"Listen to me, J." I said to Arkham's favorite patient. "If you do anything to me or to those around me... I'll become boring."
"And you'll cease to exist for me. I'll erase you from my memories, and I'll never remember you again. You won't be able to play with me anymore, surprise me, or joke about me. I won't kill you or chase you. There are worse things than that, aren't there? To be ignored, unnoticed, boring... And all of that will await you if you do something truly stupid towards me"
Right now, I've entered a war of words. I need to dot the do's and the dont's before the Joker gets any ideas about playing with me like he did with his eternal enemy Batman.
He might try to drive me crazy, spitting on all moral standards. After all, they mean nothing to him anyway. Unlike the Dark Knight, I am a public figure. My life is in the palm of my hand, and I cannot allow misfortune to happen to the people close to me.
[A/N: For anyone who doesn't understand what "My life is in my palm" here means, it is just basically saying that his life is open for all to see.]
It is too early for them to enter into such conflicts, at least until I find a way to make everyone stronger. The usual threats will not calm the Joker down, rather, on the contrary, it will only provoke him even more. But threats can be completely different. What is Gotham's main joker afraid of most? That his jokes will be ignored, that he will stop being noticed, that he will become commonplace for everyone.
This is exactly what I focused on, and now I am going to reap the benefits. I sincerely hope that I managed to fence the Joker off from my personal life at least for a while. How many times have I caught myself thinking that I do not have enough time. Just a little, a little more time…..
"HahahaHehHaaha, Alex, why are you so serious? Your face is darker than Bats's, and that's not a good sign, believe me," the clown laughed cheerfully.
"Yes, forgive me, I don't know what came over me all of a sudden."
"I must confess to you, my dear friend," the Joker switched to a whisper. "If someone else had said this, I wouldn't have believed them. But since you're the one saying it... I can't help but believe you. After all, I know that you never lie. You can't stand lies, that's what you told me. Heh, you can consider me a liar, but your words sent a chill down my spine, hahaha! There's no way I can lose the trust of my idol. God forbid, if you lose your inspiration and I no longer read your wonderful little books. I'm afraid I won't survive such a tragedy, Haha-he."
My small victory... Maybe I should organize a celebration, after all, I managed to convince the Joker not to harm me and my surroundings. But for some reason, I don't want to do that at all. Knowing the fickle nature of the villain, he may not remember his words tomorrow and act to please his mood.
Well, we are powerless against this, and therefore the only hope for preventing accidents remains my intuition. Which, by the way, after meeting Delirium became only stronger. And this fact could not help but please me.
After all, intuition is almost my main lifeline in this cruel world of heroes and villains. After talking with the Joker a little more, I finally left his ward.
Outside the door, a worried Bordeaux was waiting for me, her face expressing the same anxiety that had appeared before I entered the cell. Of course, I am very impressed that the girl is so worried about my safety, but when you remember that she is your bodyguard, the impressions fade considerably.
I sincerely hope that in the future she will worry about me not as a client, but as a friend. But at the moment we have only known each other for two days, what else can I expect.
"Look, I returned to you safe and sound."
"I am happy for you... I must admit, you surprised me when you so fearlessly stepped forward to meet the most insane psychopath in Gotham. Perhaps those articles were not lying about your heroism, as I initially thought," the security guard said, returning to her previous imperturbable face.
"Wait, you doubted me?" I looked at the girl indignantly.
"Maybe just a little," she gave me a sly look. Yeah, and what can I say? Okay, time to meet another insane patient of Arkham. But first, I have some unfinished business.
Today, along with a new achievement, the system rewarded me with an increase in intelligence by 5 units, as well as 5 free attribute points. Without a second thought, I entered all five points into the same intelligence.
After all, this is the only attribute that I cannot increase on my own. Well, except for charisma, which I also have no idea how to increase.
Passive: Player's Mind
Achievements: "Batman's Apprentice", "Harem King", "Sage"]
I could instantly feel the changes in the flow of thoughts. In the past, when I broke the 40-unit mark, I could divide my consciousness into two completely independent parts. Now, when my intelligence has exceeded 50, I could divide it into one more part.
Now my thoughts could move in three different directions, without interfering or interacting with each other. This opens up many opportunities for me... Also, the key change in status was the addition of a new characteristic - Wisdom.
I never expected that it would be the highest for me, as much as 105 units. This is my only three-digit parameter. If you think about it, such a high value of wisdom is quite justified. After all, this characteristic is primarily responsible for my knowledge regarding the devices and secrets of the Universe. Even though I have not studied the internal structure of the Universe, I have a wealth of information about this world.
I have read comics, watched films, TV series, cartoons, animated films. I know how this Universe was born, I have seen the supreme God of both Multiverses, known as the Presence and the TOAA, even if only on graphic pages. I know about the existence of all the powerful beings hidden deep from prying eyes.
I think all this has influenced such a high Wisdom rating. If I want to raise it further, I will have to see the entire immensity of the Universe with my own eyes. After all, I was given three points just for taking a quick look at Delirium . If I were lucky enough to see the rest of her family, this characteristic would instantly rise up. Although... I will try to not see them.
There is no point in disturbing such busy individuals. Let them continue to work, not paying attention to such an insignificant character as me. Although, perhaps in the distant future, this will come back to haunt them. Who knows...
Thank you all for reading, hope you all enjoyed it.
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You all can read extra chapters on [email protected]/annihilator009