When considering things logically, humans are often bound by emotion.
Feelings of lethargy, or mental fatigue—perhaps depression and other negative states—tend to get in the way of productivity.
Objectively, humans could function for twelve straight hours—being productive throughout, as long as they had the sustenance and the barest minimum of rest to keep them going.
Eight hours of sleep, then four hours embedded in chunks between the twelve hours of constant productive work. These four hours would include feeding, excretion, resting, and the likes.
Every day. All day. Humans could achieve so much if they dedicated twelve hours of their time to their task.
But… that is rarely the case with people.
How much smarter would the average student be if they constantly dedicated twelve hours to their studies for the years they spent in school?
But, more often than not… they do not do this.
How much more money would be made by the average man if he chose not to take time off work, or indulge in needless breaks?
They simply can not help this, however.
Because inbuilt within humans is the poison of emotion, that makes it impossible to be productive a hundred percent of the time.
There's always something that interferes with the constant stream of productivity. Positive or negative… they still interfere with the necessary activities.
Students engage in pointless discourse, play games, watch movies, and fret over those they cultivate feelings for.
Workers get burnout and mental fatigue, even if their physical self is in a perfect state, if they monotonously focus over a single task for too long.
These shackles of emotions, especially the more negative aspects, make them overall harmful to productivity.
As such, they ought to be culled.
To make the ideal person—one who would be perfectly aligned to their goals—useless feelings would need to be eliminated.
… Permanently.
****************
"Is that really how you feel, Ater?"
"Like I said, Master… feelings are irrelevant when it comes to this matter."
As Rey stared down on Ater, constantly having his rising feelings being suppressed by the system, he finally loosened his clenched fist and sighed.
"No… you're wrong."
Rey turned away from Ater, but that didn't mean he couldn't see the expression on his face.
"What do you mean by that, Master?"
"My emotions play a key role in how I function." Rey sighed, raising his head as he stared at the ceiling.
It was why he tried his hardest not to rely on [Dead Calm] too much.
"My fear of the future and my anxiety allows me to critically examine everything around me to make what I deem to be the best decision."
It didn't matter that the process would take longer than a more automated version of himself. He would be able to act on what he thought was best after examining all the possibilities presented to him.
That was his preferred method of operation.
"Before I took my first life in this world, I had a long series of deliberations, and then I finally made that choice."
Yes, he used [Dead Calm] to make it easier to kill, but the choice was made before the Skill was activated.
As such, he bore all responsibility for his actions.
"Regret and Pain… my aversion to those allows me to think a lot of my actions through before I engage in them. They also allow me to learn from my mistakes and make better choices."
Whenever his plans went belly-up, he would feel the pain that came with it and prevent such a thing from happening again.
"Losing access to those emotions will make me act without consequence." Rey could already see the signs.
His decision to feed two of his Skills to [Sacrifice] was indeed something he was beginning to regret, but even that emotion was slowly slipping from his grasp.
'Perhaps it would have ultimately been the best decision, and this suppression made me get to it faster, but… I would have thought things through a lot more if I was myself.'
Something about the System controlling his emotions, even without his consent made the whole process seem wrong.
"At some point, I'll stop being myself. My worrying, scared, insecure… but also critical, skeptical, and caring self… they'll be gone."
What would be left could only be described as a machine—a hollow version of himself.
"I don't want that. And I don't think you want that either."
For a moment, Ater remained the same. He didn't say anything, but keenly stared at Rey with glassy eyes and a mask-like expression.
Then, he raised his brows and asked:
"Why do you think that?"
Rey smiled as he heaved a sigh, his dark gaze piercing Ater's crimson one.
"Because I would no longer be the Master you swore loyalty to."
Upon hearing this, Ater quickly broke into a smile and nodded, even going as far as rendering a round of applause to Rey.
"What a splendid answer, Master!" He beamed brightly. "You never cease to impress me!"
"E-eh…?"
Rey's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Ater's surprisingly pleased expression. He expected some other kind of reaction, not this.
"I thought you were on board with the whole emotional suppression…"
"No way. I feel all kinds of emotions, Master! I'm not some kind of heartless Monster. Whenever I cause chaos and calamity… I revel in the satisfaction that brings me."
Once again, Rey was reminded of the kind of entity he was speaking to; a Chaotic Evil Beast.
"Haha… is that so?" He strained a smile.
"O-of course, I derive my greatest sense of fulfillment from serving you, Master!"
Rey nodded, still not removing the forced smile on his face. It almost seemed like he didn't believe Ater.
"So why were you trying to convince me otherwise? Why were you advocating for this suppression as if it's the best option?"
Ater's smile slowly vanished as he adopted a more serious demeanor.
There are two reasons for that. The first and most obvious is that I wanted to test your resolve and make you face the emotions that you are subconsciously trying to avoid."
Ater was no fool.
He had been observing Rey since he fell asleep, and even after he woke up, so he already knew how Rey didn't want to address the tragedies that had befallen the city.
"Your first instinct was to check your Status Window, and to distract yourself with the comfort of your strength. That was not something the System prompted. It was an action you enacted of your own free will." He started.
The System wasn't controlling Rey's actions, but merely regulating his emotions. Yes, some of those actions would be a direct consequence of his emotions—or absence thereof—but certain choices were Rey's burden to bear alone.
"Your decision to use [Sacrifice] is something I didn't know of until you mentioned it, and it indeed points to the flaw of the System's methods. It's something I disagree with wholeheartedly…" Ater's smile returned, and he nodded at Rey.
"Emotions are necessary for growth, Master. They're the catalyst for change. It makes me happy that you recognize that."
The positive feeling that Rey got from Ater's words were, thankfully, not suppressed by the System.
He wanted to say something—perhaps a word of thanks—but before he fully opened his lips, Ater continued speaking.
"The second reason is because I suspected it was probably best for you to see some positive aspects of this Suppression. After all…" Sighing, he stared seriously into Rey's eyes, a sullen expression plaguing his face.
For a moment, tense silence took reign. It didn't last long, though.
"... You can't do anything about your Class Privileges."
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Thanks for reading!
Well, this was a slightly philosophical chapter, and while I'm pretty neutral about the results, I'd like to know what you think about the overall message.
