CHAPTER 34: CHAPTER 34: SURVIVAL[GTG]

"Ha!" I gasped, my eyes snapping open.

Huh?

What... what the heck happened?! I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t. I could feel it—I was tied up. I was trapped.

"Fuck," I cursed as I remembered what happened.

That bastard Jayden... can’t believe he actually kidnapped me.

Squeak

I heard a sound and turned toward it, only to find a door opening and light flooding into the space.

Hm. This place doesn’t look like a regular room. Why the heck did he bring me here?

I could see crates and boxes scattered around, filled with random stuff that didn’t make any sense. The place was dark, absurdly dark, save for the light now filtering through that door.

"Oh... you’re awake," I heard, and saw Jayden walking toward me with a lamp and a box in hand.

Heck. What’s up with the box?

Damn. I’m starting to feel uneasy about all this.

"Leo... Leo... Leo," he echoed, then began clicking his tongue as he dragged a chair over and sat right in front of me.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, trying to free myself from the ropes binding me, but it was no use. He did a good job tying me so firmly.

"Why...?" he asked, then tilted his head to the side before placing the box on a small table and opening it. "A better question would be why haven’t I done this all along?" he said, pulling out a mini saw from the box along with two small knives. He set them aside and began bringing out more items that made my mind go numb.

"Huh?" I frowned, unable to comprehend what he meant.

"I hate you... I hate you so much. I should have killed you the very moment he warned me, when he showed me those memories," Jayden said, gritting his teeth, his eyes truly terrifying. "I should have killed you from the start! I SHOULD HAVE DONE IT MYSELF!"

Huh?

Don’t... tell me...

[hehehehehehehahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHA!]

No... NO, FUCKING NO!

"You always did it... you always took what was mine, every single time. They all should be mine. Anna, Lyra, Emily, ALL OF THEM!" he said, and then—

Shing!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The bastard stabbed a dagger into my hand. "Anna was already mine... And I thought maybe, since she was so obsessed with me, I could use her to get rid of you, but no... you did something... I don’t know what you did, but you did something... YOU STOLE HER FROM ME, JUST LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO!" he roared, stabbing me again.

"Fuckkkkkk!" I tried to bite back the pain, but it was overwhelming.

"All of a sudden," he began laughing crazily, seeming like he’d completely lost it. Damn it, I hate this fucking world! "Emily is obsessed with you because of the exams, Anna is madly in love with you after whatever you did, Lyra is no different, and that girl Maria—they just can’t get enough of you. But they should all originally be mine!" He laughed, then stabbed the knife straight through my gut.

Ah. I think... this is it.

[You should have accepted the more peaceful death I offered you,]

Bastard. Just what do you and your fucking goddess even want from me?

From what this bastard is saying, this isn’t the first time I’m here, this isn’t the first time I’m doing this...

...JUST WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU ACTUALLY WANT FROM ME?!

[.... Haven’t you already realized it?... You are meant to suffer, to be tormented, frustrated, and killed in the most gruesome way possible.]

...Why?

[... That’s the thing... you will always die with that doubt, as I will never tell you. HehehehehehehahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!]

Ha. I see. This whole thing was rigged from the start. There was never really an escape. It was all an illusion.

I was always meant to suffer in an endless circle, then die, only to start all over again.

I see. That’s why I have no memories. They all keep getting erased at every retry.

Haah.

"Don’t die yet... I’m only getting started," he said, dropping the dagger and pulling out a syringe from the box.

Poison.

This... bastard, he’s no protagonist. I hate this fucking bastard!

"Hehehe," he chuckled, but just then... as the needle pierced my skin...

...BOOM!

Splatter.

I looked up only to see his head pop like a balloon.

What... happened?

I looked past him, and there, I found someone stepping out from the shadows.

"Oh... how the tables turn," I heard, and my whole body froze.

"Anna?" I asked, gazing as she stepped into the light. She bent down and retrieved her obsidian dagger from Jayden’s now lifeless body.

"Don’t worry... I won’t kill you, but I will make sure you lose your mind," she smiled, blood splattered on her cheeks.

But isn’t that worse...?

She walked forward, then held my chin as she stopped in front of me. "I don’t know what you did to me, but I can’t live without you... the very thought feels like the end of the world. So I will do the same thing to you... I will break your mind... I will make you addicted to me, and I will keep you to myself," she said, then began running her hand over my chest and everywhere.

I was powerless at this point. I could only watch as she did what she wanted with me.

She took out some drugs and pills and placed them on the table. "I don’t know what it was you injected into me... but I don’t hate it. I love this feeling, and I will never let it go," she said, and I recalled the warning from my dear lover.

There has been no record of any players who used this and didn’t regret ever using it.

Haah.

I am dead.

She popped open the first potion, sat on my lap, then forced the contents down my throat, and at that moment, I felt it...

...my whole body began heating up.