1.18.2 Bruv, you should try this mind explosion thingy.

In a small cell, reminiscent of the one where players were first kept and experimented in. An armless body lay on the bed. The body was connected with an IV that pumped his body with nutrients, supporting the growth of the arms. The growing pains of which can make a grown man cry.

"What… happened." The dream that Girisia rarely saw came back to him, the same road, the same broken car, the same pain that cuts away at his sanity. The pain that woke him up from the nightmare that kept haunting him for no reason.

"My head…. !" Though he regretted waking up, as the pain seemed to have gotten worse and it was not just his hands that were experiencing the pain caused by accelerated growth of his muscles, but his brain was experiencing something similar.

'Why… what happened?' He recalled his little deal.

A deal that couldn't work out and then. 'That old man…'He wanted to curse the Wilkis but he knew he was the weak one in this deal. Blaming others for his weakness will only harm his mentality.

"Where am I?" Though his head and arms hurt, Girisia was not much disturbed by them after getting used to the pain.

He was in a room he had seen previously. And not in the previous timeline, but the present one.

"The research institution?... No, it's a bit different." He mentioned after looking at the room on the other side of his cell.

It was an operating room whose bed still had some splotches of blood on it.

"Don't tell me." Girisia lifted his hand and noticed how it was longer than before. He understood where that pain was coming from. And why his head hurt.

And to confirm his suspicions, Girisia opened his status screen.

Race: Karabit

Class: None[1]

Trait: None

Racial Trait: Blood Infusion

Title: Beggar of The Riber city

[FSP: 0] [KP: 10] [Exp: 248769]

[Stats]

STR: 0.6→0.8

CTS: 3.2→3.5

DEX: 1

INT: 0.7→0.8

SPR: 0

WIS: 1.3→1.4

Vigor: 220

Health: 140→170/170[240]

Passive skills: Tenacious[lvl1| Danger Discernment [lvl1]]

Active skills: none

Creation skills:

Status effects: [click to expand]**

He noticed the change in his stats, they were automatically growing without the need for any exercising.

No, it would be better to say, they were recovering to their original state. And the blinking <Status effect> screen told him the reason.

Status effects: Body Trauma[30%→ 25%], Regeneration I[3d/13hrs/23mins], Nanite bomb(Brain)[permanent]

There was something else than Girisia had expected and it also explained the blood on the operating table in front of him.

'This… fuck fuck fuck fuckf uckkkkkkk!' The more frustration he felt, the more pain flared up in his head. He wanted to touch his head and check the stitches on his head, but he couldn't. His hands were still not recovered to that extent.

"Wilkis you bastard… Why is there a bomb in my head." Girisia shouted, knowing full well that a person like Wilkis who had no respect for someone's privacy should be listening to him.

And he was right, Wilkis was keeping a non-stop watch on Girisia. But he didn't speak or expose himself, instead, it was someone else.

"Oh, it seems you woke up too." A candid voice came from the woman in a white overcoat as she entered the room.

"You… don't tell me you did this…" Girisia saw the woman he had only ever met once before. The pervert who wanted to operate on his brain.

Hence on Girisia's face, there was nothing but disgust on his face. What he hated more than cold heartless bastards were the crazies who can't control their desires.

"Of course, it will be me, the Mayor is not good at these things and we need to keep your precious brain safe." She gladly took the credit for her work. "Don't you know how hard it was, who knew if I accidentally ruined your ability?"

"Keeping my brain safe by stuffing a bomb in it?" The absurd explanation by Farsight only caused him more annoyance.

"Mr. Korus, don't be like this, I remember you were so formal last time we had a discussion." She said, completely diverting the topic either on her own will or out of ignorance. And with people like Farsight, Girisia knew, he can not be sure which is which.

But her words also calmed him down. She shouldn't have the authority to do operations of these kinds of her own will.

'At least I am sure that she didn't do anything weird with my body.' He felt relieved, the status screen only showed three things. Nothing more and nothing less.

"You can't expect me to be calm when there is a bomb in my head." Girisia, after becoming accustomed to his current reality. Made up a proper excuse.

He understood that shouting in anger won't change things. "Now please tell me, why do I have a bomb in my head." Girisia requested.

"But how did Mister Korus learn that we Implanted a bomb in your head." Farsight still didn't seem that adamant about answering his question, instead, she asked one of her own. "Is this also an ability that Mister Korus possesses besides the additional prophetic one?"

"You… You know about my prophetic abilities too?" The moment he asked this question, he understood that one more person had been added to his secret. Wilkis could have just asked Farsight to implant the bomb without exposing his ability, but he didn't. Which confused Girisia.

'Is she that close to him?' He thought, before denying with a simple. "No."

"I just saw some details of the future while I was out cold." He explained. There was no need to give out the details about his status screen, nor did he lie. He didn't possess an ability like the one Farsight was imagining.

"Did you see your head getting blown up?" She was not mocking Girisia and was a genuine question. But it was still rude.

So with an annoyed expression, he asked. "Just tell me the reason for putting a bomb in my head…"

Girisia wanted to know why would Wilkis bother to put a bomb in his head. He didn't mind dying and if threatened, he will probably kill himself at this point.

But Girisia knew, Wilkis is not a stupid person who will do useless things like this.

"It's to keep you in check in case you start to abuse your authority. And sorry for arriving here late." A younger voice, the kind he had not heard for a long while came from the game. Another person entered the room who looked at Farsight with similar annoyance that Girisia did. And this man also stimulated a similar sort of expression from Farsight. Who, after looking at him, left the room with an annoyed expression on her face.

The man was Vanras. The one Wilkis originally intended greeted Girisia when he woke up. But Farsight was a step ahead of both of them.

As for what authority Vanras was talking about? There was no need for him to specify, as Girisia caught the implication of this word.

"So… the old bastard agreed?" Girisia asked, completely forgetting that he had a bomb in his head. And feeling delighted that Farsight left the room, he probably lost some brain cells talking to her.

"Mister Korus, please keep in mind that it's the Mayor General you are talking about, please don't disrespect him." Vanras didn't like the way Girisia spoke about the Wilkis, but he still gave him the answer Girisia was waiting for.

"And yes, he has."

"You should understand, the bomb in your head is our only way to control you. It was our insurance in case you go wild. And not just out of your will. You should understand this better than anyone, the madness the Mutant path brings a person. And with information in your head and the authority you will gain, it will be disastrous for us" The explanation Vanras gave to Girisia was a sound one. It would have been a conclusion Girisia would have come to if he was in their place.

"Then… for how long before the operation?" Girisia asked though he was not that happy to have a bomb inside his head. He was not too worried.

Well, it was more like he couldn't' afford to question his captors at this point. And besides, there will be a lot of ways to remove a bomb like this from his head in the future.

"The moment the effects of the regeneration serum end, will we start the marrow transplantation operation."

"So around three days, huh?"

"Yes, it seems you already have some idea." Vanras pointed out.

"As you already know, I have a penchant for things like this. Learned a lot of things about certain Serums from Tarkov."

After confirming he will be getting the object he so desired, Girisia gladly carried on a small conversation with Vanras.

He was not too surprised that Vanras would know of their little deal like he was with Farsight. He had probably known Vanras way more than Wilkis and had met him often.

This giant bear-like man in the glasses was the right-hand man of Wilkis and he was the one who picked up Riber City back from its ruin after Wilkis's mother went berserk and killed all her offspring which included Wilkis too. Though she won't go mad for another six-year, and she wouldn't kill her son for another three years after that.

So the man in front of him still was nothing more than a simple assistant of the mayor.

But looking at it all from a certain perspective and when comparing Vanras with the woman before. Girisai still couldn't understand one thing.

Hence he directly asked.

"Who is this woman? She is close enough to the mayor to know our deal. But in all of my visions, I have never seen her once in my visions."

"Are you sure you never saw her?" Vanras asked for a confirmation, which Girisia replied to by nodding.

"She… " He was wondering if he should give the real answer or the one that is way more known to the whole world. The one that Girisia probably already knew.

But a sound in his earpiece gave him the confirmation he needed.

"She is General's own daughter, the direct offspring of Wilkis Riber and inheritor of the Riber name."

"Her real name is Ursala Entario Riber."

"Who?" Was the only question that remained in his head. This woman never existed in his memory.

Much to Vanras's surprise.