In the capital city of Esterossa kingdom, Alexander, the 7 Thor Smithy was well known for its exceptional handy work. It's reputation was renowned for its skilled blacksmith and detailed rune crafting.
While it's was known for its motto about quality over quantity, word spreads about something strange keep happening at the smithy.
"The owner was rarely get out from the Smith, that's unusual"
"Usually I saw him In the morning drinking at the Sky-inn, the afternoon he was drunk in front of the smithy, and when the night fell hes drinking at the sky-inn again, but now
Im not sure I saw him for the past couple of days"
The whispers and gossip continued to spread, with some of the citizens speaking about a peculiar detail they had noticed.
"I heard music... Music like none I've ever heard before, coming from inside the smithy. It's kinda strange.. But the music was good I guess? "
It's already been days and rumors about strange noises and eerie glow could also being seen from the blacksmith.
As the rumors spread even further, the other residents of the city added their own observations.
"I heard laughters coming from the smithy. It sounded like there's a lot of people inside, and I swear I could hear the sound of cats meowing too."
"Yeah what's going on really? The other days I also heard dogs and monkey sounds too, like they were playing in the park.. Did Mr. Velskud take a new hobby raising animal zoo or something? "
"No way!! I heard elephant, donkey, and horses! I thought I was dreaming!!! To my curiosity I was trying to take a look from outside of the windows, and surprisingly I didn't found any of them!!"
"You guys heard animal? I heard a man screaming n moaning in ecstasy. Not sure if it's Mr. Velskud voice's or not, what I'm sure is that sound was kindaaaa pretty disturbing..."
"You mean..? Is he doing that? "
"Yes just like you thinking.."
"....."
"....."
".... "
"Should we called the guards?"
"Yess!! "
-------------------
Nero (Mr.Velskud) sat alone on his chair, thinking on how he could do better on the past few months. Depressed.
As a species gifted with exceptional abilities in calculating and gathering information, the words of 'failure' was somewhat a strange concept to him.
His exceptional and brilliant mind couldn't bear the illogical concept of a mere luck. To him, the world was ruled by scientific principles and rational thinking based on facts even if there's a magic involved in that calculations.
"What the hell was going on these past few months? How that chain reactions of absurd events could happened? "
"That time when I was in planet Alboreto... A princess who carried a heavy burden on her name.. With a nation's fate on her shoulders.... Destined With a fate greater by herself.. Died by something like that? "
"Not by a war she fought.. nor by a betrayal..."
"But... That!!?? "
"THAT!!!???"
"An instrument created with a primitive civilization technology design. An instrument i created by chances, A gift to an Android Man Called Johny."
"A primitive 21th century flashdisk with 10 Terabyte storage created by me... Somehow... Ended up within her hands by chances"
"With a millions of chances, it ended up with her? Who have a computer!? There's only couple of few people I given computer to! Only 7 people! "
"Well to be honest... It's fine I guess, who knows what a mere flashdisk possibly could do to other?"
"Theres no way things will go wrongs right?? "
"Right???"
"...."
"..."
"Apparently... Things go South, she saw the explicit content within that flashdisk."
"For 3 days... 3 days or 72 hours..."
"72 Hours.. "
"..."
"..... "
".... "
"After 3 days."
"Please... No matter what... Please destroy my computer " She said.
"On that day.. She passed away with a heart attack, and the last thing she said.. Was that!?"
"WOAAGH WHAT A SURPRISE! "
"That's the first time I saw someone died because of indecent vulgar thing.. "
"A princess... A royalty. "
"I checked the content inside of that flashdisk, trying to figure out, does by any chance do I put some brainwashing apps or dangerous files inside that cursed thing?"
"None... Not at all"
" It's purely because of her. "
At least she was dying with a smile on her face.
At least she was happy for it, and she choose to do so by herself.
"Don't fricking kidding me! That was absurd!"
"I try to made sense of the situation, running calculations and simulations everywhere."
I guess humans indeed are idiot.
Yeah that must be it.
"But... But...."
Yeah that's no way that could happened right?
Yeah no way...
....
....
...
....
Let just forget it.
" After that... I choose to leave that planet... Bla bla bla I got chased by Galaxy interpolice. Then fight there and there. Escaped.. Got stuck in dimensions hyper space."
"Things become dangerous.. "
"Fight with a Dimensional Horror being, more fights..."
In the verge of dying...
"Lose...."
"Escaped... "
"Finally here stranded.. "
" WHAT THE FRICKING JUST HAPPENED!?"
Suddenly.
Nero breath grew more heavy every second when he trying to use his brilliant mind trying to find an answer. Unknowingly his chest also start to feel hurt rapidly and his vision grew increasingly blurry.
As if the world was slowly fading around him, while His thoughts were scattered and burning because his own thought.
"WHAT IS THIS!? "
He felt like he was losing control, being swept away in a raging storm. It was overwhelming, too much to handle.
Nero heart pounded in his chest, each beat feeling like daggers of fear and despair. Sweat formed on his forehead, and he felt the room spinning as the edges of his vision darkened.
The more Nero tried to think, the more his mind seemed to scattered.
Each thought was a jagged shard, piercing deeper into his skull burning fiercely, It wasn't just mental strain... it felt like his brain was being torn apart from within by something relentless.
Memories twisted into nightmares, logic collapsed into chaos. He clutched his head with both hands.
"Stop… S-Stop thingking you IDIOT!!!…" he was screaming between his heavy breaths.
He wasn't just losing control.
He was disappearing inside himself.
Beside him, he saw a miracle pill he was preparing usually for extracting information to sentient life forms.
"PILL IDIOTICRY"
1 pill to made an idiot, 2 pill to made it more idiot, 3 pill just imagine what happened.
These pills might look like a harmless prank, but they are far from it. They were created and used by none other than Nero himself to extract information from high profile targets that are difficult to interrogate. It was an extremely effective drug.
But to a mind like Nero whos one forged in logic, precision, and relentless thought genius thought.. these pills were not just dangerous.
They were an existential threat.
The "Pill Idiotcry" was not some crude toxin, but a calculated weapon designed to dismantle intellect itself. And yet, that was precisely what made it so terrifying to him.
The irony of a genius creating something capable of erasing his own brilliance.
Each pill was calibrated a descent into cognitive ruin.
-One dose could dull the edges of thought.
-Two would unravel reason like thread from a spool.
-Three? He never tested it himself. The data suggested complete mental collapse irreversible, possibly fatal to the self even if the body survived.
And still… he kept them close. A tool for interrogations, yes but also a temptation. In moments like this, when his mind screamed under the weight of its own power, when memories and guilt and calculation tore at him like wolves.
Every part of him wondered and screaming.
Would it be so bad? To stop thinking? To just… not be this anymore? Seriously?
But no.... Even broken, he knew better than to surrender to those pills, The pills weren't salvation for him.
They were suicide in a tablets form.
....
....
....
....
"Fuck it..."
Without hesitation Nero swallowed those pills with a bottle of cold beer.
.....
.....
....
For a moment... Nothing happens.
"Well it's not so bad I guess... "
Then.
A wave crashed behind his eyes. Not pain. Not yet. But absence.
A hollow, howling void where thought had once used to be slowly appeared and devoured the edges of his mind.
Nero staggered, clutching the counter as the world lost its shape. Words and number began to slip.
Calculations and more calculations was no longer visible. colour begins to rise and shape become more simple.
"beer…? pills…? why?"
His breath came fast, shallow not from fear, but instinct, because he no longer understood what fear was for.
He looked at his hands and chuckling to himself.
"Hehehe... Hehehe..... "
"Heheheheheeeee... Hahahhahahahhaha!!! "
This is not a laugh of madness.
Not even a laugh of a geniuses who used to be cunning.
But~
A laugh of a Mr simple.
----------------------------------------------------