WHISPERS OF DECEPTION

Luo Yan walked in front of Noah in silence, her face frowning and her cheeks puffed up with anger, so much so that they had turned red. It was clear that she was unhappy with her fight with Cyprian, so Noah concluded that they had known each other for a long time and were possibly close friends.

"Luo Yan, was that boy your friend?" Noah asked curiously.

"Unfortunately, yes. We're actually childhood friends," Luo Yan said, her voice and facial expressions showing irritation, as if she truly hated it.

"Don't worry about him. He didn't mean to annoy you, even though he did it in the wrong way," Luo Yan said, her tone now free of irritation as she slowed her pace, making Noah more confused by her response.

"What do you mean?" Noah asked, still puzzled, deciding to dig deeper.

"It's hard to explain. It's just his weird way of doing things. If everything had gone according to his plan, it would have been fine. He just wanted to prove your existence by trying to pick a fight with you," Luo Yan explained, which only made Noah more confused.

"How did he want to prove my existence by fighting me? That's stupid," Noah said, bewildered. He felt lost now because of this illogical reason.

"I know it's stupid. It's just that he knew I would try to fight him. If everything had gone as planned, you would have tried to intervene and stop the fight. Whether you did it intentionally or not, you would have stopped Cyprian, and you would have been expected to beat him up. Everyone would have been amazed by your strength. But because of the unexpected intervention of Professor Mei Rinho, his plan was thwarted," Luo Yan said, feeling silly and foolish as she recalled Cyprian's plan, though her tone conveyed irritation and some unknown concern.

"What kind of stupid plan is this?" Noah thought to himself, truly worried. How far does one's foolishness go to come up with and try to execute such a plan?

"If any other professor had come except for Professor Mei Rinho... Ugh, what an annoyance!" Luo Yan said with a frustrated tone, clearly concerned about Professor Mei Rinho's intervention. But specifically, she was worried about the professor herself, not the intervention, which made Noah suspicious. To him, Mei Rinho seemed like a kind, open person.

"What do you mean?" Noah asked, now even more confused and curious.

"Professor Mei Rinho is not who you think she is. She's a good person, but not to any stranger. What you saw was just a lie, a mask she uses to deceive naive people like you," Luo Yan said with irritation, pointing at Noah when she called him naive.

"You shouldn't have shaken hands with the professor! Didn't your parents teach you not to shake hands with strangers?!" Luo Yan scolded Noah, irritated for a reason that didn't seem logical, which only puzzled and worried Noah more, thinking that he might have made a mistake that could put him in danger.

"You're new, so you don't know about that woman's skill. It was a serious mistake to shake her hand. Now, you're at risk if you're around her," Luo Yan said, concerned about the consequences of this simple action that seemed dangerous.

"What do you mean?" Noah asked, his anxiety rising as he felt like he was now in danger.

"Mei Rinho is a professor who appeared suddenly at the university without any background or history. She toppled one of the teachers when she was only 18. That was two years ago. Many people call her 'The Crimson Synapse,'" Luo Yan explained, revealing Mei Rinho's mysterious origins, but there was something that caught Noah's attention.

"Wait, she defeated one of the teachers when she was 18, and that was just two years ago? So, she's 20?!" Noah said, a bit surprised by Mei Rinho's actual age. When he had seen her earlier, she appeared to be in her thirties or older.

"Well, it's all because of her skill. It's called 'The NerveFlame,' ranked A. It allows her to manipulate her nerves freely by physically heating them, giving her superhuman speed and reflexes, which makes her appear older since she exhausts her nerves. The truly scary part is that her skill is uncertain, and this information was gathered from the students she punished. Her ability also allows her to stimulate the nerves of anyone she touches, causing them to experience temporary nerve shock from extreme pain, as if flames were burning their nerves. She could kill you if she strikes your spine!" Luo Yan said, distressed as she recalled every time Mei Rinho punished her for doing something foolish. This also explained why Luo Yan and Cyprian had screamed in pain earlier when Mei Rinho grabbed their hands, but Noah still didn't understand how this put him in danger. It was clear that Mi Renho needed physical contact to cause pain, but this didn't explain why Luo Yan was worried about him shaking her hand.

"But how does this put me in danger?" Noah asked, still confused and a little worried about the mystery of her ability and Luo Yan's warning.

"Didn't you understand yet? She can manipulate nerves, and that includes your nerves too! We came to the conclusion that after any physical contact with her, even something as simple as a handshake, she can tell whether someone is lying or not," Luo Yan explained, revealing Mei Rinho's hidden ability to distinguish between truth and lies, which made Noah even more anxious. But he didn't want to believe something unverified.

"And how are you so sure about this? Is there any proof that this ability exists?" Noah asked, worried and puzzled. Receiving false information could later put him in danger due to his lack of preparation, something he didn't want to deal with on his first day at the university.

"Yes, lying to her doesn't work no matter how hard we try, and when you lie, she punishes you. I think her ability works differently from what everyone believes," Luo Yan added, further unsettling Noah and piquing his curiosity.

"In fact, I think she plants a parasite with any simple physical contact with the target. This parasite lives in the spinal cord and sends messages to her mind in the form of electrical signals, like electric pulses or neural radiation. This happens when the parasite inside the target senses a change in nerve activity, like increased anxiety or a faster heartbeat," Luo Yan explained to Noah, making him even more anxious. Her explanation seemed very logical. "The inability to lie" would be a huge obstacle and a problem. If Mei Rinho questioned him again and forced him to answer, he'd be in trouble no matter what he said, especially if he told her about the system, which would make him even more at risk. But something caught Noah's curiosity.

"How do you know she plants a parasite when she makes physical contact?" Noah asked, now deeply intrigued. If Luo Yan knew about the parasite and confirmed its existence, it might increase Noah's chances of resisting it, probably through medication.

"Well... actually... because of my ability, I was able to see it when it came out..." Luo Yan said nervously, her face turning red with embarrassment as she struggled to explain something like this to Noah.

"It came out?" Noah asked, even more confused when he saw Luo Yan hesitating and blushing while explaining.

"W-well... as long as the target's body maintains a certain balance that allows the parasite to stay within the nervous system... o-once the target gets rid of w-waste, chemical and electrical changes in the body trigger the expulsion of the parasite. This could be a temporary parasitic connection that's easily expelled, with the target feeling slight discomfort as the parasite exits with the w-waste..." Luo Yan explained, feeling extremely awkward and embarrassed as she told Noah.

Noah understood what Luo Yan was trying to say, and he understood why she was so embarrassed and nervous. But after thinking about it again, he turned red a little, realizing that he had just asked a girl about something like this.

"So, it's related to excretion..." Noah thought to himself, feeling slightly relieved by the fact that excreting waste would expel the parasite from his body. But he still felt a little embarrassed by their strange conversation, so he quickly tried to change the subject.

"A-ah, l-let's continue the tour. I'd really get lost if I wandered around this place alone," Noah said, stumbling over his words, and Luo Yan nodded her head, still a bit embarrassed, and continued the tour with Noah.

Somewhere a little farther away, on the roof of a campus building, Mei Rinho stood alone, her black cloak billowing in the wind as she watched Noah and Luo Yan move.

"That boy... he was able to see me earlier when I stopped Luo Yan and Cyprian... he also seemed like he wanted to tell me about his ability but hid it in the end. If you want to say something, just say it. There's no need to keep a lady so curious," Mi Renho said to herself silently as she observed Luo Yan and Noah moving.

"But what's really impressive is that girl, Luo Yan. I didn't expect her to know so much about my ability just from observation and assumption. Has she always been this smart? Hehehe, why did talents always try to hide?, This is not a story or a fantasy world... Oh, speaking of stories and fantasies, where's Cyprian?" Mei Rinho said, leaning slightly forward to see where Cyprian was, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She deduced that he had either gone somewhere or return back to his dorm.

Somewhere in the university's back area, where the dorms were located, in a blind spot not covered by cameras, Cyprian was talking to someone. The person wore a ragged gray cloak and had a oni mask covering their face, which reflected a monstrous, terrifying appearance. The dark red mask was twisted with deep wrinkles, with an open mouth revealing dagger-sharp teeth. The eyes were huge and bulging, as though they throbbed with anger and hatred, glowing with a gaze full of loathing. Cyprian handed him a sealed envelope that was slightly swollen due to its contents. The mysterious man took the envelope and opened it. Inside, there was money, a lot of it, to be exact.

"...Who's the next target?" the mysterious man asked in a calm, measured voice.

Cyprian then pulled out three photos of students from the university. The first photo was of a boy whose thick hair covered his eyes, with freckles on his cheeks. The second was of a girl with slightly darker skin, brown hair, and black eyes, licking a pink lollipop. The third was of a boy with black hair, black eyes, and an ordinary, unremarkable appearance.

"These are them. I'll pay you again once you complete the mission, and it better be before the end of the week. There's a new family member who needs a warm welcome," Cyprian said, handing the photos to the man. As soon as the man took the photos, he disappeared like a shadow, as though he had never been there.

"...The world doesn't need heroes, just one villain that everyone can unite to defeat. That way, my family will never fall apart again!" Cyprian thought to himself silently, then left the place.