Chapter 11:

Yuri did nothing particularly special when transporting the crystal — he simply came and left it in a designated corner. Now he had five more such crystals to collect. But given that the process wasn't difficult, and his current capabilities were sufficient — he decided not to rush and to tackle the main task after trying "normal" food again.

And for that he needed to pop home for money. He could, of course, get directly to his home in an instant — however, it had been quite a while since he had walked along a street full of people. Not that Yuri craved social interaction all that strongly, but for the sake of variety he decided to emerge into the normal world through one of the dark alleyways near the office — and take a very short walk.

And obviously that wasn't difficult. So Yuri instantly appeared in the alleyway. Criminals in alleyways? What self-respecting criminal would hang around in an alleyway in the city centre right behind the offices of lawyers and other law-related professionals who definitely had police connections? You'd have to be a complete idiot to operate there specifically.

There were no problems, so exiting the alleyway was equally uneventful. However, the sun blinded Yuri's eyes. In the mirror world — Yuri had decided to call it that, because all objects were as if reflected — the weather was mostly overcast, but the temperature corresponded to mid-spring in the south, which made it quite comfortable for Yuri, who preferred moderate light and exactly that kind of warmth.

What did Yuri experience upon crawling out of his cosy looking-glass? The rays of the sun on his own face — so bright that his eyes needed quite a long time to adjust. The temperature was also higher: it was summer by the calendar, and given that the city Yuri lived in was located in the south — he got to experience a deeply unpleasant heat.

His newly acquired body didn't sweat and could maintain its own optimal temperature, but the sensation itself was irritating nonetheless. Moreover, his dress was black, and the sun's rays made a point of accumulating on it specifically.

And either during the time Yuri had been dead people had gone completely mad — or something else extremely strange had happened — but why had they gathered in such enormous numbers on the street in weather like this?

Wasn't it natural in the heat to try to shelter from the sun, rather than the opposite — to walk straight into it? Had this world gone entirely insane? And why were all the people around him smiling like idiots? Was this mockery? Or were modern sensibilities changing that rapidly?

Yuri didn't understand, but the hellish heat was irritating him more and more. He decided to step into the nearest air-conditioned library — to take a breather.

Having found a suitable building and chosen the quietest corner, he picked up some random piece of classic literature — and given his accumulated fatigue, employed a technique perfected since school days: the art of simulating reading while being absolutely asleep.

The moment he glanced at the text, his brain — corrupted by short social media videos and dopamine-inducing games — instantly switched to sleep mode, and his rabbit ears drooped so low they seemed to disappear entirely. Fortunately, Yuri didn't snore.

=

Although the world contained an enormous number of dangerous anomalies disposed extremely aggressively toward humans — this didn't mean that anomalies favourably inclined toward humanity didn't exist.

The Sun of Benevolence was one of the rare anomalous phenomena that displayed love toward mankind. Every summer it rose in the morning and remained in the sky until sunset, bathing people in rays that blessed them against misfortune.

These rays temporarily granted people a sort of aura that repelled hostilely disposed anomalous phenomena, and also suppressed hostile anomalies caught under the sun's rays — instantly killing them or rendering them combat-incapable.

People under the rays experienced bouts of moderate joy, and the happiness hormone rose in their blood. It was also noted that the sunlight was insufficiently hot to cause people any discomfort — which was why they often strolled out even at the height of the blazing sun.

However, Doctor D was one of those rare people who didn't like the Sun of Benevolence. And for a number of personal reasons connected to his own drawback from exercising his ability — he deeply disliked this time of year, preferring to sit out anywhere at all rather than be near that damned sun.

True to his nature, Doctor D was sitting in his favourite library. It was host to a safe-level anomaly whose essence lay in supplying whatever book the reader was interested in, regardless of genre or time of publication. Its only drawback was a restriction on scientific literature — or to be more specific, it was prohibited from lending it out. Which might disappoint other scientists from the Foundation, but suited the doctor just fine. He came here to read romance novels, not to study anything work-related.

Not that the doctor disliked doing that — but rest was also necessary. Otherwise he would seriously consider desertion.

Right now he was reading a novel with a fairly banal and lengthy title: Please Don't Bully the Incubus of the World's Most Gender-Opposite.

Following the title, it was a novel set in a matriarchy, with an incubus as the protagonist. For the greater part of the plot he was trying to distance himself from the manic women with psychological disorders who were pursuing him. But with each instalment things only got worse, and the female characters grew ever more passionate and lustful.

Of course, this novel was fairly low-grade literature — but everyone has the right to spend their free time however they see fit. And right now Doctor D was drooling over fictional women. Which, broadly speaking, he wasn't the only one doing — quite a lot of people did the same. His only distinction from them was that he preferred words to Chinese 3D models with accompanying sound effects.

One way or another the novel was sufficiently gripping, but his stomach demanded nutrients. So — reluctantly — he had to set it aside and go get a snack. Unfortunately, the consumption of food and drinks was prohibited in the library. Which was perfectly logical, given that books ought to be kept in proper order rather than smeared with greasy hands or, God forbid, soaked with water.

He was already making his way to the exit when, in a far corner on a small sofa, he spotted an extremely attractive girl, engrossed in reading some classic work with a corresponding title. However, her distinctly bright pink hair was cause for concern. One of the key features of ability users was the alteration of one external trait. Be it eyes acquiring unnatural colours, or hair with precisely the same properties — sometimes one even encountered people whose lips had turned black as if from lipstick, or symbols had appeared on their cheeks.

Ability users weren't always eccentric individuals, but their acquired colour often reflected strongly pronounced character traits. And pink was one of the most dubious colours that people generally wanted to encounter — according to the unofficial user ranking.

Why? Well, pink signified tenderness and love — but only at first glance. The most common characteristic of pink-haired individuals was lustfulness, or an extreme degree of a peculiar worldview that more closely resembled incompetence than anything else.

And although the reading girl was extremely calm, peacefully turning pages, and her appearance practically compelled Doctor D to ask for her phone number — paranoia was stronger than the desire for romance. He did, of course, frequently read that sort of literature — but that didn't mean he would prefer such unhinged relationships in reality. And the last thing one should expect from pink-haired ability users was any degree of sanity.

For this reason — and certainly not out of cowardice — he decided to quietly slip away. But the moment he walked past the girl, her eyes snapped open — exactly like in a third-rate horror film. The rabbit ears on her head stood up — and in the very next instant she was right in front of him, pinning him to the wall.

It was a rather provocative pose. But why on earth was Doctor D the one on the receiving end!