Chapter 75 Oblivion

The perspective of some woman:

"Now, baby... do you remember your name?"

The child looked down on the floor, had her small eyes wander for a moment and then looked back at the man.

"Umm... it’s Xiao?" she said nervously with an uncomfortable expression.

The man sighed, forcing a smile as he once again rested his hand atop her head.

"That’s no good, child... you don’t have a name. Do you understand?"

A faint, ominous glow surfaced.

MANA is complicated.

It has a smell, a taste, and even emotions.

The type of MANA permeating this room had a particularly foul stench.

Like a sewer.

Yes—a sewer. The kind of stench that makes you instinctively pull your shirt over your nose before you’ve even realized you’ve done it.

"Let’s try again, kiddo..."

The man’s tone grew colder. Deeper.

The warmth in his voice had previously seemed almost involuntary—a softness reserved for comforting the child through a process she neither understood nor had the means to consent to.

"Do you remember your name?"

"My name..." the child whispered, her words becoming increasingly sluggish.

She paused.

"...what was it again?"

The man then smiled, removing his hand from her little head.

He appeared as if he had finished something rather mundane.

Afterwards, he looked across the room and said:

"You’re next. Come here."

He pointed towards a little boy sitting on a bunk bed.

The boy immediately tightened his embrace around his little sister.

Both children were restless. Neither seemed capable of understanding what was happening, yet something about the room had made them terribly afraid.

The boy didn’t want to let go.

He held his sister tightly.

Then he looked at me, visibly irritated, and told me to take him away.

I complied. I didn’t question his words nor authority.

He repeated the process on the boy.

Yet the boy didn’t return to his sister.

He stumbled towards a different bed.

His movements were sluggish. His eyes seemed unfocused.

As if he had forgotten what he was supposed to do next.

The doorknob then rattled.

It opened.

And words followed:

"Minum, what are you doing?! You’re not supposed to do this with caretakers in the room!"

The man that entered the room then glanced at me and said:

"Maddy, leave the room right away!"

So, without saying anything I left the room.

Whatever happened next, I neither heard nor witnessed.

But it was probably the same thing, over and over until not one child could recall their name nor recognize their siblings.

The sole thing I knew for certain was simple:

I wanted alcohol.

And the tender embrace of anyone who could offer it to me.

As soon as possible.

So I went to a bar to lose my mind. My memories. And perhaps mirror the children that had these things stripped away from them.

As I was drinking, a man walked up and sat down next to me.

He seemed young, but he was handsome and tall.

He wore casual clothes, the kind you’d typically wear at home, rather than the suits so commonly seen throughout this city.

I preferred older men, but I would settle for what I can have at the moment.

"Just a night out—and I’m not alone, I’m waiting for three people."

I see.

"I’m Sung Oh—my pleasure, Maddy."

"By the way, Maddy, can you do me a favor?"

It wasn’t that I was easy—not at all, but rather that I needed something to distract me—urgently—and I would’ve done almost anything to satisfy that need.

"Anything for you, handsome."

"You might see some people looking for me tomorrow, so when that happens, can you do anything in your power to help them?"

I didn’t know what he was trying to say here. Who would come looking for him? And why? But in spite of all these questions, I didn’t dare to care.

So I simply agreed.

I wanted to take him home. I wanted his hands over me. I wanted to get fucked desperately.

I needed it. I craved it.

I wanted to become a soaking mess for him.

But he denied me.

I ended up giving him my number.

There’s just something about someone turning you down like that—they don’t reject you, but instead save you for later.

Perhaps, he wanted something serious instead? And didn’t want to ruin that by sleeping with me?

No matter what it was, I couldn’t just switch targets.

So I returned home alone. I cried that night; I was a mess.

The next day the prophecy came true: some men came looking for him.

I didn’t know why, and I didn’t care to ask.

Whatever he did, I’m sure he couldn’t have done anything bad while being such a handsome boy.

"Think you could draw us a sketch of him?"

"I could."

"Can you do it right now?"

This one I couldn’t do. I was drinking again—nothing was going to interrupt that.

"I’m sorry, could you please wait until tomorrow morning? I’m already quite drunk, so I wouldn’t want to ruin my day for this."

"This is really important—it’s urgent, okay?"

It can’t be that bad, can it?

"Boro, quit being frantic and calm down—we can have a System Summon issued to her and then she’ll have no choice."

I could barely make out what they were saying. None of it was really registering for me—alcohol was doing what it was supposed to.

They left.

And then it happened...

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION .. ]

[MADDY DOLL — IMMEDIATE SUMMON TO THE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS]

[SYSTEM WARNING: NEGLIGENCE OF SUMMON WILL RESULT IN SEVERE PUNISHMENT]

Sigh...

What the fuck is wrong with them?! It can’t be that serious!!

So I left...

I stumbled drunk across the town and reached the destination.

"Bureau of Investigation."

It had yellow crystals all over it; never really managed to memorize what each crystal does—there were so many of them.

One man stood in front of the building. Waiting.

"Maddy Doll, correct?"

"Yes..."

We went inside.

From ahead of us, walked a man—he seemed somewhat ordinary, not particularly unique in any way.

Then...

The overhead lights flickered intermittently, casting alternating bands of light and shadow across the hallway.

An ominous feeling in my stomach manifested.

A gut feeling bawling its eyes out, desperately screaming at me to leave.

Or... what was it again?