Chương 79: The Reveal (3) - 77
A/N: Welp, I couldn't find a place to stop this chapter, so I ended up writing 1707 words of pure content. Anyways, it's an extra long chapter, hope y'all enjoy it!
[Congratulations! The host has successfully cleared a black portal!]
Appearing in a completely dark space, I was met with that system message that materialized in front of me.
[Calculating...]
I waited for what seemed like an eternity.
[Rewards have been calculated!]
[Reward grade... (A)]
[Clear rate of "The General Games": 60% -> 95%]
[Reward: The Host is able to bring back one (A) grade item to "My Side of Midnight"]
[Please choose from the following list:
1. Teleportation Chip
2. Flying Chip
3. Overseer Chip
4. AI Chip (Newborn)
5. Strategy Chip]
Seeing the list, my choice was a no brainer.
After all, even though the AI Chip would be a newborn, basically knowing nothing, it would get a lot more useful as time passed.
But, that wasn't the reason I chose it.
'Bella...'
She had sacrificed herself to allow the Federation to create this product after all.
You see, they had asked for us to pick some straws to see who would be the one sacrificed, but Bella had volunteered herself.
That was how the tight-knit four had become the broken three.
Anyways, the reason it was a no brainer was because the chip held Bella's consciousness in it.
And it contained all her memories too. The reason it was a "newborn", was because Bella would have to learn to be able to use all the abilities that she had been given, like instant calculation, enemy detection, etc.
But, the most important thing to me was not these abilities, no, it was the fact that I could hear Bella's voice again.
She had been the only bright light in the midst of all our darknesses, her cheerful self always picking the three of us up as we struggled through game after game.
That was why we all felt like we were indebted to her, and with her sacrifice on top of that, well, we were now unable to repay her for the rest of eternity.
But, now that I would be able to take her with me back to Esgardia, I made a resolution in my heart, to repay her in any way possible.
Because, if I didn't, then, what would be my own worth?
"I choose the AI Chip."
[Warning: Once the choice has been made, the Host will not be able to modify their decision.]
"Just do it." I replied, impatiently, annoyed at the nature of the system.
[The host will find the chip already implanted in their brain once they regain consciousness.]
Seeing this, I nodded, expecting to black out at any moment to find myself back in my body, but nothing happened, and after blinking hard a few times, I just made myself feel stupid.
[Ding! A new scenario has been initiated!]
'Huh?'
[With the completion of the first scenario, the Host is now able to redo the second scenario.]
[The second scenario: Second Life Murim Ranker]
[The host will have one week to decide whether they want to attempt a second clear.]
[The host will now enter the world of "My Side of Midnight".]
This time, I truly did black out after blinking hard.
...
I opened my eyes to find myself in that white forest once again, feeling bites of coldness on my face, as I realized it was lightly snowing.
With this, I could tell that I had been transported back to the same place that the portal had appeared in, but, it was definitely a different day, or maybe even a different year.
Sitting up off the snow covered ground, I dusted myself off before taking a look around, finding that Ms. Krenshaw was laying on the ground just a few feet away from me.
"Erin!"
Rushing over to her side, I called out her name, shaking her awake.
"Valens?" She muttered sleepily, groggily opening her eyes.
But then, seeing the gray, not red, world around us, she immediately shot up, fully awake, as she realized that we were back.
"Ashen?" She asked, this time, using one of the names that I was known by in Esgardia.
"Yes, it wasn't a dream." I replied back, fully understanding the entirety of her question from the look on her face.
After all, the 10 years we had spent together hadn't been for nothing.
I had learned a lot of her habits and she had learned a lot of mine. At this point, she probably knew more about the current me than Elvira.
"W-we... actually cleared the black portal?"
"Yes."
"Where's...?"
"Arwyn? He's probably at the place that he was sucked into the portal originally."
"Oh..."
Reaching out my hand, Erin, no, Ms. Krenshaw, took it without any hesitation and allowed me to help her up.
That was, until she realized that we were back to being teacher and student, and the L didn't allow their teachers to touch their students except for when they were sparring with their bare hands.
"U-uhm..."
"It's fine, I won't tell."
She smiled gratefully at me, her smile sadder than it was thankful as it was a little bit hard for us to feel any emotion other than pain and suffering now, before looking in the direction of the academy.
Seeing this, I also turned in that direction, looking at the gray clouds covering the alpine forest.
"Sigh..."
We both breathed out heavily, thinking about how weird it was to return after being stuck in the realm of the black portal for ten years.
"Should we go back?" I asked, looking at her inquisitively, probing Ms. Krenshaw's mental state.
"Not yet, let's just wait here for a second." She replied, still staring in the direction of the academy.
So, we just stood there, basking in the comforting, deathly aura of the other, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.
...
Two Day's Later:
We were still confined in separate interrogation rooms, as we were asked question after question about the black portal, the school and the IA rotating in and out after each side had exhausted all the questions they had at hand, using the time that the other had to question us to think up new questions of their own.
And now, after two days of straight questioning, I was too tired, wanting to drop dead at any second, and, seeing this, both sides asked me some last minute questions, trying to take advantage of my tired state of mind before they both left and I was taken to a room that I could sleep in.
But, before they left, I asked them one question, hoping they could answer me.
"How many days were we stuck in that portal for?" I croaked out.
"A month." Answered the person coldly, as they closed the door, casting me into total darkness.
Knowing that there was nothing else for me to do at the moment, I let the information that I has just gained sink to the bottom of my thoughts, before clearing my brain out completely, quickly falling asleep.
...
We were released the next day, each of us having a few people monitoring us, helping us transition back into society.
As I walked out of the building that we had been contained in, I said bye to Ms. Krenshaw, as we parted ways almost immediately, each of us having responsibilities that we had to tend to.
And, my first responsibility was visiting Elvira, who I knew had probably been devastated when she had heard that I had been sucked into a black portal, knowing that I had a very likely chance of dying.
So, I walked to her dorm room first, knowing exactly where to go.
Arriving in front of her, "dorm", which was better described as a "house", I peeked through the front window before looking down quickly, nervous about what I should say after disappearing for all this time.
Stuffing my empty hand into my black trench coat, I slowly breathed out, the smoke from the water in my breath condensing, blowing into my face as the wind whipped my hair back.
Looking into the front window again, this time, for a longer period, my enhanced eyes were finally able to see inside, through the fogged up glass.
But, instead of being happy, anxious, excited, or nervous after seeing Elvira, my face turned stone cold, as my expectant expression quickly dropped, and the air around me grew one hundred times colder.
Turning around, I dropped the flowers that I held in my hand on the ground as I stepped on them, smothering them fully, destroying the beautiful petals covered in snow, as I walked away from Elvira's house.
Cooly lifting my head, a murderous glint flashed across my eyes before quickly disappearing from view.
Stuffing both my hands this time even further into my black trench coat, I gripped them into fists, drawing blood from my palms.
Lowering my head, I started walking towards the one place that I could find comfort in.
Then, realizing that I was back in a world of magic, I transformed into a crow and flew towards a specific mountaintop.
Quickly landing on one of the couches in the protected study space, I immediately curled up into a ball and yelled into my thighs, taking out all the frustration, anger, and heartbreak that had built up on the flight here on the air around me.
After screaming until my throat stopped working, I started to sob quietly, as I asked the world why I was such a sorry character.
I kept sobbing in a fetal position until night-time, in probably the lowest point in my life, as my second source of light was forever extinguished.
I mean, who wouldn't go crazy if they came home after going through some of the darkest times in their life, only to find that their lover was cheating on them?
'Elvira and Primrose...'
I could only grit my teeth as I thought of their names, the names of the two that had NTR'd me.
Hatred, pure hatred, that was the essence of the aura that I exuded at the moment.
Feeling my world grow dimmer, I could only chuckle darkly, as my premonition that nothing would ever be the same again rang through my mind.
That night, I insanely laughed myself to sleep.
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
WorthyAdversary
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