At first, nothing happened after I muttered that stupid wish. I just sat there, staring at the ceiling like an idiot, waiting for a miracle to happen and for my wish to come true. I waited and waited, then closed my eyes and lay back on the bed, but nothing happened at all.
After several pointless minutes of waiting, I sighed in boredom, then stood up and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I guess Adam was lying or exaggerating in the en..."
Before I could even finish my sentence, an intense, searing pain exploded inside my head. I grabbed my skull with both hands, digging my nails into my scalp from the agony. It felt as if someone was smashing my skull with a metal rod, over and over again, without pause. The pain grew even worse it was like a massive boulder had fallen from the sky and shattered my skull into countless small pieces.
I fell off the bed and hit the floor hard, rolling as I searched desperately for a way to stop the torment. Inside my head, I heard countless voices screaming men, women, the elderly, and children all crying out in horrific agony.
I don't know exactly how long it lasted, but eventually the pain and the voices began to fade, leaving behind a numbness that spread through every limb of my body. I tried to stand up, but at first, I couldn't. I leaned against the wall, panting like I had been running for days without rest under the blazing sun of a desert.
When I finally lifted my head, I saw thin golden threads emerging from the spirits floating around me in a closed circle. They were all connected to one another, stretching upward through the ceiling toward the sky.
I walked toward the window, and when I looked outside, I saw those threads everywhere connected to people, even to animals in front of the inn. Thousands of them, all extending upward through distant buildings, converging into a colossal ring of golden light in the sky. Yet in the nearby buildings, or within this district, there were only a few threads. Only two were connected to a pair of passersby, and one to a dog. All the others came from faraway neighborhoods.
I looked down at my hands, then at my body there wasn't a single thread attached to me. One thread tried to connect, but it vanished before it could touch me.
I saw my reflection in the window glass. The color of my pupils had changed from crimson to gold. But soon after, they returned to normal, and with them, the golden threads disappeared from my sight completely.
My legs could no longer hold me, and I collapsed to the floor.
"Looks like Adam wasn't lying, huh?"
And that wasn't good news at all. If he had been lying, things would've been much simpler.
I rested my head against the wall and closed my eyes, muttering irritably,
"Why the hell did you have to tell the truth, you bastard?"
"Hey, man, are you alright?"
I opened my eyes at the sound of Rago's voice, who appeared in front of me.
"Why do you ask?"
He replied, resting a hand on his hip,
"Because you were rolling around on the floor like a lunatic, then limped to the window like someone broke your leg."
I took a deep breath and answered briefly,
"I'm fine."
"No need to hide anything from me. The dead are good at keeping secrets, after all."
I smiled faintly.
"Would you believe me if I told you I just discovered the existence of a demonic being that manipulates people with golden puppet strings that connect together in the sky?"
"No."
"Neither do I, honestly. But apparently… that's the reality."
"Looks like you've finally lost your mind."
I stood up, brushed the dust off my clothes, then walked over to the bed and sat on its edge. After that, I pulled the leather notebook that the original Jevan had left me from my coat pocket, and began flipping through its pages carefully while Rago watched.
I didn't find anything about a demonic being controlling people with golden puppet strings, but after searching for longer, I found something similar to that concept in the section that talked about what's known as The Controller's Authority.
"Those who possess The Controller's Authority, in the early stages of assimilation, gain an unnatural charisma that allows them to influence people without their awareness. The more the wielder assimilates this power, the stronger their ability to dominate and control others becomes."
"The forms of this control differ from one person to another. Some can control people through speech alone, while others can even influence animals. In advanced stages, they can control an entire small city, making its inhabitants move according to their will."
"The bearer of this Authority becomes obsessed with controlling others. Some go so far as to create entire 'plays' using humans of course, without their consent. They control their lives, setting scripts for them from beginning to end. These plays usually end in tragedy."
"If you encounter someone with this Authority, it's best to stay as far away as possible, unless your own level of assimilation is higher. Their range of influence at low levels doesn't exceed a few kilometers. But those who can control an entire city escaping their reach is nearly impossible. In that case, look for the nearest Public Investigation Office and try to hide there somehow. Mid level Controllers rarely dare use their power in such places."
"If you've already fallen under their influence, escaping is extremely difficult. But there are still a few ways to sever their control. If their level of assimilation is low, for example, you can inflict a deep wound upon yourself. But if their level is moderate, that may not be enough. You might succeed only if you harbor strong emotions toward someone that compel you to resist their domination, or if you possess extraordinary willpower or if you experience severe emotional trauma."
At the end of the pages that discussed this Authority, I found one final note:
"All these methods only work if the wielder of The Controller's Authority is at a low or moderate level of assimilation. But if your opponent is among the high level ones capable of influencing thousands of people at once then… well, all you can do is pray. In any case, I don't think your luck could be that bad, but honestly, I believe it might be. And if it happens, know this: because of their theatrical nature, they won't kill you immediately. They'll make sure your death is dramatic enough to fit their play. And in the end, look on the bright side at least you'll die in an epic way."
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