Arknightcraft Modpack

Walking along the road leading from the mobile city back to the village, Steven frowned, lost in thought about Talulah.

Right now, he was feeling conflicted.

Which was odd.

Because, logically speaking, his mindset shouldn’t even allow for things like “conflict.”

After all, as the saying goes—

“A madman has no worries,” right?

And yet, here he was.

Irritated.

To be precise, he felt like there was something stuck in his mind, like a knot he couldn’t untangle.

Talulah was pushing herself deeper into the fire, step by step.

And he had the power to pull her out.

Or—

He could give her one last shove—

And send her plunging straight into the flames of her so-called ‘ideals.’

But either choice would piss him off.

It wasn’t that he looked down on idealists.

In fact, it was the opposite.

Because he could never be one, he had a deep respect for those who could.

If he helped Talulah, that meant getting dragged into the mess of the Infected.

And staying an uninvolved bystander would become impossible.

But if he didn’t help, and just let her struggle and eventually get betrayed—

That ending would be even more frustrating.

At the end of the day, he still had too many emotions to be a true ‘spectator.’

He still wasn’t the “carefree observer” he wanted to be.

And then, a strange voice spoke in his ear.

[You’re just a poor imitation.]

[Pretending to be the kind of person you think you want to be.]

The moment he heard it, Steven’s entire mood flipped.

His irritation vanished, replaced with sudden excitement.

Wait. What?

Who just spoke to him?

His eyes darted around, scanning his surroundings—

But there was no one nearby.

What the hell is this?

Someone talking to me from inside my own mind?

Wait.

Could it be—

His long-awaited isekai protagonist cheat ability had finally activated?!

A system?

But then, why the hell wasn’t it in a cute anime girl voice?!

Could he request a voice pack change?

Just as he was grappling with this absurdity, the voice spoke again.

[Who I am doesn’t matter.]

[What matters is—do you even know who you want to become?]

The voice was neutral, rough, and impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.

But one thing was certain—

It sounded terrible.

Steven clicked his tongue.

“What the hell is this? Some cryptic nonsense?”

“What, did I accidentally unlock the male version of ‘Kal’tsit Voice Pack’ or something?”

“Can I change it to that instead? At least her voice sounds nice, I can just treat it as an ASMR.”

Steven frowned.

After confirming that the voice was indeed coming from his own consciousness, he took one last glance at his status screen.

[Black Snake Consciousness: Duration ∞]

Oh.

Well.

That explained it.

Now that he’d found the source of the problem, Steven quickly regained his composure.

He knew this Status Ailment very well.

Talulah also had something on her that sounded similar.

So this thing is spreadable?

Scratching his head, Steven didn’t immediately try to purge the Status Ailment with milk.

Instead, he found the whole situation pretty damn interesting.

From the way the voice was talking, it seemed like it had accessed a part of his thoughts.

But—

Had it managed to break through the barrier to his deepest memories?

Had it seen the fact that he was a transmigrator?

Steven decided to test it.

“I am Steve.”

“I am also Steven.”

“I understand this better than anyone.”

“But tell me—”

“Do you know what other identity I have?”

He spoke directly to the consciousness in his mind, waiting in anticipation for its answer.

After all, if it really wanted to earn his trust, it should at least be able to reveal his biggest secret, right?

[No. That is not you.]

[The real you should be more free, more unrestricted.]

[Not bound by these meaningless constraints.]

Oh.

So that’s how it is.

Talking in riddles.

Trying to manipulate him.

That meant this thing hadn’t touched his deeper memories.

It was just trying to trick him.

Just from this single exchange, Steven had already figured out its game.

Hell, he could even predict what it was going to say next.

[With your strength, you could easily take control of this world.]

[If you wanted, rebuilding order wouldn’t be difficult at all.]

[But you are still shackled by the so-called ‘bottom line’ in your heart.]

[This is in direct contradiction to your own desire to be a ‘carefree observer.’]

The voice continued its cryptic speech, saying half-understandable nonsense in an attempt to sway him.

But you know what?

Steven had seen this trick too many times before.

The classic ‘inner demon’ routine.

“Let go of your restraints.”

“Do what you truly desire.”

“Don’t think about the consequences.”

Yeah.

Then the moment the protagonist actually listens—

BAMMind-jacked.

The inner demon takes over, the original consciousness gets erased, and boom—

New body, who dis?

Seen it all before.

And it wasn’t impressive.

“And then what? What do you think I should do?”

Steven scratched his head.

To be honest, if he ignored the fact that this voice clearly had ulterior motives, his words were actually pretty inspiring.

It was just like the Western legends of demons, always whispering sweet temptations in people’s ears, persuading them to follow their own desires.

No wonder so many people fell for it.

Too bad.

There was one thing this mysterious voice failed to account for—

Steven’s brain simply did not work like normal people’s.

Even worse, everything the voice was saying was something that Steven had already thought through a long time ago.

Back then, after thinking about such matters for years, he’d promptly tossed those thoughts into the garbage bin of his subconscious.

The longer you live, the more you think.

The more you think, the more you discard.

[It’s not about what I think.]

[It’s about what you truly want to do.]

[If you wish to help her, then assist her in achieving her ideals—]

[Help the Infected attain equal status.]

Steven chuckled.

“Oh, so I should just sit back and watch her drown in her ideals?”

“That does sound pretty amusing.”

His tone was playful, but his eyes were cold.

The problem was, doing that wouldn’t bring him any real satisfaction.

Steven preferred entertainment that made him genuinely laugh, like seeing villains eat dirt right before achieving their goals.

Or watching someone fail spectacularly after showing off too much.

Watching an idealist die for their ideals?

Boring.

Not his type of entertainment.

[You see?]

[You are still restricting yourself.]

[You refuse to embrace what you truly wish to be.]

[You want to be a ‘carefree observer,’ but you are not truly free.]

The voice in his mind scoffed, as if mocking the persona Steven had built for himself.

“Ha! And that’s where you’re wrong.”

Steven grinned, shaking his head.

“Humans are complex because of our thoughts.”

“Self-restraint is part of that.”

“Sure, I want to be a certain way—”

“But that doesn’t mean I have to be that way.”

“After all—”

“It’s the me who wants to be something, but hasn’t become it—”

“That is the real me.”

Steven laughed.

A sharp, mocking laugh.

“You think a little brat like you can teach me how to live?”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

The voice fell silent.

He had initially assumed that anything capable of sneaking into his consciousness undetected must have profound wisdom.

But in the end, he had overestimated it.

“Now that we’re done talking—”

“Get the hell out of my head.”

Steven sighed, shaking his head.

“I don’t appreciate people spying on my thoughts.”

“I don’t know how you did it—”

“But goodbye, Mr. Black Snake.”

Without any hesitation, Steven pulled a bottle of milk from his inventory and chugged it down in one go.

A wave of refreshing clarity surged through his mind.

Before the voice could react, it was instantly erased.

Steven let out a deep breath, scratching his head in exhaustion.

Well, that was annoying.

On the bright side, thanks to that overly talkative snake, he wasn’t feeling so conflicted anymore.

Whether he chose to help Talulah or not—

It was all about one thing.

His mood.