Dr. Emme (1)
"This isn't the time to be sitting around."
I got to my feet and quickly got ready to head out. It wasn't exactly early enough for a casual meetup, but when it came to that person, time was never an issue. They'd be there even in the dead of night or at the crack of dawn when the rooster crowed. Saying it like that made it sound like I was off to meet some grand, mystical higher being, but in reality, I was just going to see a total hikikomori.
"That person has to know something."
I zipped up my hoodie and stepped out the door. The one I was rushing off to see was the world's greatest hikikomori—and the very person who'd handed me the Hypnosis App.
"I'm gonna spank that ass until they spill why they pulled this crap...!"
2.
"Ex-Excuse me..."
I'd arrived at the Liar's Trap Guild headquarters, the place where I made my living. The rage and thirst for revenge that had been boiling inside me on the run over cooled to lukewarm the moment I reached the front entrance. Come to think of it, the only reason I'd been able to stick around in a massive guild like Liar's Trap this whole time was thanks to that person.
They'd shown a guy who only knew how to run away that there were new possibilities out there—and because of that, I'd been able to move into a penthouse right in the heart of the country's priciest city.
"Sure, I took out a loan to buy it...!"
But that debt would be paid off once I cleared the S-rank dungeon raid coming up in about three months, so it was basically my perfect home already. Anyway, that wasn't the point. The person I was here to confront was a huge benefactor in my life.
I'd only been able to take out a loan that big in the first place because they'd awakened my potential. Thinking about it that way, I didn't even have a reason to be mad. They were practically my lifesaver—getting pissed at someone like that would make me the real trash. Yeah. Right, I'm no trash. I'll hold it in.
Once I'd convinced myself I had a good excuse not to blow up, my anxiety eased up. It had nothing to do with being scared of the fallout from yelling at them. While I was busy building that excuse in my head, my feet had carried me right up to the door of their lab.
A big red button marked with a skull sat next to the massive door. To a stranger, it looked like a self-destruct switch, but believe it or not, it was just the doorbell.
"O-Okay. Getting mad and grilling them are two different things. Don't be a coward, Paster. Go in strong. You're the victim here. They're the perpetrator."
"What do you mean, victim?"
"Holy shit!"
A lazy voice came from right behind me. Since it hit me out of nowhere while I was psyching myself up, it scared me even worse than it might have otherwise. One more jolt, and I probably would've bolted.
"Hoo. Hoo. Y-You scared the crap outta me..."
I calmed my pounding heart and turned around to face the voice's owner. They were so short that I had to tilt my head down a bit just to make eye contact.
"Hey, Rabbit. What's up this late?"
She met my eyes and waved with a faint, sleepy smile. But her tiny hand was buried in the oversized sleeve of her doctor's coat, so all I could see was the empty fabric flopping around.
I was surprised to see her outside when she belonged in the lab, so I bowed awkwardly in greeting.
"Oh, h-hi... But Dr. Emme, why are you out here?"
"When my cute little Rabbit comes looking for me on a night like this? Gotta come out and greet you."
She'd been watching. Makes sense—there's a CCTV room in the lab. Only she can access it, though. I nodded, then suddenly realized she'd gotten my nickname wrong again.
"Dr. Emme, I told you not to call me Rabbit. What about me screams rabbit?"
Objectively speaking, I was nothing like a rabbit. I was average height or better, and all those dungeon raids had bulked me up with lean muscle. Sure, it didn't show much under clothes, but still—muscular is muscular.
Anyway, I didn't want to be called a rabbit. A man deserved at least wolf, puma, or jaguar.
But Dr. Emme brushed off my complaint like lint and yawned lazily. Even with her mouth wide open, her small lips just made it look cute.
"Yawwwn... Sleepy."
"Sleepy? Did I wake you? Sorry if I did."
"Nah. No need to apologize when my Rabbit came to see me. I'm the one who should be grateful."
"Not a rabbit."
"Let's head in."
Ignoring me once more, she shuffled forward in slippers way too big for her feet and hit the skull-marked switch by the door. With a heavy rumble, the thick lab door slid open.
The lab was made of Dr. Emme's special new material, "Rabbit-Catcher Metal"—tough enough that even an S-rank awakener would struggle to break in. Only people she approved could enter.
In the entire Liar's Trap Guild, fewer than ten people had over a 50% shot at getting her permission. The fact that I was one of them still didn't feel real. Every time I stood in front of this door, I wondered if a guy like me really belonged inside. It was a place for truly extraordinary people.
Lost in those thoughts as usual, I didn't notice Dr. Emme had gone in ahead until she turned back with a tilt of her head.
"What're you doing? Come on in."
"Oh, right. Excuse me..."
Snapping out of it, I followed her into the Rabbit-Catcher Metal lab.
Bam!
"Holy shit!"
The door slammed shut fast the second I was inside. I should've been used to it by now after all these visits, but my heart still jumped every time.
"Pfft."
Seeing me flinch, Dr. Emme smirked. Her eyes were still heavy with fatigue despite the smile, giving it a sinister edge—like a mad scientist cackling.
She pointed at me mockingly, as if to say see?
"Getting spooked that easily. And you say you're not a rabbit."
"L-Lions jump at cucumbers too!"
I had no idea if that was true. I'd just remembered videos of cats freaking out over cucumbers and doing backflips. Dr. Emme's creepy smile didn't budge at my comeback.
Staring at it made me mad, made me want to argue back. But no—I hadn't come here to trade barbs. Don't get dragged into her pace. Paster, you're the victim. The victim of Dr. Emme's horrific scheme! Be bold. Ask her straight up why.
"Rabbit this, rabbit that—doesn't matter! This is what counts, Dr. Emme!"
Steeling myself, I pulled my smartphone from my pocket and opened the Hypnosis App. Not some knockoff—this was the custom job from Dr. Emme that I'd been using, thinking it was real all this time.
The screen lit up with slow, pulsing purple and pink lights—the kind that'd wreck your eyes—along with tacky text. I shoved it in her face and declared boldly,
"Nothing to say about this? Doesn't it make you feel guilty?!"
"Huh? The Hypnosis App. The one I made for you, Rabbit. A bundle of neuroscience tech that lets even a rabbit like you turn way more dangerous S-rank awakeners into your personal toilets."
She answered casually, her sleepy eyes showing zero emotion, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her shamelessness pissed me off so bad I yelled without thinking.
"Quit bullshitting, Emme! It's just some internet hypnosis roleplay app with the text swapped out!"
Out—just some—out—just some—out!
The Rabbit-Catcher Metal lab was shockproof, heatproof, airtight—perfect security. But it had one downside: killer echoes. My shout bounced around endlessly.
And since I'd snapped and called her by name—using informal speech, no less—I started sweating bullets. I'd fucked up. Royally.
Dr. Emme hated being called by her first name. Loathed it. Rumor had it some clueless researcher from another guild called her "Emme" once and vanished—after which, a lone brain showed up in a vat in her lab.
I glanced at her nervously with trembling eyes. She'd been startled by my yell—her half-lidded eyes were wide open now, staring right at me. The silence was terrifying.
I wonder what that punk's brain looks like. Eh, I'll find out if I crack it open. She might've been thinking that exact thing.
What now? Was I about to end up as a brain in a jar? Or was I already one, twitching from electric shocks, reliving my final moments in a simulated life? The thought choked me up. Guess this was the end.
No, wait—not yet. I didn't know for sure. Maybe I wasn't a jar brain; maybe I was really in her lab, had really called her name, and was just spiraling into paranoia. If so, I still had a shot.
"Time to run."
I'd just decided to bolt when I heard Dr. Emme's voice—panicked, desperate, nothing like I'd ever heard before.
"Gahhh! N-Nooo!"
Her face twisted in genuine shock as she lunged at me, flailing her baggy sleeves like she was trying to grab me. None of her usual intellect shone through.
Stunned by the unfamiliar sight, I forgot to run and stared. She froze mid-reach, cheeks flushing red.
"......"
"......"
Another suffocating silence stretched out.
"A-Achoo. Busted. The truth is, the Hypnosis App was fake~."
And with that—her punching her own head with a fist and sticking out her tongue in a ridiculous attempt at cuteness—the whole thing wrapped up.