Chapter 111

  this is a fictional story by realTensai

  [YOU DIED!]

  Alvis’ consciousness faded away, yet returned within seconds. However, instead of Charles standing right before him, a middle-aged woman with glasses stared at him. His nose picked up the familiar odor of books and, after rubbing his eyes, he could also see them. With his head not burning anymore, his brain provided him with the sole explanation.

  I’ve respawned.

  However, this meant he had died. It meant he had failed.

  A vortex of images flooded his mind: Gilsymbato’s rampage, Dane’s death, Maya’s death, Lia’s breakdown, and Charles’ true identity haunting him like a never-ending nightmare. Dane and Maya’s dead eyes stared at him, whilst he could hear Lia blame him for everything and Gilsymbato and Charles laughing at his misery. He grabbed his head, shaking it to get rid of these images.

  Even though his body didn’t hurt anymore, he could barely stand on his feet. His stomach twisted, guilt and despair eating him up from within. The cold sweat forming on his body couldn’t cool down his rising body temperature, everything around him spinning as the past, present, and future danced in his head in a festival of death.

  Alvis lost his balance and fell.

  “Hey! Is everything all right?” the librarian asked, her wide eyes scanning Alvis.

  Yet he didn’t even hear her.

  I underestimated him.

  Even with his thoughts all over the place, this one stood out. Charles’ arrogant yet emotionless grin was still vivid for Alvis to see. He had orchestrated everything, defeating Alvis before he even knew who he was up against.

  I underestimated this game.

  They were trapped in a survival game, yet for some reason, Alvis had acted as if this wasn’t the case. Maybe his ability to respawn had subconsciously held him back, making him unable to confront reality. Everyone fought for their survival, which meant they would do everything to win. It wasn’t a matter of good against evil, it was just survival.

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  “Hey!”

  Alvis’ eyes shot up and landed on the librarian, who had called him. Her eyebrows narrowed in what seemed to be worry and confusion. Her considerate gaze helped him calm down and finally arrive in the present.

  I’ve respawned.

  He took a deep breath in and out, the peaceful scent of the library cooling his head. But it also made him realize where he was.

  “Wait, I’m in the library, which means…”

  There had been two times he had visited the library within the survival game. The first time was to complete the first quest, and he was together with Sekki and Ulmi. Neither of them was next to him right now.

  The other time was right after the Priest had announced the quest for the first kill, the reward being instant freedom. He had gone to the library to research barriers, knowing that breaking it was the only way to peacefully end this game.

  Alvis’ checkpoint was that moment.

  His throat dried out as this thought finalized in his head, the calm he had earned a second ago vanishing again.

  I respawned two days before my death. I respawned one day before the declaration of war and the first kill. I respawned on the same day Mr. Woltzer would disappear.

  Alvis’ mind raced. The time he had gained felt like it was already slipping through his hands. With every breath he took, he marched closer to his ruin. He bit his tongue, forcing the race to halt, forcing himself to calm down.

  I don’t have time to despair. Everything will repeat itself if I don’t act. Think!

  His brain got to work and remembered what he had to achieve.

  My priority is stopping the first kill and Mr. Woltzer’s disappearance. If I do this, I’ll get more time before the races declare war on each other. I can use this time to get through to Elise and make her break the barrier.

  Slowly, his head started working again.

  I can do this, I can do this.

  Yet it was because his head started working again that he remembered one crucial thing. The fight between demons and humans over a quest, the conflict in which someone almost died, the point of no return; it was happening right now.

  If I hurry now, I might make it before it escalates.

  “Hey, ma’am,” Alvis shouted, the urgency of this situation making him forget proper etiquette. “Contact Mr. Woltzer and tell him there is a fight going on right before the main building. He should take a group of teachers with him and rush to it now.”

  The librarian peered over her glasses, her gaze hard to read.

  “I think you might be confusing something. Mr. Woltzer had just sent a message to all the teachers telling us that a fight between humans and demons broke out near the gym. He and nearby teachers are currently occupied with that.”

  “What?!”

  Alvis could hardly catch on, this new information catching him off guard. Yet the dots in his head immediately connected.

  That’s why the teachers were so late last time, even though the commotion had been so massive.

  Suddenly, Victor’s words replayed in Alvis’ head.

  He told me that this fight wasn’t a coincidence.

  And it was with this thought that one person’s face appeared in Alvis’ head.

  Of course.

  The fight. The delay. The setup.

  It was him all along.

  “Charles!”