The salt-filled bathtub from the previous sessions is finally put away. After enduring a few days of absolute hell, Kaito can now shut off his aura valve on his own without needing to soak in saltwater.

  We move to the Zen training room. The space here is so quiet that the trickling water from the bamboo fountain sounds as loud as rolling thunder.

  Kaito sits cross-legged, his forehead dotted with sweat, his brows furrowed tightly as if he is solving a grueling calculus problem. The kid lets out a heavy breath and opens his eyes to look at me with sheer disappointment.

  "It is still leaking, Itsuki-sama. I feel like a punctured tire. Patch one spot and it blows out another."

  "Quit whining," I tap my claws on the wooden table, activating the hologram projector. "If you could become airtight after just a few days of training, all the seniors would be out of a job."

  Blue light reflects off my pure white fur. I curl my tail in and look straight at the boy.

  "Besides, do you think plugging the leak is the end of it? You think that is enough to promote you to Junior?"

  Kaito blinks, bewildered. "Isn't it about... achieving perfect invisibility?"

  "Invisibility so you can be a walking punching bag?" Reo sits nearby, flipping through a fashion magazine and clicking his tongue. "Aura Concealment only stops monsters from spotting you and eating you alive while you are taking a dump. If you want to rank up, you need a lot more than that."

  He slams the magazine shut and tosses it onto the table.

  "You need to awaken your Ability."

  That word acts better than a shot of adrenaline. The exhaustion on Kaito's face vanishes completely. The eyes behind his glasses light up.

  "Ability?! You mean... shooting magic beams? Or summoning beasts? Like in Shonen Jump?" The kid leans forward, nearly knocking over a teacup.

  "Just think of it as your 'Ultimate Move' for simplicity," I wave a hand, my tail swaying gently. "It is the thing that turns you from a backup battery into a professional support. Each Sensitive awakens a different kind of power, depending on the... freakiness of their soul."

  Seeing Kaito open his mouth, ready to spew a thousand questions, I gently kick Reo's leg under the table.

  "Give the kid a little demonstration."

  Reo sighs. His deadpan expression makes me want to punch him. He doesn't bother saying a word, just snaps his fingers lightly.

  Clack.

  The wooden door behind Kaito slides open.

  The boy jumps and turns around, and then his jaw drops to the floor.

  Walking into the room is another Kujo Reo. Same height, same messy platinum hair, and holding the exact same magazine in his hand.

  "Yo," the newcomer Reo waves, his lethargic voice unmistakable.

  Kaito looks at the Reo sitting cross-legged, then at the Reo standing at the door, his head whipping back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match.

  "Cl... Clone Jutsu?" He stammers.

  "Clone Jutsu my ass, it is Duplication," the sitting Reo corrects him, his voice flat. "This body just finished the last math class in Osaka. I was too lazy to take the train, so I just flew straight back here."

  "Holy shit..." Kaito gasps, his eyes filled with absolute worship. "Did you... did you use a cheat code? With this, you can work, hang out, and sleep in all at the same time!"

  "Nothing good about it!"

  Both Reos snap in unison, their faces scrunching up in pure misery.

  The standing Reo steps forward and crashes into the sitting Reo. A flash of light erupts, leaving only a single Kujo Reo holding his head and groaning.

  "Splitting headache," he grumbles, rubbing his temples. "Imagine your brain is split in two. One half is teaching derivatives, and the other half is listening to an old fox boss nagging. The two streams of memory hit you simultaneously. It fries your brain."

  He turns to glare daggers at me.

  "Especially when I have to duplicate myself so you people can borrow a body. It feels as cheap as a rideshare!"

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  I take a sip of tea, ignoring his fiery gaze.

  "Quit complaining. Back in the Beta Hell incident, I begged you until I was blue in the face to duplicate another body so Zhen Shan and I wouldn't have to share, but did you listen?"

  "You get what you pay for, Boss," Reo pouts. "If you had coughed up double the bonus back then, I would have spawned a whole football team to run your errands. You are stingy but still demand 5-star service? Keep dreaming."

  After digesting the information about "awakening the Ability," Kaito jumps up as if he just hit the jackpot. The boy leans entirely over the table, nearly knocking over the teapot, his face so ecstatic I worry he might pop a blood vessel from the excitement.

  "How? How do I get it? Do I have to meditate under a waterfall? Or do I have to find a lost martial arts manual in an old bookstore?"

  I smirk, blowing gently on the steam rising from the tea, and throw a wet blanket over his hopes.

  "It is pure luck, kid. Some people work here for a decade, and the only Ability they awaken is... brewing super-fast coffee without a filter. If fate dictates you are a logistics guy, no amount of training will change that."

  Kaito's face crumples like a soggy bun.

  "Boss, stop scaring the kid," Reo clicks his tongue, using the magazine to lightly tap Kaito on the head. "Don't listen to this old man's bullshit. This job is not a lottery of 'talent' or 'luck'."

  He points at his student's temple.

  "Awakening an Ability is like me tossing an International Math Olympiad exam at you. There is no ready-made formula. I teach you the theorems. How you cook them up to find the answer is your brain's job. Got it?"

  "But..." I interject, my tail lightly thumping the floor in protest. "I see plenty of people blasting magic beams and summoning minions like ordering food delivery. If that is not an Ability, what is it? Are you going to tell me that is 'Applied Mathematics'?"

  Reo shrugs. "We are mortals, Boss. We don't have the supreme power to bend reality however we please like you gods. Without a brain, we are just cannon fodder."

  Kaito swallows hard, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

  "So... is it possible to study forever and never solve the exam, Sensei? I mean... being powerless?"

  "Nonsense," Reo scoffs. "The Jade Palace Conglomerate does not run a charity for the useless. The fact that they recruited you means your potential is more than enough."

  Hearing this, Kaito breathes a sigh of relief. He clenches his fists, his eyes burning with determination.

  "I understand! I will give it my all! I will..."

  "Stop! Wipe that look off your face right now," Reo raises a hand to interrupt. "Effort is good, but stupid effort is the shortest path to the morgue. Strength does not come from screaming your friends' names or having flashbacks to a tragic past."

  He narrows his eyes, his voice ice-cold.

  "Don't get infected by those garbage philosophies. In real combat, the guy who screams the loudest dies first."

  I nod, placing my teacup on the table with a clack.

  "Spot on. I have seen a few 'Defying the Heavens to Change Fate' cases over in China. They screamed their lungs out with sky-high morale, only to charge in and become meat shields for the Anomalies. Most of that crowd is probably getting ready to reincarnate into their next lives by now."

  Kaito shudders and pulls his raised arm back, sitting in absolute silence.

  "Alright, chit-chat time is over," I stand up, brushing the wrinkles out of my suit. "Let's get to work. The upcoming campaign is no place for rookies to stroll around."

  My claw taps the table with a clack, activating the projector. Blue light flares up, drawing a real-time map of Tokyo in mid-air. Thousands of red dots blink frantically, tangled like a spiderweb.

  "Look at this mess," I jut my chin. "The Strategy Team just sent it over. Ten thousand people. The books aren't closed for today, so there will probably be more."

  Kaito drops his jaw, his eyes glued to the red dots.

  "Ten... ten thousand?"

  "That is just the tip of the iceberg," I rotate the 3D model, revealing a spiral structure beneath the ground. "The subconscious minds of these people are clumping together, creating a giant spiritual garbage dump. Academia calls this clusterfuck 'The Local Noosphere'."

  I point to the center of the vortex.

  "If we want to drag Gakai out, or find that damned Kisaragi Station, standing on the shore looking around is useless. We have to jump into the pit. We are going to directly infiltrate this hodgepodge of consciousness to 'mine' for data."

  I glance at Kaito and smirk, making the boy shrink his neck.

  Reo, who is leaning against the wall, grimaces at this. He fully understands the price to pay when diving into the minds of tens of thousands of panicked people.

  "How deep?" He asks bluntly.

  "Layer 5, or 6," I reply nonchalantly. "Deep enough to make you forget whether you are a human or an animal."

  "That's insane," Reo clicks his tongue, folding the magazine. "At that depth, the boundary between reality and illusion is completely shattered. Are you trying to turn us all into vegetables?"

  "You worry too much, you don't have that honor," I wave a hand. "Your name is sitting right there on the Security Team's support list. Zhen Shan needs some heavy hitters outside to watch out for Gakai's hounds. Your mission is to ensure the physical bodies of the event participants do not get skewered."

  "Huh?" Reo is dumbfounded for a moment. "I stay outside? Then who goes with you?"

  I do not answer immediately. I just slowly turn around and place my furry hand on the shoulder of the bewildered boy.

  "Who else could it be?"

  Kaito jumps as if electrocuted, pointing at his own face, stammering. "M... Me? But I'm just a total rookie. Going down to Layer 5 or 6 or whatever... how could I possibly handle it?"

  "Precisely because you are new, you are easy to use," I pat the guy's shoulder firmly. "Your mind is still blank, has little garbage, and is easy to cram things into. Besides, you are my Vessel. The compatibility is higher than anyone else's."

  Reo looks at me, then at Kaito, and clicks his tongue loudly.

  "I get it. You want to use the kid as an anchor."

  "Anchor?" Kaito's eyes widen.

  "Don't ask too much, knowing too much ages you fast," I cut in. "Your mission is simple. Keep your own brain from exploding."

  I turn to Reo, my voice hardening.

  "So, today's lesson plan changes. I want you to teach this kid how to... endure."

  "Endure what?" Kaito asks, his face turning pale.

  "Endure Me," I bare my fangs, tapping my temple.

  "Trust me, the mess accumulated over 500 years in my head is not easy to swallow."