One!
The sound of bones clashing was heard crackling. My fist hit his chin.
The man fell. Blood splattered from his mouth.
I jump. My right elbow managed to hit the solar plexus.
Screams of pain echoed throughout the room.
"Two." A small laugh crept from my grinning lips. "Two-empty?!" I roared. "Feel it!"
The man was exhausted. He used his arms to hug his stomach before coughing violently and groaning. The white marble of this ward was dirty with red splashes.
I gripped his right shoulder. Forced the man to his back. "I think you picked the wrong opponent."
I choked before punching him in the face.
Very. Twice. Three times. Six times. Eight-ten times. I gasped instead of me sitting next to him. He passed out with a lump covering the left side of his face.
I chuckled softly just to let out a roar of laughter.
"Are you The Voice ?" I lay my back on the floor. When I looked up, I could see the stranger sitting cross-legged on the bed.
"Since when did you notice?" He asked back, grinning mischievously and grimacing in pain. Using the back of his left hand, he was busy pressing the corners of the lips that were cracked from my first fist.
"Who knows." I shrugged. "Pure instinct?" I added a smile.
"By flight hours, yes." He glanced at the end of the word. The way he laughed made his monolid eyes close. But at the same time, I realized something.
I sat up, immediately turned around and crossed my arms facing him.
"You're laughing like this again." I pointed at him who was wiping a tear. "But..." I squeezed my chin with an automatically decreasing intonation. "There was no reaction as if there was an earthquake like earlier."
Silence.
The man was upset. Meanwhile, my forehead was twitching.
We stared at each other with thoughts all over the place.
I knew he was The Voice since the way he laughed gave me a terrible headache. However, this is the first time I've found one that can create realistic illusions.
The Voice Most are only capable of persuading, inciting and hypnotizing. They are also known as linguists. If there is a profession as a singer, this group can even manipulate the octave height.
The highest skill that The Reader can achieve is to find a camouflaged sniper from an altitude of at least ten thousand kilometers the air while riding a jet plane—with a note, you must be under the auspices of a mentor. It's the same with The Voice. This group's basic technique allows them to control their minds. If you remember that this man has been able to realize illusions as accurately as earlier, there must be someone who has taught him.
"How dare you chicks enter the crocodile cage when I'm weak for a moment." I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Since you still smell like rubbish and I haven't fully recovered either, I won't mind it."
I made a shooting pose. I put the tip of my index finger to my right temple—confirming that my advantage lies in the eyes. "You know what I'm capable of, right?" My grin is getting wider.
The man was stunned for five seconds. He showed an innocently stupid look as he blinked twice before giggling with pursed lips. Makes a short 'pft' sound full of ridicule.
"Your arrogance sucks. Or is this one of your tricks to stay superior under any circumstances?" He let out a chuckle even though it only lasted less than twenty seconds.
"I like your determination to defend yourself. Well," He jumped short to get off the bed.
Standing at half a meter, this man didn't even think about lowering his head or crouching so his gaze was level with me who was still on the floor. Instead, he lifted his chin and put his hands in his pants pockets.
He snorted before pouting his lips. "Honestly, it's all useless."
My molars chattered.
This guy is pretty good too. Although he still couldn't control his delusions, he was quite good at spying and analyzing the situation. I guess his infiltration skill is also not to be taken lightly. The state owns this hospital. Anyone can be treated here. However, the elevator to the VVIP floor can only be accessed through a hidden path for Alpha members. Even when they arrived at their destination, there were two bodyguards guarding the inn's front door. If he could come face-to-face with me, it would be too lowly for me to call him a 'chick'…
Wait. Could it be that the imagination of his creation was deliberately loosened? Could it be that I managed to hit his chin was a coincidence?
"Yes, that's right." Suddenly his head nodded rapidly. "I wanted to make you happy by letting you punch me."
I shot a look of horror.
Is he the one who can read my mind or am I muttering my thoughts unconsciously?
"Good grief." His laughter exploded. Looks very satisfied.
"No, no." He emphasized his words by waving his hand repeatedly. "I'm just The Voice. But your expression," His index finger and thumb formed a tick that he moved up and down from the forehead to chin. "Good grief!" The umpteenth burst of laughter happened again. Now, he even squeezed her waist. "Your face is very easy to read."
I began to be offended as his laughter grew louder.
"The power of rumors is indeed terrible." The man wiped the teardrop at the corner of his eye. "You suck, Adam. Really suck."
I don't respond. Not yet, to be precise. Please mock me until I'm full. Later, I'll make sure he pleads for his death.
"You wouldn't be this sad if you didn't use the novel as a reference."
I glared. "What did you say?"
"Oh," He put on a surprised face. "I haven't introduced myself have I?"
Without waiting for my question to be answered, he shortened our distance to just five rather hurried steps, crouched down and held out his hand.
"Ferre." He gave a friendly smile that looked annoying.
"Don't joke!" I brushed him off first before moving. By making my knees support, I pulled the collar of his pajamas.
"Who are you? What's your purpose here?" My whisper too low is no different than a growl. "Moreover," My eyes squinted. "Does anyone else know about the novel too?"
Ferre didn't answer, or maybe he did that on purpose. Every wrinkle on his face was still filled with nosy. I even found the amusement that he wasn't finished laughing at.
Tighten the grip. "You must know that I became one of the strongest in Alpha." I brought my lips to his right ear. "You better answer my question before I break your face."
I glanced to the right. The clock on the wall above the flat-screen television was two in the afternoon. My infusion is changed every noon, it runs out or doesn't run out of liquid. The documentary I watched was only a quarter of the way through before this bastard hit me. Our swirling conversation had lasted at least thirty minutes. It should be a little past three-thirty by now, considering the minutes I'd had a little joke with nurse Daisy.
"You think I still don't know that you reactivated the illusion?" My lips curled into a cocky grin. "Looks like I was too kind to let you chat casually until you recover your strength."
Perfection belongs to no one. This also applies to privilege holders. Even though manifesting imagination is the highest stage The Voice can reach, that doesn't mean there isn't a way to escape its influence.
I snorted.
There were advantages to letting myself fall into the same ploy as well.
"Ooh! Ferre shuddered. "It's terrible." The tone that he extended was deliberately made lilting.
My molars tightened. My grip almost went up to his neck if Ferre was a second late grabbing my wrist.
"First, I'm not joking." His firm grip loosened my grip slowly. "Secondly, I'm a tester." He pushed my shoulder. "I'm here to test how far you've regressed because of that book." He smirked.
"And third," Ferre led me to my feet. "I am God's accomplice." He widened his eyes. "You believe it?"
My forehead is getting folded. I froze in silence understanding the information just now which I connected to the turning point of my life ten months ago.
"Everything I said must be hard for you to digest." Ferre let go of his grip on my upper arm while taking a step back. "But you must remember one thing, Adam." His right forefinger is raised. "Believe in yourself." He pointed the same finger to my chest.
"Damn bastard." I brushed it off a second time. "You didn't answer any of my questions."
"Up to you." The man tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders. "And forget about the novel you were looking for." He made an expelling motion with the hand I had rebuffed.
I glared disapprovingly. "Wh-"
"—What you have to find is the full version." Ferre crossed his arms.
Huh? Full version?
"Full version." The man nodded. "If you want to live this time, find the book."
I cast a glare in need of an explanation, which I don't think he's willing to tell.
"Now then," Ferre reached out his left hand and raised it to my forehead. "You can wake up already."
Without having time to dodge, the flick that stung my forehead created a thrust equal to the strength of thirty adult men.
The echo of my screams evaporated along with the melting of the interior and furniture in this room into millions of white sand. Exploring another space surrounded by an endless black veil.
I widened my eyes when I saw Ferre standing floating. The man bowed while waving his hand.
"I hope you're still alive," his voice echoed. The bounce creates slow re-spelled repetitions. "When we meet again."
Gravity sucked me in instantly. My speed of sliding down sharply increased. When I glanced over my right shoulder, there was a lavender field ready to catch me.
I closed my eyes tightly as I realized the height had narrowed in a fraction of a second.
A calming fragrance wafted through as my back came into contact with a soft pad. I opened my eyes in shock. I didn't expect to come into contact with something as soft as cotton instead of thudding against the harshness of the plantation soil. And what surprised me more than that was that, between the scattering of purple petals, my beads captured the gradual refracting contours of shapes and colors.
I turned my head in all directions to find the darkness around me breaking apart again, gradually replaced by another hospital ward crammed with Daisy, three male nurses and a doctor. A look of tension was etched on their faces.
My networks. The voices returned after a long silence. Panic and frenzy were the first two situations that I understood.
Their grips receded only to overflow with relief five seconds later when I looked up.
"Thank goodness you're awake!"
Just then, Danial barged in. He gasped, cast a restless glare, then covered his face with both hands. His heavy breaths bounced a second faster than his limp limbs.
***
"After painstakingly stopping your rampage, you passed out with your eyes open."
There is concern and sympathy in the color of Danial's voice. I could even imagine his pitiful face without taking my eyes off the starry sky outside the window.
"Everyone's in a state of confusion because you dodged it. It turns out The Reader's abilities can be quite troublesome." There was a faint astonishment due to his heavy breathing.
I still didn't heed—busy connecting things.
After realizing that reality had rolled out as it should, Daisy put me to sleep with a prescription that Doctor Reza had ordered. I just woke up again half an hour ago. After letting my stomach fill with dinner, Danial tried to explain all the fuss I had made.
"I'll fill out your leave form."
The sound of the flip cover of the cellphone sounded harsh was more able to turn my head to the left.
Danial didn't lookup. His thumb moves nimbly on the screen of his smartphone. "No rebuttal."
I looked back at the window.
Leave, huh? Can I enjoy a break in a situation like this? I'm not even sure I can just sleep well.
'If you want to live, look for the full version of the novel.'
I sneered.
Ferre's words have resonated even when they are still filling out the leave application…
…That is true. I guess vacation isn't bad.
"Signature." The young man got up from the chair on the left side of the bed. He held out the stylus pen with his eyes glaring fiercely. "Don't. Deny."
I glanced at the white pen. "How many days did you take?"
"Two weeks. Less?" His fierce gaze sparkled with joy in an instant. "As long as I haven't applied, here."
I grabbed the phone and pen from Danial's grip. "That's enough."
Enough to make sure how messed up this novel is.