Requiem of The Godfather: Price of a Memory

Ch 02. KILL THEM ALL

     Eduardo jolted awake. He sucked in oxygen greedily, as if his lungs had just been crushed under concrete. The icy cold of seawater vanished, replaced by the musty scent of old paper, cheap tobacco, and a faint trace of perfume smoke. He was not at the bottom of the sea. He was inside an enormous room, stark white and spotless, yet cluttered with wooden shelves crammed full of absurd antiques.

    

    There was a wall clock whose hands spun backward, bottles filled with pulsing light, even a mummified hand clutching a cigar.

    

    “At last, my useless grandson finally wakes up. I thought you planned to sleep there forever.”

    

    The voice was hoarse, rough, and painfully familiar. Eduardo turned sharply. Behind a rotten wooden cashier’s desk sat an old man in a shabby flannel shirt, thick dark sunglasses, and a crooked flat cap. He was calmly rolling tobacco with his calloused fingers.

    

    Eduardo frowned, squeezing his still foggy mind. “Grandpa? Grandpa Antonio? Weren’t you… weren’t you dead ten years ago? Slipped in the bathroom? What are you doing here? Taking a break from being tortured by angels?”

    

    The old man looked up, staring at Eduardo from behind his sunglasses with open disdain. “Watch your mouth, boy. I was an honorable man and I died honorably. There is no way God would send angels to torture me.”

    

    Then Antonio clicked his tongue irritably as he looked Eduardo over. “But after seeing the condition of my useless grandson, I’m starting to think God really does hate me.”

    

    Eduardo raised both eyebrows. “What’s wrong with me, Grandpa?”

    

    Antonio’s eyes bulged. “What’s wrong with you?”

    

    He immediately looked up at the ceiling, clutching his chest. “Oh Lord, if this is your punishment, I accept it. I accept it. Just give me extra patience to deal with this stubborn grandson of mine.”

    

    “Why are you talking like that?” Eduardo asked, confused, stepping forward. The moment he stood up, the bed he had been lying on vanished.

    

    “Shut up, boy. I gave you a family relic embedded in your blood, something that should have let you conquer the world,” Antonio snapped, scanning Eduardo from head to toe before shaking his head. “Instead, you followed me here in the most humiliating way possible. Thrown into the sea like plastic trash. You’ve completely ruined the family reputation.”

    

    Eduardo walked closer. Strangely, he felt no pain in his body. “Where are we, Grandpa? Hell? Where are the demons? Where’s the fire everyone says is insanely hot?”

    

    “Huh, hell?” The old man laughed derisively until he started coughing. “Even hell would be disgusted to take in a loser like you, Eduardo. This is the Equivalent Exchange Shop. Think of it as a waiting room for losers like you who still have grudges but no guts.”

    

    Eduardo looked around, baffled. “I have guts. And what was that shop called again?”

    

    “Yeah, yeah, you have guts. I’m sure even the devils in the deepest pit would laugh hearing that,” Grandpa Antonio snorted, lighting his cigarette and offering it to Eduardo. Eduardo hesitated, but Antonio glared at him, and in the end he smoked again after quitting for two years.

    

    Antonio exhaled smoke and pointed to a wooden sign above his head. It read: “There Is No Free Lunch, In This World Or The Next.”

    

    “Here’s how it works, my idiot grandson. I am the manifestation of a system embedded in our bloodline. Don’t ask why, Grandpa’s too lazy to explain,” he said, taking another drag.

    

    “A system?” Eduardo echoed, smoking.

    

    “In short, you get a chance to go back. You can become a king, a monster, you can stomp Claude’s head into pulp.”

    

    At the mention of Claude’s name, Eduardo’s rage exploded again. He gripped the edge of the counter. “Send me back now. Claude is taking Emily tonight. I have to save my wife.”

    

    “Patience, you mutt. Don’t cut off an old man when he’s talking. Didn’t your parents teach you manners?” Antonio barked, slamming an empty glass bottle on the desk.

    

    Eduardo swallowed. For some reason, his grandfather’s anger was always terrifying and ridiculous at the same time. “You know my parents never had time for me and…”

    

    Antonio raised his hand, shame flickering across his face. “Listen first. Everything here works on exchange. You want power, you pay. You want your life back, you give something in return.”

    

    Eduardo fell silent. His heart pounded. “Pay with what, Grandpa? I have nothing left. Claude took all my money, my house was seized, my dignity was trampled.”

    

    Antonio smiled, a deeply sly smile. “Money is trash here. What I want is something that makes you human. Memories, emotions, or lifespan. That’s the currency that works here.”

    

    “What do you mean?”

    

    “You really are a stupid grandson.” Antonio pointed at a red bottle on the shelf. “That’s called Bone Breaker. Drink it, and your bone density becomes harder than steel. You can punch through walls. But the price? Maybe you forget how your mother’s cooking tasted. Or you forget the first time you fell in love with your wife.”

    

    Eduardo froze, the cigarette trembling in his fingers. “Damn… that price is insane.”

    

    “The system is fair. Nothing is free in this world,” Antonio replied, staring straight at him.

    

    “So choose. Die as a loser and let your wife and child become shared trophies, or rise and conquer that rotten world with an equal price,” Antonio said, patting Eduardo’s shoulder.

    

    The world seemed to stop. Images of Emily crying in terror and Chloe screaming his name flashed like lightning. Eduardo clenched his fists so tightly his nails cut into his palms.

    

    “To hell with morality,” Eduardo hissed, his voice low and venomous. “I don’t need beautiful childhood memories if I can’t save them today. Take whatever you want, Grandpa. Turn me into a monster or a devil. As long as I can send Claude to the deepest pit of hell.”

    

    Antonio grinned wide, yellowed teeth showing. “Now that’s my grandson. I’m sick of watching you play the good guy and get crushed. Good people belong in graves, Eduardo. In the real world, only bastards survive.”

    

    He reached beneath the counter and pulled out a necklace with a blood-red gemstone pendant that pulsed like a living heart.

    

    “This is your starter artifact. The key to accessing the Equivalent Exchange system. Wear it, and you officially become my slave,” Antonio coughed, realizing his mistake. “I mean, the system’s slave,” he corrected, tossing the necklace.

    

    Eduardo caught it. The stone was hot, unbearably hot.

    

    “When you go back, your body will be reconstructed. You’ll have physical abilities above normal humans, for now. But remember, every time you activate a special skill, the system automatically collects its payment. Don’t complain if one day you forget your dog’s name or forget how to cry,” Antonio warned, suddenly serious.

    

    “I don’t care,” Eduardo said firmly.

    

    “One more thing.” Antonio leaned forward. “The world you’re going back to won’t be the same. Claude is just small fry. Once you step into this world, you’ll attract bigger monsters. Are you ready to lose everything for this power?”

    

    “I already lost everything tonight on that pier,” Eduardo replied, his gaze hollow and terrifying. “All that’s left is a borrowed life for revenge.”

    

    “Good. Now I believe you really are my descendant. Use your blood to activate the system,” Antonio said, handing him an ancient parchment that looked unnaturally thirsty.

    

    Eduardo did not hesitate. He bit his thumb until it bled and pressed it onto the parchment. Instantly, the white room shook violently. Shelves of antiques collapsed and crumbled into dust.

    

    “Your time is up, Eduardo. Your wife is terrified at home,” Antonio shouted amid the shaking. “Welcome back to the world of the living, you cursed grandson. Don’t die again too soon. ONE LAST MESSAGE!”

    

    Eduardo looked at his grandfather, answered by Antonio’s heroic shout.

    

    “KILL THEM ALL!”

    

    Eduardo nodded, smiling coldly as he slipped the necklace around his neck. At once, the red gem flared and sank into the skin of his chest.

    

    “AAARRGGHHH!”

    

    He screamed as searing pain tore through him, like molten iron being forced into his heart. His veins blackened, bulging across his body.

    

    His vision went white. The sound of the backward clock morphed into the roar of crashing waves. The pain in his shattered bones vanished, replaced by explosive energy threatening to burst free.

    

    Emily… hold on. I’m coming.

    

    A transparent notification appeared before his closed eyes.

    

    [BLOOD CONTRACT SUCCESSFUL.]

    [USER: EDUARDO (LEVEL 1).]

    [PASSIVE SKILL ACTIVATED: BONE BREAKER (LV.1).]

    [FIRST PAYMENT SELECTED: CHILDHOOD MEMORY OF A PET.]

    

    ZING!

    

    Something snapped inside Eduardo’s mind. An image of a golden retriever chasing him through a park faded, blurred, then vanished into a dark empty space. He did not feel loss, only a small hole he could not recognize.

    

    Then the darkness shattered.

    

    Eduardo’s eyes flew open beneath the crushing pressure of icy seawater. This time, he did not feel suffocated. He felt powerful. He felt hungry for blood.

    

    The arm that had been broken now felt stronger than ever. He grabbed a pier pillar underwater, and with a single pull, the hardened wood cracked in his grip.

    

    He kicked through the water with inhuman force, rocketing toward the surface like a torpedo meant to destroy anything in its path.

    

    Tonight, the pitiful Eduardo had died. Something else had risen from the ocean floor.

    

    His grandfather’s final words echoed in his ears.

    

    “KILL THEM ALL.”