[???]
The hardness of an unknown material encroached upon my body, as it remained hard-pressed to… Something cold.
With unneeded, and honestly unwanted difficulty, I opened my eyes.
Approximately nine white lights illuminated the room, which had an eerie resemblance to a hospital's operating room found on Earth. Down to the hard, borderline metallic bed I found my body lightly tied to, and the multiple stainless, sharp instruments lying on the many mobile tables, located at both sides of the "table".
The double-metallic doors, whose appearance resembled that of a vault's entrance, acted as the only way to access this place.
A beige keypad, along with nine black keys, built between the two doors splashed some color amidst the sea of grayness.
A strange siren resounded across the area, piercing my ears with relative difficulty… Mixed in with the occasional scream for help.
As I examined the familiar room I found myself in, a familiar figure bursted through the doors.
A white haired humanoid, whose notoriously large belly poked out of a dirty, white buttoned shirt, almost stumbled, before closing the doors while pressing itself hard against them.
Even though I only had a glimpse of the "outside", it still served for me to see two things.
A flashing red light, and a torn corpse.
… A strange, red liquid stained the humanoid's disheveled white hair.
"H-how did they find…" he muttered, only for his eyes to meet mine.
"Ah… Ahaha, damn it, what a horrible timing," the figure muttered with a partially broken voice, taking out a cigarette, only for it to slip out of his clumsy hands.
"W-what… What happe-"
The humanoid completely disregarded my presence, as it walked up to a giant computer and pressed some keys.
Its hands trembled, even as it reached out for a needle.
"Haa… FUCK! There's not enough energy!... W-we…"
The figure almost collapsed to its feet, hyperventilating. Only a single comprehensible phrase left its lips.
"We are going to die."
At that moment, something banged on the door, loudly, as they screamed. "Is there anyone there?! Please, let me in!!"
The gray humanoid's face distorted with disgust, horror and even anger, as it blatantly ignored the outsider.
The banging and pleas continued, only for them to… stop.
Like that.
"... Good."
It got up, only to exhibit a far calmer behavior about twenty seconds later. "No wonder why I prohibited consuming this… It's so calming," it ranted, eyeing the now empty needle resting on its hand. Which used to be on the table.
Some explosions reverberated across the hallway, loud enough for us to hear. Again, panic took over his expression again, as he threw a few items towards the entrance.
Yet, that didn't do anything.
The two sturdy doors collapsed after a single attack, revealing a certain figure's outline.
A human-like being dressed as a dark knight, from head to toe, walked menacingly into the room. On its hands, a dark scythe rested.
"... The Overseer of this place…" muttered the knight, whose voice resembled a woman's.
The humanoid figure broke down again, as it got down on its knees. "An Inquisitor…?! P-please spare me! Y,you will never hear from me again!!"
"No. Your entire facility went down because of the taboos you have violated… And so will you." The knight replied, calmly.
The humanoid gave up, and made a run for the opposite wall, revealing a hidden passage. This prompted the knight to laugh. "Run all you want… Your fate is sealed, anyway."
The knight spared me a glance, before making a statement. "I'll be back for you soon, so just wait for a while."
She strolled out of the room, in the same direction as the white one.
… The sirens spread throughout the facility rang in my ears. For who knows how long.
A certain sound resounded near the hallway.
A sound of a blade tearing a body apart.
… Moments later, the knight returned, holding one of the gray humanoid's arms.
"Well, with the Overseer out of the way and the core secured, I suppose all I have to do to get this over with is killing you…"
Yet, her gaze shifted towards a certain screen. "...?"
Walking over to it, the stranger tapped a few keys, and thousands of images flashed by in mere moments.
She looked at it, then at me, then at it again.
"... Huh. Hey, do you know what this place is?"
After a few seconds, I shook my head.
"Looks like you're not too brainwashed, unlike most of the humans here... I suppose I can have some fun," she muttered. The arm holding the scythe twitched slightly, and… my body felt liberated.
Looking down, I noticed they all were severed… And I couldn't even notice.
"What…"
The knight took off her helmet, revealing a fair face, along with the now free orange hair, which cascaded down to her waist. "Man, I needed a breath… Ah, right, you."
She almost laughed, her blood red eyes piercing the very threads that composed my existence.
To say that her gaze stripped me away of all my secrets, would almost be a severe understatement.
"Look, I'm supposed to slaughter every single individual I find here, but… Eh, one can slip away, right?"
The knight walked over to the table, the one with the giant computer, and started typing. Images regarding the time I spent on that planet flashed by.
I took the liberty of sitting up, along with taking a few deep breaths. And after… a minute or two? I managed to gather the courage to fire a question, but she spoke first.
"Randall, is it? Look, a few things are going to happen in the next ten minutes. Firstly, remember the guy who almost killed you?"
"... Yes?"
'Why do I have a bad feel-'
"Mm, well, you and him are swapping bodies. You will have to say goodbye to some of the illusory power-ups you've obtained in this poor excuse of a building. Namely, the 'talent' for Ego–which just amplified your skills at the cost of everything else–, 'Time Alter'... And I guess your undeserved status as a fake Grade 0."
'That's a lot to-'
"Ah, most of the Memory Rep. will be erased, leaving only the memories that truly belonged to you."
'… unpack.'
"And yes, both of you will probably survive."
She swallowed some saliva, and continued talking casually. As if nothing happened earlier.
"... Now, second. You and no one in that worthless breeding ground knew of this, but this place was the main reason why people had a set limit for their growth. And I don't really like that. So, with its downfall, that will also vanish… It won't make it easier, though."
'... ah?'
She stopped typing, and turned her head. "That's it. You may ask questions."
… Ok, I have to think very carefully about this.
I'm not quite sure what's even happening, but I'm being given yet another opportunity in life, and a lot of things are about to change on the planet. For the better or for worse.
My body, and all the progress I've made in that place regarding relationships… gone.
'Which is why I need to have a good foothold…'
"What will happen to my current body, exactly?"
"Like I said, your murderer will get it. He'll also retain most of its power, including the potential to wield multiple Egos simultaneously… If he can handle it, that is."
'... That's really bad. For me, that is.'
I nodded, rather absentmindedly. "... What about his body?"
"In terms of power, the killer's current body is a notch above the woman you know as Jean. Meaning, in the human ranking system, it'd be considered a Grade 3. Also known as the Integration realm, according to the demons' classification system."
She took a break, then continued.
"… A while after you inherit it, it'll be reset to one of the lowest points it can reach: The condition of a Grade 7, or the Bone Refinement realm. In every one of the eight senses… Though, your climb up to Grade 3 will be relatively fast. Since the body had already reached that point before."
… Well, damn.
"I see… What about the others?"
"Who?"
"Jean, Violet, Hiyoshin, Orwell, Natasha…"
She almost seemed to laugh at me. "I doubt you'll have time to care about them. Final question."
… That went bad, I guess.
'… There's not much else I want to ask. However, gaining a bit of knowledge into this place might be useful.'
"What is this place? And what's a taboo?"
"That's two questions, but I can answer both. Firstly, this is a facility operated by a bunch of outlaws who seeked to manipulate reality for their own benefit, by harvesting the life force off of humans they kidnapped. To do so, they're sent into an illusion-like realm where they'll be too distracted living a power fantasy to realize what is happening to them."
She stopped. "Got it?"
And I nodded slowly.
"As for the Taboos, they're laws that cannot be broken. Otherwise…"
The orange haired woman operated the computer again, and the screens flashed with footage of the entire facility.
In one of them, six humanoid beings resembling scientists ran down a blood soaked hallway. The flashing red lights and the despairing melody playing only added to their evident desperation.
The figure in the lead suddenly had their limbs extended unnaturally, blocking the hallway for the other five.
"Agh!!"
… Dozens of ethereal chains appeared from nowhere, and easily pierced the bodies of the other five.
By this point, I averted my gaze from the screen. I couldn't bear to watch anymore.
…yet, seconds later, sounds of chains forcefully clashing with each other reached my ears.
Along with an explosion.
'...'
"I'll assume you understand the consequences, then." She calmly declared, before turning off the screens.
"Anyway, moving on, you have to do one thing, and I'll grant you a singular wish in exchange once it's done. It can be anything."
"Anything? What do I have to do?'
"Simple. Kill the one you'll do a body swap with."
"…"
"So, that's it. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
After uttering those words, she injected a strange liquid into my arm, and voiced something. Even as I lost consciousness.
"Hopefully, your journey will prove to be entertaining."
***
After a few minutes, I had finished the modifications needed.
"Well, that should be everything… Yes, it should be. Erasing the memories of the original bodies as they swap shouldn't be too much of a big deal. At best, it'll even out the playground."
A laugh left my mouth, even as my gaze stayed on the only remaining screen in this room.
[Act 4.5, codenamed "Final Patch" by [REDACTED]. Confirm launch?]
"Affirmative."
'And with this, the limits restricting the entire world should be gone… Perfect.'
I snapped my fingers, and a gigantic wave of energy washed over the temporarily frozen planet… Something bloomed on the now real surface. And time continued with its flow once again.
"Good enough. With this, this planet and its habitants shall be free to evolve on their own."
Without the arbitrary involvement of these patchers.
I closed my eyes, and muttered a few words.
"I'll be watching, Randall."
After leaving that ruined hellhole behind, the entire facility exploded, erasing its existence from history itself… and thus, finally severing that place's ties with the reborn planet.
Coveneath.