Hi3rd: Achievement Hunter

The way Aleph took Mobius’ wrist was completely natural. The latter was also quick to react and played along with him.

When the two reached the balcony, Aleph swiftly apologized.

“I’m sorry about that. Vill-V is… you know, she can’t be stopped.”

“Tsk. Of course that girl’s stubborn. Who in their right mind would attack MOTH alone?”

“Technically, she’s not alone.”

“...She nearly turned an entire island into a monkeys’ lair.”

“...”

The two of them knew about Vill-V’s character very well. She was the “unstoppable force” inside MOTH. The only thing that could currently stomp her was budget cuts.

“Anyways, I got the feeling she’ll make another mess.”

Aleph told Mobius about the phantom thief he used to talk about with Vill-V. Knowing her, there’s a high chance she’ll pull that impersonation off.

“Why did you even tell her that?” She asked.

“I didn’t have any idea back then.”

“So you didn’t believe my words at first?”

Seeing her raise her eyebrows, Aleph felt a vague threat from her.

“She wasn’t that chaotic before.” He replied helplessly. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. I didn’t expect you’ll come here.”

During the past eight months, Aleph heard a lot of things from Klein. One of them being Mobius not wanting to attend high-profile parties. Her relationship with the higher-ups are sour enough. If she attended, it’s akin to playing a game of pretend—something she thought to be useless.

Given the time, she will most likely choose to continue in her research instead.

“Am I not welcome?”

“No. It’s just that you’ve changed.”

“...”

These words stunned her.

‘I changed..?’

All this time, her only trustworthy friend is Klein. Aleph unknowingly rose up to be her second friend, no matter how much she denies it.

To that, she couldn’t help but let out a smile.

“Maybe.”

It was Aleph’s turn to be surprised. He nearly forgot what he was going to tell her next.

On weekdays, Mobius is either snarky or serious. When she smiles, it was due to a somewhat malevolent plan or her twisted humor. In short, it was all resulted by sarcasm.

It was his first time seeing her smile without any of those vibes.

Mobius was quick to notice his reaction, therefore reverting back to her previous expression.

“Um. That’s right. I want to show you something.”

Aleph took out a folded phone in his pocket. It was similar to a flip phone but imbued with a modern design. Soon, it became a normal phone once unfolded.

Mobius took it from it without thinking much. Although, after a while, her expression became still.

“When did you start this?”

“Several weeks ago. I obtained a fresh sample from that time.”

Her shock was not unfounded. The contents of the document inside the phone was a breakthrough point of her research.

Eight months ago, Aleph’s participation sped up the progress of her biological research regarding Honkai, internally called by them as  the ‘Meta-Morph Project’. In MOTH’s official documents, it was the Project Soldier that aimed to empower an individual through selected honkai genes.

That research has been going on for years without results. In the eyes of the councilors, Mobius was no different from Vill-V—wasting funds for useless things.

It wasn’t until Aleph arrived that it saw visible progress. His blood samples demonstrated high honkai resistance.

What her research did was to inject honkai genes on a live subject. It will trigger a ‘response’ from the humans’ body, thus creating an induced mutation that will allow the body to adapt the honkai genes as one of its own.

Aleph’s blood samples became the shield that prevented all sorts of destruction. However, the main reason behind its failure lies in the subjects’ reactions themselves. 

Aleph’s blood samples could protect the body from the honkai, but as to whether the body itself goes hysterical mode and sends out all sorts of messy signals—including instinctively killing itself—it couldn’t do anything.

“The Herrscher’s body doesn’t have that problem. It accepted honkai energy completely.”

“Weakening of the honkai gene… Then there’s the equilibrium… Was this the difference of a live sample?”

‘Great Sage helped with this…’

From the moment he obtained [Great Sage], it held enormous processing capabilities. It put up an entire list of MANTIS’ potential strengths and weaknesses. Aleph used it to recall the data from the night he killed the Herrscher.

Mobius took some time to process this information. She handed over the phone back to him. She grasped the handrails and stared at the starry sky in a daze.

“Do you still recall our first meeting?”

Mobius suddenly asked him this question.

“You asked me for some samples.”

“Then you suddenly changed it to us working together.” She asked him again. “Why did you do it?”

Aleph felt Mobius’ seriousness. One wrong answer and everything might as well go straight to hell.

Out of them all, there was only one way out—

“Because I felt you were alone.”

—sincerity.

“I felt that I’ll end up in your situation too… being ostracized. It happens to those who stand out.”

Aleph’s strength made numerous people wary. At the same time, Mobius’ absurd talents were also something that prompted people to be on guard.

“I was thinking of some hypothetical scenarios... and in no way they are good. That’s why when I predicted you would come over, I made that decision.”

“..Empathy. I see.”

All this time, Mobius set her eyes on one goal. She did not wish for any company, yet there were people who truly helped her pave the way. She was determined to pay them back in some way.

Now, it seems like she’ll add one more person with her.

“I didn’t think you were that sentimental.”

Mobius was back to her sarcasm-laced words.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with it. I would rather be like that than to become an emotionless machine.”

“It’ll come back to bite you someday.”

“Then it’s a problem for me in the future.”

The two began bantering again.

*****

The Night soon ended. Aside from Vill-V’s pompous magic show, there wasn’t anything big that occurred in the event. 

“Huh… I failed again.”

Hua wasn’t the introvert type at first. She still had expectations when it comes to socializing with others.

Unfortunately, the cruel reality left her in the dust. Since she hadn’t joined any of the forming cliches in the classroom, she was left out alone—ostracized, even. 

Hua acknowledged she wasn’t just good at talking with others. She thought it’d be fine for her not to talk with others.

Although she encountered Carole, that decision bit her back at this time.

“I couldn’t even talk to him.”

Tap.

Tap.

The sound of approaching footsteps came from her back.

“It’s you, Hua.”

She suddenly jolted out of surprise.

“Sir Aleph?”

The familiar acquaintance presented himself to her eyes.

“Are you free now?”

“Wh… Yes, I am.”

“Do you want to take a stroll outside? It’s been a while since we talked properly.”

“...Sure.”

Facing the pie that fell from the sky, Hua became dazed.