Ryan got dressed and left the house with Seline, the spirit that followed him everywhere.
Ryan asked, "What are you doing now?"
Seline replied calmly, "Be quiet. Let's find the corpse first, the rest will be easy."
Ryan said, "Alright," and they went together to search for the body, but when they arrived, they found nothing.
Ryan said, "I'm sure it was here."
Seline looked around and said, "What is this place?"
Ryan answered sadly, remembering his mother, "This is a hospital."
Seline said, "The body must be in the morgue. We need to enter."
Ryan replied, "We can't, it's a restricted area."
Seline insisted, "Come on, we have to try."
Ryan entered with Seline. Inside, Ryan found a hospital map stating:
– First floor: Operations
– Second floor: Patients' visitation
– Third floor: Mental care
– Fourth floor: Morgue
Ryan said, "So let's go up to the third floor using the stairs."
Seline asked, "Why don't we go straight to the fourth floor?"
Ryan replied, "Because there will be people standing right in front of the elevator. We need to be careful and take the stairs."
Seline said, "Wow, I didn't think you were that smart."
Ryan rubbed his nose proudly.
When they reached the mental ward, the place was extremely strange—people talking to themselves crazily, others dancing endlessly.
Ryan asked, "Is this how insane people look?"
Seline replied, "Don't bother."
Then they noticed a girl with black hair, black eyes, and brown skin.
Ryan said, "Is she crazy too? She looks normal."
Seline said, "Ignore it."
As they approached her, Ryan's stone suddenly glowed.
Ryan said, "What's happening?"
Seline said, "It seems there's another stone here."
Ryan asked, "Is there a corpse?"
Seline replied, "No, there's no corpse on this floor."
Seline told Ryan, "Focus and sense its location."
Ryan tightened his grip on the stone and closed his eyes. He sensed a violet light nearby.
Ryan said, "I found it. What do I do?"
Seline answered, "Just follow it."
Ryan approached the light and found himself in front of the black-haired girl.
He sat down in front of her and said, "Hello."
The girl screamed, "Make them stop talking! Make them stop!" Then she began crying, "Please…"
Ryan looked at Seline and said, "Maybe the stone made a mistake. Maybe she's just insane."
Seline said, "Impossible. The stone never chooses wrong. Try asking her if she has any jewelry or a special stone."
Ryan tried calming her, "Listen, focus on me. I'm just trying—"
The girl said, "I can't."
Ryan said, "Yes, you can. Let me help you."
She asked, "Really? Can you?"
Ryan replied, "I'll try."
For the first time, the girl saw honesty in Ryan's eyes, so she tried to listen.
He asked, "Do you have any jewelry or a stone with a special color?"
She answered, "No."
Ryan said, "Wait a minute," then noticed an anklet around her foot.
She asked, "Do you mean this?"
Seline said, "It must be that."
Ryan asked, "What is the power of this stone?"
Seline said, "Simple. Touch your stone and say 'Show me your nature.' Then you'll know its type."
Ryan did that, but nothing happened.
Seline said, "It did. Now look at the stone and you'll know."
Ryan asked, "How did you know? I didn't feel anything."
Seline smiled, "That's one of the powers of your stone."
Ryan turned to the girl and said, "What do I do? It seems this stone is causing the voices you hear."
Seline said, "Simply, remove the anklet."
The girl shouted, "No! Stop! I can't remove it!"
Ryan said, "If you want to be cured, you must take it off."
She replied, "I can't. It's precious to me, and even if it meant dying, I won't remove it."
Ryan said, "What do we do now?"
Seline said, "There's another solution, but we need to know if she agrees."
Ryan asked, "What is it?"
Seline said, "She must join you and become your follower. Since your stone is the Stone of Responsibility, you'll be able to control how her stone works."
The girl said, "Okay… how do I do that?"
Ryan said, "Wait, you need to know something first. If something bad happens to you, you'll lose the stone—and it will try to escape from you."
She said, "Fine. Just stop the voices."
Ryan explained, "Bonding is simple. First, put a drop of your blood on my stone. Then wait for a drop of my stone's blood to fall onto yours. Then you'll become my follower."
She said, "Alright," and she let her blood fall onto Ryan's stone.
But she said, "The voices didn't stop!"
Ryan said, "Are you kidding me?! What did you do wrong?"
Seline said, "Why are you angry? Just look at your stone and say: 'Stop working.'"
Ryan did that.
Suddenly, relief lit up her face.
She whispered, "This silence… it's unbelievable…"
A tear fell down her cheek, and she hugged Ryan tightly.
"Thank you…"
After calming down, she asked, "What happened to me? How did you do that?"
Ryan hesitated, "How do I even explain this…"
Seline said, "Don't tire yourself. Tell her to touch something of hers—like her hair—and I'll explain everything like I did with you."
The girl touched her hair, and suddenly she could see Seline.
She said, "The voices stopped… and now I see ghosts? Amazing!"
Suddenly, foam came out of her mouth and she fainted.
Minutes later, she woke up holding Ryan's hand and asked, "Who is this person?"
Seline said, "Let me explain."
He retold everything and explained that she had the Stone of Mind-Reading, which caused the voices in her head.
After she understood, she said, "Alright, now that the noise is gone, I don't care anymore."
Seline said,
"No, you do care.
First, this silence won't last. Your stone is too strong for Ryan to shut down forever. You must learn to use it.
Second, your life is in danger, so you need to protect yourself.
Third, you are now bonded to Ryan, so you must stay with him."
Ryan laughed as she looked disappointed and asked,
"How about we get you out of this place?"
The girl said, "That's not easy. You need influence—like my mother or father."
Seline said, "Perfect. We can solve that if we get to the corpse."
Ryan asked, "How?"
Seline said, "Let's go, I'll explain on the way."
Ryan told the girl, "I'll come back for you soon, before the voices return."
They quietly went up to the fourth floor, but there was a guard in front of the morgue.
Seline said, "I don't know what will happen if a girl follows us saying: 'I'll make you all owe me.'"
A girl entered pretending to be insane, approached the guard, and started shouting nonsense. The guard had no one to help her, so he took her himself to the mental ward.
Ryan said, "She helped us perfectly. Let's find the body."
They opened several corpse drawers until finally they found the right one.
Ryan looked at the corpse, then at Seline, shocked:
"This is you?"
Seline said, "Correct."
Ryan asked, "How did this happen?"
Seline said, "Not your concern."
Ryan asked, "What do I do now?"
Seline said, "Put your hand into the back pocket of the pants. You'll find a card."
Ryan did, but found nothing.
He yelled, "There's nothing! The pocket has a hole!"
Seline said, "Search the body carefully. You might find it somewhere."
Ryan found something at the back of the corpse.
He said, "Ah! Here!"
Seline said, "Good. Put your hand in there."
Ryan asked, "Do what exactly?"
Seline said, "How do you not understand? But hurry, we're running out of time."
Ryan did it, disgust on his face, then pulled out the card.
He said, "Is this it?"
Seline replied, "Yes. Now let's get out of here."
Ryan ran out quickly and promised the girl he'd return for her.
Ryan said, "First, I need to see someone."
He went to his mother's room, sat beside her, and said,
"I miss you, Mom. My life is meaningless without you. Please… wake up."
Seline told him, "Ryan, hold the stone now."
Ryan asked, "Why?"
Seline said, "Just do it, quickly."
Ryan held it, and his eyes glowed gold.
He saw dark energy on his mother's hands and leg.
Ryan asked, "What is this?"
Seline replied, "That is leftover energy from another stone."
Ryan shouted angrily, "So another stone holder did this?!"
Seline said, "I don't think so. It might be dark energy from a Light Stone. They seem to be evil people."
Ryan left the hospital and asked, "What do we do with this card now?"
Seline said, "Aren't you angry?"
Ryan replied, "I am… but being angry won't help. I'll do what I must to get revenge."
Seline said, "Good. Now go to the city's main bank."
Ryan asked, "Why?"
Seline said, "Just follow me."
At the bank, Seline told Ryan,
"Call the bank director and tell him: 'I am Seline's guardian.'"
Ryan did.
The director was shocked and ordered all employees to close the bank and leave.
Minutes later, Ryan stood confused.
Seline said, "Show him the card."
Ryan did.
The director said, "Yes. It's written in the will."
Seline added, "But that's not all. You must do one more thing."
Ryan asked, "What?"
Seline said,
"You wore the yellow underwear I told you to wear, right?"
Ryan said, "Yes… I still don't know why."
Seline said, "Now take off your pants and dance with it. At the end, snap your fingers."
Ryan screamed, "Are you insane?! I won't do that!"
The bank director said, "I'm waiting."
Seline said, "Hurry."
Ryan did it, his face red with embarrassment.
The director finally said,
"Alright. No doubt. You are the heir."
Ryan asked in shock, "What? Seline's heir?"
Seline said, "Yes. His wealth is 800 billion dollars."
Ryan fainted from happiness, shouting, "I'm rich!!"
Seline said,
"Calm down. The money is yours, but you must use it to gather the stones and protect them."
Ryan looked at his watch, "It's late. I need to attend my lecture."
The bank director said, "Here is your bank card. Goodbye."
Ryan took a taxi with Seline.
Ryan asked, "If you're that rich, how have I never heard of you?"
Seline said, "Because it's extremely secret. Not even the bank director knows the full story."
At the university, Ryan found Jamal waiting for him.
Jamal said, "Where were you all morning? I couldn't find you."
Ryan replied, "I had things to do. Let's go to the lecture."
Then Ryan saw the blue stone glowing in Jamal's pocket.
He said loudly,
"Is it possible that this stone belongs to me?"
Seline asked, "Do you recognize him?"
Ryan said loudly to no one visible, and people stared at him,
and Seline hit his forehead saying in frustration:
"You idiot…"
Ryan said, "Quiet. After the lecture we'll search for him and find out."