Clearing the Game at the End of the World

****

Ian had become increasingly emaciated, almost looking like a hermit, while Vex was quite the opposite.

Every small gesture was sharply executed, and his small, sunken eyes sparkled with murderous intent.

It wasn't that he harbored any grudge against me. It's just that being in daily life-or-death battles naturally put one in such a state. He minimized blinking, and even when greeting or scratching his body, his hands would always pass over the handle of a knife. Always ready to kill, anywhere, anytime.

‘Damn, it reminds me of the old days. During the special forces, searching for remaining enemy troops, there was a guy who came at me with just a knife, eyes exactly like that.’

His eyes were fiercely sharp, unable to hide his state. What had he been through to end up like this? It was truly frustrating.

"….Why have you become so tense? It's not like I was close to death only once or twice. It's happened often, hasn’t it? As always, I've come back alive."

"Aaah, uhuhuhu…."

Fortunately, he wasn't completely broken. If this state continued, he wouldn't be able to cry or speak. It seems it wasn't the worst case yet.

Instead of speaking, Vex conveyed how he had been lately through other means.

Tap,

[Target / Death / Fear / Confusion / Hallucination / Negative Allies]

"You…. You're really not in good shape, are you? Can't you speak at all?"

"That…. Ah…. Hepburn, a mountain rolled and iron lumps, not wrong…. Eeeeek!"

Tap,

[Difficult mission / Irresistible force]

The military hand signals he often used during operations. Him speaking like that didn't mean he had become a fool. Rather, he was already unstable, and having been exposed to that device that drove people mad, and seeing me in this state, had caused something in him to severely break down.

It was almost like aphasia. He clearly had something he wanted to say, but his mouth wouldn't cooperate. It was as if, even if we asked, ‘Do you want to try making your heart beat twice as fast for a while?' he wouldn't know how. Suddenly, an odd filter had formed between his brain and tongue, and he couldn’t control this situation.

He must have started using sign language out of frustration that people couldn't understand him. At least someone with military experience would understand basic military hand signals, and someone from the special forces could engage in detailed conversations like Ian and I.

But even if communication was possible, it was infuriating to see that until a few days ago, his emotional wounds had almost healed, and he hadn’t been stuttering or using strange words, yet now he couldn't converse without using sign language.

"Really…. it's a wretched world, isn't it?"

Tap, tap.

[Agreement / Activity range / Overall / Serious battlefield / No rest]

"Yeah, yeah. Wherever you go, cursed things constantly pop up. Don't be so downhearted. Talking in meaning feels just like talking to Hyde, it's very familiar."

Badump!

Oh, how amusing. Someone's heart is burning up inside.

When asked what he had been doing to get all bloody, he just smirked. And when the Inspection Bureau asked why he caused a commotion again, he simply raised his thumb without saying a word.

"Hep, Hepburn…."

Tap!

[Highest priority / Successfully completed / Injury / Retired soldier / Rest]

"Shh, shh, shush…."

"….Alright. As it happens, I’ve been suffering non-stop this year as if cursed, so I’ll take this opportunity to rest properly. Don't push yourself too hard either."

"Keeheehee."

Vex didn’t stay long and soon left, laughing merrily without ever telling what he had been up to until so late.

"….My word. Acting all ‘I’ve got something going on' and then telling me to rest, as if I could just relax. This guy and that guy, neither knows how to beat around the bush even when facing death."

I need to find out what he's been up to. It's certain he's been wandering around regions where safety cannot be guaranteed within 24 hours. And in such chaos, there must be plenty of killings to be done. Considering the significance I now attach to murder after becoming like this… it's the perfect environment to drive one mad. Especially since he uses a knife. The taking of a life must feel very real at his fingertips.

"….Thinking about it, if we just leave things as they are, could it lead to serious trouble?"

Even now, it seemed he had just been through a major incident, and things could potentially get even worse from here.

"….Whoever comes in next, I need to ask them to call someone who's well-informed. I need to know exactly what's happening throughout District 47."

With that thought, I accessed the community using the system. Even though I couldn't write, I could still read.

So, I spent a sleepless night reading the lamentations of many people.

If only some silly posts had come up to lighten the mood.

Most of the posts on the community were obituaries under the guise of missing person reports.

****

The next morning.

"What, what? Call Speedwagon? Professor’s Jess… Are you making any sense?"

Ian, who had come to see Professor early in the morning thinking he wouldn’t be able to visit for a while, doubted his ears.

"Huh? Are you still half asleep? Who's Jess and who's Dana? You know Speedwagon, from the chat room 47! The talkative one! You said you don't even know what Vex is up to! Shouldn't we find out? I guarantee you there's hardly any informant as reliable and skilled as Speedwagon. We even agreed to meet in reality during the last game, so it shouldn't be too awkward, right? The whole neighborhood is in chaos, crowding into Dome 47, so he's bound to be around here. Surely an informant wouldn't be so slow to move and end up isolated, right?"

"….So you're saying, the first thing you do when you wake up is look for Speedwagon? Is this some sort of power of love or what?"

From what he was saying, it seemed he wasn’t trying to find ‘Dana Elisha Hyacinth' from Professor Park’s memory two months ago, but the informant ‘Speedwagon' he knew.

"….I thought it was some fierce obsession of a 24-year-old virgin that somehow stuck in your frigid brain."

"Have you been drinking? You've been spouting incomprehensible stuff…. Wait a minute. Have I met Speedwagon before? You make it sound so familiar."

Ian then shared with Professor about his journey to the coordinates of Speedwagon that he had received amid the myriad of distress signals starting from District 41 two months ago, where he met her.

"Speedwagon was a woman?"

"Yeah."

"And we got along well?"

"Um. It felt suffocating, but there was something… something about it. Wait a minute. This might be a sign that your memory is returning, so I should call a doctor. Maybe your time here could significantly reduce…."

Gulp!

"….Is she pretty?"

"Damn, is that important right now? Considering your condition…."

"Then what’s more important than this! Is she pretty? Tell me!"

Professor, blushing just from the thought, grabbed Ian's clothes as if he wouldn’t let go without an answer. Seeing this, Ian couldn’t help but burst into laughter, forgetting his serious mood.

Yeah, this guy was always like this.

"Kehkehkeh. They say a long-time virgin becomes a wizard. You really have a ghostly knack for finding the right people. Alright, I'll call her so you can see and judge for yourself. I already put her name on the visitation list outside, so switching the order should be easy enough for the researchers to handle."

Ian smiled at the desperate look on Professor’s face.

"I’ll talk right away and send her over, so just wait a bit. I'm off. Stay healthy until I see you next."

"Table, or at least a chair… Damn! Can't it be like Hyde's consciousness space? Isn’t there an avatar feature in the play waiting room? Wearing just the clothes I hang around in at home is a bit…."

"…..I’m going!"

"Yeah, uh. Go. See you next time."

"Damn, to go crazy over one girl, friend or not…."

Ian shook his head and gave Professor's shoulder a tap before hitting the logout button. Yeah, no need to say more. Just like that guy was sure about his next meeting, Ian was certain about their reunion too.

Ding-!

[Player ‘DOOMgay’ has logged out.]

Whoosh- Swoosh!

As the login terminal opened and he stepped outside, Ian didn’t have to go far before he encountered President Young waiting nearby.

“Did you manage to have a good talk?”

“There wasn’t much to talk about, really. No need to worry the already troubled man more than necessary.”

“The outer battle zones are tougher than anticipated. You know as well as I do. Except for this place connected to the login terminal, there’s nowhere else to meet Professor Park. The District over there is practically a battlefield; it might be a long time before we can meet again, if ever.”

That was likely. On the borders of District 45 and 46, the guns barely had time to cool down, necessitating multiple machine guns ready to fire, and the piled-up mutant corpses were being used to build new defensive lines. It was not a place one could easily return from, perhaps never.

However, Ian dismissed such thoughts from his mind. Professor Park's unconcerned demeanor. It was an attitude only possible because he believed he could return outside. If the person most likely to despair was gearing up like that, how could Ian, the Metal Jaw, whine about it?

Instead of responding verbally, Ian heartily grasped the hand President Young extended to him.

“I apologize, but deciding who returns from the battlefield is my call.”

“….Solid. Ashfield.”

Ian felt something solid pass into his hand from the firm handshake of the President. It was a golden badge with the Inspectorate's emblem on it.

“I hope you show them the prowess that once terrorized the wasteland in its heyday.”

Ian stared at the badge for a moment before pinning it next to a large patch on his chest that had the letters BDSM embroidered into it, a design with a black hand grasping the letters. It was something Vex had sewn himself on the back of his field jacket, based on the design he had prepared recently.

“Kehkehkeh… As always, you will see more than you imagined, President.”

With no hesitation in his step, Ian swung the door open, revealing nearly thirty members of the BDSM caravan waiting.

Chosen from a wave of applicants who had flocked like clouds when Professor Park's fame soared after his recent sacrifices, these were the elite members selected meticulously.

“Hey, Vice Leader! Considering it's BDSM, shouldn’t we have leather jackets instead of just these patches?”

“That’s right! Something black and glossy!”

“No need for that, let's just get going! Vex is getting so restless it's driving me mad just watching him!”

These were veterans of battle, already briefed via video on where they were heading, and even amongst them were some whom Vex had rescued from utter chaos, who knew very well how dreadful the place was yet could still joke around.

Ian then directed his steps towards Vex and Ezel, sitting in a corner, and approached them.

“….How about it? Did he look more unstable or troubled than yesterday?”

Ian remembered Professor, who had kept repeating ‘Is she pretty?’ and chuckled.

“Ha! Professor Park didn’t seem worried at all. His head's probably filled only with thoughts of Ms. Jess.”

“Typical. I feel stupid for worrying.”

Tap,

“Me, that, uh….”

[Departure delay / Disadvantageous battlefield / Supply route retaking / Swift operation]

“Alright, alright! You’re really impatient. Anyway, we have things to do before we can leave since it’ll be a while before we can return.”

Ian glanced back at the administration building where Professor was, then turned and headed out of the city.

“Let’s go, friends. If a troubled friend can strive like that, we who are fully capable shouldn’t just be idling around.”

That day, the 30-member BDSM caravan, including the three, set off toward District 46, where battle raged against a relentless wave of mutants.

A small but elite team composed of one tank, two armed trucks, and three combat vehicles, BDSM.

“What are we hunting this time?”

“That brute that broke through our defenses at Position 74 two days ago. Called the Pangolin, or something like that.”

Their mission was to support the most challenging battlefields and to hunt down Type 2.5 and Type 3 mutants, acting as wedges in various battle zones.

****

As his friends fortified their resolve and boarded the vehicle heading to the battlefield…

….gulp.

Professor was also steeling his resolve, perhaps even more solemnly than they were.

Ding-!

[Player ‘Speedwagon’ has entered!]

There she was. My longtime friend, advisor, online companion, and, apparently, lover—even though I had no recollection of it!

‘If Ian said we got along well…. it must be true, right? How far had our relationship progressed? Would she cry upon seeing me like this? What do you do when a woman cries? Who am I? Where is this? What should I say when we first meet….'

Whoosh!

Before he could even start, Professor was already panicking. A small luminescence appeared before him, and from within it emerged…

A delicate woman, smiling gently, seated in a wheelchair.

"….Long time…. no see? Professor."

Boom.

"Ah…."

Hundreds of thoughts and musings that had been swirling in his mind vanished in an instant. The moist eyes of the woman in the wheelchair looked up at him, and the deep, poignant emotions within them flowed into him through their gaze.

A first meeting with no shared memories to recall, yet a certain familiarity of emotion overwhelmed Professor, leaving him unsure of how to proceed.

Speedwagon. My friend. Informant. And my lover, absent from my memory.

"Really long time…. um…. nice to meet you? Dana Elisha Hyacinth… Ms. Speedwagon?"

An awkwardly squeezed-out greeting, ridiculously unfit for laughter, yet why was she smiling at him like that?

"I knew you were good with people, but I didn’t realize you were this good… Leaving only emotions in someone’s heart, tormenting them with the possibility of an eternal departure, then forgetting everything yourself and greeting with that old greeting of ours? Isn't that a bit too… savvy?"

"Uh…. um…. sorry, I-"

"That’s not what I want to hear."

With a trembling voice, she opened her arms to me.

"Come here."

I moved towards her.

"Arms."

I bent down, awkwardly wrapping my arms around her shoulders clad in a white dress. Her arms gently pulled me in, and our shoulders met.

"Now…. tell me you’re back."

Her soft voice whispered in my ear. I couldn't clearly distinguish whether the emotions I felt were from two months ago or if they were new feelings aroused by this deeply emotional first meeting with her.

"I'm back….. Dana."

One thing was certain, whether it was a revival of old feelings or a second instance of love at first sight, I felt fulfilled in this conversation with her.

"….Welcome back. I missed you."

Hearing her soft voice, I realized that this moment was exactly what I needed, irrespective of old memories.

The situation felt almost ghostly. Despite pretending and acting strong, the anxiety that had unknowingly built up inside me melted away like snow in her warm embrace.

The soft warmth of our touching skin.

Her arms, weak but firmly holding me, and the shoulders soaking with overflowing emotions.

The scent from her long hair, reminiscent of a lush wheat field, evoked a sense of long-yearned nostalgia.

"I'm sorry…. for being late."

Sometimes, actions can convey much more than words.

In her embrace, I finally felt truly back.

Back home, despite how I appeared.

Profound thanks to the aesthetic sense of Professor Park two months ago.

My lover was the most beautiful woman in the world.

****