Chapter 54 – Mind Games and Madness
Thursday – 3:42 PM
The elevator's metallic groan echoed faintly as Gerard descended to the lower levels of the Horizon tech facility. Each floor they passed carried its own secrets, but Gerard had only one destination in mind: the hidden server archive beneath the AI research division. His reward from the latest mission had funded access to a safehouse and retrofitted burner equipment, but Horizon's internal vaults still held the ghosts he needed to exorcise.
His enhanced mind worked like a turbine now, fueled by the Intelligence Boost talent and sharpened by rage. Data flowed around him like a living river. With each breath, Gerard slipped further into the calculated madness the system demanded—and which he was beginning to master.
Ding.
The elevator opened into a silent, cold corridor lined with humming conduits and thick glass doors. Gerard stepped into the shadows, pulling up his system interface with a mental flick.
[MISSION COMPLETE: SURVIVE ASSASSIN ATTACK]
[REWARD CLAIMED: +$100,000 USD wired to burner account]
[SYSTEM NOTE: You would have earned $1,000,000 for eliminating the threat entirely.]
He dismissed the message with a silent scoff. Money was useful, but it wasn't his goal. Not yet.
His focus turned inward. The memories of Li Xian rolled over him in crashing waves—some fragmented, some vivid. And all of them soaked in humiliation.
He saw the smirk on Meiying's face the day she "accidentally" deleted his application to transfer to an elite university. He heard Madam Wei's chilling voice as she negotiated over the phone, arranging his forced commitment with no more care than she might order lunch. But it was the mockery of his father's legacy that stirred Gerard's true fury. Li Qingsheng had built an empire from nothing, only to have his name used as a weapon by those he trusted.
That betrayal bled into the present.
Gerard approached the server console and inserted a high-level decryption key—a reward from a previous mission. Lines of code sprang to life like writhing snakes.
[SYSTEM BONUS ACTIVE: Intelligence Boost - Encryption Decryption Speed Increased by 350%]
Within moments, access was granted.
The files were what he'd hoped for: an archived blackmail database labeled SLANDER MANAGEMENT – PRIORITY. Video clips. Doctor recordings. Fabricated psychiatric evaluations with falsified timestamps.
Then he found it.
A recording: a hidden conversation between Madam Wei and the director of the psychiatric hospital.
"He still won't sign the asset transfer. We need him declared unfit, legally."
"We'll increase the dosage and schedule an episode during a visitation. Once he's violent on camera, the court will cave."
Gerard's hands tightened into fists. He felt his jaw clench until it ached.
This wasn't just betrayal.
This was premeditated character assassination. And they thought they had erased it.
But Gerard's system didn't let things stay buried.
[NEW MISSION: SILENCE THE SLANDERER]
Target: Zhang Rui – Head of Disinformation Department
Condition: Elimination must occur in a public space, during a major event, to maximize symbolic value.
Reward: +1 System Slot, +200,000 USD, +1 Trait Enhancement Point
Time Limit: 7 Days
He read the alert twice, then lowered his head and laughed softly to himself.
So you want a show? You'll get one.
Friday – 10:11 AM
Atop a skyscraper overlooking the city, Zhang Rui adjusted the cuffs of his immaculate white suit, unaware that someone watched him from across a nearby rooftop through a military-grade monocular.
Gerard observed him silently.
His enemy dressed like a saint and spoke like a philosopher, but his hands were soaked in the blood of reputations. He was the one who'd arranged the editing and broadcasting of fake interviews with Li Xian during his hospital stay—clips that went viral and turned the public against him.
Gerard didn't want justice.
He wanted memory.
He wanted fear.
And Zhang Rui was about to be both the example and the offering.
A cold breeze swept the rooftop. Gerard tapped into the secure Horizon camera grid using a system-acquired spoof tool. The digital world bent around him like pliable clay. He would stage the hit during a televised Horizon gala two nights from now—an event where Zhang would no doubt be present to court politicians and wipe clean the dirt others left behind.
This time, the dirt would stain his own name. Forever.
Gerard let the shadows swallow him as he vanished into the steel bones of the city. His system pulsed quietly in the background, satisfied.
For now.