Ley's Madness (1)

Ley Pham was loved by fate.

She was born in an affluent family, with loving parents and a caring brother. She never lacked anything since she was a baby.

She was also blessed with beauty and wits. After turning five, she was already known as a child genius, and when she turned seven, she awakened her skill.

Furthermore, the skill she awakened was a cut above the rest. If skills could be classified by tier, hers was at the highest.

[Mental Interference].

A skill so powerful that it was terrifying. A god's power in the hands of a human.

The simplest usage of this skill allowed her to read minds, and if she used it to her maximum potential, it was not impossible to turn other people into her puppets.

Anyone blessed with such a power could easily become a tyrant. An invincible monster able to control the entire world if he wanted, or a terrifying villain with the power to shake the foundations of society.

Fortunately, Ley was born into a nice family. Her mother, after learning of the implications of her abilities, concealed the true power of her skill from everybody to avoid anyone coveting such power or fearing it and attempting to eliminate her. Only she and Jane knew about the true power of Ley's skill.

Jane, on the other hand, taught Ley to not use her power lightly. Ley loved and respected her elder brother more than anyone, so she listened to him and exercised restraint.

But even after hiding her true power, Ley's brilliance could not be hidden. As she grew older, the title of genius became something everybody agreed to. Anything she tried, she succeeded, and nothing seemed difficult for her.

She was loved by fate. 

Of course, she did not think that way. To her, if fate really loved her, then her brother would have not lost his abilities after saving her ten years ago.

Nevertheless, it was a fact that Ley had never faced hardship. She had never felt she was weak, or that she was vulnerable.

Until now.

This dungeon dive should have been normal. Just an episode more of her life. She planned to locate her brother's brainwaves after entering the dungeon and rush toward him, then spend the rest of her time in the dungeon frolicking with him.

Perhaps, she could try acting weak and vulnerable to make Jane pity her. She was sure that if she told her brother she was tired, he would not hesitate to carry her.

Just imagining the scene of her brother carrying her on his back made Ley smirk joyfully.

But although everything went as planned at the start, it soon took a turn for the worst.

While searching for her brother, Ley sensed an unusual mental fluctuation.

It felt strange, foreign, and aggressive. Ley had never felt something like that before.

Out of curiosity, she followed the strange mental fluctuation.

Soon, she found a rampaging student attacking other students like a wild beast out of control.

The rampaging student was considerably powerful. It defeated the students it was fighting in just a few seconds. Then, it glared at Ley.

The next second, he charged at her.

Ley frowned, but she was not flustered. It was true that the rampaging student was a bit strong, but to her, he was of no concern. 

In front of her [Mental Interference], someone like him was just an ant.

That was went everything went wrong.

As soon as Ley's consciousness made contact with the rampaging student, something on him jumped to her.

Ley immediately realized that something was wrong. Without hesitating, she cut off her connection with the student and retrieved her strand of consciousness.

But it was too late. Whatever was on that student had infected her.

This 'seed' quickly spread through her consciousness, taking root in her mind and attempting to interfere with her thoughts.

"What is this…" Ley panicked. She tried to use her skill to destroy the thing infecting her, but it proved futile. Every time Ley tried to eliminate it, the seed would instead consume her soul power and grow stronger.

Only then did Ley realize the gravity of the situation.

Flustered, she launched a blast of soul power to the rampaging student to stop him from approaching her. The blast was so powerful that it rendered the student unconscious in a go while Ley ran away to find a safe place to get rid of whatever invaded her mind.

But any attempts to destroy the seed was futile. It quickly grew larger, expanding its roots in her mind and sucking her soul power.

Moreover, Ley noticed her thoughts becoming scattered. She felt as though she was losing control of her sense of self, and her mind was being filled with a feeling of obsession.

She wanted to see her brother.

She wanted him only to herself.

He could be only hers. Nobody else deserved him.

'Brother…' She called out in her mind, sending her thoughts throughout the entire dungeon in a feeble attempt to reach out to him. 'I'm not feeling well… P-Please, come to help me…'

She knew that something was wrong. At this rate, she was going to do something her brother hated.

'Brother… H-Hurry up… I don't know how long I can resist.'

The seed in her mind was becoming stronger, making her thoughts blurry. She was slowly losing control of herself.

'Brother, where are you… I want to see you…'

She called out one last time, holding her head in pain.

Then, she suddenly got an idea.

"Yeah, I should go to him then. I'm sure brother wants to see me too." She spoke to herself with a dazed look. "Mm, I'm sure brother misses me too."

All of a sudden, her headache disappeared.

The wind around her stood still, the water stopped flowing, and any nearby creature got paralyzed in fear.

Smiling softly, Ley stood up.

"But first, there is something I need to do."

For a brief instant, Ley's black eyes got tinged in red.

"There is someone I must kill."