Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: The Black Crow and the White Ghost (8)
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To be honest, I was utterly bewildered.
Just moments ago, I was with Raven in that dark laboratory.
Then, before I knew it, I came to my senses cradled in the arms of a stranger.
I looked up to see the profile of a woman, panting as she ran forward.
It felt as if a part of my memory had been snipped out with scissors; the sense of disharmony was overwhelming.
But perhaps because my mind remained remarkably clear and sharp amidst this confusion…
I quickly calmed my emotions and began to vaguely grasp the situation.
*'Is this... someone else's memory? Could it be because of the Invader fragment?'*
I came to this conclusion for a simple reason.
When I opened the box, a wave of power spread out, my consciousness blurred for a moment, and then this happened.
If I carefully considered the cause, the Invader fragment inside that box was the only logical explanation.
In that case, this was no time to just stand here blinking.
If I suddenly collapsed, imagine how worried Raven would be.
So, if possible, I needed to hurry and snap out of it, to escape this strange memory.
*'...Yes, but I have no idea how. My body won't move. I can't use my psychokinesis either.'*
Unfortunately, while my consciousness was perfectly clear, my body wouldn't budge at all.
It was absurdly frustrating, as if I were bound head to toe and trapped in a transparent box.
So, after struggling for a while, I decided to just let it go.
I didn't know how this happened... but if I couldn't move despite my efforts, there was nothing I could do for now.
I could only hope it would resolve itself with time.
Half-resigned, I moved my eyes while still in the woman's arms.
*'...But where am I? This doesn't look like the laboratory.'*
The rapidly changing scenery was clearly not the lab.
Instead of the gloomy interior from before, I was in a chilly forest, faintly illuminated by moonlight.
No wonder I could see her face without a flashlight. I never imagined there was a secret like this.
Realizing anew that this place wasn't real, I looked up at the woman running frantically somewhere.
She was quite beautiful.
I'd say she could even be compared to my reflection in the mirror that had impressed even Greg.
Her sweat-soaked bangs clinging to her forehead were enough to make any man's heart ache.
"Hahh, huuh... It's okay, my baby... Mommy will never, ever leave you..."
After running for a while, she suddenly caressed my cheek, held tightly in her arms, with a loving touch.
Her gaze was sorrowful, like one looking upon a precious being connected by blood.
*Hmm, I see. So right now, I'm this beautiful woman's child.*
It was then that I noticed I was in the form of a small child whose limbs didn't move well.
Maybe it wasn't just because I was in a memory that I couldn't move easily.
As I inwardly nodded at this thought, a sharp sound suddenly tore through the air.
"Kyaaah! Guh..."
*Thwack!*
Along with the sound of flesh tearing, the woman screamed and pitched forward violently.
Perhaps because she held me tight even as she fell, as if to protect me from harm…
…I wasn't seriously injured despite the fall.
*'Just as I thought, something is seriously wrong.'*
As I anxiously pricked up my ears at the unsettling turn of events…
…the sound of countless footsteps trampling grass and dirt quickly drew near.
"My, my, what do you think you're doing, running off with the Child of God? Such a treasure, and so hard to obtain. Are you trying to get us all killed?"
A man's low voice pierced my ears.
From the arms of the woman trembling in pain, I moved my eyes toward the direction of the voice.
To my surprise, a familiar face stood there—a character from the original story.
I couldn't remember his exact name, but he was the director of the experiments that created psychics.
I clearly remembered him meeting a gruesome end at the hands of a psychic who had lost control.
However, seeing his face without wrinkles or white hair, I guessed this must be his younger self.
Once again, it hit me that this memory was from a moment in the distant past.
As I listened intently to the unsettling situation unfolding…
…the woman, bleeding from one shoulder, struggled to her feet and shouted vehemently, as if she had just heard something absurd.
"Hah, hah... Child of, God? What nonsense... This child is a perfectly ordinary, human...!"
"What are you talking about...? Listen, that's not a human. It's a completely different being that merely takes a human form. You saw it too, didn't you? The potential that baby holds!"
"Shut up! What do you know about this child to be spouting such things!"
The director looked down at the woman's desperate cry with the gaze one would give a fool.
It was a look of contempt, as if he wasn't looking at another human being.
Even though I wasn't the target, the revulsion was enough to make me flinch.
But amidst all that, there was another unusual term.
Child of God... I wished someone would explain what that meant.
Was it possible my silent, desperate prayer was heard?
While the woman, surrounded by soldiers, darted her eyes around, searching for an escape route…
…the director trudged toward her, his face contorting.
"Tch, playing parent to a Child of God that just fell from the sky... It's disgusting. Like a monkey thinking a human is its child."
"Shut up...!"
"Since you seem completely ignorant of that child's value, I'll explain it again. The thing in your arms... is another human with a completely different structure from modern humanity. Yes, if 'Child of God' makes you uncomfortable, we could use the term 'Neo-Human'."
*Hmm? I think I like the term 'Neo-Human' better.*
The director chuckled, as if impressed with the word he'd come up with, and touched his forehead.
The soldiers surrounding the woman seemed momentarily taken aback by the man's sudden change.
But when he reverted to a cold, expressionless face as if nothing had happened, the tension mounted even further.
He was the kind of lunatic you shouldn't provoke.
He exuded that exact kind of unsettling, unhinged aura.
"And yet, this most crucial being for humanity to obtain the perfect psychic... you're trying to ruin it with your pathetic little parent game! You rotten bitch! Do you have any idea how much stress I've been under? You goddamn bitch, killing you wouldn't be enough!"
"Agh...! Guh...!"
The director then walked up to the immobilized woman and kicked her hard.
To kick her so violently while she was holding the so-called precious Child of God...
The series of actions seemed to display an uncontrollable madness.
Perhaps because the woman had lost too much blood and was in a terrible state…
…the director picked me up from her, who had collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious.
His casual gesture was more like lifting a piece of luggage than handling a baby.
Dangling from his one hand, I couldn't help but feel flustered.
"Hey, take the Child of God back to its original place. If it gets so much as a single scratch, I'll have your heads."
"Wh-what should we do with this researcher...?"
"...Get rid of her. You know how we do things."
*Pat, pat.*
The director patted the shoulder of the soldier, whose face was completely covered.
I intuitively knew what he meant.
Those involved with psychics were meticulous about erasing their tracks to avoid being caught.
It meant they would make the woman disappear without a trace. How terrifying.
The soldier indeed seemed tense, as if burdened by the order.
But as if he had no choice but to obey, he nodded and divided his men.
Soon, I was carefully cradled by a soldier and carried away somewhere.
With that last sight, the vision unfolding around me began to blur.
Did this mean the memory contained in the Invader fragment ended here?
After pondering the incomprehensible situation for a moment, I came to a conclusion.
*'This... the Child of God mentioned in the memory... could it be me?'*
When I thought about it, the story fit together all too well.
The perfect psychic—that must refer to a psychic who doesn't suffer from mental corruption, like me.
Since I was a being that didn't even appear in the original story, it felt natural to be equated with the Child of God, who was also absent from the original.
And if I was different from ordinary humans, it would explain the special abilities I possessed.
No wonder I could hear the Tesseract and Echo's voice, things that weren't in the original story either.
To think I had a past like this.
Honestly, it was a secret I had never imagined.
*'Although there are still so many unknowns...'*
However, a few things still bothered me.
Like the fact that the first place I opened my eyes was the secret lab beneath Nighthaven.
And the huge time gap between the era of the Child of God in the memory and the present.
There were still many unresolved threads...
But with this many clues pointing in one direction, I had no choice but to accept it, one way or another.
Well, it's not like knowing this changes much.
I laughed hollowly to myself and, as soon as I emerged from the memory, my body swayed.
"Yuria, are you okay!"
"..."
I blinked once, and Raven's urgent-looking face was right in front of me.
It seemed my consciousness had faded for a moment while I was seeing that strange vision from the Invader fragment.
Seeing that my mask was off, I must have suddenly collapsed.
Ah, I feel bad for worrying him. But I'm not really hurt.
So, there's no need to worry, Raven.
To convey this, I smiled faintly and naturally opened my lips.
"Raven."
"...You, you... you spoke...!"
"...?"
*Huh, did I just... speak?*
At the utterly unfamiliar resonance, I blinked blankly.
It seemed the Invader fragment had given me more than just memories.