episode_0143

Adela stood before me.

She wore a very flustered expression. Her eyes were slightly contorted, indicating a hint of anger.

“Last time, when I saw you at the academy, didn’t you say your name was Irene? But now it’s Violet. What in the world…?”

“Ah… well…”

I stammered. I never thought the karma of infiltrating the academy under a false name to steal crystal flowers would come back to haunt me here.

Behind Adela, people who appeared to be academy professors and instructors had gathered. Further back, students, like chicks, were looking around curiously.

“Adela, what’s going on?”

“Professor-nim, I just ran into someone I know. Would it be alright if I stepped away for a moment to chat?”

With that, Adela naturally tried to lead me somewhere.

“Excuse me, where exactly are we…”

“Daphne, it’s fine. I’ll just go talk for a bit!”

I made an excuse to my friends and followed Adela. Fleeing had become difficult.

In a quiet spot near the outpost’s indoor marketplace, Adela looked at me with a disappointed expression.

“I’ll give you time to think. I trust you’ll tell me the truth.”

When Adela’s violet eyes looked at me, I couldn’t hide anything. The option of running away? That would only make me seem more suspicious.

More importantly, with Adela’s level of ability, she would easily track me down even if I ran.

“Violet…?”

Adela stared intently. I recalled what my friends had said before. Daphne and Kalia had told me that lying showed on my face.

“The truth is…”

I admitted that I was actually from a different academy and had secretly concealed my identity to visit this one because I wished to transfer due to personal circumstances.

“You want to transfer? Then you could have just visited and toured! Not only did you lie, but you also deceived the entry procedures. This is an illegal act.”

“I’m sorry! But there were circumstances that forced me to hide my name.”

“What’s the reason?”

“…”

Adela’s expression turned cold.

“I won’t report you. But I’m disappointed.”

Ah, how do I explain this? I put on my best poker face and racked my brain for ideas. It seemed I’d have to mix in a few lies.

Let’s pull out a few suitable scenarios, combine them, and create a story that Adela will find believable.

“How about using Irene’s family story?”

“Let’s also mix in some content from novels, movies, and games I’ve seen before.”

During the minute of hesitation, the Violets brainstormed. As they combined words and sentences within the network, a plausible story was completed.

“I can’t reveal everything, but the truth is, I’m on the run…”

“What?”

I am Violet, the youngest daughter of a wealthy family. Currently, I’m being chased by an evil conspiracy. That’s not entirely wrong, is it?

Let’s try to act as pitiful as possible. Think sad thoughts, think about the research lab.

No, thinking about the research lab actually made me depressed.

I slowly opened my mouth, pulling out my emotions.

“My parents passed away. And bad people are chasing me… so now I’m in a situation where I can’t attend the academy anymore…”

“…?”

Without realizing it, my eyes seemed to well up slightly. I continued to stammeringly explain my situation to Adela.

“I, I… it’s a situation like that…”

“I can’t tell you everything. But I promise to tell you the full truth if I get the chance later. And it was genuinely my wish to go to Aegis Academy…”

Adela, perhaps feeling conflicted by the unexpected situation, tried to say something but closed her mouth.

“Student Council President-nim, no, Adela Unnie. Can I go now? I need to go earn money with my friends.”

“…Unnie…?”

“I, I’ll get going now. I’m sorry for deceiving you.”

By this point, she’d surely let me go. I shuffled away from the spot.

She stood still, not calling out to me. Escape succeeded.

My friends, apparently worried about me, were waiting nearby.

“Guys! Let’s go quickly!”

“That woman earlier, wasn’t she the student council president you mentioned? What happened?”

“Let’s talk on the way! To the car first!”

Once in the car, I explained the situation to my friends, omitting the part about stealing crystal flowers.

“No, why in the world did you enter by faking your identity? Academies are so sensitive about security issues. If you’d been caught, the academy city authorities would have gotten involved. You might have gone to prison.”

“There were circumstances. Please understand, it was for the greater good.”

At my words, my three friends sighed. Daphne looked at me with worried eyes.

“…Okay, I understand. It was resolved well through conversation, right?”

“Yeah, she just let me go for now. Let’s hurry and get to work!”

The three trucks quickly returned to the perimeter.

While driving, I realized I’d forgotten something important. Why had the Aegis Academy people come all the way here?

Perhaps they came for a tour.

**

Night eventually fell upon Violet’s unit, who were hunting monsters and collecting artifacts.

The hunters and laborers working nearby each pitched tents in safe, secluded spots, or went into their vehicles to sleep.

Camping in a dungeon is not easy. No matter how safe the resting spot, monsters are dangerous beings.

Therefore, hunter teams tried to camp at an appropriate distance from each other.

Crude alarm lines made of string and bells were installed everywhere, as well as expensive motion sensors, unmanned turrets, and traps.

However, the best alarm system was people. A night watch was indispensable.

Others might have been envious, but Violet’s team had no worries about night watch. If a body became too fatigued, they could simply create a new one, and mental fatigue could be resolved by exchanging consciousness with other Violets.

In the dungeon camp at dawn, Unit 463, while patrolling and standing guard, heard a strange sound.

“Someone, please, help me!”

Unit 463 focused magic into its eyes. As its pupils dilated and its optic nerves were enhanced by magic, a figure stumbling through the darkness became visible, approaching. Unit 463 disengaged the safety on its rifle.

On the outskirts of the darkness, a bleeding person swayed and stumbled towards it.

Unit 463 approached the person, aiming its rifle in a hip-firing stance.

“What is it?”

“Over, over there. My comrades…!”

It seemed to be an injured person.

While exploring the dungeon, one often encounters injured hunters asking for help during their expeditions.

Then, you just give them one or two recovery potions or take them to a safe zone. The hunters would then express gratitude and give small rewards.

In this harsh world, hunters surprisingly repaid favors well. Perhaps because of this, the frequency of people helping each other was also high.

‘Perhaps it’s because it’s a world where everyone carries a blade. Might often creates respect.’

Violet thought that and approached the injured person.

“Help me! Over there, my comrades…!”

“Lead the way for now.”

Unit 463 followed the injured hunter. The hunter slowly explained the situation.

According to him, during a night expedition, some comrades were injured by a monster ambush and were unable to move.

“Alright, so do you want medicine? Or should I call an insurance company?”

“Well, after you see…”

The hunter’s demeanor was a little suspicious. Unit 463 reported the facts to the other Violets and followed.

The hunter led them to a dark room on the third floor of the shopping district.

“Your comrades are here, you said?”

Upon entering the room, there was nothing. Unit 463 was bewildered.

“What, where in the world…”

It was then that the hunter’s attitude suddenly changed.

“You’ve been fooled, heretic!”

“Huh? *Gasp*!”

The moment it hastily aimed its rifle, a cultist hidden in the ceiling dropped down and swung a flail. Unit 463 was knocked unconscious.

One by one, cultists who had been hidden in the darkness of the room revealed themselves.

The six Union Cultists chuckled, looking at their new prospective sacrifice.

These heretics were simply too naive. If you pretended to be injured and acted pitiful, anyone would follow, wouldn’t they?

“We’ve caught them. It was as easy as swimming on dry land [a proverb meaning effortless].”

“Good. Let’s tie them up and take them away. We need to hold the ritual quickly…”

No sooner had they spoken a few words than a red flare flew in through the building window.

“What? How already!”

“Were we followed?”

They were horrified. They had subdued it without a trace, but could a comrade really have been following?

The truth was that an emergency alarm had rung through the network immediately after Unit 463’s ‘death,’ but the cultists had no way of knowing this.

In less than 10 seconds, footsteps grew closer from all directions. With a loud *bang*, the door collapsed, and soldiers in black combat suits swarmed in.

“How did you find..!”

“None of your business. Surrender!”

“Drop your weapons!”

The Violets growled roughly. The mechanical sounds heard through their voice modulators made the cultists’ hearts pound.

“Dieeeeee!”

One cultist charged forward. The Violets uniformly raised their rifles.

With a sound like beans popping, the cultist fell to the ground, riddled with holes. The other cultists pulled something from their pockets. It was a syringe.

“Tackle them!”

“Overwhelm them!”

Sensing something amiss, the Violets immediately rushed forward and grabbed the enemies. They were just about to inject the syringes into their arms.

“Beat them mercilessly! We need to capture them alive!”

“How dare they! Whatever organization they belong to, they’ll pay the price!”

“Aaaargh!”

The clones seized the enemies’ limbs. The cultists were disarmed and mercilessly beaten.

Five minutes later, the Violet squad tightly bound the suspicious attackers and began their interrogation.

Unit 794 shoved the short combat hammer it had used for beating right into their faces, snarling threats.

“Hey, who are you guys? Why did you attack our comrade? Aren’t you going to answer?”

“Hahaha, I don’t know!”

One man with a swollen face chuckled. He glared at the suspicious attackers, who were completely wrapped up with no faces visible, and spat.

“You think I’d tell you? You filthy heretics. Ha, it’s not even funny. Just kill me quickly!…”

“Oh yeah? Goodbye then!”

Unit 794 swung the hammer. The corpse, its head crushed, fell sideways.

“Next one?”

“Hahaha, you think I’d break so easily?”

“Oh, I see!”

With a *thud*, another corpse fell face down on the floor.

“Ah, I, well…”

“You don’t plan to answer either, do you?”

And so, the third person died in succession.

The remaining cultists, seeing their comrades spill their brains and collapse, turned pale.

“You won’t talk either, will you? Then…”

“No! I’ll tell you everything! Please spare me!”

The prisoners trembled and begged Unit 794. Satisfied that they had returned to the desired demeanor, the Violets began their interrogation.

**

“So, your cult is looking for artifacts right now?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right!”

I diligently interrogated the guys who called themselves cultists, beating them until they gave answers, like an AI search.

“So, why did you kidnap people?”

“T-That is, as sacrifices for our ritual…”

Hearing what the bastards confessed, I scrunched up my face. Human sacrifice?

“Why would you do such a thing?”

Taken aback, I asked for the reason, and the fellow recited strange doctrines that would only make sense to his own cult.

“If we take out the heart of an awakened heretic and offer it to the savior from another dimension… we can receive a blessing and become awakened!”

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

“I-It’s true!”

I thought it was rubbish. How many unawakened people in the world are desperate to become awakened? If that were possible, the scientists of Laplachia wouldn’t be messing with other people’s heads.

Afterward, I asked a few more things, but there was no gain.

Unfortunately, these guys were low-ranking cultists and didn’t know much. All they knew was that their people were searching for artifacts.

Meanwhile, it seemed they were luring pitiful hunters, just as I had been, to perform their ‘ritual.’

As I stood up, two cultists stared intently at me.

“W-What will happen to us?”

“You will die!”

The Violets behind me struck the prisoners’ necks. Foolish bastards.

I hadn’t said a single word about sparing them, yet they cooperated so readily. They must truly be shallow in their faith.

By the way, the Union Cult. It’s a cult I’ve never heard of before. I instructed the Violets outside the dungeon to investigate.

“Hmm, it’s a strange religious group that believes in doomsday!”

“They say it was disbanded after an investigation into kidnapping and illegal drug issues began, and then went missing?”

Upon investigation, the Union Cult was an organization that believed if another dimension were to someday swallow the world, humanity would be saved by becoming monsters.

To believe in and follow a leader who calls himself a ‘prophet’—their doctrine is truly bizarre beyond words.

“Indeed, religion is the opiate of the masses!”

“Faith is for those who cannot live without clinging to it…”

What we materialist Violets believe in are only Violets and our friends.

First, let’s check the spoils.

The Violets, organizing the corpses, stripped them of their weapons, equipment, and clothing. Their attire and gear were no different from ordinary hunters.

Uniquely, one of them had a scripture, similar to a pocket Bible, in their pocket.

All suspicious items like the scripture and a mobile phone were gathered and placed into the inventory. These would be sent to the broker’s office at the Human Resources Agency.

While rummaging, Unit 312 discovered syringes in a pocket, each filled with various colored drugs.

I checked the status window. Most were miscellaneous narcotics. They were meant to amplify aggression or induce hallucinations.

“Bad for the body. Let’s discard them.”

As I thought that and organized the spoils, a syringe containing a black drug caught my attention.

“What’s this?”

“I think this is the syringe they tried to inject into their arm earlier.”

I examined the syringe.

[Black Ice ???]

An awakening drug made from unknown ingredients. When used, it amplifies the user’s physical abilities to a level comparable to an Awakener for a short period.

If an Awakener uses it, there is a temporary effect of increased magic usage efficiency.

However, everything has a price. Life will be taken as payment for power.

*

As soon as I read the description, I was startled. This is a combat drug!

“It’s been mentioned in the news. It’s an illegal drug. They say it’s very toxic and dangerous.”

“Can’t replicate it.”

Though dangerous, I became curious about its effects. I should try it once.

Unit 221 volunteered to try the drug.

Upon injecting the drug, for the first 30 seconds or so, it felt strange. There was a sensation of something ice-cold circulating in the body. Perhaps that’s why it was named ‘Ice’.

A moment later, an explosive surge of power was felt.

“Whoa, power is surging!”

Unit 221, unable to contain the surging power within its body, bounced around excitedly.

All of us trembled with the considerable exhilaration and sensations felt even through the network.

“Magic! Try using magic too!”

When magic was used, the magic within the body rapidly accelerated.

If the previous Violet was a car driving on the road, the magic currently flowing through our bodies propelled us like an airplane engine.

I realized. While the total amount of magic remained unchanged, the maximum output that could be used at once had increased!

“This is incredible!”

“Yahoo!”

Unit 221 jumped this way and that. Sharing Unit 212’s senses, the surrounding Violets appeared to be moving very slowly. Could it be that this drug also provided acceleration abilities?

“The power of the drug is immense!”

Five minutes later, an abnormality occurred in the body.

“Ugh… my head…”

Unit 221 felt dizzy and slumped down. Despite the pain dispersion effect, there was no strength in its body.

“Unit 221! Are you alright?”

“Ugh… my chest feels tight!”

Unit 221 collapsed, convulsed all over, foamed at the mouth, and then fell. A short while later, Unit 221’s heart stopped.

I questioned myself.

“What was the feeling like?”

“Suddenly, all strength drained away, and I couldn’t see anything!”

We examined the body of what was Unit 221. Even as it dissolved into magic particles and dispersed, there was a little time to inspect the corpse.

When the mask was removed, the whites of its eyes were stained red from burst blood vessels.

Pulling back its clothing, all the blood vessels on its body stood out, pitch black. Such side effects were unexpected.

The effects of Black Ice were incredible. However, the price of using the drug was too dangerous.

Did the Union Cultists make this too?

Its efficacy was outstanding, but it was clear that an ordinary person would ruin their body using it. I should save it for a special attack later.

The Violet squad moved the corpse to a corner and returned to their spot. The monsters would take care of the body.

The next day, as they prepared to head to the deep zone, Kalia carefully came over and asked.

“Did something happen yesterday? I heard some gunshots in my sleep.”

“Hmm, it’s a long story. I’ll explain it while we drive!”

The Violet team ate breakfast and headed towards the deep zone.

Would they perhaps see Adela again?