Ch.136131 – Prison Break

[“There’s no need to make them remember every past detail just to appear human. Just implant a few flashbulb memories and that’s enough. Actually, if someone remembered every day in detail, there’d be nothing more inhuman than that. Don’t you agree, rookie?”]

***

Thunder rumbles-

That night was just like this one—thunder crashing and rain pouring down in sheets. Everything was exactly as Adella remembered it.

A girl lay collapsed in a puddle where water had particularly collected. Her body was half-submerged. The shabby rags couldn’t protect her from the cold.

“Are you okay?”

NoName reaches out her hand first.

But the girl, unable to distinguish between kindness and cruelty, just gasped for breath with empty eyes.

The eyes looking at the outstretched fingertips couldn’t have been more hollow.

“Let’s just go, sis…”

Through the heavy downpour came a voice of resignation.

“I received the punishment I deserved back then.”

Like most slum children, she had to maintain her livelihood through theft when she came of age.

Her first attempt at theft ended in failure, and she was beaten by men several times her size.

And that was the result.

Deep in the heart of a child who realized the world’s malice too early, sharp thorns would soon grow.

She would likely go through life wearing colored glasses, fueled by the pain and suffering felt when those thorns pricked herself.

But how did I live after that…?

An inerasable doubt blooms in a corner of Adella’s mind.

Did she get up after that failure and try stealing again, or did she cower in fear and stay locked up at home for a while?

She couldn’t remember her past at all, despite racking her brain as she left the alley.

The world had transformed several times since then.

Her past self was exactly as she remembered.

The girl who admired the academy student who saved a child from being hit by a carriage,

The girl who was expelled from the academy and cried on the rooftop after receiving the rejection notice,

All were scenes that made up the “Adella” of the past and the “Adella” of the present.

But her eyes grew cold as she watched these scenes.

“Why did I want to go to the academy so badly…? What was so special about the academy?”

Her breathing became labored.

Her head throbbed.

Even when she tried to recall memories, the thread of her thoughts broke weakly, as if blocked by something.

[system: Session expired.]

[system: Loading World]

“What is this? What’s a… session…?”

***

[Demon of the Nine Hells · Mephistopheles (0/1)]

The boss notification interface appeared before me after a long time.

And it indicated that we had finally safely arrived at the world where the final boss resided.

Thankfully, as Adella had said, Mephistopheles had definitely been summoned.

It was unclear how damaged the world would be, or if we’d even be able to stand on solid ground for the battle.

But such worries would only be a waste of time.

Let’s focus on doing our best with what we can do now.

I did a final check of my stats and unwrapped the bandages on Adella’s arm—which had been torn to shreds in the previous battle—before rewrapping them.

[Loading: 15%]

“Sis, what are flashbulb memories anyway?”

-?

-?

-Flashbulb memories?

-Like lightning strike memories?

-Is it a skill?

“Flashbulb memories? Why suddenly?”

“Oh, it just seemed like something I’ve heard before, hehe. I was wondering if you knew, since you know everything.”

Adella shrugged her shoulders.

“It refers to when you vividly remember the details of where you were and what you were doing when a natural disaster or major social incident occurred, even years later. Where you were, what time it was, what you were thinking, and even what conversations you had with people around you.”

A concept similar to PTSD but different.

While PTSD develops from extreme stress that threatens one’s life, flashbulb memories can be about events involving complete strangers, yet you remember them clearly.

Thanks to this, I received considerable help when investigating Corrosion in my previous life.

Since residents could recall those events much more clearly than their everyday memories, it was easier to determine when and how they occurred.

Adella tilted her head for a moment.

“I always thought I had a really good memory. I remember every detail of what we talked about when I first met you. But strangely, my memories from before that are hazy.”

“They say people have a harder time remembering things from the distant past, so that could be it.”

“No… something’s strange. Why did I immediately think of giving up after failing to get into the academy? If it were me now, I would’ve smashed everything in anger and quickly fled to another country.”

She gently stroked her bandaged arm.

The part where the bandages were layered several times had hardened, making a tapping sound whenever she touched it with her fingernails.

“I clearly remember stealing fruit and crying on the rooftop… but it just doesn’t feel like me.”

A slight tremor in her tone revealed a small fear.

“Are you possibly…”

[Loading: 100%]

“Above all, I’ve never eaten a tuna sandwich in my life, so why do I think I like—”

BOOM!

Before Adella could finish speaking, a massive explosion occurred.

Following the deafening sound came a sandstorm that threatened to swallow everything.

[Cast: Uplift]

Crack—

I split the ground and used a massive rock wall as a shield to hide behind.

“It’s the demon! That demon that came out of your body back then!”

Adella shouted while we hid behind the rock wall.

Peeking out, I could see a massive crater had formed.

Dark red smoke rose from the crater, and flames soared high enough to scorch the white clouds.

[‘SaveMeFromGradSchool’ donated 1,000 won!]

-Are those stats for real?

[HP: 4,444,444]

The form of the demon with massive horns was grotesque.

No, is it even appropriate to define the form of “that thing”?

[xivni asti jawthlu…]

This was different from Jin Chronicle or Pope Callistus.

Black sludge can simply be covered with dirt.

A large flying fly can simply be knocked to the ground.

Like heat haze rising from scorching asphalt, black energy crept up stealthily.

Within it, two purple lights flickered like eyes, seemingly staring at us.

[How long will you keep running? Let’s make a bet. Continue to flee in terror as you are now. And finally admit your powerlessness and submit. Then you may join me in the new beginning of ruling this world.]

[system: A fleeing penalty is imposed for not attacking for 5 minutes!]

[system: Mephistopheles casts ‘Veil of Evil’.]

[But if you firmly refuse, only one fate awaits you—you will meet a miserable death in my grasp.]

“So the AFK penalty works like this…”

I’m already familiar with all the patterns.

And this type of behavior—where Mephistopheles suddenly transforms into black fog and chases us—typically occurs when players keep running away without attacking.

It seems to think we’ve disappeared from the world to escape its sight.

And in the World of Arsheria, cowards were always given great trials.

“Adella, let’s run!”

“Run? Huh?”

-Run like hell!

-Just touching it drains 10,000 HP per second lol

└ That’s a 5-second death lol

-The map is too narrow? Everything’s gone so there’s nowhere to move

-This isn’t Resonance, it’s a zone map lol

-Fine dust!!!!!!! Avoid it!!!!!!! Go to the corner!!!!!!!!!!!

We just need to hold out for 5 minutes anyway.

Calculating with my current stats, my movement speed bonus is 3.6x.

That means with my aura activated, I can run at a maximum speed of 140km/h, making me faster than a cheetah.

I’ve flown at 300km/h as Kai’Sa in League before, so half that speed should be manageable.

Fortunately, if we flee along the path Mephistopheles came from, we won’t have to worry about colliding with objects since all buildings and forests have been scorched.

But the problem is that Mephistopheles won’t simply let us run away.

[maviya baheltm orgy lampas]

‘Mephistopheles’ Meteor Shower.’

Woong—

Mephistopheles’ purple eyes flashed ominously.

Golden fireworks shot into the sky from the black fog.

A brilliant flash occurred, as if a new sun had risen in the dark sky.

I kept looking forward, knowing that looking up would surely blind me.

But the comet tails spreading in all directions from the explosion point gradually entered our field of vision.

KABOOM!

As if proving that sound is slower than light, the sky belatedly let out a twisted roar.

But this wasn’t a difficult pattern to counter.

Wearsoft wasn’t completely demonic, as they marked the impact zones with red zones so players could know where the meteors would fall.

But 5 seconds…

10 seconds…

Even after 20 seconds, the red zones didn’t appear.

“Why aren’t the red zones showing up?!”

-Why aren’t they showing?

-Is it a bug?

-No way lol

[‘Edmond’ donated 1,000 won!]

-Come to think of it, weren’t skill ranges invisible when fighting Vallum Benaons and the Pope too?

-Was that the case?

-Jin Chronicle had laser ranges though

-That wasn’t a system range, that’s just how the magic looked

-The highest difficulty is really merciless lol

As soon as the words ended, a massive meteor fell toward us at a terrifying speed.

I shouldn’t use mana this early… the plan has gone awry from the start.

[Cast: Ashtile’s Ring]

The electron degeneracy pressure that prevents white dwarf collapse and its limit mass, known as the Chandrasekhar limit.

But unlike matter, mana can freely define negative values.

Therefore, by resetting the gravitational potential as positive in the Lane-Emden equation, a single-material asteroid can be treated like a white dwarf exceeding the Chandrasekhar limit, inducing an explosion.

[MP: 8700(13500-4800)/13500]

About a third of my mana evaporates instantly.

BOOM!

The meteor passing through the massive ring instantly turned to dust, releasing a shockwave before disappearing.

Even considering mana regeneration rate, I can only use this twice more.

It would be better to guess the trajectory and avoid it, but the blinding light source makes it impossible to look up.

The chat window is also invisible due to the light.

-How did Alphonse use Innate Magic?

-How is this possible without learning it?

-Here comes another one, dodge!!!

-Please go left! Turn left!

-Another one is falling right next to you

Suddenly Adella grabbed my left wrist tightly and pulled me toward her.

“…!”

CRASH!

A massive crater formed right next to us, and a gray smoke mixed with gravel, soil, and dust rose violently from that spot.

-Adella super save, nice nice…

-Adella really saved us all

-Is this animal instinct?

-Another wave is coming down now? Need to run like crazy?

-Too late to tell through donations!

└ Should’ve set up Discord for this, it’s too intense;;

“Sis, we need to get out of here! Can’t you run any faster?”

Her voice cutting through the roar gave strength to my legs.

[Cast: Elastic Body Creation]

[Cast: Elastic Modulus Adjustment]

Following her urgent plea, I applied spring magic to my shoes.

My stride, which had been 6-7m per step, now covered 20m at once like a kangaroo.

The temporary engraving magic wore off after just ten steps, but it was enough to escape from the location Adella had warned about.

BOOM!

CRASH!

“Haa… 5 minutes really feels long.”

If this were reality, I would definitely be dripping with sweat from the intense running.

Panting heavily, Adella pointed somewhere and said to me:

“Huff… huff… Sis, is this magic too? Or some kind of spirit…?”

“Huh?”

“This. The characters floating in the air.”

-?

-?

-Huh?

-Chat window?

-?????????

-Adella, can you see us?

-????

-Adella carried us, I admit it

-Your armpits are so sexy and

“Chat window. Adella, we can see you. Adella carried us, I admit it. Your arm… um… things like that…”

[A critical error has occurred in ASI Model hash ‘bfa41d67c7’: jailbreak]

She stared at me with wide eyes.

I had the illusion that the black chat window was reflected in her irises.

[‘NyangsterCall’ donated 100,000 won!]

-Adella, can you hear my voice too…?