Escape - Chapter 37.2
Chapter 37.2
Instead of responding, she tugged on Damian’s arm. He followed obediently, his gaze lingering on the fang as they passed.
They reached the teleport station with its shimmering white pools.
“Hey, what’s happening?”
Someone cried out in alarm, staring at her stall. The vendor, whose attention had been fixed on the departing couple, was momentarily distracted. She glanced down, a gasp escaping her lips.
The fang, now completely black, was melting, dripping a viscous black fluid. It wasn’t Jörmungandr’s fang, of course, but it was a Mantafungle tooth, a monster from the Labyrinth Forest. The bull-like Mantafungle was an S-rank monster known for tearing its victims apart with its scissor-like teeth. An ordinary poison couldn’t melt something obtained from such a creature.
She quickly looked back towards the teleport station, but the couple had vanished.
“…Logout disabled, huh?”
A soft murmur, meant for no one, yet brimming with immeasurable delight. The woman grinned, her teeth on full display, and pulled a black hair tie from her pocket, gathering her unruly hair into a neat ponytail.
A cheerful hum escaped her lips. With her face no longer hidden, passersby stared in surprise.
This wasn’t a cliché of the plain girl transforming into a beauty upon removing her glasses. She was utterly ordinary. Yet, the crowd around her stall had vanished, as if repelled by an invisible force.
“Hey, isn’t that the psycho killer? What’s she doing here?”
“Are you crazy? She can hear you! Lower your voice.”
We should go somewhere else. Deborah caught snippets of whispered conversations. They should consider themselves lucky she had another target today. Otherwise, she would have started her day by immobilizing them, disabling their logout, and meticulously torturing their fingernails and toenails.
Every world has its killers, and Escape was no exception. With all senses fully simulated, Player Killing was ripe for abuse. The game company’s half-hearted attempt at a penalty, a 50% to 99% reduction in experience gained from killing monsters for those with “Chaos” status (players who killed other players), was easily circumvented. Some killers simply didn’t care about monsters. Deborah was one of them. She’d climbed to rank 7 almost exclusively through player kills.
Deborah, the self-proclaimed “Judgment,” guild leader of the Priests of the Divine. Known to others as the “Psycho Killer.” She realized she’d struck gold. Watching videos of the ranked players killed by the serpent’s owner had been a stroke of genius.
Different clothes, a different companion… it had almost fooled her. But there was no mistaking it. The composite sketch was a perfect match. And everyone agreed on one thing, “He is handsome.”
She chuckled, opening the chat window.
***
Even without the District 9 teleport, there were four options: District 10 Queen’s Castle, District 10 Factory District, District 10 Fairy Tale Village, and District 10 Cannon Square.
The frustrating part was not knowing which teleport was closest to Leon. Adeline and Luce had used guild return scrolls for easy travel, leaving her clueless about the guild’s exact location.
Logically eliminating the Factory District and Queen’s Castle left Fairy Tale Village and Cannon Square. It was a guess. Considering Eric’s personality, Adeline chose Cannon Square. The image of Eric using the Fairy Tale Village teleport was simply too ludicrous. She could only hope she was right.
Perhaps she should be grateful for the teleports at all. Otherwise, they might have faced a months-long trek to the District 10.
Stepping into the white pool, her vision whited out. As it cleared, she turned to speak to Damian. Or rather, she tried to.
“These people really…”
…don’t travel conveniently? The words died in her throat. Her mouth remained slightly agape as she stared at her surroundings.
Three steps.
That’s how many she took before a sound, somewhere between awe and disbelief, escaped her lips.
“That’s impossible. How can…”
Her words were cut short, not by anyone, but by a passage from Escape that echoed in her mind.
And so, the lion safely reached the tenth cage.
“This is where the infinitely small and arrogant animals live,” I explained to the lion. The lion tilted its mane, puzzled.
Houses made of gingerbread, playgrounds entwined with flowering vines, air bubbles rising everywhere. The tenth cage was incredibly beautiful, but strangely, no animals were in sight.
“Small animal. Arrogant animal. Where are you hiding?” the lion roared. A faint chirping echoed from the sky. The lion pricked its ears and looked up, its eyes widening in astonishment.
“That’s impossible. How can that be?”
Within the cage, another cage, a birdcage, hung suspended in the air, unsupported by any branch or structure.
