A human-like plan

I wanted to join the Association and participate in memories, but not to clear them. No... I wanted to do the exact opposite. I would sabotage my team, and become a traitor. After all, the only people who know what happens in a memory are the ones inside it.

How did my sabotage work? It is quite evil even for me. A selfish plan that only benefits me and no one else. The world would suffer from it, I'm sure of that.

It was a strategy that would define me as a hero, an unfortunate hero. Someone who is hated by fate, who is destined to fall but keeps fighting. A figure of hope, someone young and ambitious children should look up to. 

I would join a nightmare along with a party, and I would act like a newbie whose goal was to destroy The Core itself, and with it every memory creature. My hatred for the memory beast would captivate their interest, interested in shaping me into a great weapon, and of course, most of all, to take the credit after I became famous.

There was a hint of doubt whenever I crafted this plan, especially about this part. I couldn't one hundred percent confirm that they would take me with them. They could have thought that I was dead weight. But my knowledge about humanity's hunger for fame thought otherwise.

They couldn't decline a chance to become special, rich, and loved by people all around the globe. The opportunity of raising the Hero Of The World was too tempting, their greed would blind their reasoning, and cause their death.

With my success in manipulating the squad, I would join the memory along with them, at first pretending to be naive, rushing into battles that I couldn't win. My naive actions will show my determination and wrath for the memory beast even more, making the party of pathetic humans believe me even more.

I would continue this act until they fully let down their guard, and whenever their attention is kept captive by other something than me, I would kill them all.

This was the first part of the plan, the one that was both easier physically and mentally than the other.

I wouldn't have felt anything after killing those humans, you might think I'm cruel, or that I can only do this because I was a monster. But to be truthful, I made this plan from a real story.

Meanwhile, the story is different, the outcome is the same. And in that story, the killer was nothing other than a human. A perfectly mental human, someone born as one, and had grown up as one. Yet he didn't feel anything killing his own species. So why should I?

After killing the humans, I would just let the memory beast finish their mission, letting them invade the human world.

With me still inside the memory, the Association couldn't send more contractors inside, meaning if I didn't leave, the memory beasts could do their job without a care in the world.

After the beast would break into the world, I would be forced out of the memory.

Now the hard part was somehow explaining to the Association how the beasts escaped, and how I was the only one alive.

I would force crocodile tears out of my eyes, explaining how a powerful beast suddenly appeared, and while we were fighting it all of the other were mercilessly killed by it. And because of my young look, they captured me instead of killing me. And because of that, I couldn't leave for reinforcement to come. I would tell them how I was tortured and how my mental health was heavenly damaged.

How could they possibly help me with it? Let me fight the beast that escaped. That was the only way to make me feel better, to take revenge for the loss of my comrades.

This plan seems monstrous, but I feel like it makes me feel even more human— selfish, actions driven by greed and emotionless after taking a life... maybe someone's mother. Or a parent figure in general.

I would run to where the monster escaped, there I would see people trying to contain it. They would be overthrown by their sheer number, and soon be close to defeat. So I would use myself as bait and then take them to a secluded area, saving both the contractors and the others present.

Now alone with the beast, I would hopefully defeat them. This was the riskiest part of the plan, after all, there was no guarantee I would succeed in my battle. But that was a risk I was willing to make... why does that sound like only a human would say?

If somehow I would win against the beasts, I would come back to where everyone was, holding in my hand proof of their defeat. The proof being a body part, probably their head.

Seeing this, people would portray me as their savior, and finally, a hero. Someone that people would look up to, someone to trust and serve under.

With this, humanity would be more willing to become pawns, to serve me. 

So with this plan, I would get both the trust of humanity and experience from killing the party of humans and the beast.

So now with humans willing to come with me into The Core to help me, and with my skills Leveled up, I would successfully rank up without putting much effort.

Meanwhile, I didn't feel bad killing the humans, or causing destruction by letting the beast into the human world. I felt guilty manipulating them, since doing this would make me no better than the ones I criticized before. 

But, this was something I needed to do. So this was it, my plan, now all that was left was to put it in place.

...

"I'm sorry, kid, but you have to have at least one month of experience before being allowed to challenge infected memories." I looked dumbfounded, clearly surprised by this outcome

'Huh?'