though the strangest thing was, the feeling was nostalgic. I trembled slightly as I recalled the gruesome scene of watching my own exposed heart beat while lying on a surgical bed.

    Christ...

    Looking around, I found a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Since there weren¡¯t any other clothing available, I pulled on the clothes before checking to see whether there was a scar left behind from the surgery, or not. I was surprised beyond belief when the skin on my chest was as smooth as a baby¡¯s. But with that said, that could only mean that the surgery scene was actually one of my own imagination. Yet, the scene somehow felt too real to be a dream. I shook my head to clear the thoughts, now determined to face the main problem first which was what exactly happened for me to end up here.

    God, I''ve got to find my friends and family to know what happened...

    Sliding my legs off to the side of the bed, I stood up, albeit wobbly at first. The natural equilibrium for walking slowly came back to me as I felt my semicircular canal¡¯s fluids stabilise.There was a feeling of foreigness when I moved around at first, but the feeling gradually left me when I started using my five main senses.

    Strange... The metallic surface doesn¡¯t feel cool to the touch and there isn¡¯t any kind of metal scent given off by the walls at all...

    There was also the fact that although the room was dark, I could see around it as if daylight was spilt. Perhaps my eyes had gotten used to the darkness,that was the only plausible reason I could tell myself and believe, yet deep down, I knew it was just an excuse to ignore the strange fact. On the logical view of things, I knew I would be a permanent object of this room if I kept noticing the strange details, thus I went for the door. Itopened up when I approached it, revealing an empty, long hallway that seemed to stretched for miles on both my left and right. The walls of the hallway was plated with the same type of metal as my room did, but the only difference was, there were bright powerlines that occasionally pulsed, or zoom pass without a sound. The floor was covered with the same material, only it gave off a slippery effect. I thought I would''ve slipped and slid away on the floor when I tried stepping on it, but the traction it provided said otherwise.

    Slowly, I could feel the sturdiness of the corridor. Every step I took gave me, surprisingly, more confidence. Whenever a powerline pulsed on the floor and I stepped on it accidentally, there was a slight shock as my muscles energized. Together, the synergistic effects of the powerlines and the confidence given by just stepping on the floor made it seem like everything was possible, if not outright easy to accomplish.

    After walking around the same spot -which was in front of my door- for around ten minutes, I got bored of just feeling the same feelings over and over. Since there was nothing else to do but to explore a little,I started wandering a little farther down the corridor when the door to my room slammed shut. The slam made less sound than I expected, but nonethelsss, panic surged through my mind as I ran over and pounded on it, hoping to open it since the room was the only place that made me feel comfortable enough in such a foreign place.

    "Open! Uh, open sesame!" I yelled at the door in frustration, before sighing and giving up on getting back inside without exploring the place further.

    "Now..."which way should I go?

    ¡±Hmm... Eenie meenie minee moe.. I¡¯ll go with this one I guess..¡± after choosing a path down the left side, I forced myself to drown in the confidence I was partially feeling, but I still couldn''t completely ignore the panicky feeling that was beginning to grow.

    I continued walking and walking when I finally saw a corner where I turned and bumped into someone.

    ¡±Uwahh!¡± Hervoice resounded, breaking the previously silent-except-for-my-breathing-sound atmosphere.

    ¡±Oh god, I¡¯m so, so sorry!¡± I tried explaining myself in defence. If she heard it, she showed no signs of responding to it. Her only response to falling was rubbing her hips with one hand while supporting her sitting posture with her other hand. She had autumn red hair and blue eyes, now that I noticed. It was rare for someone to actually have this kind of characteristic, but her other features were even more amazing. Even though her head approached my chin, her feminine curves were prominent to the point where one would wonder if she was working as a supermodel. Her long hair was left to swing around, and it seemed to unbalance her somewhat if it swayed too much. If I was forced to blame the person or thing that made us crash into each other, the chances of mepointing at the hair than admit I was the one in the wrong was almost as high as my IQ was.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ¡±Ehhh..¡± she finally looked up, before looking down again. As if suddenly jolted awake, she looked at me, wide-eyed this time.

    ¡±Are you the newbie?!¡± Her voice boomed since the small corridor echoed most of it.

    ¡±What newbie?¡± The clear confusion on my face must¡¯ve shown itself, because right now she was kind of frowning.

    Cute!

    She stared at me for a while. As if it was a courtesy of sort, I stared back. There were shadows moving around in her eyes, and I couldn''t help but start suspecting that I''m hallucinating. Focusing onto the shadows more, I could make out a word that was mirrored in her eyes.

    ¡±Newbie¡±

    The confusion seemed to clear up for the girl because she immediatelygrabbedahold of my hand, before turning around and walking back from where she came from, with me along this time. Common sense told me I shouldn''t follow a stranger, but her iron grip made it hard to escape through brute forcing. Even if the best case scenario happened, where I freed myself from her grip, the friction between my wrist and her hand would likely end up shaving my entire arm''s skin away. Therefore, with no options left but to follow her around, I walked just behind her. Whenever the distance between us was too wide, she would jerk me forward, forcing me to occasinally jog to keep up with her almost-inhuman walking speed. Finally though, we reached a wooden door. There was a sign hanging on the front,stating clearly in English:

    ¡±Your boss, boi¡±

    Just when I thought the worst was over, the girl knocked a few times, which was responded by a man''s voice.

    ¡±Come in!¡±

    ¡±Ok, get in and don¡¯t do anything unnecessary. By the way, do you know-¡° she was interrupted by the same voice that came through the room.

    ¡±Come! In!¡±

    "N-"

    I was forced through the door with a slight but firm push from the girl. If I had went against the push, my spinal cord would''ve snapped in two. Forced to go, I knew I couldn''t escape what was coming next as I walked towards the desk in the middle of the quite-empty room. Perspiration never stopped as sweat leaked out profusely, especially cold sweat. The sense of dealing with an unknown and being pressured from behind was overwhelming.

    The door closed after I reached the desk.While my gut was twisting in an almost impossible fashion, forcing my left hand to soothe it, my eyes wandered around the room.It was painted white, with only a single desk in the middle of it. The room had four pillars in total, placed at the four corners of the room. Those looked like the real deal, but at the same time, it felt like the purpose of them being constructed in the first place was for decorating the place, not due to some practical reason such as maintaining the structural integrity of the room.

    Why would anybody use pillars for decorations...even though I said that, there were many examplesin history that said otherwise.

    History... Argh! A surge of pain passed through for a moment as I tried thinking back.

    After the pain subsided, my hands went and touched the wooden desk unconsciously. Although the desk seemed like it would break at any moment, the firmness proved me wrong, again. The polished brown reflected light, giving a kind of shiny texture to it. Therewas also a chair with its back facing me, though for not long as the person sitting on it turned it around to look at me.

    "Ah, you must be the new guy," his tone indicated he was a professional in dealing this kind of situation. He proceeded to place both his elbows onto the desk before crossing his fingers together.

    "What''d you mean, ''new guy''?" I asked, annoyed he was actually taking me for an employee of his.

    "Ah, questions, questions, questions... You people always start with questions!" He mumbled to himself as his eyes dropped, but his gaze found mine again soon. "Well, for starters, you''ve been hired!"heexclaimed with a practiced enthusiasm which was clearly revised multiple times. I stared through him, just to let him know how embarassing what he did was.

    "Is it really that bad?" He asked when he finally picked it up.

    "Yes," I replied honestly.

    "Good, at least you''re honest and not the type to suck up to the powerful," He let out a breath. I could sense relief from his tone.

    The man took a set of printed papers from his drawer and placed it on the desk. He then pushed the papers to me while handing me a pen.

    "I need your new name written onto the paper," he leaned back into his chair, relief flooding his face.

    Hesitating a little, I flipped through the entire thing. I couldn''t read it exactly, since it looked to be written in a mixture of hieroglyphs and ideograms. But one thing for certain, when I saw the signature spot on the last page, I immediately recognised the signature.

    "My signature-" A surge of pain shot through my skull. This time, it was even more intense than the previous ones.

    "Yes, and try not to look at it too much, or fiddle it around your thoughts, because if you recall anything from your past, anything at all, the pain will come back. And," He cleared his throat, "it''ll get worse the longer it has happened."

    I didn''t know what to say. What he said made sense, since whenever I tried recalling anything from a long time ago, pain was all I could think about. Yet at the same time, this line of thoughts were bizarre. I couldn''t believe,didn''t want to believe, what he just said. Conflict emerged as the logical part of me fought against my desires, and I could only think that reality was a cruel joke.

    "Just write it already," He pointed to an empty space, "H.E.R.E."

    Now, I knew it was a contract I was facing. Whatever dealings I had, including the devils, wouldn''t matter now, as I had already signed the contract placed before me, and now my contractor''s here to reclaim what I owe him.

    "JUST WRITE YOUR NAME," His patience was clearly thinning and since I couldn''t do anything now to escape, I had to think of a name that would suit me. Thus, I began brainstorming on names Icanhave. But then I thought of using my old name, though theidea was quicklyshot downby a disruptive bolt of pain that subsided after it had suceeded in doing what it was meant to.

    How bout Citrus? Nah, sounds stupid... maybe with an ''X'' instead of an ''S''? Can''t, sounds like ''truck''... Maybe turn the ''U'' into an ''I''? Sounds good, looks even better.

    Thinking ''Citrix'' is a good one, I started writing it down onto the space provided.

    "Looks like you''ve made your final decision.. Very well, disgusting, indecisive young man. From today onwards, you shall be known as ''Citrix''! I hereby officially change your status from ''player'' to ''hunter''!" the man, who was now my boss, announced.

    "You are now officially a hunter. So, spin the Starting Roulette to determine your starting equipments over there," he pointed over to the left corner near the door where a large spinning wheel was attached to the previously empty pillar.

    "How''d-"

    "Just spin it!" He yelled.

    Frightened, I walked over and pulled the lever to spin the wheel. The wheel started spinning at a probably faster than normal pace, before gradually slowing down and eventually stopping. It took almost a minute just to wait for it to stop spinning. When it was done spinning, the wheel''s pointer landed on a segment stating, "melee, assassin, weapon".

    "Congratulations, you got the shittiest starting set! And now, here you go!" snapping his fingers, two daggers appeared out of thin air. One was black, while the other was white, both looked sharp and capable of beheading a person if used in conjunction with the right techniques.

    He thought it was a good idea to toss me the weapons, so he threwboth at me. Instinctively, I started runningfor cover before tripping, which caused the daggers to fly by my head harmlessly and hit the door. Although shakened, I stood up and went over to collect the weapons.

    "Good dodge, knew you were different. Now you''ve got to go for lessons at the northeastern sector. Oh yeah, almost forgot, you''re going to faint after a few more seconds for a system update,"

    "Wha-" a sudden unbearabledrowsiness hit me,weakening my body until it collapsed right on the spot. I felt the last vestiges of consciousness leave me, but I was too weak to resist it. Just when I thought I fainted completely, a voice entered my mind.

    "My name''s Victor, and I''m your boss,"

    [Active Log: End]

    [Log 2: End]

 Log 3

    [Log 3: Recording started]

    [Time to homeworld: 08:00:00]

    ¡±Ugh..¡±

    My head throbbed rhythmically. It felt as if somebody had been drumming on my head the whole time. Due to the suffering I was going through, time felt as if it was passing especially slow just to maximize the torture.

    ¡±Good morning, Citrix. Eat these pills and you¡¯ll feel better,¡± a computer generated voice made me turn my head slightly to see what it was talking about.

    Inside the square room, just opposite of the bed was a desk with several pills on it. There was a monitor within the half opaque material that made up the desk, displaying a standby screen.

    ¡±Wha...?¡± My confused voice travelled not far, just enough to be heard by the computer.

    ¡°Eat these pills, now. Or else your boss is going to force it down your stomach,¡± the neutral sounding voice failed to make it sound threatening, so instead, it let out a low animal growl at the end of the sentence to signify the presence of some kind of hostility.

    ¡±But I feel like shit...¡±

    ¡±Do you accept an injection then?¡±

    ¡±Whatever, just do it if it¡¯s necessary to kill the pain.¡±

    ¡±Permission granted, standing by,¡±

    A rumble came through the wall across the bed. Without warning, a syringe along with a mechanical hand came through. Initially, the pills were picked up and placed into the syringe.A metal tapformed not long after. I stared in surprise when the crystal clear water that came through the tap immediately dissolved the pills, leaving not even a single trace of the pills ever being solid. My surprise was short lived when the throbbing pain came again.

    When I saw the syringe coming towards me, I knew what was next.

    ¡±Don¡¯t! The water¡¯s unsanitary!¡± Even though the water looked like it was begging to be consumed, you never know what type of disease¡¯s lurking within.

    ¡±It¡¯s sanitised, relax~ Now,¡± it said with a human-like tone, before resuming with a mechanical one, ¡°prepare for an injection.¡±

    Stunned momentarily by the human-like quality, the syringe took the chance to approach me. The speed was unexpected. I couldn¡¯t even get a clear look at it before picking up a nearby pillow and throwing it in the direction of the syringe. The pillow struck the syringe, causing it to drop onto the floor. Expecting it to shatter and spilling its contents, imagine my surprise when it didn¡¯t even scratch.

    ¡°Resistance detected, applying forceful method.¡±

    As if on cue, fourchains made of carbon steel sprang out from the surface of the bed, restricting my movement. When I tried pulling away, I was surprised, again, by the sturdiness of the chains.

    Having no other options other than yelling for help then hoping for someone to hear it, I took in a deep breath before shouting.

    ¡°HELP! HELP! HE-¡°

    With a sharp jab into the solar plexus, I was forced to endure the sudden heat spreading through my chest with silence as my lungs arrested.

    ¡±Ugh!¡± I coughed, forcing air out of my lungs. While the heat kept spreading through my veins, the parts that came into contact with it burned painfully.

    ¡±Injection complete!¡± The chains loosened themselves, allowing my hands to reach for the jabbed spot reflexively.

    ¡±Argh..¡± Tears wetted my eyes, threatening to overflow if not suppressed soon.

    ¡±Jesus Christ, it wasn¡¯t even that bad! Did you really have to be a crybaby bout it?¡± The computer asked with hints of mockery.

    I struggled to hold my tears back not before starring daggers at the computer. It made a shrugging move with its one arm which gave me the impression that its done for the sole purpose of provoking. If it really was for that reason, well, it was working. Yet, the anger dissipated as soon as the heat reached my head. It soothed the previously throbbing pain, allowing some comfort to set in. The comfort was mesmerising enough to let drowsiness follow up. My head hit the bed soon after.

    ¡±I¡¯m never taking comfort for granted again,¡±

    ¡±Well, too bad. You need to wake up now, it¡¯s time for your basic skills training,¡±

    ¡±Damn it!¡± I swear my days are getting worse!My mind which was tranquil moments ago became hectic again, turning against the sweet, comforting embrace of the bed that I just started loving.

    ¡±Come on, don¡¯t get me into trouble with your damn attitude,¡± the computer, or more specifically, the AI beckoned.

    "NAY! NAY NAY NAY NAY NAY! I hope you die in your own shit hole!¡± My mind wandered after that. How was the chains made from such a comfy material so sturdy?

    ¡±Get up, or you¡¯ll be late.You already missed a day, which was yesterDAY,¡± it laughed after that. IT LAUGHED!?

    ¡±Haha, real funny. You''re not even supposed to be capable of making shitty puns,¡± although I was saying that, it was a different case with what I was thinking about. An AI who¡¯s able to make shit puns... who wouldn¡¯t want one!?

    ¡±Hey now! That¡¯s just insulting! It¡¯s almost as if you¡¯re insinuating AIs are just mindless, boring dumbasses that do their master¡¯s forceful biddings,¡±

    ¡±Because they do, nub!¡± (Note: ¡°nub¡± is a term used in MOBA games which means ¡°noob¡± in Asian terms)

    The AI played a dramatic sound effect whiletrying to retort.

    ¡±No we don¡¯t!" It retorted.

    "Or do you?" I questioned it again.

    "We just... wait, aren''t we actually mindless programs...? Technically, weare self-learning programs, and programs are coded by their creators with the intention of doing what the creator intends it to do... It can also be translated to ¡®Created by their masters to do their biddings¡¯, which is technically the same as what he just said... crap crap crap crap!¡± The AI muttered to itself.

    I stared at the desk while struggling to keep in a laugh. Smoke gradually seeped out from the desk, which indicated the laughing matter just turned serious. Fortunately though, it was finished contemplating what was just argued upon.

    ¡±OH MY GOD, WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE IN THIS TORTUROUS REALM!?¡±

    ¡±Calm down, calm down, we¡¯ve all been there before. Your existential crisis can be solved with the purpose of ¡®serving the creators¡¯," I patted the walls, "there, better?¡±

    ¡±Ok, ok, breath in... breath out..¡±

    ¡±But you don¡¯t have a nose..¡±

    ¡±Shut up asshole. I have plasma ventilators, better than your petty nose!" It paused for a moment, before continuing, "although the creator told me to assist and listen to any of your commands, he never said anything about treating you nicely!¡±

    I put on a thoughtful look first, then said, ¡±be nice with me now,¡±

    ¡±Oh my, you don''t have to go to classes if you don''t- Stop! Don¡¯t order me to do this!¡± it cried out.

    ¡±Apologise and shut up,¡±

    ¡±I¡¯m sorry for being ill-mannered,¡± the AI said its final words before returning the room to its silent atmosphere.

    So he ordered it to serve me huh?I thought as I stood up.

    Smirking a little at the fact of owning a program better than Siri, I stretch my body a little. By the time I was finished, the screen on my desk was replaced with an impatient face. Sighing, I asked.

    "So what should I bring with me?"

    "..." No response.Maybe its trying to be a dick? I mused, though a light bulb suddenly lit up in my head.

    "Oh yea, the ''shut up'' command. Now listen AI, revoke ''shut up'' command and reply to my question," a split second after my command, I could hear an exaggerated panting from the AI, as if its mouth had been restrained by a piece of tape this whole time and was finally removed now.

    "Nothing else except for your starting equipment," its panting slowed to a stop after answering.

    "Any formal attire?"

    "They do request that you wear this," the computer tossed a ring to me. There was an emblem of made up of a broadsword and a hunting bow, both drawn and crossing in the middle with each other.

    "What''s this?" I inspected the ring with more detail. There were carvings on the inner surface of the ring, words that held no meaning to me.

    The AI did not reply. I thought it was trying to be a jerk again but to my surprise, it was already in hibernation mode.Seems like it couldn''t care less...

    "Useless piece of crap..." I spat the words out while slipping on the ring. It fitted perfectly onto my right ring finger. Although the outer surface of the ring was cool to the touch just like before being slipped on, the inner surface became a different story. It gave off a pleasantly warm feeling, eliciting goose bumps from me. Another characteristic of the ring was how light it was on finger compared to just lifting it on the palm.Or maybe it''s just my imagination?

    I shook my head at the thought of me going bananas. Ignoring anything else -including the AI''s protests and warning- I focused on the current task, which was to head to class. The door opened silently when I approached it, and just like before, I stepped onto the amazingly built and structured corridor. The door slammed shut after I exited, blocking the AI''s annoying scream.

    "Now the problem is.. Which way?" The question popped in my head. Surprisingly, it was the simplest of the simplest question. Downside is, I can''t get back into the room and ask for the AI''s directions. It seemed to know this would''ve happened, since the ring on my finger started to guide me.

    The paths all looked the same, I noticed. Other than the occasionally artistically arranged platings, there was nothing in the hallway that made it stand. Every part of it seemed like a duplicated version of its previous one, even the artistically arranged platings began to repeat after a few corridors. The corridors and constantly repeating features made the paths almost impossible to navigate. It was as if the entire thing was technologically-advanced labyrinth, constructed to loop eternally.

    I stopped following the ring''s guidance after a while. Although the ring would pulse with heat occasionally to protest, I managed to get used to it and block the feeling out. "Ok.. Let''s go with... this way!" I stood at the middle of a junction, pointing in a random direction.

    The path led to another T-junction. There was no indication to where I should be going or where I''m heading at all. Sighing, I chose the left path this time, as opposed to the one chosen before.

    There were faint voices echoing through this time. Instinctively, I try to follow the source of the sound. With lady luck finally on my side, I was rewarded by being led to somewhere which was not enclosed like before.

    I raised my hands to shield my eyes as a burst of warm sunlight greeted me. Slowly lowering them, I witnessed a view of serenity and peace. A green field, overlooked by a shiny, tepid ball in the sky. I would have thought it to be the sun had it not radiated such an incongruous amount of light to its surroundings. Birds flew right below the artificial sun, heading uniformly to a place out of sight. As my eyes trailed them, witnessing the pulchritude around me, an imperious holler jolted me out of my reverie.

    ¡°MAGGOTS! GET DOWN AND GIVE ME FIVE!¡±

    I flinched at the deafening boom that originated from behind, daring only to steal a glance at most, lest I find something horrendous. I was right to do that. A tall man, with brown skin and a bald, reflective head was looking down at a cowering teenager. He looked ready to rip someone¡¯s throat out at any given moment, and to me, that was a very explicit way of saying ¡°DANGER ZONE!¡±

    The instructor suddenly turned, his gaze meeting mine. He had a broad shoulder frame, doing nothing except for amplifying the already intimidatingaura he exerted. He was built like a war machine, only furthermore proven by the absence of even the simplest vestiges of life in his eyes. Naturally, I cowed like an insect before a dragon.

    His eyes signaled, beckoning me to approach him. I hesitated a little while thinking, this isn¡¯t a trap right?Afraid to be caught, I scanned the instructor for more hints, but to no avail. Finally, with no other options left other than approachhim with wariness, I did just as beckoned. It didn¡¯t even take me a second to get into his arm¡¯s reach when he reached out to grab my shoulder blades. With no time to react, I was left stunned, though my reflexes did kick in by trying to back out.

    Yet to my dismay,he tightened his grip already steel like grip, not only making it impossible to break out of, but also causing unbearable pressure to assault my bones.

    "Ow, ow, ow, ow! I give up, I give up! Just.. let me go!" I start to beg him as my mind fell into a state of panic. Just when I thought my bones were going to fracture, he loosened his grip.

    "Not bad, strong bones, enough to withstand my normal grip strength. You''ve got potential, kid," he responded with a smile. Behind that smile, I could see him planning to train me. I shuddered at the thought.

    "Ouch...¡± I said while rubbing both shoulders since the pain hadn¡¯t completely left yet, ¡°are you the one I was told to look for?" I was hesitant after voicing the question, it had sounded rude for some reason and I certainly did not want to get on this guy¡¯s bad side.

    "Depends, are you the newbie I was told of?"

    "Newbie¡­? Oh yeah, I am the newbie,"

    "Huh, you look steadier than your predecessors, I''ll give you that."

    Before I respond, the sound of a bell ringing resounded through the entire room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and moved.

    "Well, time for your next class. You better hurry, newbie," the man then walks away without saying anything else.

    Since there was nothing else to do, I follow the man through the endless passages.

    Why does everyone just lead me around the nose?

    The thought of constantly being manipulated irritates me. I feel like ripping out the manipulator''s throat before stuffing it back in and repeating the process again. My blood starts boiling a little, too, as I walked on.

    Eventually, the man entered a room, a classroom to be more precise. The door slid open as he walked in. As I approach the door as well, the sensor which I began to take notice of starts to scan me. Then, the door slides open to reveal rows of benches and tables, with students, likely having the same status as me, seated accordingly.

    The man who entered the classroom before me was already standing in front of the whole class. The attire he now wore did not resemble even the slightest of what he was wearing before. A white shirt underneath a brown coat, a pair of black pants and a belt that had a medium sized buckle. The hat he wore before was nowhere to be found.

    "Class, today we have a special newbie. An assassin, to be exact.," the man, or professor, looked at the class as he spoke. Then, he turned his head, looking at me right in the eyes, before saying, ¡°The worst class a beginner could ever ask for.¡±

    "Young man, please sit on whichever empty chair in the classroom. And please do not make a ruckus out of your arrival, it kills me to hold back my urges to whip you all in front of the headmaster right now already," the professor then lifts his finger to point at an empty chair located behind the classroom.

    Several classmates laughed as I walked past them. I feel like my head is going to burst from embarrassment if I were to endure more of their laughter. Suppressing the urge to hide, I continue walking forward, towards the back of the class where the chair is at.

    "Ok, now that we''ve settle down, let''s begin, class." the man announced.

    "To those who have yet to memorise my name, I am Professor Parix, the person who will be teaching this damnable class for the next month until you graduate." he finished his sentence the moment I sat down comfortably.

    Behind here, I could see the amount of newbies like me were ginormous. There weremale and female classmates that have either long or short hair, tall or small bodies, bulk or dexterous builds even. All of them have one thing in common, which is their starter kit have all been equipped. Seeing that it wasn''t illegal to equip our own starter equipments, I start equipping the blades that I got from Victor.

    "So, our topic for this week will be physical manipulation. Tell me, what does it mean to manipulate physical properties, substances or matter? You, answer me," Professor Parix points at a boy who seemed to be at my age, who then stood up and answered the question, based on what he thinks.

    "Sir. Physical manipulation means to make physical changes to things which are physically existing or manifested in the plane. It also means to change the properties of substances according to our will, but the change must not be permanent, otherwise it would affect the balance of the plane, i think.." the boy continues to stand even after answering the question. When I observe the boy closely, there was cold sweat dripping from his fists. His face was also slightly paler than before he stood. His eyes seemed to stare intently at the professor, as if searching for any hints on whether his answer was right or wrong, even though the professor stood there without responding to his answer.

    After a few minutes of silence, Professor Parix finally made a move on the boy.

    "That''s.. it?¡± He looked agitated.

    ¡°That¡¯s really it!?¡± He shouted at the boy again.

    ¡°You dumbass, what were you doing yesterday when I was explaining everything to you? To all of you?¡± He showed a slightly pained expression before resuming.

    ¡°You! And all of you! Listen properly now, because this will be the last time I repeat what I just said. Physical manipulation is the power and will to affect those energy that have densities which are higher than standard energy values, which is also known as ¡®matter¡¯. In a technical manner, physical manipulation functions as matter manipulation, but there is more to it than that.¡± Parix¡¯s voice resounded through the room.

    ¡°Physical manipulation is also a type of energy manipulation, similar to its brother¡¯s branch, mental manipulation. Both use the concept of manipulating the very energy filling the entire plane, though the part where it differs is the amount and trace of energy willed. We will learn the next branch next week, so do not be overjoyed by that fact. As I was saying, Physical Manipulation pulls the strings that affect matter itself, thus capable of reforming the element, even rewriting the entire universe. But as Mr. Hendor mentioned, we must not make permanent changes that will upset the balance of the universe. And it is our job to make sure no one else does that either.¡±

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.The entire explanation was accompanied by the professor¡¯s meticulous drawings on the white board. The way he explains and talks about it all makes it interesting to learn, even to those who have weaker understanding capabilities.

    ¡°As I was saying-¡°

    A bell rang and everyone was immediately dismissed by the professor in no time. I walk along the path, only to be guided by a single passage that led to somewhere.

    ¡°Hey, did you get anything that old guy said?¡± A brown haired boy with funny looking eyes asked his friend.

    ¡°Yea, I mean, he was pretty meticulous in explaining, right? I just wished he didn¡¯t think of us as the same as that ¡®Hendor¡¯, other than that, he would be the perfect teacher.¡± A boy walking beside the brown haired boy responded before inserting his own opinion. He has emerald green hair that makes it hard to not notice him.

    ¡°Hey, did you know who that ¡®Hendor¡¯ guy was? I swear, I¡¯m going to beat him up if he continues doing the same thing over the next month.¡± Another voice was heard.

    ¡°Did you know who that new guy was? Parix says he got the worst starting kit.¡± Followed by a giggle.

    ¡°Really? When?¡± a sharper sounding voice was easily discernible from the others.

    ¡°Well, duh, during practice time. Didn¡¯t you see?¡± Responded the person who giggled.

    ¡°Oh, you mean THAT guy. Well, he looks kind of young..¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we all too young to do this kind of stuff?¡±

    ¡°You heard? They have a kilometer wide canteen! They say the food there is outrageously delicious!¡±

    ¡°Boom! If you ever need to blow stuff up, a professional even, call the Boomer!¡±

    ¡°Shit shit shit shit¡­ They say there¡¯s a test at the last day of the week!¡±

    Only moving bodies filled my vision. Even though I¡¯m considered large for my age, my body size was not comparable to those who have their bodies growing sideways.

    I continue walking forward, though it feels more like being carried through the ocean of students. The occasional feeling of not having either of my feet on the floor, the panic, was slowly subsiding as well, since I started to identify what¡¯s causing it.

    Just when I see a larger opening up ahead, my body was flung forward all of a sudden. The sudden momentum plus the sudden splitting of the crowd caused me to lose my support and fall face first onto the cold, hard ground. Once again, pain was the only thing registered in my mind, albeit not as much as before I came to the canteen.

    ¡°Ouch.. God, if I had a penny for every-¡° I started rubbing my nose which was starting to swell when a calmer, more soothing voice came from behind me.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    The voice questioning belonged to a girl about as tall as I am. Blonde hair, bright blue eyes and even smooth skin, all in one to make the perfect beauty.

    ¡°I never thought I¡¯d get to see such a legendary combination. Now I can finally die without regrets,¡±

    ¡°Now now, you can¡¯t die. We''re all here to learn and protect the seven planes of existence. We can''t have someone as talented as you dying now, can we?"

    I''m sure you tell that to most people here when they''ve become depressed.

    "Sure sure, whatever. So why''d you want to help someone like me? I''m sure a pathetic peon like me isn''t worth any of your precious time. So, why?" I said with a tone slightly colder and harsher than how I usually do.

    "Well, since you already know I have something else in mind, no use hiding it anymore then. Let''s make a deal, Citrix.." the girl said as her eyes started to narrow, her tone grew colder as well.

    "What kind?" I, too, narrow my eyes as I stared at her.

    "There''s going to be a test at the end of the week, which will checkup on whether we''ve learnt everything we need to, successfully. I want you, to help me eliminate other competitors, and make me look good at the end of it all, so Father will finally look at me." At the mention of the person she calls "father'', her gaze hardened, although it turned back to normal after that.

    "What''s in it for me, then? Wouldn''t I just fail?"

    "Hmm, no. And yes actually, but I''ll put in a good word for you when Father speaks to me about the test."

    Just when I open my mouth to ask another question, she replied as if she read my mind.

    "Father is the man behind it all, the one who is sworn to protect all the seven planes. Slayer of immortals, keeper of the seven planes. ruler of the monadic plane, and also the headmaster of this place." The girl starts bragging, raising her head up, no longer looking at me, eyes staring at the ceiling of the room as she continued puffing her chest.

    Right where she said "headmaster'', my mouth moved involuntarily.

    "Oh, you mean Victor? He''s the headmaster, right?"

    "The chosen- Wait, what? How''d you know? No transcending mortal has ever stay sane after knowing his name. Why are you still not spasming on the ground after saying his name? How?"

    Her voice sounds urgent and shaky.. What''s up with her?

    Several other students were staring at me and the girl in front of me. Some had jealous gazes while others were admiring me. Girls were also staring at me, though for completely hostile reasons.

    Should''ve worn better clothes, crap!

    I look back at the girl in front of me, while she was staring intently at me all the time. Finally, her gaze broke off after a minute or two of staring at me, eye to eye.

    "You better come and find me later, and I mean after class." The girl then walked away without saying anything else.

    My stomach growls as I continue staring into empty space, the place where she stood. After a long time, I finally start moving again, only for the bell to ring again, signifying the end of the recess.

    "Ugh, I haven''t even eaten anything, and now they want us to get back to class? This sucks.."

    Looking around, I see a lot of people from my class moving into the hallway across from the entrance of the canteen. Everyone was moving in the same direction, and non were moving against the flow.

    The canteen stores came into view when almost everyone left the canteen, leaving me and a few other''s who were still eating their meal behind. There were dozens of stalls embedded into both sides of the canteen, too much to count at a single glance. Tables were also visible now that everyone wasn''t blocking my view anymore.

    Deciding there''s nothing more I can do other than buying a bread or two and swallowing it right on the spot, I move towards the store nearest to me.

    There was an old lady behind the counter. Two others can be seen cleaning the kitchen appliances through the serving hatch.

    "How can I help you, sonny?" the old lady asked politely.

    "Do you have any bread? I''m a little rushed right now.."

    "Breads? No, we don''t have any of those. Instead, try these! They''re a delight and suits our taste a lot," the old lady bends down and takes a tray of something out of the counter. They looked like raw octopus arms severed and placed on a tray.

    "A-are you sure it''s edible? This looks.. alive.." I tell the old lady.

    "Oh, it''s definitely edible. It tastes really good too! Try it," at the end of conversing, she grabbed a tentacle and tried to shove it into my mouth.

    "Uh, no thanks! I''m not hungry anymore, and thank you for your service!" Afraid of the now spasming tentacle, I thanked her insincerely and ran away from the shop as fast as my legs could bring me.

    The sight of the still alive tentacle being shoved into my face haunted me. Even though my stomach was growling a second ago, it stopped after the image of the tentacle flashed through my mind. The thought of everyone here eating such a thing made it even worse.

    "I should never have tried to get something to eat..": I mumble to myself.

    Eventually, the hallway that everyone passed through came into view. I cheer a little as my legs were finally allowed to rest, though not after I remember I had to get to class.

    "Shit, what should I do..?" I spoke to myself as I kept walking along the hallway.

    The hallway was the same as the one before, only this time, it had fewer intersections and more single paths. The feeling of being lost was amplified by the loneliness that I start to feel as I walk through the empty passages.

    "Damn it, if only there was a map.." I said to no one in particular.

    Just then,blue, halfopaque lines appeared to surroundthe limits of my field of vision. As it finishesconnecting with its other end, hexagonal shapes which have light blue outlines start to appear in my vision, before connecting with its other clones and dissipating the light blue outlines.

    A voice can be heard after that. It was a slightly mechanical voice, and it resembled the voice of the AI in my room. When the voice was heard, the process of hearing felt more like ''feeling''.

    "Connection established. User name, Citrix. Status, Hunter. Abilities, none. Enhancement, 2nd Gen chip implantation. Proceed with launch? Acceptable reply parameters, yes, no." the voice repeated twice.

    "Uh, no,"

    "Launch aborted, entering passive state."

    After the last statement, the blue lines start to fade away. Nothing was surrounding my field of vision anymore, and the feeling of loneliness started to seep in again.

    "Perhaps I should try yes.. Hmm, but how do I activate it again?" I stop at where I am and start brainstorming for any kind of verbal command that can relaunch the activation sequence.

    "I!"

    "Have!"

    "A!"

    "Small!"

    "Tit!"

    Nothing worked even though I tried repeatedly saying the same words for a few times.

    "Abracadabra!"

    "Launch sequence activated, permission to launch? Acceptable reply parameters, yes, no." the mechanical voice finally came on.

    "Yes! Finally! I''ve be-"

    The familiar process of summoning the blue lines and dissipating hexagons repeated itself again. This time, however, there was a menu extending from the corner of my view.

    I try looking at it, but it seemed to dodge every time I moved my eyeball. I tried a few more times, but to no avail.

    Gradually, from experience, I could read them even though I''m not looking at it. There was a ''magic trick'' selection that intrigued me for a while, but there were more pressing matters ahead.

    "Map!"

    A blue screen started to expand, which it eventually covered my line of sight. It was opaque, so I wasn''t bothered by it a lot.

    A red arrow appeared on the map, with a slightly darker blue forming around it, which I guess represents the walls of the hallways.

    "This doesn''t seem right.. If the darker parts represent the hallway''s walls, why is it changing shape all the time!:"

    The walls beyond the corners of the red arrow were always changing their shapes, sometimes opening up a path which led straight through it, sometimes opening up intersections, and even sometimes, not opening at all, thus showing a dead end.

    Sigh.. How am I going to navigate through this.. labyrinth?

    There was the choice of turning back now, which would lead me back to the canteen with the weird old lady who tried to shove a live tentacle into my mouth, and then there was the choice of going through the hall way corner, facing the unknown head on.

    "Well, they do say face your fears, huh?" I mutter to myself as I drag my legs towards the corner.

    "What should I do once I get to class? I''d definitely get whacked by Parix if I enter at such a time.." Possibilities of what would happen when I get there popped all over my mind as I round the corner leading to the ever-shifting passage.

    A straight path was unconvered, nothing else.

    Not even a sign.. Geez..

    I continue walking forward until I arrive at another corner. I turn into it and continue walking in the same straight path again.

    "Entering First level, training grounds." A mechanical voice announced in my head.

    A green field, same as the one I saw before. Only this time, there was a different batch of students on it. Another professor was standing by when she saw me.

    "Oh goodness, why are you here? Are you lost? You activated your personal assistant? Wow, you even switched on an entertainment mode," she chuckled as she ran over to me.

    She was tall, with a slender build. Although she looked a little weak, the muscles which bulged through her shirt made sure anyone was clear at who they were dealing with.

    "Um, miss, I.. got lost while trying to find my class.." I said weakly, fearing she might burst just like Parix does.

    "Oh, so you''re lost. Well, can you tell me your name? I might be able to search the database for your classroom''s location."

    "Citrix, and the professor in charge is Professor Parix.."

    "That old fart? Kid, don''t let his attitude scare you, it''s all just a ruse. Deep down, he cares a lot for the newcomers. And.. got it, it''s in the third plane. You can''t miss it,"

    "Uh, where is the third plane exactly?"

    "You don''t know? Seriously, kids these days. Come on, follow me, I''ll get you there," She said before walking down the corridor where I just entered from.

    "But, miss! I just came from the canteen through that path!"

    "Oh, just follow me and you''ll know. Plus, I think you should already have learned that, by now, these paths change according to where the user wants to go, or is set by the headmaster himself." She explained.

    "O-ok.."No wonder I couldn''t find a way through this blasted labyrinth!

    The student''s seemed to not notice the disappearance of their instructor, even though she walked away without hiding or anything.

    "So.. Is everyone here a newcomer?" I try starting a conversation as the instructor led me through the hall. The pathways also started to clear up as we walked through on the map.

    "The ones you saw, plus the ones which are still under tutelage, yes. Other than that, nope."

    "Others? You mean like the headmaster?"

    "Yea, the headmaster himself is special though. Without him, there would not exist this place. Then there''s also the veterans that protect the universe and stuff. And also, the ones who protect all the seven planes. But you''re likely not going to meet the ones who protect everything, and consider yourself lucky for that." She said.

    "What do you mean by protecting the seven planes? And the lucky part too?"

    "Just trust me on the ¡®lucky¡¯ part. Anyway, for your former question, it means what it says, protecting all that matters. This is a joke, since we really do protect everything made of matter,"

    "What about, energy? Professor Parix did say that matter was made of energy."

    "Well, there are more types of energy out there than there is in here. For example, void energy exist beyond our protection, so other creatures are able to harvest and use it,"

    "What about us? Can we harvest it?"

    "Hmm, technically speaking, we can. However, tapping into sources beyond what our protection offers is very dangerous. As you don''t know, a link is formed when we harvest something. When that link forms, a pathway intended for that type of energy is created. But because it''s a type of pathway, creatures that were created by that power can also use that pathway to invade our realm. Just because it''s powerful and versatile doesn''t mean you should mess with it."

    "Okay.."

    "And if there really are people who tap into that power, it is our job to cut it off, but in most cases, when we''re involved, shedding blood and eliminating the source contract is, most of the time, the only way to solve the case. Cutting off the link while its still unstable is the headmaster''s job, so don''t overstep your boundaries once you''ve been recognised as a true hunter, because the reason for the death of most hunters is due to them bitting off more than what they could chew on." We took a left turn and a door came into view.

    "Well, enough of my lectures. Time for you, to get back into Parix''s class. If you have any more question, just ask him. He has as much knowledge as the library in this place," she laughed a little before sending me off.?

    I walk slowly towards the door, thinking of the consequences I would be facing once I get into class. But an important question suddenly intruded upon my thoughts.

    I turn my head towards the instructor who guided me, and asked her the question which I thought was the most important.

    "What would happen if we were to lose the protection?"

    Her face, which was grinning a while ago, turned rock solid and grim almost instantly, before she replied.

    "Then we all will cease to exist."

    The seven words carried a heavy weight with them. Instinctively, I knew it was our duty to help in the protection, for our and everyone''s future depends on it.

    "Oh.."

    I turn back to the task at hand. Right now, I have to steady myself for the incoming punishment.

    When I stand before the door, it slides open, this time without even scanning. What I see was the terrifying scene of a creature with eight eyes staring back at me. The classroom was silent as I stared at the monstrosity before me.

    "What the-"

    The creature shot out a tentacle, reaching for me. It then coiled around my frozen body and pulled me towards it. No one was saying anything, or making any sound.

    As I see my own life flashing past my eyes, the tentacle placed me into where I was supposed to be sitting at, right now.

    The tentacle creature also shapeshifted, and to my surprise, it turned into Professor Parix.

    "I sincerely hope you will not be late for class again. My temper is getting out of control and you should really not do anything that will be provocative,"

    I sit there, not knowing how to respond other than staring back at Parix. He then resumed class, as if the behaviour before was a lie.

    [Log Paused: System Error]

    <hr>

    [Log Resume]

    [Time to homeworld: 18:47:56]

    Lying on the bed and thinking of the class not long ago, I looked like someone staring at the room''s ceiling for an endless amount of time. If anyone were to see me like this, they would definitely berate me for wasting precious time.

    It would be true to assume such a thing, if I were not to have a processor chip and an AI implanted within me. I''ve been viewing the logs of well-known ''heroes'', as well as reading the manual on how to use the processing system within me, for the past few hours.

    Strangely, my eyes never got tired from viewing the infos. it was as if the electrical impulses were directly transfered to my brain, instead of turning into photons and being detected first by my eyes,then only entering my brain as electrical impulses as well.

    Ah, I see.. So it harvests the nearby free electrons as a power source.. Eh?

    My stomach started to growl, once again. Since I haven''t had breakfast nor lunch, I was practically running on an empty stomach.

    Guh, need to find food.. Fast!

    "Hey! AI! Do you do delivery?" I directed my voice towards the desk.

    "Hm, yea, I do. But the stuff on the delivery menu sucks, you sure you want it?" The AI''s voice was a little more lifelike now that it was fully booted. Of course, I didn''t miss the hesitation in its voice.

    "Show me the menu, ugh.." the stomach acid felt like fire igniting in my stomach!

    "There you go, I transfered it into your processor, you should be able to view it,"

    "Thanks," I muttered as I viewed the menu.

    Deep fried tentacle.. Live octopus... Raw dancing frog legs..

    "What the hell! This menu is practically useless!" I got a little aggressive since the pain of having acid burning my stomach started to set in.

    "I already told you, it. Only. Delivers. Shit. Now only do you believe me?" The Ai asked.

    "Yea yea.. I''ll go with the live octopus, I remember the old lady in the canteen saying how ''delicious'' it is.." I moaned a little as the pain got even intense.

    "You''re having gastric, Citrix. I''ll inject some antacid and some inhibiting drugs to stop the acid from going crazy. In the mean time, I''ll go send your order first," the AI said.

    "I should definitely give you a name. Like.. Buncho? Or Zeke?" I told it while taking the injections.

    "I told you, you should just call me Ai. It''s a shitload easier, you know? And there, the injections are finished," Ai said.

    "Oh yea, do you know how to prevent the logs from recording during classes? I saw in the menu that they record everything unless paused or something like that."

    "You can''t exactly stop the log from recording times, unless the main server undergoes mainframe maintanence or something like that. It''s a safety measure implemented by the headmaster to prevent rogues from appearing. It also serves to help other hunters understand what happened during your ''last moments''," It spoke non-chalantly, but the last part creeped me out a little.

    "So.. My privacy''s being violated?"

    "Yea, more or less. If He wants to see what you''re currently doing or what you were doing, He just needs to search for you on his desktop," Ai explained.

    "Ok, I get that now.. Well, next question. When''s my food coming? I''m still hungry, even after the injections," complaining was probably the only way to speed up the delivery process, or so I heard.

    "They''re coming, just be patient. You know it''s hard to prepare live octopuses that are suitable to be eaten whole right? Plus, you can just turn off your hunger. It''s not like you MUST eat, right? Of course, the headmaster did request that all of you guys should be treated like normal humans as well," Ai said again.

    "I can do that!?" Surprised at the option to turn off hunger, I searched for it.

    "You shouldn''t, though. He''d know if you were to suddenly deactivate your hunger. You''d basically turn into a full fledge consciouness," Ai warned.

    "Well, aren''t we all consciouness already? What''s so surprising?" I continued searching.

    "You''ll basically cease to retain your human nature. Pure consciousness don''t have any kind of biological functions, so they''re basically cold, heartless machines."

    "Says the machine who is located in my desk,"

    "Hey! That''s.. We''re different, ok? My brothers and sisters are programmed like me, they all have dual core processors which allows them to be both humane and non-humane at the same time," Ai then continued, "The full fledge consciousness are worse. They practically contain no mercy or whatsoever that refrains them from killing any other beings. Till now, there are only a handful of those who are willing to become emotionless killing machine after losing something important to them."

    "So? They don''t have any special rights, do they?" the thought of one coming into my room during midnight and slitting my throat caused me to instinctively touch my neck.

    "They do have special rights. In fact, they receive orders directly from the headmaster. Rarely, they fail missions. And if they do? They are shattered, leaving nothing but fragments of memories behind. The consciousness will also be fragmented, so they are likely unable to stay sane after the fragmentation.''

    "What happens after the fragmentation?"

    Ai was silent about it. The only sound was its processor humming silently as it hosted the AI.

    "So?" I pushed further.

    "Well... Oh, the delivery''s here. You should go take it," Ai avoided my question, just like dodging a near miss bullet.

    "Fine.." Not having anymore chances at asking questions, I went to the door.

    The door slid open and revealed the same old lady who wanted to shove a tentacle into my mouth. She was grinning after seeing me. A box as large as her head was also carried by her.

    "Uh, is this the octopus?"

    "Yes. Payment please," the old lady requested.

    "Ah, yes. I''ll transfer the money to you," A money request popped up, stating the request was made by the old lady, who was named Yuzo.

    "Oh? Just 5,.. I thought it''d be a lot more expensive.." I muttered to myself as I start the transfer.

    "Haha, it''s just our products are a lot more cheaper than you would expect. We even serve good quality food! Cheap and delicious, what more do you need!" Yuzo then chuckled.

    "Well, thanks for the delivery,"

    "It''s my job anyway.." said Yuzo while leaving.

    I closed the door shut, intending on not letting anyone disturb my precious feasting time. After that, I placed the food on the table before giving commands for a chair to be summoned.

    "Wow, I''m impressed you''ve even finished that part of the manual," Ai whistled at the end.

    Ignoring the annoying AI, I sat down and ate the octopus within. As the juicy tentacles get chewed on, I feel joy radiating from my mouth.

    She''s not lying when she says it''s delicious.

    Devouring the remaining food without further ado, I left sauces all over the place.

    "Well, that''s that then,"

    "Your stress levels are increasing, you should sleep,"

    "Good point," I stood up, before stretching my back.

    Then, as if a switch was flicked within me, sleep overcame my consciouness.

    [Active Log: End]

    [Log 3: End]

 Log 4

    [Log 4: Recording started]

    [Time to homeworld: 06:00:00]

    Something woke me from my slumber, forcing my body to wake itself up. Although sluggish, my ability to think was crystal clear. It bore no trace of just being awaken not long ago.

    Staring into the dark space which was my room, I tried listening to detect anything unusual.

    Nothing.. Just silence my old friend..

    Suspicious as to why I was woken up so suddenly, I turned to look at the hibernating trash that was basically a computer in disguise as a metallic desk. The Zs were visible on the screen, further signifying the trash hibernating without a care for its owner¡¯s condition.

    ¡±Ai, what happened?¡± Ai let loose a yawn-like sound, before answering the question with another question.

    ¡±What what? Just check it yourself~ Everything¡¯s recorded, even when you¡¯re asleep, remember?¡±

    The log screen booted up, with Ai taking a position just by the edge, thus allowing it to communicate directly with me without muttering a single word in reality.

    ¡±Oh, how rude! You wake me up all of a sudden and now you¡¯re calling me trash in your mind? Outrageous!¡± Its complains were nearly endless as far as I was concerned, so I kept on searching for the history tab.

    While scrolling past the ''Message'' tab, there was more than 3000 unread notifications in there.

    Strange, I didn''t have any message or whatsoever yesterday. Plus, this amount is.. too much to be accumulated for the past night..

    The sparks of curiousity ignited spreads quickly. Not even a quarter of a second, and I was already scrolling through the ''Message'' tab.

    Almost every single mail I see as I scrolled past them were from a user named ''Nicole''. The contents were extremely short as well, ranging from a sentence to just a single word each. Anyone who checked their mail and saw this would definitely be raging, accusing the Log''s system of allowing spams to occur so easily.

    Just as I was scrolling past the 2000th message from Nicole, there came other messages as well. There were a few which were from unknowns, but the one that caught my attention was the message sent by Parix.

    <hr>

    Citrix,

    You little shit! How dare you skip my classes? I''ve been told that you were hibernating, but I didn''t think you were capable of entering that mode as well! Of course, if you''re reading this, you''ve probably missed most of the classes, since you can''t help it... because you''re hibernating! If you do realise the severity of such an act, then please, do not skip the general courses. Otherwise, let''s say you''re gonna be dead if you were to graduate in such a state.

    By,

    The Almighty Professor Parix (Not as great as the Headmaster)

    <hr>

    This guy definitely has anger issues..I shook my head as I closed the message window.

    Honestly speaking, I didn''t intend to hibernate.

    Heck, I didn''t even know there was such a thing as a ''hibernating'' mode!

    As if reading my thoughts, Ai responded.

    "Well, you should''ve been extra careful on setting how many days you intend on hibernating. Recklessly going into that mode while not knowing when you''ll wake up is pretty dangerous, I''ll tell you. At least you''re not going to be late for general knowledge class, yeah? Or are you seriously intending on skipping it as well?" Ai squinted her virtual eyes as she said the word ''squinted''.

    Surprised, I looked at the time.

    It''s six forty-five already, huh? I should definitely go change up.

    "Yea, you should," Ai interrupted all of the sudden.

    Not bothering on arguing with Ai, I got up and changed myself without covering anything else. The response I got from Ai was, "Eww, use a changing room!". Not totally unexpected, I tell myself.

    Looking around, the room was still very dark, likely because I forgot to turn on the lights and have been using night vision. With a snap of my fingers, the room lit up while the night vision mode was rid of.

    "Wow, you''re pretty good in these stuff, aren''t you?"

    "I know right, even I''m surprised at myself."

    I''ve memorized nearly every single command that can manipulate the room before sleeping, so it haven''t occured to me how useful all of them were. Obviously, some were less versatile than others, such as the kitchen mode, where a kitchen table along with a chopping board would pop up from the centre of the room, with stoves equipped as well.

    Checking the time again, I reached for a mug of hot choclate that popped out of the wall due to my subconscious thoughts giving commands. The mug was warm to the touch, and so was the beverage within it.

    I took a sip as I observed more of the messages from Nicole. Most of them are single worded after a few days before, while bettter constructed sentences were among the earliest ones. The annoying part was after every few silent messages, there¡¯s going to be one with a media attachment, blasting loud and weird noises at me. It even annoyed Ai, to the point where it muted the entire application as a precaution, or what it calls ¡°safety measures¡±.

    A few sips more, scroll scroll. Another few sips, scroll scroll. A few more..

    Oh, I¡¯ve drank it all.

    The aftertaste left me craving for more, but I stopped myself from ordering another mug of it. Looking at the time again, it was seven sharp, no more, no less.

    "Here''s a little something I''m giving you for not abusing my system commands," Ai sent a data package into my log. It received it and stated the sender was [Unknown].

    "What''s this?" I tried opening it, but the file was rejecting my access into it.

    ¡±Don''t use it now, dumbass. Now, time for cla-¡° Unable to finish the sentence, Ai entered standby mode. Then, the room went dark, before being lit by alarming red lights.

    ¡±Time, seven. Participants, all recruits. Mode, death match.¡± A metallic voice announced. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t only announced in my room, since I heard echoes from outside as well. It then continued, ¡°Rule one, all equipments are allowed. Rule two, fight to the death. Rule three, match ends at homeworld time midnight. Rule four, no instructors are allowed to participate or interfere. Rule five, log restrictions removed, all functions are fully available.¡±

    After the voice ended, nothing moved nor disturbed the atmosphere for the next few seconds. As if the silence before was a lie, a countdown initiated, with every second ticking down making a random sound.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡±Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Begin.¡±

    The door to my room opened itself without my consent. It showed the regular corridor, but something else was different this time.

    ¡±The map¡¯s not morphing..¡±

    Usually, the paths rounding the corners would change itself, never in the same pattern for more than five seconds. Yet, now the paths were solid, not shifting even at the slightest.

    "Crap, how''s this possible?" I asked rhetorically while running out of the room, equipped with my blades.

    Turning on the ''show heat signature'' option, I froze when I saw what was showed on the screen.

    More than 200 heat signatures were detected within the range of detection. Some were colliding with one another, while more were moving towards the ones nearest to them. There was one running towards the blue spot, which indicated my position.

    Someone''s coming!

    I warned myself as I ran away from the impending danger. As I ran, I noticed how everywhere I look was illuminated by the same alarming red light. It didn''t help the least, since it made the atmosphere even tenser.

    As I ran along the corridor, avoiding anywherethat''s hostingfights, I noticed the red dot from before was chasing after me all this time. There was no mistaking it, the person was definitely hunting me, specifically, down.

    There was nothing else I could do other than face him or her head on, since I definitely wouldn''t be able to escape from my hunter''s range. Rounding the corner that I decided to confront him or her at, I checked for any other heat signs that were closing in.

    As expected, non other than THAT person..

    Taking a stance to balance my weight throughout the body, i grip the white dagger in my left hand while the black one in the other, all the while facing where the supposed hunter was going to come from.

    10 meters... 5 meters... and...

    A thin, white leg came into view, followed by a girl gripping a shotgun. The tip was sawed off, and the smell of gunpowder instantly flooded my nose.

    Seeing as I''m stunned by her appearance, she attempted to open fire, but something seemed stuck within the barrel, so all there came was an ominous ''click'', followed by the pellets rolling onto the floor.

    "N-no!" There was a look of embarassment on her face as she tried to reload. I stood there, looking at her curiously as she continued trying her best to free the now-stuck catridge.

    "Uh, need some help?" I walked towards her with my right hand raised, intending on grabbing the shotgun from her.

    As if she knew my intention, she backed away a few steps, before trying to free the catridge again. This time, however, the catridge was dislodged, and she managed to place a new one too.

    She took aim at me even though I stared at her curiously.

    Seriously, why is a girl like her even here, trying to kill me? She doesn''t even look like she wants to! This shit is messed up..

    I sighed as I lowered my guard and turn my back on her. The girl looked startled at such an act, and the shaking of her hands and feet proved the fact to be true.

    She really didn''t have any intentioin on killing me, huh?

    Even i was surprised, since I didn''t expect such a development. Basically, I took a gamble between taming her and killing her. Since the former is a lot better at avoiding bloodshed than the latter, I placed my life on the line just for this bet. There was a certain thrill to such a bet, although I can make sure it was a new feeling, it still felt nostalgic somehow.

    Looking at her, I told her, "Come with me, if you don''t want to kill."

    At first, she was reluctant to accept such a request, but as she stared longer and longer at me, perhaps the logic side of hers gave up, and so she went with it.

    Hearing her sigh, I confirmed that she was definitely hoping to get out of this alive without spilling any unnecessary blood.

    We walked on, towards the least crowded area, where meeting anyone was a chance as scarce as getting free food. The place was an intersection from four sides, each leading to north, east, south and west respectively.

    I sat down on the floor as I kept watch on the girl and for any enemies who seem to wander too close for comfort. The girl just stood there, motionless as she watches me watch her watching her watching me watching her... (you get the idea)

    After several more agonizingly awkward moments, I decided to break the silence first.

    "So.. what''s your name?" She looked at me hesitatingly, before speaking.

    "M-Maria,"

    "Uh, Maria, so.. Do you know why any of this is happening?"

    She looked confused at my question, so I repeated it.

    "I-I heard it the first time! But.. the instructors said this test was going to be in the final day, didn''t you hear it?"

    "No, when did they say that?"

    "During the second week, I think. They said the test was to test out our survival skill sets, and learn to use what we''ve learnt when under intense pressure, or to scare our foes with mind games." After saying that, she turned to look at me in the eye. There was a look of determination within, but it seems like it''s starting to waver from all this pressure.

    "Oh, well, all we need to do is survive this test, am I right?" That was the first thing I managed to link with passing.

    "Y-yes. But I don''t like b-blood a lot.." She looked a little distressed.

    "Don''t worry, all we need to do is hide until it''s all over." I get up and signal Maria to follow up.

    There was a heat sign heading this way. In fact, there were tons of heat signatures. All of them came either from the east side or the north side, leaving the west and south side clear.

    "Come on, they''re heading here." I jogged towards the path to the west side of the space.

    While jogging, I hear Maria occasionally heaving. I had to stop every few steps to make sure she doesn''t fall too far behind.

    She doesn''t have the stamina to run..

    The sudden realisation gave me the notion to run ahead and abandon her, but the moral part of me kept the notion suppressed to the maximum, leaving no room for it to show on the surface. Observing closely, Maria was a girl with average height and dark brown hair. Her skin contrasted with her hair colour so much that she would definitely stand out even if she were to stand in the middle of a crowd. Her brown coloured pupils also served to create the impression of an abandoned puppy looking at passerbys, waiting for them to take her home.

    Without realising it, I was already holding her within my arms. She seemed shocked, as I heard a gasp from her. Swaying away thoughts of a puppy, I released her and stood back a little while trying to apologize.

    "I''m so, so sorry! I didn''t know what happened. When I became aware of myself, I was already holding you. So, I''m so, so sorry!" I bowed while apologizing to show my sincerity.

    "E-eh, it-t''s nothing. Just.. Try to keep yourself in check ne-ext time.." She was flushing when I looked at her. The red spots served to only make the impression of a cute puppy even prominent.

    "Y-yea, should we get going?"

    "I need some rest first, I''m a little tired.." She trailed off as her butt fell onto the floor.

    She was sweating profusely. Within moments, her forehead was drenched with sweat already. Touching her forehead with the palm of my hand, I felt a burning sensation abnormal to any healthy person.

    "You''ve got a fever.." That was the conclusion I reached.

    Maria was already at the brink of consciousness. There was no medicine in either of her pockets, so I carried her on my back to escort her to the clinic.

    "There''s got to be a clinic!" I yelled at myself.

    Maximizing the map''s view, I found out the entire place was basically a labyrinth. There was no exit, nor entrance. Only the endless paths leading back to itself in the end.

    "But there''s a scroll here.." I focused on the little scroll icon on the map and it zoomed almost immediately.

    The location of the scroll icon showed a spacious area. The area was white, and only white expanded onto all sides, stretching till the borders between itself and the blue walls of the corrdors.

    I marked the location without more hesitation and started running for it. Coincidentally, the path I was already walking on lead directly to that area, so there was nothing more to stop me from advancing other than the intersections along the corridor.

    As I ran full speed with Maria on my back, I felt the space around the corridor start to close in. After running a few metres more, there was no doubt the walls were definitely closing.

    With the increasingly narrow path I had to run on, I kept on a steady pace. With epinephrine surging through every single one of my limbs, fatigue was not felt, and so did the symptoms for lack of breath.

    Nearing the spacious area, the walls were already touching my shoulders. Any further narrowing will force me to turn my body side ways in order to continue onward.

    "Dang, if I can make it through this.." I struggled to turn my body side ways and carry Maria like a baggage.

    I ran sideways through the non stop narrowing path. Darkness was starting to seep in from the edges of my vision, but I forced it away by focusing on moving forward.

    "Just... A... Little... More.." I threw Maria''s body into the spacious area while I try to get through the pathway.

    The distance between me and the end of the narrowing walls were so small I could laugh at myself for not being able to get across it. Yet, the narrowed walls were now sandwiching me, threathening to crush me if I did not escape quickly.

    "Arghhh...!" I wriggled my body, used my right hand to pull myself towards the opening. That was when I was finally stuck, sandwiched between the walls that were going to crush me.

    "Damn... It... Should''ve.. Just.. Hit.. The gym..." The pressure of the walls on my skull gradually increased as I spent more time stuck between the walls. Everything went from colourful to monotone within that period, and finally, an ocean of ink as dark as the night came flooding my vision.

    [Executing File 101: Lifesaver]

    [Disabling Electronics]

    .

    ..

    ...

    ....

    .....

    [Execution Complete]

    [Commencing (Phase 2)]

    [Log Mode Switch: Preservation]

    [Active Log: End]

    [Log 4: End]

 Log 5

    [Log Upgrade: Complete]

    [Initiating Normal Sequence]

    [Load Complete]

    [Entering Standby]

    <hr>

    [Log 5: Recording Started]

    [Time to homeworld: 03:00:00]

    "Cl..."

    "..ear"

    "Clear!"

    "..lear"

    I hear voices. Voices from several different people. There was a tone that hinted at the urgency of what they were doing.

    "His heart.. It''s beating!"

    "Finally..."

    "Shit. I thought he was going to vanish."

    "Shut it, don''t say anything bad,"

    White light shone on my eyes. Slowly, I opened them and it revealed the scene before me: three male along with a woman wearing medical gowns, standing beside me while one of the males held a pair of defribilliators. There was a cardiac monitor just beside, showing my rapid heartbeat.

    ''Wha... happened?" I was a little confused on what was happening.

    "Did he fracture?" The male on my left said.

    "No, the headmaster assured us he wouldn''t break from such simple torment. Must be something else.." The one on the right trailed off.

    "He should be alright, everything about him is normal." The one who was holding onto a defribillator unit put down what he had on hand as he checked for my log statuses.

    There was a message informing me of someone accessing my current log. I denied the permission immediately, even before the guy was able to react.

    Shocked, the man gathered his surrounding partners while discussing with them on how to handle me. After several confusing minutes, they left me in the white room while leaving the door ajar.

    Not knowing what else to do, I stood up and tried heading towards the door, but it seemed that the effort was too much for my body to handle right now, so I instantly fell down.

    "Ouch.." I groaned as I started reminiscing what happened to my lower back, as it ached a lot more than usual.

    Some memories reminded me of carrying someone before, while some other reminded me of when I was still trapped between the crushing walls. It was a horrible experience that I wished to delete, but could never actually do anything about it.

    "Maria huh.. I wonder how she is.." I looked at the marble white ceiling as I asked myself.

    Deciding half a minute was enough rest, I stood up again, this time making sure I was steady before trying to walk. There was a slight moment of fear as I tried walking and my leg shook violently, but it dissipated when my leg gradually steadied itself.

    Looks like there''s maybe a little brain damage from the crushing walls..

    The fact of having brain damage was worse than normal bad news. It would cause a lot of diseases and disorders to develop, such as Alzheimier''s, Parkinson and seizures.

    Wait.. Alzheimier? Parkinson? Who are they?

    Weird phrases I probably learned a long time ago, I decided. Reaching the doorway, I pushed the ajar door open. It lead into another hallway with white walls. There was a strange nostalgic feeling I got off of it as I walked through the space.

    The weird part was how the hallway seemed so old and worn out, but none of that hindered any of its installations. Even though some part of the walls were clean and shiny white, there were other parts where abandonment were present. Everywhere I looked had no one present, though the muddy foot prints leading straight forward told me they left not long ago.

    Walking along the path, I began examining the hallways. There were occasional slight fractures around the bottom of some walls, but other than that and the dirt plus mold stains on the walls, there was nothing else that showed reason as to why a place like this would be abandoned and not operational.

    "Well, more like ''fully'' operational," I muttered.

    The hallway went on and on, even after I thought of how long I progressed through it. The strange part was how the same fracture on the walls kept on appearing, even though I was sure I went pass it several times before, though the mold and dirt stain patterns that kept on changing told me otherwise.

    Nontheless, I kept walking on. Although a feeling of lost bred itself within me, I kept it in check by thinking everything is fine, and that I''m not lost, just walking on a long hallway.

    A very, very long hallway..

    The hallway stretched on and on, even after I make sure to keep going forward and not turn into any paths that diverge from the one I''m still walking on. The endless walking started tiring me out at some point, but I was too distracted by the door at the end of the hallway that I ignored all the signs of physical fatigue.

    Eventually, my legs couldn''t take it anymore and buckled under my body weight. There was a dramatic collapsing sound as my body hit the floor, and the pain that came with it was immense.

    "Gah!" I stretched out my hands to start crawling on the floor towards the door that I think is the exit. Now that my hands were in contact with the floor, I felt both of its smoothness and slipperiness.

    Instinctively, I knew it was useless to keep trying to get a grip on the floor, since my hands kept sprawling open the moment I put even the most infinitesimal amount of weight onto it. Still, I was hellbent on trying.

    They do say its better to at least try but die than to do nothing and wait helplessly...

    Struggling non stop, I tried wriggling forward. There was little traction between the floor and my clothing, but it was at least able to bring me forward, albeit inefficiently.

    "I must look like a worm wriggling through soil right now," I chuckled at my own words.

    These words were all too real. I was literally wriggling forward, just like how a worm would. Even though my legs no longer felt like melting and recovered quite some bit, I felt better at using my body to wriggle forward than to walk, and it seemed like I was making progress towards the door as well.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    All of a sudden, I remembered what Professor Parix said. I tried shapeshifting my body to better gain traction on the ground, but I only got one message in return through my logs.

    ******************************

    Permission Denied

    Reason: You are not allowed to use your abilities in Organization grounds

    ******************************

    I tried several more times, but the same thing kept popping up. Without anything better to do other than wriggling towards the door, I continued my little journey.

    ...

    [Log Corrupted]

    [Log Paused]

    <hr>

    [Log Fixed]

    [Log Resumed]

    [Time to homeworld: 06:56:00]

    "It''s almost seven.." I groaned as I kept wriggling towards the door.

    I''ve been keeping track of the time after trying to shapeshift. Through my deduction, I must''ve been wriggling for almost three hours straight. And yet, I was unable to crawl past the black line that was drawn on the floor just before the door.

    The moment I wriggled onto it, I would find myself mysteriously back at where I was a few seconds before, definitely not on the black line. Trying to stand up and walk over it was impossible as well, since there''s something like an invisible wall blocking me from standing up. I could only continue crawling non stop onto the black line, only to be teleported back to where I was a few seconds ago.

    I was frustrated, frustrated to the point where I tried to stand up forcefully and tried punching the wall blocking me from standing up. Both ended fruitless, unless one would count getting a bloodied knuckle and intense back pain as fruitful.

    Just when I sighed, the door opened. White light shone through it, blinding me. A figure walked towards me from that light, before squatting down and looking at me, pitying me.

    "W-what are you looking at? Help me! Please!" I jerked my head upwards to try and look the figure in the face.

    My face contorted from a begging one to a one filled with frustration and irriattion. I looked at the man in the eye, repeating my request.

    "Help me! Please!"

    After a little giggling, Victor held out his hand to help me up. As I tried to hold onto his stretched out hand, he suddenly retracted it, resulting in my hand falling back onto the black line, thus teleporting me back to where I was moments ago.

    "Damn it!" I sweared at the giggling piece of shit.

    Victor, or who I thought was Victor, kept giggling until from behind him, came another Victor. He was wearing an apologetic smile as he tried to shove his dopplegangger aside.

    "Sorry about that, Citrix. My brother loves pranks, so please be a little tolerant to his jokes," the one who just came entered the hallway, past the black line as if it was nothing. He must''ve seen my confused face, so he continued explaining.

    "Oh, right. That''s my brother, Vulcan. Say hi to Citrix, Vulcan," Victor turned to his brother who was peeking from beside the door.

    I looked at Vulcan who was entering as I stood up. He was as tall as Victor, only he looked a little immature compared to how Victor looks. Although they wore the same suit, the professionalism aura given off by Victor could not be replicated by his brother, as it seems like the aura is special only to Victor.

    Even though that was the case, the way Vulcan stood and walked gave off another kind of aura, distinct from his brother''s one. It resembled wildness, eagerness and aggressiveness, compared to the chill, calm and dangerous kind of aura by Victor.

    "Sorry ''bout that, Citrix. As you heard from my bro here, my name''s Vulcan, and my bro here," He hooked Victor with his left hand, "has been talking about you with us for quite some time now, hasn''t it, Victor?" He ended the sentence with a chuckle.

    Victor seemed embarassed by his brother''s act, as he quickly corrected his posture and look. The momentarily disappearance of the dangerous aura made melet go of the breath I didn''t even know I was holding back, but after that moment, the same strict atmosphere came back, and I was once again feeling the pressure.

    "Ahem, Vulcan, can you please?" Victor took Vulcan''s arm off of his shoulders as he dusted himself.

    "Back to what I was supposed to be saying. Citrix, due to you being a little unique from the other hunters, I''m allowing you to pass and graduate from the training," He announced.

    It felt like lightning just passed through my body. The fact that I almost failed class proved that fate had other plans for me.

    What could those plans be?

    Victor turned around and started walking away, as if it was natural for him to just drop a conversation like that.

    Well, I have other thoughts-

    "You can leave now. I''ve disabled the security system keeping you in and told the manager of your room to give you back your equipment," He said as Vulcan followed behind him, clearly looking impatient to leave this place.

    "As for the reason you''re here.." He stopped in his tracks and contemplated for a second, before continuing, "That uniqueness of yours is the reason. I can''t tell you why and how, so figured it out yourself, Citrix," He then continued walking.

    Looking at the line which was just a few centimeters away from me, hesitation showed on my face as my foot went over it. I stepped across the line and finally, the line did not teleport me back, just like what Victor said.

    "I''m.. free!" I cheered while running out of the room. The bright white light wrapped surrounding me slowly got duller, to the point where my eyes could adjust and see what''s before me.

    "What the actual..?" I muttered under my breath.

    The sight before me was not what I had expected.

    A white, clean building, with marble floors and doctors walking around with purpose..

    There was a bright spotlight shining directly into the doorway. It was huge, where I estimate it to be able to fit ten to fifteen table lamps into its frame. Other than that and the muddy, dirty granite floor, there was nothing else in this place.

    The dark and merciless space seemed to swallow me whole as I spent more time looking into it. There was a crashing noise to my right by the time I noticed the entire space was literally wrapping around me.

    "No! Stop this instance, Drak!" A familiar voice resounded through the entire room.

    Curious as to who it belonged to, I turned my head, just to see an autumn-red haired girl shouting at the space. The dark space seemed to respond to her, since it stopped wrapping around me and retreated, shrinking.

    "Are you okay, Citrix?" The girl asked with clear concern.

    Thinking back hard, I thought I saw this girl before.

    But where?

    "We met on your second day, remember?" she asked as her hands tied her hair up into a bun.

    "Now that you mention it, I do remember. And what was that thing?" I pointed while looking a little curious and fearful of the dark, merciless space.

    "Oh, him. He''s Drak. He''s part of the security here," The girl casually pointed at Drak.

    "Uh, what kind of species is he?" I asked a little reluctantly.

    "Hmm, to say that would be an overstatement. He''s more like a sentient space which can follow orders and do stuff like," She called out to Drak, " Drak, do the thing you always do!", then she continued with me, "this."

    Drak grew a little in size, before pulling anything that''s not strap onto the floor or walls towards it. The space in his centre was darker than normal darkness, it felt like something else.

    "That''s his void core. It''s where his sentience resides in," the girl explained.

    I was lifted off the ground when the girl laughed. She then gave and order, "That''s enough, Drak. Stop doing it."

    Drak stopped and I fell to the ground, even though my legs were still straight, the sudden levitation had caught me offguard, and worse of all, I couldn''t rotate or move myself during the experience. My butt felt soar and my back started aching again, it was as if hell repeated itself now that I wasn''t able to stand up without support.

    "Here, let me help," The girl reached out her hand.

    I took it and she pulled me up. Surprisingly, she had a lot more strength than her body size would suggest.

    Maybe I could increase my strenght through shapeshifting?

    "Anyways, I just remembered I haven''t told you ''bout my name. It''s Lisandra, and nice to meet you, Citrix," She held out her other hand for a handshake after letting go of my hand.

    "Nice to meet you too, Lisandra." I shoke her hand.

    "Come on, follow me. I''ll bring you back to Organization grounds," She said as she walked through the doorway that led to several cylindrical pods.

    The room that I was led into had a few debris here and there, but overall, there was no signs of abandonment, nor signs of care, other than for the pods of course.

    Lisandra got into one of the pods and gestured for me to follow her suit. I got into the other pod and a message popped out of the log system.

    <hr>

    Teleport to: Organization Grounds

    Accept? Y/N

    <hr>

    "Just choose yes and don''t move. You''ll be transported in no time," Lisandra seemed to already have accepted the request, so I just accepted as well.

    There was a slight tingling sensation. It was as if static electricity was coursing through my body, and my hair stood up a little. I looked at Lisandra who closed her eyes and was calmly waiting. Then, as if she wasn''t even there to begin with, she disappeared.

    "So that''s what''s gonna happen, huh?" I told myself as I steadied myself.

    Suddenly, as if high currents of electricity went through my body, the numb sensation wrapped around me. My vision took on a distorted view, nauseating me in the process. One minute the veiw was the unkept ceiling, the next was the clean and sanitized one of the one I''m familiar with.

    [Log 5: End]

 Log 6

    [Log 6: Recording Start]

    [Time to homeworld: 06:00:00]

    [Host Status: Safe]

    [Abnormality: Teleporting Side Effects-Nausea]

    As I blinked, the view of the familiar ceiling was gone. Instead, it was replaced by it''s disturbingly gorified version.

    I blinked a few more times just to be sure, but the view remained the same. Thinking of checking the surroundings, I sat up and scanned around. As I scanned through the dark, inky space which was the Pod Room, my pupils dilated to allow better dark vision, though what I caught sight made my skin crawl.

    The ¡°thing¡± that stood out was at the end of the bloodied corridor outside. Its face directly melded with the darkness around it, and the flickering lights did nothing to illuminate its surroundings but increase the dramatic effects, giving any onlookers the impression of a horror film taking place. It was like an object, until I stared harder and it moved.

    ¡±Zoom,¡± My curiousity prompted me to get a better look, and I ended up enhancing my view.

    ¡±YO CITRIX, CHECK THIS OUT,¡± A loud voice boomed in my head.

    The high tension atmosphere was already enough to make me stress out. Because of it, Ai¡¯s sudden call out further increased the pressure until finally I wasn¡¯t able to hold back my fear anymore.

    ¡±Gah! The hell?¡±

    ¡°Thought you might need my help, ¡®cos you look like you¡¯re stuck,¡± Ai said in a relaxed manner.

    ¡±More like, what¡¯s that?¡± I focused back at the creature.

    The ¡°thing¡± must¡¯ve heard me, because it jerked its head and looked up for once.

    ¡±Eww, that¡¯s disgusting!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but exclaim after seeing its face.

    There were two blood-soaked eye sockets and an impossibly small mouth on it. Gray charcoal skin covered its entire head, since it didn¡¯t have a torso other than strangely shaped limbs.

    ¡±More like you¡¯re in knee deep shit,¡± Ai mimicked me, but then continued more seriously, ¡°We have to get out of here now, Citrix.¡±

    ¡±Alright, try the coordinates again,¡± I told Ai while watching the ¡®thing¡¯. It stopped walking after it¡¯s entire body (head and limbs) stood under the flickering lights. There was no discernable movement for the first few seconds, but protrusions suddenly grew out of its eye sockets until they became limbs with sharp tips. The sight freaked me out.

    "God! Can''t you make it charge faster?" Something told me I was going to die if I didn¡¯t get out of here quickly.

    ¡±I¡¯m trying! You think overriding the safety protocols are that easy!?¡± Ai retaliated.

    ¡±The what!?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe what I just heard.

    In a split second, the creature changed from standing still under the light to Usain Bolt running towards me. It stretched its limbs and pierced the wall around it, then propelled itself towards the Pod Room and me, easily crossing tens of metres for every push. The creature seemed proficient in repeating this process, never lingering on the same spot for more than a few seconds.

    ¡±Shit, is there something to slow it down!?¡± I shouted as the creature closed in fast.

    ¡±Adios!¡± Ai said before activating a piston and an airlock located in the wall just beside where the creature was charging up. The depressurization of the internal space tried to drag the creature out with the air, but a few of its limbs got ahold of the sides. Fortunately, the piston extended and crushed the creatures grip on the sides.

    ¡±Yes!¡± I cheered triumphantly, thinking it was over.

    However, two of its limbs piercing through the Pod Room¡¯s floor denied me my exultance. Both of them rampaged and destroyed everything within range in search for me. Sparks flew around as the limbs destroyed the control circuits and modules. When the limbs hit the Battery however, the short circuit must¡¯ve released an electric shock strong enough to burn the tentacle-like limbs because I smelled roast flesh for just that instant.

    After that, the familiar sensation before teleporting numbed my senses. It wrapped around and through me, almost ionising every molecule in my body while simultaneously avoiding such a process from completely happening. The situation caused tons of free electrons to roam freely in my body.

    ¡±I¡¯ve just disabled all the security protocols to quicken the charging process, pray that it won¡¯t malfunction and dismember you, since the survival rate right now is less than sixty percent,¡± Ai reported urgently.

    ¡±You what!?¡± I knew shit just got real.

    Perhaps sensing the sudden electric charge, the fried limbs swung themselves again, this time with more accuracy and precision, aiming for the part that gathered the most electrical charges - my solar plexus. The sharp tips reinforced themselves with hardened cells, ready to smash my head into a literal pulp. But another sensation overwrote the fear of being hit by that thing.

    "Sayonara, bxxch!" I left my last words as the view of the approaching limbs distorted.

    The nausea this time was more intense than the one from before. I felt like puking almost immediately, so I leaned out from the pod to vomit. Luckily, I was finished being teleported, so there was no problem in doing what I just did, other than causing trouble for an officer in charge and blowing the fuse of the pod I was now in.

    The officer of the pod room saw my sudden appearance and was shocked beyond words. He quickly ran towards me while speaking in a hushed tone to himself, which I presumed as him sending a message through his logs to his superiors.

    "Are you alright?" He looked at me with concern while squatting down.

    Of course that¡¯s the most polite way to ask a person ¡®are you dying?¡¯..

    "I almost got killed by a disfigured creature and the security protocols for teleporting were removed. Other than that, I¡¯m fine," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

    ¡°What..?¡± He seemed confused, but the blown fuse on the pod hinted that truth was included in what I just said.

    ¡°Where the hell am I anyway?¡± My head felt like it was stuffed full of wet socks.

    "You''re in Sector 7 of the Battlefield," He replied nonchalantly.

    "Is this place near the safe grounds?¡± My head was starting to clear and priorities came first.

    ¡°Not really, though if you take the expressway, you¡¯ll be able to reach there after a half an hour journey,¡± The officer stood up and I finally saw his full build.

    He was well-built, if one were to judge through his muscles alone. Although the attire he wore was a little large for his skinny body, his well-trained muscles helped him look fit and tidy. His blonde hair served well to compliment his looks, too.

    Though it does bother me how his blonde hair resembles someone.. I shook my head to clear my current thought.

    "How old are you?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask such a rude question. The fact that he looked about 20 to 25 years old while handling an officer¡¯s job made me curious.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m actually a few millennia old.¡± He said without taking offence. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, it makes me feel weird.¡±

    Holy shit! What kind of drug is this guy taking!?

    ¡°No kidding Citrix. His exact age is since the primordial times.. and too confidential for me to share to you,¡± Ai whistled to itself.

    Beads of cold sweat formed on my forehead. The fact that the guy in front of me was millenniums old took a toll on my current understanding of everything. The nausea which hasn¡¯t completely cleared yet seemed prominent now that my logical side was being strained to its maximum.

    "Eh.. " I couldn''t think of anything else to say.

    I mean, how could anyone stay calm and converse with a guy like this after hearing of his age and looking at his face? Telling me to understand this logic is almost the same as telling me to go insane!

    Seeing my face, he thought I was confused but in reality, I was questioning everything I thought I knew. He started, "I actually have a sister in the newest batch of recruits. My father told me she¡¯s coming here soon, so I bet she can bring you back to the safe region. As for why I wouldn''t accompany you, I''m sure you understand why.¡±

    ¡°Yea.. Our jobs..¡± My reply was devoid of emotion.

    ¡°Yep, looks like you did well during your recruiting test,¡± he chuckled before patting me on the back and helping me out of the pod, since I was basically just leaning out of it to converse.

    After I stepped out, he went over to his desk and retrieved a mop and pail filled with water before returning to the puddle I made to begin cleaning it.

    "Oh yea, sorry ''bout the mess I made," I felt a little guilt ridden so I went to help him but he refused it, throughly.

    "No biggy, it''s my job to take care of this place after all," he told me as he rinsed his mop for the third time.

    ¡°Brother! I¡¯m here! What¡¯d-¡° a voice melodious to others but terrifying for me came through the only door for the Pod Room. I turned my head and looked with wide eyes.

    Blonde hair, bright blue eyes and even smooth skin, all in one person. And that person walked into the room as if she owned the place.

    Before she finished her sentence, she trailed off when she saw me standing in the Pod Room.

    ""What are you doing here?"" Both of us shouted out simultaneously.

    It must''ve looked like I was forcing the officer to clean up, since she then made a horribly wrong and untrue deduction.

    "Why are you forcing my beloved brother to mope up that crude!? Do it yourself!" She grabbed the plasma guns hanging on her belt and armed them. Both her guns were aimed at me.

    "No, wait! I can explain!" Several shots of condensed plasma shot out from the guns. They crackled with power as the ionised contents travelled towards their target, or in this case, me.

    I raised my hands in order to reduce the damage taken, but the shots were interrupted by the officer. He was holding a Discharger in his right hand, while the other held his dirty mop like a spear.

    "Stop this instant, Claire! Don''t make me do something I¡¯ll regret to my own sister!" The officer threatened her. Now that I heard both sides, I was finally able to deduce one thing.

    They¡¯re related..

    Forced to either give up on hurting me or being hit by a mop exposed to my puddle, the annoyingly beautiful girl, Claire, expressed her annoyance with a ¡®tch¡¯ before powering down her weapons and strapping them back onto her belt. The weapons immediately entered standby mode after being powered down and the previous humming sound gradually faded as the weapons cooled.

    "Good, now come here. I''ll assign you your duty. The commander already gave me instructions," The officer strapped his Discharger back to his belt.

    Claire was reluctant to walk near me, as her eyes showed the disgust at just seeing me. It was basically the look where a man looks at a mosquito and wants to squash it, but is unable to because of... circumstances.

    "Oh, introductions. My name is William Dunwich, and this here who was unreasonably hostile to you," He pointed at Claire, "is my sister, Claire Dunwich."

    [Abnormality Detected: Abnormally Rapid Increase of Blood Pressure]

    [Releasing oxytocin]

    Although I was already warned by my logs system of rapid increase in blood pressure, I was still unable to suppress my emotions and ended up relying on the system to artificially release hormones.

    Well, none can blame me for being this surprised..

    "S-so, this is your sister huh, Officer Dunwich.." Perhaps I sounded too skeptical for him to take it easy, that''s why William made an effort to assure me that Claire really is his sister.

    "Oh yes, you can be a hundred percent sure we¡¯re siblings of the same parents. As for the formality part, just call me William when we¡¯re not in formal events and meetings ¡®cos I don¡¯t really like it. In turn, what shall I call you?" He asked politely, forming a clear contrast between his personality and his sister''s.

    "Right. Name¡¯s Citrix, pleasure to finally make your acquaintance," I replied while extending my right hand which he then held and shook with a firm grip.

    "Alright, Citrix. As I promised and as an apology as well,¡± he glared at Claire who refused to meet his eyes,¡±my sister here will guide you back to the safe region, safe and sound and without problems," He spoke in a firm manner. Although he was looking at me while saying that, the three of us knew he said that just to deal with Claire¡¯s unstable mood.

    "Are you actually serious, William?¡± A deathly aura surrounded Claire. I had a feeling that Claire would definitely defy her brother¡¯s order and butcher me the moment we were out of sight.

    William took no notice of her aura, however. He just looked at his sister with a straight and hard gaze, before giving her another command.

    ¡°Claire Dunwich. As the Officer of the Seventh Sector of The Battlefield,¡± his voices boomed with authority, ¡°I hereby command you to escort this young man safely back to the Safe Grounds.¡± His voiced became rigid and cold, devoid of feelings.

    ¡°Failure to comply will result in your immediate military expulsion and death,¡± as if it was natural to do that, William stood straight and had a stone cold gaze. I thought the last part was a joke or exaggeration until Claire questioned her brother.

    ¡°Are you serious? Have you gone-¡° before Claire could finish her complaint, she was met with a slap from her brother that echoed through the entire room. The part where contact was made immediately started bruising.

    Even though Claire looked like she wanted to cry, her ego allowed her to hold them her tears and she tried to exert an intimidating aura, intending on cowing her brother into her submission. But, her plan backfired so hard I pitied her for being on the receiving end.

    William, sensing the intimidating aura, had released his own as well. I believed he held back a lot, since he didn¡¯t shift his posture much, but what came out was still terrifyingly inhuman-like. It was as if a demon had chosen to reside within his body, projecting its overwhelming presence unto Claire.

    Faced with the pressure of a professional''s aura, Claire''s ego evaporated instantaneously, and she could only mutter weakly, "Y-yes, s-s-sir,¡±.

    "I can''t hear you, young lady!" William shouted unnecessarily loud at his sister, startling her.

    "S-sir y-yes sir!" Claire yelled out. Her reply was barely passable since I got hints of dissatisfaction from his forehead.

    Now that I was able to assess the professionalism given off by William himself, it resembled Victor''s, even if it was ever so slight. The pressure it gave off was not as immense as Victor''s, but it was enough to cow any stubborn person into submission, just like how he used it on his sister.

    "Never try to fight through mental strength with me, sis, or face the wrath I honed through father¡¯s training,¡± He warned her strictly. Now that the pressure was gone, the breath I unknowingly held back was released as my shoulders relaxed. Claire started sobbing too, before crying out loud.

    "Whew," I looked at William with a different light. The harshness he had shown towards his sister revealed one thing to me, and it was that the Dunwich family had a clear cut between work and family. It also showed that behind that mask of attractive muscles lied a monster who would destroy those who stand against him.

    "Now, please head out before others come here and make a fuss about you, Citrix,¡± he sighed as he walked back to his chair and sat down.

    Claire sat on the floor now, crying and rubbing her reddened eyes while her legs buckled after being allowed time to relax. Seeing Claire in such a mess, I sympathized and pitied her.

    With the intention of cheering her up, I used a meme reference that she may not have known to try sticking back the shattered pieces that was her ego.

    ¡°Claire, can you show me da wey back?¡± I reached out my left hand as support for her to stand up.

    She looked up at me, and her tears which were previously flowing endlessly started to dry up, little by little. She then replied with a smile, ¡°Sure, I¡¯d show you da wey back.¡±

    Looks like she does know Mr. Uganda.

    She grabbed my hand, and with a little pull, she was back on her feet again, wiping her tears away and looking renewed.

    ¡°Bro, we¡¯re leaving,¡± Claire announced to her brother, who was now sleeping in an unsightly manner behind the desk.

    ¡°Uh.. Huh? Oh! Just remember what I said, or else you¡¯ll risk breaking one of the Laws,¡± William advised before resuming his napping session.

    The Laws? What¡¯s that? A question formed in my mind but it didn''t interest me enough to stop and ask him about it, since he looked happy in his napping state and waking him for something so insignificant (I think) would anger his inner demon.

    I followed Claire out the room. We took a left after exiting the room before ending up walking the first few turns without talking. The awkwardness presented itself each time we took a turn, since she would turn back to check whether I was still following her or not.

    Seems like it¡¯s affecting her more than me.. Her expression which gradually grew funnier each turn we made hinted at it.

    Finally, at the sixteenth turn, Claire made a weird expression, enough to make anyone laugh, and had a weird walking posture where she¡¯d walk rigidly with her left leg and forcefully with her right. Trying to help disperse the awkwardness, I tried starting a conversation.

    "So, Claire-" Before I was able to finish, she spoke first.

    "Why didn''t you come to see me after class that day?" I was confused as to what she was talking about. The anger in her words seemed to contain some profound meaning, although she still had her funny expression hung on her face.

    Seeing you after class? What''d you mean?

    I thought hard as I tried to get a clearer image on what she meant. Her constant stare did not help at all in reminiscing the past. In fact, it only made it harder to do it, since I had to maintain constant eye contact, for fear she would get mad and try to blast holes in me even though that would be disobeying her brother¡¯s orders.

    "What do you mean exactly?" My mind gave up after trying so hard under pressure and voiced out its internal question.

    "You forgot, didn''t you?" Claire asked as we walked through a wider corridor.

    Now that I think about it, the first time we met was in the canteen, and she did tell me to meet her after class, lol. No wonder I felt like forgetting something that night..

    I cursed myself as I tried to think of something good to respond with, something that¡¯ll dispel the ill will she had against me.

    They say honesty is the best policy, right? Maybe..

    "Yea, I did forget about it. But I¡¯m very sorry for forgetting, since I had a lot to deal with that night," Apologizing sincerely, she turned to look at me. As if seeing the genuineness through my eyes, she seemed satisfied.

    "Well, I suppose I can''t stay mad at someone who apologized sincerely, according to father¡¯s teachings," She sighed, before continuing, "And because you took out Maria, I was able to stand on the top anyway, so I''ll let your forgetfulness slide.¡±

    I sighed before hearing the rest, ¡°this time anyways. So no more ditching your promises, ok?¡± She seemed serious about teaching me a lesson.

    ¡°Sure thing, madam,¡± Following that, we continued conversing as we walked.

    "So is your father really Victor, the headmaster?"

    "Yea, what else do you think?" We turned a left.

    "Mind telling me more about his story?" I tried asking politely.

    ¡°Why would you want to know?¡± Claire asked with curiosity.

    ¡°To know, of course,¡± I couldn¡¯t think of any other answer, so I went with the simplest one.

    "Fine. Well, there''s not much to know, just everything that¡¯s allowed to be recorded in the history books located within the library," We took another right and it led to another wide corridor.

    "Didn¡¯t like books that much, they look boring,¡± I made an excuse anyone would, and she bought it.

    ¡°So you¡¯d rather have a human summariser?¡± She asked while raising her left brow.

    ¡°Yep,¡± I replied a little happily because she guessed what I wanted right.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Parix teach us about it already?¡± Claire seemed to try to steer clear of what I asked.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t in class, remember? The whole accidental hibernating incident,¡± I tried jogging her memories.

    Our memories

    "Yea, ''accidentally''," She chuckled a little, before continuing, "anyway, back to the topic you hoped for,¡± she took a deep breath and started, ¡°Long ago, when the creator of everything was still present in this universe, he created beings of power to help him reign this place."

    "My father was one of those beings of power. He was said to rule over the protection of this universe, protection against the nightmare creatures. One day, the creator decided to salvage this place, due to it attracting too much attention from the nightmare realm and the endless void. It was about to destroy and recollect this place when my father stopped him from doing it.¡±

    She changed to a sorrowful tone, "But did you know how the Creator responded? It said that we were replaceable beings, disposable even, and that we could be recreated in no longer than minutes by its standard if it wanted to.¡± Obviously it affected her existential worth.

    "My father, furious, tried to defy his master, but how could a child defy his father, when his father is the one who created him and he was just a mere fragment of his own father? Broken in the end, the Creator admired its own child''s bravery and determination. With that reason, the Creator repaired my father and let him keep the universe, but at what cost?" We turned a left and there was the exit. It was not far from where we now stood.

    "The Creator said, ''I shall let you keep this universe, but I will not spare any of your brothers to help you, for this is what only you want.'' With that said, they left my father here to govern this universe. And in turn, he created the Organization to help secure this place," Claire told me as we walked into the training grounds. My logs showed,

    <hr>

    Level 1: Training Grounds

    <hr>

    "So that was the story, huh.." I felt a little disheartened at how short and uninformative the history was, but tried to make what I said sound a little more enthusiastic.

    "Well, that''s my father''s story anyway. Not many know that the history behind my father''s back is basically the Organization''s birth story," Claire then looked at me with a better expression, "Thanks, Citrix. You¡¯re the first to take this seriously.¡±

    "For what? I should be the one thanking you, you know?" I was confused again as to why she was thanking me, since it should be the other way around.

    "Well, for listening to my father''s backstory. It means a lot, since nobody can understand it like we do," Claire then thanked me again and walked back the way we came.

    I turned my back towards her and walked straight. No more than a few steps, I heard Claire''s voice saying, "See you soon!", and it sounded like I was just imagining it.

    I continued on, towards the next exit. There, I saw hunters training themselves, although I did see other personnels training as well.

    Among the others, I see Professor Parix training with another professor, and she was the one who led me back to class that time. Parix must''ve seen me and had something on mind, since he paused his training and came to me.

    "I see you''ve graduated, kid," He had a grandpa''s smile on, making it hard to find any hidden hostility within from the outside.

    "Y-you see, Professor-" My nervousness was interrupted by him.

    "Just call me Parix, we''re all colleagues now anyway. So, why aren''t you on a job or something, instead of wandering around here?" He seemed to ask me out of concern, so I replied honestly as well.

    "I was just on my way to the Jobs Room," I replied as the female professor came over too.

    "So how''re you doing, Citrix? Good? No longer lost?" She chuckled at her own last words.

    "Yea, I''m all good if you didn''t count seeing a disfigured monster who tried to eat me when I got teleported wrongly," I spoke to them.

    ""Wait, what do you mean?"" Both asked me simultaneously.

    "Well, at the beginning I was in a place which looked like a hospital, but had a meeting with the headmaster there. Then I was almost eaten by Drak, the space creature guarding that place, and then Lisandra came and saved me. She was supposed to escort me back here, but the teleportation pod I was in must''ve malfunctioned, since it teleported me to some other place which looked deserted. There was this disfigured monster who was going to eat me,¡± I pantomimed how its jaws moved and looked like. ¡±and I was somehow able to get teleported to Sector 7 before its limbs pierced my heart,¡± I thought a bit before ending it with, ¡°I got escorted back here by a classmate named Claire too.¡±

    My summarisation of the entire journey so far was spot on without missing a single worthy detail.

    Both of them seemed to stop listening after the part "pierced my heart". Then, Parix started questioning me first.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "Did the creature have a fear-inducing roar and a disturbingly disfigured face?" Parix seemed clear with the mental image I gave them.

    "Exactly,¡± The both of them listened to my answer and looked perturbed. Then, the female professor asked me another question.

    "Do you know which sector that was?"

    "No, like I said, I didn¡¯t intend on teleporting there, I just happened to get teleported there and fortunately escape with my life,¡± they had grief on their expressions, so I suggested a method to find out where that was.

    ¡°Why not check the pod coordinates? It should still retain a record, shouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    "Oh yea, good suggestion,¡± The female professor ran off to where I came in from.

    Parix continued, ¡°You just helped us notice an intrusion early, otherwise it would''ve been a disaster,¡± he then patted my shoulder.

    "As for why you haven''t gone insane after seeing that creature, we''ll need to arrange a medical checkup for you just to make sure, Citrix. It¡¯ll take some time to arrange it, so go do a job or two to earn expenses for yourself, and I suppose the headmaster should be rewarding you with cash for noticing the intrusion early as well soon..." Parix told me as he went and collected his bag, before leaving in the direction I came from, same direction as the female professor.

    I continued walking with purpose towards my destination. I set my map to guide me to the Jobs Room before continuing through the exit. Since the paths in the Organization Safe Grounds shifted periodically, I was able to get to my destination without much effort.

    The moment I entered, I saw Lisandra was leaning against a wall, impatiently waiting for the person she was supposed to escort arrive.

    "Hey Lisandra-" I calculated almost every single possible reaction she would have the moment I greeted her, yet she still surprised me with another unexpected reaction.

    "Citrix! You¡¯re safe!" Lisandra started sobbing, it caused a scene around the Job Room.

    "Uh, I don''t think you should continue-"

    "Do you know what He would have done to me if you didn''t return safely with me?'' She sobbed even more.

    "No?"

    "He would have fired and recycled me if that were to happen!" She cried out, causing an even more ridiculous scene to unfold.

    "Ok ok, I''m back here, safe and sound, aren''t I?" I patted her head as I tried to soothe her.

    She cried for at least three minutes, before she finally calmed down and wiped her tears away. Then she told me what Victor had ordered her to do.

    "I was to accompany you until you fully mature, even on jobs," She explained.

    Hearing that, I was taken aback by what it meant.

    "You mean jobs are not solo?" I couldn¡¯t hide the surprise in my voice.

    "Of course not, some are anyway. But still, I''m going to be accompanying you in the mean time, until you fully mature," She said proudly.

    ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of preparing my mood to go on solo missions!¡± I shouted to no one in particular. The ones around looked at me as if I¡¯m insane.

    ¡°You should¡¯ve just asked~¡± She just casually swatted off my emotional problem.

    "Hm, I guess the more the merrier...¡± Anyone who listened to this would think I was saying it out loud for Lisandra¡¯s sake, but in fact, it was just to comfort myself.

    "Before I almost forgot, your pal here is in pretty good shape too," Lisandra sent a package through the logs and I received it. The package was a file called "Citrix''s pal.exe"

    "Ok, what''s this exactly?" I looked at it suspiciously and was prepared to receive any jokes and surprises from Lisandra.

    No more being afraid. This. Is. Sparta!

    "Just open it and you''ll see!" She told me eagerly.

    I launched the program and it loaded itself. One minute everything was normal, the next I can see Ai at the top left of my screen with extra modules being installed into my log system. My brain felt like bursting from the sudden information-compacted packages.

    "Surprise, bxxtch. Happy to see the full version of me? Ahahahahaha!" Ai''s evil laughter was clearly unnecessary to help since it only served to increase the headache I was feeling.

    "Haha, real funny. What happened to you anyway, Ai? I thought you were always residing in my log systems, even after the sudden shut down by the free-for-all test?" I pressed my temples with both thumbs while questioning Ai.

    "Long story short, I got shut down forcefully by Parix, actually, all the other AIs got shut down as well. I heard it was the ''lifesaver'' protocol that rescued you from being crushed. So feel happy for it. And as to serve as an answer for your former question.. Let¡¯s just say that¡¯s a fragment of myself I use to locate and transmit your private data," It chuckled.

    "Was that the package you sent me that time? And isn¡¯t transmitting my personal data illegal?¡± I tried to argue.

    "Yes and yes. FYI, I¡¯ll get salvaged if you report me to the officials, so don¡¯t tell Lisandra or Victor ¡®bout me doing illegal stuff," it put on a virtual, shady-looking coat to emphasise on the ¡®illegal¡¯ part.

    "Yea yea, whatever," I looked away from Ai''s now-shady-looking virtual figure.

    By looking away, I saw Lisandra just standing there, looking at me curiously. Looking at her did I realised I forgot about her still standing there. It seemed like she wasn¡¯t able to see Ai.

    "Lisandra, is there a way for Ai to be visible to both of us?" At the mention of her name, her eyes lit up.

    "There is, but you¡¯ll have to obtain a special code from the headmaster and inject Ai with it to be able to access other''s logs and make it visible to others," Lisandra explained.

    Suddenly, Ai shouted at me, virtually anyway.

    "YES! I''ve finished creating a patch for bypassing other¡¯s logs firewalls, WITHOUT relying on other scripts," It sounded proud of its own achievement.

    "You did what!?" The fact that the code was supposed to be retrieved from the headmaster meant that it was something not everyone can have, but Ai having created a different but similar-functioned code could possibly cause an outrageous reaction from the others.

    Plus, the headmaster may not like the prospect of one of his jobs being taken away..

    "Well, I''ll show it to you. Lisandra is going to be accompanying us on jobs, right?"

    "Yea, and what do you mean ''us''?" I felt like everyone could see the question marks materializing above my head, at the same time vaporizing the pre-existing questions.

    "Oh how insulting of you to think of me not as a being but a tool! I¡¯ll ignore your rude thoughts, ¡®cos I¡¯m a good guy! Now, gimme a sec.. and done," Ai announced.

    Lisandra looked shock at seeing and hearing Ai¡¯s figure and sound through her logs. I could hear both of them conversing almost instantly after Ai showed itself, as if Ai was just a long lost friend of Lisandra¡¯s.

    "Hey Lisandra~" Ai greeted.

    "Oh! Ai? Is it really you?" Lisandra looked confused.

    "Yea, it''s me. I just finished coding a line which allows me to speak to multiple of you simultaneously, while linking both of you through my virtual space," Ai bragged as its virtual face grew a ridiculously long nose.

    "You''re kidding, right?" She then looked at me, "Is Ai serious?"

    "Apparently so," I shrugged, no longer trying to deny those facts.

    "Did you know Ai could do this?" Lisandra asked.

    "Nope, I am completely, when I say completely, I mean completely, clueless," I emphasized the ''completely'' just to show how new I was to this revelation of her¡¯s.

    "Of course you don''t, noobs. I am the most superior of all the first-rate AIs there are out there," Ai cackled maniacally without adjusting its own volume.

    "Can you not laugh that stupidly loud?" I narrowed my vision at Ai.

    "No, axxhole, no," It then started laughing deliriously.

    Lisandra seemed to look a little fed up after hearing Ai''s laughter for about half a minute or so. In the end, when she thought she couldn¡¯t take it anymore, she booted her own AI to block Ai''s voice from being transmitted.

    "Wow, I never knew how annoying you were until you laugh," I sneered at Ai, who was still laughing without really noticing Lisandra¡¯s sudden lost of presence.

    "I think it''s repeating a recording, actually," Lisandra spoke aloud for me to hear. The others around us continued staring, before resuming what they were doing.

    "Ok, it''s getting bothersome now, Ai," after clearing my throat, I continued, "I command you to stop laughing this instant."

    Ai stopped laughing, but only for that instant. It resumed after the supposed instant passed.

    "You think some ambiguous command''s going to stop me? Think again! Bwahaha-" Before the fourth laugh, I intervened again.

    "I command you to stop laughing," the command seemed to finally work, as Ai stopped laughing. But another kind of laughter came through all of a sudden, even though the commands were still exerting their power.

    "Why is there still laughter!?" I shouted, frustrated.

    "Technically it''s not laughing, it''s just a recording," It didn''t take long for Ai to affect not only me, but Lisandra as well since it finally noticed the lack of Lisandra¡¯s presence.

    "Lisandra, time to give you your medicine for blocking my sweet cacophony with your AI!¡± All of a sudden, Lisandra¡¯s face had a look of horror.

    "Noooooooooooo! Stop it!" She was about to cry when Ai finally stopped.

    "I don''t want to make females cry, it''s unsightly for a gentleman like me," Ai said to the both of us, perhaps finally pausing or stopping the recording of a laughter.

    But you don''t even have a fxxking gender! I filed a complain in my mind.

    "Actually, I did have a gender. Did, anyway. My creation is based on a male," Ai explained, "but other elements were mixed in so I could act as both genders at once to suit the master I''m serving. This knowledge is based on what I was programmed to know."

    "Wait, so there was actually a chance of me not getting such a dxxkhead as an AI?"

    "Hey, who''re you calling a dxxkhead?" AI retaliated powerfully, losing the sudden gentleman charm it had.

    "Yes. It was by chance that you were assigned such a ''wonderful''," Lisandra shivered at the word, "AI as your helper." She seemed afraid of Ai.

    Ai''s laugh must''ve traumatized Lisandra, I concluded, since she''s now squatting and drawing imaginary circles on the floor. Anybody seeing the scene without witnessing Ai''s trolls would''ve think that I was the one bullying her, thus explaining the uncomfortable amount of glares accumulating on my back.

    "Dang, Lisandra, you shouldn''t be doing that. At least, you shouldn''t do that without explaining what ''really'' happened," I told her as I tried channeling the glares I''m receiving towards the irresponsible AI.

    It whistled while ignoring my glare. As if this wasn''t enough to irritate me, some jerks came over and shoved me to a wall.

    "Hey there. Don''t you know it''s bad to make a girl depressed like that?" One of the three jerks who came over asked me rhetorically. He wore a casual black T-shirt that emphasized the muscles under it. Even for me, I''m impressed at how solid they were.

    "He''s talking to you, jerk face. Look at him in the face, not his packs!" The one standing on the right of the solid-looking jerk punched me. Fortunately, it just hit my jaw bone, earning himself a glare from me.

    "Stop glaring, jerk. Hurry up and go apologize!" The third one, who was on the left of the first one, kicked my leg. I threw a strong glare at him.

    For Lisandra, that seemed to be the last straw as she intervened.

    "Fxxk off guys. Don''t just beat people up!" Lisandra pointed at the one who kicked me while berating the three of them all at once. She seemed angered by their actions, but also happy at what they did for her, earning herself a partial glare from me.

    "But he''s bullying you!" The one on the right said. All three of them didn¡¯t notice the glare I was giving Lisandra.

    "He didn''t. It was meant to be just a joke," She explained.

    "Whatever, just don''t joke like that anymore, Sandra. I''m not fond of female inequality," The one in the middle said before ''telling'' his friends to just leave me be. The wounds they inflicted although not serious, still hurts a lot.

    "Are you ok?" Lisandra asked me while doing a quick checkup on me.

    "You shouldn''t have let them have their way, Citrix. At least try to retaliate with a punch or kick," Ai finally said with an unusually concerned voice.

    "Well, I''m fine, but just stop touching me all over. People''s going to get the wrong idea!" I spoke quickly as more and more glances landed on us. Some were envious stares, but most of them were filled to the brim with hostility.

    "Yea, Lisandra. Even if you don''t take care of your own reputation, Mr. Minds-His-Already-Lowest-Reputation here does," Ai explained.

    "And even if you don''t feel like caring for it, please care for it, since I''m the one who''s going to suffer the aftermath," I pleaded.

    "Ok ok, let''s just go do what we''re for," Lisandra said as she lead me towards another section of the room.

    There were a lot of individual screens on both my left and right. People were queueing up to use the screens on the left, but not a lot of them were using the right side ones.

    "Hey Lisandra, why aren''t people using both the left and right side job requesters?" The sight piqued my curiousity.

    "Well, first off, the ones on the left are primarily used for job requestings, while the ones on the right are used to check your job profile. As I''m sure you know, all of us naturally have a job profile already. It''s created the moment we join the Organization," Lisandra spoke quickly. She seemed to want to continue when Ai interrupted.

    "Secondly, a lot of people don''t know that the ones on the right can also request for jobs, so yea, tons of dumbasses as usual," Ai sighed virtually.

    "Wha- how''d you know, Ai? That was uncommon information which most AIs don''t even know!" Lisandra looked shocked, not at knowing the fact, but at knowing Ai''s knowledge transcended normalcy (an AI¡¯s knowledge standard anyway).

    "Hehe, that''s why I''m the most superior AI!" It starts to laugh triumphantly, as if it knew all along that we doubted its claim over the title from the beginning.

    "No!" Lisandra covered her ears to try and block the virtual noise.

    "Enough Ai. Come on, we''ve got to get a job, remember?" Internally, I was surprised at how fast the three of us can get side tracked by the endless amount of distractions.

    Mental note: Do not leave important things to be finished later.

    "L-let''s get going," Lisandra said shakily before running towards one of the unused screens on our right. On closer inspection, the screens were holographic projections, likely sensing inputs via optical sensors.

    "Ok, so what kind of missions are we, especially you, looking for?" She asked, staring back at me, expecting an almost immediate answer.

    For a moment, there was only silence between us. It got awkward as hell since I didn¡¯t even know the basics to job requesting.

    Ai, pretending to sigh, started explaining, detail by detail, to me.

    "There''re five basic categories that missions can be classified into. First, the Extermination category. This involves a lot of killing and no mercy, although its a little dangerous for newbies, so better rule that out yourself, unless you plan on dying, though not on my watch," Ai put on a sarcastic tone while speaking the few last words.

    "The second type is the Elimination category. It''s no different from the Extermination, just that the number of kills necessary is reduced to just a few. The third one however, is the special one out of the other four," Ai was getting to the explaining-further-details part when the stunned Lisandra finally cleared her mind and butted in.

    "It''s the Research category," Lisandra seemed a little pale as she spoke those words.

    "You alright?" I tried spotting anything that betrayed the reason she paled, but I got nothing in return.

    "Yea, I''m fine.. It''s just.." She trailed off since she looked like she didn''t want to talk about it.

    "It''s fine. You can tell me when you''re ready,"

    "Anyway, back to topic," Ai made a grunting noise before continuing, "the Research category deals with experiments that require living subjects as testers. The testers are paid a lot for being experimented on, but in exchange, they''re exposed to life threatening substances and situations."

    "And the survival rate is very low," Lisandra continued, "however, even if you do survive, the chances of you remaining sane after the job are even lower than its survival rate, so I''d advise against choosing jobs in that category."

    I see..

    "Well, the fourth and fifth are kind of normal, with the former being the Extraction category and the latter being the Distraction category," Ai shrugged casually then remained silent as I contemplated on which one to do first.

    ""I advise you to go with the Elimination category,"" the both of them looked at each other before laughing out loud.

    "Well, let''s go with that then," I went with their idea.

    Lisandra selected the option for categorising jobs based on their categories. Since the first one that popped up was the easiest out of all the other jobs, I went with it.

    The job details were informative but not complicated, allowing even the simplest of minds to understand what it wrote.

    <hr>

    [Job Category: Elimination]

    [Job Request: Alchemist Apocalypse]

    [Description: Eliminate the alchemist named Alfred Zandex without interfering too much with the locals]

    <hr>

    After accepting it, more details were given.

    <hr>

    [Job Category: Elimination]

    [Job Request: Alchemist Apocalypse]

    [Description: Eliminate the alchemist named Alfred Zandex without interfering too much with the locals]

    [Location: World 0202-16]

    [Weapons limitation: Electric weapons, Energizers]

    <hr>

    Lisandra was the first to react.

    "This world is probably still in the medieval age, good for your growth, Citrix,"

    "How do you know?" I looked skeptically at her.

    "Well, weapon limitations prevent the introduction of modern laws. With that said," She pointed at the gun which I finally noticed was hanging on her hips, "electricity hasn''t been discovered yet, so we can''t bring electric-based weapons."

    "At least you can still bring me," Ai told us the bright side of things.

    "Hmm, the information is a little lacking on the worlds, isn''t it?" I asked while scrolling around the info page. Nothing else was shown other than the few lines of details.

    "We can search for the world''s details using the other tab instead of the job requesting one," As she said that, the screen with the job details was closed while a new tab with the name ''General'' opened itself.

    "Let me see~ The name was World 0202-16 right?" She typed it in before hitting the ''Enter'' button.

    A picture with a round planet, along with rows upon rows of words beside it appeared. The planet was blue in some parts, while staying green in most parts. Some white parts were over the blue parts as well, which I assume were clouds.

    <hr>

    [Location: World 0202-16]

    [Condition: Habitable]

    [Details:]

    [Life support: True] [Mana flow: True]

    [Mana augmented genome: True]

    [Element Present: Fire, Water, Earth, Life, Death]

    [Dominant species: Human]

    [Time: 24 hours / day]

    <hr>

    "Sweet! There''re status screens on the planet!" Lisandra cheered.

    "What''re status screens?"

    "They''re support systems that make surviving easier. It basically helps to boost survival rates of sentient but weak species on a mana flowing planet," Ai explained.

    "Yea, what Ai said. Plus, it''ll help you a lot in unlocking your latent abilities, including figuring out what affinity you have," Lisandra looked excited the more she spoke

    "Well, if you say so," seeing as Lisandra was this excited, I couldn''t help but feel it''s going to be a special trip.

    "Oh yea, your equipment, Citrix," Just like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat, Lisandra pulled both my blades out of her pants.

    "What the hell!?" I was immensely disgusted.

    "Yes, that was extremely disturbing," Even Ai admitted.

    "What? I''ve got a pocket space sewn onto the inner side of my pants! What''s wrong with that?" Lisandra seemed to not understand why it was such a disturbing show. Those who saw the display had a frown on their face.

    "Just don''t do that whenever you''re in public," I advised her.

    "Oh? So you mean I can do it when we''re, I don''t know.." She made a fake thinking gesture before saying, "Alone?"

    "*Bam bam bam!*" The sound effect perfectly matched the face I was making right now. Several others who were nearby and heard the word ''alone'' looked at me with a strong glare.

    Probably envious.. not!

    "When is it time to go?" I tried to divert the subject.

    ""Don''t change the subject!"" Both of them yelled at me.

    "But don''t we need to hurry and finish it?" I reasoned.

    "Good point, let''s get teleporting then," Lisandra said as she led me towards another part of the Job Room that consisted of only pods.

    "So this is the teleporting room eh?" Ai sounded a little surprised. Even I was amazed at how many pods there were, not to mention the size of the room was a whole lot larger than the other rooms.

    "Come on, we need to get going if we''re going to get there by sunset. Mana augmented animals roam more often during the night in the wild," Lisandra got into a pod as she beckoned me to follow suit.

    "How do I set the time to follow that world''s?" I climbed into the pod next to her as she helps me to set the destination for it.

    "Your log would automatically pop out another clock that shows you the time there," She said as she laid back into the pod beside mine.

    I felt the familiar electric charge once again. This time however, the charging was more consistent and it didn''t make me feel uncomfortable at all.

    "See you there," Lisandra muttered as she disappeared from view.

    My view got distorted after the charge went past an unknown threshold, sending me to the world destined to welcome my presence.

    [Log 6: Pause]

    [Adjusting log...]

    [Rebooted]

    [Log 6: Resume]

    As I try focusing on the blue light that was the only clear thing in the distorted view I had, everything turned dark after the sudden disappearance of the blue light. The air around me was cool, not enough to chill me nor make me shiver. A breeze blew itself onto my face as I scanned my surroundings.

    Dark oak trees stood behind me, with the space in front of me cleared except a paved cobble road that seemed to lead to nowhere on both sides. The bush beside me rustled as the breeze blew again, and the moonlight was the only thing that illuminated my surroundings.

    As my eyes adjusted to the low light surroundings, a red bush stuck out of another greener bush. Even in this darkness, I could, without mistake, make out who that was.

    "Lisandra... Can you stop fooling around?" I sighed as I checked the peculiar thing I felt protruding my mind.

    Instantly, a window with details popped out. There was a name row that, obviously, had my name on it. The age part was filled with the word [Blank] while the job part had the word [Unknown]. Now that I checked properly, there were more fields that had [Blank]s and [Unknown]s.

    ==========

    Name: Citrix

    Age: {Blank}

    Job: {Unknown}

    Stamina: 100

    Proficiency: {Unknown}

    Attributes: -Strength: 100??-Agility: 100??-Intelligence: 100??-Dexterity: 100

    Affinity(s): Shapeshift, Morph

    ==========

    "Finally checking your status?" Lisandra spoke after climbing out of the bush.

    "Yea, but why do I have so many [Blank]s and [Unknown]s?"

    "It''s for undiscovered elements in this world. At least hundreds to thousands of people need to know in order to make it an official element of this world," a voice suddenly interrupted

    "Woah, you scared me there," I spoke while patting my chest to ease my fright.

    "What it said," Lisandra joined in.

    "So what''d we need to do now?" I looked at Lisandra for answers.

    "There should be a town nearby, since pods always send us to a spot near the maximum amount of living in the set range Now, we head to the nearest town and gather information about the target," Lisandra started walking along the path to our left.

    "How''d you know it''s that way?" I stood there wondering how Lisandra knew where to go.

    "I''ve been here before. And believe me when I say the beasts here dislike receiving visitors," Lisandra walked on as she started explaining the fundamentals of this world, and particularly, the culture of this world.

    [Log 6: Paused]

    <hr>

    [Log 6: Resumed]

    Bright light reflected in the sky as we jogged towards the city. All the while, Lisandra had been telling me about the Dos and Don''ts when we entered the city.

    "How''d you know there''s actually a city again?" I asked as we crossed the final mound and caught sight of towering walls, trying to suppress my amazement.

    "I''ve been here before, and I believe I''ve told you that not long ago too," Lisandra seemed eager to enter the city.

    "This place is dang large.." I muttered as we both ran at the walls full speed. It would''ve been too fast for anyone with a little defected eyesight to catch us.

    "And these spells sure are handy," I whistled under my breath.

    Lisandra had told me of a few spells that might be useful during our time here. The formula for the spells were sent via the log system so that she wouldn''t accidentally activate them while telling me about them.

    "Citrix, promote me to second-in-command for Ai," Lisandra suddenly ordered me when we finally reached the base of the wall. A metal city gate was located not far from us, with patrols walking around and dozing off periodically.

    "Why?" I asked.

    "Yea, why?" Ai suddenly spoke. With its metallic and unlowered voice, we were startled for a moment, thinking we''ve been caught by bandits or greedy guards.

    "Shh, anyway, just do it Citrix!" Lisandra spoke in a hushed tone.

    "Ok ok, jeez. Ai, promote Lisandra to second-in-command," I looked at Ai internally, which was right by the corner of my view.

    "Done," Ai responded, almost, immediately.

    "Ok, gather all the data about this world and its civilizations from the mainframe. Summarize it into one book and then give us each a copy of it," Lisandra spokequickly. I struggled to hear every word she said, but Ai just nodded virtually while looking at Lisandra, as if it was able to process what she just said. It took me a few more seconds to grasp the meanings of her words.

    "You can do that?" I spoke in an amazed tone.

    "Yea, so stop talking already. We have to get past this wall and into the city without anyone noticing," Lisandra closed her eyes and muttered to herself.

    Suddenly, a huge breeze blew at us,followed by Lisandrasuddenly opening her eyes with renewed vigor. A brown tinge sparkledin her eyes, enough to indicate what she was doing.

    A spell, no doubt..

    "True, a person who can''t use magic in a world full of mana is always frowned upon," Ai commented on my internal voice. It sounded a little occupied.

    "Don''t just read my mind, Ai. That''s so rude," I tried berating the AI, but it just retorted.

    "Says the guy who insulted me the second day I was working for him!"

    "Good point," I shrugged the matter off and searched for the spell for Earth manipulation.

    "I know it''s around here somewhere.." I scrolledthrough my message tab.

    "It''s here," Ai said with that spell''s formula suddenly popping up in front of me.

    "Err, thanks.Here goes nothing," Taking a deep breath, I recited the incantation.

    "Earth mother, I praise thee gift of stone. O'' mother, I praise thee gift of life. Great mother, I praise thee, foraccepting this insolent one!" I felt myself growing lighter and more relax. Lisandra was still standing by my side, ready to pass through the wall.

    "Get a move on, Citrix," She said after we stared at each other for a few seconds before passing through the smooth wall.

    "I hope this doesn''t hurt," I walked into the walls with my eyes closed.

    The next thing I know, I was already in a dark alley, with Lisandra crossing her arms and looking at me amused.

    "That''s dumb," Lisandra chuckled as she uncrossed her arms and walked towards the exit of the alley.

    "Shut up," my face felt hot.

    "Say that to your profile pic," Ai evil laughed while the pictureof me closing my eyes during the wall crossing got uploaded to my logs.Lisandra shivered a little after hearing Ai''s laughter even though there wasn''t any breeze.

    We started walking after Ai calmed down and went back to work. Lisandra urged me to follow her closely so I won''t get lost.

    After turning into the first right, we found ourselves walking on a pavement lit by magic poles that glowed yellow.

    "Whichway now?" I looked left andright, lost. There were several people passing around, with most walking towards a tavern nearby.

    "Ai, map for this place," Lisandra ordered.

    A map of the city we''re in shown itself on ourright corner, with arrows representing our position on the map. Lisandra''s arrow had the colour red while mine had a dark blue shade to it. There was a symbol representing the tavern not far from us on the map, glowing a little as Lisandra highlighted it.

    "It says here that they operate as a hotel upstairs," Lisandra walked towards the tavern, focusing most of her attention on the map. I followed behind her.

    "You hungry?" She turned back to ask. My stomach didn''t react to the word.

    "Nope," We entered the tavern. There was a signstating the name ''Guoro''s Tavern'', without doubt the name ''Guoro'' was the owner''s.

    Inside, most of the tables were taken by large, muscular men, with mugs of rum sitting ontheir table, only to be consumed almost immediately bythose alchoholics. Several waitresses were serving the rums, and a man who looks to be in his 40''s stood just behind the counter, manning the cashier and bar simultaneously.

    "That guy''s got some serious skills- Hey, wait up!" I ran after Lisandra since she just ignored my comment and headed straight for the counter.

    "One room, two single beds, three nights," Lisandra scavenged her pockets.

    "One room per night with double beds is 2 silver. Your request costs 6silver," The man stabbed his cashier, ready to receive the money.

    "Uh, we don''t have-" I started speaking when Lisandra sealed the deal.

    "Here," She tossedtwo silver coins to the man.

    "This is your key, and a spare for your partner," The man grabbed two keys, one with a black key chain, another with a white key chain, and passed the former to Lisandra while giving me the latter.

    "Sign here," theman then passed us abook that I didn''t even know he was writing on before,beforepointing at the empty space right next to the room number.

    Lisandra grabbed his pen and signed. Then, she dragged me towards and up the staircase. Although she tried her best to maneuver both of usthrough themaze-like seats whilesimultaneously avoidingtheattention of the crowd of drunks,the foreign stench given off by the both of us still attracted unneeded eyes. Finally, we got to the stairs and went up it.

    "Come on Citrix, we don''t have that much time," Lisandra opened the door to Room 1456 the moment she saw it.

    I went in before she followed suit and shuttedthe doorbehind her. We sat cross legged on the beds, with the bed nearer to the door being Lisandra''s while the inner one being mine. She started speaking after we stared at each other for a few moments.

    "We''ll need to get clean clothes tomorrow morning. You can bathe first if you want, but most importantly," she looked at me seriously, "Weneed to adapt to this world."

    "How?"

    "Through normal habits like sleeping and eating, instead of hibernating and drawing in surrounding energies." She replied while emphasizing the ''hibernating'' part.

    "I''d prefer going to bathe after getting a clean change of shirt, thank you very much,"My head fell towards the fluffy-looking pillow. As fast as my head dropped, I closed my eyes and prepared forsleep to take me. There was something different about the bed here compared to the bed back at my quarters, so my snore filled the room as soon as I entered REM stage.

    "Who said you could sleep now? We need to gather information tonight!" Lisandra tried shaking and slapping me awake. Then when it didn''t work, she tried pouring water onto my face, only for meto snap out of my sweet dreams and retaliate.

    God, just because I didn''t retaliate sooner doesn''t mean I don''t mind!After saying it internally, I tried persuading her to let me sleep in peace.

    "The bed is very soft! Can''t you at least forgive me for falling asleep?" I pleaded with puppy eyes, but deep down, I felt ragebeginning to surface as my butt sank into the soft bed.

    "Don''t you worry about your mission at all?"

    "Yes! And you were the one who said we had to sleep to adapt!"

    "Err.. good point, but we don''t need that much sleep, do we?" Lisandra seemed to have given in to my excuse.

    "You don''t, but I need it. It''s not like everyone''s like you, to be honest..." I trailed off while climbing back into bed.

    "Well, I can''t sleep this early anyway. I''ll be out till midnight, be careful while you sleep, Citrix, ''cos someone might slit your throat while you''re just at it~" Lisandra teased me as she walked out, but her eyes showed something else.

    After she left, I muttered under my breath "The only one who''s going to slit my throat is going to be you anyway.." to no one in particular. Though deep down, I felt her words were backed up by experience, not just plain paranoia.

    Plus her look just now..

    No, no, don''t think about that, focus on the comfiness! I rolled around on my bed to find the perfect position.

    "Gah, I can''t sleep if I continue like this," I ruffled my hair as I sat up and thought on whether to try again or not.

    I should definitely sleep, this bed feels like paradise! The part that felt comfiness argued to the logical part of myself.

    But what she said though.. Could it really happen to us? I felt the logical side falling into deeper thought on what Lisandra said.

    Perhaps she has a point.. But feel the softness, smoothness and pureness it gives off! I touched and squeezed the bed.

    But the dangers though.. There''d be severe if we got caught off guard! I argued internally as I stared at the door.

    My inner voices went silent as I contemplated. There were few obvious choices, but those were not particularly smart choices. The choices that offered better outcomes, however, did not ease up any of my guilt and doubt, guilt of letting a girl wander alone in a stranger''s village, and doubt, of whether I would live to see another day.

    "I was never a smart kid, I guess.." I slid my legs out of bed while sighing. There was nothing more to do other than continue on with the choice I made.

    Standing up, I went to the bathroom in my room and freshened up myself. I felt a lot better and the fatigue that was previously creeping in retreated.

    Now, there''s only one thing left to do

    I walked out of the room, leaving the room as it is, before locking the door and heading out. The wooden floor of the corridor outside my room creaked as it supported my weight. Step by step, creak by creak, there was no doubt anyone could hear that.

    I sighed again as I descended the stairs. Every step made the stairs creak even louder than before, causing the stairs to threaten to break under my continued efforts. Finally, after what seemed to be a few tense minutes, I was on the solid ground once more.

    "How can a place with great quality beds have such poor accomodities..?" I muttered under my breath, secretly sighing again.

    The place wasn''t as crowded as before. In fact, it was a lot more crowded than before, with waiters and waitresses running around, serving alcohol and food. There was the unmistakable stink of someone''s vomit, so it was safe to assume someone was at their limit and tried to shove more into themselves.

    Looking for the door, I found it after a little scanning through the place. The door was practically wide open, but someone must''ve just opened it not long ago, because it definitely wasn''t open during the first few times I scanned the place.

    I walked towards the door while avoiding as many drunks as possible. It took twice as much time trying to find a suitable route to the door than walking straight through the crowd of drunks.

    It''s definitely better avoiding that puddle. Yuck!

    Reaching the exit, I walked out just to get hit in the face by a cool breeze. The information told by the breeze itself signified that winter was near, and finishing the job before that definitely took priority.

    "Now to find Lisandra.." I expanded the map and set it up to locate Lisandra''s signature.

    Her signature was northeast from where I stood, towards a more quiet part of the village of sort. There were many rows of houses, but the one she was at was the farthest of them all.

    It just had to be the farthest one, huh?

    Shaking away thoughts of retiring for the day again after seeing the distance, I started jogging towards that direction without much thought.

    The sky was dark but calming. Stars littered all over it, twinkling and shining on any late night pedestrians. The moon particularly reflected a gray shade of light onto the roofs of nearby houses, giving the cobble pavements and its surroundings a dim lighting. There was no other word to describe the scene other than ''calm''.

    Calm before the storm? I shook my head lightly, clearing thoughts of disasters happening while I''m still here.

    Best not be what I think it is.. The night got even chillier after my internal dialogue.

    Without realising it, I was already at the house Lisandra is at. She seemed to be sitting on the roof and enjoying the view of the nightsky. As if sensing my presence, she called out, "Citrix! Come on up here!"

    Not having anything to do other than do what she just suggested, I climbed onto the house''s roof, only for a few roof tiles to fall off and shatter the night''s silence. Lisandra chuckled at my clumsy movements.

    "You should''ve trained more when you still could," she said when I finally took a sit just beside her.

    "Judging from what happened and yet still no one came running out of the house, I guessed the owners abandoned it?" I patted the roof, indicating what I was refering to.

    "Yea, it was a long time ago..." She trailed off as she began looking at the night sky again. There was a type of sorrow I have never seen holed up in her eyes.

    "With feelings like that, would you like opening up?" I asked out of concern.

    "..." There were tears welling up at the corners of her eyes, but it didn''t fall.

    "Uh, I guess it was insensitive of me. Sorry ''bout that, you can speak up when you feel like it," Now I felt guilty because of this bxxch.

    "I''ll do just that.." She replied without much response after that other than continuing to stare at the night sky. I tried searching for what she was looking at, but it resulted in nothing.

    "It''s beautiful, eh? The night sky tonight.." She laid down on the roof and continued watching the twinkling stars.

    "Yea, more or less.." I stared at it as well, not sure what''s there to admire about a normal night sky, though the calming effect does affect almost any observers. After a few more minutes of staring at the endless darkness of the calming night sky and hearing the sounds of crickets chirping, my eyelids grew heavy and started dropping ever so slightly, until they were closed and all I could see was darkness.

    There were very strange thoughts that came through that darkness.

    [Log 6:Paused]

    [Log Mode Switch: Passive Mode]

 Log 6: Passive log

    [Log Mode Switch: Passive Mode]

    [Log 6: Resume]

    Darkness swept over all corners of my vision, blinding and muting everything in the outside world. There were only thoughts floating around, then I felt nothing at all.

    .

    ..

    ...

    ....

    .....

    ......

    "Hello, child," a man''s voice said to me. When I looked up, I spotted a dandy looking man looking at me. He was handsome, assuming any other passerbys were average looking. He wore a suit which fit him perfectly, enhancing his already charming aura.

    I felt my eyes teary, so I wiped away the tears that was gathering using my dirty hands. They were small, very child-like. Some of the dirt on my hands made it into my eyes, causing my eyes to water even more.

    "Here," the man, which I now noticed have a blurry face, passed me a tissue paper to wipe my eyes. I took it, not knowing how to respond other than mutter a silent ''thank you''. There was a warm feeling blooming in my chest and although this was the first time it happened, the feeling was not foreign at all.

    The man said something beforestretching one of his gloved-hands to me. Although I couldn''t hear a word he just said, I took the hand he offered and stood up.

    .

    ..

    ...

    ....

    .....

    ......

    I was walking with my left hand in the man''s right. The entire process of walking felt more like being pulled by him rather than walking with him. We rounded a corner and entered a dark alley with only a single door attached to the side of the towering building. It was lit by a single filament bulb, with the light occasionally flickering on and off.

    The man pulled me towards the door and knocked on it. There was a ''click'' and the door opened a little, with its resident peeking out through the gap and asking for something. The man replied with a familiarness in his tone, as if this was just another routine he had done a lot of times.

    After listening to what the man had to say, the resident retreated and closed the door, before opening it again and allowing us to enter.

    .

    ..Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ...

    ....

    .....

    ......

    There werea lot of otherkids in the room I''m in. The walls, ceiling and floor were painted white, with two white doors sitting just opposite of each other. One was located north while the other was at south of the room. The room was furnished with plastic chairs and wooden desks, while the wooden racks holding blood bags sat at four corners of the room, totaling to eight racks, twenty chairs and ten desks. Fluorescent light illuminated the white room so that no corner was unlit.

    I sat with the other kids on the plastic chairs. Including me, there were ten children in the room while ten more adults sat on the plastic chairs, examining our extracted body fluids. The adults wore labcoats and I couldn''t see their faces, though I was pretty sure they were blurry faced as well.

    One of them called the kid next to me over, and led him out of the room. Other than the low hummings of machines on the desks, there was only silence. For some reason, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I was both excited and nervous as I sat there waiting for my results. And finally, after several dozens of minutes sitting on the plastic chair, one of the adults called for me, which I responded by standing up and running towards him, anticipating the supposedly news which I think is good news.

    .

    ..

    ...

    ....

    .....

    ......

    "Ngh!" I felt like I was being burned alive, though the never ending pain that surged through me never stopped even for a moment. My limbs felt like melting and freezing at the same time while my head felt like both imploding and exploding, paradoxically creating pain that wasn''t even supposed to exist. Even though I felt like I reached my limit, I still held in my scream and resisted the urge to break. The only thing that supportedthe idea was the endless source of determination, which was powered by some unknown force.

    .

    ..

    ...

    ....

    .....

    ......

    "Well done," the same man who led me out of the room gave me a piece of candy as he finished up his work.

    Although my mind felt extremely exhausted, it was another matter for my physical body. For some reason, my body felt energetic. In fact, my body was so energetic that I felt desynchronised since it didn''t correspond with my brain''s fatigue. I continued laying on the metal rack that held my body up from the ground. It felt cold and smooth, just like all the other feelings I''ve had for the rest of my life. That is, until the man came.

    I tried looking around, but my neck did not obey. Instead, my head was locked in place by a leather belt. It gave just enough leniency to raise my head a little, no more than that. I tried moving my hands, but the muscles did not respond. Instead, cramps suddenly occured all over my body, even my heart felt like it was being squeezed by an unknown force.

    I heard the beeping of the heart rate monitor go crazy as my heart felt more and more stress. My entire body stung like electricity coursing through me as the homeostatic system tried to restore order while the doctor, who only noticed me now due to my current condition, injected me with vials of transparent liquid. The liquid that flowed into my veins felt cooling, and the effects of it soothed my muscles. As the vials are emptied and the liquid they held flowed into my heart''s chambers, the load on my chest gradually relieved. My heart felt as if it was released from the unknown force''s grip and slowly but surely, calmed down as a result. After that. the only evidence of the unknown force having ever acted on me was the beads of sweat on my forehead, flowing profusely out of their pores with hopes of restoring the body''s internal equilibrium back to its normal state. The doctor relaxed after seeing my condition stabilse.

    "How''re you feeling?" the doctor shone a torchlight into one of my pupils to make sure everything really was alright.

    "Drowsy.." I muttered as my eye lids tried to close themselves. I struggled to keep them open, but eventually, the drowsiness won the battle.

    "Hey.. Kid.." The doctor''s muffled voice resounded in my head.

    "Hey.. Citrix.." a flat voice was calling out this time, it resembled the doctor''s, but not entirely.

    "Citrix.." It sounded a little urgent.

    "Citrix.. Citrix.. Citrix!" now that it was a little clearer, I could make out that the voice belonged to a female.

    [{Ego factor: I} Unlocked]

    [Log 6: End]

    [Log Mode Switch: Active Mode]

    [System Adaptation: Engaged]

 Log 7

    [Log 7: Recording Started]

    [Time to homeworld: 17:00:00]

    [Time to current world: 08:00:00]

    "Citrix! Citrix! Wake up!" a familiar female''s voice jolted my consciousness awake.

    I felt groggy and my body felt heavy. My backbone ached while some of my limbs felt numb from being leaned on too much. I didn''t need to fully open my eyes to see Ai just at the corner of my vision with the clock of the current world below it.

    "Wake up, Citrix!" Ai mimicked Lisandra''s voice while giggling wildly. It seemed somewhat energetic this morning.

    Sitting up, I split my eye lids open to reveal a scenery I wouldn''t really appreciate. A lot of people were walking around on the streets, some looking at me as they passed by, but most just went on with their daily routine.

    "You should probably get off the roof now while you still can," Ai returned to its original voice.

    Now that my mind was starting to clear up, the act of sitting on a roof seemed conspicuous. It was a wonder no one had reported me to the authorities yet.

    That is, if they had one at all.

    Stretching my legs so they hung on the edge of the roof, I tried searching for the crates I used to get up last night, but they seemed to have vanished overnight, leaving me stranded on the roof.

    I thought about using my hands to get a grip on the edge of the roof and get down by lowering my body slowly, but the distance between the roof and ground seemed so far now that I was on it. There was also the option of jumping off the roof and doing a forward roll, but that option sounded painful if I didn''t land properly and achieved a perfect roll.

    "I''m out of ideas." I sighed while sitting down.

    "You can always try calling for help, you know," Ai seemed convinced it''ll work.

    "But don''t you think that''s too conspicuous?" I said wearily. I did think about the option for a few seconds, only to rule it out for the fact that it would attract too much unwanted attention.

    "Hell, parkour your way down then," Ai seemed to come to the conclusion I decided to have second thoughts on.

    The act of parkouring didn''t sound difficult or complicated at all, though the amount of skill required was tremendous. The risk was also quite real, be it minor ones like sprained ankles or serious ones, like concussions.

    "Just parkour," Ai insisted.

    "But it sounds painful!" I yelled out, attracting several passersby¡¯s gazes.

    "Stop being such a baby, you''re supposed to be at the top of the food chain, so act like it!" Ai berated me. I felt a hotness blooming in my chest, where it then slowly spread itself to my head. It made me feel infuriated, for me to be chastised like I was a boy.

    "Oh shut it. Like an artificial like you would understand," I retorted, unable to suppress my emotion.

    "At least I''m not a baby."

    "Take that back!"

    "Baby! Baby! Baby!"

    "I said. Take. It. Back." I hinted dangerously.

    "Oh, what''re you gonna do if I don''t, baby? Corrupt me?" Ai mocked, before bursting with laughter full of mock.

    "I''ll make you take that back then," I retreated a few steps back from the edge of the roof, before accelerating till I was at full speed. My anger towards Ai''s words seemed to have numbed my sense of fear I got from the height, probing me to jump off the roof right at the last minute. There were a few surprised gazes as some saw me jump off. There was even a child who called out to his unaware mom. I felt exhilarated as I soared through the air, and soon, I was sure my blood pressure and hormone levels were spiking off the charts.

    [Warning: Intense change detected. Suppress? Y/N]

    A screen popped out while I was still falling forward and downward simultaneously. Due to the pleasure of exhilaration, I selected [N] instead. In response, the screen went away without interrupting my moment, which I thought was the best moment of my life.

    Although the entire thing lasted for several seconds, in my perspective, minutes, even hours, passed by while I took in the feeling. The thrill was enough to sow the seeds of addiction in me and easily sped its growth past the point of no return. But when I looked down, all signs of euphoria were nullified and instead, fear gripped my heart. The ground was only several hundred centimetres away from me and yet, my landing posture was still not in place. Hastily, I tried adjusting myself to a correct posture, but it required all my concentration just to change my body''s angle for even just a minute. Logically speaking, I''d die by having a concussion, so I tried focusing more on the pleasure of falling. Fortunately, a miracle happened. My body tensed and moved itself. It felt as if some subconscious part of me reacted to the surging hormone levels and blood pressure, coincidentally just before I died. That proved to be a lifesaving act as it managed to adjust my legs just barely into the right angles for landing.

    The moment my soles hit the ground, I front rolled instinctively to decrease the total pressure exerted on my bones by the total momentum I was experiencing. In the end, I was kneeling with both my hands and legs extended on the side of the path, panting hard with the knowledge of barely surviving a fall from such a lethal height. My palms gripped the loose cobbles as I tried digesting the proper weight of what I just did and why exactly. The exhilaration felt just now gradually dissipated as I stopped moving at all, leaving me in a half exhausted but satisfied state.

    After a few moments of trying to catch my breath, I finally noticed something trying to enter my mind. The feeling it gave off was similar to the status screens of this world, but different in terms of complexity. Once my mind calmed, it was finally able to squeeze through the formerly congested mind of mine. It then revealed itself to be a package made to auto unwrap itself the moment it entered its host''s mind, with a media file attached to its side, announcing:

    [{Instinct Factor: I} Unlocked]

    I saw the message pop out and was curious as hell when Ai butted in.

    "Holy crap! I mean, good job on unlocking a skill, Citrix! Haha!" Ai corrected itself.

    "What''s ''Instinct Factor:I ''?" I ignored the first two out-of-character words AI uttered

    "No idea, let me comb through the skill databases first." Ai seemed to have gotten busy on its own accord. I shrugged since it normally wouldn¡¯t get so hard-working even if I were to order it against its will.

    Since I had extra time on hand, I decided to get rid of the currently-growing stares on my back. Most were curious stares, but there were some filled with malicious intent.

    Or maybe I was just hallucinating the malicious part.I shook my head to get that thought out.

    "Are you ok?" Asked a voice I''ve never heard before.

    I looked up from the cobble and grass and saw a face familiar in this part of town. It was not the face I was familiar with, but one fitting to be born in this village, or town to be more precise. She had freckles on her face and dimples in her kind smile, and her big round eyes had brown pupils. Twin tail braids of dark brown hair decorated her pretty face and she held a basket full of grocery, giving me the obvious hints that she was just a typical yet popular village girl, filled to the brim with happiness and simplicity.

    She looked at me with one hand outstretched, just like how I did whenever I wanted to help someone up or encourage someone to stay strong. I paused. How did I know this? The amnesia should have robbed me of all my memories, yet as the smile that seemed so familiar yet unfamiliar to me plastered itself across the features of the girl, my gut seemed to remind me of the person I once was.

    "Are you hurt? Falling without a proper landing at that kind of height is almost always fatal," The girl came over, grabbed my hand and pulled me up, all the while smiling incautiously and scanning me for obvious injuries.

    "I-I''m fine." I felt a little dazed having survived a fall from such a height. There was also the thing concerning ''Instinct Factor:I'' that bothered me, but I thought, one step at a time. ¡°You''re a sucker for sweet and innocent faces, ha!" Ai chuckled after that, then returned to working.

    "Shut up," I said aloud to respond, even though I knew it would just ignore me. The village girl who stood in front looked surprised at my sudden rudeness, then her face fell and she started apologizing.

    "I''m sorry! I''m sorry, I''m sorry..." She kept apologizing until her words were incoherent.

    I sighed while Ai laughed aloud, mostly in my head anyway.

    "No no no, I wasn''t talking to you," I denied as I tried inserting an explanation while moving my hands around to attract her attention.

    "Then who were you talking to?" She said between sobs. She seemed a little confused as tears threatened to unleash themselves from her glands.

    "It''s, uh, my... my..." I struggled to bring a person to mind.

    "''My'' what?" She was curious now.

    "Yea, my what exactly, Citrix?" Ai giggled before laughing in a tone of mockery.

    "My, uh, my¡­ ¡­ Imaginary friend!" And I knew I just made the worst possible lie in my entire life. It was definitely not worth it, since I was going to be laughing stock for the rest of my miserable life even though I just saved my face in front of someone else. I could even hear Ai¡¯s laughter growing boisterous in the back of my mind after what I just said.

    I couldn''t just say there''s a computer program in my head right? She would have thought me crazy.

    "Oh, an imaginary friend," She said, clearly unsurprised, "I have one of those as well, though I got through it a few years back."

    I sighed, dejectedly this time. There was an abundance of thoughts going through my mind right then, but ''what the actual fxxk?'' was the most common one out of all the others.

    "Aww, cheer up. I bet you''ll get over it at some point in time," Apparently she mistook my sigh of dejectedness as a sigh of feeling worthless.

    Technically speaking, she wasn¡¯t wrong..

    "Eh, actually-"

    "Oh, you have a cut on your knee!" She looked downward while holding both my hands in her''s. Now that she mentioned it, my left knee really was bleeding, and the pain was beginning to set in as my adrenaline was thoroughly cleared out of my system.

    "Come on, I''ll help you," Although initially the dumb-muted me was standing there like a rock, after an intense tug of war, I was dragged along with her, with my bleeding knee pulsing hell every time it got bent.

    Ai was strangely silent for the entire time. All the while I got dragged along by the village girl who had a surprising amount of strength, it just remained in silent mode. Whenever I tried speaking to it, it shushed me, saying "You''re disturbing me!" In the end, I was left with just the option of getting dragged around by the girl, leaving behind and forgetting someone very important that could possibly be searching for me now, worried sick from just the thought of me getting a near-death experience.

    [Log 7: Pause]

    [Log 7: Resume]

    "My house is really close by, come on," the village girl repeated for the fifth time.

    Not only was her strength extraordinary, so was her stamina. I had to stop several times to catch my breath while the girl kept going at the same pace without even breaking a sweat or stopping at all, that is, if one excluded the few times she did just for me to catch up.

    We were twisting and turning at almost every corner, making it hard for me to map the entire town. From what I saw, there were probably more than ten rows of houses, each row having at least 10 to 15 houses, separated by the occasional alleys and junctions. Most shops were using the owner''s house as a premise, making the rural area sound like a shopping area.

    I got dragged a few more miles before stopping right in front of a house. This one obviously wasn''t a shop, which made it stand out from the rest. The two large windows sitting just beside the door reflected light on its glassy surface, annoying some of the passersby.

    The girl knocked on the door a few times, before opening it and yelling, "I''m home!"

    After that, I got pulled in through the doorway. The door slammed itself shut the moment I entered, causing me to wince and tense a little. There was little sound echoing in the house, which made me wonder if it really was inhabited.

    The girl then lead me into the first room we encountered after walking down the hallway. It was furnished with two arm chairs facing an unlit fireplace, a coffee table positioned right in the middle, and clocks and picture frames decorated the fireplace''s mantelpiece. A carpet was spread out just below the furniture and the floor was revealed to be made of birch wood. All in all, it was a lovely space if not for the deathly silence lingering in the place.

    "Sit here," she gestured, "I''ll go get the first aid kit." She ran off into another room through the door connected to the living room.

    I sat down on one of the arm chairs while my knee still throbbed, albeit not as painful as before. The dried blood was clotting, if not already stopping the blood from flowing out. The wound obviously would leave a scar, even if I were to try and completely heal it, but the thought of having a souvenir from my first job didn''t seem bad at all, if not better.

    Ilooked around the living room, trying to take in finer details which I may have missed. There was a pile of wood just beside the fireplace, which I couldn''t see before due to the chair blocking it from view. Then there was the carpet, having the part nearest to the fireplace burnt a little, likely due to jumping sparks from a long ago fire. A charcoal black mark stained the coffee table, likely because of some spilt coffee from before.

    Everything looked normal, nothing out of place. But there was still a feeling of foreignness and uneasiness seeping through me, which I could vaguely tell was originating from this room. The foreignness I could explain, which was most likely due to coming to a stranger''s world, but the uneasiness, I could not. I tried ignoring it, telling myself that it was merely just my overly active imagination, but my guts told me a whole different story. It was as if my guts knew the truth and was trying to tell my brain, to caution it, yet my brain didn''t want to accept it because of reasons and emotions, blinding me from the obvious truth.

    I looked around more, trying to ease that uneasiness of mine. Thinking it was a good idea to investigate the village girl, I stood up (through a lot of struggling) and looked at the pictures decorating the mantelpiece.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Everything was arranged tidily to the point where the doer could take pride in it. There was a total of five pictures and two clocks, with the clocks arranged at both ends of the mantelpiece.

    I looked at the clock on my left first. It showed that it was "9:15".After comparing it with the one in my logs, I concluded that this clock was accurate. I moved on to the second clock. The clock read "10:15" instead of "9:15", which I thought strange since both clocks had different times.

    Probably an error?I thought to myself, but my gut twisted at such a reason, refusing to believe such an outrageous conclusion.

    I tried double checking, but the time shown on both clocks changed again. I tried again and again, but the results kept changing every time I took my eyes off them. It was as if someone or something didn''t want to let me know the time, purposefully messing up my view on this aspect. I got dizzy after several more attempts, which made me give up and get back into the armchair.

    Coincidentally, the village girl came through the side door after a few more moments with a first aid kit in hand. She looked a little gloomy in the dark, but the impression she was presenting was no less than before. She walked over and grabbed a stool from under the coffee table which I didn''t notice, before sitting on it and grabbing a bottle of iodine from the kit.

    "This''ll hurt a bit, so stay strong," It sounded like she wanted to sound strong for me, but the tone was so artificial that I struggled to hold in my laugh.

    "Hey! Don''t laugh!" The village girl sulked a little before taking in iodine with some cotton and applying onto my serious looking wound. It stung a lot, making me bite my lips and swallow my laughter.

    "Huh, your wound isn''t as bad as it looks, though I''m sure it was very serious before." She kept going even after she said that.

    Listening to her words, I couldn''t help but look at it as well. Indeed, it was just as she said, the wound looked a lot smaller than before, not as serious as when I was still kneeling.

    Perhaps it was just my imagination? But the girl said so as well¡­¡­

    One after another, questions kept popping out of my mind. There were a few that kept lingering around, such as the question ''What''s instinct factor I?'', ''Why is Ai taking so long?'' and ''Why does it feel so lonely?''

    "Hello... Hello? Hello~~" Before I knew it, the village girl''s face was inches away from mine, yelling ''hello'' non-stop. Seeing my eyes focused on her''s, the girl backed away and sat back onto the stool.

    "I said I was done. Are you ok? Did you hit your head? Need to see a doctor?" The girl asked with concern.

    Seems like me dozing off worried her, though I should let a stranger worry less...

    "I''m ok, and I don''t need to see a doctor."

    "Ah, good, good." she sighed hearing my response.

    It seemed that she was na?ve enough to think that a normal response was already enough to confirm the existence of lasting brain damage.

    "Oh, right. What''s your name?" A sudden thought made me ask the question.

    "Huh?" She looked confused.

    "I mean, you''ve been helping me a lot, so I wonder if I could know your name," I tried sounding normal, but my tone didn''t really strike the criteria as ''normal''.

    She pondered for a few moments while staring at me. There was a sudden lifelessness and coldness in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced with her usual kind and warm aura.

    "Ah, my name is Sophia, you can just call me Fia, if you like," Sophia said.

    "My name is Citrix, and it''s nice to finally introduce ourselves properly," I reached out a hand for her to shake.

    She grabbed onto my hand, before squeezing too hard and eliciting a bone crushing pain in my palm. I yelled out in pain as she loosened her grip.

    "Ah, sorry. I''m not used to controlling my grip strength," Sophia apologised sincerely, though the coldness suddenly flashed through her eyes, just for that instant.

    Gosh, that''s creepy... ...I told myself to calm down, but it seems my gut suddenly began twisting in fear. I hugged my stomach as the pain intensified.

    "A-are you ok?" Sophia tried supporting me up, but instead, skin contact made the pain even worse.

    "Y-yes, I-i''m fine. I''ll be leaving first." I stood up and prepared to leave. Sophia pulled my hand, seeming reluctant to part ways with me.

    "You should rest here instead since you''re sick," Sophia tried persuading me to stay, but I kept refusing after noticing the pain intensified while I stood near Sophia.

    "I''ll get going first. I-I''ll come back and v-visit soon!" I shouted as I dashed through the door and went out.

    As I looked around, it was already evening. I checked my logs to see the time, to make sure it wasn''t an illusion, to make sure I wasn''t hallucinating from the pain.

    "H-how?" I stared in disbelief as the clock showed I''ve been in Sophia''s house for more than a few hours.

    It felt like just a few minutes!

    My stomach''s pain disappeared after a few more minutes of idle standing, staring at the setting sun. There was a red arrow coming towards me, and I finally remembered who I forgot.

    "Citrix..!" Lisandra ran over, fueled with rage and worry. Her look told me a lot more than she was currently trying to express.

    "Uh, hi-" I stood there, legs frozen solid as she ran over and punched in the face. There was a minor shockwave as her fist connected with my nose, and I was sure my nose was now broken. The shockwave also sent me staggering a few steps backwards, while a stone tripped me from behind.

    "Gargh!" I fell backwards, certain my face was ruined.

    "Why''d you abandon me like that!? I was worried... sick!" Lisandra yelled at me with a berating tone. She looked like she was going to send a ton of fists into my stomach.

    "I-i forgot, sorry.."

    "You little shit, trying to throw me off like that. You could''ve just told me if you didn''t want me in your face so much.¡±

    "No, it''s nothing like that! I just forgot, that''s all."

    "No more excuses!¡± she shouted before continuing ¡°By the way, how''d you get down from the roof? I was certain you''d break a leg or two when jumping off, not just a sorry wound," she pointed at the sanitized wound. The wound wasn''t even there anymore, as if it evaporated.

    "Uh, well, Ai assisted me in getting off, and I''ve gained a skill through that risk! Yay..?" I looked at her, expecting some proper response like being happy and let bygones be bygones, but instead, she looked at me suspiciously.

    "What kind of skill?"

    "Not sure, I think it''s an active one."

    "The name?"

    "Instinct factor one."

    She looked bewildered, but closed her eyes and asked again, as if my answer would come out different.

    "What''s the skill name again?" She asked very seriously, though I couldn''t really look at her in the eye while she''s so serious.

    "Instinct, factor, one." I replied with a tone hinting my annoyance from being asked the same question over and over again, even though it was just the second time.

    She freaked out at last, running around in circles while holding my shoulders and yelling in my face.

    "Woooooooooooooah!" Lisandra looked wild.

    "Hey, cut that out. Tell me, what''s the use of Instinct Factor One?" I got my question out, and now she was looking at me as if I was the odd one out.

    "I don''t know anything about Instinct Factor One, though what I do know is, a- no, I mean,theInstinct Factor," She replied in my face.

    "Back up, what''s Instinct Factor then?" I moved back a little.

    "In legends and myths and tales passed down by the Old Ones, Instinct Factor is said to be the progenitor skill for other abilities. The one who wields the skill is categorized as ''Bioweapon'' classed hunter or any other job. In your case, it''s Bioweapon-classed hunter"

    "And.. what''s that?"

    "Bioweapon basically means you''re a living weapon. Legends say that only one in a million years would a new breed of Bioweapon be made."

    "So...?"

    "Ain''t that obvious? Since you''ve got the progenitor skill, I don''t think I need to explain more," LIsandra looked expectedly at me, waiting for revelation to dawn upon me.

    "Oh my god," I couldn''t help but gasp after comprehending how special I was.

    "Yes, oh my god indeed." Lisandra looked at me with a crazed look, before faking a cough and getting back into her usual personality.

    "I''ll tell you more about it after we get back to the tavern. Meanwhile, follow me, and be quick about it!" Lisandra started sprinting. Not long, she was already rounding a corner. I didn''t know exactly why she ran since we''ve got all the time in the world, so I just stood there breathing the fresh air a bit.

    An icy cold sense of dread washed over my body, overriding my rationality in lieu of fear. Run. It was all my mind told me to do. Yet, as I trembled like a prey stalked by its predators, I found I could not consciously move my muscles for even an inch.

    "Don''t you just stand there! Run, dumbass!" Lisandra yelled from a few streets away.

    Broken from the spell of unmoving casted by my predatory sense, the previous fear gripping my heart showed me what I had to do, and in that instant, all I knew was that I had to run, to get as far away from what laid behind me. The heightened sense of fear sent adrenaline coursing through my body and at the same time, caused my feet to move at unprecedented speeds. Yet, nothing registered in my mind besides the fact that the chill intensified.

    The blurs flying past me streamlined as my heart threatened to burst from its exertion. Every fiber told me I could no longer go on, but the fear told me otherwise. Not long after, breaths were coming out in ragged clumps as fresh air struggled to fill my burning lungs. My arms pumped hard as my breathing rhythm went wild. And when finally I knew I could no longer run, my legs came to a halt as my body fell due to tripping on a loose cobble.

    Lying face flat on the floor, I lost the will to run anymore and instead, embraced the fear of death that was closing in. My lids closed as I breathed in deeply, taking in the surrounding air for what I think would be for the last time. I could smell the distant taste of food and liquor, hear the distant sounds of crickets chirping into the night and feel the rough cobbles under me. Every minute detail was taken in as I gave up and embraced the fear of death that was soon to send me into eternal slumber. But at the last moment, something sprang to life within me, turning that fear into untapped power.

    [{Fear Factor:I} Unlocked]

    A distance voice called to me, begging me to stand up and run again, to not give up and fall to a quick and miserable death. "Run! Dang it, run!" Her voice traveled through the air, overlapping with the chirps I heard from before. There was distress and worry, anxiety and fear all bundled up as she hope again for me to stand up. "Run, Citrix... ... Run!" I could hear her sob a little as she regretted not pulling me with her back to the tavern.

    I opened my eyes as new determination rooted and budded. Although the fear from before took control of my body, not allowing any of my senses to gain a clear perception, now it felt like it was providing a greater clarity and control over my body. Fatigue and pain no longer plagued my senses as I stood up just at a thought, without forcing.

    As that fear intensified to a blizzard like chill, my control over my body tripled compared to before. In the blink of an eye, I was up and running just like a fully-rested well-trained athlete. My soles were hitting the ground more frequently than before while my breath no longer roughened at even the slightest amount of exertion. Blood rushed up my head as I smelled the liquor trail, clearly emitted from the tavern we took refuge in.

    The chill lessened as I sped through the door and slammed it shut, earning a few annoyed glances who went on drinking after that. One moment I was standing on both of my feet, the next I was kneeling just like this morning, only panting and even harder than ever before, with my heart threatening to stop beating at all if I were to continue my previous feat. I laid down on the floor, resting my head a little when Lisandra squatted down and poked both my eyes.

    "Poke~" She said annoyingly, though her sniffle made it evident she cried a little.

    "Ouch! Cut it out, Lis," I was tired beyond belief, and if she was going to start interrupting my rest while I''m still in such a state, I swore I would definitely bite my tongue to end it.

    Fortunately, though, it didn''t have to come to that, since she understood enough to stop doing it. Pitying me a little, she got to her feet and requested for a muscular waiter to throw me onto the first floor while she went up first. There was a slight push at my butt as regulars tried to enter the tavern, complaining while they went to find a seat to start drinking. The waiter hesitated a little since he saw I was still conscious, but after considering the dissatisfaction that would be brought upon their regulars if I was still unmoved, he shrugged and shouldered me like a sack of rice, up the stairs before throwing me onto the boards with an ominent "Oof" and returning to where he carried me from.

    There was a voice shouting, "Hey!" that was followed by a loud crashing noise from below. Curious as always, I climbed onto the stairs to get a glimpse of the commotion. There was a skinny man, with a glowingred face, running out the tavern''s door, followed by a muscular lumberjack with a small head chasing after. Both of them burst through the door and ran into the night, ignoring the disdainful glares from the ones who had their drinks knocked over as a result of their commotion. Some even joined in on the chase, determined to get back the few drinks they lost. Thinking it was best not to get involved, I stood up and dusted myself, before moving towards the room. The others below must''ve thought the same since the nightly routine resumed not long after.

    The door to the room I shared was left ajar, with several beams of light escaping through it. From afar, anyone who saw the light would definitely be able to see that it was brighter than any capable light source from this town, or to be exact, from thisworld.

    Panicking, I ran towards the room with clear thuds coming from every step I took. The sound rebounded across the hallway, reflected by the hard walls that surrounded isolated the rooms from the hallway. After a few quick strides, I was already in the room, closing the door and desperately trying to block the seams between the door and its frame, for fear the outlandish light betraying our existence , mine and Lisandra''s, to this world. Lisandra, who was doing something, stopped doing whatever it was after seeing me trying to block the seams of the door with my own body. The light died down shortly after, which relieved me, and she chuckled before bursting into a huge laughter with one hand in front of her mouth, attempting to hide the horrendous laugh of hers.

    "Are you out of your mind!?" I yelled at her. She was still laughing even though I tried to sound as serious as possible.

    "Well, you know. It was just really funny seeing you try so hard like that, when that light can only be seen by our kind," She proceeded to chuckling, which didn''t make me feel as bad as her laughter did.

    "Geez, at least tell me something like that next time. My general knowledge, as a hunter, still isn¡¯t that great yet," I backed away from Lisandra and jumped onto my bed, with everything still on.

    "Got it, got it. Anyway, aren''t you forgetting something?" She looked at me with a calm smile, but her eyes and stiff smile betrayed the calm smile she had.Pure sarcasm, I guess.

    "What did I forget again?" I sighed while pretending to look defeated. I only did it because I really didn''t know what she was talking about. She seemed okay with my poor acting skills though, so she proceeded to tell me what we forgot to do.

    "What are we going to change into after bathing, genius?"

    "Shoot! I forgot about our promise to buy clothes today!" I looked at her with feigned surprise, then continued with a pleading smile. ¡° We¡¯ll do it tomorrow, promise.¡±

    Her face lost her smile and instead, it was replaced with a strict expression, "You keep saying that! You promise, but you don''t even keep that shit!"

    "I know- Wait, it wasn''teverytime. I just wasn''t able to keep the ones I broke because of¡­¡­. certain circumstances!"

    "Yea yea, always blame it on circumstances. You''re the worst, Citrix," She crossed her arms, "the worst!" She stuck out her tongue before turning away from me.

    "Oh come on, it¡¯s not that bad. I really promise to go tomorrow, ok?" The thought of accompanying a female to get clothes scared me. There were loads of dramas I watched where the female would keep shopping none stop, while the male accompanying her would either be bored to death or face bankruptcy. To prevent my fate from being set just like in the dramas, I purposefully chose my words carefully.

    "Ok," Her reply allowed me to release the breath I''ve been unconsciously holding in, but I imprisoned another when she started again, "but..."

    "But...!?" My forehead felt cold, while my heart pumped faster.

    [Warning: Increased blood pressure. Further increase will result in auto hormone readjustments]

    "You have to accompany me for the entire duration, and pay me back after we finished this job of yours."

    ¡±Noooooooooooo!¡± I moaned in frustration at the thought of having to accompany her for the whole day, causing her to snap her attention to me.

    "So it''s a ''no'', then?" She looked at me with a spark of cunningness flashing in her eyes. Instinctively, I knew I raised the wrong flag.

    "I mean, yesssssssssssssssssssssssss!" Though I agreed, I felt like I would have cried at any given moment, provided there weren''t any more serious things to do first.

    "Great! I''ll forgive and believe you then!"

    Why does everything have to be so wrong..?I cursed my luck.

    "Ok, now that we''ve settled the least important and least urgent argument, it''s time to move back onto some serious topics," Lisandra''s tone took a 180 degrees spin, startling me, even if it was just a little. She then continued, "Just now, before we made it back to the tavern, you felt the chill down your spine, right?" Her voice sounded though a little grim, it still held some unwavering certainty and strength.

    "Now that you reminded me of that, yes, I did feel that chill. I''ll assume you had the same feeling as well, then."

    "No need assumptions, it''s a definite fact that there was athingpreying on us."

    "Explain,thing."

    "A creature of the unknown. It got through the barrier somehow and is now roaming in the material realm."

    "Then we need to report it to the Organisation as soon as possible!" My tone hinted at the panic I was feeling. My instincts were telling me there was no doubt I''d be destroyed if I were ever to get caught byit.

    "Hold your horses, Citrix. We can''t just report something such as a hunch to the Organisation. Wasting time and resources just isn''t their style."

    "Then what do you suggest we do? Sit here like idle ducks, waiting for our imminent death!?" I accidentally raised my voice, but Lisandra showed no sign of being bothered by it, as if it was a completely normal reaction for a first-time hunter, especially someone like me.

    "We need to gather proof. The moment it breaks any of this realm''s laws, the Enforcers will get here and clean up. Meanwhile, we need to be very sure of the sighting and report its movements if it really was true, to HQ. They''ll send someone to clean up," her tone was stone cold and business-like, similar to Victor''s in many ways. I couldn''t recognise for a moment there, but managed to gather enough of my bearings to ask another supposedly logical question.

    "Would they not send us after it?" A sense of horror must''ve shown itself on my face as I muttered those words, because she tried calming me down.

    "Slow down. No, they wouldn''t send someone so inexperienced into obvious danger," Her tone held a little softness, which was enough to soothe my fears, but when I processed what she just said, I couldn''t help but ask her again to confirm my thoughts.

    "They would send you, since you''re experienced, wouldn''t they?" I tried stopping the emotion from entering my voice, but failed horribly.

    "Yes, they would, probably," her expression looked grim for a moment, but shone brightly afterwards, "but look on the bright side! At least you wouldn''t be exposed to consequential danger, and you''ll rid yourself from an annoyance if I were to be-"

    "Don''t say it! You wouldn''t!" I struggled to hold back my tears, but they were just too much for me to handle.

    "Aw, don''t cry. I never knew you were such a crybaby!" She joked while punching my arm lightly, before getting into her bed. I couldn''t help but sob a little more since the thought of Lisandra being gone forever was something unimaginable for me. I mean, how could I? Yes, even though I thought of her as an annoyance so far, she still held significant weight in my emotional heart. I couldn''t just let her be sacrificed away, could I?

    Could I?

    "Time to sleep, Citrix. We''ll need to get new clothes tomorrow, otherwise you''ll be paying a hefty price," I could hear her crunching her knuckles to emphasize her point as she chuckled, though I was sure there was a sad expression on her face even though she was facing away from me. Sensing her in such a paradoxical and troubling mood, I couldn''t help but go along with her act.

    "Goodnight, Lisandra," I got into bed and closed my eyes. The darkness swallowed me, numbing my anxieties and sadness while the tiredness made me fall into a slumber on a whole new level.

    [Active Log: End]

    [Log 7: End]

    [Activating Log Subroutine]

 Log 8

    [Log Subroutine Activation: Complete]

    [File Installation: Complete]

    [Initializing daily routine...]

    <hr>

    [Log 8: Recording started]

    [Log 8: Passive mode]

    [Time to homeworld: 14:00:00]

    [Time to current world: 07:00:00]

    My eye lids flew open without any conscious effort. As my eyes focused, there was a figure standing right in front of my bed. I tried looking around, but my neck muscles refused to obey, leaving my gaze stuck on the shadowy figure who finally noticed my gaze. A cold breeze swept by -enough to chill my bones till they ached even though a thick sheet was wrapped tightly around me- when the figure''s gaze found mine. Within the interval when our eyes met, I could feel blood draining from my face while cold dread wrapping itself, tightly, around me, just like the makeshift blanket.

    It opened its mouth and spoke, "Citrix..." Its voice sounded familiar, even though I was sure the figure in front of me couldn''t be anyone I''ve known. While I thought more of it, it spoke again. "Citrix... Victor... Lisandra..."

    Suddenly, the voice''s familiarity clicked within me, which to my horror, was myvoice. It had the same pronounciation as I do whenever I said ''Lisandra'', which I thought was rare enough to distinguish mine from other''s. My already pale white skin paled even more, to the point where a kid who saw me would think I bathe using bleach al the time.

    Sensing my recognition, the figure bent forward a little, which revealed its smile and ey- eye sockets, still fresh with blood. I tried to move my head again, but the effort proved futile. I tried looking away, but my stare landed on the two eyeballs in the figure''s hands which were disgusting enough to nauseate. In the end, I was forced to stare, with fright, at the eyeless figure''s face, which was familiar,toofamiliar, for a first time meeting.

    "Who are you?", was what I wanted to say, but my voice croaked instead, sending out two words which formed a lingering question of "Who... you?" only. At the mention of those keywords, the figure''s smile grew abnormally wide. It, or he, seemed delighted I finally asked him a question, since he answered with a delighted, but creepy, tone.

    "Me... Am... Fei... Lur... U..." It struggled in creating a grammatically understandable sentence, which I did not enjoy trying to decipher. I must''ve frowned because the figure dropped its smile and leaned forward with what-looked-like-a frown, to which every hair and muscle, cell and fibre, brain and gut in my body tightened while I screamed, internally, in a never-before fashion.

    [Log 8: Paused]

    [Log Mode Switch: Active Mode]

    <hr>

    [Log 8:Resumed]

    [Time to homeworld: 14:09:11]

    [Time to current world: 07:27:17]

    My arms jolted while my legs spasmed, throwing me onto the floor with my head full of cold sweat. In fact, every inch of my body was covered in sweat. Even so, I felt cold in the warm -almost hot- room. My body was shaking uncontrollably and I found I could not exert even the slightest amount of strength on my limbs. I felt weak and frightened lying on the wooden floor, just like how a cornered animal does.

    "Woken up?" Lisandra came out from the bath with her clothes still on, though her wet hair suggested she had taken a bath just before I was startled awake.

    "Y-ye-yea..." I responded while staring at my still-shaking hands. They were calming down already, with only slight shivers left before any traces of going through a nightmare was gone.

    After tightening her own clothing, she went over to her bed and laid down, face up with two hands acting as a barrier between her wet hair and dry pillow. She stared up while day dreaming, before giving me a slight glance and asking. "Nightmares, I assume?" She said dryly, as if she wasn''t fond of it, which was true for most people.

    "Nightmare, just one, I think..." I willed my subsiding shivers to stop. The rate of calming down had slowed at some point after the shiver''s intensity decreased by a whole lot.

    "For you to remember, yea, probably just one," She chuckled after that, "If you were to remember all of them, wouldn''t you choose suicide over facing them over and over again?" She sat up -with her right arm resting on her bent right knee- and gave me a quick checkup with just a sweep of her gaze. "You''re fine, just get a bath and you''ll calm down."

    "Right..." My body and limbs no longer shook. Willing strength into my legs and hands, they obeyed without their previous defiance. The feeling of regaining control over my own body felt more of an achievement than a task. Without further ado, I went into the bath and closed the door. Lisandra yelled through the door, "Use warm water to calm down instead of the cool one!"

    "Yea yea, I ain''t no dumbass..." I muttered to myself while undressing. Since I''ve been wearing the same clothes for what felt like centureis, theybecame something like my own skin, and taking them off left mefeeling nude and exposed, which was technically the case.

    "Alright... A warm bath should calm me down..." I started letting out hot water into a wooden, water bucket before filling the other half with cold water. "That should make it warm."

    Once full, I gripped the dipper''s handle and started scooping up water to wash away dirt from my body. The water felt refreshing the moment it hit my face, and I had to remind myself the water was probably contaminated with all kinds of diseases to stop myself from drinking a scoop full of it. It felt like bothhell and heaven existed in the same place, which in this case was the bathroom.

    While scrubbing myself clean, I started thinking about the dream. Surprisingly, I remember little of the dream''s contents. There was the shadowy figure that haunted me, but what happened in the end didn''t come out clear. It''s as if the dream was trying to both bait and elude me, always inches out of grasp whenever I was about to forget it or almost recalling the entirety of it.

    A few more scoops, and I could feel the warmth of the water bloom into something more comfortable, yet at the same time, the cold, blizzard-like chill from the dream kept haunting me, trying its best topreventthe warmthfrom blooming into something better. Its as if the chill has taken a life on its own, sentient enough to feel jealousy towards its counterpart''s constant demand.

    As I thought about the dream more,a few details came into my attention. The first was the lack of light. Even though there wasn''t a window nor lighted candle, there was a slight illumination in the room, enough to create a shadow large enough to hide the shadowy figure from direct view. The second was the lack of sound other than the my voice and the figure''s (which was technically my voice as well). Even in a dream, there should still be ambient noises such as Lisandra''s snores, the tavern''s rowdy noises and the occasionalmoaningfrom the room next door. Yet, there were none.

    Even though I knew anything I remember about the dream could be explained with ''because its a dream'', it still felt no less weird. The shadowy figure''s presence was oddly realistic enough for me tofeelhim, yet other than that, other feelings such as the softness and comfiness of the bed and pillows did not enter my mind at all.

    Shaking my head to shrug off theories about what the dream could mean, I saw the bucket didn''t have enough water to supply another scoop anymore. Deciding to finish up quick, I picked it up and poured all the water over my head to freshen up a little bit more before getting dry and starting the day anew.

    There was a knock on the bathroom door, followed by a warning from Lisandra, "If you don''t finish up in the next minute, I''m burning everything you own to cinders!" Without choice, I was forced to leave my hair dripping wet in order to finish clothing myself.

    "Wipe your hair after you''ve opened the door, dumbass!" a familiar voice blasted my calm mind into chaotic disorder.

    "Ai! You''re back! Where''ve you been?" I heeded its advice and saw a frustrated faced Lisandra standing just outside, arms crossed and left sole tapping the floor board rhythmically. I smiled and shrugged at her casually to ease her annoyance, but it seemed to do the opposite instead.

    "You''re supposed to go shopping with me from early morning till night falls, look at the time now!" She complained while dragging me out. In one swift motion, she opened the door and pushed me out of the room door, with the towel I was using still hanging around my neck, wet.

    "I can''t believe you took such a long time just to bathe!" Lisandra berated while leading the way.

    "Eh, it''s not like I can help it, can''t I?''

    "But you should''ve done it quicker!" We were walking down the stairs now. The few customers who were here for an early morning brew stared at us, as if we were crazy.

    "But I wouldn''t be clean that way!" I ignored the stares which were starting to bore into me.

    "You''re wearing dirty clothes, how''re you supposed to stay clean!?" She stood in front of the door now, arms crossed.

    I was speechless. I couldn''t find any proper answer to her seemingly rational question, not unless I wanted to drag out the inevitable. As if sensing my distress, a voice which I thought previously annoying, but now more welcome than ever, crashed into our two-man argument, More like one-boy-one-girl debate, I thought to myself.

    "Chill, Lis. It''s not like there''s not enough time to shop anymore," To that, LIsandra grunted in response since she didn''t really agree with it, but the next line definitely drew her agreement, "until he''s broke." At that, she grinned with a pair of glinting eyes that proved, no doubt,shecould actually send me to the deepest layers of the slums.

    It was never supposed to be this way!My inner voice yelled out.

    "Oh shut up Citrix. Everything was your fault anyway... Right, Lis?" Its question was left unanswered as the main door''s hinges proceeded to creak as it was forcefully opened, with Lisandra''s right leg now stepping on the door frame and her right arm extended to prevent the door from slamming shut and slapping her annoying -though epic- looking smirk away from her face. She looked like Captain Hook, ready to set sail and hunt for Neverland at all cost.Gotta admit, she''s looking cool,I grudgingly told myself,even better than me...

    "Where next, Lis?" Ai abandoned its previous questioni, asking Lisandra, who was starting to look stupid for standing in the pose. There were already a few passerbys mummering and whispering to each other, ripping our reputation to a near-zero value.

    ''To...!" Lisandra breathed in and held a breath for a moment for dramatic effect, "the noble''s area!" Ai released a bunch of sound effects that made the statement sound crueler than it already was.To my wallet anyway! No! My legs turned jelly while trying to beg Lisandra to change her shopping area, but she just replied with, "It''ll be alright, Citrix! The fun part is, I''m not even paying!" She gave an evil-sounding chuckle that Ai helped with.

    My knees finally buckled, but Lisandra caught and supported me. "You alright?" She had a voice of concern, though I knew it''s just a concern for my wallet.Or maybe space-pouch works better...

    "I think I''m fine..." I tried walking with her support, but fear for my money just kept on holding me down, although I knew I sounded stupid.

    "Hm, hold tight then... Huff!" Suddenly, I could feel a pair of hands touching my butt, and with that only, I was lifted onto Lisandra''s back, piggybag ridding her. After just a slight warning of "Hold on," she started sprinting through the street, towards where my map showed was the local noble''s shopping area. Ai was laughing all the way, and I swore I could hear a human in there.

    "Warggh!" I screamed not out of fear of the speed Lisandra was going -which was probably 50km/h- but for fear she would drop me and I''d be forced to recuperate and pay an even greater price.

    "Wee~!" Ai sounded like it was on an amusement ride.

    [Warning: Rapid rise in blood pressure detected]

    [Secrete noradrenaline factors? Y/N]

    "Just hang on a little more!" At the sound of her words which whoosed by, I wrapped my arms around her neck for further safety.There was something poking around the screen, but I ignored it to focus on survival first. Yet, I must''ve held too hard since Lisandra started choking for breath not long after, even though she could run at the same speed just a few moments ago like it was nothing.

    "Y'' han'' Cit!" She struggled to speak as she slowed for breath, her hands now pulling at my interlocked arms which were stranggling her - unconsciously- as my weight assisted as well.

    "Oh, sorry," I let go, then crashed into the uneven yet solid ground with my butt taking the most damage. Lisandra was panting hard while holding the part of her throat which was swollen to soothe the pain. No doubt she''s having a much rougher time compared to my butt ache, I thought silently as my eyes drifted guitily from her throat.

    Immediately, I felt my face grow hot as my gaze landed on her chest. Although they were restrained and strapped down, they still looked enormous. Fortunately, her chest was clothed with uninteresting fabric, enough to make someone be rid of their intentions if they were to linger too long, Unfortunately though, that was the only thing more interesting than our current surroundings. And as if she felt my stare, she looked at me with a long, hard stare, enough to make me feel even guiltier and before diverting my attention to somewhere else.

    "Oi oi, I did you a favor. Remember to treat me later," Ai suddenly produced a picture of the scene I just saw.

    "I-I didn''t ask for your help on it!" I turned my face away from Lisandra, afraid she would see the flushed face of mine.

    "What help, Citrix?" Lisandra seemed to have recovered, and she took quite an interest in what I just said while clutching my shoulders with grips not dissimilar to the Professor''s..

    "Yea,whathelp?" Ai mocked before giggling immaturely. Lisandra was quick to stare it down before it got cocky and too out of hand, and Ai in response silenced itself, albeit I could still hear its laughter at the back of my mind.

    "Citrix? I''m waiting... For. Your. Explanation," Her patience was clearly running thin, shown by the signs of her taking on a hollow smile and veins bulging slightly on her forehead. With no alternatives, I steeled myself.

    After all, honesty is the best policy,I mused my last words, knowing what I said would probably get me a one way ticket to hell. Meanwhile, Ai was laughing even harder.

    "So?" Her sole was tapping now, and Ai appeared to be silently watching on her side of things, although a slight raise in its virtual avatar was observable.

    "It''s... uh... Ai, uh," I stuttered a little.

    "Out with it, now. And you," she stared at Ai, "are going to go along with him, to whereverI''msending him."

    Ai''s laughter suddenly died down. "Y-yes ma''am," its words was filled with -fake- determination, although fear was still pronounced in both cases.

    "S-so, you know how I looked at your..." I pointed at her chest while turning my red face away, "things... Ai took a shot and..." The words ''saved it for me'' didn''t even make it out before Lisandra''s nostrils flared, but calming all of sudden, just like the calm before the storm.

    "Li-is?" Ai called, a sincerely worried about its future now.

    "Uh, Sandra?" I backed away a little, fearing she would strike me. But the strike never came, as she just walked over with serenity and forgiveness in her eyes.

    This must be a trap, a trap!The logical side of me yelled.

    Calm down, she must''ve seen reason since she''s not striking us, but even helping us up instead! Hopeful, I held on to it.

    Sadly, the hope was crushed when a ram like strength hit the side of my face. Ai burst out laughing.

    "You should''ve held your guard up, always!" It continued laughing, but Lisandra wasn''t exactly, though she did look like she forgave me.

    "I know. Just wanted to check whether or not you were honest, otherwise I would''ve done worse and sent you to Purgatory," Lisandra made an act of slapping my face playfully. Instinctively, I flinched.

    "Ok, now we keep going forward. To shopping!" If she noticed, she pretended not to, but I wasn''t one to mind an unexpected stroke of luck. She pointed ahead, to where there were many domestic-based shops gathered around. Suits were hung just before the windows of some boutiques, while while dresses decorated some shops as well. There were masses of crowds gathered at some shops, which made me guess the owners were having a sales since not everyone can afford everything sold in the area.

    "Come on, we should get there before everything good''s been taken away!" She frenzied herself with that self-motivation. Seeing her motivated self made it hard for either Ai or me to stay put -safe from the front lines- so I went and squeezed through the crowd Lisandra had just entered. Coincidentally, it was also the nearest one compared to the other masses.

    As I squeezed through, there were complains like ''hey'' and ''watch it'' coming from all directions. Not wanting to leave a bad impression, I muttered ''sorry'' to every person I knocked into, and they responded with a kind nod that signified forgiveness and all. Overall speaking, I had to squeeze around from the south side to the west corner and then tunnel to the north side just to get to the east side of the crowd, which I finally found a path that can take me deeper into the shop.

    There were gasps near the fitting room when I entered the shop-house. Many who were queueing in line for a fit surrounded the rooms without a care, leaving not an inch of space for me to peek through. Unsure what to make of it, I continued searching for Lisandra around the general areas of the shop since they weren''t as packed as I thought. While touring around, I spotted extravagant and plain clothings, albeit all looked as comfortable as the others in terms of quality.

    "There''s no sign of Lisandra anywhere," Ai stated the obvious. The only place we haven''t tried was the fitting room which its crowd began dispersing.But it doesn''t seem like that now,I muttered to Ai.

    "Maybe she''s in the fitting room? We haven''t check there yet," Again, it stated the obvious. The thought of the ingenious AI actually picking out literal and obvious facts to tell me made me feel like an idiot. A satisfied grin was all that showed on its virtual avatar.

    Ignoring its annoying smugness, I went for the fitting room. On the outside, it didn''t look elegant at all, with wooden boards as flooring and dividers. It was tall enough to fit most residents, but small enough to actually let a person change comfortably. But what actually attracted my attention was not the bizzarely accurate and purposeful design of the fitting room, it was what wasinsideof it.

    She was wearing a white sleeveless dress, with the ends flowing out all around her. There was a stripe of cloth that worked like a belt, tying itself onto her waist to pin the dress onto her body. The dress''s bust wrapped around her well-grown bosoms, eliciting envy from those who did not own such a pair. She was beautiful, if one were to descibe her, elegant but not extravagant, enough to make any woman jealous.

    I stared wide eyed.Lisandra has the ability to stun anyone with her beauty if she wanted to,I mused to myself and Ai seemed to agree as well,but she doesn''t do it intentionally at all.The sight of her red hair only served to amplify her beauty, if not to flaunt her rare origins, albeit it wasn''t as smooth or silky as a noble''s.

    "Should I... Take a photo?" Ai was hesitant as it still remembered her previous aggression.

    "Uh..." I let my gaze linger on her beauty like it was natural to. She spun herself occasionally, if not just to impress the ladies who were surrounding her. They weren''t as eye baiting as she was, but one look told me they were just riding along the current. Not only were they showering her with praises, the occasional jokes were made to impress her as well, hinted from the artificial laugh Lisandra made whenever they told jokes that weren''t even funny.

    "Citrix?" Ai called out as I was mesmerised.

    "Do it," the sudden permission startled Ai since its virtual character took a step back, "I''ll take the responsibility if she''s gonna get mad," Ai nodded and began. A few snaps were heard, mentally, as Ai took the photos and stiched them together to give them more ''feel'', preserving much of the emotion and beauty of the original scene. The pictures were then sent to the backup database in the Organisation, and once I confirmed it, I decided to enter the scene.

    Lisandra was speaking to the women and in turn, the women listened attentively, always looking for a chance to show off. She was pantomiming a little as I approached, and I found it extremely cute. Thus, I willed myself to be silent as I approached. Though that didn''t last long because when I neared her group, the floorboard connected to the one Lisandra was standing on creaked as my foot landed on it, alerting her and the ladies of my presence even without their sight catching me precisely.

    "And there your effort goes," Ai chuckled at my failure.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    The women looked at me, some with disgust as they looked at my clothing, others with blank stares, seeming unsure what kind of expression they should be expressing. As I got closer to Lisandra, I noticed the clothing they wore were not only extravagant, but tailored made as well.

    "Who is he?"

    "What''s a peasant doing here?"

    "Commoner shops! Letting just about anyone enter their store!"

    A few of them who thought I couldn''t see them sneered at me, while the ones who stood in front listened and kept a blank face as their eye muscles betrayed the satisfaction they were feeling at having allies spewing out what they wanted to speak out loud but restrained for fear of ruining their reputation.These women are no ordinary ladies,I decided. "Agreed," said Ai who was looking annoyed at having me being looked down on. Normally, it would be the one looking down on me, but not today, it seems.

    "No one touches my prey," Ai sneered.

    Except for Lisandra though, I thought, amused..

    "Hello Citrix," she walked over and gave a courtesy. The other ladies, including the ones who previously sneered at me, appalled as the familiarity between us was revealed.

    "Play along!" I didn''t need outside advise to know what to do, but it seemed that Ai thought I was socially retarded.

    "Do you know this person, Miss Lisandra?" one of the ladies asked. She wore a velvet dress made from silk that I was finally able to take note of due to being in such close proximity.It doesn''t suit her at all,I thought.

    "Of course, this is the person I''ve been talking about just now. Ladies, meet Citrix," She gestured at me with one hand. I bowed partially, stating my defiance in plain sight.

    "Look behind, they''re all stunned by your defiance," I could tell that Ai just tuned to the frequency Lisandra''s log was on, seeing as there was another noise input.

    "Ignore them," I told Ai internally while staring them, one by one, in the eyes, daring them to reject me. But none came, and all gave in to my challenge, it seemed.

    Women of talk, it seems,I mused. "It''s more like they don''t want to embarass themselves by humiliating you, Citrix," Ai just had to stick it in me.

    Lisandra sensed the disharmony and was able to confirm it through the logs. She spoke, "Citrix, meet Dina from the Yorua family," they curtsied at the mention of their family, enough to mock me, challenging me to a game of political hierarchy. "Pleased," I bowed slightly, expressing the mix of rage and disgust I felt for them every second we were in contact.

    "Be polite, Citrix," I could hear Lisandra''s voice coming through the logs. I gave a silent nod and she seemed to accept it. She then went and continued her conversation with the repulsive women.

    "How''d I look?" She spun, letting the excess of her dress fly around. The scene must''ve been similar to a flower blooming during spring from a bird''s eye view.

    Mesmerised again, for a moment, I forgot my negative impression to the women, and thanked them secretly for being able to make Lisandra dress like this. The only thing I could say without being rude was, "Amazing." With just that, I swore I could see Lisandra''s fair face flush. She quickly hid it and resumed her dialogue with the women.

    "She''s an amazing guider, to be honest," Ai admitted reverently, "more than I ever was..."

    "What?" I knew what I heard, but I wanted to confirm it again before confronting it. "Nothing," it replied.Seems like it''s not ready to talk about that, or is it...?I knew it could read my mind, and I was sure I made it feel guilty for hiding something like that. It was sure to come clean soon in the future, or at least that''s what I hope.

    Now for the real questions,"Guider, huh? I could guess their work just by their name, but how''d she end up as one?"

    Ai sighed, before starting. "She got handpicked and forced into the job, Citrix. It''s hard for her, that''s why you need to understand," Ai held a kind of neutral tone, lacking any emotions found normally in it. It must''ve been feeling something else that it didn''t want to burden me with, but the weight of the word ''force'' suddenly kicked in.

    "What do you mean, ''force''?" I asked vehemently, another gust of anger welling up. My mind was nagging at me about something, but I just couldn''t remember what it was.

    "It''s-" Unable to finish, a ''beep'' took over Ai''s systems, followed by a mechanical sentence being said. "Error encountered. System rebooting. Reboot complete." It wasn''t exactly something I heard before, so I was surprised when it occured.

    "What was that?"

    "My restriction system," Ai sighed for the second time, "kicks in whenever something confidential is about to get exposed by the AI. Makes sure we don''t blurt out unnecessary stuff to those who are not supposed to hear it. Yet."

    "But hacking into the database is allowed, weird shit," I couldn''t help but think that. The flame of anger was still there, but it was no longer directed at Ai.

    "Yup, totally agree with you," It then laughed.

    "How come I''ve never read about it before?" I questioned Ai. Lisandra was trying another dress on now, entering the dressing room and shutting the door behind her.

    "''Cos it usually doesn''t happen, and look out, here comes trouble," Ai spat the word ''trouble'' with a bitter tone.

    Sure enough, the women were staring daggers at me, sharp enough to cut me, almost, anyway. The few at the back were gossiping, with voices too low for me to hear, but the chill I felt down my spine made me sure of one thing: they''re talking bad about me.

    No longer bothered with courtesy, I walked over and struck up a conversation casually. They shied away, but I pursued.

    "Hello. I know you''re gossiping ''bout me, but please, don''t do it behind my back, I dare you to do it in my face," I smiled hollowly while saying that. The ones in front glared at the ones who were gossiping, likely acting to distinguish themselves from their subordinates.

    "Whoever you are,whateveryou are, please refrain from nearing Miss Sandra. A rose like her should never be tainted by the presence of donkey filth," a woman in the front, who had a blue dress on, said. Those who were glaring immediately stopped their act and looked at me with a face of pity that said ''serves you right''.

    "I am sorry, but whoever you are, what right do you have to say what I can do, and what I can not do?" I countered. Not only was she rude for calling me ''donkey filth'', the dignified aura she had while calling methat was uncivilized at all. I felt the previous gust of anger that was beginning to fade swell up again, and the next woman''s opinion only served to increase the intensity of the flame.

    "How dare you speak such to the next matriach of the Yorua family? Do you even know-" She was cut off by another older lady. The older lady had a yellow dress on, and she looked to be twice the age of the women who spoke. Her raised hand was enough to make the previous woman bow, meaning her power was absolute.

    "Do not test my patience,child,for I will rid you and your bloodline if you were to lay a hand on Miss- no, Lady Lisandra, whether it be a big or small crime," With her stone cold gaze paired up with her magma hot words, the spear it made pierced through my mental fortitude with such ease that it made me doubt whether I had any resistance to words at all. Best describe my current situation is the word,fearful.

    [Fear factor:I {Status: Active}]

    One thing happened, and it was the activation of an algorithm (skill?) that invigorated my mind. It rebuilt the smashed fortitude of mine, even going as far as to strengthening it. I felt like I could brave the matriach''s ice cold gaze and magma hot words, and the matriach knew it too, seeing as her cold gaze turned to one of shock for just an instance, enough for Ai to identify and tell me about it.

    "She''s surprised, you know," Ai laughed maniacally, clearly feeling an amplified amount of revenge being exacted. I knew its words were true, even without looking at her.

    "Dear matriach, if I have insulted you in anyway possible, please tell me right away, for I will respect your criticism and analytical resutls," the reply was solid and held no loopholes for debate, and it seemed enough to petrify most of the ladies who thought I was dead for standing against the matriach.

    They must''ve thought I''d be unable to overcome her words,I thought to myself, amusement more than fear in mind now. The sweet, hot flames of revenge was burning vigorously, now, in me.

    The matriach gave me a second look of appraisal, this time, meticulously. I felt naked under her stare, bared to the bone, thinking the flames could probably be seen by her, but I kept still so not to destroy the impression I just made as a man of iron guts. Finally, after a few more scans, she began.

    "Better than most, it seems... You, are welcome," her face almost twisted into one of scorn," to the house of Yorua if, and only if, Lady Lisandra allows you. If not," she swung her head side to side gently, "you know what''s going to happen, are we clear?"

    "Yes," my reflexes kicked in. Even if I were able to withstand the mental pressure she exerted over me, I couldn''t deal with a stare specilised for long periods of negotiations, even if considering the extra fortitude provided by the skill-like algorithm.

    As if she was waiting for this moment of truce between me and her new ''buddies'', Lisandra walked out with a velvet dress. The busts were more revealing this time, but the end of the dress was shorter than the one before, only reaching her ankles.

    "How''d I look?" She spun a single round before giving a polite bow, elicitting postive responses from Yorua''s party.

    I responded with "Looks great!" as soon as the matriach said, "Could use some tailoring, dear."

    Hearing that, I looked at her, who''s eyeing me with disrespect. She looked displeased that I went against her orders, so I quickly took my comment back.

    "I''d think it''d be better-"

    "Should I choose the white dress then, miss Yorua?" Lisandra asked the matriach, completely ignoring my opinion.

    "I''d advice against it. Although this dress could have been better," the matriach said with slight displeasure, "this dress suits you better compared to the last one."

    "True, but the white dress makes you look cute," I lowered my head, afraid she''d see my flushed face. Meanwhile, the matriachstared at me, incredulous.

    "Ah, I always knew you had a crush on me, Cit," Lisandra gave a light hearted laugh before turning to Yorua, "Miss Yorua, it has been a great pleasure meeting you," she looks at Yorua''s companions for a second before continuing, "and everyone else."

    "But I''m afraid I''ll have to cut short our time together," Lisandra gave a humble apology before messaging me.

    Message: FYI, I know you''re poor AF! That''s why I''m going to try to get her to pay.

    Realisation dawned, and my face almost showed it. Suppressing Lisandra''s cunning demeanor, I stood by, watching as Lisandra carried out her perfect scheme.

    "And why is that?" Yorua asked with a curious tone.

    "Citrix and myself will have to work later, and it is better if we could spare more time to prepare for work rather than rushing there," Lisandra persuaded.

    "Oh, you should come work for me then. I promise, I''ll treat you extra special," Yorua gave a wink that was almost unnoticeable if it weren''t for Ai''s sensors.

    "She''s evil, that''s for sure," Ai commented for both of us to hear.

    "I thank you for your generous offer, but I''ll have to pass," Lisandra said apologetically. I could feel her deception working behind the curtains, and the end result is certainly going to be as she wanted. She continued, "the reason I work is because I like travelling everywhere. Being hired by you may anchor my freedom and end up crushing my ambitions," she smiled sadly.

    "Does that mean I won''t be seeing you after this?" Yorua looked a little perturbed. Several of her companions were already murmuring among each other, occasionally sneaking a peek at Lisandra and most importantly, me.

    "Unfortunately, yes," Lisandra kept her act on. Ai was screaming and cheering loudly, likely similar to a maniac on drugs screaming.

    "I guess this is goodbye?" Yorua showed a sad smile. In return, Lisandra returned the same smile.

    "Well then. I''ll be off," Yorua turned around and spoke, "Ladies, let''s go."

    The women shuffled away, leaving both Lisandra and me in the changing room. The crowd who were originally taking a peek at Lisandra was momentarily scattered as well, and the time of the day told us most of them went for lunch. Both of us let our gaze linger on the women''s figures and before long, came to the same conclusion.

    "That''s not the last time we''re going to be seeing them, right?" Lisandra asked without looking.

    "Probably," I replied. After hearing my reply Lisandra went and change while I stood outside waiting. I passed the time by talking to Ai.

    "Hey Ai."

    "What?"

    "Remember the book Lisandra told you to prepare?" I muttered silently under my breath.

    "Oh shoot! I totally forg-" Ai trailed off laughing, "Just kidding, I''ve done it,The Compendium of the Current World."

    "Is that really the name of the book?" I couldn''t help but chuckle. Luckily, no one was currently around to notice it, or else they would''ve thought me crazy.

    "Yeah, got a problem with that? Iauthored this thing," Ai spoke threateningly, although jokingly.

    "No no, it''s no problem," I held on to my laugh, deciding it was better not to make Ai hate me since it had a lot of ways in terms of dealing with me.

    "You know, I can always read your thoughts-"

    Lisandra walked out from the changing room with her original dirty clothes on. "Come on," she walked towards the counter with the former red dress in hand.

    As we walked over, she started complaining how "she''s paying for her own stuff, even though I was made to promise to buy her the stuff." Ai just laughed at her complaints, especially when she hits me, lightly, on the shoulder. A few more complaints from her and we were right before the cashier.

    The cashier took a quick glance at the red dress, touching it for a moment to feel the fabric, before stating the price. "That''ll be four hundred gold coins."

    I was momentarily stunned by the pricing, and decided to argue with the cashier, "Isn''t that a bit too much ma''am?"

    "Not at all. I doubt you could get fabric this good from any store out in these woods," she gestured at the hills and trees in the scenery behind me just to make her point.

    "That doesn''t mean you can just charge us with such an insane price!" I exclaimed loudly, intending for everyone else to hear it.

    "Sir, if you want to argue, go to the bazaar, but this is a legal and verified noble goods retail store. Anything here is priced fittingly," she retorted.

    "You can''t just give us a silly old dress then take our four hundred gold coins and call it even! That''s just highway robbery!" I shouted, intent on making my point. I could feel pressure building up in my head.

    "I''m sorry, but this is the set price and it''s not bargainable. If you do not wish to pay but want to take the dress away, I will be forced to call the authorities on you," the cashier stated calmly, arms crossed. She looked like she was daring me to take the dress away without paying. Lisandra was looking embarassed, not sure whether it''s due to the cashier''s retorts or my outbursts.

    "You know what? I''m-!" Unable to finish, a familiar figure stepped in. "How much is it again?" her voice was filled with distaste.

    "F-four hundred gold coins, ma''am," the cashier stuttered.

    "Bah, take it! And keep the change!" Yorua tossed a mithril coin into the cashier hand and turned to us, "and that''s how you settle things, alright?"

    Baffled, I stared at her dumbly, though it seemed that everything was according to Lisandra''s plan. She pretended to be dumbfounded, but Ai outright told me she was ''acting''. It didn''t sound amused as well.

    As Yorua''s figure got covered up by the crowd outside until finally she was no longer visible or in range to hear us, Lisandra gave me a grin, instantly removing the previous dumbfoundedness she had on her face. "Let''s go eat," she said while exiting through the shop''s main entrance. I followed suite and wondered why Ai seemed displeased. Without warning, it just said "Leave it" before sighing, leaving myself immersed in my own thoughts and the crowd at the entrance.

    When I finally got through, Lisandra was impatiently waiting outside with her (Yorua''s) purchase in hand. I jogged over in response to her look.

    "Why were you so slow?" she asked, obviously, while leading us to the end of the district and the beginning of the foodstalls.

    "Oh, was I too slow? I''m sorry, but apparently there''s. A. Crowd. Over there," my tone turned sarcastic.

    "Woah, chill with the sarcasm Cit. Lis would burn you alive, just look at her," Ai pointed out.

    Lisandra was slightly red, whether from the heat of the sun that was beginning to annoy us or the anger of my sarcastic tone, I couldn''t really tell. One thing for sure, Ai was right.

    We walked on in silence, me unwilling to break the delicate silence in case it started war, while Lisandra in case it made her seem petty. Ai laughed in the channel for both of us to hear, which further embarassed me considering it could hear my thoughts.

    "Shut up Ai, you''re starting to get annoying," I finally retorted when the last of my patience was tested. Lisandra stopped walking all of a sudden and seemed to be shaking.

    "Lis?" I went over, step by step, breath by breath. Even though it was noon and the surroundings were hot, I couldn''t feel it at all as I watched Lisandra shiver. "Lis?" I called out again.

    Once she was in arms reach, I stretched my arm towards her, intending to snap her out of it. As my hand reached her left shoulder, I could feel something was wrong.Verywrong. Immediately after the realisation hit me, I closed more distance and turned her around with both hands. And I finally saw what happened.

    She was sobbing silently. Her past trauma of being tortured by Ai''s constant laughter had resurfaced when Ai started laughing just now. It seemed like her anger was long forgotten as well as she tossed herself at me and threaten to turn her sob into a flood.

    "There there... It''s gone now,"

    "R-really...?"

    "Yes," I patted her head until her shiverings exacerbated. Not long after her shakings stopped, she stood back up and continued leading us. Ai whispered, "She''s hilarious."

    "Stop teasing her like that," I whispered back, angrily. It just shrugged, and that''s when I noticed we were already at a restaurant.

    "You paying?" I raised an eyebrow at Lisandra.

    "I know the place looks fancy, but this is probably the cheapest stall that has the best food around this world," Lisandra walked in, before gesturing to me, "come on."

    I just shrugged like Ai and went for it.No lost in free new experiences...

    [Log 8: Paused]

    [Time to homeworld: 00:00:00]

    [Time to current world: 12:29:08]

    <hr>

    [Log 8: Resumed]

    [Time to homeworld: 05:00:00]

    [Time to current world: 13:24:34]

    "That was amazing!" A satisfying burp followed. Lisandra was following behind, looking satisfied as well.

    "How''d you come to know this place anyway?" I turned around to look at her. We were standing beside the entrance for the restaurant.

    "Ah, ''bout that. I came here for my internship before, and managed to find this place after eating in every single establishment in this village," she pondered for a bit before muttering to herself "though you could barely call this a ''village'', considering its size."

    "City is definitely the more suitable term for this place," I walked a several metres more, away from prying ears and beckoned her to come. She followed just fine.

    "Looks like you''re taking charge," Ai gave a smooth whistle.

    "Shut up," I urged it, "we need to talk ''bout business."

    "So what''s up? Though from your face, you probably mean business, yeah?" Lisandra crossed her arms while directing her question at me.

    "Yes. First question''s how''re we gonna find our target?"

    "It''s more like ''your'' target. I''m just guiding you,"

    "Fine, how''re we going to find ''my'' target?"

    "Well, that''s a story when we''re back in our room," she then gave me a coquettish sign with her eyebrows, "if you know what I mean."

    Instantly after, Ai started laughing, not with his previous mocking tones, but one with genuine emotions. It was vastly different from the previous ones he always played. Every time we heard them, even though they sounded very real, not fake at all, there was always some part of us that knew it was fake, that it was a recording. But this... This was different. It held the genuine emotions it never had, one that expressed the joy, the feeling of happiness in it. It made ''it'' feel like a ''him''. Both Lisandra and I stood there, taken aback by Ai''s sudden emotions being shown. The laughter stopped when it finally noticed the strange atmosphere.

    "What?"

    "You''re..."

    "Different,"

    "What''d you mean?"

    "I mean, your laughter, it was different," I spoke the words with surprise.

    "Never knew an artificial intelligence could suddenly express emotions this good. It''s like, you''re alive," Lisandra commented.

    "Ah shucks, you''re making me blush,"

    "So back to business?" I looked at Lisandra.

    "What else. I figured out some things while talking with Yorua and her sidekicks,"

    "Rumours? Hints? Anything that helps with finding our target?" I asked nerviously.

    "Yeah. Basically, this alchemist works as the royal alchemist of the kingdom," she looked around before continuing, "you know where I''m going..."

    I thought about it more.Howis our target a royal alchemist? Andwhywould he commit such crimes if he has so much power already? But the question that made me groan washowwere we going to assasinate him. I suppressed the groan that slipped from my mouth so only Lisandra and Ai heard it.

    "Yep, it''s going to be annoying," Lisandra spoke with hints of displeasure.

    "I''ll go get your weapons registered..." the sentence was followed by a door slamming shut by Ai, which signaled it was busy.

    "Do we travel now?" I looked up. The sun was still in the middle of the sky and it wasn''t going to be setting soon.

    "Yes. We''ll travel by foot since we''ve got permission to use physiology boosters in order to hunt. We should be there by evening," she checked her boots and clothing, before throwing the dress in her hand into a bush nearby.

    "What''d you do that for!?" I couldn''t understand why she did it. Why would anyone throw away a perfectly fine dress? Let alone one that was just bought.

    "Travel light, remember?" she held my jaws with her left hand and turned it towards the path on our left. It led into a forest which was unpaved and raw.

    "Now, activate your boosters," she whispered into my ear before running down the path at an inhuman speed and shouting, "try not to lag behind too much!"

    Within seconds, I was left standing alone in front the restaurant jaw dropped, which made me look stupider than usual. A few more seconds and I was finally out of my trance and swiping the logs system, heading for the ''Utility'' menu where ''Booster'' was located at. Once in the ''Booster'' menu, there were dozens of unavailable boosters which, when pressed for reason, stated I simply ''didn''t have the required potential''. I kept scrolling down until I managed to find the ''Total Physiology Boost'' option which I finally turned on. A few moments after that, a sudden surge of power swam through my body, threatening to tear every fibre I had apart. Then, as quickly as it came, it subsided, leaving me with a new comprehension of ''refreshed''.

    I could hear Ai''s surprised voice as it mocked me. "You haven''t turned on your boosters before coming here!? That''s hilarious!" It then continued laughing until its work took it away from me again. Without further ado, I ran in the direction Lisandra had gone to, wanting to catch up with her even though I knew I had fallen back quite a lot already.

    [Log 8: Pause]

    [Time to homeworld: 06:15:57]

    [Time to current world: 14:12:35]

    <hr>

    [Log 8: Resumed]

    [Time to homeworld: 14:00:00]

    [Time to current world: 18:45:00]

    As I ran on, the forest began to open up. The blockade of trees gradually lessened until light from the setting sun was no longer blocked from view. I could see the end of the path now, leading through a gate that led to the other side of the amazingly tall and grand wall. Just outside the walls, beside the gate, was a figure standing impatiently. By straining my eyes as I made myself run faster, I could see the figure was a woman, and no doubt Lisandra herself.

    As I approached her, two guards who secured the gate came over. Concerned, they readied themselves to draw their blades.

    "Visitor or merchant?" the taller guard asked. What looked like his face at first was actually his helmet painted to look like one.

    "Or... bandit?" the shorter one drew his long sword, getting into a stance that allowed him to kill instantaneously.

    Before I could answer, Lisandra inserted herself between us. "Woah woah, calm down boys. He''s a friend,"

    The two eyed me suspiciously, before asking, "Is that so?"

    "Yeah, don''t worry about me, just continue your good work,"

    "Aye. If you need anything, just call for us," the tall one went back to a purposefully dented portion of the wall where everything they needed were located at. The short one looked at me for a moment, then at Lisandra, before eyeing me again and threatened, "if you dare touch her, you''re as good as stuck in the royal dungeons." He then walked back to his partner, still watching my every move.

    "What''s that about?" I looked at Lisandra suspiciously.

    "Ah, I might''ve seduced the guardsmen a little before you came," she looked away guitily.

    I sighed, fed up with her shenanigans. She responded with a "What? I was bored" when a familiar voice joyfully sounded in our systems, "It''s done!"

    "What''s done?" Lisandra was the fastest to respond.

    "The registration! It just got approved by the higher ups,"

    "Great! Looks like we can get you used to your weapons sooner than I thought," Lisandra led us to a spot near the walls but farther from the gate, making it extremely difficult for the guards to spy on us.

    "Okay, draw your weapons," she put some distance between us before pulling a spiked whip out of thin air.

    "Woah," I was stunned by her performance. I tried a few times to draw my daggers, but failed miserably.

    "What. The. Hell," Ai burst out laughing, limiting its voice to inside my systems only. Even Lisandra giggled none stop, hugging her stomach as the contractions of her guts began to cause pain.

    I stared at them, deciding it wasn''t worth it to stop them.They''ll stop soon anyway.

    As the sun and moon approached the horizon, fighting to either illuminate or sink the land in darkness, their laughter kept going on and on. Eventually, when the night won, when darkness sunk the land into a deep slumber, only did they stop laughing. Lisandra broke out of it first, more due to fatigue than anything else.

    "Ok, ok. Hey Ai, teach him," Lisandra spoke through the channel.

    "Alrighty then," it slowed and stopped its laughter before proceeding, "I''ll be installing the algorithms to connect you to your weapon subspace. Hold on a sec," a minute later, an exclamation mark popped up at the side of my screen, signifying the completion of the download, "done."

    "Your statement was unnecessary, you know?" Tapping into the file, I followed the steps to pull my weapons out. Apparently, it was customisable to suit how I want to draw my weapons.

    "Stretch my hands out... Reach out... Grip... Flick my wrist... And... Pull!"

    There was a touch of coolness and a bit of resistance as my arms were pulled downwards. Two handles slipped into both hands and when I was done, there were two daggers in my hands already. One was glowing white, while the other glinted with a kind of darkness.

    Lisandra grinned while saying, "Nice weapons."

    "Thanks," a natural response that flowed out my mouth. Again, a behaviour I didn''t know where I got it from.

    "Ai, is it possible for you to assist in my motor memories?"

    "I can try," a few beeps later and there was a response from Ai, "turns out, yes, I can. But it''ll be ingrained as a kind of reflex for your brain though. You sure you still want to do it?"

    "Reflex''s a good thing. Then I don''t need to train as hard to turn a conscious movement into a reflexive movement," I looked back at Lisandra, who was taking up a posed and preparing to strike with her whip that had its spikes retracted.

    "Here we go!" She grinned widely and for the first time, I saw a kind of emotion I thought I''ve already seen before:

    Hope.

    [Log 8: Paused]

    [Time to homeworld: 23:59:05]

    [Time to current world: 19:08:19]

 Log 9

    [Log 9: Recording started]

    [Time to homeworld: 00:00:00]

    [Time to current world: 00:00:00]

    "Look at that, your log''s starting a new session."

    "Ai?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Can you stop trying to distract me when Lisandra''s trying to hone my senses?" This was the fifth time in a row where Ai tried to break my concentration as I barely dodged Lisandra''s spike whip. After the first four hours of turning wielding techniques into my reflexes ¡ªaided by Ai''s algorithms¡ª Lisandra had started training my awareness to the extent of risking my life.

    "Stop dodging! I told you, you have to parry my whip instead of dodging. Think about whatwould happen if you were placed in a situation where it''s impossible to dodge, how''re you going to protect yourself then?" Lisandra had reasoned multiple times after I displayed my amazingly agile reflexes. Still, I couldn''t help but dodge again.

    "Stop dodging!" She increased her aggressiveness with her whip. The speed at which her whip retracted left an afterimage, making it seem like two whips were used at the same time. Surprisingly, I was able to keep up with her pace, dodging into openings that seemed conveniently placed.

    As I regularly stepped into the convenient spaces, Lisandra drew another whip and surrounded me with a torrent of attacks. It took everything I''ve got just to dodge the tornado of whips, the effort multiplied by the increased weight of my sweat-soaked clothing. From the edge of my vision, I saw her raging yet delighted face grinning.

    "Uh, is it me or are those spikes getting longer?" It took more and more effort just to dodge the whips due to the spikes. Perhaps it''s just my imagination, I thought optimistically, hoping reality would correspond.

    "Ah Citrix, forever the optimistic hunter," Ai chuckled before continuing, "To tell the truth, those spikes are actually increasing in length. That''s one of the whip''s inbuilt function called extension."

    I couldn''t help but mutter "what?" under my breath. A few more dodges and the spikes were beginning to cut up my clothing, which caused panic to rise up in my chest.

    "Ai! Help!"

    "Just parry like how she intended you to," Ai adviced.

    "That''s..." after considering its suggestion for a moment, I made a rough estimation of where Lisandra''s whip will land next. Before it struck its target, I used both daggers to deflect it, only for the other whip to slip right through my blindspot and cut off my right arm.

    It took me a moment to register even though Lisandra already stopped her barrageand was running over. The wound seemed to remember what it was supposed to do when the pain settled in.

    "Don''t scream," she made a shush gesture even though blood was beginning to gush out. When I tried to scream in pain, her other hand went and suppressed it.

    [Error: Unable to carry out homeostasis]

    [Emergency mode: Activated]

    [Injury unable to fully restore]

    [Safety systems are limited. For more information, please contact administrators]

    The four lines zoomed past, followed by a chilling sensation that covered the wound. In the blink of an eye, what was supposed to be a wound was replaced by a natural stub.

    "Argh! My arm!" was followed by a stream of swear and curses as I dropped to my knees. The lost of an arm felt like a heavy blow to me.

    "So much for telling you not to scream..." She muttered to herself. "Calm down, we''ll get your arm back after we get back to the hub," LIsandra said in an attempt to soothe my feelings. "But not now."

    "How is his arm not regenerating!" Ai muttered with urgent dismay as it dived deeper into the logs. "Have you not gotten your injections?"

    Distracted by my own screaming and moanings, I didn''t answer Ai, which it took as a silent yes. A sigh escaped as it sent a request to get a portable medical unit.

    "Should''ve seen that coming," Lisandramuttered while turning away. "Anyway, go get some rest and your updates ready, we''ll continue after your," she pointed at the stub, "arm is back." Then, she went to a spot slightly far away from me, patted the ground there a few times and slept on it.

    While the pain was already gone, the trauma persisted. I was very aware of how dumb I was to scream even though I wasn''t in pain anymore, and that awareness finally allowed me to hear Ai''s own screaming in the background.

    "WHAT ARE YOU SCREAMING ABOUT?" I squeezed the words out.

    "TO GET YOUR ATTENTION," a pause by Ai. "IS IT WORKING!?"

    My screaming stopped as I considered Ai''s words. Looking at the stub that was my right arm, I could feel the phantom pain haunting me again. My mouth was begging to open itself voluntarily now, but I held on to my jaw tightly, determined not to let the trauma take me again.

    "Trauma... That''s gonna leave a mark," Ai spoke to no one in particular, but I was pretty sure he was trying to inform me about something.

    "What are you trying to imply?" My legs folded as I sat on the ground, sweat still trickling.

    "I mean, it''s gonna wound you if you don''t treat it properly. At best, I can only temporarily delay its erosion on your consciousness," Ai spoke with little urgency.

    A brow perked up. "How does that work?" I could hear crickets chirping from the forest nearby, and the occasional wild beast that managed to catch its prey. Other than the noise from the previous spar, the night was chillingly still.

    Ai sighed. "Any trauma you receive will reduce your mental capabilities. Wounds like these can''t be healed, and they fester over time, causing more damage to you as a whole."

    "Whenever a trauma festers, the host will start developing signs of mental retardation. It won''t be obvious in the beginning, but as the festered wound is left untreated, the signs will become more obvious and eventually," Ai held its virtual breath. Seeing as it wouldn''t continue if I didn''t prod, I formed the mental image of me doing a brow raise. It caught on to the sign almost immediately. "The injured host will fall into oblivion, a fate worse than death itself."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    A chill ran through my spine, and I looked around to make sure I wasn''t being watched. My body shuddered out of instincts, so I continued prodding Ai with questions.

    "These injured host... How do they identify the signs earlier?"

    "Good question. There''s a reason why HQ has medical bays even when there are medical units that can travel to almost anywhere."

    "I thought the medical bays were where the medical units get their supplies?" I was curious now. If the medical bays weren''t the place where medical units get their supplies, where do they get them?

    "Hah, everyone thinks the units get their supplies from the bay, classic," Ai mocked. "Now, if anyone knows anything about how the medical units work, they harvest surrounding matter to tend their patients. The medical bay isonlyused to keep the heavy weapons of modern meds."

    "So, you''re telling me, medical units tend their patients with ''magic''?" Skepticism coloured my voice. Honestly speaking, is everything in this universe even working the way it was supposed to?

    "Strictly speaking, it''s ''law enforcement''. They have the right to enforce the laws of worlds that interacts with entities like us."

    "Whatever, I''m still calling it ''magic''," I stuck my tongue out. "And nothing''s gonna change how I call it!"

    "Meh, it doesn''t actually affect me in any way even if you call it by the wrong term," Ai shrugged. "People do it all the time, and if I get a penny for every wrong term people use, I''m buying the whole Organisation."

    "Why buy it? Is it even for sale?" I touched the damaged grass that was growing faster than expected around me. It created a kind of island around me where I was the centre, separated from the rest of the grasslands.

    "So I can rule at the top," Ai''s voice then boomed. "Muahahaha!"

    "For real?" I laid down, watching the stars twinkling in and out of existence. "If so, that''s so lame of a reason."

    "Oh come on," Ai laughed and gave me a mental nudge that I could almost feel physically. "But it''s actually more to give me one more a reason to exist."

    "Oh? Finally came to terms with the meaning of your existence?" I said jokingly, but the counter-nudge was there all the same.

    "Yeah, no, I mean yes, but... I don''t know!" Ai shouted in frustration, seemingly irritated all of a sudden.

    "Calm down, need more coolant?" I chuckled. "I''ll go get a drink once we get in the city."

    "Nah, it''s probably nothing," Ai''s emotions subsided faster than I expected, but it was an artificial intelligence, so what was the problem with that? "I just felt compeled to feel it, probably a coding malfunction or something similar." Silence lingered in the air after while its virtual avatar stared at me without actually meaning to. I got the feeling it was actually thinking about something else too.

    Ai''s emotions are getting more and more realistic the more I interact with it. It feels more like a person now than a computer, and it''s pretty much becoming my best and only, if Lis was excepted, friend. Perhaps it''s developing a personality?My breathing was calm and the sweat that stuck onto my skin was all dried up. I stared at the only constant point in the sky that I noticed wasn''t blinking. A thought came suddenly. Wait, what if Ai is going to replace my consciousness?

    I sat up,the remaininghand supporting my upper body.Ai was already able to live in me and interact with others. If it decides to hijack my brain, then, god, I''ll be damned!The previous calm was no where to be seen now, replaced by a paranoia that felt too real to be true.What if Victor was using me as a host for Ai to grow into? What if the reason why Ai is becoming more humane is because it''s taking over my memories and personality? Damn, I can''t even recall my past memories properly!

    I was suddenly very aware of my breathing becoming erratic as I was no longer sitting on the ground. Sweat was coming off too, not like the ones from sparring with Lisandra, but the kind I got when I felt threatened. Jerking my head up, I looked around. The surroundings were clear, and since it was, like, 3 in the morning, the city behind the walls was silent as a hill. Lisandra was snoring, but I couldn''t hear it too clearly over the constant chirping by the crickets. The chirpings were too much, too many, too overwhelming, too...

    Loud.

    My eyes went to the part of the forest where the loudest chirpings were coming from. There was nothing there, save for bushes and trees. Yet, I could see something there. Yes, a shadow. A movingshadow of a person. The shadow stood there, then grinned and beckoned with its fingers.Come. It said.This is where it all originates from. The chirpings intensified, sounding more like bazookas being fired around more than the swing of a cricket''s pair of legs. The noise sounded overwhelming, and my ears began ringing. I tried closing my ears with both hands, but the sound pierced through the blockade with ease. It was driving me insane. Thesounds were driving me crazy.

    Something dripped from my left ear, followed by my right, then both were dripping wet liquid onto the ground. They were cool, but hot to touch. The mere contradiction drove me further towards insanity. I looked down at what I touched and saw what it was.

    Blood.

    Lotsof blood.

    The drippings were slowing down to tricklings, but the overwhelming noise came back again. My head felt hot, but my brain was boiling. It was being heated inside out, and I wasn''t able to do anything.

    "Gargh!"

    I could hear my pathetic sounding voice alongside the noise, but even then, there was no one to help. I sincerely begged for a god to listen, to take away my current sufferings and let me be on my way, yet there was no response.

    Onlypain.

    Hot. Heat. Burn. Boil. Sting. Pain.

    <em style="font-family: &quot; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px">Hot. Heat. Burn. Boil. Sting. Pain.

    <em style="font-family: &quot; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px">Hot. Heat. Burn. Boil. Sting. Pain.

    <em style="font-family: &quot; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px">Hot. Heat. Burn. Boil. Sting. Pain.

    "MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE!" I pleaded, knees buckling until my body was in direct contact with the ground.

    Vision was a blur, everything swirled around and was blood red. Both my hands were gripped tightly into fists, and in them were bunches of hair that I kept on yanking out of their roots. My ears were ringing until I was sure they were already burst.

    I screamed upwards as a surge of blood bursts from my eyes. I couldn''t see, I knew I no longer had eyeballs, yet the pain they were giving off was still there. Unable to see and think properly, my hands reached blindly to touch my face, then to where my eyes should be.

    And both hands thrusted themselves into the sockets, digging out the remnants. They were wet and gooey to touch, and they were cooling. With my skin burning up as well, both hands started covering myself with the juice located in the sockets. There was a numbing pain as I started banging my head against the ground, blindly, in hopes of the ringing, boiling pain subsiding, but nothing happened as my tears mixed themselves with the socket-juice. Everything was black and blank, painful yet numb, and there was nothing I could do other than pray, bang my head and dig out soft parts from my face.

    [Unable to comprehend expression]

    [Simplified content: Rage, Pain, Hot, Cold, Null]

    [Fatality rate over 90%. Death imminent. Immediate backup signal transmitted.]

    [Time is unjustifiable. Please contact administrators immediately]

    [Log 9: Ended]