Chapter 41 – The Satiated Simulacra
Previously in Chapter 41…
Enver had just completed a purificazione on a lazy employee who kept sabotaging the work system. Now, the voices of the world echoed again from the direction of the school. But this time, they were quieter. More painful. As if the world was chewing something it refused to swallow.
The sky was gray. Birds lined up in silence. In the center of the modern school building, a student sat on the auditorium floor. His body was plump, his face innocent, but his eyes were empty. He yawned widely, biting a leftover chocolate bun in his right hand while laughing with friends playing games on a flat screen. As if studying was just a blur passing by. Yet strangely, his grades were nearly perfect.
"He never reads a single book," whispered one teacher.
"He always falls asleep in class, yet he surpasses everyone else," said another, eyes filled with disbelief.
And behind the blackboard—the school wall pulsed like breath, like living flesh.
Enver appeared in the hallway, his robe brushing against the polished tiles. Once again, the world had shifted. Once again, unseen imbalance demanded an answer. He saw a black card stuck to the plastic chair where the student sat.
"Purificazione."
The card dissolved into mist, seeping into the student's back. And suddenly, everything froze.
Time stopped.
His friends no longer moved. Teachers turned into statues of dust. Only Enver and the boy kept breathing… and one other entity that rose from the shadows.
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The Banquet of the Simulacra
Its name had no sound. But the hunger it radiated was enough to make the air around the hall tremble.
From the boy's body, slowly, an astral being emerged—tall, slimy, with many mouths dripping streams of illusion. Its body was composed of toys, food, mattresses, and floating phone screens. Every eye on its face reflected perfect grades… yet all of them false.
"I am his life," the creature roared.
"He doesn't need to study at all! By uniting with me, everything becomes easy!"
Enver did not answer. His eyes glowed silver. Calm light, yet piercing deeply within.
The creature lunged, attacking. Its limbs, made of chairs and pillows, swept toward Enver. The building shook. Walls cracked. But with one movement, Enver vanished, then reappeared above the monster—floating, as if gravity itself were only an illusion to him.
"You are not born from ignorance," Enver said softly.
"You are born from the denial of effort and process. A counterfeit of achievement… endlessly hungry."
The creature roared, exploding the air into a vortex of images—photos of A+ grades, first-place rankings, golden trophies. All false. All without substance.
The battle erupted.
Enver thrust his hand, and from the astral ground, pillars of blood rose, binding the creature like chains of memory. But the creature devoured them, and its body grew larger.
"I was fed by baseless praise," it growled.
"I was raised by a system that worships results, not process or effort!"
The astral being vomited a thousand shadows of students—sleeping, then receiving applause. They floated like phantoms, circling Enver.
For a moment, the world went dark.
But from the darkness, Enver invoked: "Memoria Reversa."
Instantly, the astral space shifted. The boy appeared in his inner form—a frightened child, trembling, sitting among empty books.
"I don't know what to study…" he whispered.
"I just didn't want to be left behind… so I gave it all to the voice in my dream… the voice that promised high grades, without ever leaving my bed."
Enver walked closer.
"You were given a choice, and you chose the shortcut," he said.
"But this world is not a place for simulacra. Not for those who deceive the meaning of work and process."
His hand rose, and the purificazione card shone brightly. He pressed it to the boy's chest.
The astral creature screamed. Its body burned from within. Every A grade turned to ash. Every screen shattered. Every mattress became cold stone.
It howled:
"If I vanish, the boy will become stupid!"
But Enver replied:
"Stupid is the one who refuses to learn. Not the one who doesn't know. And learning is not just about high grades. It is about understanding…"
Then, in solemn silence, the creature exploded into floating petals of paper.
The boy lay on the floor with wet eyes and heavy breaths. But this time, there was a light within them. A light from inside. Not from gadgets. Not from numbers.
And Enver… had already vanished, leaving behind an auditorium slowly returning to the pulse of time.
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