The night wind was cool, carrying the damp scent of crushed grass.
After a struggle of words and stubborn insistence, X lay flat on the grass, eyes blank, clothes in disarray.
It happened. It really happened.
Staring up at the pitch-black sky, X felt the whole thing was so absurd that even now he couldn't quite believe it.
He—inside an Abnormality world—had been overwhelmed by a "nun" Abnormality…
A lazy, satisfied chuckle pulled him out of the abyss of disbelief.
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds had already climbed off him and was calmly straightening her immaculate black habit, posture composed—as if she hadn't just done something that should have shattered the atmosphere entirely.
"Thank you for the meal, X," she said, a teasing warmth in her voice.
"I'm very full."
X didn't know whether she meant "full" in the sense of absorbing sin… or something else he refused to name.
…
While she was still adjusting her clothing, X found an opening and fled her Abnormality world.
"What am I doing…"
Leaning against the hallway wall in the inner-company, X let out a despairing sigh.
Even though he'd been the one overwhelmed, he stubbornly believed the root of the chaos was still his fault.
How could a gentle listener like her—someone who always received every confession kindly—be the one to initiate something like that?
She was always so warm, so kind…
It had to be because he'd crossed a boundary first.
At that moment, X remembered Farah's earlier warning.
—Abnormalities are, at their core, beasts formed from desire. They can lose themselves to instinct at any time.
Desire.
Connecting that to what Angela and the supervisor manual had said, X finally understood:
One Sin and Hundreds of Good Deeds was an Abnormality. She had desires too.
And now he was even more certain: he had failed to manage the line between them.
More than the fact that he'd been overwhelmed, X hated himself for something else:
He hadn't resisted all the way through.
He resented the moment he gave up under sheer force and will—when he should have dragged both himself and his "friend" back from that reckless edge.
Instead, he let instinct carry him to the end.
And speaking of Farah…
Since their last parting, X hadn't seen her again.
And that "Observation Department" she claimed to lead—what did it even do?
—
For the first time since entering the inner Lobotomy Corporation, X didn't continue exploring even though time remained.
He simply sat on the Control Team's sofa until he woke.
…
He turned his head toward the clock on the bedside table.
4:04 a.m.
Earlier than any time before.
But he couldn't sleep anymore. Even if he closed his eyes, the memory would surface—and make sleep even more impossible.
—
Click.
X pushed open the Control Team's door.
To be honest, when he saw the director's office décor, he felt dazed.
He realized he'd spent more time in the inner Control Team than in the real one.
Especially Malkuth—he hadn't seen her in the surface world since last week.
Among the four open departments, he had spoken with Yesod, Netzach, and Hod many times.
But Malkuth—the first director he met, and the busiest—he had barely spent time with her.
It wasn't fair.
"Ah, Supervisor, good morning."
Inside, Malkuth was writing furiously.
The short-haired young woman with bright, energetic presence noticed him and quickly greeted him.
"Why did you come to me today? And… this early?"
"It's still a long time before work starts, isn't it?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I came to see you."
X leaned in curiously at the desk.
"What are you working on?"
"Oh, this?"
Malkuth lifted a small memo pad, smiling with the same lively ease as always.
"I told you before, right? I'm kind of careless. When I get busy, I forget things… so I have to write the daily workflow and key points down."
"Then I won't miss anything, and I won't get scolded by you or Angela."
"I don't think I've ever scolded you."
X gave an awkward laugh.
"I've always thought you're doing great."
Then he brought up something else.
"By the way, Malkuth."
Most of the directors' names were a mouthful, so X often used his own nicknames.
"When does that 'Dusk' ordeal actually show up?"
"I've basically been doing overtime every day, pushing past multiple rounds up to meltdown level ten and beyond…"
"But the highest ordeal I've seen is still just Noon."
"Um… I don't really know."
Malkuth scratched her head, visibly apologetic that she couldn't help.
"The trigger mechanism for ordeals is probably something you'll need to ask the R&D Team or the Discipline Team about."
"Discipline Team? R&D Team?"
"Oh—sorry, Supervisor! I forgot you haven't unlocked those departments yet!"
She quickly shifted back to a lighter tone to comfort him.
"But you don't really need to be that anxious. There's no time limit on the task I gave you, right?"
She picked up her pen again, ready to resume work.
"In Lobotomy Corporation, time reveals all mysteries. You just need to wait patiently."
"…Wait patiently?"
X repeated the phrase under his breath.
Angela and Malkuth had both said similar things.
But since B vanished, X no longer felt he had as much time as they believed.
So he kept feeling anxious—
Anxious from ignorance of the truth, and from some deeper unease.
As if, if he didn't handle something soon enough, he would meet a terrifying end…
…Huh?
What end, exactly?
"Alright, Supervisor, I still recommend you go back and get a nice nap…"
Malkuth sat back down, making it clear she didn't intend to keep chatting.
"Even just two hours of extra sleep can greatly ease anxiety."
"Alright… see you, Malkuth."
"See you, Supervisor."
-------
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