Chapter 161: 161 Unpleasant Revelations

A few hours before Guy rescued Al from getting dissolved inside his Student's core. A long-awaited confrontation took place inside the RoK.

"I need to hear the truth, Mast," Guy declared. After entering the RoK, he now faced Mast's avatar, which also happened to resemble Guy's form from his past life. "The whole truth, about my death."

(What's there to learn? I've told you everything,) Mast shrugged.

"I don't believe that you have," Guy rebutted with a frown. "You have been lying to me. I want to hear the unadulterated facts."

Mast tilted his head. He then waved his hand, causing a seat to materialise behind him. He lowered himself into the chair and rested his chin on his closed fist, which was supported by the table at the centre of the RoK.

(Let's say that I have been deceptive with you, what reason do I have to reveal the truth to you?) He asked, breaking the charged pause lingering in the space.

"That's understandable. After all, the way you presented things to me, I'm just a small cog in the grand scheme of things," Guy hummed while nodding. "But I do know that I am valuable to you. You have invested a lot into me, to bring me here and everything else that came along with it. This level of expenditure, and the risks assumed, implies that I have a role to play in whatever plan you've come up with. Therefore, I can say with certainty, that this small cog is what's keeping your entire mechanism from falling apart."

(You are being uncharacteristically assertive,) Mast commented with a faintly mirthful tone.

"That was my greatest flaw. I've come to realise that, albeit a bit too late," Guy muttered with a bitter smile. He then added, "I should have been more assertive in my past life."

(If you had been assertive in your past life, you wouldn't have been able to extend your charitable work to such an extent. Oftentimes, the harder one pushes, the greater opposition they face. You were given the freedom to spread your work BECAUSE you were perceived as harmless in the eyes of others,) Mast responded. People in power have agendas, it is an irrefutable and immutable fact. They are willing to entertain anyone as long as it doesn't conflict with their agenda. This was the reason why Guy was given unhindered access to different countries to establish his charity. However, if Guy showed even an inkling of opposition or confrontation, his "all-access ticket" would have been revoked. The bureaucracy Guy managed to skip earlier would have been re-implemented, possibly with increased stringency.

"Sometimes, maintaining the status quo and introducing sustainable change may not be enough," Guy reaffirmed. Maybe he would have to jump through more hoops, but it would have left a lasting impact at least.

(But it works. Given time, even the calmest of rivers can cut through mountains.)

"Stop beating around the bush and just tell me!" Guy exploded with a forceful bellow while punching the table at the RoK's centre. His voice echoed within the RoK, accentuated by the hard drum from his fist meeting the ethereal hardwood surface. An intense, bone-chilling silence pervaded the ambience. Both parties present froze in place.

All of a sudden, Mast lowered his seemingly relaxed state. He stood up from his chair, and as he did so his avatar dissipated immediately, taking the world around him with it. Guy was now alone in a vast black void. Incrementally, he started to lose his connection to his senses as well, until eventually, he had reverted to the state he was after his first demise.

(You want to know whether your death was a part of my machinations?) Mast's voice boomed around the void.

(It was not,) Mast followed up immediately. (In fact. It was not a mistake either. My world is perfect - I have made sure of it.)

"Then-"

(Your death was pure coincidence.) Mast's voice lingered with an ominous vibrato.

"Just like everything..."

(Not exactly.)

"What?" Guy exclaimed in confusion at the apparent contradiction in Mast's statement.

(Your death was coincidental, but my selecting you was not.)

"Y-You chose me on purpose? Why?"

(Like you said before. You fit perfectly into my plan.)

"Which is?"

(Irrelevant to you.)

"Stop hiding things from me, and tell me the whole damn truth!" Guy bellowed again. Without his body to augment his confrontational demeanour, the authority in his declaration was significantly diminished.

(I don't appreciate your tone.) Mast reprimanded with mild annoyance in his voice.

"Really? The base premise of our entire relationship was built on a lie, and you expect me to not feel infuriated?" Guy challenged

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(The fault lies in you. You assumed our relationship was anything more than what it was.)

"Which is?"

(I believe it is pretty obvious,) Mast retorted. (I am your benefactor.)

"Right..." Guy muttered with a drawl imbued with bitter acceptance. He recognised his immaturity and naïveté in thinking that he could, in some way, have a close relationship with an omniscient and pseudo-omnipotent being such as Mast.

(You disagree? You should have died, but you did not,) Mast pointed out. (I gave you a second chance.)

"If that is how you view things, then take it away," Guy shot back in a fit of rage. "Kill me right now!"

(I cannot do that. You have not fulfilled your purpose yet?) Mast's voice responded. Its cold and calculative calmness came like a glowing knife, cutting into Guy's wavering soul.

"And what is it? To be a toy for your amusement?"

(Your purpose is to live your life. Just like every other creature in this place of existence?) Mast answered. The weirdly humanitarian nature of the statement discomfited Guy.

"What do you mean?"

(I chose you specifically for a reason. And that is to continue living, exactly as you were in your past life. Achieve every unfulfilled goal and wish, resolve every regret, just be yourself,) Mast repeated.

"I don't believe that your reasons are purely altruistic." Guy vocalised his doubts.

(You are right to think so,) Mast said, bursting the nascent bubble of warmth in Guy's heart. (I hold no altruistic thoughts.)

"Then what is my true purpose!" Guy demanded.

(That is not for you to know,) Mast cut back. The void once again descended into a tense silence. The abruptness of that declaration immediately impeded Guy's momentum.

"What?" Guy blurted out.

(Our conversation has gone for long enough,) Mast declared. At that moment, the void prevailing around Guy started to regain its light, and the all too familiar sight of the RoK once again came into the foreground.

Guy started to panic, as he immediately realised that their conversation was about to be cut short without him having learned the key piece of information about his transmigration. In haste, Guy threatened, "I will end myself if you don't tell me!"

Through the muffled silence, Mast responded coldly, (No you won't, you have too much to lose.)

And with that, Mast disappeared. Although Guy couldn't see it, he could feel that absence of Mast.

Many thoughts lingered in Guy's mind.

Guy felt fear. One could say that Mast was the one constant that carried over from Guy's past life. It was the anchor that connected him to his previous identity and gave meaning to his previous existence. The recent confrontation with Mast completely shattered this belief. All of a sudden, Guy felt like he had become stranded on a completely foreign island by himself. The lifebuoy he assumed would keep him from drowning was a mere figment of his imagination. Fear was the obvious consequence. Even the most terrifying of animals succumb to it if the last modicum of familiarity is stripped off from their surroundings.

Guy felt despair. From the beginning, he held a faint belief - an assumption - that Mast was on his side. Maybe it was due to the constant companionship offered by Mast's existence in the RoK, but Guy viewed Mast as a close companion and someone he could rely on. However, the confrontation revealed that the facade of companionship was simply a one-way mirror. Mast made it very clear that he didn't view Guy as anything more than a piece in a large jigsaw puzzle. It was a discomforting revelation and one that evoked profound humiliation, which shook Guy to his core.

Guy felt infuriated. Every sentient being with cognizance of the sense of self, that is a being capable of questioning its existence, has an inbuilt want to believe that it has self-governance - that it has control over its actions and decisions. It wants the affirmation that it has control over its existence. Guy was indicated as such when he was offered a second iteration of his life. He was promised that he could live his new life the way he wanted to, and pursue his dreams. In fact, Mast made it a point to highlight this "freedom" during this confrontation. But Guy also understood that it was all a facade. There was a purpose to his presence here beyond what he was led to believe. Although Guy wasn't averse to believing that there was a certain level of predetermination in one's existence, what irked him immeasurably was the betrayal. Guy was enraged by the lies and the subterfuge that underlay his rebirth.

"Would things have been better if Mast told me the whole truth from the very beginning? Would it have been better if my second chance was footnoted with a conditional clause?" Guy pondered. "Maybe it was for the better this way. After all, ignorance is bliss."

But Guy immediately shook all those rogue thoughts and centred his mind. As he retraced his thought process, Guy realised that although Mast hadn't clarified Guy's purpose, he did say that Guy should just be himself and continue living as he had before.

"That's the thing! I cannot live my life the way I have till now," Guy concluded. "I want my life to have meaning! I want to make a difference."

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