Leave The Monster Alone

"How much do you know about what is going on?" Those words made Mark feel a sense of deja vu and perhaps even took Mark back. But there was no confusion in those eyes, just curiosity.

"You know, just the basics. That something caused the animals to mutate and that caused this situation. The government observed this situation beforehand and set up these camps and now here we are. I never believed Liam's explanation though. But even I know only a fool would fall for this explanation" Luna was right though.

It covered the bare minimum of all plot points and gave out basic information to everyone involved. But the matter of fact was, not everyone had enough awareness or luxury to doubt those words.

Most people just wanted to survive.

"What I am about to say to you would shock you to your core but do try to take it as the truth. Our reality, this world is apparently not real. According to Liam, this world and everyone inside is made up of data, "We are in a game" his words were met with silence.

Luna's face looked far too closed off to give anything away and the air around him thickened with anger and disbelief.

Those were the exact same feelings Mark had felt when he heard those words himself. He had a little idea what the other must be feeling but Mark was not here to spare his feelings.

He was here to deliver the bitter and cold truth of their reality.

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you before. Can you repeat your words once more?" the younger asked, his tone taking on a note of disbelief in it and Mark felt himself let out an unwarranted chuckle.

Really, the other was acting just as he had once he heard it.

"I said that you all are characters inside a game and are under its control to some degree. Liam and En are from the outside world and work for the one who created this game. Apparently, everything wrong that is going on inside - your coming back in time, my surviving, Alan's surviving - it's all because of a virus that somehow got inside the code" of course there was no somehow.

The other did not need to know that tough and that was alright with Mark.

"I....., Give a few minutes to process it all" the other looked a little shaken and that was alright. It was better to get it out of one's system beforehand.

"I'll give you some time alone for now. Once you are calm enough, send me a message and we can continue this conversation" the other gave a shaky nod and Mark sent him a party request.

The other did not comment as he accepted. Perhaps he was not even aware of what he had accepted, too lost in his thoughts.

This was something he would have to overcome on his own and he was sure that it would reach back to Liam's ears but those were things for later.

Once Luan was gone, Mark felt himself collapse on his newly acquired bed and let out a sigh. Kuro made her way toward him, her satisfaction visible in her body language which caused Mark to let out a strained laugh.

"It was horrible and let's not do it again" Kuro did not respond at all, which was a given.

Then his system rang once again and woke him up from his daze. The time flashed back at him and he let out a groan.

It was already 2:00 PM and he was late for the meeting already.

"Kuro, let's go" picking himself up quickly, he finally left the room toward the place he had first met those divine beasts.

His system was the biggest MVP in this quest, there was no denying that. For all the trouble it has caused, it was more useful than anything he could have sued instead.

The map was a godsend and it took him almost 15 minutes to navigate before he stood in front of those glass doors.

The inside garden looked peaceful and empty once more. Most people were inside the cafeteria to have lunch at this time which made it easy to get here.

The doors opened to let him in which meant that this was classified as a public area. How curious when most of the public was not allowed to be here. How hypocritical of those who built this palace.

He made his way toward the other end with the benches and he saw those two silhouettes before they saw him.

"Do you have what we need?" the snake asked, his grin just as bright as Mark remembered it being. Mark's nod of agreement made the smile that much bigger.

"Here is the completion code for that divine beast. She will need to swallow it whole and then allow for it to mix with herself" the female forwarded a small stone toward him just as he did to the vials.

It was a mutual exchange and as soon as Mark had that stone in his hand, he felt a small shock go through him causing him to drop it toward the ground.

Kuro descended on it, her eyes eying it all the while and then it was gone. Her body shone before her eyes closed and she was out like a light.

His last line of defence was gone just like that.

"What was that stone? It gave me a small shock" Mark complained as he rubbed his numb hand. The feeling was beginning to come back but the sting still remained behind. It did not feel good at all.

The other two exchanged a look too brief for him to classify as anything before the female answered his questions.

"Data from the previous feline divine beast. It is required to complete the transformation if you don't find another source soon. It shouldn't affect humans though, only the beast. That's why I had gloves on" the female extended her hands and they were covered with leather gloves.

Mark did not like the implications of their words at all, his eyes narrowing at the two and his mouth twisted into a scowl.

"I'm 100% human you know" Mark replied, his voice far too dry to be mistaken as anything but sarcasm but the other two did not look to be far too put off.

"Whatever you are would come out anyway so I don't care. But do be careful of humans around you and don't trust them too much or you will regret it all young chimaera" the other sounded certain of it and Mark felt as if it was an indication of the upcoming rebellion.

So the beasts did know of that too.

"Don't worry about me. I'm not too attached with most of the people here anyway" there was no response to his words, just a small gesture of acknowledgement before the other two was off.

There was no other thing that required them to be in contact and Mark really felt that it was for the best. Should this ever get out then he would likely be branded as a traitor and killed on spot.

'Alan would be heartbroken' perhaps also be the only one to mourn his death.

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Main mission unlocked: Help assist the flow of the story - retrieval of the objective for an old friend (continued mission part 2)

Status: Completed

Reward: Stabilisation of important assets (Pet upgrade in progress. Remaining time: 2 days 12 hours) Shop upgraded, new items added

______________________

At least this was over and he would get enough time to relax. The stress of this situation had been too much. Of course, he spoke too soon and his system rang with a message.

But this time, it had not been from the party but rather from Liam.

He just had a feeling it was something he would not enjoy talking about but he could also not ignore it for the time being.

So once again, he made his way toward the central office instead of his room with a sleeping kitten in his arms who seemed dead to the world. Mark envied her but he did not want to be in a position that vulnerable at all.

And as soon as he entered the room, he knew what was the problem. He had thought that he would get a little more time before it comes to this but perhaps he had underestimated Luna's mental powers a lot.

Because the current situation meant that a confrontation was in order now with Luan and Liam, both standing with a tight expression on their faces.

This was a fight for superiority which would get out of hand if it was not resolved and he had a feeling that no matter which side he took, he would be blamed anyway.

But it was better to rip the bandage off than to let the wound linger for longer.. After all, both of these people needed to get along one way or the other.