Missing information (6)

Then, a message caught my eye.

[1. Player #156574631: Ena James.]

1st?

[The reward for the 1st place is 5 stat points and one item.]

It seems like I indeed completed the scenario, but how? Did Wiliam really cooperate?

Standing up, I called out to the male nurse next to me in a low voice.

"Um, excuse me."

The male nurse didn't hear me.

"…"

Am I that invisible? I want to cry.

Raising the volume of my voice a little, I tried again.

"Excuse me, Sir."

The male nurse turned toward me.

"Could you tell me what happened after I fell unconscious? How did I complete the scenario?"

The male nurse nodded.

"Ah, right, you must be confused."

Of course I am. It's not that I'm doubting Wiliam's generosity, but actually I do.

"That man here accepted to start a game as you said, and since you had already given your consent, it started even though you had fainted."

DHB, marry me.

I'm joking, this reaction is a little excessive…

Though, he is handsome, smart, cool, kind (?), and the potential constant threat to my life is only a bonus!

Can someone tell me why I am thinking about this, again?

"Then, he surrendered, letting you complete the scenario. And afterwards, huh…"

No need to explain. The mere fact that you're trying so hard to distance yourself from him while glancing at the bodies on the ground shows what your next sentence is supposed to be.

"And how did all of you survive?"

The one who answered my question wasn't the male nurse but the old man.

"It's also thanks to that young man."

Wow, DHB did? Did he get possessed when I turned back time or do I just have a natural talent in making people become murderous?

The male added a more detailed explanation.

"After seeing him kill these people, everyone was intimidated. In that situation, he approached us and asked to begin games, and that's how we survived…"

So he coerced them to survive…

But, if he's your savior, why are you so scared? Have you never seen someone strangle three people without hesitating before?

Then, I finally opened my system window.

'System window.'

A green panel appeared in front of my eyes.

'Open rewards.'

As expected, the item was the same as before.

[Low-grade healing potion.]

However, as I checked my stats, a surprise awaited me.

[Player #156574631: Ena James

Stats: Agility Lv.1; Dexterity Lv.0,8; Stamina Lv.1,1; Strength Lv.1.

*5 additional stat points available.]

At the bottom of the system window, my skill was displayed.

[Skill: ???]

Instead of being called 'Imagination' as before, its name had been replaced by three question marks.

With no time to wonder what it meant, I closed the system window and began to wipe the places where I could have left fingerprints.

Then, addressing the male nurse, I suggested, "I advise you to delete the CCTV's recordings since the police could be hunting down people who went through scenarios like us. After all, unlike us, most of those in that situation would've killed someone or could potentially end up in a situation where they have no choice but to kill even if they passed this scenario by winning three games."

If you don't, it's not my problem, I didn't do anything wrong.

It's Wiliam's problem. However, I don't really want him to watch the recordings.

"Then, I will leave."

After saying this, I picked up a gun, put it in my pocket, and left through the front door.

I decided not to care about why they all stayed here until now and ignored them.

At last, while I was walking, I took the paper I had found under Wiliam's chair and read it.

"…"

Tried to read it.

On that paper, strings of numbers were written.

Is this some sort of code?

There was one more problem to solve now.

I closed my eyes.

I can't help but think that, maybe none of this is real and I am still dreaming.

Would it be better if it was just a dream?

I looked back, having seen a familiar figure, but thought I was mistaken.

Then, after a while, I arrived home and closed the door, alone with my thoughts.

「Why are you so fixated on this? Isn't he alive now?」

What if it happens again?

「Murderer. Murderer.」

This isn't my own thoughts.

「———」

I am too emotionally agitated. This isn't good.

I was able to keep my composure until now, so why can't I continue?

「You can't save anyone.」

I never wanted to save anybody.

「But isn't that the problem?」

I never wanted to be a good person.

I stared blackly at my phone, the messaging app open, and stayed like this for a while.

Finally, I turned it off and closed my eyes, feeling the wall of indifference protecting my sanity crumbling a little more with each passing second and bringing up bad memories.

'I'm just being dramatic.'

I have to sleep. Seeing the messaging app reminded me of my appointment with Lou-Ann tomorrow.

I had a nightmare that night.

***

Someone passed by Ena, heading toward the hospital she came out from, and grabbed the attention of someone who was leaving.

"Excuse me."

The tall cold-looking man with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, a slender build and a neat black suit giving off professional vibes wore a polite smile as he asked, "Have you seen a little girl here?"

Then, he added.

"Her name is Kitty Lefèvre."

***

To brighten up the mood, next is an anecdote that DHB told me a long time later, and I will tease him forever about it. Let me share it with you.

One or two hours after the end of the first scenario, the great and mighty DHB, also known as Wiliam Ackerman, was at the airport.

As he was sitting, waiting for the plane to arrive, he suddenly noticed something concerning.

He had lost his bag!

He was pretty sure he had it when he entered the airport, which meant it must still be around here.

'If it is found by the security and they check its contents…'

Alarmed, the super cool Wiliam got up and retraced his steps. There was still a bit of time left before he had to leave.

He passed through the gate and searched everywhere before finally going to the lost items section.

"Excuse me, have you seen a blue bagback?"

The woman at the counter nodded and showed him some bags, and one of them looked identical to his.

Reassured, Wiliam took the bag but felt something strange.

The weight was different.

He checked its contents and had no choice but to acknowledge that the bag wasn't his.

He thought for a while and remembered a little boy he had seen earlier who had a bag similar to his.

'We must have unknowingly switched bags.'

Thus, Wiliam searched through the hospital once more, without success.

'I saw him around the area D5, none of the flights around there have departed. At most, the plane at D7 will let people embark in 5 more minutes. I didn't see him near the toilets either…'

In a situation where murder wasn't recommended, DHB used his next best option, his head, before resigning himself and deciding to resort to his first best option.

No, that option was neither murder nor violence, but simply illegal means. It wasn't like he was really a serial killer.

Moreover, this was an airport with cameras.

With at most 5 minutes left to find the boy (if he was unlucky), Wiliam took out his phone and skillfully hacked into the surveillance system.

Thankfully, the cameras were standardized ones, not too hard to hack into, especially if your goal was only to watch the recorded footage.

That way, he found the little boy in no time and confirmed his current location.

Now, the hard part would be to exchange the bags.

Wiliam decided to do it like any normal person would—not like hacking into cameras was very honest to begin with—and run to catch up with the little boy in time before calling out to him and his mother.

"I apologize, I believe we switched bags halfway. Isn't this yours?"

Wiliam presented the nearly identical bag and let the boy rummage through it, noticing that it was indeed his, and DHB was able to retrieve his own bag.

He also checked its contents just in case before sitting back down, finally relieved.

Then, looking out the window with his bag next to him, Wiliam thought back to the events that had happened before.

「Since you're going to kill people, you can lose a game.」

The 'scenario', the games, the murders…

「Excuse me, what's your name?」

Wiliam let out a soft sigh.

He grabbed his bag, which contained a bomb, and got up.

'Maybe I should stay in this country a little longer.'

That's how Wiliam, who was ready to leave, decided to stay in France.