Unfamiliar Memory

"Brother, India finished all of their district's tests." Yelena, who was on a huge, cozy couch, informed while sipping a juice through a straw.

"Yeah?"

Case appeared right behind her couch, watching the huge television together with her.

Just as she said, India's primary evaluation tests had already finished, and many media outlets were throwing praises on how Earth was adjusting to the situation greatly.

"Wow, so many countries have finished the district tasks for the past six months. Well, that's to be expected since Sir Auralex had announced the time limit for those tests. Because of that, tomorrow's the day when the Earth's Camp will start."

That's right.

It's been over half a year since Case's accomplishment, with him being the first to complete the task on a district.

For him, it wasn't much of an achievement, but it fueled hope to the citizens of Earth since no one really expected such an outcome would arise so soon.

That's why he gained an incredible amount of fame, even being called Earth's Hero.

The Kellys' situation turned even more chaotic since people began to surround their house after a few days of hearing the news of Case clearing the district task.

Thankfully, due to his agreement with Thomas, they are moved into a safe compound with lots of guards surrounding their family.

It felt even safer for Case since he was there to watch over them.

That wasn't the only thing that happened, though.

Case began training his body by building a solid foundation. Despite his surmountable acquired amount of knowledge, he knew that a weak body would make everything else seems frail.l.

Hence, training his physical body to the limits was needed.

It was so extreme that his body had undergone serious changes, which he most likely wanted to accomplish.

'Many things started not to align with what's in the past, such as this bizarre time limit. Sigh, I guess worrying about it now is useless. Anyway, I'll just see the changes once the Earth's Camp and First Exploration have ended.'

"Yelena, I'm going to train again. Tell Mum and Dad that I'm busy!"

Yelena hopelessly looked at his brother, who had become a workout fanatic, and let out a tired sigh.

Well, what's there to complain about since their family was relieved of such luxury due to Case's achievement?

"Okay! Train all you want, then you can have all the women in the world with that body of yours!"

After saying that, Yelena went to watch something else on television once more.

"Oppa!"

"Darling, I will forever love you!"

"Yes, Oppa!"

Yelena made a satisfied face after finishing that one series that she was repeating for the tenth time already.

…

"Pheww… I've really changed."

Case watched himself in the mirror, feeling satisfied at his progress.

He could see that his muscles became more pronounced and fibrous, his legs were already as strong as wood, and his face changed greatly to the point that his looks were even more suited to his body.

"Heh, I'm already handsome at my prime, but I didn't expect the little me would be like this if I just trained like the way I did in the past."

After being proud of his growth, Case knew he had to focus.

"Right, there's this matter as well that I keep halting on doing…"

Case brought out the Oblivion's Grin under a chair he used to hide the item, and placed it on his front as he sat down.

The creepy porcelain smirking mask lay quietly on the floor, staring right into Case's eyes as if it were alive.

It was finally time to do something with the item that he had chosen.

There was a reason he had chosen this mask, but what he hadn't expected was that it contained hidden features which he only discovered from his men, who managed to get it with their hands.

Case still remembered the conversation they had when the crew first discovered it.

-Boss! I found this good mask that seems to belong in Forgotten Realms. That's not all, it had a hidden feature by inserting Authority.

-You thief! You stole it from somewhere again! Besides, you're flaunting your acquired authority just because you somehow managed to land on a dead Stranger. Just how lucky are you? Anyways… what hidden feature?

-Hehehe, I knew you would be interested. Anyways, I don't know its normal feature yet since I'm only testing it out on a whim, but…

-Fucking spit it out!

-Kuhum, well, if you say so. The hidden feature is…

"Invisibility."

Case remembered the time when one lucky crew member from his past introduced him to the mask.

Back then, it only covered half a face, so when he saw it again in the vault, he had to double-check to be sure it was the same one.

But in the end, it turned out to be the exact same mask his crew had discovered.

After being given clear details by his crew, Case deduced the key feature, 'invisibility', from the mask.

It allows users' presence to fade from reality, leaving no scent, no aura, and no emotional imprint… as if forgotten.

"Well, I won't know its full feature unless I inject a bit of authority into this."

Without further ado, Case tried to manifest a bit of authority, a minuscule amount that won't alarm anyone who might be watching him.

But something unexpected happened.

[Do you want to inject Eternal Deceitful Eye's authority into Oblivion's Grin?]

The system that belonged to the Eternal Deceitful Eye asked directly, something Case had been nervous of dealing with since the mysterious power had been quiet all this time.

Even though he started training his Authority, Case's authority seemed to be the one who approached him about injecting its authority into the unidentified item.

It's akin to a virus infecting a host.

"Yes…"

[Okay…]

'What?'

As soon as he saw the reply from the Authority, which seemed foreboding to see, Case felt excruciating pain coursing throughout his body.

'Not this again!'

As he limped across the ground, heavily swaying unsteadily, Case began to receive strange memories that were entirely unfamiliar to him.

-Radiant Blasphemy of the Damned! I'll kill you! I'll curse you even if you banish me here! Wish that I never get out of here because if I do, you'll soon feel my wrath! Hahahaha!

"Ugh!"

Case still struggled to keep his composure at the unknown memories and the angry voice of a being, making him lose himself.

He fainted right on the spot.