|The Truth Seeker| Act Like the Monster You Are

Act Like the Monster You Are

There will be some potential spoilers for The Truth Seeker since I'm using some info/dialogue ZK. Sasi posted on their Instagram that have yet to be shown in the Webtoon. Some parts won't be exactly the same since this is my version of what Ashira's tragic backstory.

Only The Truth Seeker who finds the origin of properties will put an end to the war and bring true peace.

But not everyone wanted to find the origin of properties. Some people just wanted to create or replicate properties. Not everyone was born with a power, so certain groups aimed to artificially give people powers.

Ashira Wattana's earliest memories were of the lab. He had been one of many children orphaned due to the war. A group of scientists had taken them in. They had given the orphans food, water, and shelter.

But it hadn't been out of the goodness of their hearts. They needed test subjects, human test subjects. Children with nowhere to go and no family that would search for them were perfect for the role.

A lot of the scientists were apathetic towards them. They saw the children as nothing more than guinea pigs, just a stepping stone towards success.

But there was one man that Ashira had fond memories of. The man assigned to help Ashira train and use his property, Fenghuang, sympathized with Ashira and the other children, but he was in no position to help them other than being on the gentler side while mentoring Ashira. He even gifted Ashira a bracelet, one that Ashira would treasure forever.

But two other scientists didn't like their interactions. One day, Mosi approached Ashira.

"You're a monster!" Mosi shouted as he began attacking Ashira with his property. "Act like one!"

To the scientists, these children that were successfully given properties were weapons. They were just tools that were being sharpened and polished before eventually being sent on missions. The children were monsters that were to fight on the frontlines of the war and to get rid of any of the organization's enemies.

Ashira's property was enhanced strength and speed, but it had a terrible backlash towards his body. His hands always got damaged and bled after only a few punches. 

Mosi considered Ashira to be a failure compared to the rest of the test subjects. In his eyes, Ashira was a broken tool. Broken tools were to be discarded.

"Mosi, stop!" Fenghuang intervened and managed to separate them. "What are you doing!?"  He looked over to Ashira, who had lost conscious but was fortunately still breathing.

"What's going on here?" Diamant asked.

"Tell me, Diamant, why are we still wasting our time on this failure?" Mosi pointed at Ashira. "He's just a waste of time and resources. That kid is a total lost cause—"

"Mosi!" Fenghuang shouted. "Please, you guys, the kid just needs more time,"

"Fenghuang," Diamant addressed. "Mosi is right. If the kid doesn't show any improvement soon, he'll be culled," Diamant and Mosi began to walk away. "You shouldn't become attached to any of the test subjects,"

'Culled...' Fenghuang thought as he carried Ashira to the med bay. 'They'll kill him. They don't want an imperfect weapon, but they don't want anyone else to get their hands on their hard work,'

He bit his lower lip. 'Even if Ashira improves and they become satisfied by his results, he'll have no freedom here. He'll be a tool, a weapon, a monster. Ashira doesn't deserve this. None of these kids do...There's no way for me to save any of the other kids, but I can save Ashira,'