Chapter 11
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: I'll Show You the World
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The Insight Ability, which had been lying dormant, suddenly awakened.
It regarded my agony with an arrogant gaze. And it sneered.
This ain't pain a puny human can handle!
With the stilted speech of a toddler just past babbling, the Insight Ability issued its warning.
Judging from the unnatural chill that had started creeping into my heart right after it woke up, this wasn't just referring to the pain of the transplant.
'Damn it. So now it's not in my head, but my heart?'
Its icy chill was freezing my heart solid.
My body cooled as my blood turned frigid, chills wracking me.
But its cocky attitude grated on my nerves.
"Ha-!"
Quit your bullshit!
...I wanted to snap back, but Luke's temperament wouldn't allow for profanity.
Fine. There were other ways.
Not every conversation had to be spoken aloud. I'd already learned that from talking with Luke.
Human! You ain't strong!
'I know! You little shit!'
You still look like you can take it!
Screw enduring it—whatever scheme this thing was plotting, I couldn't afford to lose my grip.
"Guhhh-!"
Follow my orders or die!
Hoo-, huuu-.
My lips were freezing over.
Every breath sent out puffs of white mist.
My heart felt like it was turning to ice!
The headaches I'd endured while alive seemed like a joke by comparison.
Move like I say!
'What the hell do you want?!'
It didn't answer.
All I could think was that it was trying to puppeteer me like some marionette.
'Hey, you crazy bastard! You expect me to blindly obey some kid I don't even know?'
Most of my adult life had been spent battling the pain from the Star.
At first, I'd resented and cursed it.
But I'd accepted it, endured it, thinking it was misfortune.
Because I figured it was my messed-up mind, my own craziness causing it.
Just do what I say!
At least the Star in my head never demanded anything or tried to control me.
But this thing lodged in my heart was blatantly urging me to obey its every command. Infuriating.
You wanna die like this?!
'Hey, you know it too, right? That I'm a crazy bastard?'
I don't care 'bout puny humans!
'Ah, fuck it. Freeze me. Kill me then-.'
You mean it-?!
When I called its bluff so boldly, it was the one that got flustered.
Honestly, I wasn't serious either.
Who the hell wants to die?
Besides, I wanted to get out there and see what this godforsaken world looked like.
I'd barely traveled abroad in my old life—when would I get another shot like this?
Sure, I had thoughts of screwing over that Luke bastard who'd ditched me, but that could wait.
I didn't want this heart-squatter reading my true feelings. Without a moment's hesitation, I shot back.
'Kill me. If you can.'
It wasn't pointless stubbornness.
I'd seen through its game.
You really are nuts!
'Yeah, I hear that a lot.'
I squeezed my eyes shut, groaning through gritted teeth as I focused on bantering with it.
I wondered if it even realized.
That its chit-chat was the only thing keeping me conscious.
'What about Luke? Did he obey you too?'
He was strong enough to handle me! Boring 'cause I couldn't see or hear his thoughts! But he was a noble, great soul I happily obeyed!
'Obey me too. I'll keep it from getting boring.'
I guarantee it! You'll die in days!
'Better than living with your nagging without even a body. If you thought I'd drop dead easy like you say, would Luke have handed his body to me?'
You ain't scared of death?! You gonna take pain worse than death?!
The corner of my mouth twitched up on its own.
Ability or whatever, it was breaking a sweat trying to convince me.
'This little punk doesn't know me at all.'
It must've underestimated me.
This thing that couldn't even squeak around Luke.
Alive or dead, I'd never known a moment free from pain.
Though the intensity varied.
Huuuup-.
I regulated my breathing.
Focused on the sensation in my heart.
I planned to circulate my slowing, cooling blood as best I could while blocking the chill with mana.
'No mana left in my body, as expected.'
Can't use mana in this space!
'Hey, don't lie. Or are you just incompetent?'
Impossible from outside, but mana worked inside the sanctuary.
Proof was right here.
I halted my pounding fists and ran my palm over the altar.
Luke's steel-hard fists should've crushed it after a night of hammering, but the altar was unscathed.
'Bumpy, but not natural. Carved with mana-infused power.'
A twitch of surprise from my heart.
Wondering how I knew something even it didn't.
'I know sharing a body with a dolt like me has dulled your wits. But you should've figured my smarts come from your brilliant ability, dumbass.'
This was true.
Our intellects were so mismatched that one rose while the other sank.
Like water finding its level.
'I even know you were born not long ago.'
How'd you-!
The childish voice trailed off.
Astonished by my prediction.
Insight? More like the Ability of Stupidity. Voice like that, threats of life and death just to get its way—it screamed spoiled brat.
The Insight Ability couldn't lie.
Its flaw, its weakness.
Its influence had made me allergic to lies too.
That's why I snarked and sniped in soliloquies.
When cornered, I'd clam up entirely.
'Hey, you useless braindead brat.'
I deliberately insulted it, devaluing it.
The chill intensified at my provocation, but that was it.
It couldn't kill me yet.
Not when I was a firefighter, and not now in this stronger body.
'I've been enduring and handling things like you for years.'
Ever since Luke stole and absorbed the Ice Queen's power, I'd been tormented by starlight. My senses sharpened, and I even developed a sixth sense.
'And you forgot whose body you're in now?'
Weird to be shocked that someone with an ability could wield it.
How stupid did it think I was?
'Trying to control me? So you can offer my heart to that witch.'
My heart thudded once, hard—a sign of agitation.
'And then what? Obey if you wanna live? You cultish MLM fuck.'
That's-!
No lies, but a silver tongue.
"Shut your mouth!"
My shout echoed off the sanctuary walls.
My heart raced erratically.
"A parasite like you, some kid interrupting an adult?"
Before I knew it, I'd blown past Luke's temperament, ranting my way.
Ironically, thanks to the Insight Ability.
Its power boosted my focus, cognition, and self-control.
"You bodiless ghost, who you calling a sucker?"
I started rambling everything I'd pieced together.
"Following you keeps me alive? Not a lie, sure. I'd survive till I reached the witch. And she'd be the one killing me, not you. Right?"
I felt it shrink back.
The chill, meanwhile, grew fiercer. Frost forming on my chest.
"Answer me!"
Right-!
I bellowed, and a surprisingly cute voice rang in my head.
Like a scared kid throwing a tantrum reluctantly.
"Then shut up and suck blood through that straw you stabbed in my heart. Sleep like you did with Luke."
Weak human! You can't handle my power-!
"I know."
This chill wasn't an intentional attack.
Just its nature.
The Ruler of Frost must've injected her power when losing the ability. Or maybe it was born in the arctic.
"Don't delude me. I know what I gotta do. Two choices, right?"
Master it somehow, or freeze to death.
"Am I right?"
All right!
"So quit the lame threats...... Hoo-."
The transplant pain was still raging, so I caught my breath.
"Instead of threatening, why not cooperate with me, you ghost?"
When Luke took the Ice Queen's eyes, he was strong enough. Mana brimming, divine power mighty. He'd already reached the Crystal Realm.
Even the old master couldn't rest easy!
Speculation on its part.
Not certainty—which meant Luke had just subjugated and used it.
"Not because of you, idiot."
Luke had sealed it in his heart and exploited it.
No need to assimilate fully.
A monster like that, afraid his heart would freeze in his sleep?
Might be true, but not the point now.
"You don't know Luke at all, huh? Just slurped the sweet stuff from his heart and slept."
Not wrong! He was strong! Used my power on his own big-time! I had nothing to-
"If you're gonna spout obvious crap, shut it."
The Insight Ability retreated, as if conceding.
If it had a body, it'd be hanging its head.
But its yap kept excusing itself nonstop.
The great Holy Knight Luke Seid showed me nothing! Comfy, but I was lonely!
"Stay lonely. I don't talk to shits with a bad first impression."
You started bossing me around from the jump, screwing our start.
The Insight Ability fell silent, and I kept hammering the altar without pause.
Bam-! Bam! Bam!
The transplant pain was no joke. The agony of shattering hands barely registered as pain anymore.
Might've been my imagination, but I swear I heard a sob from somewhere in my heart.
"Fuck......"
What a shitty situation.
One guy's maniacally pounding rock, the other's sulking in the corner.
I had no intention of freezing to death like this.
"Guh-, guhhh-. Huuup-, huuup-."
Thud-! Boom! Kra-boom!
I focused on breathing as I struck the altar. It raised my body heat enough to fight the chill.
I wanted to run laps in the sanctuary, but with this imperfect body, I'd trip, concuss myself, and pass out. Pain was bad enough.
Then I'd freeze for sure.
"Hey."
Figuring its mood had thawed a bit, I gently coaxed the Insight Ability.
Scold, then soothe.
"Suppress the chill as much as you can, and I'll show you an interesting world. That's why you wanted to go back to the Ice Witch, right?"
The Insight Ability huddled in a corner of my heart like a sulky child. Felt like the left atrium or something...
What a weirdo ability.
Grand name, but dumber and more childish than me.
"You wanna see the world, don't you? The Ice Queen never left the northern continent, got bored, and made you, right?"
The Insight Ability lifted its head to look at me.
A gaze laced with curiosity and hope.
Now, time to start talking.