The Reincarnated Hitman

"I was certain that I would be able to hear even your thoughts after my second awakening," Hypnos said as he looked at Zero, who was still tied to a chair. "It seems I was wrong."

"Well, it is to be expected," Zero said with a chuckle, "after all, I’m quite special."

"Indeed," Hypnos nodded, but instead of disappointment, he was certain that it would be even more pleasurable to break this mercenary’s mind.

But first,

"Let’s find out what this special mind of yours holds," he added with a smile.

"I wouldn’t advise that," Zero said. "Remember what happened the last time?"

"Don’t worry, I’m certain I can handle it this time," Hypnos said as his eyes started glowing.

Zero’s eyes took on the same glow as they went completely blank...a sign that the Splinters had invaded his mind yet again.

***

Hypnos found himself standing in a plain white mindscape again, and just like the last time, that plain whiteness was just an illusion.

Soon enough, blood started pooling beneath his feet, and when he looked ahead, he noticed multiple corpses, which led to a large pile of them and at the very top of the pile was the white-haired kid.

But unlike the first time, the moment the hands started rising from beneath him, Hypnos floated to avoid them.

And just as he thought, they couldn’t exactly exit the pool of blood.

Hypnos then turned towards the kid sitting on the pile of corpses. He then noticed that although the kid seemed to be looking towards his direction, he wasn’t exactly looking at him.

The Splinter floated towards the kid, stopping just a small distance away from him. His brown eyes met the kid’s grey ones, and he noticed that they were completely lifeless.

Usually, a human’s mind was full of their most precious memories, ones that made them easy enough to break, but for some reason, Zero’s own was quite different.

"Let’s dig deeper, shall we?"

Hypnos’ eyes started glowing again, and so did the kid’s.

***

The Splinter felt himself being pulled again, and when he opened his eyes, he was in a scene different from the previous one.

He was now standing outside what seemed like a middle-class family home.

"Oh?" Hypnos let out before a grin appeared on his face as he realized that this was very clearly one of Zero’s memories. "I wonder what this memory is about."

Calmly, the Splinter walked towards the small gate that led into the house and, without even trying to open it, he walked through.

"Quite the nice house you had, Zero," Hypnos said as he looked around the house he just walked into.

It looked like a home that belonged to an ordinary family.

There was a small living room with a worn-out sofa, a few family pictures hanging on the wall and a television that seemed to be displaying the news.

[Breaking news, the pyromaniac caught last week has escaped police custo—] the Splinter didn’t pay that news much mind, instead, he continued looking around.

Nothing about the place seemed particularly special.

Hypnos slowly walked through the living room, his eyes wandering over everything around him.

"So this is where you grew up?"

From what he could see, especially from the family pictures, it seemed that this was quite a warm family, so how had their son grown up to be the pest he was?

"Liam, we’re going to be late if you don’t hurry down," a voice pulled Hypnos’ attention towards it, and his eyes rested on a woman with short white hair.

"Coming!" Another voice pulled the Splinter’s attention towards the stairs, and there he spotted a white-haired kid running down.

"Liam, huh?" Hypnos placed a hand on his chin. "How surprisingly normal."

The woman sighed as the boy reached the bottom of the stairs.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to run down the stairs?"

"Sorry, Mom," little Liam said with a sheepish smile.

Hypnos’ eyes narrowed slightly before a smile slowly appeared on his face. "Should I just break her before him?"

His second awakening allowed him to physically alter the memories he entered, so doing something like that would be incredibly easy.

Hypnos’ eyes lingered on the woman for a moment before a cruel smile appeared on his face.

He wondered if watching his mother die would be enough to break the hitman, but if he pushed too hard, Zero’s mindscape might collapse before he could properly enjoy himself.

That would be a waste. "Perhaps I’ll start slowly."

He watched as the two walked out of the house, and he went with them, certain that an even better opportunity would present itself.

The more time the Splinter spent within the hitman’s memories, the stranger things seemed.... everything seemed surprisingly normal.

Not a single person displayed the slightest sign of possessing a Factor.

Hypnos frowned as he muttered, "How strange..."

Even if Factors weren’t common, the chances of spending this much time around ordinary people without encountering a single awakened individual were still surprisingly low.

He also realized that the city around him didn’t seem like any part of Sterling City he knew...So did that mean that Zero was from a different city or even country?

A country where the chances of awakening were even lower?

Which would make sense since the hitman only started interfering with their plans recently.

If Zero had grown up somewhere with a significantly lower awakening rate, it would explain why the people in his memories seemed so ordinary.

It would also explain why he had never encountered anyone with a Factor during his childhood.

What it wouldn’t explain was how the kid had ended up becoming such a skilled hitman if he had grown up in such an ordinary place.

It also wouldn’t explain the pile of corpses that he had seen the kid sitting on.

The family of two stopped at a mall, and Hypnos calmly followed them.

So far, Zero’s memories seemed like an ordinary one, so why was it stored as if it was an important memory?

The Splinter’s question was answered a few minutes after they walked into the mall, because the next second,

BOOM!