Chapter: 228
With the help of the children, I barely escaped the city and just kept moving with the thought of fleeing to a safe place.
Only after a little sunlight trickled through the gloomy, dark clouds of miasma below my feet did I realize that I had been walking quite a bit without rest, and I looked up at the sky.
I had been walking in a daze without any sleep or breaks, so I had no idea how much time had passed.
A day? Maybe several days had slipped by.
When I turned around, I could see the distant frontline barrier through the hazy air.
It seemed that my dizzy walk had taken me quite far away.
With that thought, I took a few more steps before dropping myself heavily to the ground.
Having come this far, I was pondering whether I was safe now.
“Is it safe…?”
Right after, I realized how ridiculous that thought was and let out a hollow laugh.
Here I was, crawling out of a place filled with miasma, and I was thinking about safety.
If I thought of it like a game, this was a danger zone where monsters could pop out at any moment.
A safe area would be back in that city.
Unfortunately for me, even that had ceased to be a safe area.
Suddenly, I recalled a fantasy game novel I had read before.
In that novel’s game, if a player did bad things like killing other players in restricted areas, their nickname would turn red, signifying they had become an evil player.
Once that happened, you became the public enemy of every player, being attacked on sight so you couldn’t even set foot in the city.
Thinking about it, my current situation seemed quite similar.
If this were a game world, I would probably look like a user who had completely lost it.
Not only had my hair and eyes changed, but my nickname might as well be drenched in crimson.
Curiously, I had never even cursed at anyone during my gaming sessions.
…But if you were to ask if I felt wronged, I couldn’t say that I did.
It was an undeniable fact that I had done something bad.
“…I wonder if Yoon Si-woo is okay.”
Muttering that, I recalled what Jessie had told me.
He’d been said to be unconscious, in a state where we couldn’t even know if he would wake up…
The image of Yoon Si-woo, battered while trying to save me, kept flashing in my mind.
I couldn’t help but think that if something went wrong with him, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for relying so heavily on him.
And it was natural for those who relied on him mentally to hate me for what happened.
That understanding that being hated was only natural turned into self-denial.
Even if I didn’t intend for it to happen, it was self-loathing to say the cause of Yoon Si-woo’s state was me.
A little—no, make that a lot.
My heart ached so deeply that I bowed my head, muttering as if vomited out.
“…It’s tough.”
It was tough.
Dealing with being hated by people, I could somehow endure.
Unlike my foolish childhood, I now knew that even if I tried to be kind to everyone in the world, not everyone would return that kindness.
Sometimes people could hate me instead of reciprocating goodwill.
So, being hated by people was something I could accept.
Sad but bearable.
Before this, even if others hated me, I could at least affirm myself.
But now, I couldn’t do that.
I, who had hurt a precious friend.
I, who had taken away Yoon Si-woo—the only hope in this world.
I felt so sickened and despised.
Maybe it would have been better if I just didn’t exist at all; that thought kept dragging me down into a pit of depression.
Honestly, I felt like I was about to mentally collapse.
“…But still, I have to hold on.”
Yet, even so, I muttered to myself and somehow gathered my focus.
The reason I could do that was because—
“Go, see you again next time.”
The flames that my friends had shot up for me stayed in my heart, supporting me as I began to crumble.
I lifted my lowered head and looked towards the city.
I knew that most of the people in that city hated me.
But still, I realized that at least some acknowledged my existence positively.
My friends said they would believe in me.
For their sake, I couldn’t give up and wallow in despair.
Yes, you never know.
As Dwight had told me, maybe one day I would see my friends again.
So let’s just think positively, think positively.
With the intent to cheer myself on, I clenched my fist tightly and sprang up from the ground.
And as I suddenly stood up and started looking around slowly, I realized I was facing a pretty serious problem.
“…So, what now?”
It hadn’t even crossed my mind until just a moment ago, but this was a really big issue.
I had hurriedly escaped from the city, and now I hadn’t considered how to get by out here at all.
Suddenly needing to survive in the wild.
“Damn, if I had known, I should have at least watched that survival show with Uncle Bear Rocks!” that thought briefly flickered in my mind.
But then I quickly calmed myself, realizing that the usual survival common sense didn’t apply to me.
For survival basics—food, clothing, and shelter—food was the most crucial aspect.
Three days without water, three weeks without food, right?
A person must at least meet that requirement to survive, but honestly, I didn’t think it would be a concern.
My body barely needed to consume food if there were enough miasma present.
If I had become a witch completely by now, I could probably live without eating at all.
This area was abundantly filled with miasma after all.
Having solved the food problem, the next issue was clothing…
I looked down at my body.
Yep, none.
No clothes.
The clothes I was originally wearing were completely burnt up when Evangeline took over my body.
Well, at least I wasn’t completely naked.
But the area below my neck was covered in fine black soot.
If I had to describe it, I’d say it felt like I was wearing some matte black latex.
Due to my powers, my skin felt like there was an extra layer of keratin stuck to it, and unless I consciously tried to get rid of it, it didn’t seem like it would come off.
The lines of my body were clearly visible, and while there was a bit of embarrassment, I should feel thankful that my skin wasn’t exposed.
There was no way to find clothes, so at least I hadn’t become a freak wandering around naked.
Anyway, this clothing problem was solved.
Now, the remaining issue was shelter.
Where to stay.
I chuckled to myself as I looked around.
In front of me, in the direction of the city, lay a vast plain.
Behind me was a forest filled with blackened trees.
Of course, both places were filled with miasma.
Building a house wouldn’t be so strange, as at any moment a demonic beast could pop out from anywhere.
Besides, the usable materials were limited to the burned trees, so making a decent house was out of the question.
Honestly, if I built a house, it would probably just get smashed by a demonic beast.
I’d rather just light a fire and camp on the ground, which seemed a lot more comforting.
Let’s live like a homeless person.
I shouldn’t even need to sleep, so I didn’t need to worry about having a place to stay after all.
…Probably.
Anyway, the thoughts about food and clothing were roughly resolved with that.
Wow! By not eating, not wearing anything, and not sleeping, all my worries got cleared up!
Since I couldn’t satisfy my basic needs, it looks like I had to give up living like a human.
After giving a hollow laugh, I fell back into thought.
Having roughly thought about how to survive, I had to now consider what I would do while getting by.
As I pondered what to do, I immediately recalled what I should focus on.
Let’s hunt some demonic beasts.
Realistically, the only way I could help people outside the city was through those endeavors.
So, starting today, I decided to become a monster hunter.
Even if I managed to slay the beasts, they would turn into miasma and wouldn’t provide materials for crafting.
However, just as I resolved to hunt them, I noticed something.
“…There’s no demonic beasts.”
No matter how I looked around, there were absolutely no demonic beasts in sight.
An unusually calm atmosphere.
Thinking back, I also hadn’t encountered a single demonic beast on my way here.
Well, up until earlier, I hadn’t actually wanted to confront a demonic beast, hoping to avoid it as much as possible. But not encountering a single one was certainly strange—
“—Huh…?!”
It was then that I realized something was approaching from afar.
A massive something, and a familiar aura was rapidly closing the distance towards me.
I knew the owner of that aura.
This aura, it—
“Long time no see!”
Before I knew it, the girl with dark violet hair stood before me, smiling.
“Evangeline.”
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