Chapter 79: Dilemma

After, Roy and Master Abraham performed their thirty-minute calisthenics workout.

Today was combat training, while tomorrow would be math and analysis classes, Roy’s most dreaded.

Roy freshened up and put on his black tactical suit. He remembered his new items and smiled.

“Nothing can ruin my day… really.”

By the appointed time set for departure, the team of five sat with Black Zero driving, Roy at the left, Dr. Gretsch in the captain’s seat, and Wolfman and Dr. Sally at the back.

However, not even ten minutes into their journey, they encountered a fissure in the fabric of reality, a white mass bending time and space and flowing inward.

It wasn’t upright on the road this time. No, it was facing down and was high up in the sky, with a diameter of at least sixty metres.

Roy couldn’t help but feel an ominous chill crawl down his spine, much like when Cash God gave him that offer, or when that Rank 1 Gate refused to close after he killed the Nightwraith, or when Chris started acting differently.

Roy caught Master Abraham’s look. A cold, calm expression remained on his face, but there was a hint of resignation.

The young irregular just fell back on his chair, holding back tears at this point. He had recalled what Master Abraham said after they left District 04.

—I do not know if you lie about your system, but you are Zero of God’s Abyss. In this world, you possess more chaos than I do. Even before you got your system…

The radar picked up the energy disturbance emitted by the gate and soon returned the estimated rank for all in the vehicle to see.

Far ahead and above, a Rank 3 Gate had appeared.

* * *

Last night.

Pierre appeared back in his room and sat on the edge of his bed.

He stared at his hands, still trembling slightly from the weight of what had just happened. The memory of Reina’s final smile, the warmth leaving her body, the way she had looked at him with such gratitude even as she died. He didn’t want to admit it, but it all felt too real to have been just a simulation.

“Damn,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. The downside to using [Je t’aime] on the same person more than once; he was fully aware of it at this point.

“I fell in love, too.”

The pink notification panel materialized before him, cheerful as always.

[Welcome back, Host! You’ve completed your sign-in session. Would you like to allocate your stat points now?]

Pierre wanted to dismiss it, to just lie down and process everything, but he knew better. If he was going to survive whatever came next in Level 10, he needed to be smarter. Although outside IQ didn’t translate to that inside the simulation, he wanted to do this so the flash of inspiration he received about Level 8’s secret wouldn’t remain an event that happened once.

He pulled up his stat distribution panel.

[Overall Stats]:

– Appeal: 4.0

– Morale: 2.0

– Social: 3.0

– IQ: 1.5

– Luck: 1.5

Available Points: 1.5

Without hesitation, Pierre allocated all 1.0 points to Appeal, bringing it to 5.0.

“Next time, I’ll invest all the stat points into IQ,” he said aloud, as if justifying the decision to someone. “Although I said this last time too, I’m certain I’ll keep to it this time.”

After thinking briefly, he put the remaining 0.5 stat points into IQ, raising it to 2.0.

“Better than nothing.”

[Stat allocation confirmed! Your Appeal has increased to 5.0. And your IQ has increased to 2.0.]

Compared to Roy’s monotone system, Pierre’s system was eager to talk and send notifications about everything.

Pierre felt the change immediately and picked up a mirror, not really minding the small fog lifting slightly from his thoughts.

His face became a bit more angular, a bit more handsome. Still, he felt dissatisfied. He was nowhere near as handsome as certain male models he had seen in magazines. Their pictures were edited to hide their imperfections, yes, but Pierre wanted to be more handsome than the edited picture of a top model.

“I’m better than that bastard.”

Reciting this to himself, his mood brightened up.

He took a breath and pulled up his new item.

[The Weeping Ghost]

Type: Card

Tier: 2 (Uncommon)

Description: “Even in death, Hanabira Reina didn’t want to leave your side. Summon the weeping ghost to aid you once per day.”

Pierre’s jaw clenched. The system’s casual tone about it made his stomach turn.

“Aid me,” he repeated bitterly. “Like she’s just some tool now.”

Still, he needed to know. Needed to see if it was really her, or just some hollow imitation.

The card materialized in front of him, in a virtual form. In it was an illustration of the ghostly Reina in her red dress and gloves, her long, straw-like black hair flowing and covering most of her face. However, her skin wasn’t greyish-blue, but a pale complexion.

“Summon,” Pierre commanded.

The virtual card glowed pink, then dissolved into particles that swirled and coalesced in the center of his room.

Hanabira Reina.

Her black hair fell in straight curtains around her pale face. She stood motionless, ethereal, almost translucent in the dim light of his room.

Pierre’s breath caught.

Her brown eyes found his immediately, and for a moment, just a moment, there was something there. A hint of recognition. He wasn’t sure, though; was this merely a feature the system gave her?

“Reina?” Pierre tried.

She tilted her head slightly, like she was listening, but her lips didn’t move. Just that quiet, patient presence.

Pierre’s hands curled into fists. “Can you… Do you remember me? Do you remember what happened?”

Still nothing. She simply watched him with those gentle eyes, and he couldn’t tell if what he saw there was genuine recognition or just a programmed response.

“System,” Pierre called out sharply. “Is this really her? The Hanabira Reina from Level 8, or just some construct?”

[…]

“Answer me, dammit!”

The commonly enthusiastic and cheerful system remained silent.

Pierre stared at the ghost, at Reina, standing so quietly in his room. He stepped forward and tried to touch her, but, true and true, she was merely a ghost.

This problem tied into the question many irregulars before Pierre asked. If the system could create living beings as summons, did they have souls? Was the system that strong? And also, what was the true nature of the sign-in world? Was it really just a simulation? Or was there a reality that the system simply allowed them access to and let them be special over there?

—It’s all a simulation. Never think it’s real. This isn’t an advice. It’s a stern warning.

That was what the Chairman of the Executioners’ Association once told an Irregular reporter who asked for advice.

However, the fact that the systems were unwilling to answer the question of whether or not the simulation was real was already an answer on its own.

“If you can hear me,” Pierre said slowly, “raise your hand.”

The ghost raised her right hand.

Pierre’s heart hammered. “If you remember all the times we had, lower it.”

Her hand lowered.

“If you—” Pierre stopped himself. This proved nothing. The system could be controlling her responses, making her follow commands. It didn’t mean she was truly her.

He set his phone down and looked back at Reina. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t reacted to anything that had happened. Just stood there, patient and quiet, like a doll waiting to be given purpose.

“So… what can you do?” Pierre asked.

Her straw-like hair suddenly shot forward, knocking over an empty soda can on the cupboard. Then, she passed through the walls and entered the mirror.

Pierre could feel the drain in his energy as she displayed her abilities.

“Dismiss,” he said softly.

She dissolved back into pink particles, and the virtual card reappeared before him. He stared at the illustration and sighed.

Whether she was really Hanabira Reina or just an imitation, it didn’t matter in the end. He got what he wanted, an offensive-type item he could use to kill abyss creatures.

But this victory was a tasteless one.

Pierre dismissed his system and lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

Now, Level 10 was all that was left.

But all he could think about was the way Reina had smiled at him, had called him her hero, had thanked him for loving her as she died in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered to the empty room and covered his eyes. He knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way, and it was just the side effect of using [Je t’aime] more than once, but he couldn’t help it.

Sorry for what, he wasn’t entirely sure. For using her? For being relieved that he’d finally passed? He didn’t know.

“If my skill makes me fall in love too anytime I use it, then that’s going to be a problem in the future,” he muttered and checked the forum for skills having side effects.

The reason was simple.

[Je t’aime] was a skill that gave him the ability to genuinely say he loved, and then helped manipulate that person into reciprocating his feelings. If he was affected by his own skill, that simply meant his mental defenses were poor.

So, all this brought him back to his fortification stat.

“IQ,” he muttered, “I really do have to invest in it.”

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