Chapter 65
[You have learned about the 'run-based gameplay element.']
[You are currently on Run 2.]
[You can now check the list of death counts for each run and the endings you've collected.]
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[●Death Count by Run]
[●Collected Endings]
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Can I... check them?
I was confused, so I checked what the status window had told me.
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[●Death Count by Run]
[Total Death Count: 15]
[Reduced Death Count: 0]
-[Run 1 Death Count: 1]
-[Run 2 Death Count: 14]
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What the hell is this?
So that's what "runs" meant...?
I died once in Run 1 and then immediately moved on to Run 2?
There were so many things I couldn't understand, but as the status window said, I had learned about the 'run-based gameplay element.'
And that made sense.
I had reached one ending in Run 1 and moved on to Run 2.
I thought about my first death.
It wasn't being torn apart by a vampire, nor was it me disemboweling myself and dying. It also wasn't being eaten by Mom and Dad after they turned into ghouls.
I was bitten by a vampire.
I died after being bitten by a vampire.
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[●Collected Endings]
[Nonhuman]
-[You became a vampire and brought about the world's destruction.]
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But I didn't die from being bitten. I also didn't die immediately after becoming a vampire. After becoming a vampire, I acted for a while and died later, all while continuing until I destroyed the world.
It was only natural that I had no memory of that process.
Because once I became nonhuman, my cognition disappeared. And since I was no longer judged to be the normal 'me,' it went into a kind of auto-pilot. So the whole process was skipped and I moved on to Run 2.
I thought I had died to a vampire and then immediately opened my eyes in the subway, but in fact I had become a vampire, destroyed the world, and only then crossed over to the next run and awakened.
"..."
My memories of the previous run are... still hazy.
But one thing was clear: I had become a vampire because of the 'progenitor' in front of me, and in the end I ruled the world together with the progenitor.
During that process, I seem to have grown fairly close to the progenitor... I remember sharing breath and warmth together. Rather than feeling disgust at it, I felt some kind of comfort. An emotion I didn't want to admit.
Wait.
Hadn't my cognition disappeared?
Then what are these memories?
Ah... I see.
I was a ghoul at first. I became a ghoul and then was promoted to a vampire. I remember at least a little of that process too.
One question remained... In my memories, I was very close to the progenitor. We even grew our bloodline together. And I became the vampire's angel and sent the vampires to hell?
I don't understand it... If things had gone like that, there's no way I would have sent the vampires to hell. Judging by the atmosphere alone, if anything, it looks like I would have made heaven, not hell.
"Gron! Snap out of it!"
I was jolted out of my reverie by Senior Spangdal's sharp shout.
"Ah... Senior Spangdal."
"Hngh!"
The hypnosis had been lifted.
What I saw in front of me was long-haired Senior Spangdal, trembling while hugging me.
She looked flustered and anxious.
Senior Spangdal wasn't some emotionless superhuman. She was a dependable senior, but of course there were times when she grew weak.
But Senior Spangdal... even when she weakens, the moment I start whining she snaps back to her senses and comforts me instead. She's the sort who gets stronger when there's someone to protect. Very dependable, even with a hopeless loser like me.
So I feel very at ease.
Senior Spangdal is a very familiar, warm woman.
Together with her, I think I could live in this hell just fine.
...
And a similar feeling...
I feel the same toward Secriem, the progenitor trembling over there too.
At that realization, a fierce disgust—and contradictory feelings opposite to it—surged up. I was feeling far too much toward something that was nothing more than a vampire.
More than anything... what I realized.
Secriem standing over there seemed to have realized it too.
"Ah, ah... so that's how it all turned out."
The progenitor gazes at me with a wistful look.
Tears are welling in her eyes. Now that she clearly understands the fear and confusion she had been feeling until just now, only her feelings for me remain.
"Get up. Come here."
"..."
"Come with me."
"Vampire Ghahnak... you're mine, aren't you? So don't stay over there—come to me already. Come close and whisper my name. Hurry."
It was like lightning struck my head at those words.
The vampire angel's true name is Ghahnak!!!
Secriem, that progenitor, made me into a ghoul and then raised me into a vampire. The name she gave me when I was promoted to vampire was Ghahnak...!
This is a huge clue!
A clue to defeating that vampire angel!
"You two... really do have something going on."
Then Senior Spangdal said with downcast eyes.
"Gron. Is that vampire angel really you?"
"That..."
"What are you, anyway? Human? An agent? Or a vampire?"
Senior Spangdal's body, holding me, is trembling.
"Senior Spangdal."
"I don't know... I really don't know... if that vampire angel is really you, Gron."
More than anything, I'm afraid.
Of Senior Spangdal's interrogation.
"What did you ask the demon for back then?"
I couldn't answer that. Naturally, Senior Spangdal realized everything just by looking at my expression.
"It was you. You made some strange wish, didn't you?"
ㅡdrip.
ㅡdrip.
Tears spill down from Senior Spangdal's eyes.
"Why? Why would you do that? Why?"
I felt an unbearably horrifying sense of despair in this situation. If only Senior Spangdal hadn't known anything, she wouldn't be hurting like this.
"Why did you keep deceiving me all this time? Was everything a lie?"
"..."
"Can't you tell me?"
"Senior Spangdal. I..."
Suddenly I wondered what would happen if I told her about runs and regression here. But the moment I thought that, a chill ran through my whole body. I still remember Jaaldi's final demeanor.
Can I really not share this with anyone at all?
"I..."
"Are you going to go to that vampire?"
The air grows heavy.
The progenitor and Senior Spangdal glare at each other.
I grabbed Senior Spangdal's hand.
"Senior Spangdal. The most precious person to me is you."
"U, uh?"
"I only wanted a better future. I never... intended to betray you or hurt you, Senior Spangdal."
"Then..."
ㅡWHOOSH!
In that instant, an intense presence erupted from the progenitor.
"That woman... so it's because of that woman. That's why you won't come to me."
Red eyes.
Lengthening fangs.
A vicious aura rises.
"Ghahnak. If you won't come to me, I'll make you my own vampire again."
You're going to make me a vampire?
"It doesn't matter anymore. Ghahnak, I only need you."
Senior Spangdal rises to her feet.
"Shut up."
"What?"
"You're going to make Gron into a vampire? How dare you say something like that? You don't know how much Gron hates vampires. In fact, the one he hates most of all is you, yet you're still spouting nonsense like you own the place, acting all high and mighty...?"
"You...!"
The progenitor's expression twisted.
The next moment.
Her figure disappeared.
"Wait! Secriem! Senior Spangdal!"
I shouted, reaching out, but Senior Spangdal also melted into the shadows in an instant. No—those two can't fight here.
We can cooperate!
By recalling my memories of Run 1, I somehow managed to form a united front with the progenitor. On top of that, I even learned the vampire angel's true name. If I can somehow find a solution to this situation and regress, I can end it.
But why...!
ㅡSWISH!
Secriem and Senior Spangdal clash.
The vampire's claws and black thorns collide, creating sparks. Thorns that burst forth like an explosion pierce the progenitor's body. A flying blade of blood tears through Senior Spangdal's clothes.
"Stop it! Both of you!"
I wanted to stop them, but neither of them was someone I could do anything about.
Senior Spangdal is an incredibly powerful esper. And Secriem is also a progenitor who has survived to this day.
They didn't listen to me and kept shouting as they fought.
"I said stop!"
The classic method.
I threw myself right into the middle of the fight. But the two of them simply shifted positions and continued battling there.
I couldn't even keep up with them.
ㅡSPLASH!
Their blood splatters.
I could only watch the two women fight in utter despair.
Senior Spangdal, covered in blood.
The progenitor, with multiple holes punched through her body.
The two glare at each other.
"Hah, hah... I can never let you make Gron into a vampire."
"It's not Gron, it's Ghahnak. I'll make Ghahnak my own vampire again. I don't care about a world like this as long as I have Ghahnak!"
"You don't even know how much Gron hates vampires!"
It's over.
The battle between the two reached its final stage.
Black thorns pierce the progenitor.
The vampire's claws slash through Senior Spangdal's chest.
The two collapsed at the same time, spitting up blood.
"Senior Spangdal!"
Why did it have to come to this...!
"Kkh, kkh... Gron..."
Senior Spangdal, collapsed on the ground, looks up at me tearfully.
She reaches out with difficulty and touches my face.
I couldn't take that hand.
Because I had to give first aid.
"Why! There was no need to fight like this! I didn't want to see Senior Spangdal get hurt!"
"H-Hold my hand... hurry..."
"I told you not to talk...!"
"Your hand, hurry... your hand..."
In the end, I used one hand to stop the bleeding and held Senior Spangdal's hand with the other.
"It's warm... Gron..."
"Please, please...!"
"Gron... there is something there, right... a, a way... a way to solve this situation..."
"Yes! There is! If I go back, definitely! I'll definitely resolve it!"
"Heh, heh... where exactly are you going back to...? Hngh."
I couldn't stop the bleeding.
"Gron... I love you."
"Me too! I love you too, Senior Spangdal!"
Senior Spangdal smiles at my shout.
I already know.
Even if I regress and go back.
That this current Senior Spangdal would be gone.
"Don't forget me..."
"I will never forget you, never...!"
"Thank you... my junior... I believe that you... will do well..."
Her smile grows faint.
Senior Spangdal's hand slipped away.
"Ha, haa...! Haa!"
I hear ragged breathing from behind me.
The battered progenitor was approaching.
"Ghahnak... come this way... I'm here for you. Let's live together, okay?"
As I thought.
I hate vampires.
"Secriem."
"Gh, Ghahnak...?"
"What I hate the most, you know."
"Huh?"
"It's vampires."
"W-Wait!"
Rather than becoming a vampire.
Death is better.
ㅡWHOOSH!
I drew a pistol.
And put the muzzle to my head.
"Ghahnak! No!!!"
I pulled the trigger.
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[You have earned a new achievement.]
[Achievement: Committed suicide with a pistol]
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[■■■.■■■ has detected your death.]
[■■■.■■■ is approaching you.]