episode_0014

The room I entered was the server room. It was a narrow, dark space with countless wires and servers tangled together.

As soon as I entered, I commanded a clone to knock over furniture and drawers to block the entrance.

This bought me a very brief moment of respite. To conserve magic, I recalled the clone, then immediately took out two of the remaining recovery potions and injected them into Kalia.

Kalia’s condition looked very serious. She had only survived that blow because she was a main character.

An ordinary person would have died.

As the medicine took effect, she quickly regained consciousness a few seconds later.

“Violet…? What was that earlier… and where are we now…?”

“I injected you with medicine. You should be fine now. This is their server room…”

“…Ah, so that’s why there are so many wires.”

I could hear the sounds of several people moving beyond the door. I had only bought myself a very brief moment of respite.

However, there was one solution.

“What are you going to do now?”

“I have my own ideas.”

I pointed to a ventilation duct cover on one side of the server room.

“My goodness…. Is there anywhere you haven’t been?”

“Let’s crawl out through there for now.”

Kalia staggered to her feet. The recovery potion’s effect was quite fast.

The bald director, who had been silent, began to chuckle.

“Do you really think you bitches can escape from here by doing this? It’s over! You’ll never get out!”

“Baldies don’t get a say!”

I grabbed the director’s side hair and yanked.

“Aaah! You ungrateful bitch! It’s all over anyway!”

“Shut up!”

“You ungrateful wretch! Do you know how much trouble I went through because of you? I pleaded with those entrance exam brokers to get you into the academy! I even siphoned off lab funds to open up a path!

And you dare to start a riot? If the lab gets this chaotic! Reports will definitely go up to the higher-ups! Gaaah! Stop pulling!”

The bald bastard, having decided it was all or nothing, started blabbling nonsense. That trash whose conscience is proportional to the number of his hair follicles!

“I! Didn’t even report to the main branch! I did all this crazy stuff..! If I had just prepared and revealed you, my life would have blossomed! It’s all ruined!

How meticulously I kept it a secret… My career…! My life! You, the lab rat, and that beggar from the streets, both of you ruined everything!”

“Be quiet!”

Unable to listen anymore, I slammed my alloy hammer onto his forehead. He clamped his mouth shut in pain.

“Kalia! Any more calls?”

I was talking about the smartphone I’d given her in the secret room earlier. Kalia shook her head.

“A text message did come. It says they’ll arrive in about 20 minutes.”

“Wow. So we just need to run away for 20 minutes! Maybe we can even defeat that Ogre… that huge Security Chief, if we team up with those people?”

She shook her head.

“…That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

Kalia’s face darkened.

“I explained that I got captured here trying to find my Brotherhood’s leader… my uncle, right?”

I nodded.

“The one who defeated me back then… was that guy, the Security Chief. The giant bastard.”

“What? You lost?”

“Yes, I was ambushed, but even I could tell he’s not an easy opponent. If we had fought head-on, I don’t think I would have lost, though.”

She gazed at her bare hands with a sense of futility.

“But in this state, without a weapon…”

Now that I thought about it, Kalia’s main weapon in the game was a one-handed sword. It was strange that she was fighting bare-handed like this.

“…So, you’ve finally realized your place. Anyway, surrender! If you surrender now, I’ll generously overlook it, 10-6-8!

I don’t know how you tricked the researchers by acting like an idiot, but since you’re the fruit of our project, you won’t be severely punished.”

The bald man started blabbering again.

“That’s funny! Why should I listen to you? Your goal is to sell me off anyway!”

“I’m offering to send you to an academy others can’t even dream of going to, so what’s the big deal? You were a surprise gift created by this lab! If the higher-ups had seen you… I could have gone back to the main branch…! Becoming a director wouldn’t have been a dream…!”

The bald man’s long-winded speech about his mid-life crisis was unbearable.

As I was about to raise my alloy hammer again, Kalia, who had been looking around, suddenly blurted out a question.

“You said Violet and that experiment were secret? And the main branch doesn’t know?”

“Oh dear, did you really think your friend wouldn’t be tracked? You foolish girl. Unfortunately, with this riot, the main branch will surely find out. Even if you escape, you’ll be chased for the rest of your lives. Give up.”

Kalia’s expression crumpled. Seeing this, the bald man sneered even more.

The noise from beyond the door was getting louder.

A question mark popped into my head.

“Then where do you keep the data related to that project?”

“Why are you asking about that?”

-Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

“Ah! Alright! I’ll answer! The lab’s internal cloud! It’s all stored on the server!”

“You don’t keep it on computers?”

“Argh! Because of security issues, all important data must only be stored on the internal server! That’s the main branch’s regulation!”

“That server? Is it here?”

-Thwack! Thwack!

“Damn it! Of course the server is in the server room! Argh!”

It felt like a jolt, like being struck by lightning.

I looked at Kalia. Kalia met my eyes and nodded.

“Then, one last question. To get past that elevator, or to bypass the emergency lockdown procedure, how do you do it?”

I shoved the alloy hammer into his face.

“…Palm vein authentication.”

“What?”

“It’s palm vein authentication. Only I and the Security Chief are registered, so you absolutely can’t get out…”

Oh, is that so?

I pulled out a hacksaw I had hidden in the bag I was carrying.

“…What? What is that!”

“Kalia, could you help me?”

“Alright. It feels a bit unpleasant, but… Ugh…”

Unyielding flames spread onto the hacksaw.

“Wait! Don’t! Don’t! Nooo!”

With one or two saws, his wrist fell off.

Kalia seared it with flames. I picked up the wrist and put it in the bag.

“Aaaah! Help me! Guards! Get in here quickly!”

The commotion inside grew louder, then heavy footsteps approached again.

Kalia gripped flames in both hands.

And then she rapidly sprayed flames throughout the server room. In an instant, the servers caught fire.

The bald man, clutching his own wrist, screamed at the sight.

“Aaaah! So that’s why you asked! No! The servers! The data! My promotion! Nooo!”

“Violet, it won’t be perfect, but this should stop Raphlaxia’s pursuit for a while…”

Now all that was left was to exit through the ventilation duct. I had already torn off the duct cover with a clone.

But Kalia didn’t come towards the ventilation duct.

“Kalia? Why aren’t you coming? It’s urgent!”

She pushed through the smoke and approached the door.

“Wait! Kalia! Where are you going…?”

She glanced at me for a moment, then shrugged.

“Sorry, Violet. I feel claustrophobic, I don’t think I can go into that vent.”

“What? What are you talking about! Get in quickly!”

“If you meet someone from the Brotherhood, tell them Blaze sent you. You should be able to rely on them for a while.”

She gazed at me with a somehow desolate look in her eyes.

Bang! The door burst open. It was the Ogre’s doing.

“Idiot! Get in quickly!”

“Wait…!”

She prepared to charge. I screamed and stretched my hand out of the ventilation duct.

-Rumble!

Suddenly, the building shook.

“What on earth…?”

I wasn’t the only one surprised. Kalia turned back to me and shouted.

“Violet! Just get inside for now…!”

Outside the door, the guards suddenly became noisy too.

“What is it? Did the test subjects detonate a bomb or something?”

“Oh no, could it be a terrorist attack?”

“Everyone get down!”

-Boom! Crash!

I screamed and crawled into the ventilation duct for now.

Suddenly, the explosions stopped, and a strange, loud sound echoed. A sound both unfamiliar and yet familiar traveled through the metal conduit of the ventilation duct.

A continuous thumping sound. No, this was the sound of something rotating at high speed.

-Boom! Crash! Bang!

The building vibrated once more.

“Ugh… Aaaah!”

Suddenly, the ventilation duct creaked, and a weak part of its floor broke off with a thud. I tumbled down.

“Waaah!”

It hurt terribly to fall from the high ceiling, but the noisy sound from before roared again.

‘What on earth is this?’

I could see it.

The lab wall, which had no windows, was blasted wide open as if something had hammered it.

Beyond it, I could see the morning sky with the rising sun, clouds, and the city.

I immediately understood the source of the noise.

‘Helicopters?’

Several helicopters were hovering close to the building.

-Thump!

Startled, I hid myself.

Several black figures leaped through the hole in the wall, landing inside and taking a defensive stance. Soon, more black-clad people continued to jump through the wall.

Looking closely, they were much more heavily armed than the guards here.

Large rifles covered in various accessories, and exoskeleton gear extending from their backs, connected to their arms and legs.

Those without guns carried longswords or various cold weapons strapped to their backs. They were Awakened Ones.

‘Each one feels stronger than that Ogre from before!’

What on earth is the identity of these intruders?

On their shoulder patches, I saw an emblem with several dark red squares.

‘Surely, that’s…’

In my memory, there was only one group of madmen in this world who used such a symbol.

Obsidian Legion.

They were a terrorist organization from the world of Crimson Sage. Mad villains who, despite being terrorists, actively displayed their symbols.

“But why on earth did those guys suddenly break in here?”

A bolt from the blue is one thing, but this is too much. Why? At this very moment? Did someone contact them to invade this place?

They slid into the lab. Their movements were professional.

I quickly hid behind a trash can. It was chilling. Immediately after, loud explosions and gunshots filled the lab.

‘Oh no! Kalia!’

Only after they disappeared did I return near the server room.

‘The floor… it’s open!’

It wasn’t just a hole; it was blasted wide open as if something had exploded.

I could see the first floor directly below. Was Kalia down there?

Nearby, I saw scattered bodies of guards, either attacked by the terrorists or caught in the explosion.

“I should take this for now.”

[P-15 Assault Rifle ☆]

The most basic automatic weapon used by military police.

Can easily kill low-level magic beasts.

High versatility, low price, and excellent durability are

the biggest advantages of this weapon.

…

I picked up one intact rifle. It looked similar to the one I used during my military days.

I removed the magazine to check for bullets. I pulled the charging handle to inspect the chamber. I even touched what looked like the selector switch. After fiddling with it, I got a feel for how to use it.

‘It’s heavy…’

The rifle felt heavy in a girl’s body.

And then I found a rather long sword that one of the guards had been carrying.

[Mass-produced One-handed Sword ☆]

A metal one-handed sword made in a back-alley blacksmith shop.

Nothing about it is superior except for its cheap price.

Used by those who once dreamed of being hunters,

often carried for show.

…

‘Even if it’s not as good as Kalia’s personal weapon, it might be useful.’

I descended to the first floor with my clones.

‘If I had more time, I could have explored the first floor.’

The first floor was genuinely a new place for me. From beyond the corridor, I suddenly heard a crashing sound!

‘No way? Is Kalia over there?’

I scurried towards the source of the noise.

I immediately came face to face with Kalia, who was fighting the Ogre.

She was staggering up from the floor.

“Kalia! I’m here!!”

I ran to save my friend.