Chapter 208
Chapter 208
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 208
Chapter Title: Yuria and the Two Psychics (5)
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The ticket wristband radiated the faint but unmistakable energy of an Invader.
Holding the woman's wrist, I hesitated for a moment before yanking the wristband straight off.
“Oh, my! Hey!”
“…”
Suddenly having her wristband snatched by me, she looked utterly bewildered.
After all, the wristband was meant to prevent ticket tampering and unauthorized entry, as well as to verify identity.
They had been warned of penalties if it was damaged, so her reaction was only natural.
But when I held out the straightened wristband for her to see, she blinked in confusion.
The wristband, which should have been messily torn, was unexpectedly clean and undamaged.
A wristband that would easily rip if forced—how could it be so intact that it could be put back on?
For me, the reason was quite simple.
The clasp on these wristbands is made by applying adhesive to the ends to join them.
I had simply used my psychokinesis to grab only the adhesive particles between the surfaces and forcefully separate them.
‘The principle behind adhesives is to fill the surface with a high-density substance, maximizing the intermolecular attractive forces. With a deft use of psychokinesis, you can separate them this easily.’
In short, it was a kind of separation magic made possible by psychokinesis.
I'd been a little worried since I hadn't done it much before, but I was relieved that it was undamaged.
I flipped over the woman's ticket wristband, the one radiating Invader energy.
The inside, which was hidden against her wrist, was revealed.
There, a tiny fragment was stuck, so small it would be missed without a closer look.
Judging by the unsettling sensation it gave off, it was unmistakably a shard of an Invader fragment.
A wristband that every spectator had to wear, and a shard of an Invader fragment that corrupted the human mind.
When those two clues came together, there was only one possible conclusion.
‘Hmm, so the plan is to hide fragments like this everywhere to cause a commotion inside the stadium.’
The image of the demon, Answer, flashed through my mind.
Back then, a large fragment had been embedded in his chest, causing him to rampage indiscriminately in the subway tunnels.
So, Ren must have secretly planted Invader fragments among the people using this method.
Then, at a moment when it would be difficult to handle, she intended to unleash them all at once to cause powerful mental corruption.
Of course, a fragment of this size would only cause them to lose their reason, but…
If such a thing happened in this massive stadium filled with tens of thousands of people, it would be an absurd disaster.
‘The problem is, just how many people are wearing wristbands like this…’
Ten? A hundred? Or a thousand?
Even just one would be difficult to handle, and a cold sweat trickled down my back.
Ugh, I knew a time bomb had snuck inside, but…
I never imagined she'd literally attach time bombs to people. This was truly outrageous.
Moreover, with this method, it would be incredibly difficult to figure out that the perpetrator was a psychic.
It was a very dangerous plan, one that could stir up conflict between the metahuman races right before a major war.
‘Still, I have a rough idea now. To secretly tamper with the tickets like this, she must be a staff member. And the fact that Ren is nowhere to be seen in the stands means…’
If Ren is in the building, she must be in the staff-only area right now.
I calmly nodded at my own conclusion, organizing my thoughts.
Then what I have to do next is extremely simple.
Before the stadium descends into chaos, I have to subdue the mastermind, Ren, no matter what!
After retrieving the Invader fragment from the wristband, I fastened it back onto the woman's wrist.
Then, without a second thought, I spun around and bolted down the corridor.
“H-hey…! Little girl!”
“…Pya.”
Sorry, but I'm a little busy right now.
I gave the woman a quick bow and slipped into the emergency stairwell.
After double-checking that no one was watching,
I glided up the stairs with my psychokinesis, holding Echo with my other hand.
‘Echo, show me the layout of this building. I need to get to the staff-only area.’
[ Yes. In that case, I will color-code the staff-only areas on the map for easy identification. ]
*Beep.*
As expected, Echo is the epitome of competence when it comes to information.
A map of the stadium's interior immediately appeared on the screen, as if it had been prepared in advance.
My current location and the staff-only areas were clearly marked on it.
The interior was more complex than I thought, but with a map this detailed, I couldn't get lost.
As I passed through a deserted corridor and easily reached the staff area,
I suddenly sensed someone walking with heavy, rough footsteps not far away.
‘I came this way specifically because it's secluded…’
Just my luck. Of all the times for someone to be here.
Groaning inwardly, I silently ducked behind a wall.
If Raven were here with his Fixer's professional immunity, it might be different.
But right now, I'd just be treated like a kid who wandered into a restricted area, so I planned to hold my breath and wait quietly for them to pass.
“Ugh, ugh… Kngh…!”
“!”
But as I pressed myself against the wall, my ears perked up at the sound of someone in pain.
It was a man's voice, panting and gasping as if in severe agony.
What's going on? I peeked my head out to look down the corridor.
There, a metahuman who looked to be in bad shape was staggering, leaning against the wall.
Could it be… is he also affected by an Invader fragment?
After glancing around to make sure no one else was there, I cautiously approached the man.
‘…This person has lost his reason to an Invader fragment. Is this already happening in here?’
Up close, the metahuman man's eyes were bloodshot, and he was drooling onto the floor.
He radiated a clear killing intent, as if he would attack anyone who came into his line of sight.
Along with that, I sensed a much stronger Invader presence than before.
So this is what someone who's lost their mind to a fragment looks like. The situation seemed more serious than I'd thought.
“Grrrr!”
As expected, he must have noticed me approaching to check on him.
The man, who had been staggering painfully against the wall, suddenly let out a roar and charged at me.
He swung his sharp claws sideways with all his might, as if trying to tear me to shreds.
The blow was so powerful that it left a dent in the wall it passed.
“Dieeee!”
“…”
Well, naturally, his clumsy attack was meaningless against me.
Even if he was a metahuman, he was clearly an ordinary civilian, not an active Fixer.
There's no way something like this could break through my psychokinesis.
Without lifting a finger, I simply pinned him down with my psychokinesis.
The man, having lost his reason, charged forward recklessly and slammed his head hard onto the floor.
“Gyaack!”
*Crack!*
Even for a sturdy metahuman, slamming his head hard enough to crack the tiles must have taken a toll.
The man collapsed on the spot, twitching and convulsing lightly.
Hmm, was that a bit much?
Slightly worried about my control, I cautiously approached to check on him.
Fortunately, a closer look revealed that it wasn't life-threatening.
The man had just lost consciousness, his eyes rolled back in his head.
‘Phew, as long as he's not seriously hurt. The important thing is… this.’
I lifted the arm of the man, who showed no signs of moving from the impact.
Embedded in his inner forearm was a fragment smaller than a fingernail.
It was larger than the one hidden in the woman's wristband.
I used my psychokinesis to forcefully pull out the deeply embedded fragment.
His body, which had been twitching as if trying to move even with his eyes rolled back, suddenly went still.
It seemed the Invader's energy had been strongly corroding his mind, causing him to move erratically.
‘So this is what it's like when they rampage. Still, since the fragment itself isn't too big, it's not directly life-threatening like it was with Answer.’
That was a small mercy, at least.
However, with so many people rampaging, it would be hard for anyone to avoid getting hurt…
I might have to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
My mind grew a little complicated. I let out a small sigh and patted my cheeks to steel myself.
Still, doing something is better than doing nothing.
I've already eliminated two potential problems. I just have to keep this up.
After encouraging myself, I carefully moved the unconscious metahuman man to a corner of the corridor.
I gathered the two Invader fragments I'd obtained in one hand and thought for a moment.
‘Yeah, now that I'm touching them, I can tell. The power contained in these is the same as rift energy. In that case… I can use them to supply power to the Tesseract or Echo.’
Then moving quickly in this situation would actually be to my advantage.
Both the Tesseract and Echo require a constant supply of limited energy to use their abilities.
This is actually a chance to turn that energy into a gain!
I started walking, pocketed the fragments, and pulled out the map showing the staff areas.
There was no time to rest if I was going to resolve this situation.
***
Around the time Yuria was stealthily moving through the staff area, having made an unexpected discovery,
inside the stadium, in a space accessible only to media personnel, was a certain girl in black.
Her luscious black hair was tied into a single ponytail, and she sat with her legs crossed on top of something.
A closer look revealed that this 'something' was a person, curled up.
Using a person as a chair would normally be a deeply humiliating act.
But surprisingly, the man being used as a chair was breathing excitedly, as if he found the situation satisfying.
However, it seemed the endless waiting was rather boring.
The girl in black, Ren, spoke abruptly without even looking at the man she was using as a chair.
“So, is the plan proceeding?”
“Y-yes! The wristbands with the hidden debris have been safely concealed and evenly distributed in each section. All that's left is to make the debris go wild and heighten the conflict between the metahuman races!”
The man being used as a human chair showed great confidence.
After all, he had worked for days and nights for this moment, and success was right around the corner.
It was only natural for him to feel excited.
However, for Ren, this endless waiting didn't seem to suit her temperament.
She pulled her knees in and tapped the man's stomach with her toes, snorting as if bored.
“Hmph, this is boring. Can't I just kill everything in sight?”
“Th-this is an important plan! Being perceived as an external enemy would only unite them…. We have to frame it as purely internal conflict, like now, to properly wear down their strength!”
“Riiight…”
I just want to tell him to handle it himself and go home.
Her mood soured, Ren exuded an air of disinterest and gently closed her eyes.
Her reaction wasn't particularly strange.
Ever since gaining her psychic powers, she'd become someone who couldn't be satisfied unless she was destroying something.
That's why the man's plan, which rationally sought maximum efficiency, felt so dull to her.
She wished for a handsome prince to come and entertain her.
Ren quietly rested her chin on her hand, suppressing the madness deep within her eyes.
Only a few dozen minutes remained until the Invaders' plan would be executed.
The fateful moment was drawing ever closer.