Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: PTSD (1)
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What am I supposed to do about the contaminated shapeshifting weapon?
Amid the outpouring cheers, I alternated my gaze between the weapon and my senior.
The iron bars made of electricity had already vanished.
I doubted they would let us go so easily, so why had they removed the bars?
That question didn't ring out loudly right now.
I trembled in fear as I watched my senior approach slowly.
"Is it... really expensive?"
I looked at my senior, who had stopped beside me and was staring down at the contaminated sword.
Ricardo stood motionless, hands shoved into his pockets, his eyes fixed on the blade.
"Hmm~?"
"Th-that shapeshifting weapon... is it really expensive? Even if it's damaged, the company will issue a new one after processing, right?"
"This isn't the company's. It's mine...."
I was doomed.
A chill ran down my spine. If it had been company property, there might have been some leniency.
I had no memory of Ricardo removing this ring-shaped weapon from his finger. It made sense, of course. Back in my previous world, I never let my sword leave my body either.
But now, his cherished weapon had been damaged by his junior. Even more terrifying was that I had no idea how much it cost.
I gauged the amount in my account and spoke up.
"Um... I'll buy a new one."
"Hm?"
Ricardo blinked and turned his head.
I swallowed hard under his inscrutable green gaze.
"Just tell me where you bought the weapon, Senior. I'll get a brand-new one."
"This one?"
Ricardo smirked without pulling his hands from his pockets.
The cheers and heat continued to echo through the arena. The announcer seemed to be excitedly declaring the betting results, but it didn't reach my ears.
I nodded solemnly.
"Yes."
"Do you even know how much this costs~?"
That was the scariest part.
I swallowed again while looking at my faintly smiling senior.
"Thirty million won?"
"Over a hundred million...."
The world spun.
Cold sweat soaked my back. A hundred million... a hundred million. Even if the currency value had dropped compared to when I lived on Earth with Colton, a hundred million was still a huge sum.
At least, it was to me.
So this was how I became a debtor overnight.
At least it wasn't an amount I could never repay. If I worked hard, I could earn it eventually.
I pulled my wandering mind back together.
"Somehow, I'll get a new one."
"Oh... got some money, huh?"
"I have a decent lump sum."
"Yeah~? How much~?"
I'd bought a scooter from Hessi and some games, but my steady paycheck meant expenses hadn't been too high.
Recalling the last time I'd checked my account, I muttered.
"About thirty million won...."
"Hahaha!"
Ricardo burst into laughter.
It was the first time I'd seen that man laugh so heartily.
I stared blankly at my senior, who had thrown his head back in laughter.
The wound on his neck no longer bled but was still swollen red. Confetti rained down on his black hair. The creature's corpse reeked of blood.
I gazed at all of it in a daze.
Why's he laughing like that....
My senior laughed heartily for a while before turning to me.
"I'm kidding...."
What?
"It's true it costs over a hundred million, but you don't need to buy a new one.... It's not completely ruined~."
"Yes?"
"I should take it to the Science Division, though...."
My senior pulled a lighter from his pocket.
He brought the small flame to the sword embedded in the corpse.
I watched, speechless, as the red tendrils covering the blade blackened and burned. They didn't fully detach, but at least the dangerous red glow burned away with a strange smell.
The weapon became covered in scorch marks.
After finishing the decontamination burn, Ricardo pocketed the lighter.
The silver sword had turned into a silver pool mixed with black swirls.
"Fortunately, neither is in too bad shape...."
Ricardo said, eyes on the weapon, which jerked oddly.
"Let's get out first.... Not sure if they'll let us go easily, though."
"Yes."
Thank goodness it wasn't completely destroyed.
I'd already guessed from his expression that Barbie and Asil weren't in bad shape, but I was most relieved that the shapeshifting weapon was intact.
Perhaps my inner relief showed, because Ricardo smirked again.
"You're such a weirdo...."
"Me?"
Wasn't it a natural reaction?
Anyone would act like this if they'd damaged their senior's cherished weapon.
I stared at him sullenly, but he didn't take back his words.
Instead, as he turned toward the stands, he added.
"Like I said, I'll train you like a dog when we get back~."
"No."
Don't say it so seriously.
Wasn't that just something you said in the heat of the moment when you handed me the sword? I followed my senior, who was rolling the silver liquid mixed with black swirls, wearing an exasperated expression.
The liquid rolled toward the stands in time with Ricardo's strides.
It didn't flow like water but advanced in jagged bursts, so it was clearly damaged somehow.
Still, seeing it move as Ricardo intended relieved me.
Until my sharp hearing caught a familiar voice.
"Prometheus."
It was a bright, innocent girl's voice.
"Good work."
Marie.
I turned my head and saw her.
She stood in the passage where the creature had emerged.
In the dark passage, she smiled like a statue.
The dead elder's lackey.
His final struggle.
The fear coiling around me doubled when I saw the switch in her hand.
"Ricardo!"
I whipped my head toward my senior.
"I'm just trying to fulfill the order given to me, like you."
[And that's the end of today's match!]
At the same time, a loud noise drowned out Marie's whisper.
[Exit through the back! Don't forget to buy tickets for the next match!]
"There was one last order he left."
I have no intention of dying alone.
The voice of the dead man I'd dismissed echoed in my head.
The voice of the former elder, torn in two.
Everything happened almost simultaneously.
Me shouting to protect the fallen seniors, Ricardo whipping his head around and wordlessly using the shapeshifting weapon to erect a barrier over them, the announcer excitedly calling the next match schedule.
And Marie pressing the switch.
I dashed toward Ricardo, who had frozen to assess the situation.
Kwaaaang!
I should have anticipated it.
I shouldn't have brushed off his final words like that. Even chained behind the iron bars, I should have remembered he was an elder.
As deafening explosions poured down, I grabbed Ricardo and raced toward Marie's passage, berating myself.
Stupid idiot.
You missed it again. The warning right in front of you.
If you'd paid a little more attention, you might have avoided it.
I'd failed again, flailing helplessly against the onrushing reality. Dragging others down with me.
Again....
Thud!
Screams erupted and the building crumbled.
The moment I leaped into Marie's passage, the entrance collapsed, and my mind went black.
***
A scraping sound rang out.
The sound of shifting something heavy. The faint noise grew clearer, rousing my consciousness.
Only after my upper body felt the cool air did I lazily open my eyes.
This felt familiar, like last time.
Back then, it was the sound of cutting debris with a blade from the front.
Anyway, I'd survived again.
Lying on my side, I thought blankly. Surviving two building collapses was impressive. Even enhanced bodies could die. We just didn't age; we weren't immortal.
That's why everyone handled bombs carefully.
As I lay there thinking, my senses returned, and I slowly turned my head.
And met green eyes.
"Ricardo."
My senior stared down at me with a stiff face.
"Are you okay?"
I remembered protecting him before blacking out.
Losing consciousness after that made me anxious. Especially since he had a civilian-like body now. What if I'd crushed him while fainting?
No answer came.
I looked at my strangely silent senior and propped myself up on my elbow.
Darkness had fallen. With almost no light source, I could barely see.
Only the outlines of concrete chunks and my nearby senior were vaguely visible. He knelt on one knee beside me, silent.
Buried in the settled darkness, he didn't move an inch, but I immediately knew something was off about him.
Why's his face like that?
I pushed up my upper body with my elbow.
"Did you get hurt?"
"Don't move."
A curt reply came.
I just blinked.
Twisting my torso widened my view. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, more came into sight.
A space blocked by debris. We were trapped in a not-too-wide passage. Diving in here had been the smart choice.
The walls around the passage had collapsed, and ceiling tiles had fallen, but the ceiling itself held.
It was the creature passage, so it was sturdier than elsewhere. Good judgment.
No immediate collapse worry. Visually, Ricardo had no wounds.
His expression still looked bad.
I eyed his rigidly set face and asked.
"Where does it hurt?"
"I said don't move."
"I'm sitting still. Just tell me where it hurts."
Internal injuries?
As I leaned to check him, Ricardo gripped my shoulder hard.
If not for Green Dream, his grip would have crushed it.
"Can't you see your lower body?"
Ricardo snapped, frowning.
"Don't move and stay still."
"My lower body?"
Why my lower body....
Looking down, I saw my calf pinned under debris.
A table-sized concrete slab pressed on my left foot. It stood out hugely among the other rubble, pinning my leg.
The pinned leg was probably swollen.
But it wasn't pierced; just shift it off. Walking would be tough for a while, but I felt sensation, so no major damage.
A civilian couldn't lift it, but I could.
Was he overreacting because of Green Dream sensitivity?
But now?
I quietly watched my senior slowly clear the debris off me.
Then I noticed his hands trembling.
His hands shook faintly.
I grabbed Ricardo's left wrist.
"Ric."
Ignoring him as he jerked his head away, I looked down at his hand.
"Did debris hit you?"
"Let go."
Ignoring his strained voice, I persistently checked him. The unrelenting tremor in his hand, the chill from his gripped wrist. The cold sweat on his palm.
I realized his whole body was shaking faintly.
And his irregular breathing.
Ah.
Hyperventilation.
"Senior."
I lowered my head and leaned toward my panting senior.
"Senior, cup your hands and breathe."
Ricardo didn't lift his head.
He just knelt on one knee, gasping unevenly. He covered his mouth with his right hand, but it had no effect. The irregular breaths continued. His body trembled faintly.
I quietly advised him to breathe in and out slowly.
Ignoring other concerns as I shoved my head closer.
I knew these symptoms too well.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He was experiencing PTSD right now.