Narrator POV.
Aki turned his gaze back to Makima, still incredulous.
—Are you serious…? I'd only heard rumors about that. —he admitted, almost in a whisper, as if saying it out loud cost him something.
—Did you hear that? Pretty cool, huh? —Denji said with an arrogant grin, puffing out his chest like a peacock proud of itself. His eyes shone with a mix of pride and pure, confident stupidity.
—Yeah, bullshit. —Isagi replied without even looking at him, calmly crossing his arms in an infuriatingly relaxed manner.— Even if you can transform into a devil, I'm still superior here. Even if you boost your power with a transformation… multiplying zero by any number still gives you zero. —He finished, throwing the line like a dagger disguised as a math lesson.
Denji's smile vanished instantly. For two reasons.
1. He felt insulted.
2. He didn't understand a damn thing.
—I didn't get that last part… but I know you're making fun of me! —he yelled, pointing at Isagi as if he'd just uncovered a conspiracy. Isagi merely raised a hand and waved him off, like shooing away an annoying fly.
—I'm not just mocking you —Isagi added, his half-smile widening— I'm also reaffirming my dominance, which is a completely different thing. —He pointed at him with a lazy gesture, never losing that confident grin.
The tension between them began to rise like smoke before a fire, but Makima stepped in with the same gentle tone she'd use to speak to a child.
—Denji is special, and that's why we'll treat him in a special way. —She interrupted effortlessly, as if authority itself lived in her voice.— If he quits Public Safety, or if his behavior violates regulations, he will be considered a devil.
A tiny smile—barely a curve on her lips—appeared on Makima's face. That small gesture was enough to confuse Denji… and to send a chill down Isagi's spine.
—Uhhh… —Denji scratched his head, confused, squinting as he tried to process what he'd just heard.— What does that mean? Is that a warning? —he asked, clearly unsure whether he should be scared or laugh. His brain—more peanut than organ—just couldn't keep up.
—It means you'll work for me until you die. —Makima said it like she was commenting on the weather, not blinking, as if she hadn't just violated seven and a half human rights in a single sentence.
Of course, considering Denji wasn't technically 100% human, human rights didn't fully apply. So, in a twisted way, everything checked out. Legalized labor exploitation. Perfect.
Hearing that, Isagi felt something inside him vibrate.
(Damn… work until I die? I like that idea. That's how I want to die. But first I need to know if there's work in the afterlife… because if there isn't, I'd better keep grinding here.) —he thought, as the worker blood running through his veins awakened at such a poetic sentence.
Work until death. He liked the idea. That was Isagi—pretty unpredictable, with a weird sense of humor shaped by things he remembered from his other world.
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Some time later…
Night had finally fallen, though the city remained just as bright and full of life. Neon signs flickered atop buildings, and the distant hum of traffic kept a steady rhythm.
It wasn't very late—barely seven in the evening—but the atmosphere already had that nighttime edge that made everything feel more intense.
Location: Isagi's house, a.k.a. "the son of Toji Fushiguro, the Sorcerer Killer, the man who traumatized Suguru Geto."
Isagi was in his room—more specifically, sitting on his bed, staring intently at an object that anyone would consider insane to hold in their hands: the dreaded T-Virus, the very thing responsible for nearly wiping out humanity in the Resident Evil movies.
The vial glowed with an unsettling blue hue whenever the lamp light hit it.
—If this thing falls on the floor, the world's basically fucked —Isagi muttered, holding the vial with a level of carelessness even he didn't fully believe.— I should probably stop playing with this before I trigger the apocalypse.
He placed the T-Virus on the bed, right in front of him. The blue liquid inside the syringe moved with a hypnotic smoothness, as if inviting him. Still, Isagi wasn't sure. The system was weird—he'd thought he'd only get stuff from anime, but lately he'd been receiving things from movies.
That was new, at least to him. It wasn't like he was a fan of alternate timelines… though there had been a time when he consumed a ton of fanfics about "betrayed Goku" or "Goku in X world."
But he was getting off track.
—Do I inject it or not? —he asked himself, staring at it closely.— Bah… I'm a coward if I don't. And what I've got plenty of is balls. If I turn into a zombie, that's on the System for giving me a biological weapon. —Isagi lifted his gaze toward the system screen.
As if mentally saying: "If anything goes wrong, it's your fault."
Though realistically, it was more of a 50/50—no one was forcing Isagi to use this reward. But he wanted more power. He wanted to be stronger as fast as possible.
So he made his decision.
He brought the needle to the veins on his wrist. Took a breath. Carefully, he inserted it into his skin and began pressing the plunger, letting the liquid slowly enter his body.
—All for the sake of getting that telekinesis… and if they don't give it to me… well, I'll see what I do if I don't get the full set of abilities I remember.
The syringe hit the floor as soon as he finished. Isagi's body reacted immediately: he grabbed his arm tightly, clenching his teeth and fists. The pain was intense—burning—like something was crawling beneath his skin. He could see a bluish shadow sliding through the veins in his arm.
—Hold on… hold on like a man —he told himself between heavy breaths. He wasn't about to lose his chance at more power.
So he took a deep breath, controlling the intense pain in his arm. No pain, no gain, some people said—and this time, Isagi was going to listen.
It was going to be a long night, and Isagi got grumpy when he was sleepy… so if the pain didn't stop, tomorrow Isagi was going to wake up bipolar.
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End of the chapter.