"Mrs. Ena, here is your medical bill for this month."
In front of an ordinary apartment building in Tennessee, Mrs. Colleen Ena stared grimly at the bill in her hand. The insurance agent, clad in a sharp suit, was lounging in her doorway as if he wasn't there to deliver a bill but to make sure she didn't run.
She looked down at the bill, and her already pale face turned ashen. She counted the digits... ones, tens, hundreds, thousands...
"1.78 million? How can it be so much? I thought my husband just had a simple liver resection. The price you quoted us back then was less than 200,000."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ena, but our bills are all calculated with extreme precision. There are no errors. The price is what it is because of the additional medical services provided," the agent explained. "If I recall correctly, your husband didn't have medical insurance this month, did he?"
"We only missed one month's payment..." Colleen tried to argue, but the agent had already lost interest. "Look, if you have a problem, take it up with the medical provider. Telling me is pointless. I'm just doing my job, and it's hard enough just to keep it."
Yes, life is hard for everyone.
Colleen's husband had been an employee at a foreign trade company, working diligently for over a decade. The long hours and constant overtime led to him being diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. But instead of offering compensation, the company fired him for being over 45 and immediately terminated his health insurance.
With her husband laid off, the family's income vanished overnight. They were now saddled with debt on top of exorbitant medical expenses. But no matter how high the costs were, they couldn't possibly be this high...
Colleen looked at the agent, then thought of her husband, sick in bed. Grief and confusion tangled in her heart, finally coalescing into a single question: if everyone was struggling so hard just to live, where did all the value they created go?
Why could you work your heart out only to be cast aside? Why were there medical companies bleeding patients dry while they suffered in agony? Why, when everyone was human, were some people born to suffer, while others were destined for a life of luxury from the moment they were born?
She didn't understand!
As Colleen stood in a standoff with the agent, the sound of rhythmic chanting reached them from a distance. She turned to see a protest march heading their way, its participants holding banners high.
"We have the right to know the truth!"
"We have the right to seek fairness!"
"People are not assets on a capitalist's balance sheet! Life is not a privilege for the elite!"
The banners billowed in the wind. For some reason, Colleen felt that she, too, should join them. She set down the bill and walked into the crowd, becoming one with them.
...
"Lord Overseer, in just three days, more than 10,000 protests have erupted worldwide. Could this be related to the Herrscher of Domination?"
In his office at Schicksal HQ, Otto Apocalypse sat at his desk, reviewing the latest intelligence reports. His secretary, Amber, stood to the side, offering her analysis.
"Perhaps," Otto said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His voice was laced with fatigue. It was strange; his Soulium body was supposed to be tireless and ageless, yet at this moment, Otto looked as if he had aged several years.
He had good reason to be tired. In his original plan, Otto had already deduced Ren's identity as a Herrscher and had laid a trap for him in Linburg City. All he needed was for Durandal to use the Gnus System to forcibly drag Ren to the edge of the Sea of Quanta. With the Sea's natural suppressing effect on Herrschers, capturing him should have been a simple matter.
But he had completely underestimated Ren's power. Not only did the capture mission fail, but his most important asset, Durandal, had vanished without a trace after the Gnus System was activated. Her fate was unknown.
In just a few short days, he had lost his right hand. To make matters worse, Ren had decided to stop playing games, materializing a construct from Imaginary Space directly into the real world. For the sake of global stability and Schicksal's authority, all information about the Honkai was strictly classified from the public.
With a single slash of a sword, Ren had shattered the fragile illusion of peace Schicksal had spent decades building.
"Tch. Ren, I underestimated you." Shaking his head in self-mockery, Otto's eyes narrowed, his gaze once again turning sharp. "However, the more troublesome you are, the more it proves you are the key to reaching my goal."
"The game is still on, and not all the chips are on the table yet. It's not so easy to shake a foundation Schicksal has spent centuries building."
He set down the intelligence file, his tone casual. "So what if he wants to create chaos with protests? In the end, it's just a mob. Since we can no longer hide the truth, let's just add more fuel to the fire."
He turned to Amber and gave his orders. "Notify all major television networks and radio stations. Release some basic information about Honkai disasters to placate the masses. Also, tell them that the Honkai disasters are caused by Herrschers, and that the anomaly in Linburg City was orchestrated by an individual known as the Herrscher of Domination."
"Furthermore, publicize the Meteorite Calamity of Coral Island, the Sinking of the Far East, and the recent Domination Incident. The name of the Herrscher responsible for all these disasters is—Ren!"
"You mean, we should frame... oh, no, confirm that Ren is responsible for all the recent Honkai disasters?"
Otto smiled, not answering directly. He picked up his wine glass and took a small sip. "It's only polite to return a favor. All the trouble we went through to conceal information about him... wasn't it for a moment just like this?"
"But... will the public believe it?"
"Whether they believe it or not is irrelevant. What's important is to announce Schicksal's existence to the world and seize the narrative. As a peacekeeping organization fighting the Honkai, isn't it our duty to strike down Herrschers? Even if it causes a 'little' collateral damage in the process."
"I understand."
"Also, don't let up on the search for Durandal. Bianka is extremely powerful. I refuse to believe she would fall so easily to Ren."
Besides, she still has her true name: Kiana Kaslana. I don't know if Ren is aware of that, but if my theory is correct, he most likely wouldn't have dealt a fatal blow.
After assigning all the tasks to Amber, Otto was once again alone in his office.
The late autumn sun no longer held any warmth, carrying instead a hint of chill. Otto leaned back in his chair, looking for all the world like an old man in his twilight years.
The confidence he had shown when speaking with Amber slowly faded, replaced by a deep, profound weariness in his eyes.
"Soon," he whispered to the empty room. "I'll be with you soon."