Ken's forehead was slick with cold sweat, as he bowed apologetically. "I'm very sorry for peeping!"

Bertram eyed Ken coldly for a moment before sighing and shaking his head in exasperation. "Forget it. I wasn't necessarily hiding it in the first place. I just felt like the idea of role-playing as a man for a single lifetime."

Bertram then snapped his finger, then his body started to distort in the same way the sky and the surroundings distorted a while ago. After a moment, Bertram was gone. Instead of him, there was now an incredibly beautiful woman with long, jet-black hair, and golden eyes, sitting across from Ken. She was wearing a tight-fitting gown that glittered dimly, as if it was made out of countless dying stars. The strange but elegant dress failed to conceal the massive bosom that the woman possessed, and although Ken could not see what her figure was like below, he was quite certain that the woman was thicc there as well. The woman spoke, in a voice that made Ken feel like his ears were going to have an orgasm.

"My alias as a man is Bertram, but I don't want you to use that name when I'm in this form. Since you are my benefactor, I'll tell you my real name. It's Zellionias. You can just call me Zell, for short."

Name: Zellionias

'It really is her real name then.' Ken thought inwardly.

"Alright, Ms. Zell." Ken said, deciding to add an honorific anyways.

Zell nodded and smiled. "Good."

Favor: (Gratitude / Fondness / Non-romantic) 58 / 100 --> 62 / 100

'Nice.' Ken celebrated in his mind. When one was given the option of being respectful or not, it is most likely better to choose the former. Especially in the case where you're talking to a Serpent that is apparently able to eat worlds.

"Now, let's return to the story, no? Or would you like to take some time to test out your power again?" Zell asked as she smiled. Ken immediately shook his head.

"Let's get back. I'll listen. Please and thank you." Ken sat up straight and focused.

"Good. Now, where was I..." Zell paused as she tried to recall where she'd stopped the explanation. "Ah. We were talking about my hypothesis about why you remained ill despite such a long time passing. Then we diverged into the topic of your abilities, which I admit, I also got a bit excited to discuss," she admitted, smiling wryly, then continued "In any case, whatever was infused with your body, awakened abilities within you. Let's not dive too deep into your abilities, but why don't you use your insight on yourself? I'll be able to explain things a bit better if you understand what they are."

Ken nodded, then looked at his hand. He used his insight on himself.

Name: N/A Species: Expelled Soul (Past Species: Alpha Realm - Human) Sex: N/A Might: N/A Special Abilities:

[Supreme Insight]

[Essence of Falsehood]

[Indomitable Willpower]

[Drug Memorization]

[Glimpse of Eternity]

"Oh, wow." Ken said without thinking. There were plenty of things in the box that he wanted to investigate or retort on, but he decided to focus on the task at hand. He looked at Zell, non-verbally asking for further instructions.

"Hm. I know you saw some strange things, but you can investigate them later, do you have a special ability that looks like it may have something to do with medicines?" Zell asked.

"Uh, yeah, I do actually." Ken looked at the ability called [Drug Memorization] that Zell was likely talking about. "What about it?"

"Hm. Well, can you tell what it does?" Zell inquired.

"Hm. Only the name shows... hang on." Ken was about to complain about the lack of information about his abilities, but then he remembered something. He'd read plenty of Light Novels, and he remembered one where the MC would use appraisal on the screen itself. So, Ken tried using his insight ability, on the blue box itself, particularly the [Drug Memorization] ability.

Special Ability:

[Drug Memorization]

Passive:

This unit gradually memorizes Drugs that it uses or ingests, whether internally or externally.

Drugs that have been [Memorized] are affected by [Drug Memorization]'s Sub Skills.

Sub Skill #1 - [Effect Reproduction] Can reproduce the effect of any drug that this unit has [Memorized].

Can also increase or decrease the potency of its effects. Sub Skill #2 - [???] ! This Ability Has Not Been Unleashed Yet ! Sub Skill #3 - [Effect Immunity] Passive: Gains immunity to a [Memorized] drug's effect.

Active: Select which effects this unit becomes immune to, and which will still be in effect.

"..." Ken just stared blankly at the ability's effects, then suddenly stood up and roared furiously, "IT'S THIS PIECE OF SHIT!!! THIS IS WHY!!!"

'This fucking skill is why I kept becoming immune to medicine!' Ken glared at the ability. If looks could kill, and if the blue box was actually alive, it would have died... a bunch of times.

"Well? Calm down and tell me about its effects." Zell tried to get Ken to compose himself. But Ken continued to shout abuse at the seemingly empty air for a while.

'Ahaha. He's somewhat amusing when he's like this. He reminds me of myself when I was younger.' Zell mused inwardly. She decided to just wait patiently for Ken to cool down. If Ken was similar to her, then he would take a few dozen minutes. While she was waiting, she noticed that the statues made of dirt — that she'd made dance to prove a point — were still dancing. 'I forgot about these. I can't believe I tried to have a decent conversation with these things dancing all around us.'

Zell decided to change the scenery a bit. She didn't even wave her hand or do anything, but their surroundings started changing drastically. Instead of the barren wasteland with an apocalyptic sky above them, the two were now in a luxurious room. There were a few paintings on the walls here and there and a nice, fluffy carpet underneath. The shoes Zell was wearing disappeared with a single thought from her then she rubbed the bottom of her feet on the carpet. She indulged in the pleasant feeling while watching Ken try to punch empty air while cursing. She found the sight amusing. 'I didn't know there were so many ways to cuss. I've learned a few things today.'

Zell made a grasping gesture in the air, then the Grekonian Chicken that had been frozen stiff the whole time was instantly turned into a meatball the size of a person's head. The feathers, bones, and anything other than meat disappeared. The meatball then floated towards Zell's outstretched arm while shrinking further. By the time it reached the black-clad woman, what was once a chicken the size of a cow had transformed into a meatball the size of a golf ball. Zell then popped the thing in her mouth casually and swallowed it whole, not even chewing once.

'Yummy. I should visit Grekonia to get some more.' Zell mused, forming an itinerary for after she'd finished her business with her benefactor, Ken, who hadn't yet noticed that the scenery had changed and the oversized poultry had disappeared.

Zell waited patiently.

"Have you calmed yourself?" Zell asked casually. It had been fourteen minutes since she'd eaten the chicken.

"Ah, yes..." Ken replied. He was still breathing a bit roughly. He'd evidently been quite worked up from finding out the reason for so much of his suffering. "By the way, what happened to the chicken...? Also, the place seems to have cha--"

"Pay it no mind." Zell interrupted.

"But--"

"Pay it no mind," Zell repeated in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Alright..." Ken decided to ignore the questions he wanted to ask. 'She ate it didn't she... I kinda wish I'd seen it.' Ken thought regretfully.

"Then, tell me what the ability does."

"...Right." Ken then told Zell about the ability's effects, plus that there was some sort of sub-skill that hadn't been unlocked yet.

"Hm. It's as I thought." Zell stated while nodding.

"Don't keep me hanging." Ken impatiently complained. "Spill... please," Ken added, as if afraid that he might be seen as disrespectful.

"I'm getting to it." Zell placated Ken calmly, not minding his impatience at all. "Well, in my long life, I have naturally been exposed to the Planar Laws for quite a while. I know about loopholes and unconditional red flags."

"Mm." Ken nodded, agreeing to Zell's words. He didn't know how old Zell was exactly, but she must've been ancient. Naturally, she would know a lot.

"And one of the things that I've noticed..." Zell trailed off for a bit, then continued. "Is that the Planar Laws isn't singular."

"What...?" Ken unconsciously tilted his head in confusion. "I mean... yeah? It's Laws after all. With an 's'. So it's plural."

"That isn't what I meant. Let's think of it this way... You have been thinking of the Planar Laws as this thing that decides whether something is going against the rules or not, then meets out punishment. Kind of like a 'Judge', correct?"

"Mm." Ken nodded.

"But that's the thing. It's Planar Laws. With an S. The Planar Laws aren't the Judge, which there is only one of. It's the Jury." Zell said seriously.

"Oh..." Ken was beginning to understand what Zell was talking about. "Does that also mean that parts of the Laws can support me, and parts of it can oppose?"

"Precisely." Zell nodded, satisfied that Ken had caught on fast. "The Planar Laws is a Jury where every person in it has their own executive powers. Nobody can stop them, not even each other. Meaning they can each decide to bestow either punishment, support, or protection. They can each decide whether a person is a victim, a perpetrator, or an innocent person."

"Mm..." Ken nodded in understanding. But then some things didn't add up in his mind, so he decided to ask, "But I was completely a victim though?"

"Hm. You are, that is most likely why you survived for so long, and you didn't get any obvious restrictions." Zell paused for a bit, seemingly gathering her thoughts, then said, "This is just another hypothesis, but I'm fairly confident that I'm right. The ability, [Drug Memorization] was bestowed upon you to initially help you out with your illness. The first sub-skill would have given you the ability to reproduce a drug's effect whenever you wanted, plus you could even increase its potency. Positives all around. This ability was probably bestowed by the part of the Laws that supported you because you're a victim. It was to protect you, in a way."

"Yeah, probably..." Ken nodded understandingly. He continued to listen intently to Zell's words. He really wanted to know why in the world he, as a victim, got fucked over so badly by the Laws.

"You said that there is an unknown sub-skill in between the two other revealed sub-skill, right? Well, that pretty much confirms to me, that the third sub-skill was bestowed later on. Meaning that the Laws that wanted to help you didn't intend for that sub-skill to exist."

"Oh... yeah. After all, it wouldn't really make sense that the third was unlocked before the second..." Ken mused out loud. "So the third sub-skill was likely added by the ass-- I mean by the Laws that were against me? But why would they even be against me? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Mm mm." Zell nodded twice, then said, "That's rather simple. It's because those Laws no longer considered you a normal mortal."

"Hah?" Ken's eyes widened in shock and bewilderment. "What the hell does that mean? I just died. I age. I get tired and hungry. I do mortal shit all the damn time! Where the hell did they get the idea that I wasn't mortal!?" Ken shouted. He was starting to lose his head again. This was a very important topic for Ken, so he wanted to get a valid reason for why he had to spend most of his life hurting his loved ones and lying to them.

"Haa~h." Zell sighed in pity. "Didn't you see how many special abilities you have? Even in the Halls, where the Planar Laws are relatively laxer so supernatural stuff happens all the time, people who have special abilities are extremely rare. And those people would usually only have one, two if they're really lucky. You have how many?"

"... Five."

"Yes. Five special abilities. Their effects aside, that is a number of special abilities that only Archons have."

"B-but it's not like it's my fault why I have that many... you just said that the one about the drugs was bestowed right?" Ken stammered defensively. "Then the other ones must've been their fault too..."

"Only [Drug Memorization] was bestowed. Your insight ability was something you were born with, then there were two abilities, that were manifested partly because of you, mostly because of whatever they infused you with."

"That means that those two weren't my fault!" Ken protested.

"You still benefitted from them. You still used the abilities, albeit unconsciously. If these were narcotics, you would still be quite guilty, no? " Zell shook her head, then said, "One of the two probably has something to do with lying. That's why you were so good at it. "

"That's so unfair... those bastards..." Ken cursed the Planar Laws. The ones that were being assholes, at least. Then Ken noticed something that didn't add up. "That's just four abilities no? What about the last one?"

"The last one was most likely manifested while you were... in whatever state you were in. You had to drift about without your senses for a while, right? It manifested during that time."

"Oh..." Ken nodded in realization. 'I think I can kind of tell what the last ability does even without using [Supreme Insight].'

"By the way, how are you so sure that the last one manifested after I died?" Ken asked casually.

"Because I was keeping tabs on you from time to time when you were alive. That's why I know the precise time of when you obtained your abilities." Zell nonchalantly replied.

"Oh..." Ken trailed off. 'So she was stalking me...?'

Seeming to have read his mind, Zell defensively said, "I wasn't stalking you. I was keeping tabs on you. You were a person of interest, seeing as I didn't know at the time as to why that rat was so determined to kill you."

'Yeah, that's still stalking...' Ken inwardly retorted. "Stop reading my mind."

"I'm not. It's just that sometimes, what you're thinking is really obvious." Zell replied.

"... So, the third sub-skill was bestowed by the dumb Laws because...?" Ken said inquiringly, eager to change the topic.

Zell shrugged. "I don't exactly know why, but it's likely because they didn't think you needed to be helped anymore. The Laws exist to protect normal mortals and you were abnormal so the... dumb Laws probably added that third sub-skill to cancel out the benefits. Then they stopped the Laws on your side from telling you the effects, so you couldn't even use the Actives of your skills."

"What the hell, they sound like politicians!" Ken exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Haha, that would be an apt description of how they acted." Zell giggled. "Afterwards, I finally hunted down the rat, which should have cured you. Which it did. Now, the Planar Laws on your side don't have anything to protect you from, and it also rescinded all the strengthening done to you, except for the abilities. It seems that despite their ability to bestow abilities, they cannot take them back. You did not feel anything different though, since the strengthening merely canceled out the illness."

"Uh... but I was still sick...?" Ken asked in bewilderment. If he was cured then why was he still sick all up till he was twenty-three?

"I'll get to that." Zell smiled wryly, then continued to explain, "After the disease was cured, you were now nothing more than a supposedly mortal boy with four abilities, and a significant amount of whatever in the world was infused in you. The Planar Laws were at a consensus at that point."

"A consensus..." Ken parroted without thinking.

"The consensus was that you didn't belong in the Alpha Realm," Zell said seriously.

"Whu-- What the hell...?" Ken's mouth went wide in shock.

"So, they were in agreement that you shouldn't be there. I have never heard of the Planar Laws trying to expel someone from their world. Yours is a very unique situation. That uniqueness may have been the reason why the Laws started doing something I didn't expect. They directly harmed you." Zell smiled in pity and a bit of amusement. "Congratulations. In the countless Halls and the vast amount of worlds in the Alpha Realm, you are the only one that the Laws have directly harmed. They didn't use someone's hand, nor did they use enhancement on something ailing you. They quite literally tried to kill you. They eventually succeeded too."

"So... the Planar Laws killed me, not the illness...?" Ken just sat there, not knowing what to feel. 'I can't believe I called you badass. You're all fucking assholes!'

"Mm. Well technically, they didn't kill you. It must've been because part of the Laws still thought of you as a victim. After all, although the Planar Laws as a whole decided to expel you, they did it in a weird way that even I wasn't aware was possible." Zell paused then said, "They modified your soul so that you wouldn't actually die when your body died."

"The heck...?" Ken tilted his head in confusion again, which he realized he'd been doing a lot since a while ago. Luckily, his neck hasn't cracked from all the tilting yet.

"What I'm saying is... that they basically created an afterlife for you," Zell said, sounding amused. "Picture it this way... you're on trial in a weird fantasy court. Everybody agrees that you shouldn't be in their country anymore. However, since you were a victim, which is something that everyone, even the people against you agree with, some people suggest that you should just be exiled, instead of being killed or destroyed. After all, you didn't really do anything wrong. So, reluctantly, the people against you agree that, as long as you end up somewhere else other than their country, it would be okay." Zell looked at Ken and smiled. "Do you understand?"

"I think so." Ken nodded. "Basically since I didn't deserve a punishment, they were okay as long as I wasn't in the Alpha Realm."

"Good. You're paying attention." Zell nodded, satisfied. Then she continued. "So, what they did was that they basically killed you, this is true, and they did it extremely slowly for some reason. However, they also provided you an opportunity."

"What opportunity?" Ken asked curiously.

"When the Planar Laws that were on your side suggested to expel you, they likely already calculated everything." Zell grinned. "They knew that I would want to help you out."

"... but I thought Archons couldn't do that?" Ken resisted tilting his head in confusion this time but still asked inquisitively.

In response, Zell just shook her head. "While you were still walking around... or rather, sitting around in the mortal plane, the topic of whether I could help you or not, was still up for debate. You were abnormal enough for the Laws to want to kick you out of the world, however, you were normal enough to still be under their protection."

"That doesn't make any sense. The dumb Laws interrupted the Laws that supported me when they were trying to save me with [Drug Memorization], remember?"

Zell shook her head again. "The dumb ones just stopped the supportive ones from helping you, since you were an abnormal. But if, let's say, another Archon was to show up and attack you, the Planar Laws as a whole would've aided you."

"What the hell... why do they have to be so complicated? If you wanna help me out just fucking do it properly!" Ken complained.

"To us Archons, the Planar Laws are our God. We do not dare to say that we understand them. We can only do our best to interpret their will." Zell solemnly said.

"..." Listening to her, Ken couldn't stop himself from voicing out his thoughts. "You sound like you're from a cult."

"Fufu." Zell giggled. "Perhaps."

"Well... so I guess you can help me...?" Ken inquired hesitantly.

"Mm." Zell nodded while smiling. "Now that you are indisputably abnormal, you are, in your current state, not protected by the Planar Laws. I can boil you, eat you or help you. And the Laws won't punish me for it."

"I... see." Ken nodded slowly in understanding. "This is gratitude for the donation and the... meal...? Couldn't you have just ignored all that? Nobody would've held it against you if you'd just walked away."

Hearing Ken's words Zell shook her head and spoke, "I will pay back what I owe, be it gratitude or enmity. That is one of the codes that I have been following. Whether I'm being a good or an evil person, anything someone does to me, has consequences. I will repay kindness with gratitude and evil with enmity. That is just one of my codes."

"A code... is it." Ken suddenly remembered what Zell(As Bertram) had said to him when he was alive.

"Only those who have power can be free."

Those words had had a large impression on Ken. It had changed how he'd looked at a lot of things. Now that he knew that Zell was actually some greater being that could potentially destroy worlds easily, the words she'd said now had even more weight. Ken now knew that those words came from experience after all.

'Consequences...' Ken thought. What Zell had just said was that there was a consequence depending on how you treated her. She would repay kindness with kindness and enmity with enmity. Ken inwardly admired such a way of life. It was something that should have gone without saying, however it was actually surprisingly hard to put into practice. After all, being kind to someone, even if that person was kind to you, meant giving something up. If there was a famine and someone gave you bread, then ten years later there was another famine. Both you and the person that gave you bread are both suffering now. Would you still give them what little you have, despite the gratitude you owe them? Despite it meaning that you, yourself or a family member, could potentially die of hunger if you repay them? Most people would surely say that they would but would they really do so? One can only give, what one has. And ultimately, Zell could confidently announce that she would follow that code because she knew she could. She would never be in a position of not having anything to give.

'Truly, only those who have power can be free. Only those with power can choose the way they live their lives. Everybody else must live, hoping that those above them do not abuse them, but people like Zell have no such worries.' Ken longed for such a thing. To be free. Free to be happy. Free to love. Free to be happy with those he loved. Ken had very simple desires, and yet he wasn't even able to do that.

However, even beings like Zell couldn't actually do as they pleased, since they would be punished by the Planar Laws if they crossed the line. Ken didn't think less of Archons because of that though. After all, even with the Planar Laws' restrictions, the number of things Archons could do was still a lot. Or rather, Ken assumed they should be a lot.

'Ultimately, Zell and the other Archons lack the power to go against the Laws.' Ken mused. He couldn't help but lament that even beings as great as Archons couldn't really be completely free.

"You look like you're thinking about some really complicated things." Zell casually said, snapping Ken out of his thoughts.

"My bad," Ken said with a voice filled with guilt as he smiled awkwardly. He'd zoned out right there. "Um. Where were we...?"

"Hm." Zell nodded, then smiled warmly. "We were talking about how I was gonna help you."

"Ah... so how are you going to help me...?" Ken asked probingly. Ken could take a guess. Maybe Zell would make him his servant or something. Ken even had the crazy idea that Zell might help him become an Archon. But, Ken knew what the most likely possibility was.

'She said she had an interest in LitRPG and Gamelit novels so...' Ken could predict what Zell was about to say.

"Hmm~. How about I help you reincarnate in another world?" Zell grinned as she nonchalantly said.

'Bingo!' Ken couldn't help but exclaim inwardly.