One thing I couldn't understand was why 'this' Haein (for I refuse to call her the 'second') did not spawn the Hell Beast.
The one I met for the first time - the Haein who was going to die without my intervention, always died no matter what after we met. On the first day to boot.
We spent many October 1sts together but never beyond that. The Hell Beast always appeared in the evening and took my princess away, and I got killed immediately after too.
This haein, the 19-year-old innocent devil, died once from the Hell Beast but she wasn't really directly attacked and eaten like the other one was. She only died from the concrete slab falling on her head after I did… 'that' to her, which led to the Hell Beast appearing and also stomping me to death.
I thought if I could get the Hell Beast to spawn when Haein was around this time I might learn more about its most important nature, how and when it appears. For the longest time, I believed it was set in stone that it would appear on November 9th, but my encounter with this anomaly of a girl proved that theory to be completely wrong.
Now that the Beast was not automatically appearing when we met, I could only think of two scenarios where 'my action' triggered its appearance.
The first time was when I killed Haein, and the second time was when I'd done something truly evil. Neither felt like the right thing to do, and what I was most afraid of was that if I killed this Haein, another different version of her would spawn and this particular one would be lost forever, sort of like a perma-death.
Funny that I wished for a perma-death for myself yet I was scared of losing my precious, who was going to die anyway in 40 days if I did not do anything.
Not knowing what to do and after agonizing over it for days on end, I decided I would try the unthinkable.
I'm gonna try killing someone else and see what happens.
On Halloween day, I went to Itaewon where many youngsters gathered around to party the night away. While it was extremely crowded and thus difficult to find a solitary target where nobody could see me doing the evil deed, there was an irresistible benefit that it was the easiest night and the place to walk around with a weapon in plain sight and also get away safely after the murder.
It's not that getting caught would be much of an issue. I only needed to wait for 9 days for the Hell Beast to appear and I'd be free back in my room anyway. But this was strictly for research. I wanted to be able to roam and experiment for those 9 more days to see if my actions had any effect on the creature from hell.
So on this night, I was wearing a white raincoat with all my hair brushed back and held perfectly sleek while carrying a very shiny silver axe - so clean with shiny reflections that nobody would consider it a real weapon.
This was my homage to Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
Although I wasn't sure if there would be many people who'd get the reference, I didn't quite look out of place either, and once I kill someone it would be a simple matter of taking off the raincoat and putting my hair down and just walk away from the scene.
Instead of waiting in a quiet spot which would actually get me noticed more easily by patrolling police officers, I decided to move with the crowd along the main street and bide my time to find a perfect target.
"Hello, Mr. Patrick Bateman"
I got scared out of my skin when someone tapped on my shoulder and spoke to me from behind.
"What-, what the hell are you doing here?!"
It was Haein wearing a Playboy Bunny costume, which was extremely kinky-kawai.
"Heh, I've never been to a Halloween party in Itaewon before, so I wanted to come check it out before the world ends in… 9 days right?"
"Ye-, yes…"
"I didn't expect to find you here though"
"You know Patrick Bateman?"
"Of course I do! What a great movie, but-"
"The book is even better", we said in unison.
"I see, you are a girl of culture", I acknowledged her good taste.
"You are not half as bad as I thought either"
"Thanks, but are you alone here? Dressed like THAT?"
"It would be too embarrassing to have my friends see me like this…"
"But you have no problem with strangers ogling at you?"
"Look around, there are so many people around here cosplaying and walking around half-naked. YOU are the weirdo wearing a raincoat, heh"
Fair enough. But be still, my pounding heart.
"So why are you here alone too?", the little bunny inquired this time.
"I… I'm here to experiment"
"Huh?"
I felt like there was no point in lying, and actually, this unexpected development might just be what I needed.
"I'm going to kill someone today"
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Pssst, be quiet. This is an experiment"
Haein grabbed the handle of my axe and tried to take it away.
"No, I can't let you do that! Even if the world would reset anyway - according to you - this is just wrong!"
"Please, we gotta do this"
"WE?!"
"Yes, the Hell Beast might appear if I do this. I want you to see the Hell Beast with me. Actually, hang on - I have an even better idea"
"This is crazy"
"Here, I brought the notebook to write some notes down in case I learn something. YOU take this notebook and draw a sketch of the Hell Beast when it spawns. In the next cycle, I will show you your own sketch of the Hell Beast. That might give us something to work on"
"Oh God… I can't believe I'm even thinking about this…"
But the hesitant girl had already taken the notebook from me with her trembling hand.
:SLAP!:
"Kyaaa!", Haein suddenly screamed out after a sudden sound of a slap.
"Woohooo! Happy Halloween!"
A fat dude wearing a sickeningly ugly Spiderman costume howled and casually walked off.
"Did he… just slap your ass?!!"
"Yui…", Haein squinted her eyes.
"Yeah I know"
Well, if we are gonna kill anyone tonight, I guess he deserves it.
"Go talk to him and lure him to that backstreet. I'll be waiting there", I ordered, pointing.
"Shit. I'm pissed off but this is too much. I'm part-taking in a frigging murder"
Haein shook her head but I knew she was sold.
"Hurry, before he disappears"
With that, the kinky-kawai girl rushed after the fat fuck and as I walked off, I could see her trying to chat him up.
Of course that incel will follow Haein to the back alley thinking that it's the luckiest night of his life. I had no doubt.
After about two minutes of waiting in the back alley, I finally heard quick footsteps approach.
"Nyaha! Catch me if you can!"
That was Haein but… what are you?! Six?!
But the fat fuck was too blinded by the cute little bunny tail (and the ass, obviously) that wiggled as she turned into the alley and ran right past me. The spider cunt didn't notice me at all and panted as he was about to pass me as well. Just in time, I lifted my axe high and landed a full hit on his head.
The poor sod fell to the ground immediately with a loud thud, blood spurting out of his head like a fountain.
Smart choice, Yui. Smart choice. Raincoat was the perfect idea.
I quickly took off the raincoat and ran toward where Haein headed earlier.
Let's see what happens now.