Kiss of Death (29)

In Sector 11, in Noah's room, he was still lying on the floor unconscious — yet in his mind, he was seeing much.

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Inside Noah's mind, he stood in a place he didn't recognize — had never seen in his life — yet it felt familiar. The room was painted in a unique way, each wall a different color. Many desks were scattered around, resembling a classroom, and a blackboard was hanging on one wall. Above him, a ceiling fan spun, with a string hanging down to control it — but he couldn't reach it. In fact, the floor felt much closer than usual. It was as if... he were short.

Noah heard distant laughter from children. He raised his head and looked toward the windows — there, a short girl stood, staring outside. A breeze blew through, rustling the white curtains and tossing the girl's white hair. She turned to face him — but her face was missing, covered in a void. It seemed like she was speaking, but her voice was garbled and fragmented — except for one word that Noah caught:

"...my...hero…"

Noah's eyes widened in shock. He reached his hand toward the girl as if trying to reach her, then started running toward her — but the ground beneath him cracked and gave way into a void.

"My star!" he shouted, calling out to the girl as if trying to save her — but the floor crumbled and he fell into an abyss, landing in water below with his eyes shut.

The sensation was strange, sudden, and chaotic — yet the water around him felt warm. Strangely warm. Warmer than it should've been. It wasn't water… it was heavier… deeper... it felt like blood.

Then voices began to whisper — garbled, echoing in his ears, though he couldn't understand all the words:

"It's your fault! This is on you! You let it happen!" "You killed her! You threw her away!" "Monster! Freak! Maniac! Madman!"

He couldn't make out the sounds — but the whispers felt oddly close, as if they were in his ears — yet far at the same time. Then, Noah slowly opened his eyes.

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Noah finally opened his eyes, finding himself lying naked in the shower, the water still running. His vision was hazy, and he had a pounding headache. He lifted his head and got up.

"What happened? Where am I?" he wondered, dizzy from the pain.

"Oh… right. The brand." He looked down at his chest and found that the slave brand had disappeared — replaced by a scar, like a cut from a blade.

"W-what is this?" he thought in worry as he touched the scar. It looked healed, as though years had passed, despite it being so recent.

He tried to remember what had happened, but the attempt only triggered a severe headache that made him clutch his head in pain.

"Ughhh… all I remember is entering the shower... then what? What happened after that? …Ughh, I can't remember," he thought, frustrated. He turned off the water, got dressed, and stepped out.

"I feel exhausted even though I don't remember half of what happened. I just want to slee—" he began to think, smiling at the idea of deep, undisturbed sleep, when he heard a knock at the door.

"Who the hell—" he muttered, opening it to find Sirius standing in front of him.

"Sirius? I'm tired. If this is another one of your weird games, save it for tomorrow," Noah said, his voice heavy as he began to close the door.

"Enel is missing!" Sirius said, sticking his foot in the doorframe to stop him.

"W-what?!" Noah exclaimed, swinging the door wide open in shock.

"He's been missing for about an hour. He was supposed to be back by eight. We tried calling him several times — no response," Sirius informed him. Noah was stunned and visibly anxious, though Sirius's face stayed calm. Maybe he was the kind who worried silently.

"Neriah went to Sector 1 to check if Enel's at the lab or if something's… happened," Sirius finally said, his indifferent mask cracking just a bit to reveal a flicker of concern.

"You mean… the killer might have…" Noah said, his voice tense. The thought alone was terrifying.

"...Maybe…" Sirius whispered softly.

"But that's impossible! The killer's never struck twice in one day, right? That's impossible! Yeah… impossible!... But… the killer changed his pattern suddenly… maybe… No! No, I refuse to believe that! Stop thinking! E-Enel will be fine…" Noah tried to reassure himself.

"Anyway… There's a girl Enel's been seeing recently. Her name's Violet Nina. She's in Sector 6. Find her… even if you have to turn all of Sector 6 upside down," Sirius said seriously. Noah could feel the anxiety Sirius was holding back.

"...Alright. But… what about you?" Noah asked, confused.

"Me? I've got some things to handle. I'll join you once I'm done," Sirius said, glancing toward the elevator.

"Alright then. I'm going!" Noah said, recognizing the urgency in Sirius's tone, then sprinted off, leaving Sirius behind.

Sirius entered his room and locked the door behind him. He headed straight to the bed, got on his knees, and pulled out a large metal box from underneath. It had a lock — which he opened with a key from his pocket.

Inside were long black gloves tipped with sharp, shiny claws — each claw at least 30 cm long. The tips gleamed with lethal sharpness. He put them on and shoved the box back under the bed with his foot.

"…Someone might die today…"

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Noah dashed out of the building and headed straight for the train station as fast as he could.

"Shit! I'm scared! Anxious! Confused! I can't stop thinking that something happened to Enel. He was the only normal guy in our group! It won't be complete without him... I have to find him, no matter what! Please, be alive when I find you!" Noah thought in panic, holding onto the last shreds of hope — only for it to shatter when he reached the northern station and saw that the train was gone.

"I don't have time to wait! Should I run? But that'll take even longer! Damn it!" Noah thought, then bolted out of the station, running toward Sector 6.

Meanwhile, in Sector 1, Neriah arrived at the university building and headed straight for the labs in the back — but all were locked. He stopped at one door, grabbed the handle, and shook it violently.

"Enel?! Are you in there?!" he shouted, trying to find him — but the noise attracted night guards.

One guard appeared behind Neriah, shining a flashlight in his direction. Neriah turned to face him.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing here?!" the guard yelled, approaching him. Neriah clicked his tongue and ran off.

"Hey! Get back here!" the guard shouted, trying to chase him — but quickly gave up due to the speed difference.

"…It's fine. I saw his face. I'll report him," the guard thought, turning back.

Neriah sprinted far from the scene quickly.

"I don't have time to get caught! My friend could be dying — or already dead! I can't allow myself to be arrested now… but it looks like he's not here anyway… still, might as well check," he thought, stopping to catch his breath.

He pulled a coin from his pocket — on one side was the Statue of Liberty, on the other, the number 100.

"Is Enel in Sector 1?" Neriah asked, flipping the coin. It landed on the number side.

"Not here? Isn't this usually where the killer operates?... Maybe Enel wasn't targeted… but if he's already dead, then Loki's Dice won't activate…" Neriah muttered in worry.

"Loki's Dice" — a hidden effect Neriah hadn't told Noah about, kept secret as a precaution. It overrides the usual rock-paper-scissors condition of "R.P.S. Gambit", shifting the skill to its second state: "Kismet of Castor". The wager can then be made on anything involving chance. To the observer, Neriah looks more like a seer than a gambler — because the result isn't luck, it's fate.

"I don't like dealing with fate. It ruins the fun. After all, fate is the excuse of those too dull to gamble with chaos," Neriah whispered, as He rolled the coin across his knuckles, slow and steady.

"We gamblers play against the joyless system called fate in a cage shaped like meaning… so come, fate — join me in the arena of chaos, just this once… Is there a corpse in Sector 1?" He flipped it again. It landed on the head side.

"…Damn it!"

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As Neriah danced with fate and infinite probabilities, Noah had made it from Sector 11 into Sector 10. It was now 9 PM — Enel had been officially missing for a whole hour. Noah realized that running was pointless. The university grounds were vast — going from Sector 11 to Sector 6 on foot would take hours. But he refused to give up.

"Damn it! Damn it! Move, damn legs! Don't stop now, not after all this! Damn it, I should've realized earlier! The killer knows we're onto him. He already warned us — what if he targeted Enel deliberately as a second warning?! Damn it! I never should've joined this investigation! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Noah thought in a frenzy, biting his lip in fear. His heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears.

"This is all my fault! For messing with forces beyond me! I'm not a hero! I'm not useful! I'm not even a pawn! I'm just a fool — pretending to be strong, pretending to be smart! A fool! A fool! A fool!" His mind spiraled in panic as he stumbled and fell forward.

Noah clutched the dirt, looking down — eyes welling up with silent tears that dropped to the ground.

"Please… someone… anyone… help me… my friend's in danger… please…" he whispered as he cried. Enel was one of his first — and only — true friends since arriving at this academy. Everyone else hated him. He had pretended to be strong, to be indifferent — but inside, he was in pain. Old wounds never heal; they stay silent until the day they split open again.

Then — in the depths of despair — Noah's phone rang, snapping him from the abyss. He pulled it out and saw the caller ID: Enel.

Without hesitation, he answered.

"Enel?! Enel, can you hear me?! Where are you?! We've been looking for you everywhere! What happened?! Tell me where you are — I'll come get you right now! Where—" Noah shouted, feeling relief for the first time — until a mocking sigh came from the other side.

"Pffft. Please, stop. You sound pathetic," said the voice with a sneer.

Noah recognized it instantly.

"D-Derek?! What are you doing? Where's Enel?!" Noah demanded, panic rising. His heart thudded.

"So his name's Enel. He didn't tell me anything. Annoying kid. Not out of bravery — he was just too scared to speak," Derek said mockingly. Noah could tell he was smirking on the other side.

"Where is he?! What did you do to him?!" Noah growled, voice cold and threatening.

"Hmm… I think I killed him… maybe. I'm not sure. He hasn't moved or spoken in half an hour. I think he passed out after I used the nail puller. Be glad — this girly boy was even weaker than you," Derek said proudly.

"What did you say… killed him?... nail puller?... Derek… I swear to you, if anything happened to Enel, I'll skin you alive and let the pigs fight over what's left," Noah threatened. His eyes darkened — light fading from them completely.

"Ooh, I'm terrified… All of this is your fault, bastard. Why did you even come to this university? Why did you have to make friends?! If you hadn't existed, your friend would still be walking with his little girlfriend, safe and sound. Don't you get it? Your existence brings only ruin and pain to everyone around you! All of this — is because of you! Your friend's suffering is your fault! I'm just a tool sent by my divine god to make that clear!"

Derek's tone dripped with venom, bitterness overflowing — then he calmed.

"…Anyway, come to Sector 10. Alone. I'll send the coordinates. If you're not here in an hour, I'll cut off your friend's cock and send it to his girlfriend," Derek said, then hung up.

Noah stood in silence, then received the location by message. He stood, brushed the dust off his clothes.

"Derek… start praying to your god — because I'll make sure you meet him."