Missing information (5)

Usually, when I faint, I feel very bad for a while until everything turns black and I lose consciousness. Then, I open my eyes and it feels as if I have skipped the time when I was unconscious. It's like only one second passed for me while actually at least a few minutes have passed in reality.

It should have been the same this time, but I didn't open my eyes to the hospital waiting room's ceiling.

Everything was black.

Or maybe it was white? I don't know, it simply felt 'empty'.

On the side, there was an unknown man staring through the window, though I couldn't see what he was looking at.

He had silky and slightly long black hair, soft facial features, a pale skin and long eyelashes. Moreover, the nostalgic look on his face made him look mysterious.

In other words, he could be called 'someone with a story'.

With a slight smile, the man turned his gaze toward me.

"You should sit down, Ena James."

I pursed my lips.

However, instead of asking how he knew my name, I silently settled next to him.

I still couldn't see anything through that window.

Staring into empty space, my thoughts were completely blank.

Then, the man spoke up.

"You seem preoccupied. Is there anything on your mind?"

I don't even know who you are, yet that's the first thing you ask?

The man calmly looked at me, his eyes as if he were reminiscing a distant past, as if it were a dream.

A playful smile on his face, he teased me.

"Did you become unable to speak?"

I blinked and lowered my head, gazing down at the floor.

"No, it's just…"

I sighed.

「The past scenarios, the corpses, people's inexplicable behaviors, the murders, the deaths, a future strategy-」

My mind was a mess.

I wanted to stop thinking, yet there were so many thoughts that I wasn't really thinking properly about anything to begin with.

In more precise words, I might be emotionally agitated.

I might be in denial that I am emotionally agitated as well.

"I don't understand…"

Patiently, the man with dreamy eyes inquired, "What don't you understand?"

I… Then… At that moment…

I closed my eyes, my mind in chaos.

Humans are so hard to understand.

Yet, I felt it might be okay to say this.

"It doesn't make sense."

Why did Luca die? Why did he choose to save us? He was a scammer, it doesn't fit his personality.

Why did DHB's attitude suddenly change at the start of the first scenario? Why did he try to save people? He also spared me, was he actually a good person? In that case, why did he kill so many people?

And there may be so many other things I didn't understand as well.

"Why did Luca sacrifice himself? Why did Wiliam act so differently this time?"

Do you know the answer?

The man with dreamy eyes only smiled.

「And, there was this weird black system window.」

「And my skill is acting weird.」

「And Norwood died.」

「And Luca died.」

「And I only have one chance. I can't mess up.」

「And at this rate Wiliam is going to die.」

「And I'm not sure if I'm going to survive this scenario either.」

And I'm tired, why do I have to try to save people? Why does it have to be me? Why can't others just survive by themselves and not get involved with me?

「And they have forgotten everything that happened before.」

It's only the beginning of the scenarios but I just want it to stop. It's tiring to try to survive like that when you lived a peaceful life until now.

Just kill me.

I'm not a strong person. I'm not mentally prepared for something like that.

I hugged my knees, blankly staring at the floor.

I really don't understand why they are acting like this. Don't I know human emotions enough? Or is it logic I'm lacking? Wasn't survival a human instinct? Isn't this change a little drastic for a butterfly effect?

Can asking for someone's name really make that person take the initiative to explain the things they guessed out loud and attempt to save others? Isn't this logic a little far-fetched?

If I can't understand it, there will be more unpredictable variables and the scenarios will be harder to clear, especially since Wiliam and Luca were in the same scenario area as Norwood and me during the 2nd and 3rd scenario.

A voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"It's because you're missing important information."

I turned my gaze to him and saw him shake his head.

"Don't dwell on it too much, it's not something you would be able to guess in the current situation to begin with."

I complained, "Can't you just tell me?"

The man with dreamy eyes made a playful smile, almost as infuriating as Luca.

"It's not fun if I tell you."

Are you on my side or not?

I pouted, half-heartedly glaring at the air, when he chuckled.

"Well, I suppose I can give you a hint."

As I turned my head, his eyes glowed ominously. It was as if something fundamental had changed.

I guess I can spoil it. He was literally manipulating the probability of the possibilities of this world.

At that moment, the unknown man felt slightly dangerous.

Then, his eyes went back to normal as he gave puzzling advice.

"When go wake up, look under your friend's seat."

I tilted my head. How is this supposed to help me answer my questions?

"Although it won't solve your questions, this should help gather the 'important' information you're missing faster."

So you're giving me even more questions? You're going to add another problem because you think I didn't have a big enough headache?

I didn't know whether I should feel grateful or resentful.

"Are you teasing me?"

The man laughed.

Well, I couldn't deny that I at least felt a little better after 'talking' to someone.

"Ena James."

The voice of the man with dreamy eyes snapped me out of my thoughts.

I met his gaze.

"It's time to wake up now."

Everything brightened up.

Suddenly, I was back to the hospital's waiting room.

"…"

I mean, it should be the hospital's waiting room, because the white ceiling wasn't really a big clue. You can find white ceilings pretty much everywhere.

Was it a dream? I must have been pretty depressed to become so emotional like that.

By the way, what happened to the scenario? There shouldn't have been much time left, so shouldn't I fail it?

However, instead of trying to sit up, I remembered something.

「"When you wake up, look under your friend's seat."」

Just in case, I turned my gaze to the side, toward the directions of the chairs, confirming I was indeed inside of the hospital's waiting room at the same time.

Then, I saw a piece of paper.

I blinked.

A paper?

Maybe because of the position I fell in, or thanks to some kind of strange luck, it was out of arm's reach.

Extending my hand, I seized it and casually stuffed it inside my pocket, sitting up at the same time. With my amazing pickpocketing and stealth skills, nobody should have noticed (I hope so).

After all, there is a 50% probability this is thievery.

No, nevermind, there's a 90% chance it's the case. The remaining 10% is considering the possibility that it's just something thrown away instead of being put in the trash.

Anyway, I'm apparently alive.

Around me, I couldn't see any system window in the air. The scenario seemed to have ended. Moreover, Wiliam had killed two more people to complete the scenario. I knew that because the corpses of the young woman and the psychopath with a ponytail were damaged differently than if their death was caused by the system.

Did he choose only the most annoying ones?

My gaze lingered on the little girl's dead body for a moment.

Having lost a game, the only way she could survive was by killing three people like Wiliam.

「What's the use of feeling guilty?」

I heard someone sneering at me.

「Wasn't this all your fault anyway?」

That's not true. If there hadn't been any scenarios in the first place…

「But why was there a scenario?」

I slowly moved my gaze away.

「Shouldn't you understand that this apocalypse began because you wrote that story? Yet you haven't even felt an ounce of guilt about it? Aren't you ashamed?」

[??? Lv.4 is activated.]

「Or are you in denial?」

Ah.

「Murderer.」

My head still hurts.

「How could you save anyone if the only thing you can do is to cause the death of countless people?」

Then, my eyes met Wiliam's.

「You know it.」

However, the voice in my mind continued, attempting to pull me down.

It felt suffocating.

「Whether it is Luca or Norwood, they died because of you.」

And maybe even Lou-Ann as well…

"…Are you okay?"

Oh, I must still be dreaming. DHB just asked me how I was doing.

I blinked.

"…Yeah. I guess so."

My skill really has a problem.

The survivors were the rich man's son, the trio of nurses, the old man, handsome Wiliam, and me.

R.I.P. the dog.