Glitch In The System

"..."

There was silence in the room.

An awkward silence.

Because none of us knew what we were supposed to say.

Except

"You said your name is Noah and you are the same age as him... did you have any–" I knew what she wanted to ask so I answered before she could finish her question.

"I have a big sister. Well, I also have a little sis but we are siblings, like blood-related on the other hand the person I call big sis isn't ...she and I aren't blood-related. I just call her that"

"..."

She didn't say anything.

A silence settled between us.

We didn't know what to say except

Lucy slowly stretched her hand towards me.

...knowing what to do.

I closed my eyes as I thought about what I should do.

The system was in control of the midgets and the midgets (observers) could always look into the information collected through the system.

But you see, Lucy is just one of the many people who have a system and while the system is recording the information of what she is doing, the midgets have no interest in looking at every person.

...and the problem is, Lucy wasn't some random person, she is the person whose intelligence stat is highest in this world after Noah.

In other words, the midgets must have taken notice of her presence, while they cannot interfere with her unless she enters the dungeon tower or hidden dungeon, nothing changes that she must be under monitoring.

I was okay with my information being revealed, no I was revealing it intentionally and that was okay.

But what's about to happen, I don't want anyone to know about it, absolutely no one.

"System-san can you... can you block Lucy's system for just a second?"

At my words, Lucy's left eyebrow arched, confusion apparent on her face but I simply looked at my system screen waiting for the reply.

And the reply came.

[I can only do it for 0.2 seconds at best.]

No way in hell 0.2 seconds will be enough or maybe they will?

I can't risk it.

Wait, if Noah and Lucy already once tried what we are about to doesn't that mean that–

"I don't know what you spoke of just now but I think I need to tell you ....my system's been unresponsive for quite some time now." Cutting me off Lucy just spoke something unbelievable.

Oh...

"Uh... Details?"

You can't just drop something like that on me, like, outta nowhere, I need details.

Heaving out a sigh, Lucy stood up and slowly started to walk towards the kitchen, I heard the refrigerator open up, no kid, you can't just keep me in suspense. 

Speak the fuck up.

What the hell did you mean just now?

She came out with a glass of juice and took a seat back but before she could speak I spoke up

"I had a juice in my fridge?"

Why do I not know?

And why do I have a juice in the fridge? I don't even like the juice.

"All the students are given the necessary groceries for the first month by the academy. The fridge came full with the groceries. Did you not check your fridge until now?" She questioned me while sipping on the juice.

"I am the novel reader, I know all that already but like you said and the novel also, necessary groceries, when the hell did juice become a necessary grocery?"

As far as I was concerned necessary grocery did not include juice, what kind of high-class standard is that?

"Oh god..." Lucy rubbed her temples, shook her head and continued "Just, just forget it okay? Let's just say the academy was generous enough to provide its students with the groceries, not the necessary groceries, just the groceries" 

Okay...

"But how could you drink the juice without any hesitation?" I couldn't help but ask.

To that Lucy raised her eyebrow and sipped on her juice once more, urging me to continue and I did

"So, like, these juices are being put inside the fridge by the staff, people, right? They might just put in the stuff that's expired. You know, the companies need some way to deal with the expired products, too. At the end of the day, it's not like the academy could look over each product put in the fridge"

"They have the dates on the packages" Lucy retired

"You can erase the dates if you rub the package enough times or something along those lines"

"They have scanning code on them, that always gets scanned so that no product could pass by in case it is not useable or damaged" Lucy retorted once again.

"Will they really remove a few products among these many?"

"The machines would–" Lucy didn't finish up her sentence and instead walked into the kitchen once more with the glass of juice in her hand.

I heard the sound of the fridge opening and soon after the sound of the splash.

Splash!

Down the drain, the juice goes.

The sound of the fridge's door closing came and Lucy walked back and sat down with no glass of juice in her hands anymore.

"We have more important things we need to talk about than some juice."

Okay...

"Alright, details then?"

I urged her to continue where we had left.

"The first thing you need to know is..." She seemed to be hesitating but as if resolving herself she continued "Noah and I, we were both–"

Since she seemed to be hesitating and having trouble speaking, so I decided to speak for her.

I could more or less tell what she was trying to say

"You were both part of the experiment that was trying to deal with the brain tempering and shit, I know"

Lucy seemed a little shocked by my words but slowly nodded her head and questioned

"Was this told in the novel?"

"No, you were mentioned in the novel and that's why I know you can control and hack into the academy or any system there is, you are smart but that's all I know about you, and your strength and stuff but the novel really never talked much about you and as for Noah the novel never mentioned him, he is what I had to call an extra"

"Noah an extra, that novel's shit" Lucy scoffed.

While I agree the novel is shit and all but girl... the novel is basically your world, you know?

"So, how did you figure?" Lucy shook her head and looked at me.

"When I woke up in this body, that is Noah's body, I searched the place and well found the diary and read it. That's all"

 Lucy scrunched her face as if she couldn't believe what I just said

"That's bullshit. Noah would never make a written record of the things that happened and even if he did, they wouldn't be proper sentences and explanations."

"I never said he did. The diary had encrypted words written in it, it was a pain but I figured them out only to see words that weren't making any sense on their own but I figured things out slowly. I had contacted the person who is the best guy in the novel when it came to information brokers, he could hack into almost anything. He couldn't find Noah's origins or any information of his past"

"The best?" 

Oh, that's what you have a problem with?

"Look, he can hack into the academy's system for a while without getting caught. Sure, he might not be as good as you, who can turn the academy's system into your plaything without anyone ever noticing anything, but he's still skilled—the second-best option I had at the time."

"Right," She scoffed at me, "So then?" 

I continued with my story

"Noah's origin is unknown, the diary had your name and similar characteristics, who is a character in the novel who I know about but there's nothing written about Noah in there, the system screen shows a high intelligence stat that shouldn't be possible, and since I was looking into brain tempering at that time, I figured what might have happened. I mean, this guy was about to kick the bucket, his brain was deteriorating with every passing second. So, I figured out, or more like I made assumptions about what might have happened"

"And what are those assumptions?" She inquired in a low voice.

"Noah was most likely a child abandoned at birth. It's only been 300 years since the world changed, and even less time since those early experiments began. The law banning brain-altering experiments is relatively new, so, of course, there had to be someone who tried something shady. The easiest targets? Kids abandoned at birth or from the slums—children no one would miss.

Noah was part of an experiment to boost intelligence, with means that should have never been used. The result? A success they didn't anticipate. But when they created something smarter than themselves, they couldn't control it. Noah wiped out everything related to the experiment, leaving no trace—except for you. He didn't touch you.

Still, he couldn't avoid the side effects. His brain was deteriorating, his body failing. That's why he came to the academy—probably to see you one last time. But, according to the novel, there's no information on him. So, most likely, he died before he got the chance. Or maybe... he saw you from afar and chose to die quietly, somewhere no one would find him."

"Pfft! Hahaha! Sorry—haha—I can't help it! You're making him sound so pitiful, I just can't—ahaha!"

Lucy burst into laughter and I couldn't help but get a bad feeling, from my experience, I was going to hear something not so normal. I waited for her to stop laughing. Soon after, she sat back straight, and with a chuckle, she began to speak

"You are wrong, you are dead wrong. Noah wasn't a pitiful test subject. He was the one who began the entire experiment. He was born with an intelligence far beyond anyone else's."

Holy mother of god, are you hearing this?

I knew I was gonna hear something crazy but—

Wait, then why the hell was he dying? I am sure this body was close to death's door, it wasn't because of just the medical reports I read about this body. I could feel it, you know?

"And Noah isn't some pathetic guy who would wait for his death. Noah was the one who damaged his brain to prevent himself from surpassing a certain level of intelligence. Do you think someone who harmed himself did it without any plans? Do you think he didn't plan any cure for himself? Do you want to know why he enrolled in the academy? You want to know why I was the only one left alive? I was the successful product of the experiment that he conducted. He spared me because he said he had use for me in the future."

Her voice was becoming cracked, and though there was a smile on her face, it was a smile that looked ....pained. Her eyes filled with sadness seemed to be screaming.

"And you know what's funny? I told him I'd wait. I said I would wait for him. Even after he put me through those countless, painful experiments, even though he's the reason all my friends are dead. I still said I'd wait for him—wait so he could use me all over again."

Her trembling voice was barely above a whisper, each word carrying pain.

"...Even after all that, I...

I love him. After all, he is my ...only family."

...

Now I understood why she was so rattled when she met me the first time. To Lucy, it was important to know about Noah. She needed to know if Noah was dead or alive.

While his death would make her sad, it would also make her free from him but if he is alive then she will keep waiting on until he comes to find her, and she will follow him to hell if that is what he wanted.

"Hey, you said he didn't appear in the novel, right? Then what happened to me? You said the world met its end? How did I die?" Her voice sounded a little desperate.

I didn't want to answer her. 

But...

"You disappeared once the graduation ceremony ended. You were never mentioned again"

I told her what I knew.

And I also knew what it implied.

"Hahaha! See!? I bet he came for me!" Her laughter was unsettling, like a maniac's. She leaned over the table, her voice dropping to a chilling whisper, tears falling from her eyes. "You want to know a way to survive when your world is about to end?" Her tone was eerily calm, and so... broken.

"You can just go to another one. You said you aren't from this world, right?"

I couldn't say anything, but my silence answered her question.

And she fell back on her seat, so lifelessly.

Her face was downcast, as she bit her lips hard enough for a little blood to come out.

My existence worked as proof that there is a way for someone to hop on to another world whether taking their entire body there or ...a transmigration.

And ...it also opened the possibility that Noah took Lucy with him which meant, he didn't abandon her, he protected her the best way he thought of.

And that was exactly what made it painful for Lucy.

Because even though Noah was the source of her suffering, he was also the one protecting her. The very person responsible for her pain was the same one watching over her.

This shit is so complicated.

Noah was much more fucked than I had imagined. 

I stayed silent, I had no idea what words I should offer her.

So I let her be.

She clumsily tried wiping her tears off using her sleeves.

"Sorry about this, can I use the restroom"

I silently pointed towards the direction and she stood up and left.

Now alone, my thoughts wandered to what Lucy said.

Noah was the one who damaged his brain to prevent himself from surpassing a certain level of intelligence. Do you think someone who harmed himself did it without any plans? Do you think he didn't plan any cure for himself?

I couldn't help but think about the first hidden dungeon that I entered. 

I met two midgets there. Lea and Eliza. Lea who had offered me a potion in the name of a personal gift, a potion that was beyond the level of reward that I should have gotten from clearing that hidden dungeon.

Lea and Noah knew each other from before which meant

...Noah had gone into the hidden dungeon.

If that was the case that meant, Lea most probably realized I wasn't the Noah she knew had met before.

My only saving grace could be Eliza, she didn't strike me as the type who would keep her mouth shut. In other words, it was definitely the first time Eliza and Noah(I) met.

I could play it like I pretended not to know Lea because the third party, Eliza, had shown up but ...I doubt it had worked.

That personal reward part must have already helped Lea understand and if that was the case it had meant my initial assumption as to why Lea offered that contract to me was wrong.

The real reason was that she wanted to monitor me.

Damned that midget.

I let out a tired sigh.

Whatever, I will deal with it when the time comes.

For now, let's sort the groceries that I have in the kitchen.

.

.

.

.

"What are you doing...?" Lucy posed the question, who took quite a long while to come back, must have cried rivers.

Poor girl.

"Eating breakfast," I replied.

"It's almost 5 am" Lucy hesitantly sat on the sofa, staring at the meal that was placed on the table, it was clearly hers.

Pancake with gelato and a milkshake.

There wasn't much about her in the novel but I at least knew that she didn't hate sweet stuff. There were mentions of her eating sweet stuff in the restaurants and all.

"Who said you can't have breakfast at 4 am? Also, this isn't made from expired stuff, I made sure to check the dates. So, it's safe. You can eat."

Lucy was looking at me and I kept on eating, slowly though she sat back down and fixed her gaze at the meal in front of her. Pulling the plate closer and hesitantly, took the first bite.

Slowly her pace of eating increased.

It seems she didn't hate it.

That was good.