Future, Hopeless

[Completion: S grade]

[Reward: Insight+5, Temperance+10, Justice+10]

[E.G.O 'Cherry Blossoms' obtained due to sufficient clearance]

Asher opened his eyes to the noise of a creaking bed.

'Oh no... System? SYSTEM?!'

Darkness enveloped the room.

The System did not listen to him at all.

Mei, already parasitized by the Blood Red night, crawled out of bed as softly as she could. She slipped to the kitchen to grab a knife.

A lump formed in Asher's throat as felt a strange urge. If he killed himself, would the System send him back further?

[Warning. If you do not attempt to survive, your soul will be terminated. That includes allowing yourself to fatal extraneous wounds.]

The System squashed the hope that he had.

[Next Mission: Little Red Riding Hood]

He curled into a ball, sobbing as quietly as he could.

[Do you wish to see your rewards?]

The System's prompts filled his vision before Asher could respond, forcing him to read them.

[Cherry Grave: A set of gear extracted from the Grave of Cherry Blossoms. Wearing it can increase charm and murderous intention. Emotional sanity is weakened as well. Fragile and beautiful, like a cherry blossom.]

The two items of the E.G.O set were displayed below:

[Pink Charm (Armor): A set of clothes resembling a traditional Japanese kimono. Guards against mental attacks and increases dodging ability. Distorting one's emotions may prove to unlock additional effects and/or abilities.]

[Scattered Petals (Weapon): An oriental hand fan, painted pink and etched with the flowers of a cherry tree. Deals no physical damage. Waving the fan emits a tempting, sweet scent.]

[Blossoming Trance (Passive Set Ability): Using the fan on a target may place the target in a coma-like trance. Duration depends on target's Temperance compared to the user, and will not exceed twenty minutes. Will be cancelled by the user's order, or if the user switches E.G.O/Synchronization.]

'...What the hell is this. Kimono? A fucking fan?'

[Your rewards. Use them wisely.]

Asher barely had time to read all the prompts before he felt a line of blood vessels crawl onto his wrists. He shot up before they could bind him.

In the doorway was Mei, holding a glinting kitchen knife.

"It's you, Elena."

The Blood Red Night blinked. She thought Asher was still sleeping, but that was apparently not the case.

"How do you know my name?" Her eyes narrowed as the name she hadn't used in years suddenly showed up in this backwater place.

"I will give you one chance to leave that body right now." He didn't answer her. His eyes were filled with unfiltered hate.

Elena laughed, spinning the knife between her fingers. Suddenly, she snarled, revealing a fraction of her malice.

"You're telling me what to do? And you know my name? Ahaha~!"

Asher trembled, but compared to 'himself' from the future, this was nothing. He stayed silent, waiting for Elena to make the first move.

A million thoughts flashed through his head. Asher knew that Mei's consciousness was still alive. Her body was only being controlled. But the problem was, how could he remove Elena from her body?

'[Echoes from Beyond]?' No, that would just kill Mei, but probably not Elena.

Elena stepped toward him, unknowingly giving him valuable time to think.

When she was a few feet away from him, she stabbed forward without warning.

However, a plan had already formed in Asher's mind. His new E.G.O's ability was almost... too convenient for this situation.

"[Cherry Grave]!" A pink kimono surfaced on his body, with blossoming flowers sewn onto it.

His shoes were replaced with a pair of wooden sandals, each elevated from the ground by a single thin block of cedarwood.

Elena's knife pressed closer. The weapon seemed to move in slow motion as Asher's concentration reached its peak.

Although Elena was a Star, she was presently only a few times stronger than Mei. She could use her blood to strengthen herself a bit, but her base host was still just an ordinary human.

An ornamental fan materialized in his grip. With the nature of his E.G.O, he automatically knew how to use it.

The fan swished open, and the sweet scent of cherry blossoms filled the room.

Asher hid his mouth behind the fan, letting out a haunted giggle as his E.G.O seeped into his mental state.

"Kuhuhu..."

The knife pierced his paper thin fan, but that was to be expected. He closed the fan with both hands, twisting Elena's knife out of her grip in a blink of an eye.

It clattered to the ground beside him.

With a faint swish, his fan opened again. The puncture mark had disappeared.

Elena stared at him, flummoxed by his sudden change.

"It looks like we've skipped introductions? I am the Fixer who will cease your existence, Blood Red Night." Asher's voice had changed into a slight oriental lilt, delicate and feminine.

"...I see."

Elena covered half of her face with her hand, lowering it to reveal the obsidian mask she was famous for.

She didn't attempt to reach for the dropped knife, instead using her blood to sharpen her hands into wicked claws.

"I was going to kill you quickly, but now I'm not so sure!"

Elena snarled, switching into an animalistic stance. She slashed toward him, but Asher twirled to the side, giggling as he swung his fan again.

Elena clicked her tongue. The boy's dodging ability was quite sharp, and her host was too weak. If only she infected the boy instead of this weakling girl...

Asher flinched as the floor grew a thin layer of blood. As he jumped onto the bed, he looked towards the System for advice.

'Why isn't she tranced?'

[Keep using it.]

Asher dodged another slash, carefully leaping to the doorway as he whirled his fan in a delicate dance.

The air turned rottenly sweet, and finally the effect of his E.G.O showed itself.

Elena's eyes twitched as she found her body drowsy and complacent, resisting her orders. Mei's mind was too weak to resist the blossom's temptation, and Elena's blood could do little to prevent that.

Another weakness of the Blood Red Night emerged. Attacks targeting the host's mind.

"Ah, fuck..." Elena could sustain nearly all physical injuries, but the boy seemed to put her host under a strange hypnosis.

She glared at him as her vision turned faint.

In response, Asher smiled, covering his expression with that cursed fan.

Mei's body collapsed on the floor, and the blood in the air faded away.

"...Now what do I do?"

He flicked his fan shut, and the scent of cherries disappeared. He crouched next to Mei, lifting her to the bed.

Externally, nothing was wrong with her. But when he pulled the woman's eyelids open, he could see crimson worms wriggling in her pupils.

'If I switch skills, will she wake up immediately?'

[Yes. Along with the Parasite.]

'...So I'm forced to use this E.G.O until I find a way to fix her?'

Change was in the air, pressing against his skin until he nearly burst. A new chapter in his life.

He couldn't handle this. He couldn't handle this. He couldn't handle this change.

Everything he had was gone.

Yan was gone. He didn't want to see her.

Now Mei was gone too. He had no idea how to fix her.

'System, please... I- Just turn back time a few more hours! P-Please!'

He cried on Mei's body miserably as he raised his head toward the sky above.

But the System wasn't to be found there.

It was etched in Asher's soul.

[No.]

Asher froze.

"Haha. Haha." He grinned, his voice flat. So this was what the System meant by its strange outburst earlier. How maddening.

[Solutions lie in the future, not the past. Move forward, no matter how your sanity crumbles. Search for a solution.]

Lately, the System had been acting strange.

"..."

Asher stepped away from Mei. The clops of wooden sandals echoed in the apartment as he searched for what he would need.

Ten minutes. He bound Mei's limbs with thick cords of rope.

Asher looked at Mei's serene face as the rope chafed on her skin. His voice cracked as he spoke to her comatose body.

"I-I'm sorry. I'll find a way to fix you. Promise."

He stepped into the bathroom, looking in the mirror. A face of pink blush and white powder stared back at him. His figure and features, though familiar, were effeminate beyond belief.

By some instinct, he covered his face with his fan, a titter escaping his lips.

However, he knew that he was still male. This was only an E.G.O, after all.

The residual will of the Cherry Tree was too strong. It could easily change his behavior until he practically became a different person.

After looking at his reflection in the bathroom, Asher grabbed the stack of documents 'Sophie' received.

He flipped through them while unstably giggling to himself.

'To join an existing Office... founding member...'

It was time to join Chimère Office as 'Asher'.

'Sophie' would be missing for a few days, and someone needed to lead the Office in 'her' stead.

How maddening.

I smile.

I think I want to cry.

So I smile wider.

Until my skin rips apart.

Blood covers my lips.

A sheen of beautiful lipstick.