"I am to get a lobotomy if I fail this mission?! What the hell?!" Benjamin complained, panic and confusion depicted on his countenance.
Benjamin was an eighteen-year-old high school senior, so he definitely knew what it meant to be lobotomized and that was the last thing he wanted.
He wanted the punishment to be something less severe. Unfortunately, having read so many system-based novels, he knew just how strict and unbending the punishment for failing a mission was and there was nothing he could say or do to change what awaited him the moment the countdown timer hit zero, and he hadn't completed the mission.
Speaking of the countdown timers…
Benjamin's vision quickly shifted to the minimized display at the right corner of his field of vision and his heart pounded with each second that subtracted from it.
Quickly, he became serious.
"Escape captivity, huh? I have to get out of here no matter what, but how on earth do I manage to do that?" Benjamin asked himself as he looked around, trying to ascertain his options— which, sadly, weren't looking good.
He was in the most open and busiest part of the police station—the holding cell within the station's office space. Police officers were everywhere he looked, and as a result, his every move was being monitored.
There was absolutely no way he was going to escape captivity in that climate and the system was messed up for giving him only five hours to do so.
"Should I wait for Mum to come bail me out?" Benjamin asked himself, but then he thought about it some more.
"Does she even have the money to do that after what happened at the house? Everything that used to be ours has been stolen by those bastards, so is there anything left that can be spared for my sake?" Benjamin asked himself and was left with only one answer.
No!
He shouldn't be expecting any help from his sick mother as she was in no position to help him at the moment.
Lucia started sharing bank accounts with Jerry after marrying him, so it was safe to assume that he had already blocked her from accessing them before the showcase earlier, which led to Benjamin's arrest. The only money Lucia should have at the moment was most likely whatever she had in cash, which most certainly wasn't enough to bail him out.
Now, she could borrow from someone, but did Benjamin really want that? After everything she had been through?
The answer was no. He didn't want to add to her burdens as she already had his sister to worry about while also being heartbroken by Jerry's betrayal.
If Benjamin wanted freedom, he had to obtain it himself. He needed a clear mind to figure out how, but the countdown timer wasn't helping—it only pushed him deeper into panic.
Thankfully, Benjamin wasn't one to crumble under pressure. In fact, he thrived in it.
Just then, Benjamin snapped his finger as an idea came to mind.
"Hey system" he called.
"Yes, Axel Blade?"
"Show me my skills again," Benjamin asked, and a display different from the countdown timer appeared in the center of his field of vision.
The displays were translucent so he could look through them and see whatever was behind— not that it mattered at the moment.
Benjamin placed his hand on his chin and he focused on his three available skills, wondering how they would serve him at that current moment.
"If I were in a more concealed environment and not center stage for all the officers this police station had to offer, I could have used the Tutorial skill to show me how to pick the lock and walk out of here without— No, that wouldn't work." Benjamin shook his head. "All the officers saw me get locked up, so they'd notice immediately and start asking questions if they saw me walking out like a free man. That would reveal the truth—that I freed myself—and land me right back in a cell. However, this time, I'd be under heavier surveillance, and my chances of escaping captivity would drop to zero, making me fail the mission and get lobotomized."
Benjamin felt a chill run down his body at the thought of being lobotomized.
"The Tutorial Skill is a no-go which just leaves the other two". Benjamin looked at the remaining two skills he had and he gulped.
He looked at the countdown timer again and saw that three minutes had been lost since the start of the mission.
"I don't have time to waste coming up with different solutions. I'll just let the system do it for me", Benjamin said, then called the system.
"Yes, Axel Blade?"
"Activate Search skill," Jeremiah said, and his search skill was selected.
Immediately, the display changed to resemble a search engine.
Jeremiah looked stumped for a moment— surprised that the search skill looked so simple, or more accurately, mundane.
It was like staring at the Google homepage, and he liked it because it didn't seem complex to use.
There was an empty box for him to input whatever he wanted to search for and then the search icon on the right.
"How do I use this?" He asked the system, wanting to make sure what he thought was the way it worked.
"Just communicate what you want to search for in the box and hit the search icon"
"Hit the search icon? As in physically?" Benjamin asked, surprised he could actually touch any part of the display which had been intangible ever since he got the system.
It looked like being able to touch the display was something specific to the Search Skill, because it seemed like the rest of the display, besides the search icon, was still intangible.
"Okay," Benjamin said, then communicated what he wanted to search for.
"How can I get out of this holding cell without being thrown back in for trying to escape?" He said and exactly that appeared in the search box, ready to be searched.
Benjamin stretched his finger to the search icon to press it.
Meanwhile, the officer whose desk was directly in front of the holding cell—and who had been watching Benjamin talk to himself for the past few minutes—slowly looked at the officer sitting a few feet to her left, who had also been watching Benjamin act like a crazy person.
"Schizophrenia maybe?" The female officer whispered to the other officer.
"It looks like Winston and Brook brought in a psycho", the other officer replied as he gestured that Benjamin was insane. Then they both returned their gaze to Benjamin, who was pointing the air in front of him.
Unbeknownst to them, Benjamin had just pressed the search icon and his system was currently finding ways to get him freed from his cell.
A few seconds later, his answer arrived.
Jeremiah stared at the display and his expression changed to one of displeasure as he read the answer he had been given.
[Use the Instruct Skill to force your ears to listen to the Police Captain's office]
"The Instruct Skill? You mean the one that has consequences if I use it for anything beyond my limit? You've got to be kidding me!" Benjamin frowned, worried about the consequences he would suffer if he followed the system's guidance.