The World In My Mind

THANATOS SYSTEM ACTIVATED

ENTERING MINDSCAPE...

"Open your eyes, Nageki."

As I opened my eyes and snapped out of the daze I was in, I stood in a blank white room before an unfamiliar girl. Weird, but at this point, it wasn't that bad.

She looked like she was in her teens like her voice suggested. Nothing about her stood out much. She had was about a head shorter than me, had long hair a similar shade of black to mine and wore a high school uniform that seemed vaguely familiar. Much better than a spider at least.

What did stand out to me was her eyes. They were a blue paler than any blue I had ever seen before. They seemed so inexplicably..... sad. Like she was seeing someone she knew for her entire life after a century... Wait a minute. That's not what's important right now. I need answers.

"Who the hell are you?! And where the hell am I?!"

"Please, calm down. I am the Thanatos System, or Thanatos if you would prefer that. We are currently in the mindscape. To put it simply, we are inside your mind."

"How is that even possible?"

"It is a bit difficult to explain, so please bear with me. I am one of your abilities-"

"Abilities? What abilities?"

"You are still unaware of your abilities? It seems I was unable to fully restore your memories. This is quite... troublesome."

"Wait, another system? And what's a system in the first place? And what the hell's wrong with my memories!?"

"You seem to like asking questions. How... troublesome. While I cannot answer you fully right now, I will attempt to answer to the best of my abilities. I do not know for sure what a system is, but I do know that I am one and that your memory has been suppressed by another system. For now, think of systems as an A.I of sorts."

I take a deep, and it calms me down. A bit.

"Okay, this is crazy. Do you even know how? Or why?"

"I do not. However, It seems as though I possess the ability to restore your memories and I have attempted to do so, though it seems I was unsuccessful. Could you please tell me what you remember so far?"

"And why should I trust you on this?"

She tilted her head slightly, like a confused puppy.

"Do you have a reason not to?"

Does this girl have any common sense?

"I've literally just met you and you're telling me that my memory got erased and you're the only one that can get it back. That's a big red flag for me."

"I see. How troublesome. It seems I must prove it to you. Please try to remember before what happened before you appeared in the forest."

"Okay, I guess. I remember... something about a weird voice, and....ability selection? So you're one of those hidden skills under fear manipulation?"

"Precisely."

"Ok, but what does that have to do with my memory?"

"Can you remember anything before that?"

"Well, obviously I remember my name, my birthday, my.... family?"

My realization sank my heart lower than hell itself.

" I know I have a family. Why can't I remember their names?! Or their faces?! Or anything else?!"

SYSTEM ERROR

INDUCED MANDELA EFFECT: DEACTIVATED

RESTORING.....

"Force Disable," she muttered under her breath.

FORCE DISABLE CONFIRMED

INDUCED MANDELA EFFECT: DEACTIVATED

ELEVATED STRESS RESPONSE DETECTED

THANATOS SYSTEM: FEAR SUPPRESSION: ACTIVATED

" Huh. I feel.... better, somehow? Did you do that?"

"Yes. When you experience extremely elevated levels of fear or stress, it automatically calms you down. I did the same during the fight you had with the spider. That was why you were able to defeat it. If you were afraid, your chances of survival would have been almost non-existent.

" That's.... reassuring, I guess?"

So she can even control my emotions? I don't think I can trust her yet, but I get the feeling at this point, I may not have a choice.

So how exactly am I going to get back my memories? "

To do that, you need to get stronger by killing strong creatures. All creatures on this planet possess a unique chemical in their bodies, which I refer to as 'essence'. When extracted, it can enhance both your physical capabilities and your skills. The more of this 'essence' you extract, the stronger I become, which may allow me to fully restore your memories."

"That sounds simple enough. How do I extract it then?"

It is automatically extracted and absorbed by your body when you kill them."

"That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.''

"Says the person that killed a giant spider with a scythe made of fear energy. "

"....Fair point. So how am I going to kill those things? And what's fear energy?"

"Using your abilities, of course. You currently possess 3: Fear Control, Aura of Fear, and Fear Manifestation. All of them depend on an energy source I have dubbed 'fear energy.' It is essentially a concentration of fear itself. The more fear a living creature feels, the more fear energy it produces. The same goes for you. However, thanks to the effects of Fear Suppression, you produce fear energy regardless of how much fear you are experiencing, even when it is being suppressed."

"Sounds simple enough. Now how do I use them?"

"Please be a bit more patient," she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Aura of Fear allows you to project a thinly spread amount of fear energy of a certain radius, which can repel creatures. The higher the density, the stronger the repulsion effect is, though this may cause creatures too strong to be affected by the density to locate attack you, as the spider did. The current parameters are set to the current maximum: 15% density over a 100-meter radius. To change this, you simply need to think of the parameters."

"That seems sort of useful. A bit annoying, but useful. What about the other ones, like that scythe."

"Your lack of patience is becoming quite troublesome. Most of your other abilities are... not functional as of yet."

"How? Didn't I just use them?"

"That was my primary ability temporarily force unlocking them. However, I can only do this once every 24 hours, so you must awaken your other currently dormant abilities in order to survive. I am, unfortunately, unaware of how to awaken the others, I only know that they require a catalyst of some sort to be awakened."

"So what the hell am I supposed to do if I run into another spider, or something worse, then?!

"Without your other abilities, you would most likely be unable to fight, so you would most likely die," she stated coldly, like a fact that she was sure would happen.

"Then do I just hope I get lucky enough to unlock the rest of my abilities before that?!," I snapped in response.

"Yes. You do not have any other choice if you want to live."

Thanatos looked directly me with what looked like a hint of regret in her eyes.

"..."

"So.... that's it then? You just tell me I'll most likely die, and expect me to be okay with it?!"

"... How... troublesome. Yes. Like I have previously stated, you do not have a choice. Now, it is time for you to leave. You shall return when you are next unconscious."

"Wait-"

I fell unconscious, and everything went black once more.