Once I finish the meditation instructions, I find myself in a different place. I think that might be my unconsciousness. again. At least I see the memory crystals scattered around everywhere. However, the rivers of glitch soup are new. And the cracks in the ceiling, and the webs...

  It hasn't even been two days, and once again everything goes to hell.

  Fuck, everything hurts from whatever that glitch pool did to me. I feel like I'm bursting apart.

  Fuck, I don't want to die... I refuse to. It is not my time yet, I should never be my time. Not while I still have a say in it.

  In desperation, I call out to whoever sent me those instructions, "Okay, I'm here, so what now?"

  Instead of the expected text box, I hear some kind of noise, "N?o?w? ?w?e? ?h?a?v?e? ?a? ?b?i?t? ?m?o?r?e? ?t?i?m?e? ?t?o? ?f?i?x? ?t?h?i?s? ?m?e?s?s? ?t?h?a?n? ?a? ?c?o?u?p?l?e? ?o?f? ?s?e?c?o?n?d?s?.?"

  "Great, I understand nothing..."

  A loud sighing can be heard, "E?l?l?y?,? ?c?a?n? ?y?o?u? ?h?e?l?p? ?m?e? ?w?i?t?h? ?t?h?a?t??? ?W?e? ?d?o?n?'?t? ?h?a?v?e? ?t?h?a?t? ?k?i?n?d? ?o?f? ?t?i?m?e?.?.?.?"

  "W?h?y? ?d?o?e?s?n?'?t? ?h?e? ?u?n?d?e?r?s?t?a?n?d? ?y?o?u???"

  "Do you like talking to yourself?"

  It is either that, or there are multiple and they sound exactly the same. But knowing glitches, it could be either.

  "N?e?v?e?r? ?m?i?n?d?,? ?h?e?'?s? ?j?u?s?t? ?a?n? ?i?d?i?o?t? ?l?i?k?e? ?a?l?w?a?y?s?.?"

  "I? ?t?h?i?n?k? ?i?t? ?i?s? ?m?o?r?e? ?t?h?a?t? ?h?e? ?c?a?n?'?t? ?u?n?d?e?r?s?t?a?n?d? ?u?s?.?.?.? ?I? ?k?n?e?w? ?i?t? ?w?a?s? ?t?o?o? ?e?a?r?l?y? ?f?o?r? ?h?i?m?.? ?C?a?n? ?y?o?u? ?p?l?e?a?s?e? ?g?o? ?t?o? ?h?i?m? ?a?n?d? ?t?r?a?n?s?l?a?t?e??? ?W?e?'?r?e? ?k?i?n?d?a? ?o?n? ?t?h?e? ?c?l?o?c?k? ?h?e?r?e?.?"

  "W?i?l?l? ?d?o?.?"

  I wait a moment, but nothing happens, "Fuck, what now..."

  "You know, you look awful... I'm not even feeling like adding an insult."

  I look around and see a suspicious woman standing a bit behind me, "And you are?"

  "Don't you recognize me, Jared? It's me, Elly."

  That's supposed to be her? She looks like a completely different person. Older, more mature - in a lot of ways.

  Also, wasn't she supposed to be completely destroyed thanks to her glitch infection? Or at least stuck in the spirit graveyard or wherever "dead" spirits go? Why is she here?

  "Right, and I'm the king of the glitches. Weren't you supposed to be dead and gone?"

  "Yeah, but someone had a different plan for me. But we don't exactly have time for that", she turns away from me, "Hey, tell me what we have to do now."

  "Who are you talking to?"

  She brushes me off, "Later."

  "H?e? ?h?a?s? ?t?o? ?c?r?e?a?t?e? ?a? ?s?e?c?o?n?d? ?H?y?b?r?i?d? ?c?l?a?s?s? ?f?o?r? ?h?i?m?s?e?l?f?,? ?a?n?d? ?f?a?s?t?.? ?H?i?s? ?s?o?u?l? ?a?n?d? ?b?o?d?y? ?w?i?l?l? ?o?n?l?y? ?l?a?s?t? ?f?o?r? ?a? ?f?e?w? ?m?o?r?e? ?m?i?n?u?t?e?s? ?a?t? ?m?o?s?t?.? ?A?n?d? ?t?e?l?l? ?h?i?m? ?t?o? ?b?e? ?g?r?e?e?d?y?.? ?S?a?c?r?i?f?i?c?e? ?a?s? ?m?a?n?y? ?s?k?i?l?l?s? ?a?s? ?p?o?s?s?i?b?l?e?,? ?d?o?e?s?n?'?t? ?m?a?t?t?e?r? ?f?r?o?m? ?w?h?o?m?.?"

  Elly sounds annoyed while speaking with an alien voice, "I?s? ?t?h?a?t? ?r?e?a?l?l?y? ?t?h?e? ?o?n?l?y? ?o?p?t?i?o?n???"

  "T?h?e?r?e? ?i?s? ?n?o? ?a?l?t?e?r?n?a?t?i?v?e?.?"

  She curses finally back in a human voice, "Shit. So, Jared, it says you should create another Hybrid class for yourself. The more skills get sacrificed the better your chances to survive your predicament."

  That's it? I mean, yeah, I gave Lucy a Hybrid class to cure her glitch infection... In hindsight, it is the obvious solution.

  There's just a tiny problem...

  "Great, only one problem with that, I need one more level in the class and I don't see any suitable targets here to get it via [Essence Drain]; you wouldn't work, Elly, it already didn't grant me a level when I hybridized Eclaire and she's a spirit as well."

  "N?o?w? ?I? ?d?o?u?b?t? ?h?e? ?u?n?d?e?r?s?t?a?n?d?s? ?h?o?w? ?t?h?a?t? ?s?k?i?l?l? ?w?o?r?k?s?.?.?.? ?a?n?y? ?o?f? ?h?i?s? ?f?a?m?i?l?i?a?r?s? ?a?r?e? ?a?v?a?i?l?a?b?l?e? ?f?r?o?m? ?h?e?r?e?.? ?I?f? ?h?e? ?d?o?e?s?n?'?t? ?w?a?n?t? ?t?o? ?r?a?n?d?o?m?l?y? ?s?p?r?i?n?g? ?t?h?a?t? ?o?n? ?a?n? ?i?n?n?o?c?e?n?t?,? ?h?e? ?s?h?o?u?l?d? ?c?h?o?o?s?e? ?t?h?e? ?j?e?r?k? ?t?h?a?t? ?k?i?l?l?e?d? ?h?i?s? ?f?r?i?e?n?d? ?t?h?i?s? ?m?o?r?n?i?n?g?.? ?H?e? ?i?s?n?'?t? ?i?n?n?o?c?e?n?t? ?b?y? ?a?n?y? ?m?e?t?r?i?c?.?"

  Elly facepalms, "S?o? ?m?a?n?y? ?q?u?e?s?t?i?o?n?s?.?.?.?"

  "What did it say?"

  "That you should work on your reading comprehension. The skill is seemingly usable on familiars no matter where they are. And our friend suggests you pick-"

  I interrupt her, "What? I don't have to be near them? Let me check."

  Technically, I never went to school in this life, so what do I know about grammar?

  "No idea, shouldn't the touch condition also apply to the familiars? It reads like that to me."

  The glitchy voice reacts once again, "D?o?n?'?t? ?a?s?k? ?m?e?,? ?y?o?u?r? ?l?a?n?g?u?a?g?e? ?i?s? ?s?t?u?p?i?d? ?a?n?d? ?w?e?i?r?d?.?"

  Elly shouts at us, "I don't think that's important right now, you two. We have to act quickly before it is too late!"

  "Why do you even care, Elly? Last time we met, you tried to kill me for fucks sake!"

  She sounds pitiful, "It... isn't that simple. Since then I had time to think, and I've come to regret my decision back then. I wanted to talk to you once I get the opportunity and apologize but..."

  Oh, yeah, sure. Any murder is forgiven because you said "sorry".

  NOT!

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "You can say what you want, but I do not trust you, Elly. Not anymore."

  "Yeah, I understand. Now, please?"

  "...you wanted to tell me who your 'friend' suggested as a target. Who, and why?"

  "T?e?l?l? ?h?i?m? ?t?o? ?o?p?e?n? ?t?h?e? ?m?e?n?u?.? ?I?t?'?l?l? ?b?e? ?q?u?i?c?k?e?r? ?t?o? ?s?h?o?w?.?"

  "It wants to show you, so just open the menu. He shouldn't be able to confirm that choice without your consent. The target is supposedly the killer of whoever died today."

  I open the menu as she asked, "He can scroll through the list but not confirm? Weird set of permissions... And the victim was Darius. Because of that, the barrier broke and I'm now in this situation."

  The voice says something while a bunch of tiny threads appear and flick through the menu, "T?r?u?s?t? ?m?e?,? ?y?o?u? ?h?a?v?e? ?n?o? ?c?h?a?n?c?e? ?o?f? ?e?v?e?r? ?f?i?n?d?i?n?g? ?h?i?m?.? ?H?i?s? ?s?k?i?l?l?s? ?i?n? ?h?i?d?i?n?g? ?e?c?l?i?p?s?e? ?w?h?a?t?e?v?e?r? ?y?o?u? ?c?o?u?l?d? ?d?o? ?t?o? ?t?r?y? ?a?n?d? ?f?i?n?d? ?h?i?m? ?b?y? ?a? ?l?i?g?h?t?y?e?a?r?.?"

  I wait for a translation, but Elly doesn't offer one, "What did it say?"

  "That the target is too good at hiding and you'd have no chance to find him. I don't understand where its confidence comes from."

  "And I don't understand how one of my familiars could ever assassinate Darius in the first place. Aren't they supposed to have a minimum of loyalty forced upon them? Killing me indirectly through Darius' death clearly breaks that."

  "I don't know either..."

  Once the threads are done, the menu reveals a few things: the alleged culprit is called "Dibri" and possesses a bunch of skills that make him seem like the perfect assassin; aside from [Disguise] and [Stealth] I have as well, there are some highlights:

  And to make this even more unfair:

  "I wouldn't be surprised if he belonged to the demons and even had a divine class; these effects look way too powerful for a regular person."

  "Yeah, I agree."

  "C?a?n? ?y?o?u? ?f?i?n?a?l?l?y? ?k?i?l?l? ?h?i?m??? ?Y?o?u?r? ?t?i?m?e? ?i?s? ?r?u?n?n?i?n?g? ?s?h?o?r?t?.?"

  Elly sighs, "It tells you to hurry."

  I know that my time is limited, but I still have to ask, "Do you have any proof?"

  "N?o?t?h?i?n?g? ?t?h?a?t? ?w?o?u?l?d? ?h?o?l?d? ?u?p? ?i?n? ?c?o?u?r?t?.? ?Y?o?u? ?s?i?m?p?l?y? ?h?a?v?e? ?t?o? ?t?a?k?e? ?m?y? ?w?o?r?d? ?f?o?r? ?i?t?.? ?O?r? ?y?o?u? ?c?a?n? ?a?s?k? ?h?i?m? ?y?o?u?r?s?e?l?f?,? ?h?e?'?s? ?r?i?g?h?t? ?b?e?h?i?n?d? ?y?o?u? ?r?e?a?d?y?i?n?g? ?h?i?s? ?d?a?g?g?e?r?.?"

  That felt like a no to me.

  Elly twitches, "No, and you should really hurry."

  "Yeah, yeah."

  ...what am I even doing here? There's no concrete proof that this guy is the culprit, just a flimsy testimony of... a thing that isn't even trustworthy to begin with.

  I really shouldn't play judge, jury, and executioner, especially at the same time, but... it doesn't really matter now. Eventually, all familiars will have to get a Hybrid class anyway, the sooner the better. And someone simply has to be my guinea pig for this remote hybridization. And if circumstantial evidence points to him, who else would be better?

  I begin to take his stealth and death skills and add them to the list of sacrifices, but then one more skill catches my eye:

  Reaper Plague... I've heard that before. Wasn't that the fatal sickness the old lady suffered from, the one Lucy couldn't cure? How the hell is that a function of his skill... does that mean, he's not only behind the murder but also the cause of that illness? Are we just a goddamn test lab for you!?

  So it wasn't just a random illness but an actual bioweapon? You know, you deserve whatever happens to you now. I hope it hurts.

  Sigh

  This still feels wrong, "I don't really have any options here, do I?"

  Angrily, I grab all of his remaining skills and throw them into the metaphorical blender as well.

  Hey, you want to avoid being detected? How about if even reality fails to find you? Let me grant this wish, "Bye."

  Click

  With that, the level of my borked divine class jumps to fifteen allowing me to create a second Hybrid class for myself.

  Suddenly, the pressure from the glitches feels slightly less. Am I just losing my mind or...

  No, the strain is still killing me, I have to get to work ASAP.

  Rumble Rumble

  A sudden quake knocks me off my feet, "What is going on now?"

  "I? ?t?h?i?n?k? ?t?h?e? ?g?u?y? ?j?u?s?t? ?f?o?r?g?o?t? ?h?o?w? ?t?o? ?b?r?e?a?t?h?e? ?a?n?d? ?f?e?l?l? ?o?v?e?r?,? ?t?h?e?n? ?c?r?a?s?h?e?d? ?i?n?t?o? ?y?o?u?.? ?N?o?t?h?i?n?g? ?u?n?e?x?p?e?c?t?e?d? ?a?f?t?e?r? ?w?h?a?t? ?y?o?u?'?v?e? ?j?u?s?t? ?d?o?n?e?.?"

  Elly translates, "Uh, nothing to worry about now. You should be more concerned with yourself now."

  "I guess so..."

  So I have to create another Hybrid class for me, huh...

  It said I have to use the variant with skill sacrifices and I should go for broke. So I must sacrifice the maximum of eight skills, at least two of which must be mine so I can receive the class. But which two of my skills can I give up? I still need all of them...

  Wait, there were two skills without an effect on the previous Hybrid class, I can use those!

  And from where can I steal six more skills?

  I don't really have time to make a proper choice, do I?

  While I'm thinking, the disembodied voice suddenly shouts, "M?a?n?,? ?y?o?u?'?r?e? ?s?l?o?w?.?.?.? ?U?g?h?,? ?i?f? ?y?o?u? ?c?a?n?'?t? ?d?e?c?i?d?e?,? ?I?'?l?l? ?d?o? ?i?t? ?m?y?s?e?l?f?.? ?W?a?t?c?h?.?"

  Before I can protest, the threads are already fiddling with the menu, "Hey, what the hell are you doing!?"

  "M?o?r?o?n?,? ?I? ?t?h?o?u?g?h?t? ?y?o?u?r? ?w?i?l?l? ?t?o? ?l?i?f?e? ?w?a?s? ?s?t?r?o?n?g??? ?W?h?y? ?d?o? ?y?o?u? ?t?h?e?n? ?h?e?s?i?t?a?t?e? ?s?o? ?m?u?c?h?!??? ?T?h?i?s? ?g?o?e?s? ?o?n? ?t?h?e? ?t?r?a?i?n?i?n?g? ?p?l?a?n?,? ?m?a?r?k? ?m?y? ?w?o?r?d?s?!?"

  Elly facepalms, "Yeah, I'm not translating that. Just let it do its thing. It seems to have a plan."

  "Wha-? Hey, I still need that skill!!"

  It throws [Affinity Magic] and [E?x?t?r?a? ?A?f?f?i?n?i?t?y?] from my Silver Wizard class into the blender as well as the Brightflame Sorcerer class that hangs as a skill on my false divine class. Damn, I even felt how it ripped that class out of my soul, that hurt!

  While I recoil from that pain, the threads quickly scroll the list of familiars, past the thousands of citizens of the fortress to the end of the list. There's a small section of five nameless entries. Who are they, why are they there? No clue.

  The threads open one of the nameless entries, and aside from the usual familiar skills, it has only two visible skills: [Absorb Fire] and [Fire Magic Rank 2]. Reminds me of a monster, likely a Fire Elemental. The threads throw all skills except [Familiar] into the list of sacrifices then stop moving around, it seems to be done.

  The voice gets impatient with me, "T?h?e?r?e?,? ?t?h?a?t? ?s?h?o?u?l?d? ?m?a?t?c?h? ?w?h?a?t? ?y?o?u?'?d? ?w?a?n?t?.? ?T?a?k?e? ?i?t?.? ?Y?o?u? ?d?o?n?'?t? ?h?a?v?e? ?m?u?c?h? ?t?i?m?e? ?l?e?f?t?.?"

  I don't understand the words themselves, but the intent is obvious: push the button!

  So my two skills, the class that pretends to be a skill, [Fire Magic], [Absorb Fire], [Sleepless], and [Ageless]. I count seven, not eight, but who knows how the class counts, they tend to have three skills, so doesn't that push us to a total of ten? Ah, forget it, it's not worth the headache.

  I glance over the result but don't read it too closely. The pain is getting too much.

  Too much info to process in this state, but the first seems to be an upgraded form of the [Affinity Magic] skill and the others don't look detrimental, so I don't care about the losses. Not that I'm in the state of mind to choose anything else.

  "You better have some very good answers...", I hit confirm.

  Moments later, I suddenly feel a vast emptiness within me, which then gets filled again. Is that the effect of the Hybrid class? Enlarging the metaphorical soul container?

  Despite the feeling of getting "full" again, the pressure on my body lessens. It feels like the immediate danger is over, so I dare to relax for a moment.