Chapter 292: 292

Bennett Foddy continued to swing his hammer, but had turned silent. As he continued to move around, the water inside his cauldron was also rippling back and forth.

The cauldron below him was jet-black, almost like an inferior product that wasn’t worthy of anyone’s attention, but now a small golden streak was moving on it.

Bennett Foddy loved taking on tough challenges, but most of his challenges always ended up in failure. The number of times he had failed was too numerous to count, and as a handicapped person, it was more likely for him to fail than not.

Using a handicapped body to take on difficult challenges, each successful challenge was like a ray of golden light that illuminated him, they were his pride, and he relished in that pride, diligently pursuing a stronger self.

The ‘I wanna’ mini-man was the same, his body was only the size of a person’s thumb, touching even the slightest sharp object would cause him to explode into a pool of blood, even a cherry seed could crush him to death.

He was called the ‘I wanna’ mini-man because, for the sake of what he wanted, he could die hundreds or even thousands of times, revive over and over for sake of a stronger self.

A large butterfly-shaped bow was tied to the mini-man’s head, this was a mocking of his weakness, how could the ‘I wanna’ mini-man not want to take this butterfly bow off?

Both of their existences greatly resonated with Negary’s philosophy, if not for the Unusual Assembling Order restraining them and if they had met Negary first, they would have become the most devout believers in Negary.

“Even if you wish to become stronger, there is no need to rely on him, our fate should be ours to master” the Armor’s heavy voice resounded, trying to persuade his two comrades.

The compass in his body required taking the power of the world he was in to navigate him home, this was the reason why he lived as he did, willingly aiding the people of the world if and whenever they asked him, considering it paying his travel fees.

“You really don’t understand, Armor” Bennett Foddy smiled bitterly: “To become stronger and to believe in him isn’t surrendering ourselves to him. The entity in front of us has become pure nearly to the point of arriving at that ideal”

“He is no longer just a lifeform, but more like a symbol, a meaning. For us, he represents correctness itself” Bennett Foddy watched Negary as he casually warded off the Collector’s attacks, his expression showing devout respect.

“I don’t understand, after all, I’m merely an Armor” the Lonely Armor paused a bit, then replied. The Armor was only an extension of his owner’s will, he simply inherited his owner’s previous will, having no past, no future, and no meaning of existence. The only thing he knew to do was to head towards the ‘Home’ that he did not even recognize.

「 Ahaha, what is there to think so much about? Wouldn’t it be better just to become a part of my collection? When you’re a part of my collection, you shall never feel troubled ever again, I shall carefully take care of every last one of you, making sure you all remain pristine and beautiful 」the Collector’s skull spoke full of ill will using his dried up husky voice.

“You aren’t just an Armor” Bennett Foddy spoke honestly as he looked at the Armor, the golden streak of the cauldron under him gradually glittering brighter and brighter.

Wielding his claymore, the Armor coldly stared at Bennett Foddy, completely unmoved by his words. The hint of desire that appeared in his heart earlier had disappeared just as quickly as it arrived. If Bennett Foddy truly betrayed them, the Armor would act against him without hesitation.

Right at that moment, a rumbling noise resounded, a large volume of water poured into the room, soon turning the entire room into an underground pool.

Having sunk underwater, Bennett Foddy started to change.

Despite his invincibly sturdy body and capability of traversing any height, Bennett Foddy wasn’t without weaknesses. A certain environment that could counteract him: underwater.

The unassuming cauldron on his lower half was made from an unknown material, but Bennett Foddy could never leave it no matter what he did; no matter how much he moved around, the water inside would also never decrease.

After sinking, Bennett Foddy would die almost right away, only to be revived like the mini-man. However, his appearance after the revival began to change, becoming almost bloated like a piece of wood in water.

This change was also irreversible, and since he continued to die over and over in this room full of water, Bennett Foddy’s appearance started becoming worse and worse. His body swelled increasingly more, his warped limbs and torso pushed up against the walls of the room by his own mass, there were even cracks visibly forming on him. His rationality also began to collapse, the frustration of his continuous failures starting to fill his body.

The mini-man was also washed away in the water, then was randomly struck by a floating object and exploded into a mass of blood. He once again revived at his save point, except this time, something else enveloped him.

A mass of black substance had covered his body, countless ill will and insanity corroded his body both outside and inside, even seeping into his save point. As the blood flowed out from within, the mini-man once again revived at his save point, except this time, he would never smile as innocently as he did before.

On the other side, Victor was holding two anomalies in his hand: the frame of a mirror and a golden chalice. It was fortunate that he made it in time, otherwise two of their side’s main fighting forces would have turned on them.

=======

A-2-7: The Mirror Of Shadow Sea, an item that originated from another anomaly, C-3-67: The Man Given Up By The Mirror.

C-3-67 was originally a man who wanted to commit suicide, but after failing to do so, he began to only see his back in his mirror; in other words, even the mirror had given up on him.

With thorough investigation, it was discovered that after his wife’s death, the man had fallen deeply into the trauma caused by this, unable to face this truth. The one who had given up on him wasn’t the mirror, but himself, thus causing him to never be able to see his own face.

After receiving psychological treatment, C-3-67’s anomalies had disappeared, but the mirror he was using turned even more anomalous.

After the mirror was broken, it would begin letting out an unlimited volume of water; dark, heavy, and thick bottomless water.

According to their conjectures, the man’s anomaly had caused his mirror to connect to the ‘Shadow Sea’, the embodiment of all collective human psychological traumas, manifesting as an ocean without borders or ends.

After the SCR Foundation conscripted Bennet Foddy, they had already considered the possibility of him falling under Negary’s control and prepared this anomaly with his weakness in mind.

As for the other anomaly that was enveloping the mini-man, it was S-1-5: The Wickedness of the World.

It was the product of all wicked thoughts harbored by this world’s living beings, which contained immeasurable negative thoughts. Anyone and anything that touched it, even for a little bit, would be corrupted into a disgusting madman; if not for S-2-2-1: The Holy Grail containing it, even the Yin Teeth Girl and Victor would have already been corrupted by it.

As Bennet Foddy fell into the water, becoming the monster of failure, and the mini-man being infected by the Wickedness of the World, they no longer carried rationality, the only thing left restraining them was the Unusual Assembling Order, the orders of which they could not go against. This meant that they would now be able to exert themselves without holding anything back.

…

The computer that contained the Compelling Storyteller Machine was now flickering with an ominous light. They had used the storyteller machine to ensure that the Wickedness of the World would corrupt the mini-man, but that also led to the machine also being corrupted by it a bit, which could lead to unknown mutations.

“All for humanity!”