Tasteful

The hospital bustled with a symphony of hurried footsteps, overlapping conversations, and the distant hum of medical equipment. A medley of antiseptic and sterile scents lingered in the air, intermingling with the aroma of coffee from a nearby cafeteria.

White-coated figures moved purposefully while the occasional laughter of a child echoed through the halls. Amidst the organized chaos, a sense of urgency and compassion pervaded, creating a tapestry of humanity in the pursuit of healing.

Inside the hospital room, a man in a hospital gown perched by the bed. Only yesterday, he shook off a long coma. A car crash shook their world a few weeks back, him and his wife in the thick of it.

But the wreck claimed their unborn son, and his wife was still lost in sleep's embrace.

He occupied the chair, fingers intertwined with hers, stealing glances at her delicate features. Beyond the window, sunlight painted the scene with hope.

He held her hand tighter, silently urging her to open her eyes, to rejoin the world. Today could be the day they mend the jagged pieces, a fresh start amid the wreckage that had upended their existence.

Sorin witnessed them from behind the room's window. Beside him was Elara as they stood in silence. The woman inside the room was the one who held his leg inside that murderer's domain... Sorin could still remember her voice.

"My... son...! He... killed... my... son...!"

It turned out he trapped the souls of his victims inside his domain to have them as playthings till the end of time. At first, he thought they were his past victims... but this one was different.

"We actually don't know," Elara answered.

Sorin turned to her. "But shouldn't we be able to save her? It was a supernatural phenomenon. Shouldn't we be able to help bring her back?"

Elara shook her head. "Sometimes they are the one who doesn't want to go back."

"Why?" Sorin asked in disbelief.

"Guilt," Elara turned to him. "You told me that he killed her son, right? Her son died in that accident he had caused. She... might not want to go back without her son."

They fell into silence.

All at once, an overwhelming desire surged within Sorin, compelling him to beat the murderer's ghost once more. If he could bring him back, he would let him taste a third death.

He should've saved his strength and not hit him too hard yesterday. Since he became a sovereign, all his attack, be they physical or mental, was enough to exorcise those beings, so he should've held himself back better.

"How did you know he was the Monster of Florence?" Elara asked.

Sorin shrugged. "I was obsessed with true crimes around the world once, and I wanted to become a cop."

Elara blinked at him. "Ah, so that's how you know about him?"

Sorin hummed to confirm it. "I researched so many cases and was shocked at how badly the cops do their jobs. I was so naive then; I thought I could change something if I became one."

"What made you think you can't?" Elara asked.

Sorin sneered. "In high school, I was caught up in a gang war. I got shot and stabbed multiple times and tried to report the information I had to the police..."

"...but they never do anything," he answered.

Elara looked at him closely, trying to read his emotion behind that stoic facade.

"I found out that the drug cartel that backed one of the gangs bribed the authority. After that, I grew up to be more... realistic. I set my goal to graduate and try my best to survive instead," Sorin said.

So that's where his recklessness, his fighting style, and his way of resolving things came from. It made Elara like his dirty words and curses a lot more.

[Ah... Why is Sorin so cool? Is it wrong to want to hear him curse even more? He was so cool back then...]

Sorin flinched.

He glanced at Elara, who was seemingly calm and expressionless.

[He humiliated that evil entity so bad I almost felt bad, but I don't feel bad anymore because Sorin is just so bad... my bad guy. He's so bad...!]

Sorin glanced at his status screen.

[Sorin]

8th Sovereign

Str: 31 | Agi: 35

Int: 52 | Wis: 29

Vit: ∞ | Cha: 17

Luc: 5

Unique Reigns:

Reverse (SSS)

Immortality (S)

Synapse Overdrive (F+)

(New!) Mind Reading (F)

(New!) Domain Creation (F-)

Title:

Greed Nemesis

Deal 50% more damage to Mammon's followers.

50% immunity from greed temptation.

Sorin couldn't help but narrow his eyes and feel suspicious. Why couldn't he turn off his new reign, Mind Reading? Because it was a passive reign?

He couldn't help but keep hearing Elara's voice... no, it was her thoughts.

Despite how her expression didn't look weird or change at all, Elara's thoughts were... [Ah, what to do? I like how he moves... how he speaks... his insults are all immaculate and tasteful...]

T-tasteful...

Elara had such a weird taste.

[He's so crazy... but why do I love it?! He did it when he fought Mammon, and he's not afraid of Papa either. And... he cursed and beat a serial killer's ghost like crazy... so cool! Why am I so into it?!]

Yeah, why?

In all his life, he never met anyone who would see him being crazy and see it as cool. He ran a rampage when he was young, enforcing his own sense of justice. Everyone who knew those sides of him would immediately run away.

But this woman...

Sorin scratched his cheek. A soft blush emerged on his face. He muttered in his heart, 'Why is she so stupid?'

"Doctor! Nurse!"

Sorin and Elara directed their gazes toward the room, where the man inside hurriedly approached them and swung the door open with an urgent motion. They got out of the way as the man ran and screamed for the doctors and the nurses.

Sorin peeked into the room with Elara to see the woman on the bed with her eyes open.

As doctors and nurses rushed into the room, they conducted a thorough examination of her condition and determined that she would be okay.

The husband cried in relief, hugging his wife with a tearful face.

Elara turned toward Sorin. Her eyes subtly sparkled at his relieved face, mirroring the husband's own. She pursed her lips to hold her smile when she impulsively asked him...

"How about we help you become a cop?"