Episode 127
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 127
The world spun around me. I clamped a hand over my mouth, swallowing the bile that rose in my throat.
At some point, I must have fallen to my knees. The chill from the cold stone floor seeped deep into my bones. Elysia shook her head frantically.
“No, no…”
This isn’t real. It can’t be. Her trembling hand went to the man’s wrist, then to the spot below his ear. Instead of a beating heart, only an eerie silence remained.
Next, she cupped his deathly pale face. The moment she felt his body heat slowly fading, she collapsed into the pool of blood.
The world blurred, and then the pent-up grief and rage erupted, raining down like fire. Tears fell onto Evan’s face, tracing a path down his cheek before mixing with the blood pooled beneath him.
I can’t think. The moment I try, I feel like I’ll die. Elysia slowly reached out and pulled the sword from the body. With a sickening sound, the blade came free, and the splattering blood soaked her already blood-drenched dress.
She pressed down on the wound, from which blood was gushing. I know it’s useless to try and stop the bleeding now. I also know that miracles don’t happen.
It’s not that I don’t know. How could I not, after seeing so many corpses? It’s just… I know it must hurt. That’s why I’m doing this—this pointless gesture—just because I have to do something, anything, for you.
A thousand emotions screamed inside my head. But the only words that could escape my lips were,
“It’s a lie. No, it’s not true. Please…”
Nothing but endless denial.
A hysterical laugh escaped Elysia’s lips as thick tears streamed down her cheeks. She curled into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably, her breath catching in ragged gasps.
You said you wanted to walk this path with me. You weren’t the only one who felt that way, Senior. I did, too. The me who is with you and the me who is alone are two completely different people. I was curious about the future we could only head towards together.
I could never have imagined it back then. That your absence would shatter my entire world.
Elysia gritted her teeth, replaying every word he had ever said to her.
“With me, it’s okay to make mistakes. If things go wrong, we can fix them. You and I are both people trying to repair what’s broken. There’s no way we can’t do it.”
You died because of my mistake.
“It’s not your fault.”
No, because of me, your future is gone.
“It’s the fault of the one who swung the sword.”
He swung that sword at you because of me. And I was the one who couldn’t stop it. I know I can’t save everyone. But you… I wanted to save you, at least, even if it meant cutting off my own arms and legs and offering them in your place…
With every tear that fell, Evan’s words tore her to shreds. They cut off her arms and shattered her ankles.
And in that moment, one memory among many surfaced.
“So don’t be so certain. You question everything until the very end, don’t you?”
Lifting her dazed face, Elysia staggered to her feet. The world was still spinning, and the pain was so sharp it felt as if the sword she’d pulled from his body was piercing her own, but something was different.
She leaned her swaying body against a cool wall, unable to keep her balance. The chill that met her skin froze her rampaging emotions and awakened her muddled reason.
She closed her eyes. Breathed in, and then out. Her tear-soaked eyes stared, unwavering, at the body of her beloved.
The words that slipped past her trembling lips were his own.
“Don’t be… so certain.”
That’s what you said, Senior.
The words of the one she trusted more than herself thawed her frozen body. Instinct moved faster than reason. Without any clear calculation, her hand acted before her mind could. Trembling fingers placed the monocle over her right eye. The world shifted with a crackle of static.
SYSTEM: Active Skill ‘Observation’ has been activated. (Duration: 15 minutes)
With a vacant expression, she stared at the corpse. It was a gruesome sight she desperately wanted to look away from, but she gritted her teeth and endured.
I can’t let you go like this. I need you. Without you, I might just let everything go. So I’m going to try anything and everything I can. Even if it means destroying all order.
Her frantic gaze swept over the body that was growing colder by the second. There was something she had to check. With a shaking hand, she managed to measure the temperature of the corpse.
SYSTEM: Analysis complete.
Approximately 7 minutes have passed since death.
Estimated time of death is September 26th, 1:50 AM.
Her blood ran cold. With unfocused eyes, Elysia frantically searched her inventory. The same question Evan had once asked, she was now asking herself.
“Is it possible… to bring the dead back to life?”
She hadn’t said it then, but she had thought it. That there was a resurrection potion that could revive a companion NPC if used within ten minutes of their death.
She never thought she would need to use it in <You'll Fall in Love>, nor did she think it would even be possible.
It was a potion from another world. And Evan wasn’t an NPC from <Panic in the City>. So it might not work. But she didn’t have it in her to give up, nor could she accept this situation.
Trembling fingers pulled a small bottle from her inventory.
<Resurrection Potion> Remaining: 2
Item Description: Can resurrect a deceased companion NPC. (Condition: Within 10 minutes of death)
With fingertips that were cold and drained of blood, Elysia managed to open the bottle. She carefully parted his lips, which had begun to stiffen with rigor mortis, and poured the contents inside. As if blocked by an invisible barrier, the potion trickled out of Evan’s mouth.
♥ SYSTEM: This item cannot be used. ♥
Flames ignited in her eyes. She felt like she would suffocate and die from the despair crashing over her like a tidal wave. Gritting her teeth, she muttered blankly.
“No, that’s not… There’s always a loophole.”
Wasn’t my very existence in this world a loophole? Staring down the system window with its cold notification, she pulled another bottle from her inventory. If it doesn’t work, I’ll make it work. If it’s forbidden, I’ll break that taboo until it shatters.
Twisting the cap off, Elysia poured the potion into her own mouth this time. Holding the liquid in her mouth, she leaned down and checked the time. 1:59:36.
Nine minutes and thirty-six seconds since death…
Only twenty-four seconds left to use the potion. There was no time to hesitate.
She pressed her lips against the man who was already dead, determined to bring him back.
She forced the resurrection potion from her mouth into his. Slowly, she moved her tongue, pushing the foreign substance—something he was never meant to receive—into the man’s stiffened body.
Through her vision, blurred and distorted by tears, something flickered in and out of existence. As if sensing its domain had been invaded, the system began to thrash wildly.
♥ error;warning;status unstable. please restart. ♥
♥ ……stabilizing…… ♥
♥ error;data corrupted. please restart. ♥
♥ re?sta@r*$%♥
♥ ?_authorit=&$^%? ♥
♥ error;authority_status_change ♥
Panting, Elysia glanced at the clock. 1:59:47. After transferring the very last drop she held, she pulled away from him.
The system window, which had been flashing with error messages, began to flicker and die out, like a computer that had been powered off. Elysia stared blankly at the sight before lowering her gaze to wait.
“……!”
Elysia clamped a hand over her mouth, her body trembling as she held back a sob. The gruesome wound in the center of his chest was closing. As if time were reversing, the damaged body was slowly being restored.
It should have been a moment of joy, but perhaps it hadn’t sunk in yet; she just felt numb. With an exhausted face, Elysia stared blankly at Evan.
Warmth began to return to his deathly pale skin. His dark eyelashes fluttered and then slowly opened. The green eyes she loved so obsessively, the eyes she would have destroyed the world to get back had she lost them, widened in surprise.
Evan coughed lightly and called her name, his voice dazed.
“Elysia…?”
A heavy, aching pressure filled the emptiness in her chest. Her eyes, wide with disbelief, welled up, and clear drops fell from them.
Elysia gripped his shoulders as if clinging to a life raft to survive. Her heart was pounding so wildly it made her head spin.
“How…”
Evan blinked, belatedly noticing the wetness falling onto his cheek.
Soon, the sound of heart-wrenching sobs began to echo through the empty corridor. The woman who so rarely showed tears was crying like a child.
He quickly sat up and pulled her into his arms, patting her heaving back.
Elysia buried her head in his chest, her face completely soaked. Evan sensed that she had been crying for a very long time.
He needed to comfort her, but he was just as confused. His last memory was of being struck in the back of the head with something heavy. How was he here, perfectly fine…?
In that instant, he knew. Ah, you saved me again.
His lips pressed into a firm line as he hugged the woman’s small, curled back tightly. His fingertips grew numb, as if he couldn’t believe he had died and come back to life.
Suddenly, Elysia snapped her head up, her eyes meeting his. Her face was twisted with rage as she spat out each word in a chilling voice.
“If anything happens to you, Senior, I’ll tear that bastard apart with my own hands. No, I won’t just kill him. I’ll keep him alive as long as possible, inflicting so much pain he’ll beg me to kill him, and then…”
Evan gently brushed his fingertips over her sharp, fiercely glaring eyes, wiping away a tear. Her voice trailed off in a sob as she clutched his arm desperately.
“...And in doing so, I’ll end up destroying my own beliefs with my own hands.”
Her silver-gray eyes, from which tears fell like rain, curved into a bitter smile.
“Because I love you that much…”