Chương 26: Quest Complete

"This story doesn't sound believable at all," I stared at Filki, completely dumbfounded.

"What do you mean, humans in this world were immortal? And because some guy got bored of living forever, he decided to ruin it for himself and the rest of humanity?" Where on earth had she pulled such an absurd tale? Filki chuckled softly, her dry voice cracking slightly.

"I know, I know. It sounds completely ridiculous. Believe me, I thought so too when I first heard it. Everyone does. But now... they all believe it."

"The whole world?"

"No, no. The government keeps it buried under mountain-loads of secrets."

"Okay, okay. So they are trying to synthesize an immortality drug here, and for that, they are experimenting on these children?"

"They actually succeeded in making the drug two hundred years ago."

"Wh-what?" My jaw practically dropped.

"Then why are they still running a horror facility like this?" She sighed, the sound heavy with ages of exhaustion.

"Because they gained immortality, but lost their superpowers in the process." Realization hit me like a physical punch. I slumped back into the soft cushions of the ivory chair.

"They're trying to achieve true immortality without sacrificing their powers?" Filki nodded grimly.

"How do experiments on children help them with that? And why was Aran so damn sure Lania's power is the key?" Filki stood up and walked over to the desk, heading for the same drawer where she had stored the wooden box. She pulled the box out, but set it aside. Reaching into the back of the drawer, she pressed against the bottom panel. A subtle click echoed through the quiet room as a secret compartment popped open. She reached inside and pulled out a single folder.

Its weathered brown cover gave off an unmistakable top-secret vibe. She handed the folder across to me. I opened it, only to be met with dense, bizarre scripts. The same on the swordsmanship manual had, the language of this world. I couldn't read it. I let out a dry, awkward laugh. She let out a heavy sigh—like a tired grandmother forced to explain basic math to a stubborn kid—and took the file back to translate.

"These are the logs for the experiments conducted in this facility," Filki explained, scanning the pages.

"Reversing whatever Zoldyck's concoctions did to human biology was surprisingly easy with modern technology. But finding a way to keep their abilities alongside immortality proved almost impossible. Eventually, someone proposed an alternative: instead of trying to put human life-force into permanent stasis, what if they simply created a continuous, infinite loop to replenish it?" This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"That's where Lania's power comes in," I realized out loud. Filki nodded.

"They needed a unique superpower capable of siphoning and transferring life-force directly."

"But her power isn't even a healing one," I argued, my brow furrowing.

"From my limited understanding, wouldn't a master healer be better suited for that?"

"Contrary to popular belief, life-force has nothing to do with basic wound repair," Filki corrected gently.

"Healers simply burn their own life-force to accelerate the body's natural healing process. They can't even cure chronic diseases with it. But Lania's power? It doesn't just heal." She paused, her eyes darkening.

"Her power directly steals life-force from one source and infuses it into another. If she wanted to, she could drain my life-force right now and pour it into you. She's just never done it because she's a child who views her power purely through her toys. To her, she's just fixing her doll. But in reality, everything in this world possesses life-force—even non-living matter." I shook my head, appalled.

"They really should have named life-force something else then."

"They really should have." I stretched my arms, rolling my shoulders as the pieces finally fell into place. Just as I felt a faint sense of clarity, a translucent glowing window snapped open right in front of my face. Quest Completed: Superpowers — A Gift or a Curse? Life's Last Hope was established to research the immortality drug. So, why are they treating children here? What are these superpowers they are trying to treat? How are they actually researching the drug? Why do they have support of every government?

Goal: Discover the truth behind the facility. (Completed) Reward: Rift Card Warning: Accepting the reward will mark this quest as completed and cause the Rift to immediately collapse and close. Accept Reward? [YES] / [NO] Glowing scripts floated silently in the air before me. As if the revelations Filki dropped weren't enough to screw with my head, this quest window came along to finish the job. What the hell did it mean by 'the rift will close'? A Rift closing had never been recorded or reported in history.

And if j. m. k67 completed this exact same quest line in the past, why was the Rift still wide open? My brain throbbed from the sheer weight of it all, but a far bigger question gnawed at me. What happens to the people inside the Rift if it closes? What happens to Pyiari, Filki, Lania, and all these kids? What about the ending I promised to give them? Do I take the reward and run? Filki remained silent, watching me quietly while I stared at the invisible prompt in front of me.

Truthfully, there wasn't much to hesitate over. I wasn't confused. I just wanted to know the consequences. But my curiosity wasn't strong enough to make me throw away everything we'd suffered through—everything I was trying to accomplish. I focused my intent on [NO]. The glowing prompt dissolved, retreating into the back of my mind like a lingering notification waiting for my call.

"Okay," I said, abruptly standing up from the plush ivory chair. Filki blinked, taken aback.

"Okay what?"

"What do you mean, 'what'?" I adjusted my torn shirt.

"I'm going. I'm saving Lania, and every single kid stuck in this nightmare facility."

"And how, pray tell, are you planning to do that?"

"We'll figure it out on the way.""'We'?" Filki raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we. You and me," I said with a faint grin.

"You're here to save them too, aren't you?" Filki scoffed, gesturing to herself.

"This old lady can barely walk without a cane."

"This old lady can do whatever she sets her mind to," I replied, turning toward the heavy doors of the Archive.

"Now hurry up. We don't have much time." I didn't wait for her to reply, taking my first long stride back toward the maze.