"...So how did you escape it?"

"Hard to say for sure... I remember staying in that darkness for such a long time that I was even forgetting how the real world looked like, or how to even feel about the situation I was in. I simply became... numb... at some point. I've stood there for days for sure, though I've lost track of time pretty often in that world."

"Do you remember anything about what could've possibly get you out of that world? Or at least something special that happened in it?"

"I remember... a voice that was always talking to me, even when I told it so many times to leave me alone."

"A voice? Like the one you told me about earlier?"

"Yes, that one. But it wasn't the first time either. That voice was always there, but I always ignored it. Most of the times..."

"Why so?"

"I simply thought that it had no meaning its existence in this world at all, and its words made no sense most of the times too. But the older I got, the more the voice was adapting to my experiences and started talking to me more and more, torturing my mind. And at that time... it did it again. Every. Single. Day..."

The moment He now remembers though is not such a simple time of His life. And though He did not explain to the stranger every single detail, we did manage to live them all, probably this day in particular being the one that needs the most recognition. As the memory represents Him, staying on His knees in that void while looking at the "floor", with His lively personality faded completely, almost as if the body we see now does not have any kind of soul in it anymore.

...So tell me, Little Ruler. How long do you wish to continue this charade? Didn't you get sick of it already?

[CHE5TER]-...I will continue it as long as I can. I do not even care about your empty words anymore, Demon.

Oh? Why is that? Do you believe that I will give up on trying to achieve what I want?

[CHE5TER]-What do you even want anyway? What do you wish to win from all of this? You are just a voice that simply tortures me every moment of my life. What could you possibly do without me?

Well, if you wish to see my dream so badly, then allow me to take control over your body and everything that now bothers you will finally be put to an end.

[CHE5TER]-Heh, your naivety amuses me. I will never let you take my body without you telling me what you want. Dead or alive, this body will remain mine at hand. So I got a simple sentence for you... Dream on.

Little Ruler, don't you understand that you are just torturing yourself by keep fighting an unwinnable battle? Don't you wish for all your fears to disappear? For all your people to be safe? ...Don't you wish to protect them all?

[CHE5TER]-Oh, but I do wish to do that so badly, Demon.

Then why don't you let me help you? I can make all your dreams come true. Just let me take control and everything will be over.

But even so, CHE5TER didn't seem to give a damn about what the voice was telling Him to do. Instead, He seems to be using His C power to create an object, a sharp one.

"...And at some point... I simply got so annoyed by it that I've made a decision which could even take my own life if I wasn't careful."

"...And what was that?"

"After years of torture, I have realised something in that void in which I was put to be left with nothing but myself. All this time, this voice was not coming from a side like the ears or brain at all. It was rather coming from behind, giving me the constant confusion of whether it is an outside or a inside sound. And with that in mind..."

[CHE5TER]-You didn't understand what I said, Demon. I do wish to protect them...

And in the next moment, CHE5TER was with the sharp object in His left hand, at the back of His neck, ready to cut the symbol He was born with.

[CHE5TER]-...But I wish to protect them from you.

"...I've cut my mark in hope that the nightmare will end."

"And did it... work?"

"Well..."

So after He did what He just explained, the voice faded completely for a few seconds, leaving the ruler look around while trying to bear the new pain He just caused to appear. It seemed at first that His plan has succeeded since He couldn't hear anything anymore, but He was still trapped in that void. Yet not long after, when He thought that this was the end...

"...I've been instantly paralysed by such a view that just appeared in front of me in a blink of an eye. It was such a horrifying creature, staring at me so close to my body with such anger in its eyes. It looked almost like a simple demon at first, but it was even smaller, its eyes weren't a glowing white light, but rather voothrav, and its mouth was so widely opened as if it wanted to eat me alive, with the same colour and brightness as its eyes. On its chest though, the creature had a liquid flowing from it as if it was cut and this being its blood, but it was glowing voothrav just like its eyes. And what scared me the most was that... it looked just like me, but a corrupted version of myself.

Because of the sudden appearance of the creature, my mind was simply empty and my body couldn't move even if it screamed for help. But when I woke up to reality and realised that I had to defend myself quickly, I started pushing it away from me. Yet in vain, as the creature was stronger. So, in order to get rid of it, I took the same object that I've used to cut my symbol... and immediately stabbed it in the eye."

And He didn't lie, but He sure didn't admit that He was scared at that time too, closing His eyes out of fear and looking away. Yet when He opened them again slowly... He saw such brightness around Him, and finally objects or different colours. His vision wasn't the best though as it seemed pretty blurry, yet He could see around Him even so.

He noticed then His left hand which had a few bandages on it, then His clothes being completely different from what He remembered. He even tried to use His right arm but in vain since now it was paralysed for good which sure was a surprise to Him, analysing His own body confused. But what confused Him more was the moment He looked for the creature...

[CHE5TER]-...M-MY4?

...only to see His loved one covering one of her eyes, as a result of His own actions. He couldn't hear anything though, He seemed completely deaf. But His eyes were expressing guilt the moment MY4 took Him in her arms.

"...And that moment, I finally got out of that void, only to wake myself in one of the rooms of the building I was working in, with a colleague of mine crying in front of me because of what I did."

PRESENT

The Underground City

45:08

He said it so many times though, so it shouldn't be a surprise anymore. But He really doesn't like talking about that day at all. He never told why He despises it so much though, even if He managed to endure and get through all the Hell He had to face. So it sure is questionable why He let it change Him so much.

But here He stands, laying on the ground with the stranger feeling rather pity towards the man that stands next to it. After hearing such a story, it sure felt ashamed that it even asked the question in the first place, which will probably explain its shocked expression.

[General]-...I'm sorry, CHE5TER. I really didn't know about all of this.

[CHE5TER]-...

[General]-*sigh* If it helps you in any way... I guess I made myself an idea of what your Inhumanity might be. Though I'm not so sure of it myself...

[CHE5TER]-...Then what's your answer?

[General]-Well, I would think that the voice you talked about might be related to your Inhumanity.

[CHE5TER]-The voice?

[General]-Yes. What you've explained to me is no pure insanity at all. This is a whole new level of "going insane". If that voice can take a physical body and also get affected from outside sources, then it sure isn't just a voice. But again, I don't know for sure what the detailed answer is. No matter the answer though, based on what you've explained, it is linked to your symbol of Almost-Human, which will mean that it has something to do with your Inhumanity. That I know for sure.

[CHE5TER]-*sigh* Alright, at least we have a start... So how am I suppose to find the whole answer now?

[General]-Believe me when I say that I want to know too. I've got pretty curious myself. But with so little information on what's happening with your blessing, then I'm afraid I'm not really the most qualified person to find the answer on my own. Only if I had a friend of mine to help me...

[CHE5TER]-So we still have to find the village for this puzzle, huh? But putting that aside, why do you seem so excited to stay with me all of a sudden? I sense a change in your behaviour ever since you told me I was an "Almost Hooman".

Yet the boy looks a bit at the ruler, changing its expression in such sorrow, before starting to observe the "sky" of the city and talking again.

[General]-...CHE5TER, our species are so rare that I'm afraid we might be the only beings of our kind alive. I've never met someone like me before and I always felt like an outsider when I found out what I truly am. I've never seen anybody with the same symbol as mine in my village, nor did I hear stories of powerful beings with all kinds of different blessings. When I met the man that was talking so much with my master and heard what I truly am, I was so afraid that my people won't even want me around them anymore. We fear the different like we fear the gods.

[CHE5TER]-And did they find out?

[General]-*sigh* They did at some point. My dear brothers, or best friends, or however you want to call them... I told them one day what I am.

[CHE5TER]-So they treated you... different after you told them?

[General]-To my surprise, not really. They treated me the same as they did ever since we were children. They knew from the start that I was gifted with a blessing, and not the one of a Creator. I was the only C born among them, so I thought they always reffered to the gift of my race. But they were talking about a whole different gift, and I realised it too late... Heh, Brother ANTH0NY probably still mocks me about this subject even till this day. How I wonder what he is thinking now since I've been gone for so long...

[CHE5TER]-ANTH0NY?

[General]-Yeah... He probably is the closest friend to me. He knows everything and always scolds me for not obeying to the rules. He always acts like a parent towards us since most of us had no being that looked after us when we were kids, even though he is just a year older than me. But he is a great guy! He really is!

[CHE5TER]-To think that there is a whole new world out there that nobody from my land knew about...

[General]-Don't worry. My people probably didn't know anything about these cities either. Put the blame on the demons that don't let us see the world and discover new things. If it wasn't for them, probably we would've met years ago already.

Yet the ruler doesn't respond. He just stands and admires the views in front of them, as He thinks of something that bothers Him for good. Even if He found out what He is, no real answer was given. So maybe He wonders if He will ever find the real truth.

[CHE5TER]-...Hey, General?

[General]-Yeah?

[CHE5TER]-Are you sure that these "Inhoomanities" are suppose to be blessings?

[General]-Depends on the view... Why do you ask all of a sudden?

[CHE5TER]-Well... I don't really think mine is suppose to be any kind of blessing, no matter what it truly is. From how it affected me in the past and how it will continue to affect me in the future, it seems more that it is a torture rather than a blessing. It is how you thought. We are different. I am different. Maybe it has a meaning this difference that I have from my own people. Maybe it is suppose to tell me something.

[General]-Like...?

[CHE5TER]-Like, as if...

"...I am going to pay for my sins."