Chapter 43


    The school is the primary filter that blocks the monsters that are infesting the outside.


    It was neither more nor less than that.


    Even during my school days, I didn''t particrly like school.


    ...But what is this feeling?


    Why am I angry?


    If Mary''s stage is being moved to school, shouldn''t I be afraid of Mary recovering her power?


    However, strength started flowing into my hands.


    Apparently, school meant more to me.


    "This is a precious ce for me."


    A ce for memories with the children.


    "...So?"


    Mary responded coldly.


    "So, give it back right now,<strong> you damn bitch!!!]</strong>


    I lost my temper and rushed at Mary, attacking her.


    Mary, who had regained her power, evade my attack with greater precision and speed.


    Then she manipted the vines to restrain my body.


    Being lost in anger, I was easily caught.


    Because I was restrained by the joints, I couldn''t use my strength.


    Mary appeared to prefer being sure, so only after she pinned me to the hallway floor that she stopped floating and came down.


    "Urgh...!"


    "E... It''s no use. This is Mary''s stage now."


    "Let me... Go!"


    I spoke, knowing it wouldn''t work.


    Like a child.


    Even if I was an adult on the inside, it was nowhere to be found.


    I barely regained my senses and tried to move to another mirror in the school, but it didn''t work.


    "It won''t work. E. All the mirrors in the school were eroded by vines. E''s mirror movement is annoying..."


    "Shut up...!"


    "E''s mansion still has a mirror. Why don''t you run away? You could just run away to the mansion... Is school that important to you?"


    Every single word from Mary shook my mind.


    The more I was driven to a crisis, the more desperately I tried to get out.


    I was annoyed that I even bothered to exin it to Mary.


    "It''s annoying! Why is there such a difference even though we''re both bosses! The mirror is older than the phone, so it has its own roots too!"


    "Ah... E is angry again. Shut up. Mary doesn''t like noise. But Mary is a good monster. She''ll end it painlessly..."


    Bzzt...


    <strong>[<strong>Four... Four... Four... Four... <strong><strong>Four...</strong></strong></strong><strong><strong><strong>Four...</strong></strong></strong>]</strong>¹


    As Mary released her supernatural power, the speakers on the school ceiling activated.


    A telephone is a machine that transmits sound.


    It was going to slowly kill me by connecting it to a broadcast speaker and sent out a cursed voice suggesting death.


    <strong>[<strong><strong><strong>Four... Four... Four... Four... <strong><strong>Four...</strong></strong></strong><strong><strong><strong>Four...</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>Four...</strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong>]</strong>


    My heart starts beating faster because of the curse. My head gets hot. A slight taste of blood began to waft from my mouth.


    Mary whispers.


    "You''re lost, E. Just like Mary."


    Am I really going to die like this? Why did I even came into this game?


    To die in vain while ying a game.


    It''s not even a funny joke.


    What if this was all a dream?


    "Getting lost and trembling with longing and fear, desperately looking for someone. Perhaps, E, isn''t that how everyone feels before they die?"


    Ah, yes, a dream.


    If this was all a dream, like at the end of Alice in Wondend, I''d wake up and y this game again.


    If that''s the reality... If it''s such a reality...


    I don''t like that either.


    Iughed bitterly. Even if I die, I want this ce to be real.


    I quietly closed my eyes, conscious of the rose ne the children gave me.


    I wanted to keep my promise.


    <strong>[Four... Four... Four... Four... "One. Two. Three..." Four...]</strong>


    "?!"


    "?!"


    A strange thing happened.


    Someone else''s voice came through the speaker.


    Did they interrupt the voice of the curse...? Besides, it''s a very familiar voice.


    It''s Ha-rim''s!


    <strong>["One. Two. Three..." Four... "One. Two. Three..." Four... "One. Two. Three..." Four...]</strong>


    The speaker''s curse is weakening.


    What happened? This method was not even in the strategy of the game!


    ...I think I know.


    A gimmick-type curse that amplifies the power of the curse by repeating the ominous number 4.


    By inserting another number in the middle, it weakens the meaning of the act of repeating itself.


    The act of repeating an ominous number has converted into an act of counting.


    With that, the curse has lost its identity.


    "E! Are you listening? I''m sorry for not following your words! But we''re in the same club. With E being apart it feels a bit off... Hehe! You know what I mean, right?"


    It would be dangerous for the children to be here... It''s such a bad situation, so why am I so relieved?


    Fools are incontroble. Especially if the fool is in an equal rtionship.


    Mary murmurs.


    "E''s longing (death) has faded... <strong>What a shame.</strong>"


    Mary swung her knife at my head. Oh no. I should have somehow cut off the vines!


    nk-!


    Woah. I though the knife would cut my head in two, but what I heard was an unexpectedly metallic sound.


    When I opened my eyes that reflexively closed, I saw Suho holding his shield in front of me.


    "Suho..."


    "E, you''re always strong, but sometimes it seems like you could use some help."


    Suho skillfully used the shield to the extent that he could not bepared to the old him. It was like a wall that didn''t move even though he dodges Mary''s attacks as much as possible.


    "I''ve seen you distant from the others before. It seems that it wasn''t an illusion that you looked lonely."


    Was I like that? I don''t remember...


    "Did you actually know that someday it would turn out like this?"


    "..."


    "Fighting alone, I mean."


    Kyeong-min came next to me and said.


    "Hey, E. Just as you protect us, we want to protect you too. Suho and Eun-jeong too. I''ve long forgotten the day we first met."


    "That''s right. E is our friend! I... I''m scared, but I want to stay by your side!"


    Eun-jeong also spoke, with them talking one after another like a boy''s cartoon.


    I was inexhaustibly ashamed, but I decided to not show it.


    I tore off the vine with my teeth and stoop up. Then I made a joke for on reason.


    "Kyeong-min, is it pretty? Is E pretty?"


    "What?!"


    "You''re hesitating? Didn''t you say E''s eyes were pretty? You''re such a flirt!"


    "Haa... Seriously... Aren''t you too easygoing..!"


    I smiled lightly.


    Mary said bluntly, as if offended by my appearance.


    "Even if the number increases, nothing will change, E. Mary regained her strength and E is still weak."


    "Huh? I can''t properly hear someone who has no friends."


    "..."


    Mary attacked even more violently.


    Suho focused on defense, and Kyeong-min''s chain was effective against Mary, who was light despite her high strength.


    Mary, unable to inflict significant damage, cast a wide area curse, but when Eun-jeong shook the bell, it was purified.


    "Tsk."


    When Mary gestures, the vines aim at the kids. I cut them right away.


    The stage gimmicks are clear in my head.


    If we focus only on defense, we won''t be defeated.


    If James and Maria seed in the house robbing, it''s our victory!


    "E. You''re hopeful, but you''re an idiot. Even if E''s strength is perfect, Mary can still kill everyone in an instant. In other words, it''s a matter of time."


    "You are the idiot, Mary."


    <strong>POV Switch - 3rd Person</strong>


    Mary tilted her head and raised a question mark above her head.


    As she thought about it, she noticed a sense of incongruity.


    Mary checked the yground. The sunflowers stems that used to grow there were no longer growing!


    "Why...?"


    "E is also surprised right now. As expected, it''s not impossible for Ha-rim."


    "...!"


    There is only one reason why the stage isn''t growing!


    Because Ha-rim is demolishing it!


    <em>-Umm... Since this phone box has grown like a nt, wouldn''t it stop working if I dig up the ground?</em>


    <em>-Whenever I hear an iing call, I impulsively want to pick up the receiver. I should use earplugs.</em>


    <em>-Urgh! Ignoring the public phone and throwing away my cell phone, a phone grew out of my clothes and forcibly connected to me! And if I hold a cell phone, it connects forcibly to someone! What? Who is it? Satoru?</em>


    <em>-Ah, looks like that if I hold a medium like a cell phone, it will always connect to another medium of the same type! So, if I use a walkie-talkie and just keep talking to myself, I won''t be attacked! because the walkie-talkies are half-duplex! Strategy discovered!²</em>


    <em>-What would happen if I let other monsters hear the cursed voiceing from the receiver? Ah. It stopped. Can you hear me, Satoru? Hello?</em>


    <strong>POV Switch - E</strong>


    "If you dismantle the traps and monsters on the stage, the erosion will weaken. I just realized it too. Mary. I wasn''t the enemy you had to deal with."


    She is the main character because she is an existence that can advance even if you don''t tell the strategy.


    Even if she hadn''t met me, she would have survived.


    Mary said nothing.


    She just kept attacking. We fended off Mary''s attack and time continue to tick away.


    As if in a fierce tug-of-war, we fought with both sides equal.


    James... Are you not done? Ha-rim must be at the limit of her stamina...


    "...E."


    Mary suddenly stopped attacking and retreated.


    She seemed to think for a moment.


    Then she nodded.


    "Are you buying time?"


    "...!"


    You noticed it!


    "You sent someone to Mary''s house. Ah. If this continues, Mary might lose. Then, Mary won''t be able to find them."


    Mary anxiously pulled her hat down and nervously stirred her legs around.


    We were just looking at her figure.


    Because our stamina was depleted from fighting, everyone was breathing hard.


    "...Then I should use it."


    "...? That?"


    "I received it."


    The item in Mary''s hand is the same M.P series as the previous ne.


    It''s a trauma music box.


    But it was an item I had never seen before in the game.


    An item that only existed by name in the game files.


    You have that?


    Unless you''re the creator, how did you get it?


    Mary activated the music box.


    In a dark ce, the melody of the music box gave off an eerie atmosphere.


    It is something often used in horror movies.


    I tore the amulet of mental protection I had prepared just in case.


    It''s a waste because it''s disposable, but it''s better be safe.


    "...?"


    Wait a minute, why isn''t it working? Shouldn''t there be a bright and shiny effect?


    "E! Wake up, E!"


    Kyeong-min yells at me.


    But my eyes slowly started to close.


    My vision was stained with darkness.


    <strong>[Status Abnormality: Trauma]</strong>


    ...


    I was at the cinema.


    A dusty, run-down cinema.


    Most of the chairs were broken due to poor management.


    Even the screen had a lot of torn parts, but it didn''t interfere with watching the movie.


    I stared at the screen expressionlessly while eating the popcorn next to me.


    In the movie, my parents appeared. The old me also came out together, but it was somehow awkward.


    In the movie, my parents and I met eyes on my way back from school, but both of them just passed by.


    They seemed to avoid any contact and quickly ran away instead.


    At home, we didn''t encounter each other. Rather, they even left the food outside the door for me.


    This awkward situation continued until one day.


    Both of them died in a car ident due to drowsy driving.


    I held a simple funeral for them, and as if nothing happened, I came back to school and attended sses.


    My only friend, a senior, reacted strangely after seeing me like that.


    <em><strong>-Why the hell are you acting like this?</strong></em>


    <em>-What are you talking about, senior?</em>


    <em><strong>-It''s easier if you just cry out loud. At least you will look like a human if you frown, get annoyed, and rant.</strong></em>


    <em>-Saying that all of a sudden makes me ufortable. Did I do something wrong?</em>


    <em><strong>-You''re totally abnormal. There''s somethingcking in you. Do you have a mental illness?</strong></em>


    <em>-You''re being harsh.</em>


    I reacted to the pranks yed by my senior,ughing and getting angry at him.


    I don''t think there''s anything wrong with my mind.


    My senior despised me.


    <em><strong>-When your parents died, you didn''t shed a single tear.</strong></em>


    <em>-...</em>


    <em><strong>-Will you not cry even if I die?</strong></em>


    <em>-...</em>


    My senior passed away in an ident after he said that to me.


    People who normally wouldn''t approach me for bringing misfortune looked at me like a murderer after my close friend died.


    My parents passed away and my senior also got into an ident.


    The next day, I stood in front of my senior''s grave.


    <em><strong>-Will you not cry even if I die?</strong></em>


    What the senior said at the end lingered in my ears.


    A normal person would have cried here.


    But still, there are no tears.


    What the hell am I.


    An abnormal person who doesn''t shed a single tear.


    I was a person who didn''t deserve to have a friend next to me.


    Maybe the reactions I showed to the pranks yed by my senior were deliberately did in consideration of the reactions he wanted.


    Was it right to reveal my emotions?


    Was the senior really my friend?


    I threw the popcorn in my hand.


    Hallucinations are heard.


    I grabbed my messy hair with one hand and looked at my other hand, and there was a hand mirror help up.


    The mirror reflected me.  was standing there. E, not me.


    I had entered E''s body.


    Acting with E''s personality, my impulsive behavior was also influenced by her body.


    But after I got used to my body, I was less influenced by it.


    To some extent, I thought I was acting on my own judgement.


    The feelings towards the children are also mine.


    But I''ve be a monster.


    Monsters are influenced by people''s thoughts.


    Because the kids thought of me as a friend, I came to think of them as a friend too.


    The angry personality and everything I showed after adapting my body were all because of the way I acted when I was affected by E''s body, so my personality ended up being corrected to that.


    Hallucinations tell me.


    [You are a mirror! You can''t express anything if you don''t have a target to shine on!]


    My feelings for the children are not my true feelings.


    [Your friend died and you can''t cry, there''s no way you could have that kind of heart!]


    "Ah... Ah..."


    I only pretended to be E in front of the kids while using her body.


    Even though my best friend died.


    Even though I went through a painful thing, I couldn''t have possibly felt any friendship towards the children.


    "Ahhh...!"


    I am a mirror. I am a mirror.


    A person who does not shed a single tear even when a friend dies, no, not even a person.


    So, my rtionship with the kids is just an empty lie- No rtionship I''ve ever made on my own.


    I look in the mirror. Only E is standing.


    It''s futile. I rather die.


    I closed my eyes.


    "Wait a moment!!! What are you closing your eyes for?!"


    Ah?


    The screen rips open and someone jumps out. And they hit my stomach-?!


    "Kyaa?!"


    I rolled across the floor. Why do these bastards like to hit me so much...!


    "Urgh..."


    "Older brother! It''s not fun like this, you know?! Can''t you see that the kids are barely holding on outside?!"


    "You''re... E?"


    E was standing in front of me. She was looking down at me with a pathetic expression.


    "What. First time seeing E? Well, outside, E''s image is not reflected in the mirror. How is it? How do you feel seeing such a pretty E?"


    "No, weren''t you dead?"


    "..."


    "As soon as you took my body, you were hit by a chandelier and died."


    "..."


    "...? Are you embarrassed of... Kya!"


    E in front of me swung her knife to prevent me from opening my mouth.


    She seemed ashamed that she took my body and died whileughing.


    The corner of E''s mouth lifted slightly when I let ou a squeal.


    "Wow. Come on! Are youpletely a girl? Should I call you sister? That''s too funny!"


    Making fun of someone when she sees a gap is totally like the original E.


    It''s annoying...! Kyeong-min, who was teased by me, must have felt the same way.


    I''m sorry, Kyeong-min!


    "I''m a guy, even if I''m in a girl''s body! It''s just that I got a bit used to the female body!"


    Even thinking about being in a woman''s body still makes me feel ufortable.


    "I think I know what you''re thinking. Older brother''s body is, no, because this is a special ce. Is your soul still a girl?"


    "What?"


    I looked down at my body.


    This ce is not real. I thought it was a ce simr to a imaginary world that you see in cartoons, so I believed I was in my original male form.