Chapter 30: It's Judgment Time! (Part 2)

<Do you wish to cancel the skill?>

<Yes/No>

Without a second thought, Mikael answered, "Yes!"

He had seen too much. Felt too much. Heard too much that even after canceling the skill, the sensations lingered with him.

"Hah! Hah!" Mikael breathed heavily, his ghostly body trembling from the emotional rebound. He clutched his chest tightly as his phantom heart thundered.

The fear, the pleasure, the guilt—all felt real. As if they were his own emotions.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember who he was.

'I am Mikael Lee. I am a spirit. I don't have a child… F*ck I never even had a girlfriend! I AM A F*CKING VIRGIN!'

It took him several minutes to regain his sense of self and only when he opened his eyes, did he notice the shining panel floating before him.

<System notification: Immersion time was too short. 'Enlightenment' was not achieved.>

"Enlightenment?" Mikael sarcastically asked his system, "What?! was I supposed to see more?! Is this some kind of an interactive storytelling where I learn the morals of HIS F*CKING story?!" he pointed to the sleeping man and stared at the panel with an incredulous expression.

But the system was not a person capable of discerning sarcasm. It answered his query by bringing up yet another panel.

<Glossary:>

<Enlightenment: the state of attaining spiritual knowledge or insight about the truths of the universe. It is obtained by witnessing/ living the life of a sinner. It generates skills corresponding to the wisdom attained.>

Mikael fumed from uncontrollable rage. He was beginning to resent his own System. Why did he have to suffer so much just to obtain skills when systems in the novels he used to read give them out for merely breathing?

Then his anger turned to the sleeping man.

'Should I kill him?'

Vile thoughts swirled inside Mikael's mind. The demon and angel inside him** fought for reason.

'He killed his child! Of course, he should die!'

'But it was an accident. He felt guilty.'

'He buried her as if he was discarding trash. All to escape from punishment. He deserves a painful death.'

Curiously, Mikael was more inclined to kill the man. He was so convinced of his clear judgment that he failed to realize that he was only using the man as an outlet to vent his growing frustrations.

Mikael found empty glass bottles lying around the room's table. It seemed like the despicable man drunk himself to sleep. There were also several glass shards—evidence of his anger management issues.

Mikael controlled a glass shard. It flew toward the bed and briefly floated in the air right above the unsuspecting man.

'Ah… how fitting… to die from the alcohol bottle that you loved so much…' Mikael brought down the shard at full speed, 'Romantic, isn't it?'

But before the shard stabbed the man, Mikael remembered the promise that he made with Deon.

'you're not going to do anything illegal, right?'

'of course! Who do you think I am?'

Mikael's eyebrows scrunched as he tried to hold himself back from his violent impulses. The shard that should have slit the man's neck changed its trajectory and grazed his cheek instead.

The man, startled from the sudden injury, woke up to a start. His sunken eyes darted around to see the perpetrator.

"Aah… Why are there so many trashy fathers in this world?" Mikael complained. "Deon will probably hate me if I kill this guy…"

Mikael weight his options.

Sure, killing this man would alleviate some of his rage, but the temporary satisfaction was nothing compared to the incoming headaches that would surely happen if Deon decided to be uncooperative.

'Right, I shouldn't forget my original purpose.'

Mikael swooped beside the man, lips almost touching his ear.

<Skill: Reverse Clairvoyance Lvl. 2 (option 1) is activated>

"Papa?" he whispered. Imitating the child's anguish-laden voice.

The criminal's eyes opened wide in fear.

"Why did you kill me, papa? What did I do wrong?" Mikael imagined how much pain the child must have suffered in the hands of her own father. How much she wondered what she did to warrant such treatment. But now that she's dead, she would never know.

Even so, Mikael wanted the father to remember. Every. Single. Sin. that he committed. He wanted the father to drown in his guilt.

'I may not be allowed to kill you, but I CAN break your will. I CAN make your life miserable.' Mikael thought, 'This is MY judgment. The underworld will take care of you after your death, but while you are alive, I will take care of you.'

"A-Alisha?" the man stuttered, sweating buckets as blood contoured his cheek and dripped down his pointed chin.

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"Papa… why? Why did you beat me? Was I a bad child?" Mikael's tone slowly rose, anger consuming him.

"N-no… I-I'm sorry…" the man knelt and rubbed his palms together.

He apologized. It looked sincere. But the sentiment did not reach Mikael.

"You're sorry, Papa? Then, do you want to come with me?"

The man flinched "C-come?"

"Yes, papa. Let's die together."

"N-NO! y-you love me, right?! You said you loved me! How could you kill me, you ungrateful child?!"

'So, you don't want to die?' Mikael looked at the father with dead eyes 'Pathetic.'

Mikael controlled all the bottles lying around.

The man stared at the floating bottles, mouth agape. When Mikael started hurling the bottles on the wall, the man shrieked.

"AAAHHHH!! STOP! PLEASE STOOOP!"

The bottles smashed on impact, sending glitter-like shards flying toward the man.

The criminal father ducked and covered his head with his thin arms.

"Why?... Why?!... WHYYY?!" Mikael shouted, 'why do you care so much about your own life when you took others' for granted?'

"You're so selfish!" the image of the man cowering before him overlapped with his own father—his father who became alcohol-dependent after losing their business and drowning in debt.

Mikael didn't know that he could still shed tears as a spirit, but apparently, he could.

Black tears flowed from his beautiful face.

He did not have time to hate his father when he was alive since he was too busy to make a living. It was only now that he recognized this resentment. At the back of his mind, he had always blamed his father for his misery.

Bam!

The door opened and the innkeeper and her husband entered the room.

They gasped when they saw the scene: A man shaking on his bed, muttering "I'm sorry…Please forgive me…" and the countless bottles shattered on the ground.

"Excuse me, Sir! This is a public establishment! You cannot cause trouble here!" the innkeeper brazenly declared.

The man peeked from between his elbows.

The innkeeper's husband put his hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, sir but you have to leave now."

The criminal father suddenly sprang up and, without taking his belongings, he ran out of the room.

Crunch! Crunch!

His feet bled from the shards scattered on the floor, but he paid it no mind. The only thought he had was to escape from the inn.

<Active skill: Teleport Lvl. 1 is activated.>

Mikael teleported in front of the man, "Papa… surrender yourself to the authorities or else I'll haunt you." He whispered, "Forever." –In a soothing voice to which the man vigorously nodded.

Ping!

<System Notification: You have acquired a new title!>

Ping!

<New title: The Apostle of Justice>

<Title Description:

Dead men tell no tales. By punishing the living for their crimes against the dead, you have relieved the souls of their lingering regrets to the mortal world. To them, you have become the Apostle of Justice!

To reward you for your efforts, the souls offer you some of their Karma.>

Ping!

<System Notification: You have acquired +10 Karma Points from Soul 'Alisha'>

<Total Karma: -1150 KP>

--Chapter end--

** the Demon and Angel within us= refers to the impulse and conscience that often clashes when a person makes decisions.. Often depicted in literatures as a demon's urging and Angel's nagging.

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