Common Sense Manipulation App-Chapter 64 - Pride

Karl’s grip on his phone tightened. His pulse roared in his ears, drowning out even the sound of the rain outside. Chillie Jean’s words slithered into his mind like a poisonous whisper, wrapping around his thoughts, warping them, shaping them into something dark and unrecognizable.

Record everything.

Make him watch.

Make him suffer.

Karl exhaled through his nose, his breath coming out slow, measured. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to do something. Anything. But this... this was dangerous. This wasn’t just revenge. This was a different level of cruelty.

His thumb hovered over the screen. The Common Sense Manipulation App flickered in the dim light of his apartment, waiting for its master’s command.

Chillie Jean’s voice hummed through the speaker again, her tone dripping with amusement.

"Oh my, what’s wrong? Second thoughts? Don’t tell me you’re suddenly growing a conscience, Karl~"

Karl clenched his jaw. "Shut up."

"Ooooh~" She giggled. "So cold. So decisive. I love it when you get like this."

Karl didn’t answer. His mind was already working, running through every possibility, every scenario. Killing Eric was an option—but it was too easy. Too simple. If he just erased him from existence, there would be no satisfaction. No real justice.

He needed something worse.

And then... the bell rang.

Ding-dong.

Karl stiffened.

He turned his head toward the door. Through the peephole, he saw a familiar figure standing outside.

Lina.

She looked drenched, her hair clinging to her pale face, her eyes wide with distress. Even through the small fisheye lens, Karl could see the way she trembled.

He shut his phone screen off and took a deep breath before unlocking the door.

As soon as it opened, Lina practically stumbled inside. Her clothes were soaked through, and her shoulders heaved as if she had been crying for hours.

She didn’t even greet him.

She just looked up, her lip trembling. "Karl... I—"

And then she broke down.

Tears streamed down her face, and without warning, she grabbed onto Karl’s jacket, clutching the fabric like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

"He sent me pictures," she choked out between sobs. "He—he sent me a picture of my little sister, Karl. She’s still in middle school. He said if I don’t ’listen’ to him... he’s going to make her take my place."

Karl felt something inside him snap.

Not break—snap.

His hands curled into fists at his sides, nails digging into his palms until they almost broke skin. He didn’t speak. He just... breathed.

Inhale. Exhale.

Chillie Jean’s words echoed in his head.

Make him watch. Make him suffer.

Karl pulled Lina gently away and guided her to his couch. He kneeled in front of her, looking into her tear-stained face. "Lina," he said, his voice eerily calm. "Tell me everything. Word for word. What exactly did he say?"

Lina sniffled, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie. "H-He sent me a message. Said that if I didn’t come to him tonight, he’d... he’d take her instead. And then... and then he sent a picture."

Her voice broke on the last word, and Karl could see the raw terror in her eyes.

He had seen a lot of things. Dealt with a lot of filth. But this? This was something else entirely.

Eric Langley wasn’t just a predator.

He was a disease.

And Karl was about to become the cure.

His fingers flexed as he pulled out his phone again. He didn’t even hesitate this time.

He opened the Common Sense Manipulation App and began typing.

New Rule:

"Eric Langley believes that he is being hunted. He believes that his past victims’ spirits are watching him, whispering to him, driving him to madness. He cannot sleep, he cannot eat, he cannot find peace—only fear."

His finger hovered over the START button.

But then he stopped.

No.

This wasn’t enough.

Eric needed more than just fear.

Karl deleted the text. He needed something more... personal.

And then he typed:

New Rule:

"Eric Langley believes that his beloved Isabelle has already fallen into another man’s arms. He is convinced—completely, utterly convinced—that she has been stolen from him, corrupted, tainted, and that there is nothing he can do to undo it. The thought of it consumes him. It breaks him. It tears him apart from the inside out."

Karl stared at the words on the screen. His breathing was slow, steady.

And then—

START.

A pulse of unseen energy rippled through the air.

Somewhere, in the depths of the city, Eric Langley was about to wake up to hell.

Karl’s lips curled into a slow, cruel smile.

Lina was still crying, unaware of what had just happened. Unaware of the psychological torment Karl had just unleashed upon the man who had tormented her.

For the first time in a long, long while, Karl felt a strange sense of peace.

And yet, at the same time—

A voice in the back of his mind whispered.

A voice that sounded an awful lot like Chillie Jean’s.

"You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?"

Karl didn’t answer.

Because deep down, he already knew the truth.

Yes.

Yes, he was.

Lina’s small, trembling arms wrapped around Karl’s torso. Her body was warm—too warm, even through the soaked hoodie clinging to her frame. The scent of rain mixed with something sweet—faint traces of perfume, maybe, or just the natural scent of her skin.

Karl stiffened.

His mind was already a mess, a storm of rage, calculation, and dark satisfaction from what he had just done to Eric Langley. But now—now there was something else creeping in.

Heat.

A disgusting, unwelcome heat pooling in his gut.

It wasn’t the first time Karl had been in close contact with a woman, but this was different. He had always been in control, always playing a role, keeping his emotions detached. But Lina wasn’t some random hookup. She wasn’t a conquest or a game.

She was vulnerable.

And Karl... Karl was still a man.

His fingers twitched as her body pressed closer. Her sobs were muffled against his chest, her breath warm against his skin even through his shirt.

Fuck.

His jaw tightened. His body was reacting in ways it shouldn’t. This wasn’t the time. This wasn’t the place. But his blood was already rushing somewhere it shouldn’t, his thoughts slipping into something darker, messier.

No. No. Focus.

Karl swallowed hard, trying to suppress it, trying to keep his hands steady as they hovered awkwardly near her back. He forced himself to think about other things—Eric’s disgusting words, the torment he was about to suffer, the ugly bastard’s face twisting in paranoia and agony.

It helped. A little.

But then—

"I-I’m sorry," Lina murmured against his chest, her fingers gripping the fabric of his jacket. "I shouldn’t have come here. I—I shouldn’t drag you into this."

Karl exhaled sharply, trying to focus. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Lina pulled back slightly, just enough to look up at him. Her eyes were still wet, but there was something else in them now—guilt.

"This isn’t your problem," she whispered. "You’re just... you’re just a guy working at a fast-food place, Karl. This—this is too much. It’s dangerous."

Karl’s eye twitched.

Something about the way she said it—about the way she looked at him—set off something ugly inside him.

Just a guy working at a fast-food place.

Too much for you.

He knew she wasn’t trying to insult him. Knew she wasn’t intentionally looking down on him. But fuck, did it feel like that.

Like he was lesser. Like she thought he was weak.

Like she thought he was nothing compared to that fat, disgusting bastard who had been controlling her life.

Karl clenched his jaw, his arms dropping to his sides. His fingers twitched, itching for something—violence, control, anything to prove her wrong.

"...Right." His voice came out flat, almost emotionless. "I’m just some fast-food worker. I should stay out of it."

Lina flinched, realizing too late how her words had come out. "No, I—I didn’t mean it like that, I just—"

Karl gave a sharp, humorless chuckle. "No, I get it."

Lina shook her head, her hands still gripping his jacket. "Karl, that’s not—"

He exhaled, running a hand through his damp hair. His body was still tense, still wrong. Not just from the lingering heat in his blood, but from something deeper.

Something ugly.

Something that hated the idea of being seen as weaker than him.

Eric fucking Langley.

That thing got to control women, got to instill fear, got to be a monster that no one could touch. And Karl? Karl was just some minimum-wage worker trying to play hero.

The thought made his skin crawl.

It made his blood boil.

Lina was still looking at him, guilt and worry mixed in her expression. "Karl, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean—"

"Doesn’t matter," Karl cut her off, his voice sharper than he intended. He needed to get his head straight. Needed space. "You should go home. Lock your doors. Don’t answer any calls from unknown numbers."

Lina hesitated, chewing on her lip. "...You’re mad at me."

Karl exhaled through his nose. "No."

It wasn’t her he was mad at.

It was himself.

For feeling weak.

For reacting like this.

For being turned on by a girl crying into his chest like some fucking animal.

Lina looked like she wanted to argue, but eventually, she just sighed, stepping back toward the door. "...Okay."

Karl didn’t move, didn’t say anything as she hesitated for a moment longer before finally leaving.

The door clicked shut.

Silence.

Karl let out a long breath, dragging a hand down his face.

His body was still burning.

His mind was still a mess.

And now, worse than ever—he needed to do something.

Something to remind himself that he was in control. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Something to remind himself that he wasn’t just a fucking fast-food worker.

His gaze flickered back to his phone.

Back to the Common Sense Manipulation App.

Slowly, his lips curled into a humorless smirk.

Fine. If they all saw him as just some guy working a dead-end job...

He’d show them what that "guy" was truly capable of.

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