Chapter 63: Unpleasant Reveal
A few minutes later, Klaus and Erick sat before one another in a small room.
Mercy and Damien were outside with unconscious Blake.
Even though Erick had already seen Klaus’s monstrous strength and speed, he sat in the chair and stared at him with a faint smile.
’This guy has a few loose screws,’ Klaus remarked inwardly and asked, "Do you know me?"
Erick shook his head and answered, "I don’t. It’s my first time seeing you."
Klaus furrowed his brows. "The way you reacted, it seemed like you did."
Erick’s smile widened, and he leaned forward as he answered, "I am meeting you for the first time, and that is true... but it’s not my first time meeting you people."
’What is he talking about?’ Klaus frowned behind the mask, but his eyes stayed the same.
"What do you mean?"
"Come on." Erick chuckled. "Are you really going to do this?"
Klaus leaned back in his chair and stared at him with a deadpan expression.
"Haah," Erick sighed.
"Alright, if that’s what you want."
Erick pointed at Klaus and added, "I have met a person like you before. People who can do things that we humans can’t... though it wasn’t a pleasant meeting."
Klaus’s eyes widened, his heart sank, and he instantly asked the system, ’What is going on here? This guy claims that he had seen an awakened human before 2030.’
[Host, it is impossible for a human to awaken without mana, and mana only appeared because of the apocalypse.]
Reading that, a possibility formed in his mind, and he asked again, though he himself didn’t want to believe it, ’What... if... mana already existed on Earth before the apocalypse?’
[Negative. There are no official records of mana being present on Earth before 7 July 2030.]
Klaus’s expression turned conflicted.
He looked at Erick, who now had a frown on his face, and without any warning, he placed his hand on his head.
"W-What are you doing? Don’t tell me you are trying to pat me?" Erick acted as though he was surprised, but his mischievous eyes told a different story.
Klaus planted his hand on his head and commanded the system, ’Do a mental and physical checkup of the target.’
[Understood.]
[Initiating checkup...]
Suddenly, Erick’s eyes turned foggy, and his shoulders sank before his body lost its strength.
Klaus’s eyes widened, and he muttered worriedly, "What the hell is happening to him?"
[I am just following the procedure.]
"Oh... okay," Klaus heaved a sigh of relief and mumbled, "I cannot have him dying before I’ve obtained everything I want."
[Checkups complete.]
[Target is extremely depressed and holds a deep trauma which has caused their mental stability to deteriorate, which has further caused signs of a sadistic nature, cruel personality, and isolated behavior.]
[He is physically weaker than an average human of the same age due to a lack of nutrients and a balanced diet, and has a burn mark on his left wrist.]
Klaus frowned and asked, "So he is fine?"
[Host, I myself wouldn’t call that fine. More like very bad.]
"I mean, he doesn’t have hallucinations, right?"
[There are chances for him to dream about the trauma he has, but no hallucinations.]
Klaus frowned. "Why did he say that he has met a person like me then?"
He stared at Erick, and then his gaze shifted to his wrist.
A sudden thought brushed his mind, and he asked, "That burn mark... can you identify how he got it?"
[I can.]
"Then do it! Do I have to tell you everything?" He growled at the system screen.
[Identifying...]
[Identification complete.]
[The burn mark itself looks similar to something hot wrapping around his wrist, but by checking the damaged tissues, I can confirm that it was a hand-shaped object.]
"It wasn’t a hand-shaped object. It was a damned hand," Klaus spat as he grabbed his hair and cursed, "Fuck you are useless."
[Indeed, Host is right. An awakened human with a trait related to fire can do this, and as we are already going through the apocalypse, the possibility pretty much confirms itself.]
"That’s the issue, you dumb screen!" Klaus swung a punch through the system screen and mumbled, "Why do I have to go through torture like this?!"
[Host, I am only doing what you have told me to. I cannot lie just to help with your delusions.]
"Shut up. Please," he pleaded while massaging his forehead.
[As Host wishes.]
The blue screen vanished, and he looked at Erick, who had fallen asleep after the checkups.
"So we already have awakened humans roaming the world..."
Although it was a big, helpful, and important reveal, it wasn’t pleasant at all.
After obtaining the system, Klaus had believed that he could unite the whole world under a single rule before the apocalypse knocked down the doors, but to his disappointment and misfortune, there were already people who could rise against him.
But why does no one know them? And why isn’t the world already under the rule of awakened humans?
As he thought about that, his expression soured, and he whispered, "Maybe it already is..."
Klaus was only aware of the faces that the world was allowed to see, not the ones that actually controlled everything, so it was pretty much possible that the world was already being ruled by awakened humans.
Klaus’s expression turned grim.
He hadn’t even begun taking the big steps, and he was already having a problem bigger than anything before.
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips.
"Can I really do this?" He questioned himself.
For a few minutes, he simply stared at his hands without saying anything, then his lips parted, and he mumbled, "It doesn’t matter."
His eyes, which were heavy with despair, burned with determination, and he continued with a clenched fist, "No matter who stands before me, I’ll take them down and reach the heights I wish to."
A smile appeared on his face, and he added, "Just you all wait. I have a big surprise ready."