Retrocognition

As if! I should've expected this way back. This is a hero quest reward after all. Damn, how could I be so stupid? But, what else could I do though. In the entirety of the game, I always followed the perspective of the heroes, so I only know the events concerning those guys. And because of that I only know of two ways to fix my Qi center. Had I played from the villain's perspective or something, I could've had a broader perspective.

So, why am I freaking out, you ask? Well, it's because of the stuff I saw at the end of the path; a freaking gold dragon statue!! Or at least I believe that to be so. I still don't know if the dragon's alive or if it's just a statue. The detailing on it is so precise that I'm afraid that it might actually be alive.

I made a grave mistake. I shouldn't have come. It'll kill me for pete's sake! I wanted to escape so badly. However, when I looked back, the path was gone. I had no choice but to walk towards the dragon. Once I reached before it, I punched it to check whether it was actually alive, not that it would cause a dent or something.

"Ouch! That hurts, you know?" I heard a voice as I hit the dragon. I was genuinely freaked out. However, I noticed that the voice didn't actually come from the dragon. I looked around to find a man sitting in the corner reading some kind of book. "Oh, I was kidding! It's not like that punch would amount to any sort of damage to that statue." He replied as he closed the book in his hand.

"Oh, it's a statue, huh?" I was relieved. I didn't want to face the dragon's wrath for punching it or something. Anyhow, now that I knew about that, I focused my attention towards the guy before me. "Who are you?" I asked him.

"Well, isn't that the question that I should ask you? After all, you're the one who barged in." He replied.

It made total sense though. So, I decided to introduce myself. "I'm Hua Liu. And you are?" I asked, forcing him to reveal his identity.

"Don't you know who I am? Then how did you even enter this cave without even that knowledge and most importantly, why?" He asked.

"Well, let me see. I heard a rumor about something that could cure my illness… well, my inability to cultivate and how it's in here. So, I decided to enter the cave when I accidentally stumbled upon it." I replied. There's no need for revealing the fact that I'm a reincarnated human and this is a game world, right?

"Stumbled? What do you mean by stumbled?" He asked.

"Well, I was walking by this place and accidentally discovered it. So, I came in." I replied.

"I feel like you're lying about some stuff. Or at least you're hiding something." He spoke as he stared at me.

Well, it's not like a big deal or something. If you think about it, me knowing about this place could be categorized as rumor in technicality. And if I'm to say that Zhang Wei fought all the battles for me, that would kinda make sense too. "You see, I…" I was gonna reveal it all, however he placed his hand on my mouth.

"Wait, I felt as if you were brewing a plan in your mind just now. And even if you're not planning something, I'd just like to test my powers a bit." He spoke.

"Your powers?" I took his hand off my mouth and asked.

"I got retrocognition. So, I'll just take a look at your past and get my answer!" He replied.

I freaked out. I should've kept my calm, but I freaked out. I don't know how people might perceive me if they know that I'm reincarnated. If he learned about it, there's one extra person who knows my secret. And soon enough, there'll be two people who know that, then three. It would be catastrophic. "Wait, you don't have to do that! I'll just tell you the truth, how about that?" I asked in a hurry.

"You know, if you act like that, I'll be more intrigued to look at your past. And it's not like you can stop me anyway." And with that, his eyes suddenly turned dark. Like, his entire eye turned pitch black. Then his eyes turned back to normal. He looked like he couldn't believe what he just saw. It seemed like he just saw my past. However, it didn't stop there. Just after that, his eyes suddenly turned pure white. And this time around, he looked more shocked than before. "You… What the hell are you?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" I tried acting oblivious to it. By the way, I didn't like how he asked me that question. Felt like he was treating me like an object or something.

"Shut it. Let me think. Your past diverged into two different paths. That means you possessed someone's else's body through evil means. However, what I saw from one of the diverged memories wasn't this world. Don't tell me, you're reincarnated, aren't you?" He asked.

"..." I really didn't want to reply. I didn't think that someone else would actually find this secret so easily.

"Whatever! And then when I peeked at your future, it was dark… Oh my goodness, you were supposed to die, weren't you?" He asked.

"Hey, you got clairvoyance too? That's cheating!" Damn, is that why his eye colour changed from dark to white? I felt extremely disturbed. The guy before me just saw my entire life history and I didn't like it.

"Talk about cheating, aren't you the cheat here? With your past knowledge and all!" He replied.

"How far did you just see?" I asked.

"Well, about everything, if you ask me. It's like your memory is my memory now. So, I don't need much time to process it." He replied nonchalantly.

"So, you saw everything, huh?" I asked as I sat down in a corner.

"Yea. Never would've thought that this world's a game world." He sighed.

"Aren't you gonna freak out?" I asked. It should've been a big reveal, after all. However, he seemed calm.

"Well, you freaked out plenty for me in your memories. You had more of a reason to freak out too. Reincarnating into a game world on a character that would die pretty soon. That's a good reason to freak out." He replied with a smile.

I sighed. "Tell me. Are there anymore people with your sort of power? I got to prepare for that, at least!" I wasn't kidding though. I just don't want anymore people peeking at my past.

"Nah, I'm the only one in the whole world with this power." He assured me.

"That's a bit of relief. Anyway, since you've seen why I'm here, can you do it?" I asked him.

"Let me see.. Come closer." He requested. When I went closer, he placed his hand on me and closed his eyes. "Well, it's kinda similar to that hero guy." He replied.

"What do you mean?"

"You are cursed, just like him." The reply surprised me.

"I am cursed? But why would someone curse me?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean by you don't know? Aren't you the one with retrocognition?" I really didn't get it. Why would someone curse me? I'm a freaking normal mob… Why would someone curse me? And are my parents aware of this?

"Well, you see. Since you are the one occupying the body, your memories are prominently being featured. So, the original Hua Liu's memories are a bit hazy, even for me." He replied.

"Damn it! Well, whatever. Just fix my damn Qi center. I'll deal with the curse ordeal later." I replied.

"Okay, just gonna tell you this though. Your curse is a lot stronger than what the hero guy had, since it's been here for literally years now. I believe even in the hero's case, I had to give a small portion of my power to him. However, for you, I might have to give a lot more. Hell, I might have to set you up with a new core entirely. Just a head's up." He replied.

There it is! This is gonna be tough. If he's gonna exert more power on me than he did with Zhangsun Shan, the power balance would be ruined. This was a power granted to the hero, after all! If it's stronger than what the freaking hero received, I just don't wanna imagine it. I have to really think about it before making a decision. This is possibly the biggest decision of my life, after all! "Can I think about it for some time?" I asked.

He nodded his head. "Sure, take your time. However, you can't go out unless you make a decision. So, you're stuck with me now."

"Is that so?" I asked as he sat beside me and stared at the gold dragon statue. Ah, damn! Why do I feel so much pressure on me?

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