Triangulating by the city’s landmarks, I cross-referenced with my memory of the Broken Kaleidoscope’s map and ran for the above-ground research station. I circulated aura to give myself a speed boost. The bodies of the people I’d killed were missing from the street when I ran by.

For the first time, I regretted that I hadn’t kept my original lens, because I had no way to check if I’d received any messages while I’d been an unconscious bug. I messaged Professor Raoul again, to no response. Was I too late?

The research station came into view. It was a short building made with clay bricks, and a signboard with the Broken Kaleidoscope’s insignia had been hung over the entrance. The door was locked and the windows were shuttered, which did nothing for my optimistic feelings.

But I needed information, and I needed it fast. I jammed [Caller of What Must Be True] into the lock and shimmied the door until it swung open.

The stench of blood hit me like a truck.

The walls were dripping, covered in dark stains. Corpses wearing the Broken Kaleidoscope’s insignias were strewn between the overturned furniture. A faint light shone under the cracks of the door at the end of the hall.

What exactly had happened? The bodies would tell the tale, right? I gripped my knife tighter and crept in further, careful to move in silence.

The stains on the walls wriggled on the walls. They began to peel off, condensing to meet the blood and blackened water that was rising from the floor.

I turned to flee, but a wall of water had already blocked the window and door.

Only one way to go, then. I bolted further in towards the door at the end of the hall, reflexively reaching for my aura to reinforce my speed.

But nothing happened. It was like it didn’t exist.

Crap. What about 6E? My ether domain didn’t respond either, as if all my efforts in the past few weeks had simply evaporated into thin air.

Ribbons of bloody water streamed towards me. I hurled myself at the door and slammed it open.

A hooded figure stood in front of a wall of crystals that had been carved and polished into perfect lenses, displaying images from all over the city. I lunged forward with my knfe.

The red tide swallowed me. It formed a watery prison that swept me into the air, constricting me so tight I almost spit out all my breath.

Through the hazy water, I saw the hooded figure slowly turn around. Their mouth curled in a condescending smile as they lifted their hand and squeezed.

I choked. Bubbles involuntarily escaped from my mouth. Even if I wanted to move my limbs, though, I couldn’t. My vision swam, blackening at the edges.

No aura. No elemental magic. Nothing I could transform into that would help me right now — damn, if only my sister had kept a pet fish instead of a pet dog! I didn’t have anything but a knife that I couldn’t even throw…

Wait. There was one more thing I could do with [Honest Man’s Deception].

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I called forth [Regretful Devourer of What He Loves].

A cold black mask formed over my nose and jaw, and even though I couldn’t see it, I could feel it twisting into a malicious smile as if it was my second mouth.

Go on, I mentally urged. Devour all that water!

It didn’t. In fact, I even had the faint hallucination that it was scorning me.

Which was ridiculous! Did I not love water enough? Water, the source of my survival, the lifeline of all living things, the most precious resource in the world? Water, which had been necessary to create my home world’s most precious and terrible technology? Water, for which I had killed?!

If a desire strong enough to kill for and die for wasn’t love, then what the hell was!

The mask’s malicious grin morphed into a thoughtful frown.

But still, it was unwilling.

[Because. You won’t. Regret. Enough.]

My vision was dimming. I felt like I was going crazy. If it wanted regret, I had enough regret to feed it for a lifetime.

Of course, if just that much was enough, then Linden wouldn’t have hated this damn thing so much.

Still, something with such a bad personality had to be capable of bending the rules! Didn’t it want to see the shock and regret of the hooded figure as much as it wanted to see me suffer? Didn’t it want to eat and devour what was most precious to others?

So it felt water wasn’t precious enough to me — so what! Eat it! Drink it! Take it all until I couldn’t handle it anymore and had to throw it all back up!

That was how it could make me regret!

[Aren’t you my World Proof?] I shouted in my head.

[So obey me and do it!]

It didn’t move. My bones were creaking. Despite my best efforts, air bubbles were escaping from my mouth.

Just as I thought I was going to be crushed to death by the pressure, [Regretful Devourer of What He Loves] opened its jaws.

It drank. And drank, and drank…

And all the blood and water disappeared into its mouth.

I fell to the ground, vision spotting and gasping for breath. It took all my concentration to land with my feet under me. My stomach churned and bile rose in the back of my throat.

The hooded figure stepped back, reaching for something to the side. “You—!”

I leaped, aiming as much by hearing as by vision, and tackled him to the floor. He yelled, aiming at my face with a clawed hand. Responding to my thoughts, [Devourer] opened its jaws. I caught the hooded figure’s fingers between its teeth and bit down as hard as I could. In the moment of their reflexive flinch, I jammed my thumbs into his eyes and slammed his head against the ground as hard as I could.

Then I did it again, and again, over and over until he stopped struggling beneath me and I couldn’t hear him yelling anymore.

I spat out his fingers along with the blood that had accumulated in my mouth, both from biting him and from how he’d gouged my tongue with his nails. Tough bastard.

Then, overcome by nausea, I leaned over the side and vomited.

I threw up so hard my eyes watered. I barely had any room to breathe, choking on all the blood and water that [Devourer] had swallowed for me. And it just kept going. It felt endless. For a while I was convinced I was going to black out and suffocate and die.

Somehow, though, I made it through, gasping weakly. I didn’t even have the energy to pull myself off the now soaking corpse.

This dogshit World Proof, it actually made me throw everything back up. And it hadn’t even manifested its spirit beast form like it had for Linden. What a piece of crap!

I felt the mask curve into a vindictive smile.

[Jeong. Eunseok.]

[You. Will Definitely. Regret.]

I dismissed it in a burst of irritation. For something that had been born out of my very own World Proof, it sure had a lot of attitude. See if I ever used it again!

I hadn’t exactly expected [Devourer] to have its own will, though. [Caller] and [Honest Man’s Deception] had never spoken to me. Maybe I should try speaking to them too…

But that would have to wait.

After recovering some of my strength, I dragged myself upright and did a quick investigation.

From the hooded figure’s body, I snatched a necklace whose blood-red amulet was bound by black cords woven over it like a net. When I touched it, any aura or ether I was using would instantly dissipate. As for his lens, it had been broken during the fight. I felt a bit remorseful that I hadn’t paid more attention to it while smashing his head into the ground.

In the research center, I found the Broken Kaleidoscope’s emergency protocol booklet — my original goal. However, the pages inside had been completely ripped out.

I collected the security badges from the corpses on the floor. I didn’t see anyone who wasn’t part of the Broken Kaleidoscope. Their bodies bore various injuries — bruises, slash marks, burns. Some of their badges were missing.

I didn’t have the luxury to conduct a thorough investigation. I left the research center and looked around. Faster, I needed to be faster…

Seeing a denizen drive by on a crystal-powered vehicle like the one Ozias had used, I jumped onto the side and pulled myself into the passenger seat. The driver’s bewildered expression quickly morphed into horror when he saw my bloodied appearance. It only took a little encouragement with [Caller] to make him pull over and run away, leaving me free to commandeer the vehicle for myself.

After a slightly crooked start, I steered the vehicle towards the the Cagzol Institute of Biotechnology as fast as I could, heedless of shocked pedestrians and alarmed oncoming traffic. Now wasn’t the time to heed social niceties.

My lens had cracked during the battle. I adjusted my transformation from [Honest Man’s Deception] to restore my appearance and the lens and, after sending off another message to Professor Raoul, opened my communication channel with Verica.

Your Trustworthy Classmate: Verica

Your Trustworthy Classmate: Everyone in the surface research center is dead.

Your Trustworthy Classmate: Please message back if you are still alive.

I wasn’t feeling optimistic, but I actually got an answer fast.

sys_node_44: What do you mean, everyone’s dead?

sys_node_44: You didn’t show up to our meeting

I started to compose an apology before considering that Acacius didn’t seem the type of person to do that. Come on, Eunseok, get your act together! I slapped my cheeks lightly and formed another message.

Your Trustworthy Classmate: I ran into trouble. Where is everyone? Are they still alive?

sys_node_44 opened a live communication channel.

A speaker crackled to life from my lens, and Verica’s voice came through, along with the background murmurs of a gathered crowd.

“Acacius?”

“Verica.”

“What’s going on?”

“Tell me the situation over there first.”

“Everyone is at the Cagzol Institute. We’ve just entered the caverns.”

“Right,” I said slowly. How fast could I make it there? “Is Professor Raoul there?”

“Yeah. During the headcount, I told him you were missing, so Hanan sent someone out to look for you. Where are you?”

I frowned. A wave of misgiving washed over me.

“He hasn’t answered my messages.”

“I can—”

“No, don’t talk to him.”

It was just strange. Professor Raoul was such an attentive and meticulous guy. But now that I thought about it… Why did I even trust him, anyways? After all, how had the enemy gotten information and infiltrated this excursion in the first place?

Whether it was the Broken Kaleidoscope or Nithemoore’s own staff, as long as I suspected the existence of an insider, I couldn’t trust anyone. Damn, I should’ve thought of this before trying to contact anyone. Where did my composure go?

“Say, Verica. How do we evacuate the Fantasm World, anyways?”

“We’d have to perform the exit ritual.”

“Who knows how to do it? Aside from the Broken Kaleidoscope staff.”

“Uh, Professor Raoul would? And… maybe Nastaran.”

Then I’d have to aim to get that information from one of them.

“Do me a favor, will you?” I said. “Tell everyone that there’s an unknown number of enemies targeting Nithemoore. Everyone should find a way to protect themselves that doesn’t use any frames.”

“I—what? I can’t just say that.”

I clenched my teeth and slammed my foot on the pedal. The crystal spun faster as the vehicle accelerated, humming under my grip. “What do you mean? Just climb up on a rock and shout it if you have to. Or is that somehow beyond your capabilities?”

A new voice broke into our conversation.

“That’s a little unfair to Veric, don’t you think?” Roxana said. “You played with her expectations and disappearing for so long, and now that you’ve gotten back into contact, you’re asking her to embarrass herself in front of everyone. It’s a bit of a difficult position.”

I held in a frustrated laugh. “You don’t believe me.”

“No, no, don’t put words in my mouth,” said Roxana gently. “But before asking Veric to take action, can’t you present us with some evidence first?”

Ha. All my evidence was here with me. Who knew how much could happen before I got there?

But Roxana was right. I couldn’t expect greenhouse flowers like them to act so decisively on Acacius’ word alone. From their perspective, wasn’t everything still normal? Anything I told them about kidnapping and dead bodies might as well be from a different world entirely.

Even if I did my best to convey my sincerity, they wouldn’t want to believe me. Instead of wasting my time, I should just force them to move.

“Fine. I’ll pull the metaphorical trigger,” I said. “Get ready.”

I took some attention off the road to operate my lens and change my system name. The side of the vehicle scraped against a street light as I swerved a bit too sharply up the road. I sent a mental apology to the pedestrians that scattered like carrion birds before my reckless driving, but I didn’t slow down.

Helpful Stranger created a new communication channel.

Helpful Stranger added sys_node_1, sys_node_2, and 127 others to the channel.

Helpful Stranger set all members to mute.

Helpful Stranger: Ladies, gentlemen, and distinguished guests. Shall we play a game?

“What the hell are you doing?” Verica said sharply.

Distracting. I hung up on her.

Helpful Stranger: There is an unknown enemy in your midst. They’ve already killed some of you, but I didn’t bother counting how many.

Helpful Stranger: It seems, however, as if our bright and illustrious gathering hasn’t noticed yet. Ha ha!

I’d made it to the outskirts of the city, which was good, because I didn’t have to worry as much about accidentally running someone over. My lens speaker crackled again as Verica tried to reopen our live communication channel. I rejected it resolutely.

Helpful Stranger: It would be just too pitiful to see everyone cluelessly slaughtered, so here’s a little hint!

Helpful Stranger: If I was determined not to let a single one of you escape…

Helpful Stranger: What do you think I would do?

Helpful Stranger: Hey, is everyone gathered together in one place yet?

Verica called again. Message notifications were popping up from different accounts, asking me who the hell I was, what I was doing, and what my purpose was. And when I was already being so helpful too!

Helpful Stranger: Whether you believe me or not, your survival is at stake.

Helpful Stranger: I’m looking forward to your efforts. I hope you can surprise me.

Helpful Stranger left the communication channel.

The speaker buzzed again. This time, I picked up. Faint yells were calling for order over the background roar of a crowd.

“Yes?” I said.

“Are you crazy?” said Roxana harshly, dropping that high-pitched, sweet way of talking completely. “I said to provide evidence, not to fabricate threats on the spot!”

“If a threat is what it takes to make everyone act, I’ll make as many threats as I like.”

Whoa, that sounded way more evil than I meant to. Good thing Acacius was famous for being an asshole anyways.

“You’ve succeeded,” Verica said grimly. “But you left out some information during your broadcast. Didn’t you say we needed to find a way to protect ourselves without using foreign frames?”

“Yeah. At least one enemy was able to cut off my ability to use the 6E and aura force frames.”

“So then, first-order powers should be fine, right?”

What the hell were those? I said confidently, “Things like your World Proof, your titles…”

“Got it. I…” Verica took a deep breath. “I’ll let everyone know. And Roxana… Can you…”

“Help you put up a barrier? No problem,” Roxana said breezily. “In fact, I can do the public speaking, too.”

“Ah, no, that’s…”

“I’m the one who’s better at this, right? Just leave it to me. I’ll be counting on you for the rest.”

Verica was silent long enough for the fenced-off area of the Cagzol Institute of Biotechnology to come into my view.

“Verica,” I said, “if I wanted to prevent people from escaping, I’d target anyone who had the know-how to leave first. So…”

Roxana’s voice floated out faintly. “Don’t worry, everyone!” she called over the din, bright as a clarion bell. “I’ll set up a protective barrier. Prepare your fundamental and first-order powers while I pray for the Dragon Shrine’s blessings!”

Hanan’s flustered voice called out. “Student Roxana, wait! It’s too dangerous—”

A catastrophic bang pierced my ears. I ducked down and covered my head before realizing the sound had been transmitted through my lens.

Past the ringing in my ears, I heard Verica calling, “Roxana… Roxana!” Her quickened breathing was audible even over the screams that had erupted in the background. “Professor!” someone yelled. And another voice: “Who here can heal? Quickly, quickly—!”

Verica took a deep breath and began to recite.

“Our lady of sorrows, turn your merciful gaze upon these poor lambs—!”

I heard another deafening bang.

The transmission cut off.

Shit.

I pressed the acceleration and sped up the road until I arrived at the Cagzol Institute’s gate. The guards indicated for me to stop and asked me to scan my lens. It would probably be faster than trying to ram through the gate, so I complied.

Their machine confirmed me as a guest of the Council. I let out a sigh of relief as they let me in. This whole mess aside, at least the Broken Kaleidoscope had taken care of all necessary arrangements to blend into the Fantasm World.

“Do you know where the others in my group have gone?” I asked.

“I believe that Council Member Hanan has brought her guests down to the first level,” the guard said. “Show your lens to the security guard inside and he’ll help you in.”

“Thanks,” I said, and drove in as fast as I could.

I stopped the stolen vehicle right outside the main building and ran in. Ominously, there wasn’t a single person in the lobby — not even a security guard. There was no fucking way I was taking the elevator under these circumstances, so I sprinted down the emergency stairs instead.

The doors opened up to a familiar underground landscape, lit by the gentle glow of blooming blue flowers. Down the terraced slope, I spotted a small stone building perched by the tunnels that led further into the caverns. It was surrounded by a massive barrier of wildly flowing white wind that blurred my view of the moving figures inside.

That couldn’t be a good sign. I ducked down behind a cluster of flowers and peered out carefully, scanning for anyone outside the barrier.

The HUD of my lens flickered as new notifications came spilling in.

nastaran farzan added you, sys_node_44, SaintRoxy, and Luka to the channel.

nastaran farzan opened a live communication channel.

What was with this group? I accepted the communication request. Nastaran’s lively voice immediately greeted me.

“Hey, Acacius! Are you there?”

There wasn’t as much chaotic background noise as before, but it had been replaced by a low and continuous roar. “Yes,” I said in a hushed voice.

“Great. Where are you?”

How much should I trust her with? … Well, I was pretty confident I could run away if things came down to it.

“I just entered the caverns. There’s a huge barrier…”

“Yup, that’s the enemy’s,” said Nastaran cheerfully. “They’ve trapped us inside. We’ve rallied a temporary defense for now. Can you break the barrier from the outside?”

I stared at the barrier. The grass and flowers bent nearly flat under the waves of pressure it emitted; even the nearby streams and rivulets had been blown out of their paths. “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“Don’t know! We’re all preoccupied with surviving in here when there’s no frames to work with. You’re the only person we know who is outside and trustworthy.”

“Trustworthy?” I repeated skeptically.

“I heard from Verica. You wouldn’t have given such a timely warning if you were the enemy, right? You’re our only hope.”

Damn. I frowned, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I was going to do something anyways, but it would be best to draw a firm line before a “request” for my help could turn into “expectation.” Who said I could save them, anyways?

“Nastaran. You know how to perform the ritual to escape the Fantasm World, right?”

“You bet.”

“Once the barrier is down, give that knowledge to me.”

Nastaran laughed. “That’s no problem, but are you sure you can do it?”

“What’s there to hesitate about? If I fail, we can try regretting it together in the grave.”

“I’ll hold you to that. We’re counting on you.”

She firmly shut off the live communication channel, leaving me to contemplate the barrier alone.

I tried circulating my ether and aura, and just like when I’d faced that hooded enemy, I couldn’t use them at all.

Now how was I supposed to resolve this problem on my own?

Chapter 20 Back to Index