episode_0004

Chapter 4: Possession

“Hey, I’m running away? I’m telling you, I’m running away!”

Clang! Clang clatter!

Even as I openly jumped around, drawing attention in front of the alley corner, the drug addict focused all his attention solely on Alisa.

This is a crisis. ‘This won’t do.’

Currently, Alisa has the upper hand, but as time passes, the advantage will shift to him.

As proof, Alisa’s sword energy was much fainter than before. This was due to the extreme mana consumption from constantly being ground down by the saw blade.

The moment her mana runs out, it’s over. ‘What should I do?’

I had experienced too much today, so my head had gone on strike.

If I could just create an opening, I felt like I could land a decisive blow, but I couldn’t think of a way.

A sense of powerlessness dominated my entire body. Hanging my head, I stared blankly at an insignificant pebble.

*

Clang! Crash!

Alisa felt impatient, even as she poured out the surging power from her entire body.

‘Not much mana left.’

She had trained consistently since childhood and rarely felt a lack of mana, but she had already reached her limit.

In about 10 more minutes, it would run out.

Alisa struck away the encroaching sword and stepped back, taking a breath.

Her eyes turned to the corner.

There, Ruan Friuli was staring down at the floor with empty eyes.

He had been diligently provoking and moving around the drug addict for a while, but it seemed he had lost his mind now that the same method no longer worked.

‘I understand.’

No matter what Ruan Friuli did now, it wouldn’t change the outcome of the fight.

He had already done everything he could.

If he hadn’t made absurd statements like needing to have sex, Alisa would have felt infinite gratitude towards him.

Just then.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Ruan Friuli let out a quiet gasp of admiration and raised his head.

Their eyes met. “Alisa. I’ll go get someone.”

“What?” “Just hold on a little longer!”

Having unilaterally announced his intention, Ruan Friuli left the alley without looking back.

Immediately after, the drug addict laughed as if amused. “Heheheh! Oh, what a shame. Lady. That guy ran away, didn’t he?”

“…He’s just going to call for people. I just need to hold on. You’re finished now.”

“Khaha! Do you really think so? There’s nothing but slums around here! To call for help, he’d have to go to the bustling street, but can you last that long? You’ve been abandoned, you stupid bitch!”

Clatter clatter clatter!

The drug addict, who had shaken Alisa’s mental state with his sharp tongue, gathered all the mana in his core and concentrated it into his saw-blade-shaped sword energy.

The much sharper saw blade ground down Alisa’s sword energy, sending sparks flying.

The momentum was stronger than ever. ‘No. I can’t hold out.’

Alisa instinctively knew. She wasn’t sure if reinforcements would arrive even in 10 minutes, but that time had now been drastically reduced. Now, she wasn’t sure if she could even last 5 minutes.

Although he didn’t show it, the drug addict had been subtly wary of Ruan Friuli. With Ruan gone, he could now fully focus on the fight without holding back.

In the end, despite her superior physical strength, Alisa couldn’t withstand his sword head-on. The battle was unfolding similarly to how it began.

One minute, two minutes. As time passed, her face grew darker.

Now, very little mana was left. If even one more crack spread through her sword energy, it would be over. The next strike would cleave her body along with her sword.

On one hand, she was even hoping the drug addict would hesitate and slow his offensive.

That was her downfall. As her thoughts multiplied, her concentration on the fight naturally wavered, and she made a mistake.

“Ah!” Alisa, who hadn’t watched her footing carefully, stepped on the deeply gouged ground from the sword energy and lost her balance.

It was a very small opening, but it was more than enough to decide the outcome. “Die!”

The longsword shot upward, then began to plunge downward like a guillotine. ‘I’m going to die.’

The moment she perceived death, her life flashed before her eyes. She saw the memory of realizing her innate talent for the sword, and receiving praise from her father for the very first time after being oppressed by her family. Numerous other moments also streaked across her mind like flashes of light.

Just as the sword was about to reach her.

Wham!

A stone, flying from somewhere, powerfully struck the drug addict’s head. “Gah!”

Struck by an unexpected attack, he let out a scream and tumbled to the ground.

Alisa blankly traced the trajectory of the flying stone backwards.

Then, she saw Ruan Friuli on top of a two-story building, holding a handful of stones and waving his hand.

“Alisa. Are you okay?” “Why are you here…?”

“To help Alisa, of course. We can talk later. First, we need to deal with him.”

At Ruan Friuli’s words, Alisa turned her head and saw the drug addict staggering to his feet.

He was more intact than expected. This was thanks to a protective charm that shielded his head just before the impact. However, the shock to his brain was unavoidable, and he continued to stumble.

“You worm-like bastard. You keep bothering me? I’ll kill you.”

“When were you not going to kill me, huh? What a load of crap.”

“You son of a bitch. I won’t let you die easily.”

As Ruan Friuli didn’t back down and cursed him coarsely, the drug addict, his already bloodshot eyes turning even redder, advanced towards him.

Alisa blocked his path.

“Where are you going? You can’t go. If you want to, you’ll have to kill me.”

“That bastard, and this bitch. Both just annoyances. Fine. I’ll kill you!”

The enraged drug addict rushed at Alisa without even checking his own physical condition.

Clatter clatter clatter!

His sword swept past her rapier.

The damage to his brain must have been severe, as his movements were much clumsier than before.

Whoosh!

Exploiting that opening, a stone was hurled.

The drug addict clicked his tongue, altered his sword’s trajectory, and hastily blocked the stone.

And Alisa, seizing that moment again, inflicted damage on him. The detailed specifics had changed, but the overall method was the same as before.

Simple and effective. But it was only effective; it couldn’t be a decisive blow. The fight dragged on.

And as time passed, just as the drug addict was getting accustomed to their combined attack.

Whoosh!

“That won’t work anymore!” He confidently shouted, striking away the flying stone.

The problem was, it wasn’t a stone.

Thwack!

“Kuaaaak! What is this!” The moment the sword cut it, paint burst out, blackening his vision. The previous stone throwing had been nothing more than a smokescreen for this.

As he flailed around, Alisa swiftly exploited the opening.

Thud!

His thigh was pierced by the sword.

Fortunately, the femoral artery was missed, preventing excessive bleeding, but his mobility was restricted.

In the end, he endured the one-sided offensive, and only after a hole was also pierced in his side did he drop to his knees.

“Cough! Cough! Damn… it. If only that worm wasn’t here. Ugh!” His lungs seemed to be damaged, as he coughed up blood with resentment.

Alisa stood proudly before him, panting, then declared. “You lost. Surrender.”

“Heheheh! Surrender? You don’t intend to let me live, do you?”

“There are too many suspicious points. You need to tell me how you knew my location.”

To Alisa, who didn’t know about the existence of a possessor, everything was a mystery. It was logical to assume he had a backer.

“So that’s it, huh? Sorry, but I can’t tell you. I’m about to die, after all. Instead, I’ll tell you about someone else I know.”

“What? Who is it?” “That would be…”

His gaze shifted behind Alisa. A single stone reflected in his pupils.

Thwack!

The next moment, the stone that flew like an arrow crushed the drug addict’s head. “Kyaaaak!”

Blood spurted along with brain matter.

*

[You have killed the possessed drug dealer, Dane.] [You have acquired the unique skill – Pheromone.] [Pheromone – Your bodily fluids gain faint hallucinogenic properties. on/off]

Though numerous status windows appeared before my eyes, I ignored them and looked down at my palm.

‘I killed a person.’

The dignity of a human and a human life. Which of the two holds more value? While it differs for each person, there’s no disagreement that both are precious.

Thus, committing murder to prevent the destruction of dignity can be called self-defense.

I placed my hand on my chest. Thump! Thump!

A gentle pulsation was transmitted. There was no agitation. Despite it being my first kill, there was surprisingly no change in my emotions.

Was it because I was a born killer? Or had something changed when I crossed over to this world?

Strong doubts and curiosities surged, but I pushed them to one corner. Because right now, I had something else to do.

Thud!

Jumping down from the building, I headed towards Alisa, who was still dazed.

She heard my footsteps, turned her head, and when our eyes met, her face twisted and she cried out. “You! Why… did you do that?”

“…”

“You didn’t need to kill him. He would have died even if you just left him.”

She was right. The amount of blood he was spitting out was not normal. If he had been left alone for just one more minute, he would have naturally stopped breathing.

But that was the problem. One minute. No, if even one more second had passed, my suspiciousness would have been exposed.

So, it couldn’t be helped. “Who knows what trick he might have pulled. In fact, the blood he spat out might have been fake.”

“But…” “More importantly, keep your promise first.”

“Promise?” “Yes. …Sex, I mean.”

“Sex…?” Alisa’s eyes flickered strangely.

Soon, her expression turned cold, as if she were looking at an incomprehensible creature.

Soon, her face became expressionless. “Why should I?”

“Huh? No, you promised me. Are you perhaps thinking of breaking it?”

When I asked this in bewilderment, Alisa seemed to ponder for a moment, then lowered her head.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can have sex with you. That’s something you do with someone you love.”

“I know that too. But you promised, didn’t you? You have to keep it. And Alisa, you might not know this, but this ability isn’t free. If you don’t meet the conditions, there will be side effects. Your physical abilities will significantly decline. Understand? Why I made such a condition. So let’s hurry. There’s no time.”

Now, less than 20 minutes remained until the time limit. I had never done it before, so I didn’t know, but this much time should be more than enough to ejaculate.

But the answer I received to my detailed explanation was consistent. “It’s still hard for me to accept. I’m sorry.”

“No! Your physical abilities will significantly decline! Don’t you understand when I put it like that? You’ll revert to the level of an ordinary person in an instant. Isn’t that a waste? Right? What? All your hard training will disappear!”

“…No. If my physical abilities weaken, I can just train again, can’t I? My sword skills won’t disappear.”

“You really don’t seem to understand. This is close to a curse. It’s not simply about having to train from the beginning. Your growth rate will also be 10 times slower than others. This isn’t the time to be stubborn!”

In truth, the penalty only applied to me, but to persuade Alisa, I had to lie like this. The original story hadn’t even begun yet, so I couldn’t become a cripple.

Panting with excitement, I desperately tried to calm my emotions, looking at Alisa, who remained silent.

‘Calm down. There’s still time.’

[18:23] It’s more than enough, it’s leftover time. In fact, it would be strange to be impatient.

First, let’s try to probe her true feelings. Surely, she wouldn’t risk a decline in physical abilities just because she didn’t truly love me. Alisa Bretes isn’t that kind of character.

“Alisa. Do you dislike me that much?” “…That’s not it.”

“Really? That’s a relief. Then how about this? First, we have sex to remove the side effects, and then we slowly get to know each other afterwards. This might sound like a burden, but I think I could fall in love with someone like Alisa.”

Alisa Bretes, true to being the game’s heroine, was outstanding in every aspect, from her appearance and physique to her personality, with no flaws. It was natural for any ordinary man to feel attracted to her.

At my gentle words, Alisa sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were even colder.

“Did you do that when you seduced the maids too?” “Huh? Maids?”

“You must have thought I wouldn’t know you, but it just occurred to me. You’re Young Master Ruan Friuli, right? I’ve heard the rumors too. Do you understand now why I’m refusing?” I understood perfectly.