Episode 125
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 125
“…You crazy bastard.”
“It’ll be me in the future, too.”
“You’re saying you’ll do more?”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Cain’s eyes widened as if in surprise, a smile on his face as he taunted her.
“Elysia Hemming, you act as if you’re disgusted by all this… but the truth is, you love it. The violence, the chaos, and playing the hero in the middle of it all.”
“Shut up.”
“To deny it, haven’t you been chasing me a little too obsessively? Let’s be honest, it’s just us. Deep down, you’re thinking it, aren’t you? That in a peaceful world where nothing ever happens, you’d go insane.”
Smack. The man’s head snapped to the side. Elysia shoved his staggering shoulders, knocking him to the floor, then planted her foot on his stomach and brought the pistol to his face, her expression cold as ice.
He spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and burst into laughter, his hand gripping her ankle.
“You’re getting too sentimental. Is it because of that bastard? Why are you so invested, huh? It’s pathetic.”
“Keep flapping your gums if you want to die.”
“Then kill me.”
The finger resting on the trigger trembled. The warmth of his hand on her ankle was vivid. Feeling that body heat, Elysia gritted her teeth. She couldn’t kill him.
If she gave in to his provocation, she’d be no different from him. With a hollow laugh, she threw the pistol aside and spat a curse through gritted teeth.
I can’t kill him. I must not kill him.
“You…”
After calming her ragged breathing, she continued.
“I don’t care what you went through in the past. I have no intention of taking your side! If your goal was to dig into my old wounds, you succeeded, but I’m not the kind of person who falls for that sort of sob story.”
“My, my. It’s impossible to have a conversation like this.”
In response to her sharp threat, Cain feigned a grumble in a slick, oily voice. Just as she was debating whether to choke him to subdue him, her vision flipped.
In an instant, she was pinned beneath him. As Elysia tried to react, a cool hand covered her eyes. As if by magic, all the strength drained from her body.
♥ SYSTEM: ‘Deep Sleep’ will now commence. ♥
A horrifying fear paralyzed her mind. Even if he had taken over the system, he could do this? As drowsiness washed over her, the man's languid voice scattered like an echo.
“Shall we kill that leech stuck to your side and start this conversation over?”
“You crazy… son of a bitch… Who the hell are you…”
“Who else? The one who made you so weak.”
Her heart began to pound as if it had broken. No, don’t touch him. If you touch him, I’ll kill you without fail. She opened her mouth to unleash a terrifying curse, but the artificial sleep suppressed her.
The way he looked down at her as she struggled against the encroaching slumber, as if she were a precious thing, was disgusting.
“How about you dream of the old days?”
“Get… this off me… you son of a bitch…!”
sys?e!: HP ???? (?,??? / 4,800)
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Through the endless error windows flashing before her eyes, she saw her own past. She was falling into a dream. No, don’t leave me alone. Don’t trap me in this world…
“I hope you’ll despair endlessly in that dream and take it to heart.”
The man’s mellow voice, rising over the sound of her pounding heart, echoed in her ears.
“That the only one you can lean on is me.”
Memories from <Panic in the City> began to swallow her whole. It was the end of consciousness, the beginning of a nightmare.
*
Elysia opened her eyes. The sky of Nightmare City was as gloomy as if it had been painted with cement. The sound of an explosion, gunshots, a scene of carnage… and the things that floated endlessly above it all.
SYSTEM: Do you wish to ‘Logout’? Y | N
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Lying in a disheveled heap on the hood of a boxy, black-and-white police car, she pushed herself up with a groggy expression. As she sat up, the liquor bottles strewn across her body clattered to the ground.
Elysia stared at them with an annoyed expression before rummaging through her pants pocket. She lit a crumpled cigarette with an old-fashioned lighter and blew smoke from her lips.
Inhaling the harsh smoke without a second thought, she let out a habitual curse and glanced around at the pandemonium from the previous night, muttering.
“What a fucking mess.”
She was in the A-14 Sector, one of the most high-crime areas in <Panic in the City>’s Nightmare City. It was past tense because Elysia had torn through the place yesterday.
She jumped down from the car and spotted a baseball bat, broken in half, amidst the crackling flames. A remnant of last night’s battle.
“This was useful. What a waste.”
She kicked it into the fire, then felt someone’s gaze and deliberately stretched. Eight o’clock direction, one man, weapon in hand… a jackknife. How ordinary.
Elysia shrugged once and intentionally turned her back to him. Thinking he’d found his moment, a man shot out from a dark alley, screaming.
“Die!!!”
Elysia dodged the casually swung knife and instantly gripped the man’s wrist. When he refused to let go despite her immense grip strength, she decisively twisted, breaking the bone.
With a sickening crack, the man screamed and staggered. She slammed him against the wall and sneered.
“What’s the point of using a knife if you still can’t beat me?”
“Khh, you crazy—monster—”
As if his words were a signal, enemies poured out from all directions. With an unfazed expression, Elysia pulled a pistol from her Inventory.
Five bullets. Elysia fired all five without hesitation. The metallic scent of blood, the screams, the falling bodies—she watched it all with numb indifference.
She moved to shake off the immediate boredom, to chase a primal pleasure. She swapped the magazine on her thigh for a new one, simultaneously using the empty one she’d removed to smash an opponent in the face.
Just as blood splattered across her pale cheek, a blade grazed her neck. Elysia burst out laughing, clutching her neck as blood trickled down, and murmured in a hollow voice.
“Haa… this is fun.”
Getting hit, shattering someone’s bones with a bullet—it was all astonishingly dull. Because… this was all for fun. That’s what these beings existed for. A buzzing voice surfaced in her mind.
“But are ‘those things’… even human?”
“You tell me, Elysia. Are ‘those things’ human, hmm?”
Dark red blood sloshed beneath her feet. After dispatching the enemies that swarmed her relentlessly, Elysia found herself nodding.
The stench of wounds festering under the scorching sun, the screams of villains—she sank deeper into the nightmare that contained it all, becoming stained by Cain’s whispering sophistry.
That’s right. In a world with no meaning, what does it matter if I do as I please? Whether I kill, burn, or destroy, aren’t I the only one with free will in this world anyway?
But the faint presence of someone else wouldn’t let her go so easily. Busy dealing with the people who lunged at her like the misfortune that had befallen her, Elysia blinked as she recalled someone’s green eyes, crinkling softly as he smiled.
“Keep thinking. If you keep thinking, you’ll eventually come to me.”
A light flickered on in her reason, which had been paralyzed in the swamp-like nightmare. Blink. Her eyelids lifted and fell, again and again.
Huh, but wait… is this a dream?
She thought she’d heard the ticking of a clock. A crack spread across the surface of the nightmare.
*
Evan watched the clock hands move with an anxious expression. As time passed, the atmosphere in the banquet hall grew more festive.
The students, who had at least maintained a semblance of courtesy at first, had now shed their final inhibitions and were enjoying themselves wildly.
The sound of someone laughing loudly, as if they’d spilled a drink, the crash of a dropped plate… He shook his head and spotted Cain entering the hall.
A wave of anxiety washed over him. He grabbed the cheerful-looking man’s shoulder, spun him around, and asked.
“Where’s El?”
Cain stared at Evan as if sizing him up, then shrugged and retorted.
“Why are you looking for your lover from me?”
“Tell me. Now.”
“Why are you so anxious? Afraid she’ll be stolen away?”
Anger flickered in the green eyes that were usually filled with kindness. Cain smirked and slapped away Evan’s hand, which was gripping him tightly, then patted his shoulder playfully.
“It was a joke. Why don’t you relax a little?”
“Covet what’s within your station, Cain Ror.”
Cain, who had been about to walk away, froze. His face, unable to hide its fury, forced a smile. His lips parted to say something, trembled a few times, and then closed.
The platinum-blonde man brushed past him with a cold expression. Evan checked the clock, his face frigid. 1:14.
*
In a large, separate lounge, the student council members, gathered in small groups, greeted Cain warmly. Accepting a glass of champagne and taking a light sip, Cain asked.
“Where’s Edgar?”
“Who’s that… Ah, that gloomy kid? He’s probably alone. He always is.”
“Anyway, I didn’t know you knew him, Senior. Are you looking for him so you can kick him out and bring in Evan Sylvester?”
The students burst into contemptuous laughter and chattered away. A faint smile played on Cain’s lips.
Lifting his head, Cain met the eyes of Edgar, who was standing stock-still by the curtains, unnoticed by the drunken students. Mouthing the words, he asked.
Did you hear that?
Edgar, who had been trembling with his fists clenched, bolted from the lounge. Cain stared at the clock with a bored expression. 1:23.