He was going to beco a champion of justice; feelings and that kind of crap just got in the way.
Even though his family seed really worried, Xue Dili still stubbornly stuck to his own pace of life and said, "I just need two days of rest and I’ll be fine."
And he added:
"It’s really nothing worth making a fuss over, just so desires and emotions, that’s all." With that thought in mind, Xue Dili drifted back into sleep.
Two whole days passed in utterly ordinary fashion. Xue Dili really was in full rest mode; he didn’t even go to school, spending most of his ti curled up in his little quilt, spacing out.
He’d even had a Mist Council eting last night, but this ti the Mist Council was unusually quiet. None of the Apostles talked much, and the eting wrapped up after they briefly exchanged so mostly worthless intel.
The position of Ninth Apostle had been left vacant all this ti, and might very well remain vacant forever. After all, the Squid People had basically been slashed to pieces by their own kind, and the Squid Cult had been wiped out. That seat would never have an heir.
After leaving this session of the Mist Council, Xue Dili looked at the countdown. That "go experience a romance" mission had a little over four hours left on the clock.
Xue Dili had considered trying to trick Fafnir into going shopping at the mall. He’d even ended up buying Fafnir a whole pile of books and a little backpack, but that still didn’t count as completing Mom’s mission.
So he shrugged. Since he didn’t even know what exactly "being in love" ant, he might as well just get zapped. Anyway, he was pretty resistant to electricity now; it wouldn’t be a big deal.
With that thought in mind, Xue Dili finished breakfast and went back to spacing out, right up until the mission countdown hit zero.
[Please complete the mission as soon as possible, or soul electrocution will comnce!]
Xue Dili remained unmoved. He didn’t even know what the exact criteria for "being in love" were, and he had zero interest anyway. He just rolled over, ready to continue zoning out.
"There’s no way I’m going to be in any kind of romance."
[Warning. Electrocution countdown: 3...2...1... Soul current, preparing to discharge.]
Being a bit cautious, Xue Dili cut off his pain nerves, to make himself feel a bit better and avoid screaming when the shock hit.
But suddenly, a violent current tore through his soul in an instant. It wasn’t acting on his body; it was as if a violet lightning bolt struck straight at his soul, pulverizing every bit of his ntal state in a heartbeat. The pain was so intense that even with his pain nerves severed, his body started convulsing on instinct.
The mont the current shot through his whole body, his muscles clenched up hard, like countless steel needles were stabbing straight into his bone marrow. Every inch of skin burned, as if molten tal was racing through his veins. His vision exploded into a blinding sheet of white, and all that remained in his ears was the buzzing of electricity, drowning out every other sound.
Xue Dili had thought that cutting his nerves would let him dodge it, and after enduring the tornt of the thorns in the Netherworld of Greece, he believed he no longer feared any kind of pain.
But now, he realized he’d been wrong. The pain Miracle could be cut off, but the feedback from the soul would never be erased.
His fingers spasd and curled, nails digging deep into his palms. A hoarse whimper squeezed out of his throat, so faint he couldn’t even hear it himself.
When the electrocution finally subsided, Xue Dili felt his soul still trembling. At the very least, though, that soul-deep agony stirred up a whole ss of emotions inside him.
Pain, misery, and a tiny bit of grievance and sadness.
All this just because he didn’t go fall in love? Isn’t this a bit much? A person can’t—at least shouldn’t...
Even if you’re trying to push soone into marriage, who ties them straight onto an electric chair like this?
Even with normal electrocution, he’d already cut off his nerves, so he felt nothing—just his body twitching out of control. But this soul electrocution seed to pierce right through his brain, stab straight into his soul, like his very spirit was being skewered.
Even so, Xue Dili still had no intention of falling in love. He felt like his electric resistance just went up by about 1%. At this rate, all he had to do was take a few more shocks, and his resistance would keep leveling up until he could handle the current.
[Mission 1 (Round Two): Experience a romance within two days. Failure penalty: soul electrocution at double intensity.]
Shit!
No way, Mom, you can’t do this! I’ve shed blood for Earth! I’ve done great deeds for Earth, you can’t treat like this! Mom, you can’t!
Earth Consciousness said nothing, rely preparing to raise the voltage.
Xue Dili shot up from the bed. For so reason, after the soul electrocution his whole body felt weirdly energized, like he suddenly had endless stamina. But that deep soul-level pain was absolutely beyond what a human should be able to endure.
Even soone like Xue Dili, who’d borne countless hardships already—just recalling that current in his soul made him subconsciously shudder.
It was like ten thousand silver needles piercing into his brain and endlessly stirring inside his skull, or billions of ants gnawing their way out from the inside. The pain made his brain itself vibrate.
And the most inhuman part was that Mom had made the next failure penalty double electrocution. So the ti after that, would it be four tis?
Mom, can’t you just let off this once? In my next life I’ll happily keep being your kid that never grows up!
"Can we negotiate?" Xue Dili asked.
[No.]
Mom said nothing else, only getting ready to further up the dose.
"I’ll do it, I’ll do it, okay?"
Right now it felt like Xue Dili was wearing a mask of pure suffering. If he failed again, he had no doubt that Mom would double the dosage to four tis, then eight, then sixteen, letting him fully experience the joys of exponential growth.
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