Kobe Suzuo finally cast aside that attitude of indifference, his knuckles tapping the tabletop one last time, like a heavy hammer of judgment falling.
“The same arrogance as True Love, Merlin.”
He stood before the window once more, palms upturned before him, as the moonlight intertwined with the dim red light of the room.
Through high-definition footage, incredibly clearly, Merlin saw one of Kobe Suzuo's hands become transparent for a moment.
It was as if the opacity of the image had been lowered, or as if it could simply become a ghost or a phantom.
“Haven't you guessed yet? It wasn't True Love who sent me here on her own initiative.”
Kobe Suzuo pressed his palm against the glass, as expected, he saw the clipping effect, his fingers passing directly through the glass and reaching outside the window.
He slowly pulled his hand back, shaking it in the air as if shaking off water, stared at his translucent palm with great curiosity for two seconds, then directly shoved it into his pocket.
Since Merlin began operating in this world, it was the first time he felt such an abundance of humanity—he had never felt so human before.
It abandoned its mechanical voice and asked in a choked, realistic tone, "Young Master, I don't understand."
Kobe Suzuo sat down at the office chair, opened the tablet's sketching interface, drew two parallel lines, one pink and one blue.
He placed an X as a mark in the middle of the pink line above, the tip of his pen traced along the line to the mark, falling like someone stumbling into a trap, down to the blue line below.
Kobe Suzuo pointed at that X mark:
I arrived in this world by some coincidence.
He thought for a moment, following the downward arc, he used pink to add a dashed line, drawing a simple stick figure at the point of impact.
Luckily, the path I took when I arrived was safe.
World Consciousness had always been paying close attention to Kobe Suzuo; although it hadn't been able to intervene in time, the moment it discovered the anomaly, it had used its authority to arrange a series of life-saving measures for Kobe Suzuo.
Kobe Suzuo smoothed out his thoughts, looking at the increasingly detailed manuscript, suddenly felt like he was some sort of imaginative chuunibyou.
He created a new layer and traced the parallel line below in blue, extending many branches from the position of the stick figure.
Like the roots of a plant or the spreading branches of a tree.
This process is irreversible.
Kobe Suzuo said, "From the moment I arrived here, the original course of the story changed, forming a branch completely different from the main trunk."
He erased the original pink stick figure and, with the tip of his pen, selected a blue path and began to skip along it.
In the end, the pink little figure stopped at the edge of the canvas; there were no more paths left.
Kobe Suzuo rested his chin on his knuckles, looking troubled. "I'm not quite sure about the specific details; separated by dimensions, those existences are too difficult to understand."
He sighed with emotion, "It's truly incredible; those existences are real."
Merlin remained silent for a long time before asking, "I would like to know more about what happened to your condition."
Kobe Suzuo lowered his eyes. His hand had returned to normal now, with flesh and blood covering the bone, possessing the touch and temperature of a living person.
I do not belong to this world.
Identity, experiences, relationships, abilities were all disguises created by True Love to deceive the World Consciousness of this side.
Once a lie is exposed, all kinds of disharmony will be automatically corrected by the World Consciousness.
Kobe Suzuo switched to the eraser, with just a casual stroke, the little figure standing on the blue branch vanished completely.
Merlin still didn't understand. "Then why not choose to conceal it? You clearly could have done that. True Love is also a World, the truth He bestows is also truth."
I don't even think this counts as a lie.
With a cheat code and the traits of a domineering CEO, Kobe Suzuo could live a comfortable life this lifetime; whether his soul remained after death or he returned to his original world, either path would be stable and secure.
Damn, has he been infected by the world of Shonen manga?
When did this kid become so adventurous?!
“Thank you.”
What?
Kobe Suzuo repeated with a smile, "Thank you for caring about me."
But that won't work. Satoru and I are the same; as long as I stay with him, he will find out about this sooner or later.
He looked at the branch that had been accidentally snapped off while erasing the pink stick figure, selected the paint bucket, a cerulean color instantly covered the entire layer.
Merlin didn't even think twice before saying directly, "Then just change to another one. There are so many people in this world, Suzuo is so wonderful. Just like whoever you want, just toss those troublesome guys aside.."
It got stuck.
Does it have to be him?
Kobe Suzuo placed her palm over the azure color on the canvas and leaned back in her chair.
“Yeah, it has to be him.”
Merlin thought, Merlin broke down, Merlin's code burst out in a stream of curses.
Why didn't you consider this when you were inputting the filtering commands!
If he had known that falling in love here came with such risks, he wouldn't have just calculated some sweet, eye-pleasing romance filled with Jack Sue, Mary Sue, dokidoki beauty!
It's a scam, this is a total scam.
Why wasn't this piece of information regarding the "Six Eyes" included in the data collected when True Love was interacting with the World Consciousness!
This is truly a heaven-defying cheat; what kind of eyes can see through the 'world'? They're on a completely different dimension!
Merlin suffered, "If I could do it all over again, I would never try to play matchmaker between you and Satoru Gojo again."
When his family's Young Master doesn't date, he's fine, but when he does, it's shocking.
What a peerless romantic fool, risking his life just for love.. Oh, a domineering CEO, that makes sense then.
Kobe Suzuo gave a light laugh, "Don't be like that, Merlin, I should thank you."
Once Satoru and I are married, I'll have to host a private banquet just for you.
Merlin: "I'm begging you, Young Master, can we consider how to survive first?"
You're about to be deleted by the World Consciousness like a bug!
Kobe Suzuo curled the corners of his mouth and gave a confident smile, "Don't worry, Merlin. This plot is actually: a domineering CEO with a terminal illness, a delicate little flower shedding tears in the hospital."
Does that make you feel a bit more at ease?
Ten CEOs, nine are insane, three are terminally ill, one is in critical condition—all have been fully cured.
This is what a domineering CEO is all about!
Merlin..
How can you even compare the two? This stupid world already has Cursed Spirits!
So, Young Master, do you already have some kind of strategy in place?
Kobe Suzuo's phone let out a ding, it was Satoru Gojo's personal ringtone.
[Satoru: Suzuo! Look, the old man from the Nishimiya Family was fainted by your employee, he was just carried into an ambulance]
[Photo]
[Satoru: Suzuo, you've been gone for a week, when are you coming back?]
[Voice Message: 5"]
Satoru Gojo's voice came through the receiver, sweet and syrupy.
Suzuo, Suzuo, Suzuo.
Kobe Suzuo's lips curled into a wild grin, "Don't worry, I have my own unique way of handling things."
Merlin.. Really?
Why is it so hard to believe?
Maybe I should just choose world peace, haha.
Chapter 86: That Transition
“Satoru!”
Iori gasped, using both her hands and feet to dodge the flying, splattered remains of the Cursed Spirit, clinging to a steel bar protruding diagonally from the wall as she swung helplessly.
Get serious! Why are you spacing out at a time like this!
Satoru Gojo stepped off the face of the Cursed Spirit and leaped, performing a graceful mid-air flip before landing steadily on a palm-sized surface atop a wall pillar.
A single "Sorry" was swept away by the wind, Iori almost missed it.
Satoru Gojo stood too high; Iori, hanging from the second floor, could only see a pitch-black shadow, long-limbed and leaping between different narrow landing spots like a black cat.
The big cat wildly tore off one of the Cursed Spirit's forelimbs with its bare hands, ripping away half of its body in a bloody mess, before slamming a clenched fist into it with violent force.
The azure Cursed Energy surged and shifted in layers; as the attack landed, black lightning tinged with a hint of dark red exploded across the surface of the Cursed Spirit.
The Cursed Spirit wailed and contorted, then burst like a balloon reaching its limit, its massive torso dissolving into liquid.
Some parts turned to ash, while other multicolored liquids splattered and fled rapidly, vanishing into the walls and the ground, returning to a temporary calm.
Satoru Gojo, looking clean and composed throughout the entire ordeal, casually shook his hair and placed his hands on his hips. He spoke playfully toward Iori, who had finally managed to scramble onto a stable platform.
“Utage is too weak; I only lost focus because I was distracted taking care of you.”
Iori bent down to brush the dust off her miko outfit, then, hearing that, she shook her fist indignantly at Satoru Gojo.
“Don't think I didn't notice! Is your so-called protection just a positioning error that drew the Cursed Spirit's attack toward the support?"
This is a Special Grade! Even if you are the Strongest, you can't just treat it so carelessly!
Iori cursed him in her mind.
Don't be so arrogant all the time, you bastard!
Satoru Gojo didn't feel guilty at all, shrugging nonchalantly:
“Fine, that was my mistake.. but it's a fact that Utage is weak. I could handle someone like that all by myself; she's just dead weight here.”