Chapter 77: The Counter

"Did you do it?"

Honestly, it somewhat rubbed me the wrong way that he walked up to me without notice—couldn’t tell he was near me, but I’ll leave that for later.

There were plenty of people around us, yet his voice was the only thing I could hear—as if everyone else had fallen silent, leaving only him.

"I did."

So, I won.

Didn’t I?

"Oh, is that right?"

I said as my eyelids closed—a satisfied grin leaked out, and I simply walked across him into the crowd.

Then...

"Hey, can I borrow your phone?—I need to text my friend."

The stranger paused for a moment, then smiled and answered without so much as a worry.

"Sure thing, just be quick since I’m somewhat rushing."

"No problem."

I wrote a single word.

"That’s all, thank you."

As I took a single step forward, a singular sound from behind stopped me in my tracks—my eyes widened and my expression changed.

I shouldn’t hear it from so far away, yet I did.

Slowly, I turned around.

And...

It was Fisk holding a phone that faced towards me.

A message from an unknown number that had a single word:

"Fisk."

That was Maddy’s phone—I recognized it.

The grin I had showed him just moments ago...

He had the same one now.

Gradually, my teeth clenched—and the face I began showing was that of anger.

Yet, it didn’t last...

As my expression then changed to a ticked off smile—respect for this maneuver of his.

"Oh, and by the way..."

He voiced holding his palm next to his mouth—allowing the volume to be heard easier.

Suddenly, my own phone began ringing...

"...you might want to be careful with that..."

Suddenly, his grin intensified—he began looking like a fucking perverted fiend.

"...if you feel a flicker, you’re done for."

What the fuck does he mean by that?!—a flicker?!

I glanced at my phone—it was the Association.

Holding the phone... I felt it... a drop of sweat run down my cheek.

"You bastard..."

I picked up the phone—silently held the phone next to my ear.

A few seconds of silence passed...

"Dante? This is Angelo from the Information Center—can you come by as soon as you can?"

The crowd further muted.

"Yes, of course. I’ll be on my way."

Hung up.

My eyes hadn’t stopped being wide, yet afterwards they did even more.

And so...

A relentless flood of MANA began gushing towards my brain.

Everything in my eyes began shaking as tens—or hundreds—of scenarios, theories, and possibilities were simultaneously getting materialized in an array of brain stimuli.

And in less than the blink of a second... a singular, concrete and undeniable conclusion was forced into the depths of my mind.

"I am okay."

Fisk acknowledged the game I was playing with him—it wasn’t something as sparkless as "exposing" each other as efficiently as possible, therefore he wouldn’t do anything that would undermine his victory against me.

I closed my eyes, yet again turned around, and proceeded to walk towards the Association.

What’s up your sleeve, Fisk?—what’s your move?

A flicker...

As I treaded towards the Association, gradually I was reimbursing my body with circulation, warmth, and humanity—turning this undead corpse into a functional camouflage no one could mistake for anything else.

And so... with warmth I greeted:

"Evening—what’s up?"

"Oh, Dante—it’s about your System, I’ve got good news for you!"

He said excitedly as his eyes locked with mine—he was previously focused on the monitors and whatnot.

"Yes?—what about it?"

"Seems like your System is ready!—you want to do it right here?"

"My System?—you guys actually got one for me? At this point, I was thinking it would never come," I said with a sheepish giggle that subsequently followed.

"How so?—didn’t they tell you it would come after a little while?"

"Ah... I guess so," I replied while my hand went behind my back—a showcase of shyness and playfulness. "Can we really do it here, though?—I thought it had to be in that... weird place or whatever."

"Not at all!—at least not after the initial seeding is complete."

"Seeding?" I answered in curiosity.

"It’s nothing you need to think about—just take this note and force your MANA into it—you know how to do that, right?"

I glared at the scrap of paper.

Is it the same as what Ariel did long ago?—some type of spell that activates when you allow your MANA to interact with it?

After hearing what that woman said about Systems, hell fucking no—I don’t want one at all, that would pronounce my death in no time.

But can I reject it as well?—is that allowed?

Then... a sudden memory that you’d pass as insignificant passed by my mind—an interaction with one object that you’d think wouldn’t relate to this situation whatsoever.

Yet... to me...

It was a worthy gamble.

So I took the note—and allowed my MANA to interact with it.

"Huh, that’s strange," Angelo immediately claimed.

Then he peeped directly into my eyes and...

A flicker.

A flicker of MANA went through my body—this happened the last time I saw him here as well.

"It seems to be rejecting you again—I’ve never seen that happen before."

I was right—just like with the doorknobs, the System requires MANA to be stable even as this so-called "irregular"; my MANA has changed repeatedly since the first time I was exposed to its mechanics, and now it doesn’t recognize it at all.

Couldn’t help myself—began smiling.

"Hmm... really? That really is weird..."

I softly let out...

"Well, I’ll update you as soon as possible—I’ll have some very capable people check out what’s the issue."

For a second, I glared at the note—it has my MANA now—heh, that isn’t a problem actually.

I should be able to release it— or actually, tamper with it from a distance.

"Anyway, Dante, the main reason I called you here is because of the incident with Ariel—we need you to tell us if those creatures match a similar pattern we’ve been having lately..."

"...but unfortunately we somewhat have a situation at our hands... so it’ll have to wait..."

Yeah... a situation.

Certainly...