With the slime orb, which constantly radiated ardent affection towards him, floating above his head, Ye Lan walked down another corridor. He soon arrived before the containment unit of the other new Abnormality for the day.
O-01-64, Queen of Greed.
Ye Lan vaguely remembered that this girl preferred Instinct and Communication work. He picked up the necessary items for Communication work from a nearby shelf and walked through the automatically opening doors.
In the center of the containment unit's main chamber was a brilliant, golden, egg-shaped vessel covered in markings. Stripes, checkered squares, and ovular patterns were piled on top of each other in a chaotic, convoluted mess. The first time Ye Lan saw it, the vessel's discomforting disarray sent a shiver down his spine.
"Hah, so the Queen of Greed's real shell is far more unsettling than it is in the game."
Ye Lan muttered to himself, forcing his attention away from the vessel's exterior. But even though he had deliberately lowered his voice, the girl inside the egg-shaped container still heard him.
There was a diamond-shaped, translucent window on the front of the vessel. Through it, a dark-skinned girl with long white hair could be seen floating inside. She wore a dress with a brilliant gold checkered pattern and was currently looking at Ye Lan with curiosity.
The first segment of the energy counter lit up.
Ye Lan gently patted the egg-shaped vessel, which had a large mouth at its top, and spoke to the girl staring at him from within. "Ah, I tried to keep my voice down, but it seems I disturbed you anyway."
Some might think she was trapped inside this golden egg, but Ye Lan, who knew the data on every Abnormality from the game, knew that she had sealed herself within it.
She did it so that she, who had once devoured the entire world, would not continue to devour more.
The smiling girl didn't reply, merely continuing to watch him. Seeing that the girl in the container had no intention of speaking with him for the moment, Ye Lan didn't press the issue. He placed the work items in their designated spots, then sat down in front of the vessel with his record board, directly facing the girl in the window.
"It seems you don't feel much like talking. In that case, I'll just talk to myself."
The girl's expression remained unchanged, but her lake-green eyes shifted, conveying her curiosity.
"This is the story of a little girl, and also the story of a heroic girl. At first, she was just a girl who yearned for happiness. She obtained a gauntlet that granted her great power."
The energy counter suddenly surged by a large amount.
"Wait..."
The girl in the container seemed to have remembered something, her beautiful eyes widening in panic. Her hastily spoken words were muffled by the vessel, as if she were trapped in amber, her voice reduced to a sound as faint as the buzzing of a fly.
Ye Lan knew what she said. This wasn't the first time he had encountered the Queen of Greed. In the countless time loops, he had completed this Abnormality's final observation over and over again, earning her complete trust each time.
However, with every reset, his relationships with the Abnormalities were returned to zero.
The one who already knew everything did not heed the queen's plea and continued his story. "The girl used this power to protect others. Through her efforts, countless people found their own happiness. At that moment, the ordinary girl vanished, and a girl hailed as a hero was born."
The counter surged again.
The girl in the container threw herself against the diamond-shaped window in terror. Two streams of tears flowed from her lake-green eyes, only to disappear after rolling down her cheeks. It seemed that within this vessel, even tears were greedily devoured.
"Stop talking... Don't let me hear that ending..."
Cruelly and mercilessly, Ye Lan ignored her again and continued his narration. "But, as she looked upon the happy faces of the people, the heroic girl herself began to feel a hunger. 'Why can they smile so happily? What is my happiness?' The girl couldn't stop thinking about it, tormented by a hunger that grew more and more unbearable."
The twenty-two segments of the energy counter filled instantly. A "Good" result report was ejected from the machine at the side. The work items Ye Lan had set up in the room all fell to the floor in a clatter, as if everything was trying to stop him from speaking the girl's ending.
"The first seed of desire came from a pure thirst for happiness. The hunger eventually consumed the girl. Power, money, glory, and all other forms of pleasure—the girl devoured everything she could find. Her greed for happiness ultimately destroyed everything, and her endless desire brought forth eternal despair. At the very, very end, the girl who had consumed everything... consumed herself."
"You are that girl who consumed herself."
Finally, Ye Lan revealed the entire truth to the powerless girl floating in the vessel. And that egg-shaped container was the terrifying monster the girl had become in her greed.
It, and the girl within it, were both a part of her.
"The story is over, and my work is done." Ye Lan gently patted the vessel and said his farewells to the girl inside. "Goodbye. I hope that the next time I see you, you'll be willing to talk to me."
Biting his lip, Ye Lan left the still-crying Queen of Greed behind and quickly walked out of the containment unit. He had a faint premonition that the next time he saw the Queen of Greed, he would be able to perform her [Final Observation].
[Final Observation]. This was a feature that only existed in the Legacy version of Lobotomy Corporation. After he had transmigrated, it became a sort of perk for him—though not quite a cheat.
At first, this perk seemed to do nothing other than unlock all of an Abnormality's information after a successful Final Observation. But after countless loops, Ye Lan had discovered its true, hidden ability.
To feel everything an Abnormality felt, to understand their distortion, to become them, and finally, to transcend their distortion and achieve a pure self.
It was just like the E.G.O. set he was wearing from the Mountain of Smiling Bodies. Although this was just an artificial E.G.O. created from the energy extracted from the Abnormality, he could, whenever he wished, fuse the E.G.O. set into one, transforming it into a Distortion, or even into Divine-class gear.
Before the Seed of Light was launched, only Gebura had been capable of such a feat in her lifetime. After her death and transformation into a Sephirah, that power only appeared briefly when she broke down during her Core Suppression.
As Ye Lan left the containment unit, alarms blared in his ears. His vision blurred, and a line of text appeared before him like a phantom:
[A tower of light known as the "Library" rises from the ground. Such a secret realm, bearing both life and death, will naturally attract the attention of "Fixers."]
This line of pale white text announced the arrival of an Ordeal. However, this was not a Noon Ordeal, but the far more dangerous Dusk Ordeal.
Before Ye Lan could determine if he had spent too much time in the containment unit and missed both the Dawn and Noon Ordeals, or if his very presence had become some kind of random variable that had caused the Pale Dusk to arrive early, a chime interrupted his thoughts. Manager A's voice came from the speakers in the hallway:
"Your premonition came true. Today's Ordeal is indeed unusual. Be advised, all four Ordeal Fixers have appeared in your department. Please hold out for as long as you can. I've already notified employees from other departments to provide support."
"Don't!"
Hearing Manager A's words, Ye Lan immediately refused the backup. The slime orb above his head was already beginning to splash slime everywhere. If other colleagues came to help, it wouldn't be long before they were infected and transformed into D-03-109-1. At that point, even he would be dragged down with them, long before the Ordeal could get to him.
"There's... I understand. Support has been recalled to their departments. You'll have to face this Ordeal alone. Do you have any requests?"
"Send Twilight over."
"Good luck with everything. We cannot fail."
Ye Lan tightened his grip on his Smile hammer and took a deep breath.
At the far end of the corridor in front of him, a fully cybernetic Fixer with a single, glowing crimson eye appeared. Almost simultaneously, at the end of the corridor behind him, another Fixer materialized, floating in mid-air. It wore white armor with blue and gold trim, decorated with angelic reliefs, and had a halo above its head.
"Hah, a Red Fixer and a White Fixer. My luck is pretty good."
Ye Lan chuckled. His weapon could only deal what the game simply called Black Damage—Erosion Damage. As it happened, neither of the Fixers surrounding him was immune to it; in fact, Erosion Damage was the Red Fixer's weakness.
Ignoring the White Fixer behind him, who had taken its halo and begun firing at him, Ye Lan charged toward the Red Fixer in front.
The fully cybernetic Fixer raised its hand cannon and fired, trying to halt his charge. Relying on Smile's high resistance to physical attacks, Ye Lan pushed through the impact of the bullets and rapidly closed the distance.
The giant hammer in his hand swung in a low arc, smashing upwards into the Red Fixer's chin. The brain inside its metal shell rattled violently from the impact, and the Red Fixer's movements froze for a moment.
Using the momentum, Ye Lan swung the hammer over his head and, without mercy, brought the side with the gaping mouth crashing down on the Fixer's mechanical head. As the mouth on the hammer bit down, both the Red and White Fixers found their movements slowed by half.
"Like Smile's special ability? Oh, right, I almost forgot. You're just phantoms dredged up from the Well. You can't talk to me."
Muttering nonsense, Ye Lan dodged the lasers that both Fixers fired simultaneously. The beams he evaded shot past him and pierced his opponents, leaving visible scorch marks on their bodies.
Taking advantage of the moment they faltered from their injuries, Ye Lan executed a sliding tackle, passing by the Red Fixer's side. He swung Smile hard at its back, sending the Red Fixer, who was trying to turn and slash at him, flying into the lingering mist left behind by the White Fixer's laser.
"Hmph!"
The silvery-white mist clearly had a damaging effect. The Red Fixer let out a grunt as it was thrown in. It tried to escape, only to be smashed to the ground again by Ye Lan's hammer as he passed by.
Bypassing the downed Red Fixer, Ye Lan made a beeline for the White Fixer. He closed the distance in a few steps, stomped on the ground, and used the force to leap high into the air, bringing his hammer down on the White Fixer's face. Instantly, the large mouth on the hammer left four deep bite marks on the Fixer's face, and the hammer itself seemed to swell slightly in size.
Beaten to its knees by Ye Lan's seemingly slow but deceptively fast flurry of attacks, the White Fixer held its position and suddenly began to pray.
This was the White Fixer's special ability. During its prayer, any damage it took would be reflected back at the attacker. Naturally aware of this, Ye Lan turned and re-engaged the Red Fixer. Under his conscious guidance, their battle gradually moved closer to the White Fixer.
By the time the Red Fixer unleashed its strongest move—a spinning slash—its attack range now included the praying White Fixer.
Instantly, three slashes that should have hit Ye Lan struck the praying White Fixer instead, reflecting back and severing all four of the Red Fixer's limbs. Ye Lan promptly followed up with a final blow. Just as the Red Fixer fell, the White Fixer finished its prayer and stood up.
Leaping over the Red Fixer's corpse, Ye Lan backhanded the White Fixer, knocking it back in front of the body. The dead Fixer began to execute its on-death ability. A laser shot towards the ceiling before sweeping down in a 240-degree arc. The White Fixer, caught directly in its path, was instantly engulfed by the beam.
Its weapon fell, embedding itself in the ground and swallowing the White Fixer's corpse, emitting a large cloud of gas that dealt heavy mental damage.
An anti-mental-corruption shield appeared around Ye Lan as A's voice rang out: "Twilight has been delivered to the main room. Two Fixers left. It's all up to you."
Without replying, Ye Lan charged through the gas, relying on the shield. He burst into the main room, where the regeneration reactor and mental corruption neutralizer immediately activated, healing his physical and mental damage.
Ye Lan unequipped the Smile set. On the sofa, left there by someone, was Twilight. He put it on. The proof of having defeated Apocalypse Bird—a single wing covered in drowsy, amber eyes—sprouted from his right shoulder blade. It was called Dawn.
Hoisting the Twilight set's weapon—a greatsword—Ye Lan turned and charged into the other corridor. The two remaining Ordeal Fixers, a Black Fixer and a Blue Fixer, were wandering within.