230 Bitter Pill
230 Bitter Pill
I stood in a long hallway that seemed endless, stretching forward without any visible conclusion. The air felt heavy, muted, as if sound itself had been disciplined into silence. Guesswork stood beside me, his posture unusually stiff.
“There’s something I have to say before you go,” he remarked.
“What is it?” I asked, keeping my eyes forward.
“Don’t be surprised, no matter what you see,” he continued. “I’m the same ‘me’ you’ve always known. Back when we were on the same task force, and when we joined hands to kickstart all of this.”
Way to go being cryptic.
I glanced at him sideways and teased, “Don’t give me mixed signals. I might misunderstand.”
After all, he had been the one who drew the line.
“That’s all I wanted to say,” he replied evenly. “As for the rest of the way, follow the torches. They’ll light the path for you. Gloryhole, let’s leave.”
The two of them stepped back through the same portal they had brought me through, its edge folding in on itself before sealing shut. Darkness swallowed the hallway for a brief moment, then torches ignited one by one ahead of me, flames steady and deliberate, as if responding to my presence.
I followed the path, extending my psychic senses outward. Almost immediately, I frowned. The entire hallway was made of thick null metal, layered densely enough that even with my current ratings, I wasn’t confident I could phase through it.
The corridor finally ended, opening into a vast courtroom.
So that was how they wanted to frame this.
I stepped forward, finding myself standing in what I assumed was the defendant’s place. Opposite me were five elevated seats, arranged like a tribunal. Only four of them were occupied.
I recognized two faces instantly.
Dr. Time sat calmly in one of the high seats, posture composed, expression unreadable. In another sat Guesswork.
Things clicked into place then. I finally understood why Guesswork had drawn that line in the past, why he’d kept his distance from me. He must’ve found a better deal here, inside the SRC. Or maybe he’d done it to avoid trouble altogether. Either way, he’d always had a roundabout way of handling things.
I looked toward the remaining figures.
“Who are you?” I asked bluntly, not bothering to soften my tone. “I believe this is the first time we’ve met, but I at least recognize a few faces.”
The only woman among them rolled her eyes. Her red hair framed a sharp expression, and a pair of small fangs peeked from behind her lips as she scoffed. “You really got a tongue on you.”
“Calm down, Ms. Life,” said the dark-skinned man beside her. His eyes were an unnatural pure blue, unsettlingly reminiscent of Monarchy.
Finally, the man who looked uncannily like Guesswork leaned forward. “Indeed, this is the first time we are seeing each other like this. Please, call me Mr. Know.”
I nodded once to Dr. Time, and he returned the gesture. We were barely acquaintances, but seeing a familiar face still grounded me a little. Better the devil you know. In this case, about one-fourth of the devil.
I straightened where I stood and asked them plainly, “What do you want?”
“You,” Ms. Life said, pointing at me without hesitation. “We want you, Eclipse. Take the remaining seat. Fulfill your responsibility.”
“Now, I’m just offended,” I replied flatly.
Will leaned forward slightly. “She’s not wrong. Maybe if you knew the full story, you might change your mind. Forgive Ms. Life, she’s always taken everything in stride. Eager. Lacking patience.”
Ms. Life scoffed. “Why? Am I wrong?”
Mr. Known adjusted his posture, voice measured. “There’s a procedure to these things, you know that. Anyway, yes, like she said. This is going to be a bitter pill for you to swallow, but can you first listen to what we have to say?”
I wasn’t blind. All four of them radiated power far beyond anything I could reasonably measure. If they wanted me dead, I would already be dead. Still, I had never been good at kneeling. There were moments where you had to take a stand, even if the ground beneath you was already collapsing.
They knew I was dying. I knew it too. Pride, at that point, was the only thing I still owned outright.
“Why?” I asked. “Why should I listen?” I looked straight at Mr. Known. “Known—oh, you should’ve known, right? What I’m thinking? Can you guess it? I don’t trust the psychic.” My gaze shifted. “Will, is it? What exactly is your relationship with Monarchy?” Then to Ms. Life. “And Life? What kind of name is that? I can’t even hear you breathe. Are you even alive?” Finally, I turned to the last seat. “And Dr. Time… I have nothing to say to you.”
“Hooo~!” I took a deep breath, and addressed all of them. “There’s nothing between us but animosity. Any attempt at respect would be a waste of breath. You used me. You created me. So no, I don’t like any of you.”
“No,” Mr. Known said calmly, “we didn’t create you.”
“I did,” Dr. Time said with quiet confidence.
Will added, “We were unaware of it. Only in recent events did he… activate you.”
I glared at Dr. Time. The old man met my stare without flinching.
“There are threats in the world that need dealing with,” he said. “The Entity is one of them. None of my colleagues had the spine, the willingness, or the foresight to see it through. They let an anomalous threat like the Entity roam free.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Your world… why do you think it’s a hundred years behind adjacent parallel worlds?”
That inconsistency had bothered me for a long time.
“Because I froze it,” Dr. Time continued. “I hid it away in a place where the Entity couldn’t reach it.”
I exhaled sharply, rubbing my face. “Stop making this harder than it needs to be. I’m not a seer. Tell me why I’m here. Because if this is a pep talk, I’d rather have none of it.”
“Oh,” Mr. Known said quietly, “but you’ll need it.”
Ms. Life crossed her arms. “Once upon a time, there were five of us. Now there are four. Guess who’s missing.”
Will continued, his tone grave. “Like us, he was the pinnacle of his class. But he came too close to the Source, and it changed him.”
Dr. Time finished the thought. “The former owner of that empty seat was the Entity. There is nothing good about having too much. Do you remember what I told you about the Source? The beginning of all powers. The highest one can go before corruption sets in is rated twenty. Anything beyond that requires special procedures, and even then, it isn’t safe.”
He paused.
“The Entity was the highest-rated being among us before he went insane. Right now, I am the highest-rated among the four of us, and even I am not confident I can contain him.”
His gaze locked onto mine.
“We need you.”
“Let’s get this over with,” I said, my patience finally gone. “Spill. What are you not telling me?”
There was more to this summons. I could feel it, coiled beneath their words like a blade they hadn’t drawn yet.
I looked straight at Ms. Life. “You said something about taking responsibility. Why?”
Her expression didn’t change when she answered. “Because the Entity is you—”
“Lifeblood! We didn’t agree to this!” Will shouted, half rising from his seat, anger sharp and immediate.
I raised a hand, cutting through the noise. “Elaborate.”
Mr. Known exhaled slowly, as if resigning himself to something long overdue. “How do you think this multiverse nonsense started? It was time travel. Or rather, the first iteration of it. The world was split into two places, the past and the future.”
He tilted his head slightly. “Sound familiar?”
I didn’t answer.
“Because of that rift,” he continued, “people across the world began manifesting strange abilities. Powers that allowed them to distort reality, even if only slightly. In modern terms, this reality-warping became what you call ‘powers.’ Knowledge of time travel didn’t stay buried for long, especially once hints of the Source began spreading.”
“The past and the future kept splitting,” he said, voice steady but grim. “Again and again. The present was lost. Reality itself began collapsing under the strain.”
Will picked up the thread. “To fix this, like-minded individuals—us, and those before us—joined forces to address the tragedy caused by the first time traveler. That was the origin of the SRC. Its founding principles were regulation of powers, preservation of reality, and, ironically, the continuation of powers themselves.”
Dr. Time nodded once. “One of the solutions we found was aligning the timelines of parallel worlds through the Source. It was dangerous, but it stabilized reality enough to keep it from tearing itself apart.”
Mr. Known’s gaze hardened. “That balance didn’t last.”
Ms. Life leaned forward. “It was broken by the supreme cape who rules space. An iteration of you from a very distant past.”
The words hit heavier than I expected.
“When I say you should take responsibility,” she continued, “I mean you have to kill the Entity.”
I shook my head immediately. “But he’s not really me. I’m different!”
“Does it really matter?” Will asked quietly. “The Entity is regaining its wisdom. We believe it’s in the final stages of preparation. It may have been biding its time, waiting to kill you when you’re weakest.”
I clenched my fists. “I don’t understand. Why is it targeting me? What is its endgame? The ultimate goal?”
Ms. Life shrugged, almost dismissively. “We don’t know the full picture. He’s insane. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
Mr. Known added, “As for why you specifically, he likely wants to absorb you.”
A shudder ran through me before I could stop it.
Dr. Time spoke again, his tone clinical. “The same way I once monopolized researcher ratings on that medieval planet, the Entity plans to do the same on a multiversal scale. The fewer versions of you that exist, the smarter it becomes. The more of you it absorbs, the stronger it grows.”
He looked at me, truly looked at me.
“There is no time,” he said. “You are unprepared. You are wholly outclassed. This conversation is not just meant to motivate you.”
He paused.
“It’s meant to help you survive.”
Mr. Known folded his hands and spoke with unsettling calm. “Your path deviated vastly from the doctor’s estimates. By now, you should be at least rated-20. However, because of your meeting with Light, your growth was hindered. We should have seen it coming, but we ignored the signs.”
He looked almost regretful. “The fact that the Entity is becoming smarter is frightening enough, but it has also grown stronger over the years. Right now, you don’t have a fighting chance, Eclipse. Even if you use every means in your arsenal, as impressive as they are. The truth is, you still need to get stronger.”
“How?” I asked flatly.
Mr. Known smiled, as if the answer were obvious. “More battles. The myriad worlds hold a wealth of enemies. Fight them. Consume them. Become stronger than them.”
“And what if I become the next Entity?” I asked, already hating the answer.
“You won’t,” Will said immediately, his voice firm. “Because I can kill you.”
He raised his hand, revealing a faint, translucent orb hovering just above his palm. The moment I saw it, fear unlike anything I’d ever known crushed down on me. My legs felt weak. My chest tightened. Tears welled up before I even understood why.
“This is your soul,” Will said quietly. “If the worst happens, trust me. I will stop you. There’s no need for the tragedy to repeat itself.”
Something inside me snapped.
“Ha… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha~!” The laughter burst out before I could contain it. I covered my face with one hand as it kept spilling out of me. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha~!”
The sound echoed, manic and unhinged. Emotions crashed together in my head with rage, bitterness, disbelief, and relief. I had always pegged myself as an atheist. No gods. No souls. No grand metaphysical comfort.
But there it was.
I had a soul.
“I’m pissed,” I said between laughs, voice shaking. “I’m furious at the manipulation, at the lies, at all of this.” The laughter crept back in. “But I have a soul! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha~! A soul! That’s great!”
The four of them looked deeply uncomfortable, exchanging glances as if wondering whether they’d just broken something irreparably.
I laughed again, softer now, almost breathless. “I might not be just a monster after all. Because monsters don’t get souls.”
Will let the moment pass before speaking again. “Take the seat that represents space. Grow stronger. Deal with the Entity menace, and you can have your soul back. The SRC will do everything in its power to aid you. If you succeed, we promise you a wish. As long as it’s within our abilities… and there are very few things the SRC cannot do.”
It was a bitter pill. Layered with deceit, coercion, and madness.
But I had a soul.
That single fact was enough of a silver lining to cut through the darkness.
I wiped my eyes, straightened my posture, and met their gazes one by one.
“You’ve got a deal.”