Chapter 18

I quickly grabbed hold of Yumi's hand before she fell. "I got you, Yumi!" I yelled.

"Don't let go!" Yumi yelled back.

I didn't want to let go. If I did, she would die. "I won't let go!" I said.

Yumi's weight started to gradually grow. She was getting heavier. I then used my other hand to help the hand that was holding Yumi. However, I started to slip also.

I didn't want to let go. I couldn't.

"Ah! Haruta, let go!" Yumi noticed me slipping.

"No! I won't!" I used all my force to pull her up, but I wasn't strong enough. If only we didn't split up from the others.

"Haruta! Do it!" Yumi cried.

I couldn't. I couldn't lose another friend. Eiji died first. I couldn't let another one go.

Yumi then grabbed one of her arrows and stabbed my hand.

"Agh!" I screamed in pain. I lost grasp of Yumi and she fell.

My heart dropped. She didn't scream as she fell. Instead, she smiled.

"Yumi!" I cried. My heart was in more pain than my hand. I couldn't even feel my hand.

I...

I couldn't save Yumi.

***

I just sat there, looking at the broken part of the bridge.

"Oh wow. Your friend just died? Σ(º ﾛ º๑) I'm sorry. ꉂꉂ◟(˃᷄ꇴ˂᷅ ૂ๑)"

I didn't know what to think at that moment. I couldn't even say anything back to the developer.

"I guess this is what you would call...karma?

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣀

⠀⠀⠀⠰⡿⠿⠛⠛⠻⠿⣷

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣤⣄⣀⡀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠛⠛⣿⣿⣿⡛⠿⠷

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⠿⠿⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⠇

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠁

⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣷⣄⠀⢶⣶⣷⣶⣶⣤⣀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⠻⠗

⠀⠀⠀⣰⣿⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣠⣤⣴⣶⡄

⠀⣠⣾⣿⣿⣿⣥⣶⣶⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠿⠛⠃

⢰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄

⢸"

"What do you mean by 'karma?!'" I yelled.

"|ω･;) Wow. You don't have to yell at me just because you lost your friend. ‎(〃´o｀)=3 I was just saying that because you never answered me earlier that karma took its toll on you. That's all."

"Karma or not...Do you just enjoy watching people die! Why did you let Yumi die?!"

"Well, if you think about it, I didn't do anything. This was all because you were too weak. Not being able to pull her up, you technically allowed her to fall."

Ah. That's right. I was too weak to pull her up. If I stayed there, then we would have both died...

"Thinking about it, huh? (｡◕ ᎑ ◕｡)~♡ Well, you should be. It's not my fault that Eiji and Yumi died. Yazoyo was the one who killed Eiji, and you, Yumi. ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*) I did nothing to your friends."

"But you did lie to us that we were supposed to respawn."

The developer then went quiet again. After a few seconds, he answered. "Did I? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "

I want to kill this guy. However, I don't know who he is. "I need to find Sakura and Yazoyo." I said while getting up.

Yumi is now dead also. I could still feel my legs trembling. It doesn't feel real. Did Yumi really die?

"Have fun finding your friends!

　　 ／￣￣￣＼

　／　　　　　＼

／　 （●）（●）＼

|　（ﾄｪｪｪｪｪｪｪｪｪｪｲ）|

＼　＼ｪｪｪｪｪｪｪｪ／ ／

／　　　　　　　ヽ,

/　　　　　　　　　 \

P.S. Do something with that wound of yours before you get blood poisoning."

I started to walk towards the entrance of the cave. What would I tell Sakura and Yazoyo?

My hand starts to sting as I neared the front. "Ah."

"Leader!" Yazoyo yelled out and ran up to me. "You are alright!"

"Yeah." I forced a smile.

"Where's Yumi?" Sakura asked after she looked around.

My heart began to throb, and it became hard to swallow. I could feel myself starting to cry.

Sakura's expression then turned stale. "Don't tell me..."

"I...I was too weak to hold on to her..." I fell to the floor and grabbed my hand with the arrow in it.

"Yumi is...dead..." Yazoyo looked to the ground.

"Mage user, we need to do something with your hand for now. I'm sorry for your loss. But you need to treat your hand before you get an infection." Dana grabbed my hand.

"Yeah. Thanks." I forced a smile. Dana smiled back, but I could tell that he felt awful.

I wish we could just leave this game.