Chapter 38 — Silhouette de la Réalité (1)

Tap— tap—

Footsteps climbing toward the second floor.

Lee Jun entered his room and dumped out everything that had been slumbering quietly inside his Pocket.

The fragments of Liberation's Logic Cube.

"Nope, not this one."

The 500-won coin he'd received as a luck charm.

"…Not this one either."

The Artificial Space.

Styx's Shard.

And then—

"The Shadow, Finally Awakened."

Yes. This one.

Lee Jun picked up the shadow crystal first. All he had to do was release some mana and wake it up, but…

"Waking it all at once would… still be dangerous, right?"

He drew an empty syringe from his Pocket. The tip was blunt—a spent mana ampoule canister. Press the plunger of an already-activated ampoule in reverse, and it would draw mana back in instead. He intended to use it to extract the mana suppressant still pooled inside the crystal.

"Whew…."

His nerves were taut. If it woke up and immediately went berserk, there'd be nothing he could do to stop it in his current state. So this part had to be handled with meticulous care.

Slluuurp—

Exactly three milliliters. Nothing happened up to that point.

"Then a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠little more…."

Five milliliters. Six. Seven…

Milliliter by milliliter, he coaxed the suppressant out with delicate precision. With one hand occupied—or rather, absent—he gripped the syringe's plunger between his teeth and pulled.

And at last, when he'd extracted sixteen milliliters of the total 245 that had been administered—

Crack—

Crack-crack—

"…Is that it?"

Fissures began to spider across the crystal. The jet-black gem's shell split apart and flaked away, and before he knew it, it had liquefied into something thin and runny, trickling down. A unpleasant, greasy sensation crawled over his hand and dripped away in fat droplets—until a small black puddle pooled on the floor.

Of course, it was an absurdly tiny amount, nowhere near enough to cover even a single stretch of floorboards. Compared to how it had been inside the Gate, it was clearly in a drastically weakened state.

"Hey."

Squirm—

The shadow writhed in response to his voice.

"Awake yet?"

It was supposed to have finally awakened. Well then, say something. Anything.

Lee Jun kept the syringe's mouth pressed close, ready to pump the suppressant right back in if necessary. But aside from that one little twitch, the shadow showed no movement at all.

"Hm… it must have come to, though."

Its consciousness had probably returned the moment the crystal shattered. If it were a fragile species like humans, maybe not—but for this incomprehensible lifeform, having a bit of its internal mana congealed wasn't going to matter much. Either it was still putting on an act, or it was still in the process of pulling itself together.

He'd give it a little more time. If there was still no response after that…

"…Then I have my own methods."

Thud—

Lee Jun hauled a piece of machinery out from a corner of the room. A mana extractor. Last time, it had been used to pump in suppressant and harden the thing—this time, it would drain out every last drop of mana remaining. Taken this far, even something like it would truly die.

"This machine extracts the mana from inside an object. And you—most of your body is made of mana, isn't it? If it's drawn out wrong, you'll die on the spot."

"……."

Now—three minutes. That was plenty of time to come to one's senses. Staying quiet this long meant it was faking it.

"It seems you've got something confused. I don't need you."

Twitch—

At those words, the shadow stirred, just slightly.

There, see? The little bastard was faking it.

"The biggest reason I wanted that Gate's hidden piece was my wager with Seolwon. You know that already—you've read my memories, haven't you?"

"……."

"But the wager's already been won. Which means I have nothing left to be careful about anymore. A hidden piece that won't cooperate for shit? I could just turn it into a mana stone and sell it off."

Failing to acquire the hidden piece? Well, that would simply be a shame, nothing more. Once it was revealed to be neither a skill nor an artifact, all value along those lines had evaporated. He couldn't hand something as unverified as this to Seo Yoon—so either Lee Jun used it himself, or, frankly, it was better off discarded.

"You're a risk. I don't know how much return I'll get, but I invest expecting that value to pan out. But if you're going to sabotage yourself before we've even started, then cutting you loose is simply the easiest option."

So then.

"Choose. Will you cling to your pride and die here, or will you bow your head, starting now?"

Yes, this was a threat. Granted, one laced with a fair amount of bluffing. But then… the other side had no way of knowing where the truth ended and the lie began. And because of that, anyone who heard these words would act exactly like this, one hundred times out of a hundred.

Sliiide—

"…Truly. What a despicable man you are."

"See? It was an act."

The upper half of a woman rose up out of the shadow spread across the floor. Apparently still itching to provoke him, she hadn't bothered changing her form.

"Cheap provocation only puts you at a disadvantage, you know."

"Well. It seemed like this appearance would be most advantageous, if we were going to negotiate something."

"Ha. What a brilliant judgment call."

Setting aside how much that irritated him, there was good news buried in it—the word she'd just used. 'Negotiate.' The other side really was considerably weakened right now. If she weren't, negotiations would be beside the point; she'd simply resort to force.

"So you're not exactly sitting pretty yourself, are you?"

"…No. Unfortunately, I'm not. So then… what exactly do you want with me, on a day like this?"

What did he want? Simple.

"The abilities you possess. Could you disguise them as skills and stay attached to me?"

"Hm-m-m?"

"Then how about posing as a parasitic artifact?"

"…Hmm. None of that is beyond me. I can make it look like anything, one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way or another."

By now, he had a rough picture of what had actually happened in the previous cycle. This creature had already awakened by the time the first clearing party entered the Gate. Then it had slaughtered every one of them. After that, for reasons unknown, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lingered inside the Gate until the next party arrived. It annihilated the second clearing party the same way, then picked some random member among them to impersonate, and walked out.

Posing as the sole survivor of the second party, it gained its first foothold in human society.

'When giving its statement, it probably answered using the memories it had pre-read.'

That much was all but certain. And from there, one of two things must have happened: either it had killed Chapman too and stolen a new identity, or it had come to a mutual understanding and cooperated with Chapman.

'Either way, it's dangerous. And conversely… if I obtain it here and now, it will never cross over to Liberation.'

Which was precisely why it mattered—making this thing cooperate, or bend, by any means necessary. And if all else failed… he had to be prepared to erase it from existence entirely. There was no reason to shoulder an overwhelming risk for the sake of the return.

"You're planning to take me with you, aren't you?"

"For now."

"I like that confidence. But… shouldn't I be getting something out of this, too?"

"Can't read the room? The hilt of the sword is in my hand right now. Mine, not yours."

Of course, that was bravado too. The mana suppressant was, in essence, a drug—anyone with high mana affinity would build a tolerance over time. For an ordinary human, seventy-nine days. For a magic-type hunter, thirty-six. And the higher the rank, the shorter it got—down to as few as eleven days.

For a creature on this thing's level, worst-case scenario…

'Ninety hours.'

Even now, it was cutting it dangerously close. He needed to bind it with an oath upon its mana before the hardening wore off. And if that proved impossible… the only real option was annihilation.

'Do you know how much trouble it was to get this hidden piece? I can't just throw it away like this.'

Talking with it like this, clawing out even the smallest advantage through negotiation—it was all because he couldn't bear to waste it. He'd gone through all that hardship; coming away empty-handed was unthinkable. Sure, he did have Styx's Shard, won as his wager prize…

'Though calling it a substitute for this thing would be underselling it.'

The shadow's performance in the previous cycle had been truly exceptional—enough to make legendary-grade artifacts look like trinkets. But the more volatile the moment, the more thoroughly one had to bury one's true feelings. So Lee Jun spoke with practiced calm, laced with a deliberate measure of irritation.

"So. Choose. Will you attach yourself to me, or simply cease to exist?"

"……."

"I can't wait around forever, either. The patience of short-lived creatures has its limits."

The creature still gave no answer. Was it deliberating? Or had it seen through every one of his schemes, and was it laughing at him inside?

Either way, the fact that it hadn't refused outright was good news. Silence meant it was thinking something over, and that meant possibility remained.

After a long moment, the creature finally spoke, calm and measured.

"I'll be honest with you. I am interested."

Then, with an odd look on her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face, she continued.

"But so what? Does being interested mean I give everything up? If a child wants a toy, does he have to buy it? No. No, he doesn't. It doesn't work that way."

He couldn't tell what she was playing at… but she seemed to be trying to fold away the interest she'd just admitted to. And she also seemed… strangely indifferent to the prospect of her own annihilation. Hadn't she said she'd been sealed away for centuries?

Maybe that was exactly why.

"…Pointlessly picky, aren't you."

"Can you blame me? Nobody likes taking a loss."

"Keep that up and you might lose everything, permanently."

"That's for time to tell. The way I see it, you're the one bluffing right now."

"Am I? Then why don't you go all-in on that possibility?"

"Even that reaction of yours—have you forgotten I read through your memories?"

"……."

Lee Jun deliberated: push harder here, or yield a little ground? Push too hard and the thing might snap; but once you bent, negotiation meant bending endlessly after that.

She had combed through his memories once, front to back. Which made this a hopelessly lopsided game in his disfavor. For a gambler whose tricks had been exposed, nothing waited at the table but ruin.

So in a situation like this—

"That said, I am interested."

"……?"

The same words as before.

"The same thing you just said. Do you think I can't tell?"

"…No."

"Mm. However you choose to interpret it, that's your business."

Still nothing above the waist showing, she began, slowly, to raise the rest of herself up out of the floor. The boundary where she crossed into the world started at her navel, then her hips, her knees, her calves—

And at last, down to the very tips of her toes, all of her slipped out into the world.

"What stirred my interest was your past. But that's merely the past."

"So something else has caught your interest now?"

"That's right. As you well know—the future."

She crawled toward him on her knees, matching his eye level exactly, closing the distance.

"What will you do? Can you live this second life of yours well? Can you save the ones inside it?"

"…Didn't I tell you to give up on becoming some sort of hero?"

"Of course. You're going to become something greater than a hero."

Sweep—

Her hand stroked Lee Jun's cheek. A strange warmth pooled in her fingertips and traveled up through his skin. By the time she'd pushed her face right up to his, moving her lips at a distance where they might as well have been touching—

An oath upon mana. Break it, and no mana could ever dwell in one's body again. And for a creature whose entire being was made of mana… that was nothing short of a death sentence.

"…For something you've been stalling over, you didn't hesitate one bit."

"I know. Something inside me just kept whispering, over and over. The sound was so loud… I suppose I acted on impulse."

With a look somewhere between wistful and faraway, she pressed her nose against his. The moment their noses touched, her breath ghosted across his skin. So this thing breathed, too? Or was that an act as well? Honestly… it hardly mattered.

"Heh heh. Is this how you normally operate? Analyzing everything, steering everyone?"

"Get off me."

"Mm-m. How adorable—you're flustered."

"…I said get off."

The moment Lee Jun's voice went flat and hard, she pulled back. But whatever was so entertaining about it, that smirking grin never left her face.

"Oh, and there was another reason, too. I figured it out, you see. You're too capable. I couldn't find a single gap to slip out through."

"What?"

"No matter what scheme anyone tries against you, it all flows, in the end, exactly the way you want it to, doesn't it? So letting them scheme to their heart's content, dragging things out as long as possible, then surrendering—that's the most infuriating thing I could possibly do to you, isn't it?"

She smiled, playful as a cat. This was… trust, if it was anything. Thinking of it that way, something in his chest turned over uneasily.

"…Ha."

Making that face while saying that. It reminded him, for no good reason, of someone familiar—and it made him feel absolutely wretched.

"Yep, I know."

"…Damn you."

He must have shown her too many of his memories. But the world works on trade-offs. If that was what had sparked her interest… then in this particular case, the gains outweighed the cost.

"Anyway. Looking forward to working with you?"

"……."

And so, his management company gained one more employee.

"Whew…."

…Employee, though? Really?