Trust...
An ever changing concept, like the tide rushing up and down the beach, something beautiful, but also something that can hold an incomprehensibly dangerous backlash.
Why must I be the one to face the backlash?
I stared up from my bloody hands, that had been covering a gaping hole in my chest.
"Why?" I croaked out, coughing out pink blood at the same time.
"You're asking me why?"
"Ah... yes, how could I be so stupid, we were never meant to be, how could I forget?"
Accepting the fact that I was about to die, I started laughing and laughing and laughing crazily like an evil clown, coughing up more and more pink, bubbly blood.
"You've changed, Shin."
"I've changed?!!!! What a funny joke!" I shouted out, attracting the attention of the dark figures all around me, before they all looked away from the scene again.
My laughter started echoing throughout the entire abandoned building.
...
After a while, I composed myself, easing my breathing and feeling my heartbeat slow down.
"You truly think that you haven't changed?"
"..."
I was only met with silence.
"Ah, it's not like it'll matter to me anymore, I'm just a pathetic, dying man after all, just... just keep going on, okay? I know that we'll meet on the other side soon."
I watched as she sat down and cradled my head gently into her lap, stroking my wet cheeks, wiping away the tears that I didn't even knew I had started shedding.
"And, take care of my girl for me, will ya?"
Seeing the tears streaking down her soft, pale, lovely cheeks, I couldn't help but smile faintly, feeling satisfied, as I closed my eyes for an eternity.
"I will Shin, I will. If it's the last promise that I can make to you, to make up for all those memories we never had, to make up for all the laughter we could have shared, to make up for all those moments that will never be, to make up for all the broken ones I left in the dirt, as I left you behind."
The last thing I felt was the faint touch of her lips on mine, delicate, supple, sweet, like a sakura blossom on a spring day, as my mind stopped functioning, and I descended into the darkness called death.
...
13 Days Before:
"Lili, are you ready?"
Over the past few days, I had been stuck with a lot of work to do in this dark room.
This was all due to the fact that the 2nd generation had finally made it out of the Tutorial Tower.
With this, me and Verminus became very busy, having to figure out which of the greenies I had to recruit and which of them I would put on my "Marked for Consideration" list.
Using the parasites that Verminus had left all over the first floor, we immediately infected all 3 greenies that we knew we had to recruit into our guild.
I opened my eyes, only to be blinded by the light of the sun.
Basking in the familiar warmth that I hadn't felt for such a long time, I couldn't help but sigh in satisfaction.
Everything had been going perfect.
I was pretty sure that "Anonymous" hadn't noticed my change in expression when I had seen that system message telling me that the "sister" that I had supposedly killed wasn't real.
Then, afterwards, as I was reveling in this understanding, I had been given my rewards for clearing the Tutorial Tower.
'Who would've thought that I would be the top player in the 2nd generation?' (A/N: Everybody did, you damn secondary protagonist.)
With this, in conjunction with some of the titles that I had gotten and the amount of money that some of the gods watching had sponsored me, I was now incomparably strong compared to the others that had finished the Tutorial Tower, but, I was still a far cry from the first generation rankers right now, so I knew I had to work hard, or my revenge would never succeed.
//Hello player, "GFishe"!//
'Ugh, I must be hallucinating from my excitement.'
//No, I'm actually in your head right now.//
'Yeah, I might need to get my head checked. I wonder where the nearest psychiatrist's clinic is?'
//I'm telling you, I'M RIGHT HERE!//
//Okay, okay, chill, voice in my brain.//
//Thank you, now, do you want to listen to a proposal?//
//No, don't wanna, get out.//
The voice seemed kind of flustered for a second by my sharp declining of it's offer, as it stayed quiet.
"Hey, Lacida, let's go."
"Alright, where to?"
"The town I guess, I mean, there's no other clue right now to what we're supposed to do."
"Okay."
We walked shoulder to shoulder out of the group of confused people, being the first two to do so.
"Cya suckers!!!" She shouted, before flipping them off.
"Fuck! Why'd you do that?" I asked, seeing the angry expressions of all the other players behind us.
"Cause those mama's boys gotta get those asses in motion!"
"Well, can't argue with that." I said, shrugging my shoulder, before both us us broke out in a sprint, successfully escaping from the angry mob.
...
We had finally found a good hotel to stay for the night, and Lacida was showering right now.
Sitting down on the bed, drying my wet hair, I couldn't help but sigh as I heard the voice for the hundredth time today.
//I told you to shut up!//
//Just please, listen to my proposal?//
//I'm not in the mood to marry anyone, okay?!//
//Our guild will give you a gun.//
This shut me up, after all, the weapon that I was the best at using, and the one that had been the only other weapon that I had ever used, was just presented in front of me.
And seeing that it had somehow hooked my attention, the voice continued.
//Our guild name is "The Library" and we are a guild created by the Tower itself, with the Tower as our guildmaster.//
//If you're wondering why Mr. Tower would take an interest in you, well, it's because you are the second strongest player to ever get out of the Tutorial Tower.//
//Also, Mr. Tower says that, because player "Anonymous" is also in the guild, he will give you the right to fight him in a death match after you acquire enough contribution points.//
//Okay, this is all great and all, but, what do I need to do. Obviously, nothing is free, especially in this Tower.//
//Well, we are primarily an information guild, with information centers on every 5th floor.//
//So all I would need to do is collect information?//
//Yes, and then we'll take that information and sell it to other players.//
//But, doesn't Mr. Tower know everything that happens in his Tower?//
//He doesn't, he only knows about things that are in system announcements. Because he's the one in charge of making and maintaining the system and the updates, he has no time to watch over every small thing that happens in this tower.//
//Alright, well, I'll join, if that's all.//
//Please sign this contract.//
A contract appeared out of thin air and landed in my hands.
Seeing the conditions that had been written down, I smiled, as it seemed like I would be able to eat up my prey for free.
Picking up a pen that I materialized out of my inventory, I signed the contract.
Immediately, a red light wrapped around me, before shattering into little crimson rays, leaving me with a guild logo branded into my hand and in my status window, but, that name... it wasn't the name of the guild that I had signed up for.
//Congratulations for joining the guild! It'll be a pleasure working with you!//
//Now, please, sit down, as I explain the real purpose of our guild, "Mirage".//
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A/N: Well, that was the last chapter for today. We're gonna start off this week strong! Let's try getting into the top 600 in ps rankings this week! So, I'm gonna shamelessly ask for all your powerstones! Hehehehe...