CH 12: CHOICE

Even though it may seem reckless, Adam's choice had been precisely calculated from the start.

The otherworldly beautiful woman sitting in front of him clearly wanted him to take a book from this place called 'Nexus' and get rid of whatever curse he might get afflicted by when he wakes up.

So he used this opportunity and went beyond what was implied. He did not ask for just one book but the whole library instead.

It was a gamble. A blind gamble that he believed to be tilted in his favor, at least that's what he told himself to gather the courage to tread on this path.

If he won, this would be equivalent to him owning the entire knowledge of the universe if her words were to be believed, that is. If she refused then he would simply choose one book about medical advancement and leave. After all, what the rich truly cared about, in the end, was health and a prolonged life.

The only risk here was her getting angry due to his absurd request and thus refusing to give him anything. But it was worth trying, so try he did.

Low risk and a high reward. Just how could he pass on such an advantageous occasion?

'So how will you answer?'

The woman was left speechless by Adam's bold demand of obtaining the entire library. Then her shocked expression slowly morphed into a radiant smile before finally…her quivering lips opened wide and her smile blowed out into a full-on explosion of sonorous laughter…

"Hahaha! I must say, human greed for knowledge is truly insatiable!"

Adam released an imperceptible sigh of relief. But he was cautious to not let it show on his face, lest it may lead to something untoward. She was not angry by his outlandish behavior. That was a plus. What this meant was that he had already won half of the gamble. He was now sure that he would face no repercussions.

Standing up, she walked toward one of the shelves and gently caressed one of the books lodged inside…

"Adam, did you know? Knowledge is power and it's through the acquired wisdom of that, even though humans lost their godly nature, they can still thread on the territory of god.

If I could, I would give you this entire library right here and now, as you have wished for. For there is no greater virtue than the pursuit of knowledge in my eye."

Her eyes seemed to shine with a bright and otherworldly luster as she showed an enamored look while longingly glancing at the book in her hands, "But sadly, I cannot. Because then you would die. The worst death as your body would stay alive but your soul and mind would be completely crushed by the weight of all this information."

A gentle smile graced her lips, "Still, in order to reward your greed and desire for knowledge let me give you something else. Something that will satiate your greed in due time."

Her hand finally landed on what looked to be an old antique book with the symbol of an apple drawn on the neat front cover. On the corner, the word <<Genesis>> was finely written in cursive gold.

"This book represents the Alpha and the Omega of the Nexus. It's one of the keys to entering the Akashic Records and acquiring access to all the knowledge in this place. I will give you this key. That is of course if you want."

The eagerness from Adam's face vanished. A cold calculating look took its place as he asked in a skeptical tone…

"What is the catch?"

She smiled and opened the book, showing a book whose pages were totally empty.

"Hard work against instant gratification. Either you take one book, and you will obtain whatever knowledge is inside of it in an instant. Of course, the more advanced the book is, the higher the risk of you destroying your own mind. Or…. You choose. Choose this empty book, gain access to this place, and progressively fill the knowledge yourself."

"You… You planned this the whole time, didn't you?"

Adam couldn't help but let a defeated smile grace his lips. Whether this was a figment of his imagination or not, the truth was still the fact that for someone like him to outsmart some timeless entity would be rather difficult. Impossible would probably be the correct word for that probability.

She had laid out her previous words intentionally so that he would think of obtaining the whole library.

While she had given him a choice in appearance, it was clear that she wanted him to obtain this book in particular from the start.

"No. I am giving you an opportunity."

Her eyes shone with a sparkling luster in them, as though she held the very twinkles of the stars in that bright gaze of hers, as if her mere gaze was vast enough to embody the entire brilliance of countless galaxies… He could not decipher the thoughts hidden behind them, but he could see a great feeling of joy and happiness that was ever-so-slightly dancing in her eyes.

"Life is a series of choices, my dear Adam. Make yours now."

She did not press him nor try to incite him anymore after delivering those words. She had already laid down all her cards for him to see. The rest was for him to decide for himself.

Adam closed his eyes to contemplate. He could faintly feel that, dream or not, this was the most important decision of his life.

Countless thoughts swirled in his mind to form a tornado of confusion and hesitation. He was hesitant on what he wanted to choose and what would be the most correct decision for his future. But at the end of his contemplation, he couldn't help but realize that the answer was obvious all along…

"I choose…"

———

A few moments later, now alone in the vast ocean of unending books, the snow-white-skinned and silver-haired woman bit through an apple with gusto, happiness flickering in her lustrous eyes.

"You seem very happy."

A voice interrupted her joy though, as another woman appeared in this Nexus of the worlds.

The two women made a startling contrast to each other. Their features were quite similar and they could both be considered as unparalleled beauties. But if one was to be compared to the day, then the other was definitely the personification of night.

Clad in an entirely black robe that barely managed to hide her explosive figure, her brown skin and dark eyes gave her an alluring presence as if she was a seductress whose simple words could make male and female alike fall in the throes of passion.

Looking at the one who could be said to be her alter ego, the silver-haired woman continued to munch on her apple without bothering to glance at the new arrival.

"Indeed I am. It has been a long time since I have seen a relative of mine. I believe the last one to come here was Lycaon. Or was it Ambrogio? Either way, I was happy to encounter him."

"Heh… You expect me to believe that."

The black-haired woman smirked before taking her place where Adam once sat. Sitting down, she mischievously snatched the apple from her friend's hand,

"Hey~! You know I don't like when people play around with my apples."

"Why do you even love this fruit? I thought you would be disgusted simply looking at it with what happened to you because of this piece of shit?"

The white-haired woman simply shrugged as a reply, "Deceived I might have been, but this was a choice I made nonetheless and I do not regret it to this day."

"I see… I hope the wisdom you obtained was worth it."

"Oh, it was. Trust me. It was."

"....I am going down on earth."

"Do as you wish. I just hope you will not disturb that child."

"That will depend on how things go and how interesting he turns out to be."

Like this, the black-haired woman vanished from the Nexus, stealing the apple she was munching on.

Now alone once again, the white-haired woman simply stood up and went to read a book.

This was the nexus of all knowledge past, present, and future. The Akashic records. The records of the heavens. Even for her, reading everything here was simply impossible.

But it did not matter. What she lacked the least was time, in the end.

———

Meanwhile, back on earth, Adam felt as if he was walking into an endlessly dark avenue until a voice resounded in his ears…

[Host Detected.]

[Beginning data transfer]

[Error! Host in an unstable condition.]

[... Analyzing…]

[Anomaly found]

[Cain's curse detected]

[Energy to destroy the entire curse is deemed to be insufficient… Proceed to only destroy the first Lock]

[The first lock destroyed.]

[...Proceeding…]

[Clearance level too low.]

[Host still unable to obtain the full knowledge of the Book of Genesis.]

[Adjustement…]

[Adjustemnt completed]

Adam finally opened his eyes.

He was back to the land of the living.

(AN: Who might be the two women? Honestly, I believe it's pretty easy to guess with all the hints I left. Anyway one can say that the story really starts now. MC now has his power. The book of Genesis or Genesis system, whatever you may like to call it. But that was just the power that woman gave him. There is still much to discover about Adam. So stay tuned folks.)