"It seems you have decided to move forward."
In the same Architecture Department main room where Ye Lan had been yesterday, stood an old man of about fifty, holding a gentleman's cane. He wore a gray, striped suit jacket and a mahogany-colored vest.
His face was deeply wrinkled, but his sideburns and slicked-back hair were impeccably groomed. A pure black tie was knotted at his collar. From the crisp creases on his clothes to his polished, reflective leather shoes, every detail adhered to a strict and demanding etiquette.
Standing opposite him was Manager A, who stared silently at the old man, awaiting his next words.
"Your body and mind have long been weathered by a merciless reality. Are you truly confident you can continue?"
Manager A didn't speak, only watching him in silence.
Failing to get a response, the old man fell silent along with Manager A. After a moment, as if in concession, he continued, "Alright, regardless. You must still have many questions about what is happening here, yes? For example, 'Who is this old man before me? Why does he have the same face and voice as me?'"
"A person cannot see themselves without an external aid. Think of me as a mirror that reflects you... To be precise, a shattered mirror. This old man is but one fragment of that broken mirror, named Abel. Drowned in anger and obstinance, waiting to be forgotten by the world. I, just like you, decided to press on, yet saw no turning point. I tossed and turned every night, plagued by nightmares."
The conversation between the two—or rather, between Manager A and a facet of his own personality—continued, but the day's work could not stop for their talk.
Waking up in his own dormitory, all the wounds on Ye Lan's body had been completely healed by the regeneration reactor. Not a single scar remained on his bare skin.
He walked into the bathroom. His reflection in the mirror wore a faint smile. Today was the 47th day of this cycle. Only four days remained until the launch of the Seed of Light.
Four days. In four days, he could finally escape this endless loop.
Beep! Beep!
The ornament on the sink once again projected a screen of light, and Central's face appeared before him.
"Some bad news. Our attempt to enter the City via aircraft has failed. The only message the agents on the mission sent back was a single sentence: 'There are no stars above the City. What are those shining things?'"
"And there's even worse news, isn't there?"
Ye Lan asked Central with a cheerful smile. Central's words today were something he was hearing for the first time in countless loops. His time had genuinely moved forward by a day.
"Indeed, there is worse news. New anomalies have broken out in the area outside the City known as the Ruins. We will be unable to provide you with an extraction route for the time being."
The face of the old woman on the screen showed sincere regret, but what she was truly thinking inside, Ye Lan couldn't decipher. He couldn't understand her when he first arrived in this world a decade ago, and he understood her even less now.
Ending the conversation, Ye Lan hummed an off-key tune and walked out of his room in high spirits. In the elevator, he ran into the Sephirah of the Security Department, Netzach.
"Yo, isn't it our Best Employee? That miserable state you were in yesterday really scared everyone."
The Sephirah, whose shell still bore traces of Enkephalin, clapped Ye Lan hard on the back as he discussed yesterday's performance. "You actually took on that Claw all by yourself! Haha, after hearing the news yesterday, I was so shocked I had to go ask Hod for some more Enkephalin."
Subtly moving the mechanical hand that was still patting his back, Ye Lan asked him, "Didn't you quit?"
Seeming to notice Ye Lan's concern, the man who once used the psychoactive drug Enkephalin to escape reality blinked his mechanical eyes. He put on a show of bravado, knocking on his own shell with a loud clang-clang as he spoke. "Hey, it's a celebration! Even if it was just a phantom from the Well, it was still a Claw, right? Besides, there's no beer here, so what else is there but a little Enkephalin? Don't worry, it was just a tiny bit. I'm not running away anymore."
"I hope so..."
Ding. The elevator arrived, and the two of them walked into the cafeteria together.
"We were the first to be able to enter the 'Well of Humanity.' We have existed for a very long time, but as time passed, our existence was gradually forgotten and denied—and now, only a few can sense our presence."
In that main room, the dialogue between Abel and Manager A continued. Or rather, it was more of a monologue from Abel, or perhaps from the Manager himself.
"Only a very few. Carmen was one of them. She perceived and believed in our existence. She even tried to persuade us. If our existence could be proven, then she too would have the chance to enter the 'Well of Humanity.' She firmly believed that only through the 'Well' could a cure for the world's deep-rooted malady be found. So, we continued Carmen's unfinished research and succeeded..."
"...This discovery allowed arrogance to take root in our subconscious. We thought we could reignite the forgotten flame of life. However, the path we took was no different from that of Prometheus. So in the end, what did we accomplish? What did we gain? We lost far more than we ever received."
After breakfast, Ye Lan was heading to the changing room when he met Hod, who was preparing to greet the new hires. As the Sephirah of the Training Department, she needed to provide the training manuals she had personally written to the new employees and clerks joining today.
"Morning, Hod! I saw your antenna from a mile away. Are you sure it's not a microphone?"
In his cheerful mood, Ye Lan immediately made a joke about the antenna sticking out of Hod's shell. However, it was clear that for the gentle and timid angel Hod, such a joke was still a bit too harsh.
"Th-that's... it's not a microphone! And... and don't make fun of my antenna!"
"Ha, hahaha!" Hearing Hod's retort, Ye Lan burst out laughing. "Hod, have you noticed? You're so much stronger than you used to be. After your Core Suppression, you've truly come to terms with that experience."
"Eh?"
Leaving a confused Hod wondering how he knew about that, Ye Lan walked into his changing room. The Twilight set he wore yesterday was already there, laid out for him. It seemed A intended for him to start work with this equipment today.
Chapter 4: Abel (Part 2)
"...Your friends, and your employees... their sacrifices were meaningless. You have already witnessed all their endings. You realized that those talented young souls were innocently imprisoned within machines. We failed them, and the world has completely forgotten us. After all that has happened, who will take responsibility for their innocent sacrifices? Do you know what we have all forgotten?"
Abel's accusations and questions struck A like a tempest, causing him to uncontrollably fall into his memories. Malkuth's confession after her Core Suppression surfaced in A's mind, guiding him to answer Abel:
"The conviction in my heart. The conviction to walk with my head held high."
"This is Angela. Announcing to all personnel: the Control Department is experiencing interference. Today's work directives are not to be trusted. All employees, please use your own judgment when assessing directives."
Sitting in the main room of the Architecture Department, which was beginning to melt, Ye Lan heard the announcement from the overhead broadcast. He picked up the Twilight greatsword and left the room. The challenge of Day 47 had begun.
From now on, as they gathered energy and the Qliphoth Meltdown level increased, they would have to simultaneously face the adverse effects from the Core Suppressions of the four Upper Layer Sephirah.
Although there were two new Abnormalities in the Architecture Department today, for Ye Lan, who knew all their information, the work itself presented no difficulty.
Even though the Abnormality whose original form was likely Carmen's teddy bear didn't want him to leave its containment unit, Ye Lan easily finished his work with T-04-06, Happy Teddy, relying on the work manuals he remembered from the game and the experience he had accumulated over countless loops.
At the same time, the Qliphoth Meltdown level rose to two, and the adverse effect from Information Department Sephirah Yesod's Core Suppression appeared in the facility.
The corporation's information display system was declared corrupted. Every screen, whether for the Manager or the employees, became as blurry as if viewed through thousand-degree myopic eyes, with no glasses to be found.
"Even if you can walk with your head held high, you are still surrounded by endless despair. Do you think you look noble? In reality, you are navigating a dead sea. Emotional thoughts are useless, serving only to depress us. We need to be more rational. And then this false rationality will cause me, you, and everyone else to break down."
Rebutted by A's conviction, Abel shifted the target of his accusations. His venomous words now focused on A's so-called rationality, trying to make him admit that the principles he held onto were nothing but a straw wall, ready to collapse at the slightest push.
"But everything will be alright—of this I am certain."
However, how could the extraordinary rationality learned from Yesod crumble from a few curses? A coolly ignored Abel's words, curious to see what else this corner of his personality could say.
"Melting Love's containment unit has entered a meltdown. I have to go in. Angela, tell the Manager not to assign anyone else to the Architecture Department."
The third-level Qliphoth Meltdown alarm sounded. The adverse effect from Training Department Sephirah Hod's Core Suppression was added to the mix. The stat maintenance system was declared to have crashed. On Manager A's screen, the digitized stats of all employees dropped by a full 50 points. Problems they could once handle properly became severe again, and many melting Abnormalities now required employees from other departments to be temporarily reassigned for management.
Forced to manage the entire Architecture Department alone due to the threat of Melting Love, Ye Lan walked into her containment unit. The strawberry-scented slime girl was already spinning around anxiously inside. The moment he entered, she presented a solidified slime orb, like a gem or a piece of candy, as if offering her very heart to him, and hung it above his head.
Ye Lan stayed with Melting Love until the energy counter was full and the machine ejected his work evaluation. He then left the unit. The slime, now content with his company, waited quietly in the center of the room for his next visit.
"It's too late to settle down now. Your mind is empty, lacking purpose. Whenever I close my eyes, the people I can no longer see whisper in my ear... They say that if I truly believe everything will be alright, then I can say nothing at all. Do you think you will be any different?"
"Hope. An ever-kinder hope. I am different from you. I have not yet despaired."
At this moment, Manager A could answer Abel's every question with his head held high. He now possessed all the emotions he needed to persevere.
The fourth-level Qliphoth Meltdown warning sounded along with A's retort. The adverse effect from Security Department Sephirah Netzach's Core Suppression appeared. The employee medical system crashed. All regeneration reactors and mental corruption neutralizers shut down. Employees now had to deal with the Fixers from the Pale Ordeal without any support.
"What good does any of this do? How many times have I told you? You have nothing left. No matter how much you restrain yourself, you must admit that since Carmen left, you have lost your reason to live. Why do you continue to struggle in this meaningless swamp of reality? Look at me! Look at how I continue these meaningless days, waiting for death to arrive!"
Abel furiously swung his cane, smashing everything in the main room into worthless fragments. He hoped his words would win A's agreement, to make him give up on everything, just as he had.
"Netzach was able to endure. If someone like him can do it, then why can't I? I have the courage to survive. You cannot break me, Abel. My employees and I will see this day through. You are but a facet of my mind, and I will never surrender to you and abandon everything I have now."
"...We have been thinking for a long time. Every time we find what we believe to be the right path, cruel reality always tells us it is not. Since you have given such an answer, then I no longer have any reason to obstruct you."
The sixth-level Qliphoth Meltdown warning ceased. Through the efforts of the employees, the challenge of Day 47 was declared over. They were one step closer to the final day.
Manager A, Ayin, had proven his strength to this old man full of mistrust.