System Mission: Seduce the Final Boss [BL]

Chapter 165: Rough questions

Consciousness returned all at once.

It wasn’t gradual or gentle, but like being thrown upward from the bottom of an icy lake.

Blake gasped, or, at least, he tried to.

Something rough was stuffed between his teeth, strapped tightly around the back of his head. The sound died in his throat, turning into a muffled, panicked noise.

His eyes flew open.

’It’s dark—’

No... not dark.

He couldn’t see.

He was blindfolded, which made him jerk his arms instinctively.

But nothing, he couldn’t even shrug his shoulders, since his wrists were tied so tightly behind the chair.

And as he tried to get up, he got to know that his ankles were bound, too.

"...Mmph!"

He pulled harder, but the ropes only dug mercilessly into his skin, they weren’t budging in the slightest.

For a split second, his mind went completely blank.

Then reality crashed into him.

’I was taken.’

His breathing accelerated immediately.

The gag made every inhale feel too small.

Too shallow.

Not enough.

His chest tightened so violently that it hurt more than his broken ribs.

’No, no, no, no!’

His heart slammed against his ribs.

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

The sound seemed deafening inside his own skull.

His palms became slick despite the ropes.

Cold sweat gathered at the back of his neck.

Every tiny sound became magnified.

The faint hum of electricity.

Something dripping, somewhere far away.

The subtle creak of the chair beneath him every time his body trembled.

He couldn’t tell how large the room was.

Couldn’t tell if it was cold or if he was simply shaking.

Couldn’t tell if he was alone.

That thought settled like poison.

’Is someone here, watching me silently or, am I truly alone? But then, when are they coming?’

His breathing became faster.

His stomach lurched.

He felt nauseous.

His throat convulsed around the gag as another wave of anxiety surged through him.

His entire body wanted to run.

’Fight, do something, I can’t, I can’t be sitting here helplessly!’

His jaw ached from clenching.

His fingers strained uselessly against the restraints.

’Who took me?’

His thoughts spiraled.

’Could it be AL-TECH...?’

The possibility hit him like a truck.

’Did they find out? But how? What clue did I leave behind? Did I make a mistake? Is this related to the hospital? School? Myles...?’

A muffled sound barely escaped.

"No..."

His heartbeat became erratic.

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

The silence stretched endlessly.

BANG!

The door slammed open.

Blake’s entire body violently jerked.

"MMPH!"

His chair rocked from the force of his movement.

Then, he heard slow, heavy footsteps.

Someone was getting closer.

Blake instinctively tried to speak.

Questions.

Anything.

But all that emerged was another desperate, muffled noise.

The footsteps stopped directly in front of him.

There was only silence, until a mechanical voice spoke.

It was artificially distorted until it no longer sounded human.

"I see you’re awake."

There was a short pause, as if that person was trying to hold in a laugh.

"You are Blake Ashford, right?"

Blake froze.

His breathing remained uneven, but his body became still.

’Don’t panic, don’t act rashly.’

He’d already met monsters stronger than him.

People like Asher.

People like Myles.

Even with every buff active...

If this person belonged to that same category...

Charging blindly would be suicide.

He swallowed against the gag.

Said nothing.

The next instant, a fist smashed into his jaw.

CRACK!

Pain exploded through the side of his face.

The entire chair toppled sideways.

His vision, or rather, what little awareness he had, spun violently.

His already sensitive ears rang.

For one horrifying second, Blake genuinely thought his jaw had come out of place.

His head pounded.

His mouth instantly filled with the metallic taste of blood.

"...Mmph...!"

The chair was grabbed.

Lifted upright again as though it weighed nothing.

The distorted voice remained calm.

"You’re Blake Ashford, right? Please, you’re now a big boy. Don’t be rude to me another time."

Blake’s eyes stung.

He quickly nodded.

The pressure disappeared.

"Good."

There was almost amusement beneath the distortion.

"Nice to meet you, Blake. My name is Nar."

Blake blinked beneath the blindfold.

’Nar...?’

The name rolled through his mind.

Nar.

Nar...

However, nothing came into mind.

He’d never heard it before.

Not once.

He cautiously nodded again.

"Mmh."

A cold hand landed atop his head.

No, not cold, but hard, it was metal. Mechanical fingers slowly patted his hair, which was a disgustingly gentle gesture.

One that only made Blake feel sicker.

"I’ve been waiting for this opportunity."

Nar chuckled quietly.

"So, I’ll be a little more polite from now on."

The blindfold was suddenly ripped away.

Light flooded Blake’s vision.

He squeezed his eyes shut instinctively before opening them again.

"..."

Surprisingly, fhere was nobody standing in front of him.

"...?"

Confused, Blake instinctively turned his head, only for another hand to hardly seize his jaw from behind.

His neck locked painfully in place.

"You may look around later."

Nar’s distorted voice came from somewhere behind him.

"For now, I wouldn’t want you to get distracted. You see, there are some things I’d like to ask."

A click echoed through the room.

Only then did Blake notice the large monitor mounted directly in front of him.

It flickered to life.

Static.

Then, a short video.

"..."

His pupils shrank.

It was evening.

An apartment complex.

A familiar bush.

A small gray-and-white kitten stepping out.

He was crouching down with a smile on his face, then, he started patting the cat’s head.

"..."

His breathing stopped.

Behind him, only a pair of shoes entered the frame.

Nothing else, there was no face or body, just black shoes.

Blake’s entire face drained of color.

He remembered that day perfectly.

It had been the day he’d returned, the day he’d decided to spend much time with Myles, at his house.

"..."

However, the video made him think. The angle, he footage, it wasn’t from a security camera.

It moved and shifted so naturally that it couldn’t have been a machine.

It was low to the ground.

Like someone’s eyes.

’No, not someone’s, the cat’s. This... this was all filmed from the kitten’s perspective.’

A metallic finger gently poked the side of Blake’s head.

Nar hadn’t removed his hand from behind Blake’s neck.

"Do you know what this was about, boy?"

Blake stared silently at the screen.

His heartbeat slowed.

Not because he was calming down.

Because something terrible had finally clicked into place.

Not AL-TECH.

This wasn’t AL-TECH.

’This person is like Myles, another second-generation.’

Blake slowly shook his head.

"No?"

Nar sighed.

His grip tightened around Blake’s jaw until it hurt.

"Then perhaps..."

His voice became softer.

"...you’ll tell me who the person standing behind you is."

Blake’s heart lurched, still, he shook his head again.

"Wrong answer."

Another punch.

This one landed against the side of his skull.

White flashed across his vision.

The room tilted.

Pain radiated through his temple.

Before he could recover, Nar’s hand grabbed his head once more.

"I won’t rely on violence too much."

He sounded almost conversational.

"I was slightly annoyed. But I won’t go too hard... not yet."

A pause.

"Later... I’ll kill you. But not before..."

Nar leaned closer.

"I murder every one of your classmates. Your family. Your neighbors. Hell, even the people you’ve merely walked past. They’ll all die. Then, I’ll kill you."

Silence filled the room.

Blake was shaking.

Every muscle in his body trembled uncontrollably.

His hands.

His shoulders.

Even his breathing.

Yet, his head remained raised.

His eyes never left the screen.

He refused to lower them.

Nar laughed.

An ugly, distorted sound.

"Not now, you must have noticed, I’m quite generous. And as the kind person I am, I’ll give you three chances."

He leaned down until his masked face was almost level with Blake’s ear.

"And if you fail, everyone you’ve ever even glanced at dies."

The room became unbearably quiet.

Nar finally stepped away.

"I’m leaving now."

His footsteps echoed toward the door.

"Oh. If you dare turn your head to look at me... I won’t mind beating you into a pulp. I don’t need you to look pretty for this."

The footsteps continued.

The door opened.

Closed.

Blake didn’t move.

He kept staring straight ahead.

The monitor continued replaying the same clip.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The kitten.

His smile.

The familiar black shoes entering the frame.

Loop.

After loop.

After loop.

Only once he was absolutely certain the room was empty...

Did Blake lower his head.

His bangs fell over his eyes.

His jaw clenched so tightly it hurt.

His restraints creaked faintly as his fists curled beneath them.

"..."

No tears came.

Only a crushing weight inside his chest.

A bitter thought echoed over and over inside his mind.

’How much longer... how much longer do I have to keep ruining everything?’

No matter how hard he tried.

No matter how careful he was.

It always happened.

And now, even if with limited knowledge, someone had found he was connected to a second generation.