Is It Yourself?
1: Chapter 1 – That Friend You Mentioned…
Is It Yourself?
Far East Region, Nagazora City.
It was the weekend.
Inside a cold drink shop near Senba Academy, two young men sat across from each other.
“Mu, why do you have time to see me today?” Kevin asked, holding his drink and looking at the young man before him.
“Didn’t you say a few days ago that you were heading back home?” The young man seated opposite him had black hair and gray eyes, with a striking white streak at the tips of his hair.
Even by Kevin’s own high standards, this friend was exceptionally, almost unreasonably, handsome.
Mu, or rather, Li Mu, was an exchange student from the Shenzhou region.
He was also one of Kevin’s few friends in Nagazora City—a friend he could truly call his closest.
Yes, the kind of friendship where they were close enough to lecture each other like a father would.
After the final exams, Kevin’s parents had arranged for him to enroll in Senba Academy, a school whose student body was primarily composed of children from Nagazora’s upper class.
As an exchange student from Shenzhou, Li Mu was expected to return home after completing his studies.
Kevin had thought it would be difficult for them to meet again, but to his surprise, Mu had called him a short while ago, saying he wanted to meet up.
And so, here they were.
Li Mu didn’t answer Kevin’s question directly.
Instead, he sized him up with a peculiar expression on his face.
The gaze made Kevin’s skin crawl.
“Mu, what are you looking at?” Li Mu looked at the friend he had known for several years and let out an almost inaudible sigh.
He ignored the question and said: “I did plan on returning to Shenzhou after the final exams.” “It’s just that…
a friend of mine recently ran into a rather troublesome situation.
I want to help him, but I can’t quite make up my mind, so I wanted to get someone else’s opinion.” Kevin took a sip of his drink, his eyes fixed on Li Mu.
“Uh…
Mu, that friend you’re talking about…
is it yourself?” “No,” Li Mu denied instantly.
Kevin understood.
The “friend” Li Mu was talking about was most likely Li Mu himself.
“So you asked me out today because you wanted to ask me for advice?” Li Mu nodded.
“Alright, seeing as you’re treating today, I’ll be an open book for you, my brother,” Kevin said, shaking his drink.
He asked with great curiosity, “Tell me, what’s the matter?” Li Mu didn’t beat around the bush.
He propped his arms on the table, clasped his hands together under his chin, and began to explain.
“It’s like this.
I recently came across a piece of information, and it concerns a very dear friend of mine.” “This friend of mine is about to walk down an extremely tragic path.
If I do nothing, he will most likely lose his family and everyone he holds dear.
In the end, everyone he loves and everyone who loves him will die.” “When that time comes, he’ll be left to wander the world alone.
Even though he’ll have no motivation left to live, a promise will prevent him from even seeking death.” “He’ll be forced to wander like a hollow, walking corpse, constantly longing for the end of his life to arrive.” As Li Mu spoke, a strange sense of familiarity inexplicably welled up in Kevin’s heart.
He suppressed the odd feeling and asked Li Mu, “To put it simply, you have a friend who’s about to be in danger?” “You could put it that way.” Li Mu didn’t object, continuing along that line of thought.
“Right now, I have an opportunity to save that friend, but I can’t bring myself to make the decision.” Seeing the conflict on Li Mu’s face, Kevin had a rough idea of the problem Mu might be facing.
—It’s highly likely his friend got caught up in a pyramid scheme, a scam, or a cult.
Such things weren’t uncommon in the Far East.
Not long ago, someone whose family was ruined by a cult had publicly assassinated a councilman connected to it right on the street.
Now, it seemed one of Mu’s friends was facing a similar dilemma.
Mu had a chance to pull his friend out, but doing so might put him in danger, hence his hesitation.
Sure enough, the next thing Kevin heard from Li Mu was: “I have a way to help that friend, to prevent him from falling into that tragic fate.
But my methods…
they probably won’t be accepted by him.
It might even cause him to break off our friendship completely.” Seeing the struggle on Li Mu’s face, Kevin nodded to himself.
He fully understood now.
It was just as he had thought.
One of Mu’s friends had likely gotten mixed up in a pyramid scheme or a cult.
People controlled by such organizations often underwent drastic personality changes.
Once brainwashed, they wouldn’t see their rescuers as people trying to help them.
They might even come to resent them for it.
It seemed Mu was struggling with this very issue.
However, the excellent values Kevin had been raised with told him that you should never abandon a friend in need just because you might be hated for it.
After a moment of thought, he said to Li Mu, “Why don’t you try talking to him?
If you’re really friends, he should be willing to listen to you.” Li Mu looked straight at Kevin, then shook his head.
“I know his personality.
Even if this could save him from that tragic future, he most likely wouldn’t agree.” “So, Kevin, if you were in my position, what would you do?” To this question, Kevin answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“If I was certain that my friend’s tragedy was truly going to happen, then of course I would choose to save him, even if he came to hate me for it.” Kevin’s expression suddenly turned serious.
“It’s like…
if I knew you and Su were about to walk into danger, even if I might be misunderstood by you, even if I might be hated by you, I would still choose to save you.” “So, Kevin, is that your answer?” “Yes, that is my answer,” Kevin said solemnly.
“If you’re going to save your friend, I can help too.
After all, you’re my best friend.” “Go for it!
Even if you end up being hated for it, as long as you believe what you’re doing is right!” Hearing Kevin’s reply, Li Mu sighed softly.
“If that’s the case, then I can finally be firm in my decision.” “Thank you so much, Kevin.
I’m not confused anymore.
Just as you said, being hated by my friend is better than watching him step into eternal suffering.” Kevin felt a little embarrassed.
Just as he was about to say something modest, he saw Li Mu lift something from beside his feet and place it on the table.
It was a suitcase with a metallic luster.
Etched onto its silver-white body was a symbol resembling a moth.
Mu placed his hand on the surface of the case.
The moment his palm made contact, lines of electronic circuitry spread across its exterior.
Click.
With a crisp sound of a mechanism engaging, the case opened.
Kevin peered inside.
There, in the center of the case, a syringe filled with a green liquid lay silently.
“What is this?” “This is what I’ll use to save my friend.
To save this world that is fated to be destroyed.” “Mu, when did you get so melodramatic?” Kevin dismissed his friend’s statement as some kind of chuuni declaration.
“Anyway, what is that thing?
It looks pretty high-tech.” Li Mu picked up the syringe from the center of the case and smiled at Kevin.
“Kevin, come over here for a second.” “What for?” Kevin didn’t know what Li Mu was up to, but he subconsciously leaned his head forward.
The corners of Li Mu’s mouth slowly curled into a grin.
His fingers tightened around the syringe from the suitcase.
Before Kevin could even react, he jabbed it into the side of his neck.
Pfft!
The syringe’s built-in pneumatic pump activated, instantly injecting the green liquid into Kevin’s body.
“Mu, you…” Feeling the sharp sting in his neck, Kevin was about to say something when his consciousness was abruptly overwhelmed by a wave of drowsiness.
Thud!
Kevin was down for the count.
Looking at Kevin slumped over the table, Li Mu returned the syringe to its case and let out a sigh.
“Well, Kevin, since you were the one who said it…
to change that tragic fate of yours, I’ll just have to make the present you suffer a little.” —o— CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Aleph_02 show some support!