CHAPTER 24: [MEMORIES]

"Have you suffered any problems in the past few weeks? Like something that especially began around a month ago?"

"Hmmm? Does diarrhea count?"

"I don’t know. I am just collecting data."

...

"So, about the frequent mana loss. How long have you been having these triggers?"

"I don’t know. I think it has been over a year or two."

"Is that so? So... Did you feel any changes in the triggers over time?"

"Not that I could remember any. Though my memory isn’t really the best."

...

"Earlier, you mentioned the loss of your ability to use mana. Can you explain when it started and how severe it was?"

"Well. I was healing a patient and then, all of a sudden, I lost the ability to call upon the mana. It was weird at first, but a few seconds later, I could use it as much as before. As for severity. Sorry, I don’t think I could quantify it. It’s just like a lack of mana for a few seconds."

...

While collecting information from all the places, I first considered giving it to Encerid to compile for me. But then, thinking about the lack of time, I decided to try something else instead.

Right after [Returning], I took out a blank-handcrafted paper. And I then began drawing a specific pattern on it. It was something that I had learnt during my days in the Border Town.

I knew that I was going to use it someday. But I didn’t think it would be this early. I thought as I looked at the finished diagram and the notification that came along with it.

[Memory Transfer Array

Effects: Allows the user to input a portion of his memory into the array, which then can be transferred to another living being!]

With that array in my hand, as I ran from Mirag City to the Northern City, I also copied all the necessary information I had to. With this, I didn’t need to worry about the Primordials knowing-

-BOOOM!!!!!

"Can’t you not read the memories of a person through the array?" I spoke out loud in irritation as I saw those guys standing in front of me, their eyes bearing the same expression as last time. Confusion. And amazement.

"Too big to ignore, Adam," the drunkard spoke as usual, while the others were still quiet.

[Returning to the previous save point!]

[Loading complete!]

Waking up in the same place as before, I sighed a bit. I had no privacy at all.

Is there really no way to stop them from knowing my memories? I pondered it. This was becoming unnecessarily complicated.

Sitting in the same place in my shop, I speculated on a couple of things.

It was true that they could not learn about my memories. If that were possible, they could have easily stopped me a long, long time ago. But it seems they could read the object’s memories.

What about people then? I thought of transferring the memories directly into someone.

Normally, I would need a skill for that, but...

Looking at my palm, especially at the millions of microcircuits that I have built inside it, I pondered the possibility of integrating a memory circuit somewhere in there.

[Personal Space]

Going into that space, I began experimenting with the array in my hand. Since even a single mistake could mess up the entire framework of my body, this was a necessary step.

Inside the [Personal space], I had to redo the same things at least a few dozen times before I began reaching a somewhat stable point. Sadly, something like this won’t even make me barely satisfied.

I went on a hundred times before finally reaching the point where my body worked normally without losing any of its basic features.

Let’s check out the skills, then. I thought as I used the [Fire] skill to light up a small globe of fire in front of me.

-Freeze!!!

And the entire area in front of me froze, mimicking an ice age.

Both the amount of skill power and the skill itself were wrong.

I could only sigh as I clicked my fingers, resetting everything back to zero when I entered the [Personal Space].

The experiments continued for dozens of hundreds of times before it finally reached a point where the spell worked correctly. And about a thousand more times before everything really functioned normally.

All my body movements, skills, passive skills, non-system related skills, etc, worked perfectly as they should.

All right. This should be enough to set the foundation. I thought as I began making changes within the microarrays to increase the amount of memory they could store.

This took longer.

At least 3000 times before, I could store at least half a month’s worth of memories. Though the good thing was that I could store not only my memories but also those of my target in it. As long as they give consent, that is.

Going for another 10,000 or so tries, I then increased the capacity to 20 days, while making sure I could extract a few hours’ worth of memories from the target, even if consent was not given. Though I am pretty sure the target won’t be alive by the end of memory extraction.

We can always restart, still. I thought, stretching a bit more, and then wondered if there was anything else I could add to it. Thinking about it for a few minutes, I could not think of anything like that except for ’memory distortion.’

But honestly, it’s not to my taste.

Unless I really needed that, I would rather not touch that power.

Going for a couple more tries, I tested this power before getting out of the [Personal Space], and then after [Restarting] once again, I worked on that array as I have practiced before.

Now that’s done, let’s see if the Primordials can figure it out on another person. I thought, as I was kind of worried about that particular situation.

What if the Primordials can read other people’s memories? What if I were special? What if the Fate Weavers were the only exception? What if there was something that I had no idea of?

Honestly, there was a lot to worry about. So much that I didn’t know which to focus on. But then, thinking of the options I have, I decided to do what I could do best.

And that was to do everything that I could.

Walking towards Linc, I saw him sweeping the shop as usual. Since it was late at night, many players had logged out and would log in only within a few hours, leaving the shop empty despite being open for more than 24 hours.

"Linc, come here for a moment," I said as I walked closer to him. He too stopped sweeping as he turned to me, puzzled, wondering what had happened.

Putting my hand on his head, I decided to transfer a small amount of my memory from the returns that I had in this shop, making sure he would completely understand my ability.

Because I was doubtful about something, I decided to add even my death to the memories.

The fact that I was sane and normal despite dying so many times somehow bugged me a lot. This was the perfect chance to check if I was the only one special, or if this was something anybody could do.

The change was pretty apparent, as he looked at me with slight horror.

His body shivered as he fell down on the ground, vomiting a lot until blood began to come out of his mouth. Before I could even move to heal him....

"AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!"

He shouted out loud, tearing his own hair out as I began hitting the floor with all his might. He did this a total of three times until his head was splashed open, ending his life within a few moments after that.

"..."

All right. I wasn’t normal at all. I gulped as I just looked at the mess before pressing the [Restart!] button once again, this time a bit more scared than before.

Perhaps I was taking this whole thing too normally? Whatever the case may be... this is kind of scary.

[Returning to Last Save Point!]

Repeating the same actions as last time, except that this time, I didn’t include the memories of my death, but only my returns. The result was...

"AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! IT HURTS!!! IT HURTS SO MUCH!!!!"

I saw Linc running towards the weapons, picking one up before slitting his throat with it without any hesitation on his face.

His mind could not bear the burden of the memories of two timelines.

[Returning to Last Save Point!]

This time, I just gave him memories that I was going to give to Encerid. The ones that contained all the information of the citizens in the Northern City.

"These memories. What are these?" Linc asked, holding his head, using healing magic on it as he turned to me.

"Any pain?" I asked, to which he nodded before adding," Yeah. It’s as if a minotaur had hit me. Though it’s slowly subsiding. Nothing that I cannot manage for now."

Looking at how he was stabilising, a small smile formed on my face.

-BOOOM!

Though it vanished as fast as it came when I heard the sound outside the shop, I knew the guys who had just appeared in front of me. However, much to my surprise, as the shop’s walls disintegrated, I saw that not all the Primordials were standing outside the shop.

Just one of them.

A lady in white.

Too bad I wasn’t exactly a ladies’ man...

[Returning to Last Save Point!]