(Ahmet's Perspective)
With the items in my inventory, I headed home—or more accurately, to the orphanage.
It pains me to say this, but the government's support for orphans in this world was pathetic. Kids had to start working at the age of nine just to earn their own money, and half of their earnings were taken by the orphanage.
Considering they stayed there until the age of eighteen, it was a profitable business. And this treatment wasn't exclusive to orphans either. Non-orphan children were subjected to similar conditions starting from age twelve.
The official reason? To "prepare them for life at an early age." But deep down, I knew the real reason: the government was broke.
And the reason for that was—
"Damn it!!"
My train of thought was abruptly cut off when I saw a yellow energy spear flying straight toward my head.
Taking the shortcut through the alley clearly hadn't been a great decision. A man holding a spear made of pure energy was approaching me.
Let me share a little secret—something never said aloud on the surface world, yet even little kids knew it instinctively: You couldn't level up, but it was possible to gain strength from emotions.
Didn't matter what kind—grief, pity, rage, or something like in the Undyne the Undead fight. Every strong emotion could empower the target.
And the method to obtain that kind of power? Simple. You just needed to inflict trauma on a defenseless child—exactly what the masked man was trying to do.
As he came closer, I shifted my mindset into battle mode. The world dimmed slightly, and a red heart appeared on my chest. Upon seeing it, the man aimed his spear at me. That's when I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"You know... I used to be just like you when I was little."
The man's expression shifted in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"
I stepped forward, praying this would work.
"I used to love sword fighting with sticks, pretending with my friends every day."
"We'd play all sorts of games with nothing but wooden planks."
I kept moving slowly. He looked distracted. To appear even less threatening, I deactivated battle mode—my red heart vanished.
"I don't get it," he muttered.
Smiling, I mimicked sword moves with my empty hands.
"I was happy… until that day came. We were finally old enough to start learning magic."
"And that's when everything changed."
I walked right past him, pretending to be sad and broken as I continued my story.
"My soul was one of Determination."
"While the others started adding flashy but harmless spells to our stick fights… I couldn't."
"Then, one day—"
Just as I was about to pass completely, he snapped out of it and shouted, "HEY!!"
He had realized I was trying to escape. He hurled the spear toward me, and I was too close to dodge it. I wasn't even in battle mode—meaning my physical body would take the full brunt of the attack.
Time slowed.
It felt as if my awareness had surpassed the limits of my own mind. The world turned slightly red. In the next moment, there was a shield in my hand.
The spear slammed into the shield, bounced off with a metallic ring—and impaled the man right through the heart.
He looked shocked.
[Congratulations. You have gained 50 TP.]
I stared at his lifeless body.
I felt… nothing.
No regret. No sadness. Nothing at all.
And the scariest part? It felt normal.
I had felt this once before, when I accidentally killed Enes and gained my first experience points. Back then, I'd also noticed Chara trying to take control of me.
The only difference now was how obvious it had become.
"I need to find a way to fix this…"
I wanted to talk to Enes about it, but I didn't want to scare him. After all, this was murder.
Lost in thought, I made my way back to the orphanage. After handing over half of my earnings, I lay on my bed and went to sleep like nothing had ever happened.
In the morning, I was awakened by sobbing from another room.
I went to check, and saw one of the orphanage staff crying uncontrollably. "Seth, why did you do it?? If she left you, I would've happily taken her place…"
I knew she had a crush on an actor named Seth.
And apparently, he had taken his own life last night.
But honestly, I couldn't care less.
I was already carrying the guilt of a murder. Why would I waste my emotions on someone who gave up their own life?
So, like nothing had happened, I crawled back into bed… and went right back to sleep.