CHAPTER 69: CHAPTER 68: ASSISTANT

"What is this place...?"

In the dim prison cell, Mr. Nishimiya slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry as if he had slept for a long time and was having trouble waking up.

He fought off the sleep and woke up completely, but the next moment his face turned grim. Fragments of his memories flooded back into his mind. He remembered everything.

How he died, who was the last to meet him, but the weirder fact was... he remembered everything that happened after his death. He remembered the people who came to his funeral and even those who cursed him even in death.

But there was something more.

Something that felt like a nightmare ripped out of a horror movie.

Someone robbed his grave but didn’t take the prized possession his family had buried him with. They only took his corpse, leaving everything intact. Then they did something to him... it was a ritual of sorts that brought him back to life?

He cried out in pain and stumbled back to the ground. He clutched his head, crying as the faces of the unfortunate souls he killed appeared before him.

"I... I killed them? How could this be? I killed them!"

He stared at his hands in shock. The hands were attached to his body, but they belonged to a demon, not a human. Those blisters and pus-filled sores marred his entire body. Then there were the claws... he was a monster, not the kind man he had once been.

He lunged at the metal gate, wanting to escape, but the moment he touched it, the metal bars zapped him. The old man convulsed on the ground for a moment, but he had a smile plastered on his face.

"Pain... I can feel pain!"

Still smiling, the old man began slamming the ground with his head. Nishimiya hoped his death would atone for his sins, but alas, he had to suffer more.

No matter how hard he hit his head on the ground, he didn’t feel any pain. The metal bars were the only things that could hurt him.

Just as he was about to slam his head against the gates again, they opened. Nishimiya couldn’t control his momentum and tripped, falling face-first to the ground.

"Mr. Nishimiya, are you alright?" a familiar voice asked him.

The old man looked up and saw a boy he was all too familiar with.

"Zaen...?"

Zaen smiled back, before offering the old man a hand.

***

A few minutes ago...

Zaen fell asleep only to find himself back in the anomaly prison.

"...auto activation? Bruh... let me sleep," he yawned, looking around the prison.

[An anomaly demands your attention.]

"..."

Zaen tilted his head after reading the notification. A prisoner was demanding his attention, and so he was pulled into the strange realm? That was the most ridiculous thing he had heard in a while.

He was the judge, the anomalies should be on his beck and call, not the other way around.

"Which one is it?"

[Camouflaged Anomaly#1 has awakened.]

"Awakened?"

The system didn’t elaborate beyond that. Zaen sighed and walked towards Nishimiya’s cell to check. He opened the gate and was about to step in when Nishimiya stumbled out and fell in front of his feet.

"Zaen...?" he called out.

The latter would have acted surprised, but he was watching Nishimiya’s profile page that suddenly appeared before him.

—x—

Name: Nishimiya (formerly)

Current identity: Camouflaged Anomaly#1

Role: None (can be appointed 1 new role)

Age: [Deceased]

Gender: Male

Level: 9

Fear: 100/100

Loyalty: 36/100

Stats:

HP: 600/1,200

Strength: 5.5

Agility: 10.2

Stamina: 9.7

Passive(s):

• Please assign the target a role to unlock this section.

• Depending on the current Loyalty/Fear stats, up to two employment paths can be unlocked.

—x—

"Long time no see, elder," Zaen mumbled, finally reaching out to help him.

Nishimiya didn’t really need the help, but since he still thought he had the same old body, he didn’t even try getting up on his own.

Zaen thought the old man would be confused as to where he was and what had happened to him. But to his surprise, Nishimiya immediately reached out and touched his blindfold.

"My child, why are you wearing this thing?" he asked. "This place is already dark as it is."

"It isn’t darker than what I can see, uncle."

Nishimiya tightly grabbed Zaen’s hand as he understood the meaning behind his words and also because of the stick in his hand.

"...oh, my little child," he sighed, pulling him into a hug. "Why has the Lord been so cruel to you?"

[Camouflaged Anomaly#1’s loyalty index: 56/100]

It jumped by twenty points, just like that?

Zaen had been wondering how to increase their loyalty since he wanted to see what these employment paths the system was talking about were. Now, it seemed even talking to them could work in his favor.

"It’s nothing," Zaen mumbled, taking the old man’s hands off his face. "Just the price I paid for playing hero to ungrateful people."

[Camouflaged Anomaly#1’s loyalty index: 71/100]

Nishimiya shook his head before patting Zaen’s back.

"You have suffered a lot, my boy."

"Not as much as you have."

"...those things I saw, they were... real, weren’t they?"

Nishimiya looked at Zaen like one would look at a drifting piece of wood in the sea. Even though he knew it was all true, he wanted someone to deny it for his peace of mind. Unfortunately, Zaen wasn’t that person.

"It’s all true," he said, turning his head away. "Those things did happen, but they happened when someone else was controlling your body. You didn’t have a way to stop it."

Nishimiya closed his eyes. He didn’t say a word for a while, just kept wondering what he had done to someone to warrant the burden of such a sin on him.

[Camouflaged Anomaly#1’s loyalty index: 100/100]

[New employment path unlocked: Assistant (Rehab Center)]

Zen raised an eyebrow and was about to check the details when Nishimiya took his hand into his.

"Thank you so much, my boy," he said. "If it wasn’t for you, then who knows how many people I would have killed. It’s all because of you that I can still lift my head up."

Yeah, I don’t think you should do that.

Despite his kind words to Nishimiya, Zaen didn’t feel any ’connection’ with the anomaly. He only said and did those things to get his loyalty up so he could use him.

—x—

Employment path: Assistant (Rehab Center)

• Slowly increases the loyalty of anomalies within the Rehab center (+1 point per day).

• Can be called forth to calm/distract other anomalies in the human realm.

Employment path: Goon (Prison)

• Slowly increases the fear of anomalies within the prison (+1 point per day).

• Can be summoned to fight alongside the Judge in the game world with all their strength and stats.

Note: The Judge can include up to three additional job duties for the employee.

—x—

Hm... this isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

Zaen wasn’t worried about what to pick for Nishimiya, he was already going the assistant route with him since he wouldn’t do well in combat. He was more worried about what to do with the rest of them.

"Hell’s chef and Hell’s attendant," Zaen mumbled. "Those two would have to become goons since they work well together, but what about the bus?"

While the bus was stronger than the hell couple, it uses depended on the scenario. Most importantly, it was nothing without the rotten flesh covering it. Still, it would be safe to turn him into a goon as well when the time comes.

"As for you, Nishimiya," Zaen said, turning on his gentle smile. "I was hoping you could help me educate other misguided souls, like yourself, to the right path."

A contract appeared in Zaen’s hand, listing all the demands a generic employer would want from a generic employee.

"Go through it, if there’s anything you don’t like, feel free to ask me about it."

Nishimiya took the contract, and his smile somewhat faded. Although Zaen said it was an employment contract, it was more like a slave contract. But it wasn’t too bad for Nishimiya since he had reached the highest loyalty towards Zaen.

"Of course," Nishimiya said as he signed the contract. "You can leave it to me."

[Camouflaged Anomaly#1’s job title has been switched to: Assistant (Rehab Center)]

As soon as the notification appeared, Nishimiya turned back into a human... sort of, and also got a new police uniform. He looked at his uniform and smiled.

"It is just like the uniform I had in my closet," Nishimiya said, his eyes gleaming with gratitude towards Zaen. "I’ll handle everything inside the rehab center for you. Don’t worry."

"I know," Zaen nodded. "And remember, if anyone misbehaves, then you can use that baton to set them straight. Though do not try to intimidate the prisoners. You do not have any authority over them."

"Of course."