“All those people in the infirmary?” Nemesis asked with wide eyes.

  Eris nodded eagerly. “They reported the same symptoms to me as you just did. Headaches, fatigue, and flashes of false memories. Some particularly bad cases also involve nausea and fainting.”

  “False memories?” Nemesis questioned. She anxiously fiddled with the edge of her blanket. “How do you know that the memories are false?”

  Eris hummed as he finished with his physical examination. As he talked, he rested his hand on his chin inquisitively. However, even with his sophisticated actions, he couldn’t hide the obvious excitement he was feeling. Mimi wasn’t surprised. Her game knowledge of the character combined with Nemesis’s own memories reminded her that this man fell more along the lines of a mad scientist than a respectable doctor. An outbreak of a mysterious illness was more likely to be a source of entertainment for him than an actual concern.

  “The patients under my care say these memories appear like visions to them. They flash by in such quick succession that they cannot be fully grasped or pieced together. Despite that, the patients all insist that they have no recollection of their contents, but they feel strangely familiar to them. They are undoubtedly the patients’ memories, but they are all certain these things never actually happened. They said it felt like they were seeing a different version of themselves.”

  Eris continued. “At first, I thought that it was just a strange new illness going around and that hallucinations and psychosis were just a symptom of it. After a while, I began to grow suspicious and developed a different theory. Seeing you now, my suspicions were proven to be at least ninety-percent correct.”

  “Is there something in particular about my case?” Nemesis asked, feigning cluelessness. Of course, she herself knew the reason why. But if Eris also knew, that further confirmed that he was also aware of her healing ability.

  Eris laughed as though he wasn’t fooled. “No need to play dumb. We both know the reason. If you are also being affected, then we can rule out that this is an illness entirely.”

  So he was aware.

  “If it’s not an illness, then what is it?” Nemesis asked rather than confronting him. She also wanted to know the root of this new problem. The fact that it was affecting her was more than enough cause for alarm.

  Eris suddenly turned serious. His mood seemed to flip completely, all previous joy remarkably absent. He leaned back in his chair with a dispassionate sigh and his limbs swung limply at his side for a moment. The next second, his hands flew to his hair in distress. He grasped the shining blonde strands and twisted them.

  “I don’t know! It’s driving me crazy!” he whined. He flailed in his seat for a few seconds before finally calming down.

  Beside Nemesis on the bed, Ant flicked his tongue disdainfully, clearly not approving of the doctor’s eccentric actions. Mimi went to stroke his scales but he dodged her hand with a quiet hiss. She retracted it with a pout before turning back to Eris.

  “But you have some idea, don’t you?” Nemesis prompted. “You wouldn’t stay up all night researching if you didn’t have a hunch.”

  She gestured to the shadowy circles beneath his eyes. Those, she recalled, only appeared when the doctor was particularly fixated on something. Especially when he was close to a breakthrough. Eris removed his glasses and rubbed at them with an exaggerated sigh. “Yes, yes, you know me well.”

  He looked deep into her eyes with a frown. His irises were such a dark shade of brown that they were nearly black, trapping Nemesis’s gaze like an endless abyss. “What I’m telling you stays between us, alright?” After she nodded, he continued. “I realized that the recent afflictions have nothing to do with the physical body. Rather, something is affecting the souls of these people.”

  Nemesis scoffed. “You believe in something as unscientific as souls?” It seemed out of character.

  Eris leaned forward with a smug smile, dramatically straightening out his hair that he had messed up earlier. “To others, it may seem unscientific. But to me, it’s not. I’m able to examine the soul just as I can any other part of the body. That’s what makes me the best doctor in the kingdom.” He crossed his arms arrogantly.

  “You can see people’s souls?” Nemesis asked in surprise. Neither Mimi nor Nemesis was aware of such an ability. It must be related to the doctor’s attribute.

  “No, nothing like that.” Eris quickly waved her off. “It’s more like a feeling or a sensation. Like checking your vitals, for example. I can examine your soul as though it were an extension of your vitals. It’s entirely within the scope of my abilities as a physician, but it isn’t something that can be seen with the eye. However, there are lots of things I can discern through my profession that cannot be seen with the naked eye. This is no different from that, so can it still be called ‘unscientific’?”

  Though he explained as if it were no big deal, Mimi could clearly see the doctor’s eyes sparkling with pride. She had no doubt that this ability of his gave him a sense of superiority over other doctors. It was like he held a key to a person’s wellbeing not possessed by anyone else. It was the first time Mimi had heard of such a game-breaking ability besides her own. And it was possessed by this seemingly random NPC?

  “Then, did you check my soul just now? What does it look like?” she wondered, trying to maintain the appearance of calm.

  If Eris could perceive that, did he notice something off with Nemesis’s soul? Could he see the presence of Mimi’s own soul in this shared body? She found herself holding her breath as she awaited the answer.

  “Of course I did. Your soul has certainly changed. It’s both similar and different to the other patients I’ve observed over the last few days. Many of their souls have been fractured, shattering into dozens or even hundreds of pieces. Yours has also been fractured, though it seems to have merely been split in two,” Eris told her.

  Hearing that, Mimi was relieved. If there was a fracture, it meant that there was still a distinction between her and Nemesis’s souls. Even though they had combined memories, they were still two separate identities, at least for now. That was probably what allowed Mimi to maintain awareness despite the two of them being totally synched. The system’s talk about them being one and the same had spooked her a little.

  Luckily for Mimi, it seemed that Eris didn’t suspect the presence of two souls. Any other time, he probably would have noticed, but because of the similarities to the other patients, it seemed like her own soul had just split into two. However, hearing the condition of the NPCs caused Nemesis to frown. She knew the reason for her own soul’s current state, but what about theirs?

  “Can it be fixed?” she asked.

  Eris seemed to dig around in his pockets for something before pulling out a tiny, square metal case. He opened it up and took out a single green pill before handing it to Nemesis.

  “I’ve been working on producing a medication to stabilize it. Only I could be capable of creating such a thing, after all. However, it’s an incomplete product and I was informed by my assistant that it would be ‘unethical’ to test it out on the patients without knowing the pill’s full effects.”

  He grimaced at the term ‘unethical’ and mentioned using humans as test subjects so casually. Nemesis sighed. Why was it that everyone around her was seriously lacking in morals?

  “So you want me to test it?” she guessed.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Eris smiled brightly. “Yes! With your healing abilities, even if there are some bad side effects, they shouldn’t matter too much. Just please let me study it! You are definitely the key to my breakthrough!”

  He clapped his hands together in a pleading gesture and bowed gratefully. Mimi got the feeling that he was more eager at the chance to solve this medical mystery puzzle than to cure the actual patients affected, but she still agreed. After all, it gave her the perfect leverage in return.

  “I’ll be your guinea pig under one condition,” she told him. Eris nodded enthusiastically, ready to meet whatever demand this villainess made of him. “Tell me everything you know about my healing ability. Who did you hear it from, and did you tell anyone else?”

  Eris sat up straight, glancing at her with a raised brow. “Is somebody plotting against you?”

  Perhaps the doctor was too sharp for his own good. He saw through Mimi’s intentions straight away. There were only so many reasons she would ask about this, after all. Based on his reaction, it was his first time hearing about such a plot.

  “I can answer your questions, but the answers might not be very useful. Will you still agree to help me after hearing them?” he asked.

  Nemesis nodded.

  “As you can probably already guess, I know about your ability from the old man. He swore to your father not to tell anyone, but he was never very good at keeping secrets, especially when he drank. If word got out, it probably came from him.” Eris looked a bit sheepish as he explained, like someone embarrassed by the actions of a family member.

  “Do you have any idea who he could have told?” Nemesis asked.

  Eris shook his head. “He frequented the taverns and brothels. Despite being a doctor, drinking was his biggest vice. I was just a kid at the time, and I couldn’t follow him to those places even if I wanted to.” Then, he sighed wistfully. “Not that I would want to anyway. Those things are just a waste of time. Think of all the experiments he could have done instead!”

  Nemesis chose to ignore the last comment entirely. “He never met with anyone suspicious? Or even not suspicious, just someone he met frequently to drink?”

  Eris shrugged. “I would ask him about it, but as I’m sure you know, the old man passed on a few years ago.” Seeing Nemesis’s visible disappointment, he grew quiet, deep in thought. Finally, he met her eyes with a determined gaze. It was like a lightbulb went off.

  “If you really agree to help me, you know I don’t accept things for free. I just remembered the old man left behind some journals. I kept them to use for medical research, but when I was going through them I realized that unfortunately, a lot of them were filled with personal anecdotes. I didn’t read them since I thought they were useless, and I actually almost threw them away entirely.”

  So heartless!

  “My assistant stopped me, though. I can search through them again and see if there’s any mention of the type of person you’re looking for.”

  Nemesis smiled. It was her usual, slightly scary smile, but Eris seemed completely unaffected by it. In fact, the smirk on his own face looked even more crazed. Mimi hoped she didn’t regret working with the maniac.

  “You have yourself a deal,” Nemesis agreed. Without another word, she took the pill from his hand and swiped a glass of water from the nightstand, downing it in one go. Eris sprung up with a look of total glee.

  “I’m a man of my word! I’ll be in my office searching for the journals. Make sure to record any side effects and write down any changes in your condition!” he yelled as he practically ran out the door.

  “Wait!” Nemesis called after him while wiping the remaining liquid from the corner of her mouth. Eris hesitated by the door and briefly turned back. She continued, looking him dead in the eyes with a sudden ferociousness that left the doctor glued to the spot. “You really didn’t tell anyone about me, right? If you’re lying…”

  “Why would I tell anyone and risk losing the world’s greatest test subject?” he replied matter-of-factly. He looked at Nemesis like the question itself was ridiculous. Then, he was gone in a flash, shutting the door behind him.

  Mimi: “...”

  So he really just sees me as a lab rat!

  [ SYSTEM: 2 New Comments:

  dukeofmyheart: these two are really crazy lol but they have good chemistry. why do i kind of think they would be good together?

  waterfilter: it’s no use. he’s a non-romanceable NPC for a reason. the doctor is married to his work. ]

  Ignoring the fact that complete strangers were currently commenting on her love life, and that she was forced to listen, Mimi suddenly realized something. If the non-illness going around was affecting people’s souls, maybe it had something to do with the system! The system itself seemed to have some level of control over people’s souls.

  Wait, why do a bunch of game characters have souls anyway?

  As always, as if it could read her mind, the distinct sound of a system window opening was heard.

  [ SYSTEM: The ‘souls’ in question refers to each character’s soul data. This system has indeed detected a bug within the game affecting various characters’ soul data. ]

  So it’s a game bug, then. Why hasn’t it been fixed?

  [ SYSTEM: This system has detected that the bug is linked to the entry of the user into the game. This system has received information that indicates the developer is working on patching the bug without causing harm to the user. ]

  Do you know how long it will take?

  [ SYSTEM: The patch is nearly complete. However, it cannot be implemented until the next system update. ]

  When is the next update?

  [ SYSTEM: Estimating… 36 hours from now. ]

  The hell!? Can’t they work a little faster!?

  [ SYSTEM: The developer would like this system to remind the user that they are only one person. ]

  Wait, can they hear me?

  [ SYSTEM: This system has told the user before that any feedback given to the system will be considered and sent to the developer. ]

  So you’re the middle man, right? Deliver this feedback please: Tell that shitty developer that their system is a scam! They said me coming here was to thank me and now I’m going to die in a few days because of them! What the hell is that about, huh!?

  [ SYSTEM: … This system has detected that the developer is currently unavailable. The user’s feedback will be taken into consideration at a later time. ]

  Oh, fuck off!!!

  [ SYSTEM: … ]

  [ SYSTEM: This system would like to inform the user that the character ‘Eris Galen’ has devised an effective treatment in the meantime. The user’s symptoms have already begun to subside. ]

  Mimi begrudgingly noticed that she did already feel a bit better since taking the mysterious green medicine. The headache had faded and the strange flashes of memory had almost ceased entirely. However, it seemed it would just be a temporary solution until the actual bug was patched two days from then.

  She could imagine Eris pulling his hair out once all the patients miraculously got better overnight. Would they even still remember what happened, or would the system update take care of that too? Mimi couldn’t waste his cooperation in the meantime. She had already determined the next step of her plan.

  Though Eris’s master was a solid lead, the description of the person she was looking for was too open-ended and vague. It would be difficult to pinpoint when Nemesis herself didn’t even know who to look for. She was running out of time and she needed a more surefire way to obtain the information she needed.

  There was only one character in the game who would be able to find any information they were looking for in a short time, no matter what. Even if it was hidden from them at first, if they were curious, it would be revealed to them. The game might even present the information on a silver platter. Otherwise, the game risked being riddled with plot holes and loose ends.

  There was just the matter of making the person curious in the first place, and Mimi had an idea of how to accomplish that. She just had to make sure that Ant stayed far, far away from what she was about to do.

  Mimi looked at the snake beside her, now transformed back into a human lounging casually, and sighed. Ant or Dimitri? Mimi wondered which of the two would threaten to kill her first if they found out.

  It couldn’t be helped. Nemesis had to meet the protagonist.