My Measurement: The Villain Desires a Satisfying Payback

Entering the Weinstell Central Hospital, I approached the lady at the reception desk.

"Here to visit a patient? Then, please sign here..."

Just over an hour had passed since business at the park had concluded.

After sending everyone home, I came to the hospital to visit Liam.

As it was considered a separate matter, I was alone.

Everyone else required rest after today's events anyway, so I let them do that, and there wouldn't be any danger here.

"Emergency & Critical Care Department..."

After Ella had texted me that her younger brother Liam had been hospitalised, my surprise was evident.

I was confused about what had happened for a moment, but I soon realised the cause was my very own Artificial Measurement Evolution Inducement drug that I had administered to him discreetly not that long ago.

She seemed too distraught to go into any details of what occurred, but she had informed me where he was being taken care of and asked me if I could visit him whenever I had the time.

As it appeared, she herself had already been waiting by his side in the hospital overnight but was told to return home by the doctors once Liam's condition stabilised so that they could carry out some tests.

It turns out that she quickly passed out from physical and mental exhaustion the instant she got home and had just woken up to inform me about it now.

I replied saying I would visit him and advised her to stay home for now, and fortunately, she obliged.

"Here..."

Entering the Emergency Care Unit that was looking after him, I walked through the pristine white halls of the hospital building, the sounds of my feet echoing throughout.

I had to see with my own eyes what the result of my concoction was, which is why I decided to come immediately.

Regarding the drug, there were untold consequences I would have to consider from this point on, were I to continue pursuing its perfection.

Hospitalisation.

Needless to say, I did not expect the drug to bring about harm to the user.

That's not to say I excluded the possibility of negative effects, but I had thought I did a good enough job making it so that I didn't have to worry about this type of thing.

Sure enough, I was wrong.

For it to cause damage to the extent that the one who ingested it was thrust into emergency care just days after the fact meant that something had gone terribly wrong.

I had to figure out what that was, or else, give up on researching artificial Measurement evolution entirely.

The truth seems to be that, if I cannot be 100% certain the drug I make will work, and with zero side-effects, then I shouldn't even try it.

Because, at the end of the day, the person whose Measurement I was looking to evolve was myself.

If I couldn't even ensure the safety of the test user of the A.M.E. drug, or in this case Liam Chiba-Wallace, then that explicitly means I cannot ensure my own safety when ingesting the drug in the future.

And if I cannot ensure my own safety, then there is no point in continuing research.

After all, if I became hospitalised, there would be nothing to stop the Wardens or Professor Marcus Lynton from just coming in and doing what they would with me.

I now understand why those researchers and scientists were never successful in their practices.

The art of dealing with the soul―and interfering with its power―is far too finicky and incomprehensible.

I don't even know what I did wrong during the creation process that led to this outcome.

If I could use the Measurement of Truth, then maybe there would be a chance I could continue.

But, since anything to do with in-depth knowledge of the soul or Measurements in general is classified as Forbidden Knowledge, it's impossible.

Something so esoteric that even geniuses who have studied the subject for their entire lives aren't able to crack it.

In the end, it's simply not something I'm able to achieve success in without my trump card.

Just outside the designated room, I found a pair of men in scrubs and white coats chatting.

"Ah, are you here to visit this patient?"

I nodded.

"Yes, I'm a friend of the family. Are you the one in charge of looking after Liam?"

The doctor who originally asked me nodded with a wry smile and glanced at the other person, who also appeared to be a doctor, as if signifying for him to leave.

Once it was just the two of us, he explained to me roughly what Liam's condition was like.

"The patient came in soon after experiencing cardiac arrest. He is fortunate to have a sister who acted so quickly and called an ambulance. However, his current condition is..."

The end of the doctor's sentence trailed off. Clearing his throat, he listed a few things to me.

"Oftentimes as is the case with cardiac arrests, the patient might experience negative after-effects, so we like to carry out a series of small tests to examine their exact condition to judge how severe it is. This time was no exception."

I nodded my head again and asked.

"I take it he's experiencing some kind of after-effects, then?"

The doctor nodded.

"Indeed."

It wasn't a surprising thing to hear. I had already heard about his cardiac arrest through Truth, but not the aftereffects. Still, since it was a somewhat common symptom, it was unfortunate, but not totally unexpected.

"Physically, he is mostly fine aside from considerable weakness in his muscles and joints, but he is having a multitude of other issues including vision, memory, speech, and walking impairments. Furthermore, we have carried out a sample blood test and have detected a few abnormalities, but we will have to get back to you when we receive the results for more details."

"His condition has stabilised for now, and he is assumed to improve gradually over time, but there is no guarantee of a full recovery."

...So, it was pretty bad, huh.

Vision, memory, speech and walking impairments, as well as weakness throughout the entire body.

The blood abnormalities seemed to be something separate from the after-effects of the cardiac arrest, but a symptom of the serum all the same.

Just what kind of havoc did it wreak upon his body...?

"Thank you for letting me know, Doctor. I'd like to visit alone if that's okay."

"Of course. We just finished up with all the tests, so he should still be awake, but please let him get as much rest as he can. He's probably tired, and the poor lad will need it."

"Yes. Thank you."

I watched the back of the departing doctor exit out some doors and turned to the door we just conversed in front of.

Grabbing the handle, I opened and pushed the door.

"..."

Inside the room was a single hospital bed and its owner.

"Oscar...?"

A boy with hazy, distant eyes, as if looking into a world other than this one.

He called my name.

I didn't respond, but he continued.

"Oscar, is it you...? Sister called and said you were coming..."

I wondered if he could see me, but the answer to that appears more complicated than a simple yes or no.

He knew of my presence because I opened the door, and he knew it was me because he was told I would be visiting.

But, whether he could actually see me or not, was questionable.

So, to those eyes that gazed listlessly into emptiness and at the floor, I approached.

"..."

"Oscar, it is you--"

And then, he lifted his head.

"!!"

Suddenly, his vacant eyes widened.

"A-a-a-ah..."

He began to stammer wildly.

Raising his arm weakly, he pointed at me as his pupils and body quaked.

As I stared into his eyes, his condition only worsened.

"A-a-ah...!"

"..."

It wasn't that Liam was blind.

He could still see the world around him; the people around him.

Just, how he viewed it had changed.

"Hey."

"...!!"

"Is anything different?"

With a slowly creeping smile, I asked.

"E-e-e-en..."

My abrupt smile even more abruptly reversed into a frown.

His reaction told me everything I needed to know.

There was good news and bad news, so I was conflicted about how to feel.

The good news is that, fortunately, the drug appears to have worked.

By that, I mean that Liam's Measurement has successfully evolved, despite everything that happened to him.

"What is it? What is it you see?"

"E-e-e--"

"Tell me."

"E-e-end...!"

Likewise, however, the 'hell' within me seems to have also evolved into something more.

"Elaborate. What do you mean, 'end'?"

I needed to know what it was.

This was the entire reason I wanted to evolve Liam's Measurement, after all.

It was unfortunate that it hadn't evolved into something like 'the ability to manipulate luck', but in what way a Measurement would evolve is not something that can be predicted in the first place.

Nonetheless, it had definitely evolved, and so I wanted to make use of it.

"T-t-the e-end...!"

It didn't appear that he would tell me, so I would have to do it myself.

Thus, I used the Measurement of Truth.

Show me.

What does Liam Chiba-Wallace see within me right now?

I would borrow his vision.

A large screen emerged in front of me.

And what I saw was right.

"...!"

It really could be described as nothing but 'the end'.