Inside the Religion Department, Benjamin was leaning back in his chair, reading a book.
Angela arrived there together with Ayou. Benjamin looked up at the visitors but did not speak; instead, Angela spoke first.
"Benjamin, when I and Lisa and the others witnessed the will of the Primordial River last time, why did the Primordial River manifest as Carmen only before me?"
Benjamin closed the book in his hands, placed it on the bookshelf, and then spoke.
"When you ended everyone's ideals for the sake of your so-called great cause, you should have already understood. In a sense, Carmen is you, and you are Carmen, yet you are not Carmen."
Beside them, Ayou was left bewildered by what he heard and asked,
"What on earth are you two talking about?"
Angela said with some irritation,
"This is not your place to speak."
Ayou felt rather speechless at this moment. Should I just leave then?
"The human heart is pink. When you began researching City diseases in the Psychology Department, you should have known. In reality, you also hope for the world to regain its color, and you are indeed transforming into a human."
"Do not use your great causes to define me. I am not like you. I have no desire to fulfill your bullshit ideals; I just resent what he did. I only want freedom, nothing more."
On the other side, while Ayou was looking for a book on the shelf, the bookshelf suddenly collapsed, pinning Ayou to the ground. Amidst the countless books, Ayou could only wriggle out one hand. But why did it fall? How strange.
Hearing the commotion, both of them turned their heads to look. Angela raised her hand and snapped her fingers, restoring the area to its original state.
"Ah, this… thank you."
Benjamin sighed and said,
"You are still running away from yourself. If you truly hated him, you should have just stood by and done nothing just now."
"Enough!!!"
Before he could finish, Angela interrupted him.
Not only Benjamin, but Ayou over there also heard the commotion.
"I know very well what kind of person I am, and within the infinite loops, I also know what kind of people you are. To fulfill his long-cherished wish, he trapped you all in that hell. Do not tell me that you are all there willingly."
"Then you would not have tried to dissuade him time and again. If you had strictly followed the script back then... if not for everything you did, everyone would have been liberated much sooner. Do not talk to me about 'one sin and a hundred virtues' or 'a hundred sins and one virtue'; I only know that place was a hell through and through."
The scene suddenly began to shift. The three of them returned to Lobotomy Corporation, inside the Manager's office.
Seeing the scene change, Ayou on the side helplessly muttered,
"I thought it was over, I didn't expect to have to go through it again."
At this moment, Angela lowered her head with a hollow gaze, beginning to reminisce.
"Manager, welcome to Lobotomy Corporation. I am your AI secretary, Angela."
The X before her, wearing a white lab coat and bearing some resemblance to Ayou, turned back to look at Angela and said,
"Hello, beautiful girl."
Huh? Angela felt a stir in her heart. This was a situation that had never occurred before. Shouldn't he be asking what the current situation was?
"You are more polite than all previous Managers."
"Oh, thank you for the compliment. So, what is my job?"
Observing the situation, Angela asked,
"Are you not curious why you are here?"
X waved his hand.
"No need to know. My mind is currently a blank slate, and since I am standing here wearing a white lab coat, it implies I may have undergone some form of memory erasure, so I should naturally be doing this job."
"Very well, Manager. Lobotomy Corporation is an energy company. Here, you…"
On the fourth day, after Angela finished the preparations for the various departments, she returned to the Manager's office. Seeing Angela return, X reached out his hand. He opened his fist to reveal a candy inside.
"Angela, I went to observe the employees, and one of them gave me this candy. Would you like a piece?"
Angela made no move but said,
"Manager, you do not need to build good relationships with the employees; they are just… Ah, no. Besides, I cannot taste anything, and what I eat also…"
Before Angela could finish her sentence, X shoved the candy into her mouth.
"Why say so much? Didn't you just say, 'I eat'…"
Watching X's actions, Angela also said thank you. Actually, what I wanted to say before was that it is useless for me to eat; the candy in my mouth has no change, nor does it have any taste. But why did I experience a different feeling?
On the ninth day, when Angela walked into the Manager's office as usual and was about to greet the Manager, X suddenly lunged from behind the door and pinned Angela against the wall. At the same time, he held a blue rose in his hand.
"Oh, beautiful girl, you are as lovely as this blue rose. May I have the honor of a dance with you?"
Angela's expression did not change at all, she only opened her eyes in shock.
"Manager, what are you doing?"
She thought to herself: He didn't go behind my back and chug champagne, did he?
Seeing Angela's reaction, X returned to his seat in disappointment and looked at the book.
"Boring. Why don't you have any reaction? This is a book I confiscated from a slacking employee in the Information Team yesterday. What was it called? '361 Ways to Exude Charm'."
"I read through it, and yet you have absolutely no reaction."
Angela tilted her head in confusion and said,
"Then, how should I react? Manager, would you like to try a different method?"
"Maybe tomorrow. I'll look into it some more."
While working, after X issued the order to perform Instinct work on Rudolph,
X looked at Angela standing beside him and asked,
"Do you know why Rudolph is so popular among the employees?"
Angela searched her database for the research records on Rudolph regarding the employees.
"Based on the Abnormality's research, Rudolph's appearance is excessively pitiful. The employees show a certain degree of loss of control, including but not limited to losing self-restraint, stopping work, and losing track of time. Based on this, these are the reasons for its popularity among employees; ethically questionable situations cannot be ruled out."
After thinking for a while, X said,
"If I were to perform work on Rudolph, I suspect I definitely wouldn't like it."
"Manager, you are joking. You are not required to enter the containment unit."
"Guess why I wouldn't like it?"
"So, why?"
X spoke affectionately, looking at Angela.
"Because Rudolph is nowhere near as cute as the angel in front of me. And Angela, you are my own personal little angel."
As he spoke, he reached out to touch Angela's face. A moment later, Angela slapped his hand away, though it made no sound.
"Manager, you rascal."
Her tone was slightly angry.
X realized that Angela hadn't used any force and smiled.
"How was that, Manager? Are you satisfied with my reaction?"
Day 14, an important stage in the script. X, just like all the previous Managers, asked that question.
"Do you intend to harm me, or the company?"
Angela sighed softly and then began to explain as always. Just like the script, unchanging throughout the ages.
After listening, X said with a gradual smile,
"There is a program here called the Pinocchio Program. It tests whether the person in front of it is lying. It just lit up, so what does that mean?"
At this moment, Angela was thinking about how to ensure this Manager did not lose trust in her.
"Manager, I think… this…"
And the X before her said something earth-shattering.
"Do you like me?"
"Huh?????"
After Angela realized what happened,
X said somewhat narcissistically,
"Ah, I knew my charm was simply too much to contain."
After hearing this, Angela smiled slightly and said,
"Yes, I like you very much as well, Manager."
I do not know what he meant by 'like,' but he is indeed special. I also like this Manager very much. In fact, I have never told a lie.
Day 18. Your friend Benjamin has gone offline.
[Sir, you have crossed the line again.]
Before starting work, X felt somewhat restless. He did not know why he was so anxious and uneasy.
Yesterday, he contained Rudolph the Sleigh. Today, he completed the resource unlock for Rudolph the Sleigh. Looking at the story and research records of this Abnormality made his scalp tingle. He even felt a wave of nausea.
After work, he returned to the break room. X said to Angela,
"Angela, I might have nightmares tonight. Could you sleep with me tonight?"
"Although I don't need to sleep, I can keep you company."
X began to speak, his tone slightly tinged with sadness.
"Just keep me company, please. Just this once."
Angela helplessly accompanied X to sleep, and the two shared the bed. X fell asleep, holding Angela's cold body.
Meanwhile, Angela wondered to herself, 'Will I freeze him? If only I were human right now.' Watching his sleeping face, Angela felt an unprecedented sense of relief tonight.
The letter from the former CEO of Lobotomy Corporation, Ayin, arrived on schedule. Angela then began to introduce the company's ideal to X.
"Ayin is my creator, but he never looked at me properly. The phrase he said to me the most was simply, 'Machines should operate like machines.'"
"That Ayin is the one who's cold and heartless like a machine; he's truly not human. Saying that to you was truly cruel. Of course, you are not heartless. I believe you must have been a person once."
Angela smiled self-deprecatingly at this.
"If he knew you said that, he would probably laugh at himself too, wouldn't he?"
While working, X was somewhat distracted, pondering what the company was actually for. At the same time, he began to think about what the company's ideal really was.
During his conversations with the various Department Heads, he could always invisibly resolve their problems, and I would also offer him my opinions regarding them.
Then X asked Angela:
"Why can't you go and tell them yourself?"
"For certain reasons in my programming, I cannot get close to them, so someone must play the villain."
"Then why must it be you?"
Yes, why must it be me?
The Department Heads often said to him, "You are not like him." Yes, he is not like him. He would not allow employees to die; he was upright and optimistic. Even if a Clerk died, he would reset the day, until I tricked him into believing that Clerks would not die here and that they would still be here the next day. Haven't you noticed that the number of Clerks has never decreased? Yet he remained cautious, half-believing my words.
He discovered the existence of the script on his own. He said he would strive for the company's ideal. But will there ever be an end?
In these past few days, he would tease, flirt with, and provoke me from time to time. I didn't feel much about it; I just thought it was very amusing—no, interesting. I also played along with him.
Once, I pressed down on his shoulders, pinned him against the table, and held his chin with one hand, saying to his face:
"Man, you have successfully piqued my interest."
...
"Manager, do you like roleplay?"
I had thought that after that, I would get a different Ayin, but everything ended prematurely.
On day 25, he saw the malfunctioning Abnormality. He asked me, "What is the meaning of us being here?" I didn't know either.
In the storage room, I wanted to open the cognition filter for him, but I couldn't. Because of the existence of the script, I could only ask for his opinion. He was a character outside the script.
X waved his hand and said in a flat tone:
"No need. What must be faced, must be faced."
The hydraulic press gradually rose. With a bang, it fell. Blood splattered at his feet. Seeing the unprocessed scene, he had no expression and said not a word. I had thought this incident hadn't caused any changes.
But in reality, at that moment, his heart was also smashed to pieces, just like it was for the others back then. His heart was riddled with holes.
Day 28, it was time for memory synchronization. When I saw him in the morning, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had huge dark circles.
"Manager, you don't look well. Why not rest for a while?"
"No need. Angela, go get me two new lab coats. Also, I'd like some champagne."
When I followed his orders to go to the storage room to prepare, I saw on my monitor that he had gone to the containment unit of One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds. Although he violated regulations, I didn't stop him. I didn't think it would cause anything. On the way back, he talked to a Clerk for a while...
When I returned to the office with the items, he started saying some strange things.
"Angela, humans have limits..."
"Manager, what are you talking about?"
...
"That ideal is truly evil."
"Angela, my little angel, let us meet again in heaven."
Bang! Blood splattered onto my face, and the two lab coats were no longer pure. The champagne in my hand was stained with blood. Even with 100 times the perception, I couldn't understand why.
Why did it have to be this way? Why would someone like him be buried? I understood why he didn't just send me away, but specifically asked me to get lab coats. I also understood why he went to the containment unit of One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds, and why he talked to the Clerk. But I don't understand why, after confession, one is supposed to feel a sense of relief, and he did indeed feel that relief now.
I drank the champagne in my hand in one gulp; it had no taste, or rather, it was a bit bitter. I changed him and myself into new lab coats and waited for the script to reset.
In this Manager's 28 days of work, only one personnel was lost, named X.
I understood.
"Because this place is hell."
The scene inside the Religion Layer returned to normal. The Library began to shake.
"Wanting to lead everyone to heaven, yet being powerless—everything is so ridiculous. Do you know what it feels like to kill your friends countless times? Do you know what it feels like to be abandoned by those you trust? Perhaps Chesed and Gebura were right. I am no angel, but a demon. But in this hell, who can remain untainted? They were right; I will create a blooming paradise for everyone."
Blood-colored wings grew from Angela's back, intertwining and circling like branches, accompanied by eye-catching eyes. Her hair turned brown, and that blue rose was also stained with blood. Her clothes were also intertwined with the branches, resembling a dress.
Angela's eyes were vacant, losing their luster. Those golden pupils were now slightly tinged with red.
Roland heard the commotion and rushed over, discovering Angela, who was resonating.
"This... I knew it. Sigh, one thing at a time. Let's do this."
At this moment, the Hana Association had just finished the reception.
Angela's body recovered somewhat, but she put on her hood again, holding a scythe.
"In the endless cycle, I can only remain silent. And silence comes with a price. Do not let time pass in vain."
The hooded black robe on Angela began to change, slightly adorned with blue stripes, but Angela's eyes were simultaneously covered by endless hands.
"Yes, I have many devout followers. They will all be loyal to me. In the end, they and I will return to the Blue Star."
Angela seemed to have recovered, but her hair seemed to have grown longer.
"Is this the end?"
Angela's hair continued to extend. The clothes on her body began to become tattered. A crown of thorns appeared on her head, and Angela knelt on the ground, murmuring continuously.
"I'm sorry."
The scene changed again. They arrived at a pure white place, and on the other side was endless fog.
A man walked out of the fog. That man looked somewhat similar to Ayou.
Behind him were six pure white wings. He also had golden pupils, but his hair was as pale as his wings. The clothes on his body... no, he was wearing a white robe. He reached out his hand to Angela.
"Although you are Judas, you are still my apostle."
The thick fog gradually dissipated. Holy light emanated from the man, shining so brightly that everyone could not open their eyes.
On the field, everyone opened their eyes and found 11 apostles holding their weapons high. There were scepters, scythes, and long spears.
Their figures kept condensing.
"Stand up and await the arrival of your master."
"Why are you still kneeling? Aren't you cold?"Chapter 11: Can Spilled Water Really Be Gathered Back?
After Pierre's meat pie post-match, Angela became confused about the matter of eating people.
Roland explained, "Although eating people in the Backstreets isn't allowed, but..."
"This person looks like a person, feels like a person, tastes like a person, that's right, he is a person. Eating people in District 23 is even more like a daily occurrence."
After Pierre transformed, Angela asked her, "Can you guys cook?"
Pierre scratched his head and replied, "That... we only know how to make meat pies..."
Angela covered her head in embarrassment after hearing this and said speechlessly, "Never mind, you guys go back to the bookshelf and sleep."
"A new floor has opened, and you, Ayou."
"What's wrong?"
"Never mind, you go first. Roland, what about you?"
"I'll go deliver the books to Yesod first."
Roland went to tidy up the books.
Afterward, Angela had already arrived at the Technological Sciences Floor.
Angela brought a syringe of green liquid in her hand and handed it to Yesod.
Yesod was surprised when he saw this tube of liquid and said, "How do you have this?"
Angela said nonchalantly, "It was left over from the company back then. You should still remember the experiment from back then, right?"
Yesod felt a bit unhappy after hearing this and said, "Unforgettable. What's the matter? Are you trying to pick at our scars again?"
Angela hurriedly started to explain after hearing this, "No, no, I... I'm not... I... Forget it."
Angela actually felt that what she said didn't sound quite right and said awkwardly, "This is the book of the Abandoned Murderer."
At the same time, she handed over the book that seemed to be wrapped in metal.
After seeing the book, Yesod teased, "He might as well be renamed the 'Disgraceful Murderer.' The clerks could have suppressed him back then."
"Yes, he only needed you alone to suppress him. Sometimes death is indeed a release. I'm not sure if it can be achieved, but not doing so would be too cruel to him."
At this moment, Yesod was thinking, 'How did you start speaking in riddles too?' After thinking for a while, he said, "I understand. If it doesn't work, it's just letting him die one more time."
Yesod put on the Butcher's Page and then entered the junior middle school world.
In the cell, a man was constantly hitting his head against the wall, muttering something in his mouth.
"I was wrong, please forgive me."
Yesod quietly moved over, but he was still discovered.
That person's head suddenly turned into a giant iron block and smashed onto Yesod's body without warning, making Yesod's body feel a wave of numbness.
After a big jump away, Yesod rubbed his left hand, trying to alleviate the feeling of paralysis.
When the situation eased, he looked at him in front of him and muttered to himself, "In the end, I still have to face you."
The kitchen knife slashed onto the iron block, making a buzzing sound.
The Abandoned Murderer fainted in place for a while, then charged straight at Yesod. But the speed was relatively slow, and Yesod dodged it with a twist of his body, backhanding a slash at his neck.
The Disgraceful Murderer let out a painful scream. Finally, Yesod stepped forward and slashed him several times, causing him to lose the ability to act.
The Abandoned Murderer lay on the ground, covered in knife wounds.
But he was still breathing, and his mouth kept murmuring, "I was wrong, I was wrong."
"No, you weren't wrong. The ones who were wrong were us."
Yesod put away the kitchen knife and untied part of his straitjacket. Then he injected the cogito into it.
"To go to such lengths for that goal is indeed a bit cruel. Finally, experience freedom for a while."
In the next second, the straitjacket on his body was completely opened, and the flesh on his body began to change, but he was now waving his hands happily, experiencing it.
"It hurts so much, but I feel so relieved now."
The iron block on the murderer's head gradually simulated the appearance of a middle-aged man. Tears kept flowing down his face, and the tears dripped onto the floor of the cell and turned into blood.
"Ah, I thank you. I hope you can accomplish all of that."
After saying this, the murderer's body kept twisting and decomposing, constantly dissipating, turning into an indescribable pool of blood.
But he kept smiling. After turning into blood, gas emerged, and finally, he disappeared without a trace.
The world of the Abandoned Murderer collapsed.
Yesod came out too. Angela was admiring the bookshelf Yesod had organized nearby.
She turned her head and looked over.
"Done?"
"It's done, but the situation seems a bit different."
"What's different?"
"The characteristics of the resulting page are different. Normally, after Malkuth finishes the suppression, aren't there three? Why are there only two here? And they are only green, one is Echo of Iron, one is Freedom."
(Ps: Two red reverse sets, II, speed fixed to maximum value, gain 2 layers of Haste, power gets 2-5 bonus.)
"This might be within reason. After letting it return to the river, there will always be some errors. And there were many uncertain factors at the beginning."
Roland came over carrying books.
"Yesod, the books are here."
Angela flashed away as soon as she heard it.
While tidying up the books, Yesod was suddenly asked by Roland, "Can I ask a question?"
"What do you want to ask? If it's about Angela, I suggest you change the subject."
"Why do I feel that your attitude towards Angela and your attitude towards Malkuth are completely different?"
"Don't worry, she will change her ways later. I have already let go of my prejudices."
Roland thought for a while and said, "Then I want to learn about Yesod's past."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Ayou arrived at the Literature Floor.
"It's Hod, right? Hey, Miss Hod, are you there?"
A sweet, but slightly flustered voice came out.
"Ah, Mr. Ayou, please, please wait a moment."
After a moment, Hod came out wearing a hat; it was Laetitia's hat.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Didn't wait too long, just a while. Nice to meet you, my name is Ayou."
"Hello, Mr. Ayou."
Ayou looked at the hat on her head.
"The hat looks good."
The latter was a bit happy after hearing this.
"Thank you."
But something under the hat moved, unnoticed by others.
Ayou blinked.
'Uh, did I see that wrong?'
Hod looked at Ayou's expression, a bit panicked.
At this moment, the hat on her head moved again.
Ayou thought to himself, 'Holy crap, it really is moving.'
"Uh, Hod, under your hat... it seems to be moving."
The latter heard this and said, "Uh, uh, that..."
She immediately pressed the hat down.
"See, there's nothing there."
"Alright, you and I should have known each other in the past, right?"
"About that, I'm about the same as them. You are a responsible person, the you from the past..."
"Hey, Mr. Ayou, are you listening?"
"Ah? I am, I am."
In fact, Ayou was daydreaming, observing under the hat.
"Hey, Mr. Ayou, I can show you, but please don't laugh at me."
Ayou patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I'm very serious, I won't laugh."
"Alright."
Hod took off the hat on her head, and there was nothing there.
Ayou asked suspiciously, "Nothing there?"
"Yes."
"Then what was moving just now?"
"My hair."
"What? Hair? Did I hear that right?"
"Yes, my ahoge. It was just like this."
Now the ahoge was shivering there. Ayou looked at the shivering ahoge and couldn't help but laugh.
Hod said angrily, "Mr. Ayou, didn't you say you wouldn't laugh?"
At this moment, Hod was angry, and the ahoge on her head was swaying wildly.
"Sorry, I really... I really... am... sorry..."
"Oh, you're still laughing."
"Ah, okay, okay, I won't laugh, I won't laugh. I just think it's kind of cute."
"Cute? This was done by Angela. She said it would help me express my emotions and not be too shy."
(Idea Master Angela, you can look at the beginning of Chapter 4.)
Ayou thought to himself, 'Director, I shouldn't have said you were emotional. Now I see that the ahoge is even more emotional than you.'
"? Hmm, Angela. Speaking of which, what did we do in the past? Why did we break up with Angela?"
"Break up? That doesn't really count. She did things... that we couldn't understand."
After the two chatted for a while, Ayou left. After a while, Hod looked at her ahoge in the mirror.
At this time, Roland came again. Roland saw Hod's ahoge and asked directly, "Hod, your hair..."
"Don't worry, it's normal."
Roland said, "So cute, can I touch it?"
"No!!!" Hod's ahoge stood straight up, like a startled kitten.
Ayou arrived at the Art Floor.
"This place is so green. It's like being inside a tree. Speaking of which, where are the people?"
"Hey, Net, are you there? Are you awake?"
"Why are you calling so loudly? So noisy."
Ayou looked at the ground following the sound.
"Net, don't lie on the ground, hey."
"You don't understand, you don't understand the feeling of having your hard work trampled on. In this place, there is everything, and there is nothing. Can't die even if you want to. Can't even reach death."
"Don't be so pessimistic. Good things always happen, right?"
"Uh, look at this."
Ayou looked around and saw the drawing board on the side.
"Look, you have a drawing board here, why not draw something?"
Ayou pulled Net up directly.
"Draw?"
"If you have something to do, you won't want to die."
"Who said I wanted to die?"
"Weren't you just talking about something? It's impossible to reach, right?"
"That was just a metaphor. I used to think death was a release. But now, I think it's just an escape and irresponsibility. If you ask me what I was like in the past, my view is the same as theirs. Hmm."
"Thanks, so is there anything you want to draw?"
"Maybe. Our wish."
Net picked up the brush and started drawing. The ink depicted it on it.
"That giant tree of light breaks through the soil and illuminates people's hearts."
"That's right. There will always be something to do. I'm leaving first, I'll come again next time."
"Take care, don't trip."
Just after saying this, while walking, he really tripped over a branch on the ground...
Roland came down from the Literature Floor at this time.
"Hey Net, hello, I am Rol..."
Before he finished speaking, he was tripped by the branch at the door.
Net turned back and looked. With a wave of his hand, he helped Roland up.
Perhaps we really should ask Angela to fix the threshold, it's a bit high, physically.
"Ah, thank you. What is this?"
"Drawing."
On the painting, there was a giant tree and a dozen people standing there.
"This is our ideal. The ideal we poured everything into."
"Who are these people in the painting?" Roland asked about the little figures at this time.
Net introduced them one by one.
"Then this man is Ayou, that is A. Wait, why is there one person missing? What about Angela?"
"She..."
Net gripped the brush in his hand tightly after hearing that name.
"She took everything away and ruined our efforts."
Roland listened to this sentence. 'Hey, this situation isn't right, is it?'
Net picked up a bucket of ink in his hand.
"It's just like this."
Net splashed the bucket of black paint in his hand onto it.
Roland was dumbfounded.
"Uh, what was that? My condolences."
Looking at the painting that was left with only black, Roland sighed and said.
Net sighed at this moment.
"Sigh, but I'm not the kind of person who would ruin my own work."
With a snap of his fingers, the ink returned to where it was. Everything remained unchanged.
"I can gather back spilled water here, but it's a pity that the bucket of ink can't be taken back