Chapter 1203: A Beautiful Mind
The first rays of the sun filtered through the window, illuminating the circular chamber. The fire in the center of the room had long gone out, leaving behind nothing but burnt cinders.
Outside, the sound of birds chirping and the faint noises produced by beasts echoed through the forgotten streets.
Inside, Adam’s deranged chuckles relentlessly reverberated within the broken walls. An eventful night had passed, and a new day had arrived. He hadn’t slept at all. He couldn’t.
The youth kept rocking back and forth as he miserably sat on the ground, muttering to himself, "No-nothing... nothing is real... I don’t know... real... real... haha... hahaha... it’s all fake..."
"Gege..." The mimic walked up to him with its tiny legs. Its voice was laced with sadness, concern, and even fear.
For the last several months, it had witnessed Adam speak to imaginary people around him, an act that greatly confused him. And his confusion kept increasing day after day. But it knew that something had changed yesterday.
The mimic’s sentience was low, but even it could sense a profound shift in Adam’s behavior since last night. And so, it walked up to him and nudged against his hand.
"Gege..." it called out to him.
"Nothing... nothing is real... nothing at all..." Adam kept mumbling the same words over and over again.
Suddenly, he felt something brush against him. He turned his head, only to see the mimic standing right beside him. Adam’s lips curled into a wide grin, and he murmured:
"You... you aren’t real either, are you?"
"Gege..." The mimic lowered itself, feeling slight sorrow. Then it turned away and walked to the corner of the room. There, it sat down silently, facing the wall.
"Haha... hahaha... I knew it!" Adam laughed out loud. "I knew it! You’re not real... None of youse!"
His laughter came to an abrupt halt when he realized something. Expanding his Sphere of Resonance, he observed his charred, trembling hands. He tilted his head in slight confusion and muttered under his breath:
"Am I... real?"
An eerie silence descended in the room, and Adam’s lips curled so wide that they nearly tore apart. He retrieved the Blades of Fulgrim from his back and pointed the tip of the blades straight at his stomach.
His jaws gradually widened, and a hoarse laughter full of grief and madness escaped from them.
"Only one way to find out," he said. "Only pain is real!"
His heart started beating faster and faster.
The Laughing God continued to whisper words of madness.
Adam continued to listen to them with full acceptance.
And then... he thrust the blades straight into his stomach!
But right as the blades were about to pierce his charred flesh, the strangely familiar voice whispered:
"If you die, so does Valerian."
Splat!
The blades did lodge themselves inside Adam’s stomach, but not entirely. As pain radiated from the wounds and spread to every inch of his being, he couldn’t help but let out a stifled groan. And then... he laughed.
"It hurts! Haha... hahaha! It’s real... I’m fucking real!"
After the laughter came the dread. Feeling fear grip his heart, he laughed out even louder. If it wasn’t for the strangely familiar voice, he might have really thrust the entirety of the blades straight inside his intestines—which still hadn’t fully healed yet from the previous injury.
As beads of sweat rolled down his burnt flesh, he raised his head and observed the area by the window. There, sitting casually on the ledge, was a tall man in pristine white robes. He had broad shoulders, raven-black hair, and was the very image of what Adam once was.
The white-robed Adam gazed at the scenery outside the window and continued:
"If you die, Anna will mourn. So will the Old man. And so will Fatty, and Lisa, and your foolish disciples. But more importantly..."
He then turned to Adam and spoke in a solemn voice, "Your dream will forever be unfulfilled."
As blood poured out of Adam’s stomach, he lowered his head and simply smiled. The mimic rushed towards him, then opened its mouth and spat a roll of cloth bandage.
"Gege! Gege!" It screamed frantically.
Adam glanced at the rolled bandage, then at the mimic. At last, his lips parted and he spoke in a trembling voice, "Gege, you... you’re real, right?"
"Gege! Gege!" The mimic kicked the bandage towards Adam.
Observing the mimic’s actions, Adam’s lips quivered. He picked up the bandage and began tending to his wounds.
"The mind is a formidable force," said the white-robed Adam, his voice gentle and soothing. "It is both a tool for survival and a trap of its own making. When left in isolation, stripped of companionship, it can weave illusions so vivid they feel indistinguishable from reality.
"In the face of loneliness, the mind protects itself by conjuring voices, faces, and even entire personalities to fill the void. These imagined figures may begin as comfort, a way to cope with the void, but they can grow into something more... companions, confidants, adversaries... lovers. Psychologically, this is both a defense mechanism and a betrayal."
The white-robed Adam approached Adam and sat down beside him. He then turned his gaze towards the blue skies outside and continued:
"It is proof of how desperately humans need connection, and how far the mind will go to provide it what the world refused. Loneliness is one of the greatest threats the mind seeks to counter. Not to mention, you’re already mad, and your mind... it is stronger than you think.
"Well, if you want to get philosophical, then this shows how powerful and adaptive the human mind truly is. It blurs the line between reality and imagination, creating illusions that serve a vital purpose... preserving your sense of self."
The white-robed Adam turned to Adam and offered a faint, reassuring smile. Then, he placed a hand on his shoulder and added:
"The mind is a paradox. It is fragile, yet it is also strong. Fragile because it cannot endure utter isolation. Strong because it can construct entire realities to keep itself from shattering. But I think... the mind is a beautiful thing."
Adam listened to everything as he pressed the bandage against his wounds, preventing more blood from spilling out.
The ravings of the Faceless Mask, the tribulations from the previous night, and the realization of what his fractured self spoke about all weighed down on him.
Soon, he started to lose consciousness. Sleep was right around the corner. And just before he drifted off to the realm of slumber, his lips parted, and he softly said:
"Little minds are subdued by misfortune. But great minds... rise above them..."