Behind The Mask

Chapter 26: The Master's Tale

A/N: Happy New Year! Let's hope 2022's a good year — hey, why are the Pigmasks in my bunker? Oh God, they're coming, the Pigmasks are coming! HELP I'M BEING KIDNAPPED —

"PK Love Beta!"

A stream of hexagons fly out of my fingers and straight into the robots, destroying them all in one go.

And yet, it feels exactly the same.

When I arrived back in New Pork after pulling the first Needle, I decided to try this new power of mine. I knew I had it, even though I didn't know what it was.

In hindsight, it seems obvious — a stronger variant of PK Love. For some reason, it never came to mind that there would be higher levels of PK Love. Higher and stronger levels.

Now, I've used PK Thunder enough times to know the difference in strength between each variation of it, and I would expect PK Love to follow a similar pattern.

But it doesn't. Like everything else about this PSI, it deviates from the expected normal. It doesn't feel any different. It doesn't seem more powerful. It looks exactly the same.

I'm sure that shouldn't be the case either — all PSI shows differences at successive levels. It's like... it's as if I'm having difficulty taking it to the next stage. I've noticed it being marginally more effective, but it's like I'm only a slightly more powerful version of the Alpha variant, rather than the actual Beta variant.

Like always, it frustrates me. I'm supposed to be perfect, able to do anything. But once again, PK Love alludes me. It's like I'm back to when I couldn't use it at free will at all.

What's wrong with my mindset? Shouldn't this require the same mindset as before, only with more focus and more power? It's as if the rules have completely changed.

Either way, I must practice and obtain perfection with this. I've done it before, and I'll do it again. Really, it's all I have to do. I would have gone searching for the second Needle, but Fassad already found it. When his surgery finished, he left the Chimera Laboratory and apparently, he detected a large psychic power nearby — which means there's a Needle there.

But apparently, it's also behind some sort of force field surrounding an inner glade of the forest. And the only way to get past that field is through a locked door. And how does one open that door? Well, according to Fassad, it looks like you need to dance in front of it. Dance.

Needless to say, that's one annoyance I'm not keen to experience again, so I told him to blow it up.

Small problem — he couldn't. That door's apparently made of much stronger stuff than that wall was and it simply can't be blown up. We actually have to do the dance. The issue is... none of us can do it.

So here's the strange part — Fassad apparently knows a monkey which happens to know that exact same dance. Who also happens to live in that exact area. So, the Pigmasks at the Chimera Laboratory are working on capturing that monkey, so we can have him dance and open the door.

Because of that, Master Porky thought it would be best if I simply stayed here in New Pork and waited until they found the monkey. I found his suggestion strange, but apparently he wants to talk to me and thought this would be a good chance. I'm due to be at his meeting point shortly though.

I check I have everything before leaving... sword, helmet, transceiver — yes, that last one's important. Somehow, I lost my old transceiver during my visit to Osohe Castle. I must have dropped it accidentally... careless of me. I'm due to receive a call once the monkey has been found, but I hope they've been told to call this transceiver and not my old one.