Just as he tried to attack the man, the man used his power.
An unknown power wrapped around the child’s mind.
He couldn’t control his body anymore.
“Hahaha! I have the power to control anyone! What do you think you can do against me!?”
The man kicked the child in the chin.
He grinned savagely.
Truth be told, his mind control ability was weak.
He could only insert suggestions into the minds of others.
It was why he had only been able to get the mother’s picture. He hadn’t actually done her any harm.
Though, the child didn’t need to know about this.
The child was smart. Smarter than his age. He would consider the worst-case scenario, seeing his mother’s picture.
It was how the man could blackmail the child.
“I’ll kill you if you don’t bring me evidence next time!” the man shouted, and then threw the child out of the house.
The child landed on the snow piled outside.
He stayed there, staring at the ground.
“The cold,” the child muttered as he stared at the sky.
He knew the man was using false evidence to blackmail him.
But there was a reason why the child hadn’t reported the man to his parents.
‘He and his friends have too much negative karma. They’ll kill Mom and Dad if they feel their lives are in danger.’
The child’s trait had evolved over the years. ƒrēewebnovel.com
From reading books, now he could read people.
To be precise, he could read their accumulated negative karma.
He could see the crimes they’d committed.
The man and his friends killed the previous city leader – now the child’s father – when they went on an expedition together.
The child knew this as he read the new negative karma they accumulated when they returned after committing the murder.
‘Those people are dangerous.’
As days passed, the child became torn between choices.
Should he keep quiet?
Or should he tell his parents that the man and his friends wanted to snatch the control of the city from them?
When spring arrived, rumors started to circulate in the city.
The child’s mother was a witch.
As if it was a cue, more rumors started to rise.
The child’s mother enjoyed harming people and healing them.
The child’s father forced himself on unmarried women.
The city was in an uproar.
His parents tried to prove their innocence, but it was useless.
After all, one person could lie.
Ten people could lie.
But a hundred?
Would a hundred people lie about being harmed by the child’s parents?
The child realized what was happening.
‘It’s the man’s ability. He is making people believe they were hurt by my parents by inserting suggestions in their minds.’
The child told his parents about it.
However.
“I know it’s tough, sweetie, but you shouldn’t blame innocents. Uncle Sam’s trait can only affect monsters, not humans,” the child’s mother said.
“She is right. I’ve been with Sam since he awakened, and I know how his trait works. He can’t control humans,” the child’s father told him.
The child tried to tell them they were wrong.
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It was useless.
The rumors continued to rise.
The pressure and abuse from the citizens affected the child’s parents greatly.
Until….
“Cough! Cough!”
The child started to puke blood at the dinner table.
“John! Are you okay!? John!”
“I’ll bring the doctors! Lay him on the bed!”
The child didn’t remember much.
The pain had muddled his mind.
Surprisingly, he woke up completely refreshed the next day.
He asked his parents what happened yesterday.
“Nothing, sweetie. You just ate bad food. Don’t worry though. The doctor healed you perfectly.”
“…”
The child nodded and left.
‘So I was poisoned, and I died,’ the child thought as he sat on his bed. ‘Mom must’ve revived me.’
The child wondered if his mother’s trait had a drawback.
He was lost in his thoughts.
‘I’ll ask her tonight.’
He ran downstairs when it was time for dinner.
And.
“Huh?”
The child’s body stiffened.
“M-mom? Dad?”
Two bodies.
Tied to a rope.
Hung by the ceiling fan.
“This isn’t fu-funny. What are you two doing?”
The child walked towards their corpses with slow steps.
Just then, the child heard a snort.
He turned around and noticed the man – Uncle Sam – laughing as he sat on the sofa.
The man was reading a letter.
“Hahahah, this is nuts! I planned this, but holy shit! I didn’t expect them to agree to the allegations.”
The man raised his head and met the child’s gaze.
He grinned and threw him the letter.
“This is your parents’ will. They accepted the blame for all the rumors.
“To appease the anger of citizens, they killed themselves.
“Their last plea was to let you – their child – live and not blame you for their crimes since you are innocent.”
The man laughed heartily.
“Seems like poisoning you pushed them beyond what they could handle.
“They started to worry you would be harmed, and they killed themselves to save you.
“Damn, that’s one tough luck.”
The child continued to cry.
However, he didn’t look at the corpses of his parents or the will they left behind.
He was staring at the man’s karma.
“Finally, the city is mine! Hell yeah! I’m the king!”
The man had gained karma of killing two citizens.
‘He inserted the suggestion of suicide in their minds.’
The child stood up.
He stepped toward the man—
Neo woke up.
He touched his cheek and noticed he tears streaming down his face.
He could feel the pain and loss of the child – of Anomaly #33.
“….”
He wiped his tears.
“The level of immersion was too high. This must be the result of my increasing synchronization with the blessing.”
He looked at the rope in his hands.
Anomaly #33 was no longer trying to escape.
It had also seen its life while Neo was using his blessing, and it was now lost in nostalgia.
“You must’ve gained the ability to manipulate people after you died and became a monster.”
Neo didn’t know how it gained the ability.
Was it a simple mutation?
Or was it the child’s grudge against the man that led him to gain a similar ability?
What Neo did know was…
“You’ve been killing only those people who had a lot of negative karma.”
Anomaly #33 never killed an innocent.
All of those it had murdered were heinous criminals.
A small smile, slightly bitter, appeared on Neo’s visage.
“Did you think I was a criminal too because of the huge amount of negative karma of mine?”
Anomaly #33 nodded.
After having awakened its memories thanks to Neo, it was willing to converse.
It didn’t move, but its thoughts confirmed Neo’s words.
“My negative karma isn’t my own. Technically, at least.
“I gained it when I killed and devoured others with Darkness.”
The negative karma of any person or monster Neo devoured was transferred to him.
Anomaly #33 was surprised.
It didn’t know something like this was possible.
The monster became anxious.
“Don’t worry. I doubt you killed anyone innocent. People like me, who can use Darkness and maintain sanity, are rare.
“If there was someone like me, they would be quite strong and wouldn’t be defeated by you.
“So the people you killed before me were all criminals and the negative karma they had was their own.”
Anomaly #33 relaxed after hearing his words.
‘I had been thinking it targeted me instead of Kane because I was unlucky. Turns out there was a reason,’ Neo thought.
Anomaly #33 hated criminals.
Even though it lost its memories after becoming a monster, its hate remained.
‘Anomaly #33 protected the city because its parents met in this place, and it killed all those who tried to harm the city.’
The more Neo thought, the more he realized he had been wrong about the monster.
However….
“Julian Theodore, just because you killed only criminals doesn’t mean you are innocent.
“You are a Sinner too.”
Neo had no other choice.
He wanted to let Anomaly #33 go.
However, he lost the chance after he used [Judgment].
“You will be punished for your crimes.”
Once the blessing was activated, the judgment must be passed.
Neo bit his lips when he saw Anomaly #33 waiting in his hands.
It was content and waiting for its death.
Peacefully.
“I, Neo Hargraves, sentence you to ten years of imprisonment in the 2nd layer of Hell.”
Chains erupted from the ground and bound the existence of Anomaly #33.
They pulled it into the ground.
Just before Anomaly #33 was taken away, Neo heard a voice inside his head.
Thank you.
“….”
Neo closed his eyes.
“Fuck, why are you thanking me?”
He could sense Anomaly #33 appearing on the 2nd layer of Hell within himself.
His soul went under qualitative change.
[+ Mind Invasion]
Neo looked at the screen which described his new ability.
A bitter taste appeared in his mouth.
“Impartial Death. Those who had sinned must be punished.”
Neo had to follow the rules even if he hated it.
He had to.
“Fuck, I feel like shit.”
…
Fracture Mirror, Second Layer of Neo’s Hell
In a world made of broken mirrors, a child appeared.
He looked around, staring at the surroundings in fascination.
Everything was made of mirrors.
Even the sky and the ground.
The child walked around the place when suddenly the mirror next to him changed.
The mirror’s surface rippled.
It showed the scene where the child was tucked into bed.
His mother lay on his left, and his father was on his right.
“What does our dear Julius think?”
“Sweetie, you love Mom more, right?”
“Nope, he loves his handsome Dad more.”
The child stared at the memory playing within the mirror.
When the scene ended, the child turned around.
The mirrors…
They were showing it the happy times it had lived with its family.
A smile appeared on the child’s face.
It looked above at the sky, knowing Neo was staring at it.
“You are too kind,” the child said teasingly.
The judgment it had been delivered was cruel.
Nevertheless.
It was the child’s salvation.