It wasn’t as though I didn’t expect something like this to happen.
I’d seen it coming from miles away. That’s why I called him a rat. It was a reminder to myself of his possible personality. The one that I was well accustomed to in the game. I kept my guard up against him the entire time, but in the end, he still took the opportunity.
’…And here I gave him the benefit of the doubt. In the end, rats will always be rats.’
“Seth…?”
Hearing Kyle’s voice, I slowly looked up.
“Is everything alright? You look kind of out of it. If you’re still not feeling well, I can call the nurse and—”
“No, it’s fine.”
I stopped Kyle before he could call the nurses.
“…I’m just feeling a little tired. That’s all.”
“Oh, that’s fine.”
Kyle looked a little relieved.
“In that case—”
“No, stay for a moment.”
He was just about excuse himself when I stopped him.
“Hm?”
There was something more pressing at the moment. Something that I was dying to know.
“About the Matriarc—”
“Oh.”
Kyle’s face turned gloomy the moment I mentioned the Matriarch, and my heart sank. As if sensing my emotions, Kyle pursed his lips and shook his head.
“She’s not dead, but her condition, alongside everyone else in the orphanage, isn’t very good. Their minds have been put under hypnosis for quite some time, and right now…” Kyle paused for a second before sighing. “Right now, they are all stuck with smiles on their faces.”
“….!?”
Before I could say anything else, Kyle raised his hand to stop him.
“Although the situation is like that, it’s not all too bad. Their consciousness is still there. However, for now, they will all be sent to the Bureau for treatment.”
“The Bureau? But that’s…”
“I know, but they are the best bet in helping the children and the Matriarch. They’ve already been sent there for care. I’ll keep you updated on their situation once everything is over. And…”
Kyle paused again, his expression turning a little complex.
“…The little girl and the little boy called Chris. Both of them are in critical condition. Whether the two of them will ever be back to normal, I’m not sure.”
My hand shook in that moment.
“W… what did you just say?”
In spite of my best attempts at keeping my voice steady, it unknowingly shook as I stared at Kyle.
“That little girl… What did you say about her condition?”
“It’s critical.”
Kyle answered, his face quite gloomy.
“I’m not entirely sure, but she’s been found with some severe brain trauma. It’s almost as if someone shocked her mind with an extremely powerful voltage. We all believe that to be due to the anomaly, but yeah… Her situation is not good. The Bureau will try its best to help her recover. The same is for the little boy.”
“…..”
It was as if the mouth had been stripped of all its saliva.
It was dry. Incredibly dry.
I could hardly get my throat to open as I struggled to process Kyle’s words.
That’s…
’That was because of me, wasn’t it?’
It didn’t take a genius to understand all of this. I was indeed the reason behind the girl’s current condition.
A certain emotion boiled within me in that moment.
It wasn’t sadness, nor was it guilt.
…And that was the problem.
Hearing about the little girl, I… didn’t feel much at all.
And this was the part that scared me. I understood that I had done all of this in order to survive, but I was also sure that any normal person would feel some sort of sense of guilt from this.
I was certain that I’d also feel that sense of guilt.
And yet…
Nothing.
I felt absolutely nothing.
And that was the part that scared.
Just what in the world was going on?
Why… couldn’t I…
“Either way, this whole case feels off. We’re still investigating its origin, but from what we’ve gathered so far, it seems Chris’s father was responsible for stealing a piece of work that wasn’t his. The actual creator, left with nothing, ended up taking his own life just to cover the medical bills for his daughter. I think that’s where the resentment started, and how the anomaly may have formed. But we’re still not entirely sure.”
Listening to Kyle’s words, I slowly nodded my head. Most of this information I more or less knew.
…Not the full picture, but I could’ve made a guess.
What I was most curious about was understanding how the anomaly formed.
Was it just through the resentment of the situation, or was there more to it? Could the cult have an involvement in it?
Then what about the pills in the basement? And the photos where I couldn’t even see myself?
There were so many questions, and yet, I had little to no answers.
Once again, my head throbbed, but I didn’t let it show as I looked at Kyle. I didn’t want him to get the nurses to come and check my head. The fact that they hadn’t detected the fractures made me curious. Was it because the hospital was not equipped to handle matters like this, or was it something else? Something like… the system’s interference?
I wasn’t sure, but a sinking feeling told me it was the latter.
I sat in silence, listening as Kyle spoke. He talked about a lot of things, most of which went in one ear and out the other.
I couldn’t really focus.
But in the end, it was an unexpected knocking sound that stopped him from speaking.
To Tok—
“Oh?”
An unexpected guest appeared by the door.
Opening slowly, a pair of dimples met my vision as the rat timidly walked into the room.
“Hi? Is this not a good time…?”
Just looking at him made me want to puke.
“Err? Seth is doing fine. I guess this isn’t a bad time.”
Laughing, Kyle walked up to the rat and patted him on the shoulder.
“I guess I should leave. Either way, you did a splendid job out there. It looks like it won’t be long until you get promoted.”
“…I don’t know about that, but I’ll definitely try my best.”
“Good, good.”
Kyle looked more than happy with that response.
I felt sick watching the two; however, I held back my tongue. What was I even going to say? That he was a lying snake? That I was the one who had actually defeated the anomaly?
There was no way I could do that.
In the end, the only thing I could do was stay where I was, waiting in silence as Kyle chatted with the rat before eventually bidding goodbye to the two of us.
Clank—
The room turned quiet a moment after.
Neither I nor the rat spoke.
But that didn’t last for long as the rat eventually moved close to me and sat on the bed, his dimples even more pronounced than before.
“How are you doing? Are you feeling better?”
The look on his face was one of genuine concern.
Had I known better, I probably would’ve fallen for it.
But…
“You know what you did.”
“Hm?”
The rat’s brows rose up, hiding under the fridge of his bowl cut. He looked genuinely confused.
“What have I done? What do you mean by that? Oh, are you talking abou—”
“About how you took the credit for something you didn’t do.”
“…..”
For a moment, the rat paused.
But that pause didn’t last for very long as his lips soon pulled into a smirk, finally revealing his true nature in all his glory.
“Took credit?”
Cocking his head, he stared at me directly.
“Are you implying that someone else was able to clear the anomaly? Who? You…?”
His mocking tone didn’t escape me. My eyes narrowed as he leaned in closer.
“It can’t possibly have been you, right? A normal person. Unless…” Pausing, his eyes narrowed as his smirk became even more pronounced.
“…You’re hiding something?”