Arknights: How Did I Actually Become the Doctor? — Chapter 13

Chapter 13: A Strong Flavor of MelodramaYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

Have you ever researched the concept of an Original Character? It is all about designing a two-dimensional persona from scratch to perfectly match your own degenerate preferences.

Right now, that useless internet skill was paying massive dividends. The carefully crafted backstory you just spun, filled to the brim with nothing but pure, unadulterated angst, was no longer being mocked as the ramblings of an edgelord. Instead, the people around you were listening with rapt attention and empathizing deeply.

You had vividly described a mother who died young before you could join the Reunion Movement, an abusive alcoholic father, your own tragic fate of having your hair turn white overnight due to horrific laboratory experiments, and a best friend who died with a smile on his face to save you. By the time you finished, every single Reunion soldier in the vicinity was moved to tears.

A gaunt operative, dead drunk and reeking of cheap alcohol, leaned heavily against your shoulder. “Brother, I get it. I get it all. I knew you would understand too. I once had a best friend as loyal as Hypergryph… he was buried forever in the freezing snowfields of Ursus…”

‘I don’t understand jack shit.’

You peeled the weeping man off your shoulder with a subtle, strained expression. You immediately had to duck to dodge a burly Infected fellow who was aggressively sharing his own gruesome experiences as a test subject, loudly demanding to know exactly which underground lab you had escaped from.

There was simply too much suffering on this blighted land. Even a fabricated backstory as absurdly tragic as yours did not feel out of place here in the slightest.

“Here, little sister, try this.” You casually picked up a skewer of charcoal-grilled Originium Slug from the nearby fire and handed it to Rosmontis.

Seeing the little feline girl’s eyes welling up with genuine tears over your tragic tale, you quickly lowered your head and whispered directly into her ear. “I made it all up. Wait for me here for a bit.”

Unable to comprehend the sheer sinister nature of adults, Rosmontis was completely shell-shocked. She stood there holding the roasted Originium Slug skewer blankly, her young mind going entirely numb.

You turned back to the crowd. With eyes radiating three parts desolation, three parts unyielding determination, and four parts deep love for the world, you bared your heart to this group of half-drunk Reunion soldiers. “Lord Mephisto has entrusted me with a secret mission, and he told me to report on time. Does any brother here know how to contact him?”

The surrounding Reunion members instantly displayed looks of deep sympathy and pity. Who among them did not know the staggeringly high mortality rate for anyone working under that moody, sadistic lord? Misfortune truly always struck the most vulnerable.

Seeing your frail, white-haired figure walk toward the communications room without looking back, a few highly emotional men even wanted to charge in and face Mephisto’s oppression alongside you. They had to be physically held back by their weeping companions.

A sniper took another heavy swig of booze and sighed sorrowfully into the night. “He is so kind and fragile. He must have been brutally coerced by Lord Mephisto.”

Inside the dimly lit communications room, the screen flickered to life.

“Mephisto, you really want to know how Faust is doing at Rhodes Island, don’t you?”

You let out a low, sinister cackle, thoroughly enjoying the panicked expression of the white-haired boy on the other side of the monitor.

“You… what are you going to do to Faust!”

“What I am going to do to him depends entirely on whether you are… o-be-di-ent.” You flashed him a thoroughly wicked smile, practically projecting a smug, sinister rabbit meme through the screen.

Mephisto’s eyes instantly reddened. Looking exactly like a truly weak, helpless, and pitiful Liberi child, he subconsciously clutched his chest. “…You, what do you mean?”and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

Ever since he received the news that Faust had lost contact, he had barely slept a wink, worrying about his companion to the point of absolute madness. On the surface, Rhodes Island was a pharmaceutical company with a decent humanitarian reputation, but the command style of that terrifying hooded person on the other side of the screen was far too inhumane. Faust would not be used as a disposable pawn by him, would he?

If Talulah had not given him a strict martial warning and essentially grounded him to his quarters, you would have already seen a frantic white-haired boy trying to strike a stone with an egg on your way back.

“I have heard about many interesting interrogation methods from those refugees, all of which you have personally used on them. Do you want to hear about them?” You started spouting absolute nonsense the moment you opened your mouth, leaning closer to the camera. “That cute little Fidia did not say a single word on the way to our holding cells. He was so desperately afraid his brother would be in danger. What a truly touching bond.”

Mephisto’s nails dug so deeply into his own palms that trickles of dark blood began to seep out. “…Enough. What do you need me to do?” Hatred and deep paranoia filled his bloodshot eyes. “Do not hurt him anymore. I will do anything.”

‘Hey, hey, hey, how does this make it look like I am the villain here?’You complained internally.’Why are you acting so humiliated and victimized, Mephisto? Did you not already throw away your bottom line ages ago?’

Mephisto remained dead silent, just staring fixedly at the white-haired figure on the screen who smiled as if total victory was already in hand. The Doctor seemed to be constricted by the low-quality Reunion Movement uniform and uncomfortably loosened his collar again, a gesture of pure nonchalance.

“Obedient little bird. I will be contacting you frequently in the future. As for now…” Your tone dropped its playful edge, becoming cold and commanding. “Mobilize all your connections to move up the Reunion Movement’s frontal assault. Do not even think about playing any tricks. I mean exactly what I say. Take the original plan, and attack early.”

The communication was abruptly cut off, leaving a black screen. It was as if the person on the other side did not care in the slightest whether the notoriously cruel Mephisto could be so easily manipulated.

‘Bastard!’

Mephisto gritted his teeth hatefully, the sound loud in his empty room, but his trembling hand still picked up the local communicator. “Talulah, yes, it is me. I am applying for an early assault…”

He switched channels. “Yeti Squadron, attack early. This is not a discussion. We have nothing to talk about this time…”

He switched again. “Skullshatterer, I agree to the last deal we discussed, but the conditions have to change…”

Faust was his other half, his brother, and the absolute last person he cared about in this miserable world. He simply could not afford to gamble with his life.

That so-called Doctor from Rhodes Island, who acted like a terrifying monster capable of seeing straight through people’s hearts, was banking on exactly that weakness. He was arrogantly confident, but as it happened, he had never been wrong.

Back in the shadowy corridors of the camp, you stopped walking. “Miss Crownslayer, you have followed me all this way. Are you not going to show yourself?”

The lithe figure of the red-haired assassin slowly stepped out from the dense shadows, her expression unreadable. “When did you know I was following you?”

You spread your hands and tilted your head in a shamelessly casual manner. “I guessed. Anyway, Miss Crownslayer, you will not turn on me, will you?”

After all, if you had guessed wrong and spoken to thin air, no one would have been there to see you embarrass yourself.

Crownslayer’s fingers, resting lightly on the hilt of her short sword, tightened subconsciously. “That is not necessarily true.”You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.