Chapter 36
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 36: Alice's Nightmare (1)
Dawn.
A scene where even the night was covered by clouds, unable to harbor starlight.
Only the faintly broken spring fluttered like flower petals.
What covered the window.
Thick blackout curtains.
Thus, a room without even a sliver of light.
In the sticky darkness, only the sound of high-pitched breathing could be heard.
“......”
*Ssae-aek, ssae-aek—.*
Black hair disheveled on the bed.
A girl was asleep.
“Eut, eu-eu...”
Was she having a nightmare?
With her brow furrowed, she kept tossing and turning.
Her breathing was rough.
—Alice!
Deep unconsciousness.
The girl was running away.
A black corridor.
Staggering steps crossed over it.
The end was not in sight, and only terrifying sounds filled the space behind her.
—Don't stop! We have to go!
—If we get caught this time, it's really irreversible!
—Unnie will help you, so just keep running like this...
It was always the same dream.
Running away.
Running away.
The girl's life was always about running away.
Behind her, terrible things chased after her.
—Just a little further!
—We're almost there!
Alice, Alice.
The child who shouldn't have been born.
The girl knew even while running.
—Ah...
About the ending that would soon arrive.
Even though she repeated it hundreds of times, the ending of this hell was always the same.
The figure running ahead.
Her long, swaying hair collapsed limply.
For some reason, her lower body was cut off.
—Alice.
That figure called out to her.
Sprawled on the floor, letting out painful groans, she still called out to her.
—Alice...
Blue eyes that looked exactly like the girl's.
They were gradually losing their vitality.
—Run, away...
No.
I don't want to.
Don't say that.
I can't be without you.
We barely survived and made it out of that terrible place.
We had hope that we could finally escape.
—You must live... at all costs.
But.
Why.
Why is the world only like this to us.
—Alice...
—This is all happening because of you.
*Jjaeng-geurang—!* (Crash)
The dream shattered into pieces.
Immediately after, the girl sprang up from the bed.
“Heo-eok, heo-eok...!”
Her whole body was drenched in cold sweat.
Half-asleep consciousness.
Only after breathing a few times did she realize it was a dream.
What reflected in her blinking blue eyes was, as always, her lonely room.
Without even a moment to calm down, an intense feeling of nausea rose up.
“Uu-uk...!”
The girl hurriedly ran to the bathroom.
Afterward, holding onto the toilet bowl, she threw up the contents of her stomach.
Since she hadn't eaten anything all day, only clear gastric juice came out.
“Eu, eu-euk...”
Between those dry heaves, crying gradually mixed in.
Tear streaks were drawn straight down her pale cheeks.
A face that had become a mess.
Before she knew it, the girl was sobbing, slumped over.
“Unnie... Un, nie...”
A person she didn't know.
An emotion she didn't know whether it was longing or guilt.
The girl was barely hanging onto a mind that felt like it would collapse.
While staggering from a headache, she suddenly heard auditory hallucinations in her ears.
[ 💧 Alice ]
[WelcomeToWonderlandWelcomeToWonderlandWelcomeToWonderlandWelcomeToWonderlandWelcomeToWonderlandWelcomeToWonderlandWelcomeToWonderlandWelcomeToWonderland]
The voice that had been constantly lingering since that day.
Bizarre whispers shook her mind.
[ 💧 Alice ]
[ShallWeKillLet'sKillSaveMePrepareACroquetGameINoWhatShouldWeDoAboutTheBallIAmNotThatKindOfPersonCutOffAHumanHeadAndPrepareItKkalKkalKkalIDon'tWantToHurtAnyoneItLooksFunKkalKkalKkalKkalOneHumanHeadTwoHumanHeadsUnnieOhMyHerBrainGotCrushedFromHittingItWithAHammerHelpMeUnnieIHaveToCutANewOneAndPrepareIt]
[ 💧 Alice ]
[AcceptIt.]
[ 💧 Alice ]
[BecauseYouCanNeverEscapeFromTheStrangeStrangeStrangeWonderland.]
She covered her ears.
She didn't want to listen, she felt like she was going crazy.
If she became bewitched like this, it would be irreversible.
[ 💧 Alice ]
[KkalKkalKkal.]
Everyone.
Will end up dying.
[ 💧 Alice ]
[KkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkalKkal.]
Nightmare.
How long would she be able to resist?
How long would she be able to remain as herself?
Someday... no, maybe even tomorrow morning.
If she gets consumed by this nightmare, what will happen to her?
[ 💧 Alice ]
[Alice.]
[ 💧 Alice ]
[YouShouldn'tHaveBeenBorn.]
Alice, Alice.
The child who shouldn't have been born.
The girl's dawn was like this every time.
***
“Hmm...”
Before I knew it, the practice was two days away.
I visited the place where the practice was scheduled to check my plans.
The student hunting ground.
Currently, it was a place where students' entry was restricted due to exam preparations.
Of course, it was an irrelevant problem for me, who could sneak in with Wall Clipping...
“Would here be suitable?”
A thick forest.
While looking around, I found a suitable spot.
Afterward, I took out a crystal ball and threw it between the bushes.
I staged it as if it were an item someone dropped by mistake.
“Good. It looks more natural than I thought?”
I also covered it with some branches so it wouldn't be easily discovered.
It's very simple, but with this, the plan preparation was finished.
The only turn left was to wait.
“Shall I head back quickly.”
Because it would soon be time for the faculty members to do their patrols.
***
Like that, the day of the practice.
The students arrived early in the morning at the previously announced zone.
Among the bustling students, me and my team members were also standing.
“There are so many people! It's my first time seeing so many people gathered at the student hunting ground!”
“I suppose so. Since half of the 1st-year cadets are taking their practice here.”
“I heard the remaining half is taking it on the 5th floor of Purgatory!”
“Since the numbers are large, they probably divided them to make it easier to keep track.”
The practice was divided into two.
The practice held at the student hunting ground, and the practice held on the 5th floor of Purgatory.
It wasn't that the content of the practice was different; as we said, it was just dividing the number of personnel.
Of course, my goal was the hunting ground side from the beginning, but...
‘Because an accident bursts on the hunting ground side.’
Unlike Purgatory, which would proceed smoothly, an accident was scheduled on the hunting ground side.
An event where, if things went wrong, all the personnel inside could be massacred.
This time, it was a trick played by the heretics, the Evil God worshippers.
To ensure the normal progression of the original work in the future, I absolutely had to prevent this event.
‘This was also the reason I recruited Lanne as a team member.’
The 5th floor of Purgatory, and the student hunting ground.
Which of the two you would be assigned to was determined randomly.
Normally you could choose yourself, but what I selected was the ‘Impossible’ difficulty.
As the highest difficulty setting in the game, there were many unfriendly parts here and there.
‘You have no choice but to follow the given fate...’
However.
If I included Lanne and Alice as team members, the story was different.
When playing together with those two, it was almost guaranteed to be assigned to the hunting ground side.
‘Should I call this a kind of bug too.’
Anyway, it was a relief that the results followed well.
I smiled inside the mask and checked on the team members beside me one by one.
“How is everyone's condition?”
“Mm! Couldn't be better! Should I say I feel like I can show my full skills!”
“As expected of Miss Lanne. I can't tell you how reassuring it is to be formed in the same team.”
“You flatter me! It is I who am honored to be with Sir Viktor.”
Lanne, answering energetically as usual.
On the other hand, the other one kept her mouth shut tight.
“Then... how is Miss Alice?”
“......”
“Miss Alice?”
“......Ah, ah? I'm sorry. I, I was distracted for a moment...”
“It's alright. The practice will start soon, so please focus just a little bit.”
“Y-yes, yes...”
The girl nodding weakly.
Was she suffering from nightmares again?
‘I should keep an eye on her.’
After finishing a rough check, I turned my eyes to the front of the students.
There, a red-haired woman was explaining about the practice.
Head Investigator, Javert Droit.
It was an inorganic gaze as always.
“The content of this practice is monster hunting and survival.”
The professor supervising this practice.
She briefly summarized and delivered the content of the practice.
“Various monsters are prepared inside the hunting ground. You can collect points every time you hunt a monster, and the higher the score a team has, the higher the grade they will receive. During the time limit, please hunt as many monsters as possible and secure points.”
And.
“During the practice, competition among students is permitted without limits. If you succeed in suppressing other students, you can steal their points.”
It didn't end simply by hunting monsters well.
In the end, the core was the competition among students.
Can you prevent your points from being stolen by other teams?
Can you steal points from other teams?
In the beginning, they would be absorbed in hunting monsters, but towards the end, conflict between students would become the main focus.
‘As expected from an academy crazy about competition.’
Practice was only practice in name; ultimately, its essence was an extension of the exams.
A method of drawing out growth by somehow making students clash.
Having finished the explanation, Javert looked back at the students.
“Any student with a question.”
““......””
Since it was a content they had familiarized themselves with from a few days ago, no student raised their hand.
Having confirmed that reaction, Javert soon took out a crystal ball.
“Then, we will begin immediately.”
A voice announcing the start.
As she manipulated the crystal ball a few times, the tips of the students' feet lit up brightly.
Looking down, a massive magic circle had taken place.
Swaying waves of magic power wrapped around the children.
“From now on, everyone will be teleported inside the hunting ground. The point you are teleported to is strictly random, and the time limit for the practice is 48 hours.”
*Seureureuk—.*
The background dyeing blurrily.
Only the last word reached my receding ears.
“Then, I wish you good luck.”
*Hwa-ak—!*
My vision dyed pure white, then blinked black.
I could feel cool magic power wrapping around my whole body.
Had it been about 10 seconds like that?
“Ho-oh.”
When I opened my eyes again, we were standing in the middle of a forest.
Thick bushes. A scenery that reminded me of a jungle.
The team members also looked around the surroundings as if fascinated.
“So this is the student hunting ground! It's my first time actually coming inside!”
“It's b-broad... The trees stretch up so high too...”
“Fufu, because it's a scale comparable to most forests.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
While we were examining the surroundings like that, a heterogeneous noise was heard from behind our backs.
*Buseureok—.* (Rustle)
A sound like bushes crumbling.
Lanne seemed to have noticed it too, and shouted at me with an urgent voice.
“Sir Viktor! Behind...!”
—Keueo-eo-eong!
Before the girl could even finish her warning, a shape burst out from between the bushes.
A height that would be at least 5 meters. Leather densely covering its entire body.
It had an appearance like a mix between a bear and a crocodile.
A 3-star monster, the Geltian Bear.
—Keuaaaa!
Upon appearing, the guy simultaneously struck down with its giant front paw.
Bushes torn to shreds following the sharp claws.
A heavy impact fell upon my head.
*Kwaaaaang—!*
A rupturing sound that made my ears ring.
However, I wasn't standing in that spot.
While the monster was flustered by the disappeared prey.
“Initiate. Scythe.”
I had already moved behind the guy's back.
As I recited the spell, the gloves I was wearing unraveled.
It shattered into the form of mist, then soon compressed into a dark red scythe.
*Pu-uk—!*
It pierced through the monster's back just like that.
The blade wedging between the tough leather.
The attacked monster screamed.
Whether it wasn't enough to kill it, the guy rather went into a frenzy.
—Keu-eong, keueo-eo-eong!
I didn't waver.
I just followed up by reciting a spell.
“Initiate. Thorns.”
*Chwaaaaak—!*
Thorns burst out from the guy's insides.
Dozens of awls turned its insides to mush.
Unable to resist that anymore, the monster went limp.
“Hmm.”
To one-combo a 3-star monster.
As expected, it was a fraudulent performance.
While I was admiring it anew, an alarm rang from the crystal ball.
[Monster ‘Geltian Bear’ defeated.]
[You acquire 30 points.]
[Points settled so far: 30]
A system where team members share points with each other.
Alarms also rang on Alice and Lanne's crystal balls.
While the two were checking their screens, another alarm rang for me.
This time, a familiar mechanical sound.
*Ting—!*
[Sub Quest]
- Title: If going to do it, should do it properly!
- Content: Take a rank of 3rd or higher in the practice.
- Penalty upon failure: None
- Reward: Consumable item ‘Very Secret Tie (B-)’
- Content: Take a rank of 3rd or higher in the practice.
- Penalty upon failure: None
- Reward: Consumable item ‘Very Secret Tie (B-)’
[Time Limit: Before the practice ends]
Yeah.
If going to do it, should do it properly.
I laughed mockingly, resting the scythe on my shoulder.
Opposite me, the team members were leaking admiration.
“Oh, my goodness... such a large monster, in one strike...”
“As expected of Sir Viktor!”
I had a lot to do.
I had to raise my rank, and I had to prevent the accident that would soon burst.
It seemed I would have to move busily in this practice.
“Now... there is no time to hesitate.”
The mask smiled.
“Shall we go get it? 1st place.”
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