CHAPTER 56: MENTAL ATTACK, ANOMALY [FAVORITE DRINK VENDING MACHINE]

Chryseis Hargraves walked to her seat and sat down again, crossing one leg over the other.

Then, without speaking, she snapped her fingers.

Red lightning crackled around her knuckles.

The thin arcs of light slithered over her hand like veins.

Darkness followed.

It surged upward from her feet and swallowed the room.

The walls turned black, the ceiling blurred into a thick fog of shadows, and even the cheap metal table between us began to lose its shape.

She raised a small red fan and opened it with a soft flick.

Then she covered half her face with it.

I couldn’t see her lips anymore, but I could tell she was smiling.

"How do you know about the Maw of Gluttony?" she asked.

"Master told me."

"You’re still keeping up the act of being the Monkey King’s disciple? You should be aware the Monkey King rejected training even those with the potential to reach Rank 5.

"So why would he pick you? What makes you special enough for Monkey King to pay attention to you?"

I stared at her calmly, and remained silent.

"You shouldn’t stay silent. Your answer here could decide whether you leave this room alive or not."

The silence lingered.

’Something’s off.’

Chryseis Hargraves had come too quickly to interrogate me.

That was only possible if she was here before I revealed the Ruyi Bang replica.

’Why is the Head of Hades Clan here? This isn’t the main location of Underworld. It’s just a side branch.’

Before revealing my ’connection’ to Monkey King moments ago, I was just a suspicious person with the ability to use portal in their eyes.

It wasn’t enough to bring Chryseis Hargraves down personally.

’There’s another reason she’s here.’

No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out what could be the reason.

I was missing a crucial piece in the puzzle.

"Alan Veritas?"

Her voice brought me out of my thoughts.

I looked at her.

"Chryseis Hargraves, I’ve already given you two pieces of proof. If that’s not enough, then let me be clear."

My voice dropped a little colder, and I made sure my tone left no space for ambiguity.

"You’ve got two options."

She lowered her fan slightly, enough that I could see the faint curve of her lips again.

"First, you can keep an eye on me. Since I’m continuing as an Anomaly Hunter, you’ll get plenty of chances to observe me. You will know in due time if I’m the disciple of Monkey King or not."

"And the second?" she asked.

"I don’t care whether you believe me or not."

Her eyebrows twitched slightly.

"If you think I’m lying, go ahead and do whatever you want. Interrogate me. Throw me in a cell. Kill me. But just keep this in mind: If you touch me, Master won’t let it go."

The room fell into silence again.

The heavy, charged silence thundered.

Then she chuckled softly.

"Alright," she said, folding the fan and resting it on her lap. "That bold attitude does match him, to be honest. Maybe you really are his disciple."

Her tone had softened slightly, but her eyes remained sharp.

"This still isn’t enough to count as proof, so I’ll keep watching. And I’ll find out if you’re telling the truth."

The swirling darkness began to recede, drawing back into her body like ink soaking into fabric.

Within seconds, the room was back to normal. Dim lights. Scratched floor. Metal walls. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

"You can go meet your team," she said.

I nodded, stood and moved toward the door, placing my hand on the knob.

I’d taken one breath—just one, invisible sigh of relief—when her voice called out again.

"Alan Veritus."

I paused and turned slightly.

Her glowing crimson eyes locked onto mine.

My chest tightened instantly. My body froze before I could respond.

The moment our gazes met, the buzzing returned.

It was much stronger than before.

It tore through my mental defenses like wet paper.

The moment I let my guard down, she had attacked.

"Is there any reason you chose this specific mission for your Anomaly Hunter license?" she asked.

"...Yes."

The word slipped out before I could stop it.

I clenched my fists and tried to hold back the rest, but my lips were already moving again.

’Damn it. I can’t tell her the truth.’

If she really was working with the invaders, saying I knew about [Area 51] could get me killed.

Worse, it could speed up the timeline and put more people at risk.

She leaned forward. "And the reason you chose this mission is?"

I bit down on my lip, drawing blood.

The pain brought clarity.

My mind steadied for just a second, and I forced my body to resist.

I quickly used [Harmonic Flow Breathing].

The buzz in my head dulled slightly. I couldn’t control my body fully, but a bit of control returned to me.

"....I want to get the Anomaly Hunter license," I said, acting as if I was still under complete control of her mental attack.

"Is that the real reason?" she pressed.

"...Yes."

I kept my voice neutral.

Thanks to the effect of Harmonic Flow Breathing calming one’s mind, I could resist a bit of her mental attack.

She studied me for a few seconds, then leaned back and nodded.

The glow in her eyes faded away.

"You can leave," she said.

You have resisted a powerful mental attack with Harmonic Flow Breathing and your Spirit.

Minor Increase in Harmonic Flow Breathing Mastery, Spirit +5

I didn’t wait this time. I opened the door and stepped out of the room.

The hallway outside was just as dim and quiet as before. As I turned, something caught my eye in the corner.

A vending machine.

It was not just any vending machine.

’Anomaly [Favorite Drink Vending Machine].’

The Karivara coffee must’ve come from this.

’Lunatics.’

Anomaly [Favorite Drink Vending Machine] gave you the person’s favorite drink of random type.

You needed a photo of the person, and you had to write their name on it.

Fake names worked. Photos with disguised faces worked too.

As long as the person internally accepted that name and identity, there was no problem.

You slid the signed photo into the machine like it was money.

And the machine gave you a random drink.

Cola. Tea. Juice. Or coffee.

But it wouldn’t be just any drink. It would be that person’s favorite version of it.

If it was coffee, it would be their favorite coffee. In my case, that meant Karivara.

’It is a Rank 1 Anomaly.’

If the person drank the drink—one produced by the Anomaly—their soul would temporarily leave their body.

It wasn’t dangerous most of the time. Just disorienting.

But here?

We were underground.

And the deeper you went below the surface, the more dangerous things became.

Especially ghost-type Anomalies. They were creatures that existed in spiritual states, invisible to most detection methods, unable to physically interact with the world above.

The stronger the ghost-type, the deeper underground it lurked.

If my soul had left my body for even a few seconds down here, something else might’ve stepped in.

And that’s how undead and zombies were made.

If something like that took over, you were gone.

Forever.