Episode 19
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 19
An old nightmare visited her.
SYSTEM: Would you like to ‘Logout’? Y | N
[runtime_error_119]
SYSTEM: Would you like to ‘Logout’? Y | N
[runtime_error_119]
Above the gray sky, a dark red system window flickered endlessly, spitting out the same result. The moment she first realized she was trapped here, unable to escape, was a recurring theme in her nightmares.
Wrinkles formed across the forehead of the sky, a sky that resembled plaster sloppily slathered over a poorly designed building. Then, a rumble.
Rain poured down. Elysia lay alone in the empty plaza, devoid of any other players, getting soaked by the rain as she stared up at the sky—a sky that must have been designed with zeroes and ones, drawn by the company's illustrators.
SYSTEM: Would you like to ‘Logout’? Y | N
[runtime_error_119]
No, it can't be. It's just a temporary problem. If I try just one more time, no, ten more times, I'll be able to log out. She realized that when faced with true terror, neither tears nor screams would come.
SYSTEM: Would you like to ‘Logout’? Y | N
[runtime_error_119]
The raindrops falling from the sky made it hard to even open her eyes, but with no strength to get up, she lay there helplessly, trying to log out again and again. This can't be happening. Something so absurd can't be happening to me...
SYSTEM: Would you like to ‘Logout’? Y | N
[runtime_error_119]
There's no way they would have moved to the testing phase with such a critical flaw. Oh, come on. This isn't right.
The face of her senior, who had reassured her that having an employee test the game would be great for its credibility, flashed in her mind. And her colleagues, who had smiled as they watched her put on the gaming gear with a reluctant, terribly anxious expression.
It's a lie, right? It has to be.
SYSTEM: Would you like to ‘Logout’? Y | N
[runtime_error_119]
Another error. Elysia gritted her teeth and threw a stone at the system window that flickered as if mocking her. Naturally, the stone passed right through it, shattered the window of an innocent house, and fell to the ground.
Her body, soaked to the bone, felt as heavy as if she were carrying the weight of the entire world.
The moment she turned around, coughing, an NPC with a long scar on his face grabbed her by the shoulder.
“Hey miss, you look cold. Huh?”
“I'm fine.”
“Come with us, how about it?”
A slimy gaze scanned her skin, visible through her soaked shirt, and a shiver ran down her spine.
These… these are the kinds of criminals I have to live and breathe among?
In her reality, she had friends and loving parents. There was human trash in the real world too, of course, but at least it wasn't only filled with scum like this. Their laughter, like a stench rising from a garbage can, brushed against her skin, and she felt her breath catch in her throat.
They couldn't even get the logout function right, so why the hell are these malicious gazes so damn realistic?
“I'm fine, really, I'm fine. Please, just go…”
“It's no fun if you keep playing hard to get, is it? Hmm?”
“No, I'm sorry. Please go. No, I'll go…”
As she bowed deeply, earnestly refusing, someone grabbed her hand and pulled. Seeing Elysia stumble, the game's NPCs and villains laughed out loud. A disbelieving "Ha!" escaped her lips, and fury began to simmer in her silver-gray eyes.
No one will help me. No one will protect me. This is a city of crime, where people dying is treated as nothing.
There is no law, no authority here. This virtual world, more real than reality, won't even grant me the release of death.
To hell with polite refusals and logical explanations. Such things are useless in this world.
She tried to log out one last time.
SYSTEM: Would you like to ‘Logout’? Y | N
[runtime_error_119]
As Elysia stared blankly at the window announcing the error, her eyes darkened the moment the system window vanished. The voices of the characters, laughing and exchanging trivial jokes, no longer registered.
Splash! The sound of water splashing violently.
Elysia grabbed the back of the neck of the man holding her hand and shoved his face deep into a puddle. She put her strength into his arm to keep his head down and muttered.
“I told you to stop…”
“Gblgh! Gck! Urk.”
“When I say stop, you stop! Is that so hard to understand? Oh, right. You things don't have any intelligence.”
She kicked the man, who had passed out with his face pale from lack of air, sending him flying. Then, with a crazed look in her eyes, Elysia began to rummage through her inventory.
How could this happen? How could they screw me over like this? This crazy world! This fucking world! This goddamn world where shitty things only happen to me! When is the Earth going to end? Can't a meteor just fall from somewhere?
Rage boiled inside her, blazing. And as it happens, the bastards in front of me are the worst kind of sons of bitches, and I, the player, have enough power to beat them to a pulp, don't I?
SYSTEM: ‘Baseball Bat’ equipped. Attack power increased by 2,000.
With a thud, Elysia planted the baseball bat on the ground and stared at the group of men, her eyes gleaming with madness.
Right. From now on, this dreary city is my reality, and those bastards, worse than dogs, are my comrades who breathe the same air as me. Is that it.
Beings that look like people but aren't actually alive. Puppets that commit all sorts of evil deeds but have no will of their own, simply moving as the system commands. Data, in other words, with no human rights.
“Come on, you sons of bitches!!!”
…In other words, punching bags I can vent all my anger on without any consequences…
Crack! The cheerful sound of a baseball bat striking the back of someone's head echoed through the plaza.
So, if there's one thing to be learned from this story, it's that even a relatively sane person can develop anger management issues when their world is turned upside down overnight… I suppose.
*
My eyes are closed, yet my vision is entirely white.
The warm, pouring sunlight was so bright it made me furrow my brow, and a shadow immediately fell over me. A shadow just large enough to cover her face, like that of a giant zelkova tree…
“Senior?”
“…Yeah.”
I knew who it was without even opening my eyes to check. I heard the man who had shielded my eyes from the sun sigh and draw the curtains. Still half-asleep, Elysia shook her head and mumbled.
“Ah, don't… I like the sunlight…”
She loved the rustling sound of the well-dried blankets, so she gathered them up and hugged them tight. In the previous game, it rained gloomily all year round, so she could never have even dreamed of such a soft, dry texture…
She felt one side of the bed dip. The warm sunlight fell on her face again, and a large hand slowly came to rest on her forehead.
She found herself listening intently to the man's low voice as he asked his question slowly, making it easy for her to understand.
“How are you feeling?”
“Good.”
“Good. Your fever's gone down.”
His voice, relieved as if a great weight had been lifted, slowly chased the sleep from Elysia's mind.
Wait a minute. This is all nice, the atmosphere is great, but… why am I hearing a man's voice next to me?
Her eyes flew open and she shot up in bed. Evan, his face looking haggard, was staring at her quietly.
What, why is this man next to me?
…Did I get into some kind of trouble?
Experience Potion Consumption Penalty (24 hours) has been lifted!
Elysia Hemming (LV.4): HP 2,800 | Defense 500 | Attack 4,500
Lost in thought, Elysia stared blankly at Evan, not even noticing the system window announcing her level up. She froze at his question.
“You… where on earth did you go to come back with injuries like that?”
“…Uh, um, good question? I don't really remember…”
She tried to brush it off with a classic politician's excuse, but he wasn't so easily fooled. He raised one eyebrow as if annoyed, and she backed down, mumbling.
“Well, I happened to stumble upon a wholesale drug deal…”
Evan pressed a hand to his forehead in disbelief and muttered.
“You, of all people… Does it even make sense to 'happen to stumble upon' something like that?”
“Haha, I've always been good at picking things up here and there.”
This is going to be the death of me.
Evan looked at the impossibly nonchalant Elysia, sighed, and buried his face in his hands. He could feel the stubble that had grown on his face in just one day.
Ah, damn it. He must have been too preoccupied with taking care of her.
He was sure he had treated her perfectly, without missing a thing. But as soon as she drank the potion she'd pulled from thin air, her body had become as hot as a ball of fire. He'd been so frantic, worried she would stop breathing at any moment as she groaned in pain, that he hadn't had a moment to himself.
He lowered his gaze and muttered in a low voice.
“I wasn't asking you to brag.”
“Ah, sorry…”
Seeing the man's hardened expression, Elysia slowly sat up. With that same expression, Evan moved closer as if it were the most natural thing in the world, propped a pillow behind her back, and helped her lean against it. Staring at his profile, Elysia suddenly asked.
“By the way, where am I?”
“My room. You're the one who came here.”
“I came here?”
“Yeah.”
Evan added, his expression displeased.
“Bleeding all over the place.”