#190

“I could tell you. But what good would that information do you right now?”
“……”
I forced myself breathe.
House Lizard had a point. Say I learned Oblivion's true name this second, then what? What exactly was I going to do with it?

“I could tell you. But what good would that information do you right now?”
“……”
I forced myself breathe.
House Lizard had a point. Say I learned Oblivion's true name this second, then what? What exactly was I going to do with it?

The buried memories came flooding back all at once. Seojun's face went red-hot, the heat spreading up his neck until he was convinced he might actually catch fire. Even after Johan put him down, he couldn't bring himself to meet his eyes.

Johan’s voice was calm and upbeat. He met Seojun’s gaze with ease, idly tapping the monkey wrench against his shoulder like he had all the time in the world. That laid-back confidence—so effortless, so grounded—made something shift in Seojun’s chest.

It wasn’t Athanas. It was me.
Past “me” had completely lost it. Just rambling, not even hearing the insane things coming out of his mouth.
Get used to killing me?
You said that to someone with Retrograde?
Was he out of his mind?
…Well. Yeah. Obviously.

“Of course… they’re all me.”
When I said that, House Lizard strolled over to the shelves and grabbed a book off one of them. He brought it to the desk, held it by the spine, and gave it a good shake. Pages came loose and drifted down onto the wooden surface.

For a moment, all I heard was white noise.
It wasn’t exactly shock. More like a full system crash—that specific kind of numbness when your brain realizes it can’t process the sheer scale of disaster, so it just… shuts down.

The world shifted in an instant, snapping into focus as a room tiled in sterile white.
House Lizard looked down at the white lab coat now draped over his shoulders and let out a low chuckle.
"Well, this is awkward. I may be a doctor, but not the medical kind."

To think my missing arm turned into a key scenario item... it’s actually unbelievable.
The thought was so ridiculous, I almost laughed.
Is that why the Saint kept staring at me earlier? Was he sizing me up? Trying to decide if the rest of me was worth harvesting too?

Lilies.
The scent reached him just after the voice. Thick, cloying, and so overpoweringly sweet it made his head pound.

The mystery key felt like it was searing a hole through his pocket, but whatever door it opened would have to wait. Right now, survival meant one thing—staying the hell away from the Nurse.