Chapter 124: Countless Deaths

Adam woke to the smell of deep rich and savory food and It pulled him from sleep before his mind fully caught up.

He turned his head slowly toward the kitchenette. Remedy was sitting casually on the couch, watching TV like nothing in the world mattered.

She glanced at him and instantly noticed.

“Good. You’re up.”

Adam blinked a few times. His body still hurt, but not like before.

“How long was I out this time?” he asked.

Remedy answered without hesitation.

“It’s 4:50 p.m. now,” she said. “So approximately nine hours.”

Adam didn’t comment.

He was fully aware of her Tell Time talent.

Still, he couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him.

Which he immediately regretted as pain flared in his ribs.

Remedy stood up and walked over with a plate. The same smell that had woken him now hit him fully.

She sat down beside him and lifted the spoon.

Adam quickly raised a hand.

“I can feed myself now.”

He took the plate from her to prove it.

Stone Cold had accelerated his recovery. His movements were still stiff, but manageable.

Remedy’s lips curved downward slightly.

She had wanted to feed him.

But she handed over the plate without protest.

Adam took the first bite.

The sweet tender and juicy flavor exploded in his mouth.

He didn’t pause, he took a second bite, then a third.

He finally turned toward her, chewing.

“This is your best dish yet,” he said honestly. “What’s the occasion?”

Remedy straightened slightly, looking accomplished.

“It’s for awakening Fuse.”

Adam paused mid-bite.

He slowly looked at her.

She looked right back.

Silence.

Then Adam sighed and resumed eating.

“You could’ve pretended you didn’t know,” he muttered.

Remedy tilted her head.

“What would be the fun in that?”

Adam smiled faintly.

And kept eating.

****

Adam wasn’t too surprised.

In fact, he was relieved.

Remedy knowing about Fuse meant she wasn’t playing dumb. It told him she wasn’t going to tiptoe around things. And that made it easier to measure her.

But how much does she actually know?

Adam kept eating, expression neutral.

But Remedy spoke first.

“You don’t seem shocked that I know the talent you got after reawakening.”

Adam shrugged casually while chewing.

“Well,” he said, “a regressor’s job is to know what others don’t.”

Remedy’s eyes widened.

The reaction was instinctive.

“How did you know?” she asked unconsciously.

Adam continued eating.

That was the test.

His thoughts sharpened.

So she doesn’t know about Analyze?

But the confusion in Remedy’s eyes didn’t last long, as it shifted.

Understanding dawned.

“…Could it be,” she said slowly, “you awakened Analyze as well this time?”

Adam paused mid-bite.

As well?

He filed that away immediately.

Instead of reacting, he asked calmly, “What do you mean by that?”

Remedy studied him for a moment before sighing.

“Every time I think I’ve seen everything you’re capable of,” she muttered, “you do something that makes me question reality.”

Adam waited.

“I didn’t say this earlier,” she continued, “because I didn’t see the need to.”

She leaned back slightly.

“When someone reawakens their special talent, they only get one new special talent. Not two.”

Adam went still.

He hadn’t known that.

So getting both Analyze and Fuse wasn’t normal…

That explained something.

He thought back to her panel.

She had two special talents in total. Her original rankless one, and the reawakened one.

Now it makes sense.

Adam resumed eating.

“Well,” he said lightly, “we can’t cry over something good, can we?”

Remedy stared at him for a few seconds.

“…No,” she admitted.

Adam finished the plate and set it aside carefully.

Then he looked at her.

“So what’s the deal with your other special talent?” he asked. “And I’m not talking about the mental clock one.”

Remedy chuckled softly at that.

She met his gaze.

“I was going to tell you sooner or later,” she said.

A small smile curved her lips.

“I guess it’ll be sooner.”

****

Adam watched her carefully.

Remedy leaned back slightly before speaking.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve regressed,” she said calmly. “In fact… I don’t even know if calling it regression is accurate.”

Adam didn’t interrupt.

“You read the description, right?”

He nodded.

“Once Upon A Time allows the bearer to send a fragment of their soul back in time upon death.”

Remedy nodded again.

“Those two words are the problem,” she said quietly. “The soul… and fragment.”

Adam’s eyes sharpened, as it clicked.

But Remedy still explained anyway.

“The soul is the source of life,” she said. “And it acts as a simplified mimic of the mind, which is the true consciousness of a person.”

She looked down briefly.

“But it’s just that. A mimic.”

She met his gaze again.

“So when I ’regress,’ I don’t return with my full memories. I don’t get my entire consciousness back. Only what that soul fragment can carry.”

She exhaled softly.

“And since it’s only a fragment… it’s incomplete.”

Adam understood.

Even if the soul mirrored the mind, it wasn’t the mind. It couldn’t carry everything. And if only a fragment was sent back…

“Then how do you know as much as you do?”

Remedy’s lips curved faintly.

“It’s simple.”

She tapped her temple lightly.

“Quantity.”

Adam stayed silent.

“I have a theory,” she continued. “That the number of times Once Upon A Time has activated, because of my deaths, has reached such a large amount… that the fragments started forming something coherent.”

Her gaze turned distant.

“Emotions. Déjà vu. Dreams that feel like revelations.”

She looked back at him.

“I still don’t remember everything. Not even close. But it’s still enough.”

Adam was quiet.

Hearing her explain it stripped away the mystique.

The talent wasn’t a blessing. It was more of a prison. A cycle of death. Over and over again, without control, certainty and full memory.

Adam could feel the cruelty of it.

Yet she sat there calmly. No bitterness in her tone or visible cracks on her expression .

He didn’t comment on it.

Instead, he asked the question that mattered.

“What makes someone with an SSS-rank cultivation talent use that ability so many times?”

Remedy looked him straight in the eyes.

There was no hesitation as she said simply:

“Revenge.”

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