“You didn’t have to walk with us, Alexander,” Chunhua jokingly chastised me, but her words came far too late.

  Right now, I should be making my last preparations for the last stage of the crisis. However, I had loose ends to wrap up. That’s why I tagged along with Morgan to escort these idiots to the Wings, where they would have a fateful meeting with the Vice Guild Master, our boss. We were on the top floor, a handful feet away from the heavy doors.

  My presence calmed their nerves I think; otherwise, I imagine they’d be shaking in their boots.

  “It’s technically my fault that you’re here,” I said, gesturing toward their new and probable employment. “It’s your decision to thank or scorn me, but I didn't want to disappear without saying thank you first. In-person.”

  Victor chuckled and patted my back; I did my best to hold in a sore hiss from leaving my lips. “Hey man, no thanks necessary. You'd do the same thing for us.”

  “Begrudgingly, but yeah.” My not-so-subtle eyes drifted toward the cultivator before coming back to Vic. “You also know me better than that. I’m not leaving anything unsaid, so again, thanks for saving our asses.”

  Kotone innocently held her hands behind her back. “Does this mean you’re willing to treat us to a home-cooked dinner?”

  I rolled my eyes, already regretting my decision. “First of all, I don’t have an apartment anymore; and second, I thought getting you an interview with Rector was enough, but fine, you greedy glutton.” (“Hehe.”)

  Chunhua looked slightly annoyed with Kotone’s asking but smiled it off. “Regardless… I’m glad you finally found a place for yourself. Your skin never glowed this brightly before.”

  Morgan chimed, “That might be the intense healing magic he endured.”

  I gestured at the kid. “What he said: magic radiation, but let's pretend it's good vibes. For once, I think I’m finally going down the right path in my life. One step at a time, though. One step at a time. We still have to unravel the mystery and figure out exactly what the hell Sophos meant.”

  “Tell us how that turns out, because uh…” Victor made a tense expression. “That’s not good.”

  Yeah, hearing that I was the “real mastermind” was… Well, we all assumed it was a hyperbole but it was Sophos—there had to be some element of truth.

  I said, “We’ll figure it out.”

  Kotone brought up, “Are we allowed to know in the first place?”

  “That depends entirely on your meeting,” said Morgan. “If Primordial Plaza acted as a crossroads for Conqueror, then tonight is yours. Whatever choice you seize in the end, make peace with any regrets. Make no mistake, you came through for your friend. You’ll be rewarded for that alone.”

  Victor, Chunhua, and Kotone shared excited yet nervous looks. Morgan was right. Personally, I hope Seraph and Rector would offer them a spot on the team. All of them. They deserved it, and I wouldn’t mind fighting side-by-side with these dorks for the next few years. Vic always had aspirations for Angels, and for the girls, it'd be a better alternative than Martials Guild.

  This would work out for everyone’s benefit, but my perspective was narrow-minded compared to my bosses’.

  We could only hope and dream.

  Morgan spoke up, “We’ll leave you with that. It’s time for us to entertain that damned genius.”

  “Alright, well, we’ll see you soon, man.” Victor gave me a quick hug and patted my shoulder a couple times.

  “Get an autograph for me.” Kotone was next.

  “Take care of yourself.” Then finally Chunhua.

  “Don’t embarrass yourself too much,” I told them, and we parted ways.

  As we entered the elevator, they approached the door to the Office of the Guild Masters. Just as the elevator doors closed, theirs opened.

  “Finally.” Morgan finally let his hood down. He shook his moppy purple hair and ran a hand through the knots. “You’ve made interesting friends, Alex.”

  “That’s one way to describe them.” I put my hands in my pockets, watching the number on the display tick down. “What about you? I imagine studying under Master Alzahrani was more of a hostile environment than a warzone.”

  Morgan watched the display with me. “Quite the opposite, actually. Intense, but not hostile. During my time, Master Alzahrani had one other student: Elaine Sung. I’m ashamed to admit it, but she’s far stronger than I am and I'm plenty powerful already. Addressing your original question though, our relationship is too combative to be ‘friends.’”

  “What is she doing now?”

  “Living a life you used to have, actually.” Morgan laughed, scratching the corner of his lips. “After everything, she resigned herself to a small desk in Korea, writing novels of fantasies and fictions. Who knows, perhaps she’ll reawaken to her former ambitions just like you. God helps us all if she does.”

  ***

  The current team was this: myself, Empress, Problem, Firebrand, Sage, and the indomitable Rei. Althea and Uncle Ali returned back “home” (Leo’s apartment) to rest, and the other three obviously had business with the GMs.

  Sophos wasn’t currently in the city but outside the walls, working in a secret off-site facility that was hidden to the world via magical means. We couldn’t simply drive a car or fly a helicopter inside. Instead, we had to enter via porting.

  Chie and Morgan had established a chain-teleport system that would get us there. We could actually perform a single teleport as we had both the permissions and the coordinates, but that was easily trackable. By performing multiple teleports in the span of a second or two, it should theoretically scramble our footsteps and make it nearly impossible for anyone to pinpoint our destination. There were more nuance and anti-tracking measures to that, but this was the general gist I’d obtained.

  The chain-teleport system took a lot of energy and put pressure on the body. I was most at risk given my injuries and high mana concentration in my blood, but given the urgency, we couldn’t afford to wait. Morgan made me swallow some pills that should hopefully prevent my body from “getting pulled apart.”

  For safety reasons, we teleported in pairs. First up was me and Leo—at this point, she was less of a TL and more of a nanny, though she’d argue the roles were the same. The chain-teleport was like experiencing a rave and a rollercoaster at the same time. My vision was bombarded by flashing, colorful lights and my innards were turned inside out. It was an intense and eternal second but soon my feet touched hard ground.

  We were at the facility’s “lobby” so-to-speak, but instead for a large grand door, it was a teleportation stage. The decorations were replaced by large and snaking wires creating a quilt across the floors and walls, and the lights cold and clinical. Geniuses stood behind machines and monitors, paying no special mind to the arriving Angels.

  I hunched over, nausea filling my stomach but that was the extent of it. Leo brought me off the teleportation stage. As I slowly recovered, the rest of the team ported in: Rei and Aiden, then Chie and Morgan. Once we were all accounted for, one of the geniuses acted as our dutiful guide to lead us to the queen of the castle.

  The facility was alive by electricity only, not necessarily life. All the doors were shut and I couldn’t hear any movement inside; probably a feature. A few windows revealed where we were: in the middle of a forest which might be an illusion in itself. Despite the facility being run by an eccentric genius, it was dressed like an asylum where the boring aesthetic was the point.

  “This is where we first conducted the experiment,” Morgan told me and Rei. “To end up back here is annoyingly poetic.”

  “Hopefully, we won’t encounter a second Mother,” I said. “Rei can take care of her anyway.”

  A question mark formed above Rei’s head. “Uhm, is that why I feel something here?”

  “Is it the same vibe you get with the breachers?” Aiden asked, careful with his language around the guide.

  Rei awkwardly shifted. “Yes and no—it’s hard to explain.”

  “Strange,” pondered Morgan, “the experiment was months ago, but they’re starting something new. Keep monitoring yourself, Rei, and tell us if anything changes.”

  “I will, senpai!”

  Eventually, the guide led us to visibly the only used room in the entire facility, inhabited by three voices and one of them was the grandma who'd gave the order. We walked inside, saw mechanical parts and scribbled scrolls and candy wrappers on the tables and counters. The walls had laminated scientific and magical informational posters with some having annotations. Every cabinet had peeling labels, every stool and cushioned chair sported cracks, and every genius inside stopped speaking to look at us instead.

  There she was, Sophos, sitting there like royalty. A royally hot mess. Her labcoat was lazily slipping off her shoulder, and her messy gray hair was sloppily tied. Despite the clear exhaustion weighing her eyes down, the excitement within was clearer than a white pond. Assuming she had solved the mystery of the Alternates, the satisfaction and promise fueled her tiny body better than caffeine could.

  “Told you!” she exclaimed sing-songy and waved her two subordinates off. “Go and take care of your parts. I need to host these Angels.”

  The two geniuses grumbled and left the room, making sure to shut the door on the way out.

  Rei stiffened. “This… This is Guild Master Sophos?”

  Sophos hopped off her chair and proudly stood. “That’s correct, Amamizu Rei! I am the beautiful Sophos—” (“She’s short…”) “—pardon?”

  Half of us nearly burst out laughing but we managed to rein ourselves in.

  “Hmph.” The genius flipped her gray hair, then put a hand on her hip. “I see you’re already spreading your indecent work culture onto your newest recruit. Whatever. I’ll torture the boy later regardless.” (“Eh?!”) “I’m sure you all have questions for me.”

  Morgan and I exchanged an amused look. We had multiple questions. The two biggest questions were: what was Sophos planning to end the crisis? And why did she say I was the “real mastermind”?

  “‘Why, oh, why, did this crazy woman accuse Conqueror of being a geddon? Is she as bad as this Agent Dwight?’” Looks like Sophos read our minds, and I wasn't going to correct her mistake. “It’s actually quite reasonable once you think about what transpired in the past week.”

  “‘Reasonable’? That’s not—what?” Chie fought, shaking her head. “Sophos, you can’t just accuse one of us of—!”

  “Shh, don’t get so worked up.” Sophos patted her head a couple times. “Trust your teacher. She knows what she’s talking about.” (“Most of the time,” Morgan grumbled.) “Oh quiet, you’re more of a child than my Chie is.”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Leo started tapping her foot. “Can you stop dancing around the subject and explain?”

  “I could explain, mhm, however—!” Sophos spun around on her feet like a drunk skater. She stumbled, fell back on a counter, but recovered into a fancy pose and winked. “I think Conqueror should explain.”

  I pointed at myself. “You want me to defend myself from an accusation you made—?”

  “No no no, you misunderstand. I want you to explain why you’re involved in the crisis to begin with.” Sophos pushed her glasses up. “In other words, solve the mystery. What are the Alternates? Who is the Mother? Why is the previously unknown Alexander Shen involved? With the information you’ve gathered, you can answer these questions.”

  I… I can?

  How can I—?

  No, wait.

  She was right. Let’s rewind the clock.

  Two months ago, Angels Guild—more specifically, Seraph, Rector, and Kosmos—commissioned Sophos to perform an experiment: transmit a message to other Slayer Worldlines. Instead, they had attracted the Mother of the Alternates, a multidimensional entity that was capable of creating these “Alternates.” (Here, Rei sensed the disturbance and became suspicious, but he wouldn’t act until later.)

  On the day of the experiment, the team fought the Mother and the First Alternate. They defeated the First Alt, but the Mother escaped. For two months, they chased down subsequent Alternates: Second, Third, and Fourth; however, they weren’t able to obtain any worthwhile information from the encounters.

  Then, a month ago (May), Sophos located the Fifth Alternate. The Alt, before its death, mentioned a name: Alexander Shen. My name. Angels Guild began investigating me, seeing if I had any connections to their current issue. That’s how I met Leo for the first time while I was dealing with System Articles.

  After catching Leo, Angels Guild laid off seeing as no new leads appeared.

  May passed, and June came around.

  I was helping Victor, Chunhua, and Kotone with First Wave before being invited myself. Within a few minutes, Rei literally crashed into me. Everyone thought he was a fanboy eager to meet his favorite Slayers; in actuality, he’d pinpointed the Mother’s location and came to plead his case to the Big Four. He failed on that front and got kicked out. Afterwards, Sophos contacted me on her own volition. That’s when she discovered a startling secret: I had an SSS-Rank [Skill].

  There’s no doubt about it: I must be involved somehow. Little did anyone know, we would have the biggest breakthrough yet.

  On the last night of First Wave, the Sixth Alternate crashed into Primordial Plaza. It took the form of an eldritch-like breacher that had a nasty grudge against the Shens. I wasn’t a walking bestiary; hell, even experts wouldn't know what it was supposed to resemble. Regardless, this fucker changed everything: the disaster was now publicly-known, it led to my recruitment, and most importantly, the Mother had a change in methodology.

  A week went by.

  Seraph and Rector maintained normalcy despite the growing fire underneath their feet, so they went ahead with guild try-outs.

  On the second night of try-outs, in the Jin Family Manor, a woman wearing a red dress attacked a worker, Huang Chunxi, around midnight. Meet the Seventh Alternate, the mother of Jin Tianyou and wife of Jin Junjie, Zhu Xinyue. Almost two decades ago, she had committed an unspeakable crime: the attempted murder of her own son. It led to her banishment, eventual suicide, and the dissolvement of her family. But! The Alternate believed she had successfully performed the deed.

  A day after—the third day of Angels try-outs—we met the Eighth Alternate: Sera Creed. We knew her as the Guild Master of Angels Guild, Seraph. With Idris Zakariya (Rector) and Nathan Hyun (Kosmos), they had resolved the Terrors and founded a new dynasty. In her personal life, she married Nathan and soon gave birth to a daughter. But! The Alternate was a younger version of Sera, grieving her would-be husband's death after he succumbed to [Total Body Rejection].

  Later that night, Zhu Xinyue assaulted He Zhilan.

  At the same time, Lyressa received an ominous dream from the Mother. Desperate for answers, she foolishly snuck inside the Infinity Dungeon without telling anybody and got herself kidnapped.

  The following day, I played Sherlock with Chunhua, Kotone, Blackviper, and eventually Rei. Everybody else was busy with locating Lyressa and preventing Archknell from murdering the internationals. While they failed to solve their case, I solved mine.

  Another day passed, and the Mother decided to ruin our morning. An artificial environment unnaturally formed in Glory Guild HQ: a perfect replica of the Crystal Forest where Lyressa was first rescued from.

  Inside, we found the Ninth Alternate: Lyressa fey Suntear. Two years ago, Archknell dove into the Infinity Dungeon and stumbled upon an elf encased in crystal. Upon awakening, she knew only her name, the English language, and the bow. Since then, she was Ordo’s treasured beauty and the gem of Glory Guild. But! The Alternate was, in some shape or form, the “Lyressa” before she came to our Worldline.

  Finally, we arrive at the present: today. Our long day began with a pizza and a dream, then ended in a nightmare.

  We reunited with the Tenth and Eleventh Alternates, Bastien Romanos and Shen Xingyu. They suffered. They faced poverty, death, and sins. Despite everything, they came together and loved and created a new life. Kindness, strength, honesty; they raised their children with these tenets and inspired them to live better than they had. That’s the hope, right? But! The Alternates never met, because they had never escaped their horrid upbringings.

  With this, we established the timeline.

  We… We can answer many of our important questions with this.

  “...It seems I was correct,” Sophos’s voice tore me from my contemplations. “You are capable of solving this mystery. Then, I shall act as your proctor. The first question! What are the Alternates?”

  To answer, I need to think back to my cosmology classes and common theories. After thinking for a couple seconds, I answered, “The Alternates are artificial otherselves of simulated but removed futures. From the First through Sixth Alternate, the otherselves stemmed from a different Worldline; from Seventh to Eleventh, they originated from ours.”

  Yeah, that’s why we couldn’t gather any information from the first six, due to their unstable forms and their true origins. They were from a different history altogether. Meanwhile, the latter five were easily recognizable and deduced. Plus, our Alternates had to be from our Worldline. Without Longwang, there would be no Zhenlong Tactical School, to name an example.

  Sophos showed a big, genuine smile. “The Line Exploration Protocol, excellent! Yes, you’re correct. For those who don’t understand, the basic explanation is this: the Planet simulates alternate futures of its own Worldline, gathering important data that would assist in creating new Worldlines. Most simulations are taken out of the race because they're useless, or ‘removed’ as Conqueror said.”

  Aiden raised a hand. “If they’re ‘removed,’ how can the Mother base the Alts off ‘em?”

  Morgan answered for the GM, “Because—and this isn’t proven—the Planet stores the data of disqualified futures in an imaginary space. For safe-keeping, I imagine.”

  I nodded. “Which means the Mother has access to that imaginary space. That sounds pretty on-par from what little we do know about her.”

  “But why?” Sophos continued the questions. “Why did the Mother switch from one Worldline to ours?”

  Why…? It had to be…

  “Because the Mother's falling apart. Every Alternate looked, well, crazy to put it lightly, but there was a clear difference between Primordial Plaza and Zhu Xinyue. I heard her speak coherently, a far-cry from what we faced in the Plaza. It obviously didn’t work out since the Eighth, Seraph, already showed signs of deterioration.”

  “So the Mother switched Worldlines in order to prevent her own destruction.” Sophos put a dramatic finger on her chin, thought about it for a second, then nodded. “I’m inclined to agree with your answer. Think about it. If the Alternates looked like that, then imagine the Mother herself. She must be breaking apart by the seams. Clearly, as she’s born from that ‘imaginary space,’ her existence was naturally flawed.”

  Born from that space—? No, that wasn’t right. She was obviously egging me on.

  “I wouldn’t make that assumption,” I told her.

  Sophos gestured for me to continue.

  “Assuming she was born in that imaginary space, why would she take the form of a woman? Wouldn’t her Alternates originate from many Worldlines instead of just two? Why borrow from Slayer Worldlines if we're also making that assumption? Why would she need to ground her existence better? If she’s a native, that implies her existence should be more stable even when removed from her natural habitat. All this to say, it’s not impossible but I feel like there's a better explanation.”

  “And that is?”

  I had already established this as fact, so…

  “The Mother took the form of a woman, and judging from both your accounts and Lyressa's, her appearance didn't change much between then,” I mumbled to myself before speaking more confidently: “The Mother had been human once, but somehow she ended up in the wrong place.”

  Sophos grew solemn. “A human from the Previous Worldline, where she had based her first Alternates on. The pieces are fitting together now, aren't they? Do you remember the Fifth Alternate, the one that first alerted us to you?”

  I nodded. “What about it? The Alt said my name.”

  “It said, ‘Alexander Shen, Conqueror.’”

  “What? It said my codename—? That was way fucking before I joined Angels let alone [Registered].”

  “You’re correct,” Sophos said quietly, indirectly telling me to lower my volume. “Tell me, Conqueror, how did the Mother find herself there? Why?”

  How? Why? How should I know? God, think about this. The Fifth Alternate was the reason why Angels Guild knew my name in the first place. How did it know my codename before—?

  Wait.

  That’s…

  That can’t be the answer.

  Sophos nodded, confirming my answer. “Your suspicions are correct, Conqueror. It’s true.”

  Rei looked around the group; everyone came to the same conclusion except for him. “I-I don’t understand. Sophos-sama, what are you talking about—?”

  “As soon as you notice the patterns, the truth behind Alexander Shen’s involvement becomes quite obvious.” Sophos morbidly chuckled. “From the beginning, it was the case of mistaken identity. The man before us happens to share the same name and face as the presumed culprit.”

  My throat was deathly dry, but I finished the final deductions, “That’s… That’s why you said I was the real mastermind. It’s not the ‘me’ standing before you. It’s the other ‘me.’ My otherself: Alexander Shen of the Previous Worldline.”

  As soon as I said those words, the room fell into a dramatic silence save for the running vents and equipment. Everyone had the same reaction: shock and confusion. How? Why? What did Alexander Shen do? The answer was simple. He had the power of [Memento Recollection]. In that Worldline, he must’ve become someone important. Someone powerful, strong, just like Kosmos.

  Then, something happened which led to the current disaster.

  “...I’m not accusing your otherself of putting the Mother there,” Sophos assured me, “but he was certainly involved.”

  “Shit…” I clamped a hand over my mouth. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

  My arms were shaking.

  My eyes shut by themselves.

  Someone put their hand on my shoulder. Somehow, I already knew who it was. My heart, which had gone through way too much today, was sedated by her touch. It wasn’t soft—the opposite—but it was hers. That was enough. My arms stopped shaking, and I regained the confidence to open my eyes again.

  “You alright?” Leo whispered to me, keeping her hand there.

  “...Not really.” I sniffled and stared ahead at the concerned genius. “But I’ll live. I… I don’t know what my otherself was doing. Knowing myself, he must be a real asshole. He dragged us into this mess—he dragged me—but I’ll finish it.”

  Sophos held a half-smile, seemingly impressed. “The energy of youth is something to behold, mhm.”

  Rei cocked an eyebrow. He whispered to Morgan, “...How old is Sophos-sama?”

  Morgan ignored the kid and asked, “Is this everything, Sophos? Will we get to your ingenious plan to resolve the crisis?”

  Sophos looked toward the far wall and whatever was on the other side. One of her hands tightly clutched her labcoat. Something was on her mind. I… I didn’t think the smartest woman in Ordo could look so pensive.

  Morgan raised his voice, “Sophos! Please tell me we didn’t come here all the way for nothing—!”

  “No, the plan will work. Just…” She paused. “I didn’t expect tonight would be her last night.”

  “Whose?” asked Leo.

  “Conqueror, your theory was wrong about one part,” Sophos said, still staring at the wall. “When the Mother switched Worldlines, Zhu Xinyue wasn’t her first masterpiece. Instead, she had created a poor, hopeless girl by the name of Sophia Sagan, who never came under the tutelage of Phenomena. The true Seventh Alternate: myself."