Lee Min-Ji's whisper echoed in Kim-Do's mind long after she had moved away, like a slow-acting poison. "It almost didn't look like you were the one fighting." Each word was an icy needle planted in its fragile facade. She knew. Or at least, she suspected. What if she, Ganguk High's smartest observer, had discovered her secret, how long before the others followed?
The rest of the school day was spent in a fog of anxiety. Every glance in the corridors seemed accusing to him. Every muffled laugh was, in his paranoid mind, a mockery of him. Choi Yu-Ra walked beside him, a silent and solid bulwark, but even his unwavering loyalty made him uncomfortable. She thought she was protecting a hero, not an impostor.
Sitting at the back of the history classroom, he stared at the window without seeing the cityscape. The professor's words were but a distant hum, covered by the tumult of his thoughts.
She said "inventive." Not "weak," not "new." Inventive. As if she recognized that it was an improvisation, not the tried and tested technique of the real Kim-Do. Does she take notes on me? Is she waiting to see how long I'm going to last?
Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced his temple. He gritted his teeth, trying not to wince. It was no ordinary headache. It was like a door that opened abruptly in his mind, releasing a flood of images and sensations that were not his.
The real younger Kim-Do, still with his face marked by adolescence, training in an underground dojo. The sweat pricked his eyes. An older man, with a stern face - his mentor? - was yelling at him. Pain is just a message, Kim-Do. Learn to ignore it! Control her!" The sensation of a cracking bone in her forearm, followed not by a scream, but by a muffled grunt of determination. The memory was imbued with a stubborn bitterness, a thirst for recognition that burned like an acid.
Then, as quickly as she had come, the vision disappeared, leaving him panting, his sweaty hands clasping to his desk. The synchronicity reward. That was it. The system gave him snippets of each other's lives, and it was both terrifying and fascinating. He had just felt the pain of the other, his iron will. How could he hope to imitate such a force?
VZZT.
As if in response to his doubts, a new blue window opened in his field of vision.
"'
[QUEST: CONFOLING AUTHORITY]
Background: Your unexpected victory has cast doubt. Strengthen your position by solving an internal problem.
Objective: To intervene in a conflict between two lower members of your faction and to impose your arbitration before the end of the lunch break.
• Reward: Targeted Memory (Kim-Do Personal Relationships) + 150 Reputation Points
Failure: Loss of loyalty among your supporters. Increased risk of internal rebellion.
"'
An internal conflict. Right, then. Just what he needed. Lead, referee, play the leader. Everything he was not made for at all. He glanced discreetly at his watch. The lunch break was in twenty minutes.
The venue was a secluded corner of the courtyard, near the old out-of-service beverage dispensers. Two boys, members of his faction judging by their nervous attitudes, faced each other. One, thin and nervous, had clenched fists. The other, more stout, his face red with anger, was yelling at him.
..."and I'm telling you that you took it! No one else has been there!"
"You're rambling, Tae-min! I have enough money to pay for my own gear!"
Kim-Do approached him, feeling the gaze of several other members of his group landing on him. They were waiting. They were waiting for their leader to restore order. Choi Yu-Ra stood back a little, his arms crossed, watching the scene carefully. And, of course, leaning against a tree a little further away, Kang Seong was there, his notebook in hand. The observer. Always present.
Breathe. You're not a judge. You're a leader. Act as such.
"What's the matter?" asked Kim-Do, trying to model his voice in the impassive tone he imagined was that of the real Kim-Do.
The two boys turned to him, immediately on the defensive. He accuses me of stealing his state-of-the-art music player!" defended the thinnest.
Because it's the truth! He was there, and now he's gone!" counterattacked Tae-min, the strongest.
The evidence? There was none. It was word against word. The kind of situation that could rot a faction from within if it was mismanaged. Old Kim-Do would probably have settled this through intimidation or expeditious punishment. But he, the imposter, had neither the natural authority nor the necessary cruelty.
His mind was working at full speed. Why steal a music player here in broad daylight, when there are much more valuable items to steal from the lockers? And why is the accuser so vehement? Almost... too much.
He then remembered an insignificant detail, seen earlier in the day. Tae-min, the accuser, speaking in the ear of a member of Park Jin-Ho's White Tigers. A furtive exchange, but one that, in retrospect, seemed suspicious.
"Tae-min," said Kim-Do, his voice quieter than he felt. "Where did you buy that music player?"
The boy looked taken aback. "Uh... at the mall. Why?"
"Which store?"
" Uh... Sonic Tech."
Kim-Do kept his face marble, but inwardly, a triumphant smile emerged. He turned to the other boy, the thin and nervous one. "What about you, Si-woo? Do you have the receipt?"
Si-woo, surprised, rummaged through his wallet and pulled out a wrinkled ticket. "Yes, boss. Always."
Kim-Do took the ticket, glanced at it, then looked up at Tae-min. "Sonic Tech, right?"
Tae-min nodded, a little bit of his assurance returned. "Yes!"
There was silence, heavy with tension. All eyes were on Kim-Do. He let silence settle for a moment, for the dramatic effect.
"It's strange," he finally said, his voice trailing. "Because Si-woo's ticket reads "Tech Planet," not "Sonic Tech." And Tech Planet is the only store in the center to sell the limited model it says it has. The one you describe."
Tae-min's face blew. "I... I got the name wrong!"
Kim-Do stepped forward, imitating the dominant posture he had seen in his flashes. "And it's also a coincidence that you were seen talking to Kang-Dae about the White Tigers this morning? Right after Si-woo announced that he had bought this reader?"
Panic seized Tae-min's features. The trap closed. He hadn't stolen the reader. He tried to discredit Si-woo on Jin-Ho's orders, to sow discord.
"You... you can't prove that!" stammered Tae-min.
"I don't have to prove it," Kim-Do replied, in a cold voice that surprised him himself. You lied. You tried to divide my faction." He turned to the other members present. "Does anyone have anything to add?"
Silence was his answer. A silent approval.
"Tae-min is banned," Kim-Do said. "If he sets foot here again, you know what to do."
The boy, defeated and humiliated, fled under the contemptuous gaze of his former comrades.
VZZT.
"'
[QUEST ACCOMPLIT: CONFORMING AUTHORITY]
Targeted memory (Kim-Do's personal relationships) unlocked.
+ 150 Reputation Points.
"'
The reward was immediate. A new discharge of memories, but this one was different. Less painful, more... personal. He saw the real Kim-Do, sitting on the roof of the school with Choi Yu-Ra, sharing a silent meal, a strange complicity between them. He saw him meet Lee Min-Ji in a hallway, an exchange charged with unspoken tension, a mixture of rivalry and respect. He felt his cold distrust of Kang Seong, always suspecting him of plotting in the shadows.
These snippets of relationships were a treasure. They finally gave him a context, a map to navigate the murky waters of this life that was not his.
As the crowd dispersed, Si-woo approached, his eyes shining with gratitude. "Thank you, boss. I... I don't know how you guessed."
Kim-Do simply nodded, imitating the coldness of the real Kim-Do. But as he turned around, his eyes met Kang Seong's again.
The observer was not taking notes this time. He was smiling. A thin, almost approving smile that did not reach his eyes. Then he turned his heels and disappeared.
Victory was his. He had settled the conflict with an intelligence that the real Kim-Do probably wouldn't have used. He had gained respect.
But as he headed into the cafeteria, a chilling thought passed through him. By using cunning and observation instead of brute force, did he not unwittingly reveal some of his true nature? Kong Seong smiled. Lee Min-Ji had whispered his doubt.
Perhaps the greatest danger was not to be discovered as an impostor, but to become, little by little, such a different version of Kim-Do that his own personality would eventually betray his secret. What if, in the end, it was his own intelligence that would lose him?