System Mission: Seduce the Final Boss [BL]

Chapter 157: Two heroes in one

Blake tilted his head slightly, his eyes still fixed on the dark television screen.

Something about yesterday’s encounter kept bothering him.

He was being painted as some kind of ruthless terrorist, a dangerous criminal, an extremist... yet, Trail-X had spoken about granting him grace.

Why?

Blake leaned back against the hospital bed’s headboard, wincing as his ribs protested the movement.

’It must be because of that thing he mentioned. I never killed anyone.’

Thinking back on it, the soldiers hadn’t actually behaved like people confronting someone they believed would murder them.

They’d been cautious.

But not desperate when he was threatening one of their companions.

Instead, they’d continuously tried to attack him.

Even when he had the upper hand, several soldiers had exposed themselves to danger. At first, Blake had assumed they simply didn’t care about their own lives.

’They knew I wouldn’t kill them, and they used that to their advantage...’

He slowly closed his eyes.

During this infiltration, the soldiers had already been reckless and willingly rushed him, blocking escape routes with their own bodies.

Attempted tackles and close-range arrests despite the obvious risks.

If they already believed he deliberately avoided killing...

Then next time they’d become even bolder and stop hesitating entirely.

If cornering him meant taking a punch, they’d take it.

If it meant risking broken bones, they’d do it.

He sighed heavily.

He couldn’t kill people just to maintain an advantage.

But it did mean every future confrontation had just become significantly more dangerous.

The television continued talking.

"...Authorities have warned that M.O.S.A.I.C. should be considered as dangerous as organizations such as RENARTEN and PLIOD."

Blake reluctantly looked back at the screen.

"...Although their objectives remain unclear, investigators have confirmed the group’s extraordinary ability to impersonate others."

Images flashed across the television.

His disguises.

Security footage.

Different uniforms.

"...Experts believe members possess highly sophisticated methods allowing them to mimic appearances with remarkable accuracy, enabling them to obtain restricted access and official uniforms."

Blake frowned.

"...Furthermore, authorities emphasize that AL-TECH personnel remain the primary victims of these repeated attacks."

’Victims?’

That single word made his stomach twist.

The people experimenting on children.

The scientists who locked human beings inside glass tanks.

The ones creating monsters beneath the earth.

"Victims? What a joke."

A wave of nausea rolled through him, so reached for the remote.

Click.

The television fell silent.

The room became peaceful once again.

Blake slowly closed his eyes.

His thoughts immediately shifted elsewhere.

Asher.

He genuinely believed Asher knew nothing.

At least, nothing too relevant.

The confusion on his face underground hadn’t looked fake.

Still, there was another person.

His uncle.

Unlike Asher...

Blake couldn’t investigate him freely, which made him dangerous.

’I have to investigate him...’

The thing was, there wasn’t any normal excuse to suddenly approach the man.

No natural conversation and no believable coincidence.

If Blake wanted answers, there was only one realistic option.

His family.

He could use their influence, more specifically their connections.

The mere thought made his chest tighten.

’Ugh. I really don’t want to.’

His fingers clenched around the blanket.

Just imagining it made tears threaten the corners of his eyes.

"Blake."

Pitch-black eyes.

A smile that had lasted no more than a few seconds.

Gentle hands carefully caressing his head.

"..."

Blake inhaled slowly.

"I have to, for you..."

If enduring those people meant uncovering the truth, then he’d endure them.

No matter how much it hurt.

Suddenly, his phone began vibrating across the bedside table.

Blake looked over absentmindedly.

Then froze.

Asher.

His heartbeat instantly accelerated.

’Why? Why is Asher calling me now, of all times?’

His pulse pounded against his ribs, making the fractures ache even more.

Cold sweat formed across his palms.

His hand instinctively moved to his chest.

’Calm down, think. Is it coincidence? Out of every possible moment, why now?’

His breathing grew shallow.

’Don’t panic. If I ignore the call, wouldn’t that look even stranger? But... what exactly could Asher suspect?’

Right, there was nothing.

Blake forced himself to think logically.

His masks?

Gone.

Everything purchased through the system automatically returned to storage after six hours of inactivity.

Even the gun that had flown from his hand yesterday.

None of it can stay there, at that facility.

His injuries are meaningless, too. The distance between his apartment and a-exp alone made any connection absurd.

No investigator would seriously conclude that a hospitalized student had infiltrated a classified underground facility hours away.

There simply wasn’t any evidence.

Blake swallowed.

Then accepted the call.

"...Hi."

His voice sounded surprisingly steady.

"Asher?"

"Hey."

Asher answered almost immediately.

’His voice is different from usual.’

"Where are you?"

Asher asked.

Blake blinked, then laughed lightly.

"What, are you secretly a psychic or something? I’m at the hospital."

"Again?"

"Haha..."

A brief silence followed.

"What happened?"

"I fell off a ladder."

Blake answered smoothly.

"I was cleaning above my kitchen cabinets. The ladder slipped, and I landed pretty badly."

"Oh. Is it serious?"

"Nah."

Blake waved a dismissive hand despite Asher obviously being unable to see it.

"I’ll probably be discharged tomorrow. They’re just keeping me another day to make sure everything looks alright."

"I see."

"Anyway. Why’d you call?"

"It wasn’t really anything."

Asher’s reply came unusually slowly.

"I just..."

He stopped himself.

"...Never mind. You should rest, I won’t bother you anymore. Bye."

"Bye."

The call ended.

Blake stared at the phone for several seconds.

Then slowly lowered it.

’That was weird.’

Asher had never behaved like that before.

***

On the other side of the call, Asher slowly lowered his phone.

The screen went dark.

"Why?"

The question escaped him before he even realized he’d spoken aloud.

Anthony, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, turned to look at him.

"What?"

Asher continued staring at the phone.

"Out of everyone..."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"...Why was Blake the first person you thought about?"

"I don’t know."

Anthony sighed quietly.

"It doesn’t make much sense."

Asher finally slipped the phone into his pocket before leaning back against the wall.

"Listen, I know your instincts have always been sharp, but they’re not perfect, Anthony."

"Yeah, I’ve been wrong before. But usually... they point me in the right direction. As soon as you told me everything, I thought of Blake again."

He let out a dry laugh.

"This time also, it makes no sense. He is quite weak, physically. But the soldiers looked pretty beaten up."

Anthony couldn’t help but chuckle.

"Fair point, he doesn’t exactly scream master infiltrator. Nothing about him fits."

His expression slowly became thoughtful.

"And yet... I couldn’t shake the feeling."

Asher frowned.

"What exactly made you think of him? With the way you’re putting it, I can’t help but be influenced, too."

Anthony was quiet for several moments.

"...Honestly, I think I’m also influenced by my suspicions of that man, Zlatan. I have been tailing him for almost five months, a little before me and Blake ran into him at that mall."

"Well yeah, but don’t forget that Blake’s classmate, Myles, is actually the one friends with him."

"I mean, that only amplifies my suspicions. The sole reason I’ve managed to discover their connection in the first place is because of Blake."

"Ha, now you don’t trust them both, I know that much."

Anthony rubbed his forehead.

"They are just... ugh, I just can’t tell what exactly is wrong with them. For now, the only thing that makes them suspicious is their connection to Zlatan. Individually, if we ignore that, both are perfectly avarage."

He slowly shook his head.

"But I’ll go as far as to say that now, for me, when the two are together, something already feels off."

Asher folded his arms.

"But how could today’s attack have anything connecting back to him? If anything, the evidence points away from him."

Anthony nodded.

"You’re right, he’s in the hospital, and he was admitted this morning. According to the staff, he fractured two ribs after falling from a step ladder while cleaning."

Asher looked down at the floor, nodding.

"Besides, a-exp is hours away."

Anthony frowned slightly.

"But then again, didn’t you say that masked individual teleport?"

"I wouldn’t say teleport. He has no way of knowing about teleporting. Besides, Blake isn’t partly an extra-terrestial, because I can’t feel the sensation Mr. Alfred told me I’d feel if I were to be in contact with one."

"Come on Asher. Who doesn’t know about teleporting? Those enemies out there can produce technology as advanced as AL-TECH’s!"

"Yeah but how would you explain it then? Blake is a human!"

"Can you really solely rely on the criteria Mr. Alfred gave you?"

Asher frowned deeply, raising his voice.

"What, so you’re also suggesting I shouldn’t trust him?!"

Anthony flinched, looking down.

"No, I didn’t mean that. It’s just that... maybe there are some things he doesn’t know yet. That’s entirely possible."

Asher fidgets, groaning.

"Sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice. I’m either case, for now, we have to search for other suspects."

"...Alright. Well, my instincts aren’t evidence, they’re just a scarily accurate feeling. I don’t want to accuse someone because of a feeling. Especially Blake."

Asher looked at him, chuckling.

"Why especially him?"

"...Because he’s our friend."

The answer came without hesitation.

"I hope I’m wrong about my suspicion. I want to be wrong."

His fingers unconsciously tightened around the edge of his sleeve.

"Because if I’m right, then that means Blake is our enemy."

Asher didn’t answer immediately. After a long silence, he sighed.

"For now, he has a solid alibi and no apparent or internal factors that could put us at a disadvantage. So let’s trust the facts."

Anthony slowly nodded.

"...Yeah, the facts."

He wanted to believe them.

Really.

He wasn’t the kind of person who ignored evidence just because of intuition.

Evidence always came first.

Logic always came first.

His instincts had to bow to proof.

And yet, as he recalled Blake’s strangely calm voice over the phone, that persistent unease remained lodged deep within his chest.

No matter how hard he tried...

It simply refused to disappear.