I Reject Quests

She waited.

Two seconds later, after realizing that nothing had happened, she opened her eyes.

She was facing a familiar back. The figure's clothes were in tatters and soaked in hot blood. Holding off the spear using a small dagger, the figure pushed X.

"Interesting," X muttered while backing off a few steps.

The figure was naturally Rewen. His crushed face had already healed. Silently looking at his opponent, he shot towards him.

Meanwhile, Denny was overjoyed. Even though she didn't know how it was possible for normal human to heal themselves to such a degree, she was happy with the outcome. "Be careful!"

It was unknown whether Rewen heard her or not but he increased his speed.

X waited for his opponent to strike while having some thoughts about Rewen. 'It looks like there aren't any endpoints. No matter how many times I try to kill him, he will get healed after some time. In other words… I only have a few options at hand.'

***

In the infinite space, Rewen suddenly felt doubtful whether he really wanted to get the 'memories' as he was told by the unknown voice. For some reason, the words - "you won't ever be the same again" didn't sound good to him.

[You would merge with memories that might seem foreign to you so of course, you would not be the same.]

"Hm." Rewen gave a small nod, then asked the most important question. "Would I have the same level of consciousness as I now have?" 

[No.]

Rewen didn't show any signs of shock or surprise as if he had expected the answer. "Is it necessary that I take the 'memories' if I want to get out of this place?"

[Yes.]

"Would I have the majority of my consciousness if I take the 'memories'? For instance, if I want to do A, my new 'memories' might play a part in interfering with the goal but do I have the consciousness left for me to decide on major events?"

Rewen carefully worded out his question.

[This is an interesting question. I'm tempted to say that it depends but I guess I should give you a sincere answer.]

The unknown voice said with some expression. This was the first time there was some feeling behind the voice instead of just being monotone.

"Great. Hit me with it." Rewen also gave a cheerful reply.

[The thing is… it depends. Now before you start cursing at me, hear me out. I can't determine the outcome. What I can tell you is that it certainly would affect your beliefs and perception to a strong degree. And beliefs and perception are fundamental in the process of decision-making. After getting the memories, your beliefs and perception would change, and to answer your question, if you want to do A after getting the memories, you would do it.]

"I understand. So rather than creating conflicts within my consciousness, it would remove the defense mechanism I have."

[You can put it that way.]

"Sounds awful. I won't have it." Rewen said in a straightforward and decisive manner.

[Are you sure you want to live in this your entire life?]

Rewen didn't reply and weirdly sat on the floor.

Time passed.

***

Near Svety's apartment.

Rooftop.

Tervon was talking to someone on his smartphone. "This… I don't know whether Boss would be happy if we got involved in this… no? Hah… okay, fine. We'll go and take a look. What about Svety…? Like, should we tell her? Man, you do know that - 'do whatever you want' is not a good answer to someone in my position… yeah, alright. I'm hanging up."

Ending the call, he sighed.

"Another day, another problem. My charisma is too high for problems to leave me alone." Tervon marvelled in his narcissism, then jumped to the edge of the rooftop and looked down at the people walking in the streets. It was morning so the area wasn't crowded. 'Hm, I can't see her. Usually, she would be buying bread at this time on this day of the week but since I can't see her outside, she should have already bought the bread and should be in her room. Do I want to go down and call her? Definitely not.'

"Sour coffee!" He shouted from the rooftop.

The people in the street below glanced at him for a few seconds, then continued their daily routine.

"Oh look, it's the 'sour coffee' guy."

"When I thought that he would get tired of his shtick, he proved me wrong."

"What does he even do other than shouting 'sour coffee' once in a while?"

"He is a bodyguard, apparently."

"Bodyguard? For what? Defending sour coffee lovers?"

"Who even likes sour coffee?"

"Boomers. Aside from that, if the sour quantity is just right, the coffee becomes my favourite."

While the people found a conversation topic, Tervon turned around and saw a bright red-haired woman looking at him with a menacing look while folding her arms.

"You were faster than I expected." Tervon rubbed his nose and commented. "Your hair is a bit unkempt though." He stretched his hand towards her hair but it was shoved off by her.

"What do I need to do for you to not call me by that idiotic nickname that you created?" Yeri asked in exasperation. This has been going on for more than decades. The nickname "sour coffee" came from an incredibly gross incident. From then on, Tervon started calling her "sour coffee" from time to time.

"I'll see." Tervon dismissed the matter. "There's a problem. Follow me." He said, then jumped off the rooftop.

"Hey, wait." Yeri soon followed him.

***

Outside 9-View Street Colony.

"And then… he just ran off leaving behind his smartphone which again, was a smart move. He knew that had he not done that, we would be clueless and might have entered the colony in search for him which in turn could prove fatal to Denny Klofar. We have analyzed his records and went through it in detail and if I am to be quite honest, he is one of, if not the brightest youngster I have seen in my life."

Tony McBreth narrated the events in detail from the perspective of Rewen.

Rewen's father was nonchalant throughout the narration. A few seconds later, he opened his mouth. "In other words, there's no way we could get inside unless there's an [Irregular]? How much time will it take for a [Irregular] to come here?"

Tony McBreth was taken aback by the question. After the narration, he expected the other party to ask questions about the events. He re-evaluated the man in front of him. "That is correct. Even though there are [Irregulars] available in our province, they are owned by private corporations. I have already requested for a [Irregular] from the HQ but it's going to take some time for them to arrive."

"By now, I suspect that Rewen is fighting X. Otherwise, the [Mystique Cloak] would have been removed. Is there any footage or any kind of sensory device through which we can predict the direction the fight is going on?"

Tony McBreth shook his head. "If there were one, we would have found out."

Rewen's father's eyebrows tightened. He opened his mouth to say something when he saw that someone had arrived on the scene. It was one of the subordinates of Tony McBreth.

"Sir. Two people are asking to come here. They claim to know about the entire matter." The subordinate came near Tony and said.

"Let them come." Tony McBreth ordered. 

The subordinate didn't say anything and left.

A while later, two young people approached them. The two young people were relatively good-looking people. One was a moderately tall guy in his mid-twenties with a hair reaching his shoulder.  The other was a red-haired woman about the same age two inches shorter than him.

As soon as he saw them, Tony McBreth's face was written with the word 'shock'. 

'The natural energy they are surrounding themselves with are in no way comparable to a Rank 3 Mage. Who are these people?' It must be known that Rank 4 Mages living in Nat Province are not more than a dozen or even lesser than that. The entire Eastern Dream Superacademy, which is the largest powerhouse aside from the Central Government, has only a couple of Rank 5 Mages. 

That's why the notion of seeing two Rank 4 Mages together was shocking to him.

"We have heard what's going on and want to get a record of everything that has happened." Yeri stepped forward and plainly said while looking at Tony.

"A record? Sure. May I ask what your purpose for getting it is?"

"Personal." Yeri gave a short answer.

Tony nodded. Even though it's not a good idea to give the record before a proper examination, he figured that Rank 4 Mages wouldn't be so bored so as to misuse it. "Oka---"

Just then, Rewen's father interrupted him. "Why do you need it?"