Chapter 25

Cold sweat poured from the back of the young man's back.He also shouted.

"Wait, wait. How did you know? Know one knows in the whole in the whole kitchen, not even the head chef with the rumored "nose of a fox".

Jerry replied with a confident grin.

"It's easy. Kitchen workers are required to wear high black tight fitting boots for almost ten hours a day. Going by that analogy, it seems clear that by the end of the shift, the boots must be hurting their toes and almost everyone puts on sandals after their shift but it's already afternoon and you're still wearing them."

"Ok. But that just means I don't feel like wearing different shoes"

"Ah aahhh. There's a more important reason as to why other chefs remove their boots. It is for cleaning off the grease and sauce that might have splattered on it or entered inside it."

"But my boots are clean."

"Yes clean, even cleaner than usual, you could even say, blacker than usual. That only happens when shoes have just been washed. I know these kind of boots that are tight fitting cost up to hundreds of cabbats, which is something a young man like you with no background can't afford. I know you don't have a background because you would have ignored me when I tried to embarrass you a while ago or walk with a grand posture like those young masters. Now here's the question. Why would anyone put on work boots that are too uncomfortable after their shift is over and purposely make themselves stand out in this hierarchical environment. It can only mean you're trying to hide something on your legs, maybe even feet."

"Ok but that means nothing. Maybe I'm hiding a birthmark or something."

"No no no. What I saw from you is that you're extremely cautious, well....mildly cautious. When you suddenly got an itch on the side of your arm, instead of scratching it. You pressed it. That's interesting isn't it?"

"How did you even know I had an itch?"

"Subliminal instructions, yada yada yada. That doesn't matter. Since you you're a cautious person, it means you must prefer to ignore an itch or press on it. And when you came towards me, guess what you did?"

At this time, cold sweat reappeared on the youth's back and he replied as if instructed by this man's rhythm.

"What?"

"You limped. That's right you limped. As in instead of standing in one place wiggling your toes like a weirdo, you limped. Fungus is usually displayed by an uncontrollable urge to scratch and a gross smell. Since you pressed your foot hard on the ground in a form of limping, you must have been trying to calm the urge to scratch. You must have lied to your boss that you have a wound or something but what I go and clue him in. What do you think will happen?"

The young man, forever unknown by his true name, almost collapsed on the spot. He no longer cared about how the crazy man's theory was full of holes or contradictions since all that occupied his mind was one word. 'My life is done'

At this time, Jerry spoke out again.

"Uuuuweee, that was quite refreshing. Don't worry young man. As I said before, this was just some mind exercise for me. I won't ruin your life because of this. "

At this time, the young man didn't even care that Jerry kept on calling him young man yet they were age mates. He exhausted all his brain power and came to a conclusion.

'He must trying to blackmail me.'

Jerry also replied as if he heard him.

"That's right. I just dried up my throat to put on such a performance for you. Don't I deserve some reward? Even Sherlock got an applaud after each monologue. Also, I've been a bit low on funds recently so could you help a brother out?"

The youth sneered in his heart but still pulled out his satchel from his belt with an aggrieved expression and handed it to him. He left quickly without turning back and as fast as he could.

Jerry then opened up the satchel and found that the man was quite wealthy. There was even a miniature formation template to guard against intruders in one's territory. He immediately placed it around the house that he had just bought with the rest of the money he extorted from a few unlucky youths and started drawing structures on a few scrolls. It took almost three more days to do so and then he sent a made a list on the last days for the materials he needs.

He once again visited Tiandi and made his first request. The request was money, which Tiandi gladly gave out. The next request was a high order jade slip used to purchase restricted materials. He didn't use the final request since it would put him in trouble once again. The week ended with some chaos for the servant's quarters seeing as a the crazy young man who was despairing a few days ago over the theft incident was dragging in all kinds of minerals and construction stuff into his home. However no matter what, no one cares a lot for such a crazy individual and even if they did, they can't enter the enchantment placed around his new house.

Jerry was meditating and suddenly got an epiphany. He covered his mouth in surprise at what conclusion he came to after an entire week of self reflection. His mind buzzed for a while and he realized what a trap life can truly be.

"Ever since I was interrupted in cultivating the first and got a heavy hand, my life has been uneventful. Even the theft incident was orchestrated by me and there was no outside intervention. Before that night, I was always a bit too....artificial but after that night and weird feeling of loss. I guess... I lost my plot armor. What a wonderful situation. To think I was actually a main character, destined to for endless adventure and extremely eventful life. But all that seemed to have changed for some reason and I might never reach that level in this life. Maybe I'm destined to die of old age or a disease and reincarnate later to redo my life and start the road to revenge. Hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahaha.

Very interesting. Maybe I'm still one but in some shitty poorly written novel. Maybe my words are being typed as I say them or someone reads them. Hey you, I'm looking at you. Stop reading now. Haha, it's pretty funny."

Jerry knew that trying to break the fourth wall was a messy hassle that would mess with him mind and maybe some pissed off audience, so he put it aside and got back to concentration. He got a quill and started writing out theories about what kind of story he might be in and how he can use that to his advantage. After an afternoon of using Occam's razor on many points. He figured out what kind of plot might be ahead of him based on if he was still the main character.

With an ebullient grin wiped across his face, he beholdened the heavens and became its ace.