The regressions continue (2)

Audrey opened her eyes and heard the sound of people talking around her.

It was a language she didn't know but strangely she could understand it.

'Praise the Fool!'

She was sitting in a high place in front of a desk, looking down to a black board along other people on the rows below. This arrangement was somewhat similar to a theater.

However, the others were all dressed in the same uniforms and listening to an adult standing in front of the board who seemed to be teaching something.

Was this a school?

The letters were unfamiliar. They didn't seem to be Rosellivan (Chinese) nor Loenese, Intisian, Ancient Hermes or anything she knew; but she could also understand them.

In a sense, this resembled her experience in Groselle's Travels.

Audrey thoughtfully analyzed the situation. The subject taught in front of her seemed to be quite advanced, the room was clean and the students seemed to come from quite well-off families… She also wondered how the lights in the ceiling worked.

It was strange.

It seemed like she was in a completely different world.

The architecture and unknown devices all around the room made her think back to Mr. World's words.

No, maybe it wasn't a different world. Since she was here thanks to a coin related to Mr. Fool, maybe it was a different era?

However, it should be impossible even for gods to travel so far back in time.

Unable to determine the situation she was in, Audrey shook her head.

This wasn't important now. She decided to think about it later.

The lights turned off and people began to panic, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What happened?"

"Is there a power outage?"

As the lights turned back on, Audrey appeased everyone and was relieved to still have her Beyonder abilities.

She looked around, searching for any signs of the other Tarot Club members, when her gaze paused on something in the middle of the room.

It wasn't there before.

With two small horns and wearing a small straw mat, a strange and fluffy creature was floating in the air.

"What is this?"

"Augmented reality?"

"A dokkaebi?"

People chatted between themselves but Audrey was confused.

'Augmented reality? Dokkaebi?'

What was this?

She turned to the person beside her and asked:

"What are augmented reality and dokkaebis?"

Her words were automatically translated in that unknown language.

The other frowned as if the answer was obvious.

"Augmented reality is… uh… When a device creates holograms…"

The student seemed to have trouble explaining it.

"And a dokkaebi is a legendary creature that appears in myths."

Audrey nodded and made an excuse.

"Ah, okay. Thank you, I guess I must've been tired."

However, she was even more confused now.

'What is an hologram? So is a dokkaebi benevolent or malevolent?'

It must've been common knowledge here.

Audrey didn't ask any more questions because she didn't want to attract attention.

[Now, now. All of you, relax in your seats and listen to me. From now on, I will tell you something very important!]

The students around her continued to chat while the teacher looked at the students in bewilderment.

She understood that this event shouldn't have been planned by the people here.

Or else, her spiritual intuition wouldn't be warning her that the current situation was dangerous.

"What is this doing here?"

The teacher searched for the source of the 'hologram' in confusion.

"Students, stop this right now. It isn't funny."

However, the students weren't responsible for the appearance of the dokkaebi.

[Haha, you are really loud.]

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

[I told you to be quiet.]

The dokkaebi's eyes turned red, something burst and the room became silent.

"K-"

There was a big hole in the forehead of the teacher who had been urging the students to make the dokkaebi leave.

"Kyaaaaa!!!"

Audrey calmly watched people panic as she used her Beyonder powers to appease them.

[This isn't a prank.]

Crackle.

However, this wasn't easy went the creature continued to make heads explode in front of everyone.

[It isn't a dream. It isn't a novel either.]

There was a cracking sound once again. One, two, three… Blood sprayed into the air as the heads of some people started to burst.

They were all the people who had protested against the dokkaebi, as well as the ones who screamed or went wild. Those who caused the slightest fuss had a hole in their heads.

Suddenly, the room became a bloodbath.

Audrey analyzed the situation. A terrorist seemed to be using unidentified supernatural powers to create a Beyonder event.

She couldn't determine if these powers were part of the known 22 pathways since she may be in another world or if they had another source, and whether or not the 'dokkaebi' was the one causing this or if it was controlled from the shadows.

She had tried to use Beyonder powers to hypnotize it but her spiritual intuition had warned her of a deadly danger if she were to try it, so in the end she didn't proceed with her plan. Instead, she had activated psychological invisibility.

The number of students remaining in the room were now only one third of what it was before. Since the place was quite big, it meant that dozens of people had been eliminated.

[This isn't the 'reality' that you know. Do you understand? So everyone shut up and listen to me.]

Thankfully, she hadn't tried to intervene.

Blood and body pieces filled the place. Now, the people didn't scream. Like primitive apes in front of a powerful predator, everyone just watched the dokkaebi with terror.

[Everyone, your lives have been nice so far. Isn't that right?]

With the sound of the dokkaebi's voice in the background, Audrey observed the others to create a plan.

For now, she had to figure out the 'terrorist''s plan, but she guessed that it wouldn't be long before the creature said it by itself. In case she ended up like the others, she decided to wait instead of asking it directly.

Then, the dokkaebi's horns rose like they were antennas, and its body floated to the ceiling of the train.

A moment later, a message rang out.

[#BI-7623 channel is open.]

[The constellations have entered.]

A small window emerged in front of everyone's blank eyes.

[The main scenario has arrived!]

+

[Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value]

Category: Main

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions: Kill one or more creatures.

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Compensation: 300 coins

Failure: Death

+

The dokkaebi smiled faintly as it became transparent and disappeared into the next space.

[Then, good luck everyone. Please show me an interesting story.]

Audrey's eyes narrowed.

Maintaining her psychological invisibility, she watched the situation unfold.

[5:00]

[4:59]

And when there was only 5 minutes left…

Tack.

She got up.

"Haa… Haa…"

Audrey headed to the kid armed with a knife who had continuously killed other classmates in the past few minutes and soundlessly approached her before she could harm another person.

The girl was startled when a student she hadn't noticed blocked her path and clenched the bloody knife in her hand.

"Calm down. I don't want to harm you."

The student had smooth blond hair and emerald green eyes. She was a breathtaking beauty. Amidst this gruesome scene full of scattered body parts and dead body, she still seemed strangely noble.

The girl was soothed by the blond student's calm voice and relaxed, as if these words contained some sort of power. Then, her eyes became lost in the blonde's green eyes, losing her mind in that mesmerizing gaze.

"Good. Now, you will listen to my next instructions."

The girl's surroundings grew distant, only hearing the strange blonde's reassuring voice making her fall deeper into the abyss. She was hypnotized.

"Since you're a good person, you're going to do a good thing to save your remaining classmates."

To save them from herself.

Some more words were added, bypassing the girl's remaining psychological resistance. Now, she couldn't even register what words she heard, letting them directly enter her subconscious.

[3:37]

Soon came the blonde's last instructions.

"Kill yourself."

And the girl who had killed her fellow classmates to survive slowly lifted her arm, bringing the bloody knife to her neck.

Then, in a daze, she sliced it.

Slash!

Under Audrey's indifferent gaze, the girl's blood slowly dripped down, staining some areas of the floor that weren't dirty yet.

Drip. Drip.

And it continued to drip down…

Drip.

A system message announced that she had completed the scenario.

[1:24]

She watched the blood darken and the girl's skin turn a purplish color, a peaceful expression on the dead body's face.

Then Audrey turned back.

[Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value has ended.]

***

"Mr. Star?"

Leonard turned toward the sound of the voice and saw Audrey. It hadn't been long since he had separated from Miss Magician.

Audrey already knew Leonard's face from the time they went to the Hall of Truth while Leonard could recognize Audrey's characteristics he had seen above the gray fog since she hadn't put on any disguise.

"Miss Justice."

Audrey approached Leonard, walking alongside him in silence, and stared at the buildings in the distance.

"This is a strange sight, isn't it?"

Leonard nodded.

"Yes. It's like a completely different world."

Audrey didn't comment on this.

"Do you think this is Mr. Fool or Mr. World's dream?"

Leonard also looked into the distance.

"I don't know."

They then shared their experiences of the previous 'Beyonder event' called the first scenario, not mentioning the people they hadn't saved and ignoring the ones they had watched die.

In a corner of their hearts, they hoped that this was someone else's dream so that the people here wouldn't be 'real' people, then it would mean that the ones that died were only illusions. They created excuses for their own indifference in their mind, thinking that it was due to their belief that it wasn't reality, and not their divinity taking control over their emotions.

Because if it were a dream, it would make everything easier.