Nirvana, who was a bit surprised by Ken easily resisting the thought infection. Tried to recruit Ken again.
This time, he was being a bit more honest than before and saying things like freeing mankind from the scenarios or what not.
Which, Ken obviously refused. Cause why not? People being free from scenarios, in the star stream? Not even in an eternity is that possible. Especially not by an incarnation who goes around dying and reincarnating in different forms in different worlds.
Since Ken refused him again, Nirvana activated the way of the wind again, but unlike before, Ken knew that Nirvana had that and activated his own way of the wind to rush towards Nirvana instead.
As he came running and suddenly jumping as the distance closed, twisting his body and forcing it to rotate and doing a flip. With a kick on Nirvana's neck, he crashed into a building.
Without giving any more time, Ken rushed towards Nirvana, further enhancing his momentum by the threads, which he used to pull himself towards Nirvana.
Ken crashed at Nirvana's chest with his knees, which was immediately followed by multiple headbutts, then grabbing Nirvana by his head and sliding him across the wall of the building and smacking him onto the ground.
But before Ken could do any other attack, Nirvana put his index finger on Ken's forehead before activating a skill.
[Eternal nightmare (lvl 8) has been activated.]
[Mental barrier (lvl 4) tries to resist Eternal nightmare (lvl 8).]
[Mental barrier (lvl 4) has failed to resist Eternal nightmare (lvl 8).]
[Eternal nightmare (lvl 8) is gnawing at your mind.]
And just like that, before Ken could realize, he fell unconscious.
When Ken woke up, he saw that he was near a pond, and all his cousins were swimming across it.
On the other hand, he was trying to make a piece of cloth float on the water. Ken could see all these, but he couldn't control his body at all. Almost like, he is simply seeing all these. But not quite it, since he could also feel all these.
As another few seconds passed, Ken realized that his body is a lot smaller than he actually is. And just then, he jumped on the floating piece of cloth and started to drown.
He knew how to swim, but since he couldn't control his body, he was just desperately flailing around his body trying to survive until one of his cousins saved him.
Just as he was taken to the ground, everything changed and the same thing started to replay again.
Only then did Ken realize what the skill from before does, and what this specific scenario was.
'And I still wonder why I used to be such a dumbass.' He used to think that he could float in a piece of cloth like those in cartoons. And that is when he was five to six years old.
And just like that, the same memory kept on repeating, and repeating… and repeating… like it was an entire eternity.
—***—
As time passed, and his trauma of drowning kept on repeating, at one point, Ken simply built up not only complete resistance to the feeling and fear of drowning, but he also became really bored of the same thing repeating over and over again.
'It's thirty seven seconds… and this was the two thousand four hundred and sixty ninth time…'
Just as the scene finally changed from him drowning to him using his bicycle, he recognized the scene in a near instant.
And just like before, he could not control himself and like before from the past, he changed the direction of his bicycle without looking properly and suddenly got hit by a car on the back of the bicycle.
As he flew at least two meters and fell, still getting dragged another meter from the momentum, the skin on his knees and palms basically became non-existent.
He could not feel the pain immediately, since that was just like before. When a heavy pain like this is inflicted, it takes a while to come.
The shopowner from the store just at the side by the place where he had the accident, came running and got him to stand up.
And just like that, this also kept on repeating again and again and again.
—***—
'This is nineteen seconds and this is the one thousand seven hundred and ninetieth time.'
And just like that, as Ken developed complete resistance to this trauma, the scene changed again.
And this time, he was in his classroom. Standing, while his teacher was nagging him about why he was so bad at math, Ken also kind of instantly recognized what this one was.
Just like that, his math teacher, who was also the principal of his school, as well as nicknamed bald Monir by Ken, snapped as he kept nagging on and started damning him and his whole family just because he picked science as his major even though he is the weakest at math.
Like that, this trauma also kept on repeating and reapeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating.
—***—
'This is… fifty seven seconds and… this is the… six thousand seven hundred and twelfth time…
I'm totally going crazy.'
This trauma was replayed so many times, to the point that Ken didn't even care a single bit about this anymore. But even then, it still replayed for another few thousand times.
Like that, the trauma changed. And this time, it was nothing special looking. As nothing immediately happened. He did know that this was the home of one of his only two maternal aunts.
And, there were a lot of guests. Ken was having a hard time understanding what this place, which he literally spent at least ten to twenty percent of his childhood, could really be connected to his trauma. Not to forget, ten to twenty percent is when he is faking it, it has to be at least thirty percent, and that's the least.
He was watching the television, it felt kind of nostalgic, as he, nor any people he knows, has used the television for years already, after the internet became even more popular.
As time passed, some other guests arrived. And there was a girl there. He felt like he could kind of remember her, but not entirely.
And after that, his worst trauma, that literally caused him to have PTSD from it, started. His most painful trauma. The one that gave him five consecutive years of PTSD.
The same one where if he had ever met the girl ever again in his life, he wouldn't have hesitated to cripple her. Not just that, he did indeed try to break her fingers off during this incident.
And this painfully long trauma… kept on repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating… and repeating.
[Advanced mental barrier (lvl 8) > Advanced mental barrier (lvl 9).]
The seven or so hour long trauma, repeated for one thousand eight hundred and sixty three times, finally ended.
[All the requirements for the new attribute have been met.]
[A new attribute is beginning to bloom.]