NOVEL SIMPLE Game of Hope
"That will be 2 million Emmit in equipment.", the manager said, handing me a scanner.
"Sorry...", I lowered my head and scanned my phone over it.
I was letting out my built up anger and frustration with a sandbag filled with iron sand. I was just going at it for hours, to the point that it burst open, carrying my punches' kinetic energy and destroying half of the equipment here.
Also, I don't have my mask on since nobody would recognize me as Charlotte Corday... well, except for Alpha-01, I just gave him a big hint last night. But I don't think he will pursue me on that case since he's a busy man, I think?
My hands are pretty bruised too, I think I dislocated a few bones, thanks to Survive I don't have to feel pain.
You are welcome.
The manager scratched his bald head, "It's nothing, just remember this place is made to control your strength and not to let out your frustrations. If you want to let out steam, head upstairs since there are specially made equipment for handling your type."
"Thank you for not kicking me out...", I bowed my head.
"You can always ask me for training tips. Since I'm also a Gem Holder.", he smiled kindly.
I stared at him, "Gem... Holder?"
"Yeah, my Devil is Chiron. You know, the centaur who teached many great heroes of ancient Greece.", she held his hand out, "The name's Minost."
"Charlotte.", I shook his hand, "Mine is Survive, humanity's Instinct and Drive to Live."
"You have a strong grip.", he commented.
"Thank you... I'll be going now.", I smiled.
=0=0=
Right hook, left hook, straight up, straight up. This thing is tough... made of some sort of elastic material that absorbs my bone-shattering punches.
"Fu...", I exhaled, looking at the strength counter... 4,800 psi, and 3 punches per second.
No wonder I destroyed that sandbag. Well... I guess I can practice a bit more—
Brzzttt!!
My phone rang. Stopping my session of nearly destroying machines, I took out my phone and saw who was calling me... Seria.
"Hello?", I answered the call.
"[Hello my little ball of unpredictability~ how are ya doing?]", she asked in a distorted voice...
"In a bad mood, I have to act nice.", I spoke of my plight.
"[Ooh~ well, you have to suffer now and then. It's all part of being a human~]", she sounded enthusiastic.
"Oh, and why are you calling me?"
"[Juust~ wanna check on you. Since technically I'm your mom now, not that I really care about that!]"
"Where are you now?"
"[Britain, specifically London. Watching a cult giving out its orientation for Orientation Day, surprisingly, the deal is quite good with a lot of benefits like free healthcare and illness treatment, access to a lot of forbidden books, and free sacrificial knives. But you have to kidnap a high-ranking official or social standing for your graduation project— the cult leader is showing last year's best graduation project, a group kidnapped the youngest princess of the royal family and ritual sacrifice her!]"
"Are you going to deal with the cult?"
"[Deal? Naaaah, there's nothing dangerous about this cult. Babel's mission is to safeguard humanity, not control it~ of course doomsday cults are a problem~]"
"Mhm... see you later, Seria."
"[Byee~ Charlotte!]"
Bip!
Huh, talking to Seria brought my mood up quite a bit. I think I can handle being nice now, knowing there is someone more screwed in the mind. No, I won't admit that my mind is screwed, if it is screwed then that means all of humanity too has a screwed mind.
I looked over to the clock... 1 P.M., huh, I was here for a long time. I guess I should go back now...
Going down stairs, I met with Minost who was sitting on top of three people. He saw me.
"Oh, are you alright now?", he asked me.
"Yes...", I offered a smile, "Thank you for not kicking me out."
"It's nothing.", his smile was gentle, like a teacher, "Everyone has their inner turmoil, and the best way to let it out is..."
"...Violence.", I finished his words.
"Correct, so I offer this place to people to resolve their turmoils. Like the Mirror of Ashei down in the basement, it let you face your inner demon, or in us Gem Holder's case, our Devil."
"..."
Does... Mu have a thing with basements? Because I'm seeing a pattern forming.
"You can try it out, only 20 Emmit."
"Deal.", I shook his hand.
He then led me down to the basement, and true to his words, there was a mirror hanging on the other side of the room. The mirror is... plain, no decoration, nothing fancy to speak of.
Just a mirror.
"I will leave you here then, Charlotte.", and he walked back up, probably dealing with the three guys he was sitting on.
I approached the mirror, seeing my reflection upon it. Hm, I look cool with my sharp eyes and combed-back hair.
Let's touch it...
Nothing happened.
"Are you sure, my dearest owner?"
That voice... I turned around... finding myself in the dark void of my mind. Now decorated with a silver table with a lotus flower in the middle, surrounding it are five thrones in silver.
Then there are four pillars around, and on top of them are bonfires... only three are lit up. Dark blue, gold, and lavender...
And there are more people here than last time... seven in total.
Reverie is still the same, just me wearing a black dress with the eight-pointed star in its eyes.
Survive still looks like the male version of me, only cooler.
Euphoria is still adult me.
Though Malice... is me but a few years older, and wearing a red formal suit. I guess that personality shift after I got it's name revealed it's true form, a butler.
Then there are three individuals standing next to the main Devils, who are sitting down.
A male version of me in a navy general outfit stands next to Malice, it has deep blue eyes... Justice.
Next to Survive is a version of me draped in a golden cloak, on its left hand is a lantern, and on the right is a pocket watch... her golden eyes don't blink, she just stares at me. Hope is creepy.
And finally, standing on top of Euphoria's throne is me in... a dress decorated with an unknown number of precious gemstones. Her eyes are lavender colored, Delusion it is.
There is no one standing with Reverie...
I sat down on the empty throne, glancing at all of them. Hm, this is pretty comfortable.
"So... why did you call us~ it's usually the other way around."
I glanced at Reverie, "I was frustrated. So I thought about fighting one of you guys... so, who is the weakest?"
Reverie merely snickered, "None of us are weak, my dearest owner~! Combat-wise, Survive is the best, but if you are talking about destructive power, Malice over there is the most dangerous. Euphoria is the most unpredictable, as for little me? The most creative!"
"The other three?"
"Hm~ you used their Anima Pactum so you must've known... Justice has an automatic counter if you are ever hit, so untouchable~ for Hope, you'll be dragged into a game of their choosing. And Delusion... they're absurdity incarnate."
Based on the comment of Reverie, I formed a list in my head. From hardest to easiest to deal with... Delusion, Survive, Malice, Euphoria, Reverie, Justice and...
"I will fight Hope.", I pointed at it, to which it merely smiled.
"Game... start."
Instantly, everything disappeared and I was dragged into a forest... quiet, no sound apart from my heartbeats.
"This game...", Hope appeared beside me, "Will be a game of survival..."
It clicked the pocket watch, "There are two rules and a win condition. First rule... every ten seconds a monster will randomly spawn. Second rule... you must defeat the beasts in one hit, or else they will become immortal."
Another click, "Win condition... survive for ten minutes."
And the final click came, Hope vanished in a cloud of golden dust.
By the time the golden dust completely disappeared, I heard a loud roar, giving this forest life. I turned to the direction of the roar... crimson red wings blocking out the sun... red scales covering its entire body, golden eyes glaring down at me...
It was a dragon, not just any dragon but the Red Dragon of Britain...
"Vortigern..."
Hearing its name, a pillar of white flame shot out from its mouth towards me. All the while Survive is blaring dangerous signals to me.
"Delusion!!"
Before the flame could touch me, I teleported out of the way, avoiding the destructive attack of the dragon. I looked to the side, my original spot... it was a burned wasteland now.
Five kilometers away from me... that was dangerous, wasn't it.
!!!
I stepped to the side, avoiding a blur of a creature.
"KKKRAAAAAHH!!!"
It turned back to bite me, so I ducked down and punched it in the throat. The brown creature fell limp after getting it's neck and throat destroyed. It looks like a cross between a rabid dog and a snake with its fangs showing.
The chuba— chupacrap— chupaca— chubaca. I don't know how to say its name— right, Chupacabra, native to Mexico.
The dragon opened its mount again, readying another fire breath.
There is no way I can defeat the dragon with some preparations. So I will apply the tactic that has been developed for thousands of years, maybe even right at the dawn of humanity.
To use one of my greatest assets... the most powerful ability of humanity.
Running away from the problem.
I booked it, using Hysteria to go beyond the human limit, and ran at the speed of 45km/h. While in junction with Delusion to avoid the randomly spawning monsters.
"Justice."
A sword made of the Justice mist formed in my hand, which I used to slice the Wall of Flesh blocking me.
...wait, can't I just destroy everything with Malice?
"Malice, reduce all my enemy to nothing.", I commanded.
Yes, My Lady.
Wisps of black flame float around me, and quickly turn into a black inferno, consuming the forest in a sea of darkness.
"Rrrooaawww!!!"
One monster leaped in front of me, covered in Malice flame... right, I have to kill it in one hit, or else it would become immortal. But it still screams in painful agony.
I think I just made the situation worse... oh, and I punched the black panther, sending it through several trees.
Then my worst adversary appeared, casting a shadow down on me. The red dragon, now covered in Malice flame gasping between consciousness and pain. It was readying another fire breath.
I closed my eyes...
"I am Charlotte Silvi, Owner of the Akashic Records."
I jumped over a blue tiger, crashing my shoes onto its head. My hair flutters, defying the laws of gravity.
"Devils of the Void, They who embodied Infinity."
The ends of my hair turned to a lavender color, whispy as if they were between the physical and imaginary world.
"The crossroad of Lies and Truths, between Reality and Fiction."
I cracked a wide smile, as my eyes turned to a calming lavender shade.
"Illusions of falsehood cast onto the world."
I dodged an incoming hummingbird with a neck tilt.
"Delusion of one, Reality for all."
I jumped, floating upside down. My lavender eyes met with the red dragon's golden ones.
"Anima Pactum... Delusion."
Heha...
Hello there~ Eyes beyond the Veils of this world. Are you enjoying the show? If so, then let me introduce myself. I am Charlotte Ivlis, that's Silvi spelled backward, why? Because I am her, but also not her. You can refer to me exclusively as Ivlis.
If you are asking, no, Charlotte won't remember most of this. Not the fourth wall breaking, sadly.
Ah, right, I am facing the Red Dragon of Britain, Vortigern. Or should I call him the Black Dragon of Britain now with that cloak of black fire? Eh, I don't care.
I pointed at the Destroyer of Britain, and then I snapped my finger like a certain warmongering hypocritical purple guy for cool pose points, erasing the fateful dragon.
Suck it, Hope, I am the meta-breaking one and the one-person-that-nobody-like-to-invite-to-a-gaming-session-because-I-would-use-cheats-but-invites-anyway-because-I-am-fun-to-have-around!
Oh, Charlotte said she can only use me once every year? Well, she just uses the exclusive power of humanity, one which has befell empires, leading to the destruction of sometimes an entire civilization, or leaving people heartbroken.
That ability is called...
LYING!
There is no cooldown for me, only the duration and the price! Ten seconds of usage and speeding up the collapse of reality and the universe as a whole. And no, Charlotte can't use me willy-nilly because I am too overpowered and she subconsciously refrains from using me, taking away the fun and all~
Why can I say my mind this much? Because I can, that's what Delusion does to you, slowing down your mind.
Anyway, have a good day, Eyes Beyond the Veils!
—Well then, the red dragon is taken care of, easy as that...
Hope is really cruel though— I punched away a burning rat— a game it can set up has three main sections, the Rules, the Win Condition, and the Twist. The Twist in this game is that all the monsters are the most dangerous creatures that ever existed on Earth.
Well, I can relieve my pent-up stress here...
"No, don't wake up.", I stomped my foot down on the tiger, sinking its head deeper into the ground.
Immortal monsters that can potentially kill me are very good punching bags. I smiled and caught the hummingbird, crushing it in my hand.