Bailonz Street 13

Something flew in but turned to ashes the moment it touched the net of light. It happened in the blink of an eye. The monsters’ fearful cries could be heard even here as they were unable to continue their attacks. The sky’s defense seemed complete.

‘But will that really stop them?’

It needed to.

I glanced sideways, checking the dark man’s expression from the corner of my vision. He was continuously stroking his chin, lost in thought.

What was he thinking? What if he harmed Greenwich or Liam?

What would happen if I attacked the king now? Should I try to draw his attention somehow? Or keep him talking? Should I try to stall for time here somehow to prevent him from interfering with the others?

My mind was in chaos. I’d never been in a situation like this. Even the voice in my head offered no answers. What could one do against such a being? It was just futile resistance.

Whether I was racking my brain or not, the king paid no attention. No, he rather looked disappointed that I wasn’t doing anything. He addressed me in a bored tone, as if scolding.

“I thought you’d act more interestingly.”

His face suddenly drew close. I stumbled backward in surprise. And for good reason – a cold, damp energy surged with the man’s movement. The surrounding air instantly dropped below freezing. White breath rose with every exhale. My lungs felt like they would freeze. I needed to retreat further.

But I couldn’t escape. My shadow had come alive, slithering to grip my feet. I couldn’t move my legs, as if they’d turned to stone. The more I struggled to move, the more powerless I felt.

Seeing my desperate resistance, the king muttered:

“Surely you haven’t given up already.”

I had never given up. Not once. Even when I was suffering to the point of death and wanted to lay everything down and rest, I never gave up.

And for good reason,

“If I’d given up, you would have killed me!”

He would surely hunt me down and kill me. While forcefully shaking off the shadow holding me, I addressed the god informally for the first time.

He laughed coldly.

“That’s true. Then I suppose I should take it that you’ll try harder still.”

Madman. I muttered inwardly.

“Look at the sky. The door opens now.”

It was exactly as he said. A door was opening. There was no other way to describe it. It was a passage, a path, an escape route for beings that shouldn’t exist to leave their world.

The color of the split sky was mysterious. Could you see the aurora in London? Though I knew it was impossible, there was no other way to describe that radiance.

The world began crumbling like falling tiles into many pieces, and beyond that, something was devouring our world.

“Arms?”

I muttered unconsciously. They really looked like… countless arms.

The king smiled benevolently at my question. He made no attempt to hide his deep satisfaction and joy.

“So you can see that too?”

“Should I not be able to?”

“Well…”

He left the sentence hanging. When he didn’t answer further, I closed my mouth with an odd feeling. It felt like I’d seen something I shouldn’t have.

That’s when it happened.

Screech-!

Light shot up fiercely toward the sky from somewhere. Like a signal flare. But without bursting or marking any position, it kept rising and rising endlessly upward. And it reached the crack.

It was a thread of light. Firmly embedded in the highest part of the crack, it was struggling to seal the tearing world by knotting itself.

“Ah… Yes. Liam Moore.”

The king gripped the stone railing with the hand he’d just run over his face. Crunch – the marble crumbled like tofu in his grip.

It was Liam. Liam was handling that. To protect the world.

But the speed of opening was faster than the speed of closing. Just when it seemed to close a little, it would tear twice as violently. An eerie howling sound echoed from beyond the crack as if tearing the sky.

A precarious trembling shook the buildings. The ground undulated like a dance. Though the building I stood on seemed to float in the air, avoiding the earthquake’s effects, it wouldn’t be the same down below.

I lowered my head. I could see someone running around below, rescuing people. A familiar face.

‘Could it be, Plurititas?’

Even from here I could see his close-cropped white hair in disarray. His pristine white clothes were covered in soot. Given his personality, I’d thought he’d immediately complain and change clothes or go home, but he was diligently protecting people, more than expected.

Jonathan was right. Plurititas must be trying to live harmoniously with humans. Though he still trembles with desire when he sees an intelligent brain, I want to believe the collection was… by mutual consent. Please, old man. Let’s say you’re not that awful.

‘There’s Jonathan too.’

Thankfully he looked unharmed. He was gesturing energetically while shouting something to people. Then he aimed his gun at something charging at him.

Bang!

A monster that several police colleagues couldn’t take down despite multiple shots burst apart with a single gunshot. Ignoring people’s confusion, Jonathan strode forward, loading new bullets. Toward the front where monsters swarmed, in the opposite direction from the evacuating people.

It seemed Jonathan had no hesitation either. Even while doing this, he was evacuating remaining people through cleared paths.

“See something interesting?”

“No. Nothing at all.”

When I answered sharply, the king grinned. He nodded as if understanding and lowered his head toward where I was looking.

“They look alike.”

“You’re mistaken.”

Though I tried to stop him hastily, the king had already seen Jonathan. His eyes gleamed strangely.

“Afraid I might harm him? You’ve grown attached despite being a stranger. If I’d known you could care so much, I should have brought him along too?”

I ignored his words while suppressing a shudder. Don’t answer, don’t give attention. To a being craving attention, answers are just food. Why else would they say ‘Don’t feed the attention-seekers’?

As if my lips were glued shut, I kept them firmly pressed together while following Jonathan with my eyes.

A group of evacuated people ran toward the back. Plurititas’s dolls were guarding around them. Probably Lucita’s house awaited them at the end of the road, along with that ridiculous apprentice butler.

Greenwich’s people would be making plans.

But despite all their efforts, the destruction wouldn’t slow. Because of me. Because I had flowed in here. The king’s plan started because he noticed me, and the world was ending because I existed here.

‘I shouldn’t have come here.’

Yes, I shouldn’t have come in the first place. But how could I have prevented it?

I didn’t know how far back I’d need to go to stop all this. Should I go back to before starting the game? Before downloading it?

As my mind traced back through events, it returned to the very beginning.

Suddenly, I couldn’t remember how I’d started playing this game. Surely someone had recommended it. Saying this game was really fun, different from other games…

‘Huh?’

Who was that?

No, was it even a recommendation in the first place?

If it wasn’t recommended, how did I end up playing it?

“What do you think?”

As if reading my thoughts, the king asked. His composed expression seemed to ask: is that really how you remember it?

I still couldn’t answer. My head was in chaos. And he was enjoying my confusion.

The king asked again.

“What do you think?”

“…About what?”

I met his gaze directly while evading the answer. The king’s eyes were madness itself. The strangely glistening look, the elongated pupils. Before I could feel the creepiness, something caught my attention.

“About everything.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

In the king’s yellowish eyes, I saw the face of a pale woman. Though terrified, she showed no intention of running away.

The surrounding temperature seemed unlikely to drop further. My weakly gripped skirt fluttered in the void. Still held fast by something gripping my ankle, I gritted my teeth.

Only I can save myself.

I muttered inwardly.

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