10 10 - Hidden Persona

Lucian didn't need to say a single word as everyone started running around frantically.

Most tried to move as far away as possible from Alex while staying inside the Safe Zone since they knew that fighting those monsters outside probably wasn't the best idea.

They knew they would be able to get rewards from it when reaching the Otherworld, but they needed to reach the Otherworld to have those.

[3 minutes left to make the number of people inside the Safe Zone go under 500, or else everyone within it will die.]

"Until the number of people inside the Safe Zone goes under 500, he will kill two people every five seconds. Make your choice."

"1...2...3...4...5"

The number at the top of the Safe Zone started going down. 

[902/500]

[810/500]

...

However, unfortunately for them, they hadn't left the Safe Zone fast enough, which meant that Alex acted. He swiftly killed two people without much problem.

"Are you sure you want to stay inside the Safe Zone?"

Lucian had a big smile. His plan had worked to perfection, and he was pretty sure that Alex was enjoying it, too.

The only problem was that Lucian and Ava still had little to no points for the Otherworld. Lucian had only managed to kill one zombie since the start of the Tutorial.

'Can we steal the points from the people we kill?'

Lucian decided to try this theory as he looked below him toward Olivia. She was crying, bleeding out from both sides of her body. It was a horrible sight, but weirdly, it didn't even affect Lucian. He looked at her directly in the eyes and pierced her heart.

Ava, who was still beside him, didn't look away. She kept looking in Olivia's direction with a smile as if happy that she had finally been killed.

'Finally, he got rid of this stupid hoe. That bitch kept trying to make a move on him… Good riddance.'

[You have killed a Player in the Tutorial.]

[Acquiring a portion of her stats...ERROR-404! Impossible in the tutorial]

[Recuperating the points acquired.]

[+2600 points]

'Jackpot!' 

Lucian looked around him without a single wasted second. He needed to find those who had the most points around.

There was obviously Alex, but he wasn't even an option in the first place. Bob and Bobby were quite good options, as for Trevor, he didn't have the slightest point. He had probably leeched off others just like he had done for the entirety of his life.

While Lucian made this discovery, the number of people inside the Safe Zone kept decreasing. Lucian's method seemed to have good effects.

'I don't think I'll have a point problem now. The one who would have one is Ava.'

Lucian looked under his right arm, and she was still holding onto him. The more Lucian spent time with her, the more he realized how much she depended on him.

"Alex! Can you bring those three around here!"

Alex stopped his rampage for a few seconds, dropping Bob, Bobby, and Trevor before Lucian. He didn't even stay with them as he continued to kill two people every five seconds. The Death Counter was going down, and Alex was happy.

[100 people left to die.]

"D-Don't hurt me! Lucian, don't you remember? I always treated you as best as possible."

Trevor shouted those things without the slightest movement from Lucian. It seemed that he had understood the situation that he was currently in.

'He really is a cockroach, always trying to stay alive using whatever method available to him.'

"Ava..." Lucian turned around and looked at her. "I know you might not like it or feel scared, but you need to kill one of them."

For some strange reason, Ava didn't look scared at all. She even had a smile on her face. She let go of Lucian slowly, and a wand appeared in her hands.

"Can I really? Can I kill this one?"

Her voice was extremely cute and naive when she uttered those words. However, the expression on her face was the complete opposite. It was strange.

"Trevor? You want to kill him, why?"

Lucian was confused about why she had easily accepted killing someone. He had expected her to refuse a couple of times, but it seemed it wouldn't be a problem.

Trevor had tears in his eyes as they started talking about killing him. 

"D-Don't kill me! Please, I'll do whatever you want!"

Lucian didn't even look at him when he uttered those words. He kept looking at Ava, wondering what her answer was going to be.

"He tried to hurt you. He deserves to die."

Her voice was no longer cute. It was cold as ice. Her head slowly tilted to the right. Even Lucian was getting goosebumps, and her anger wasn't even directed at him. The persona she had tried to hide from Lucian was slowly emerging.

'Why does she care about him hurting me when she also got in danger from it?'

Lucian ignored why, but her whole persona changed in under a couple of seconds. She slowly walked toward Trevor and swung her wand in the air, seemingly casting a spell.

Trevor started floating in the air.

'She knows how to use magic?'

A box formed with purple threads appeared around Trevor as Ava made another move with his wand. More questions arose inside Lucian's mind, but he kept watching... interested in what she would be doing next.

'Is this what talent is?'

*Slash!*

The box of purple threads accelerated quickly toward Trevor, and his entire body was slashed into small cubes.

"Oops, I didn't think he would die right away…"

As she uttered those words, the cute, naive little girl was no more. Lucian had discovered a completely different side from Ava that he hadn't expected to see.

'Did something happen to her? She looks… uh… scary.'

Nonetheless, while Lucian had those thoughts, he knew he couldn't show them. He needed to keep the show rolling.

"Uh... Good job," Lucian said as he slowly patted Ava's head.

Ava enjoyed those pats as she rubbed the top of her head against his hand. She looked like Lucian's child or something similar, but that wasn't the case. She was of the same age, 18-year-old.

"Are you proud of me?"

Her reactions honestly weirded out Lucian. Why was she trying to please Lucian so much? Why had she cared more about the fact that Trevor had hurt him when he had done the same time to her?

"Can I kill the two others?"

Her voice had gone back to being all cute. She really looked like a child asking permission for her father to do something.

"And... uh, if I kill them. Can you give me some head pats again?"

'What the fuck is happening to her.'