"Someone stole her soulframe."
I was baffled after hearing this.
"This is the energy signature I found. It came up positive when I ran a cross test with my database."
"What does...that mean?"
"When a soulframe is removed, your physical body is cutoff from the higher dimension, rendering you to mental decay. Sooner or later, the body enters a vegetative state."
"Wait a second, her condition didn't deteriorate immediately. She was still able to recognize Taeyang."
"She had cut off and given him a section of her soulframe. Whenever he was near her, her body reacted to reunite with it. However, a small pond cannot fill the ocean."
"She gave him her soulframe? But how? When..?"
It then hit me.
"The tooth? But why?"
"She must have known her life was being sought by others."
"This doesn't make sense. Why would celestial beings want a human girl?"
"Why would a man want a dog?", Lianne replied coldly.
Lianne's words hit like a sharp dagger. I had forgotten that I was just a small piece in this big chess board.
I felt cold. Sweat formed on my forehead.
"Then Sophie's parents...?"
"Even if a spare section cannot compensate for the full body, completely stopping Taeyang from approaching Sophie indirectly led to her unavoidable fate."
"Wouldn't bringing it to her now help?"
"No, Ray. When I looked, the fragmented portion no longer had any leftover recognition for it's physical body. It's just been too long."
I looked down at the ground. Anger filled me.
"Did the Gods know about this?"
"I do not know, Ray, but most likely, yes."
I felt like shit. For the girl, for her parents and moreso for Taeyang.
"So all his life, he's lived a lie?"
"I wouldn't call it a lie, Ray. Maybe the girl did think someday he would be able to come and save her."
I felt a deep pain in my heart.
[Sanity dropped by 10 points. EH dropped by 30 points.]
[Warning! Memory Locked.]
[Warning! EH has dropped below 50]
"Ray!", Lianne came and held me.
"I'm alright."
I said that but I didn't stop Lianne. I needed her embrace.
"How will we clear the Trial this time...?", my mind wandered to empty space.
Lianne didn't say anything.
"That Goddess knows. She craves beautiful people. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked me to do this Task. If we want a lead, we'll have to ask her. Lianne, how do I contact her?"
"You can't. Only Her Grace can contact you."
"Did you check if she sent any encrypted message like last time?"
"Yes I did. She hasn't sent anything."
I was at a loss. How can I look for something that's lost who knows where?
"Ray, there is a way."
"What is it?"
"You can use your Wish if you complete this Trial. Ask Lord Destiny, he can bring her back."
Weren't the two Trials integrated into one?
I then realized why the time limit given was so long for this Task.
It was beyond common sense to begin with.
"But what if her soul gets lost or destroyed by another God or Devil?"
"Then a new soulframe can be placed inside her."
"A new soul?"
"If her soulframe isn't found, you can ask for a new one. She can be reawakened if you do that."
But...wouldn't that just be a different existence?
I stopped my train of thought there.
"Lianne. Wake up Taeyang, I'll speak to him."
"As you wish, Ray."
She let go of me and disappeared.
I felt my consciousness being pulled from the back.
Within moments, I opened my eyes. I was on the chair in the very position I had seen myself.
"Ray...?"
Taeyang opened his eyes.
His face was covered with saliva.
I helped him get up.
He was confused about what had happened and why we had suddenly ejected out of his dream.
So I explained to him that his machine was faulty and how it had nearly killed me by cutting my mind in half.
Having said that, he profusely apologized kowtowing on the ground and decided that he needed to improve it.
He washed his face and I cooked him a bowl of noodles.
"Ray, thank you for listening to me...", he was eating but his eyes weren't on the food.
He looked into the distance, silently staring into nothing.
I looked at him with pity.
'Complete the harem... Even if I did manage to save Sophie by magically completing this Trial superfast, there was no guarantee she wouldn't be attacked again. I would only be reviving her once and from how I've seen and come to understand the selfishness of these Gods, they won't offer any protection to her. Her situation is beyond my understanding for now.'
Taeyang started to speak, I saw tears coming down his face.
"People will say that I'm obsessed, that I should forget and move on."
I silently listened to him.
"But I just can't do it. It hurts me here", he grabbed his chest.
"I just can't forget her. I don't know why. I just want her to be better. Is it wrong of me to wish that?"
Taeyang was still just a child. People had to accept death and continue living.
However, the more intelligent one was, the better they understood and felt the complexities of human emotion.
Being unable to forget was just a side effect of his outstanding memory.
"Why does she have to suffer like this?"
It hurt me to see him cry. Boys don't shed tears usually. Even when Taeyang was getting beaten to death, he didn't let his eyes get wet.
In this situation, even after years had passed since he last saw her, he was loathing for her and not for himself.
While the girl lay like a sleeping princess in a faraway land, the hero was stuck in a dark forest, unable to escape.
"Everyday I wonder. Is she dead? Is she alive? Is her mind lost inside her dreams?"
Soon, he started howling
"I've dug and researched multiple medical papers. I've accessed information from all over the world...but nothing. I still know NOTHING about her condition!"
I couldn't tell him what I knew.
"The data and blueprints for this machine are from a military research institution. The parts required to build it are by diverting factory resources. I procured everything. I left no stone unturned."
It was a boy, no, a Man pursuing his only desire.
It looked all too familar to me.
As if it was not him, but me sitting in his place, speaking those words.
"You asked what my ambition was.
The thing I want the most, the only dream I dream.
I only have one wish. It's to see her smiling again."
'He looks like you', Lianned softly said.
There's no reason to hesitate anymore. I had to do this.
"Taeyang", I firmly resolved myself.
"I'll help you cure Sophie."
He immediately jumped up from his seat. The table flipped over and the noodle bowl fell to the ground and cracked.
"How?", he asked me.
"I have a method. I cannot tell you the specifics for now. But if I'm successful, I should be able to reawaken her."
Taeyang looked at me as if he finally saw light after spending an eternity in darkness.
I was his only hope and escape from this crumbling castle of self loathing.
'But what about your wish, Ray?', Lianne asked me.
Living was like grabbing water. The more you tried to hold it together, the further it slipped away from under your fingers.
'I'll fulfill it myself.'
I did not want a Judge to decide whether I was worth living. I did not want people to dictate who I should be living for.
The balance between my emotions and reality slowly tipped over.
I was living in my own delusion. Truth had faded away.
"I'll help you cure Sophie Turner", I looked straight at him. "In return, help me conquer the other 4 girls."
He changed his vibe. He became more manly.
And he talked with the promise of a thousand lives.
"Anything for my Beloved."