Chapter 24 - He Refused the Perfect Lie
Mason knew it was fake.
That did not make it easier.
His father's voice had been gone for seven years.
The contract recreated everything.
The tired laugh.
The slight rasp.
The way he said son when he was worried.
"Sign," the illusion said. "You don't have to struggle anymore."
Mason almost cried.
Then Thread Sight showed the truth.
The page did not contain his father.
It contained a hook attached to grief.
Mason used Debt-Cutting Palm on himself.
Not on the memory.
On the belief that he owed the dead a different life.
The chain snapped.
The illusion vanished.
Mason stood inside a storm of blank pages.
"My dad would've told me the contract sucked."
The living covenant burned.
[TRIAL TWO COMPLETE.]
[MENTAL ATTRIBUTE UNLOCKED: RESOLVE 16.]
[SKILL: KARMIC APPRAISAL.]
The third trial began before he caught his breath.
The floor opened.
Mason fell into darkness.
He landed in a replica of the Aurora Crown kitchen.
Every person he had ever envied stood around him.
Former classmates.
Managers.
Rich tourists.
Even versions of himself wearing expensive suits.
A voice announced:
[TRIAL THREE: DEFEAT YOUR INFERIOR SELF.]
Mason stared at the copies.
"Which one?"
All of them attacked.
---
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