บท 29: Return [2]
In a quiet and empty room, a boy lay on a bed with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep as his chest rhythmically moved up and down.
His long and messy black hair covered his forehead and most of his eyes as the boy stayed unmoving.
As the boy slept, if one looked closely, they'd be able to notice the faint black lines that appeared over his neck and shoulders.
The black lines grew thicker with time, slowly expanding as the colour soon tinted blue in his veins.
"KHWH!"
Unexpectedly, the boy shot his eyes open, revealing his bright amber pupils as he let out a squeal of pain.
'What's happening to me?!'
Isaac yelled internally, desperately rolling over, falling off the bed and dropping to his hands and knees.
Isaac writhed in pain, clawing at the floor like a rabid animal.
"Impossible…"
Among the excruciating pain, a soft mumble entered Isaac's ears as he raised his head with difficulty, his eyes falling upon a familiar black and white-haired female.
Katlynn stood staring at Isaac, her eyes wide and jaw dropped.
However, after a few seconds, her expression quickly changed to that of realisation.
"Pathetic." She spoke, her face contorted in disgust.
"What a waste of time." Turning her head, she pulled open the door, soon slamming it behind her as Isaac was left to fend for himself.
'You…'
Despite Isaac being used to others ignoring his suffering, it didn't mean he wouldn't feel unrelenting rage when it happened.
However, Isaac had bigger problems at the moment.
He could feel an unexplainable feeling burning inside him as if something was trying to break out of his abdomen.
No, maybe not unexplainable.
Any human, even animal had the basic instincts to know when they were starving. Isaac was no different.
He could tell what this feeling was.
It was hunger.
An insatiable hunger that made him want to claw his eyes out and swallow them whole.
His skin darkened as the colour in his eyes faded, turning dull grey.
Additionally, as the seconds passed, Isaac could feel his sanity fading. His thoughts were clouded and his reasoning was fractured.
He could feel himself becoming a sort of beast, as the thought of tearing off his flesh seemed satiating to him.
With nothing else to do, and with the feeling of his mind crumbling, Isaac called upon his trump card.
He summoned his Nen.
Fortunately, he could instantly feel his Nen rising with just a faint thought, however, he had no time to feel thankful at the moment.
Directing his Nen toward the 'Thing' in his abdomen, like a sponge absorbing water, his Nen was swallowed at a rapid rate.
As colour returned to his skin and his eyes reverted to their usual amber, Isaac could feel the Thing inside him settling.
Despite his thoughts still feeling somewhat fractured and his body feeling fatigued as if he hadn't eaten in weeks, Isaac was feeling better than before.
Although, he knew this would only last till his Nen ran out.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he sat up with his back to the bed frame, sweating profusely as he noticed something from the corner of his eye.
"Orion?" Isaac muttered, staring at the man beside him in a deep squat.
"Greetings, kid. How are you doing over there?"
Orion, his eyes drooping as if he were sleepy and wearing glasses that did nothing to hide this fact, raised his hand as he greeted the boy.
"Have you been there this whole time?" Isaac asked after a slight pause.
"Pretty much. I was quite surprised to see you wake up after 3 months and suddenly start seizing on the ground. I thought you were turning into a Terror."
Explained Orion as Isaac widened his eyes.
"Three months?" He muttered, to which Orion soon nodded.
Picking himself up and taking a seat on the bed, the room was enveloped in a sudden silence.
"What was going on with you?" Orion soon asked, breaking the silence.
Isaac stayed quiet for a few seconds.
"I'm still trying to figure it out myself."
Although Isaac had said this, the truth was, he had an idea of what was wrong with him.
How could he not? The knowledge of everything he'd read in Don's journals was still fresh in his mind.
'Zobae, the disease of immortality.'
Isaac thought.
A disease which granted immortality didn't sound bad at first, even to Isaac when he was reading it for the first time.
However, the cost of this immortality was one's sanity. They'd become a mindless monster no better than the creatures in the Dark Continent themselves.
Essentially, the only thing between Isaac and a mindless Zombie, was the Nen inside him he was using as a food source, which he could feel was rapidly depleting.
Despite this, there was one thing which could potentially save Isaac.
Closing his eyes, Isaac tried his best to sense the Nen around him. It didn't help his mental state wasn't the best, but he had no choice but to work with what he had.
'There. I feel it.'
This was the reason why the Zobae Disease was quite easily the most terrifying and powerful Calamity of all.
Don knew this, and so did Isaac.
Upon contracting the disease, the infected would see their aura nodes significantly expanding, so much so that their bodies now naturally pulled in the Nen from the atmosphere, increasing their Nen output and capacity 60 times the average Nen user.
In Don's journal, he mentioned a single infected could bring all of the Dark Continent to its knees within a few hours.
Isaac could only be thankful for the fact there weren't any infected in the Dark Continent at the time of his Scenario.
As Isaac concentrated on the last bit of mental strength he had, he could feel a wave of Nen flooding through him, all being sucked in from the atmosphere.
If it weren't for the fact he was distracted by the pain, he'd instantly be able to notice the raw power he possessed.
Channelling the copious amount of Nen through his body, Isaac guided it toward the thing in his stomach.
After a few seconds, Isaac had returned to normal. The fatigue had vanished, his mental state had greatly improved and the insatiable hunger was somewhat manageable.
Though he could feel a slight craving, it was worlds better than the previous feeling.
Opening his eyes, Isaac looked around his body, staring at his arms and touching his face.
Because he was channelling 100% of his Nen into the Thing to keep himself sane, he was currently in a state no different to Zetsu.
After a few seconds, Isaac grinned widely.
Feeling the Nen being pulled into his nodes, he could infinitely satiate the Thing inside him.
Additionally, if he could figure out a way to bypass the sanity problem yet keep the benefits of the Zobae Disease…
'Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Thank you crazy stalker insect.'
Isaac thanked the insect-like creature.
He could only grin menacingly at the countless possibilities that awaited him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you were still here."
Wiping the grin off his face, Isaac turned his head to Orion who sat quietly beside him.
"It's fine. I'll just pretend like you weren't grinning to yourself like a deranged sociopath."
Isaac wore a defeated expression as Orion continued.
"Alright, first things first, say the words "Status"."
Isaac raised an eyebrow as Orion spoke. Although confused, he did as he was told.
"Status."
[Name: Isaac ???
Status: Hungry
Stage: 1
Inherited Character: Wanderer
Race: Human
PS: Nen (Proficiency Level: 3)
Hatsu: N/A
Perks:
Immortality (Lvl. MAX)
Arts:
N/A
Curse:
Zobae Disease
Haunted by Calamity.]
A screen appeared before Isaac, similar to those he'd seen when assigned his quest and before returning to Earth.
Because had seen it so many times before, he showed no reaction as he skimmed through everything before him.
'Haunted by Calamity? Hmm, I saw this earlier but I hoped I read it wrong. How bothersome.'
"You done?" Orion asked, snapping Isaac out of his trance.
"Yes."
Isaac answered simply.
"Now, tell me. What have you learnt during your scenario?" Orion leaned back in his chair.
'What have I learned?'
Isaac raised his eyebrow upon hearing the question. However, the more he thought, the more he realised something.
He'd learnt so much.
Not just about Nen or how to survive, but something more valuable.
"Before I entered my Scenario, I had one goal in mind. To become filthy rich. And in doing so, I'd find peace. But…well, you know how that ended."
His dream was over barely before it started.
"It was then I realised something so materialistic and trivial couldn't grant me peace. No, peace was more than that."
"I remember how miserable my life was when I was collecting money. I thought the means justify the ends, but if I had died in the alleyway three months ago, I'd just be a bum who wasted his life scamming others with nothing to show for it."
Like Fetoh and even Netero, there were no side quests to fulfil one's goal.
Fetoh left the military and became a doctor, while Netero tirelessly trained to fight stronger opponents.
I'm trying to achieve his goal, Isaac lost sight of what it was.
It was only after reading Don's journal that he understood this.
After all, Peace and Freedom were two sides to the same coin.
"No more. My life of peace and freedom starts right now. I won't engage in tireless preparation for it."
"No, that would just ruin the whole point. I'll do whatever the hell I want, and I'll become so strong no one can stop me…!"
"Geez kid, what are you yapping about? I just wanted to know what your quest was and your completion rank."
Orion picked his ear as he leaned back in his seat, cutting Isaac off with a nonchalant demeanour.
"You…what?"
"I didn't ask for your life story. Just tell me the details of your quest."
Like a balloon being deflated, Isaac crumbled as he froze.
'I'm going to enjoy killing you one day.'
Sitting back down, Isaac repressed his killing intent.
"My completion rank was SSS…"
Before Isaac could finish, Orion shot up to his feet as the chair behind him creaked loudly.
Holding out his hand with his usual lazy expression, he spoke.
"Stop. Don't say anymore."
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Extra chap in a few hours.
I'd appreciate the Powerstones too, they motivate my work and help out my novel.
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