Chapter Twelve: A Water Bed
"Hmm... Echo of the Scream, huh?
What does it do? Deafens my enemies to death?
Deafens?! Wow, I think I just invented a new term… death by noise!"
[Your Soul Void rises with newfound insight.]
[Your soul is born in silence.]
[You have awakened your sleeping self... and your true name has been revealed.]
Tairen smiled faintly—for the first time since the trials began.
"Finally… something good happens. I was about to have a heart attack."
He y down in his Soul Void.
He didn’t care about gains or rewards.
All he wanted was silence—and a nap.
Silence without thought.
"All I want… is to sleep under a warm bnket.
Why does that feel like an impossible dream, by the Creator of the heavens?"
He rested in the void, beneath him swam twenty faceless, strange entities.
"Heh… Am I trying a water bed now? Kinda.
Yeah, but it’s not water… it’s void-stuff?
Whatever, who cares…"
He closed his eyes.
He felt his soul being pulled.
"Ah… finally. Back to the real world.
First thing I’ll do?
Buy a house. Sleep in it. Uninterrupted."
---
In the steel chamber bathed in cold light, bck liquid emerged at its center.
Tentacles burst out with terrifying speed—only to stop, melt, and fade gently.
From beneath them… emerged a boy in tattered clothes, a faint smile on his face.
In the surveilnce room, a camera operator spat out his coffee and nearly smmed the emergency arm.
A Listener entered the room and silently escorted Tairen to the official Consultation and Interrogation Hall.
Tairen walked lightly, fully aware:
“What happened during the trial… must be buried deep.”
Suddenly, the Listener halted and asked:
—"Do you possess any trait or ability reted to concealment?"
Tairen nodded silently, then stepped inside and sat down.
The female official across from him had piercing eyes, as if she saw beyond flesh.
“She probably has a truth-sensing ability… I’ll give her only half-truths.”
—"What is the origin of the figure that reflects your core?"
—"He was a prince… maybe of some fief. But it seems he was exiled. I’m not entirely sure."
A hint of surprise fshed across her face.
—"Very well. Now… can you tell us who you killed during the trial?"
He wanted badly to say:
“I killed a Listener with five cores who had reached Soul Reflection… alone.”
But he swallowed it.
If anyone knew… he might be executed. Or worse—kidnapped and warped.
—"A few knights sent by another prince… to make sure I wouldn’t return. They were poisoned. Most of the fighting was done by my guardian."
—"Lastly, tell us some traits or abilities of your origin."
—"Concealment… specifically, fading presence."
—"And what about the tentacles?"
His face went pale.
What is she talking about?! I never released void essence from my void core… I never summoned tentacles!
Before he could spiral further, he heard a voice within—childlike, soft:
“I know. No need to thank me...”
