Stigma Generator

Time: 16:48

After Rash left Brandt's house, he walked for a long time in the Streets of Stronghold 34. This was the first time in his life that he had infiltrated into a populated house, so the feeling of tension and anxiety did not subside even after a long distance of walking.

He never thought he'd feel this way in his life before. But after trying it, it felt strange. In the past he never cared about what was going on around him or what was happening in his life, so he did not think much of the things he did. Today, for the first time, he felt stressed throughout the mission.

This feeling made him rethink many things after he left the house, to the extent that he did not care about the mission's rewards and did not care that the mission was crowned with success. Nightmare did not interrupt his contemplation, leaving him until he relaxed more.

"Oh, sorry." He did not notice where he was walking to collide with a pedestrian.

The person paid no attention to him and went on saying nothing. Rash sighed again, rubbing his face with his hands, then gently slapping his cheeks. After recovering himself, he took a look at the mission.

.....

.....

After confirming that the mission was successful, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. This means that everything is fine now, and he can ask Nightmare for more clarification, "Wouldn't you tell me exactly why I chose the Laughing Jones? In the end, any other name for me could do the trick, right?"

"What do you think is the reason?"

"Maybe blame him. That's all I can guess of now, but even that I don't think it will lead to a laughing Jones. He did not leave a single victim without killing it, and all of his victims were tortured before death. And this is not all. Anyone will know that I pretended to be him because he is very popular these days. Right?" Rash is not stupid to think this is the only reason, nor does he think the investigators will judge so, and it is likely that laughing Jones will be the last thing on their minds. Nightmare definitely has another goal.

But Nightmare surprised him, saying, "No, it's just for fun." What made Rash lose his temper upon hearing his ridiculous statement. With indignant looks filled with anger, he stared at him and said nothing for several seconds. If what he said was true, then he did not know what he would do with him this time.

"I was just kidding, you were tense the whole time, and I wanted to change the atmosphere a little."

"Just talk." Rash wants to know the matter more now.

"Well as you know, I strive to make you strong by giving you different tasks. Not only that, the rewards differ according to the benefit of the missions to the community, for example saving people brings high benefits. I wanted you to learn several things from past missions. So let me explain a few of them to you." Nightmare said. Then he gestured to Rash to go to a place to sit there so he could explain everything at a leisurely pace.

"The principal purpose of the missions is to eliminate the danger of the Gallus Monster. But since you will do so, why not take advantage of the opportunity and get more benefit by implicating the Laughing Jones in the mission?"

"Of course what you said is not wrong either, but believe me the investigators will do their best to catch Jones this time."

"There is something that you missed. The potion you gave to the girl is not normal and has the ability to completely heal the girl. Eliminating the Gallus is one of its advantages and the other feature is to restore the body to its previous state. When people discover how amazing it is, what do you think they will do?''

Rash thought about it, "Trying to get it?" He questioned, because he wasn't sure.

"That's right. You have to know that there are symptoms that cannot be cured even with the development of modern medicine and with the use of special skills and abilities. But if something like this appears to the world, imagine how many people want to get their hands on it. They will do everything for that, and finding you is the only way to get it. But when someone else gets involved, they will not care even if there is a slight chance that he is not the actual person and that everything is planned in advance. The benefit is greater than the cost here."

"When they investigate further into the matter, they will find the plastic doll, and it will lead them to the old house. There they will find traces of the previous battle and find the body of the girl in the house. Then they will search more for the gang of child kidnappers. All of these things will count as a result of your work, even if you do not do it personally."

Nightmare wants to pass on the idea that there is always a chain reaction to every action. When used in the right way, Rash can do many things with little effort. Not only that, he wants him to think more about what he is doing and the outcome that will happen next.

"Do you understand what this means? You did two simple tasks in the first place, but your contribution will bring a lot of benefits to the community. This will bring you greater rewards."

It's not difficult to understand Nightmare's logic now. Rash found that all of this was calculated from the start before he even began his first mission. The two tasks are not only to get him to open his eyes to other people's suffering, but also to learn to exploit opportunities in more vital ways in the future.

"Ok... it's good for them to catch Jones instead of me. But do you really think I would get away with this and not cause myself too much trouble?" He can only rethink everything that has happened now. It is not easy to deceive the investigators, as even a small hair or fingerprint would make him the prime suspect. And when thinking about that, he did not erase his traces, at least Nightmare did not tell him to do, and he did not think it was so dangerous at that time.

Nightmare knows Rash's anxiety, so he reassured him, saying, "Don't worry. I know your current capabilities and have taken care of other things myself." Of course, he does not want Rash to be nailed, so he has secured it in advance.

Rash was more comfortable knowing this and now since there is nothing else he decided to try the new skill that he had gained. He went to the skills list but found nothing new there, "Where is the Stigma Generator? It's not on the skills list."

"Because it is not a skill, so it is not there, of course." Nightmare replied by saying while explaining more about the new feature, "Stigma Generator, is a trait that allows you to use the stigma of the skills you get from Gallus monsters and activate their skills. As I told you earlier, the stigma in the initial state is not usable, but with this feature you can bypass this stage."

Nightmare then retrieves the Telekinesis Stigma they obtained from defeating the monster from a previous mission. And put it in Rash's palm. The stigma was the size of a pigeon egg, "Now, activate the property through your awareness and see what happens."

Rash Follow Nightmare's instructions carefully. He does not know how exactly, but by following the same method he did with the skills. The jelly-like piece of stigma in his palm began to sink gradually in his hand. His hand and the jelly started to fuse together like a paste of meat. The operation made him suspect that he had a bone in his hand, and this made him disgusted by the view and tried to stop the process by shaking it repeatedly. His attempt was unsuccessful as the operation took only seconds for a new skill to appear in the skill list in his mind.

Rash didn't stop staring at his palm after the process was over. He did not feel any pain or a sensing of discomfort, and the shape of his hand returned to its previous nature as if nothing had happened. He grasped and stretched it several times, then touched it again. But nothing strange happens, "The fu*k.... What exactly is happening? Nightmare ... what was that, am I still human right now?"

He suspected that any human might turn his body into something like dough and then return to its state within seconds. Even to the point, he suspected it was delusional. "Yes. You are. For 95 percent." Nightmare answered briefly.

His answer made Rash question more about what his body is now. Certainly he has wondered before about the meaning of this in his status window and what hybrid exactly means. But Nightmare did not explain the topic accurately, and now there are some thoughts revolving in his head about this matter. This also made him wonder what other things have changed in his body other than normal people.

Nightmare stopped explaining, meaning that he would not answer him even if he asked, so he had no choice but to accept the matter no matter what. In the end, he turned to the new skill, to forget about the other thing.

....

.....

Rash, who was enthusiastic about the new skill, immediately began trying it. From moving pebbles to water droplets and tree leaves, to cleaning his uniform... for several minutes he forgot himself while trying his new ability.