"Her ability isn't something she can fully control. Most of the time, she subconsciously reads other people's emotions."
Kal'tsit frowned. After helping Amiya lie down on a nearby hospital bed, she turned to Steven and calmly explained the situation.
She was well aware of Amiya's powers, so she didn't think Steven was attempting to do any harm to Amiya. In fact, the real priority now was to calm him down.
Nobody liked having their consciousness and memories exposed to someone else, even if it wasn't intentional. There was no guarantee that Steven wouldn't be angry about this.
Luckily, from his expression, he didn't seem particularly bothered.
And indeed, he wasn't.
Steven knew exactly what kind of mental state he was in. Having lived for centuries in a world with no one to talk to, no one understood his own mind better than he did.
After his early years of battling wits with the will of the world, he had fallen into a long, endless solitude that stretched on for hundreds of years.
During that time, he had gone insane countless times—only to recover again because of the sheer passage of time.
Or rather, he hadn't fully recovered.
Instead, he had compartmentalized his memories.
All the mundane, repetitive, and meaningless experiences were buried together, while the significant, thought-provoking ones were kept at the forefront of his mind.
It might sound impossible, but Steven had long since proven that if one lived long enough—and was determined enough—it was entirely achievable.
He called this state of mind Preserving the Self.
It was thanks to this technique that he could maintain a personality and mindset nearly identical to what he had before transmigrating.
As for those endless, mind-numbing centuries of solitude?
To Steven now, they felt like the life story of a stranger—something he knew every detail about, but found difficult to emotionally connect with.
Ironically, this had become his strongest layer of mental defense.
Anyone who dared to invade his mind or spirit would first have to endure hundreds of years of mechanical, repetitive loneliness.
And clearly, Amiya had not been able to endure it.
Steven was willing to believe that she hadn't meant to pry into his mind. If she had done it intentionally, she wouldn't have chosen such an obvious moment to act.
"S-Sorry..."
Amiya, still struggling against the sharp pain in her head, forced herself upright on the hospital bed. Her voice was weak as she apologized.
What she had glimpsed in Steven's emotions was an overwhelming silence—an isolation so absolute that it was utterly incompatible with the lively, easygoing person in front of her.
She had only wanted to understand—to grasp what kind of experience could give rise to such a void.
But the mere attempt had left her in this miserable state.
Yet Steven, the one who truly carried those memories, could still smile and joke so lightly?
"A simple apology isn't enough for something like this, you know."
Steven waved a hand dismissively.
He didn't say something like "it's fine" or "I'll let it go". Instead, he seized the chance to make his exit.
"But, well… we'll deal with that after you've recovered. You guys clearly have your hands full, so I'll go check on Gladiia instead."
Seeing Kal'tsit and Warfarin fully preoccupied with Amiya's condition, Steven figured there was no point in sticking around. Rather than sitting there awkwardly, it was better to spend his time elsewhere.
As for how to settle this matter?
Kal'tsit would give him an answer sooner or later.
"Then… about the Oripathy treatment—"
Warfarin hesitated.
This whole situation had been shaping up to be a promising deal—until this unexpected accident threw everything off course.
Who could've seen this coming?
Her only real concern now was whether Steven would develop some emotions over this incident and abandon the agreement they had just made.
"That's a separate matter," Steven said with a smile. "I won't go back on my word. Besides, you all needed time to decide who you'd send in as my test subject anyway. Now, isn't this just the perfect opportunity?"
With that, he followed the direction Gavial had taken Gladiia earlier and walked off.
Stretching lazily as he stepped out of the medical ward, Steven quickly located Gladiia's room on his minimap. He knocked lightly, and after getting permission from inside, he pushed the door open and entered.
The moment he stepped in, his eyes fell on a white-haired girl lying on the hospital bed, looking just like a sleeping beauty.
But something felt… off.
It had only been a few dozen minutes since he last saw her, yet why did his daughter seem shorter now?
Scratching his head, he walked over to the sleeping girl's side.
Gavial, busy with her work, didn't even acknowledge him, allowing him to move around the room freely.
Not that there was anything to hide.
But when Steven finally got a good look at the sleepy-eyed girl Gavial was currently examining, he suddenly felt like his whole worldview had just taken a hit.
What the hell? His daughter had… multiplied?!
If the girl lying on the bed was Gladiia, then who the hell was this one?
Fortunately, Steven had his Entity Information Display Mod to rely on. After glancing at the still-sleeping girl's status, he saw the title floating above her head: [Abyssal Hunter: Specter].
Ah… So that's what Kal'tsit meant by Gladiia's companion.
No wonder he had felt something was strange about Gladiia's height earlier.
So it turned out this was her comrade all along. Judging from the title alone, they were indeed from the same group.
Not only that, but their shared snow-white hair further confirmed their kinship.
'So this is the other Abyssal Hunter Kal'tsit mentioned, huh? Gotta say, she's pretty.'
Steven stroked his chin as he examined the girl on the hospital bed.
Upon closer inspection, she and Gladiia really did have too many similarities. No wonder he had mistaken them for the same person at first glance.
Setting aside their identical hair color, their delicately sculpted faces were another giveaway. They were so flawlessly beautiful that it was hard to believe such creations could exist in this world.
Even their status effects were identical—the (Currently Amnesiac) tag hung at the end of both of their titles.
Did someone smash her brain to bits, too?
If there was one major difference between the two, it was that this girl was slightly smaller overall.
Not just in height but in figure as well.
Her chest, her frame—everything about her was just a miniaturized version of Gladiia.
Not that there was anything wrong with that, but if Steven had to pick a preference… well, he was still more accustomed to the larger variety.
As he silently compared the two in his mind, the room's door was suddenly pushed open again.
Steven instinctively turned his head—only to lock eyes with yet another girl who had just rushed inside.
Ah, yet another white-haired, red-eyed figure.