"Urgh—."
The old man opened his eyes in the dark room with a groan.
The first thought that entered his mind after regaining consciousness was not that he had survived.
'I couldn't die.......'
A powerful longing for death rode through his blood and seized his entire body.
That thought, as sweet as temptation itself, very slowly.
And ever so slowly consumed his body.
CLATTER—.
Before long, he picked up the surgical scalpel beside him and brought it to his throat.
Drip—.
Bright red blood ran down his neck.
Just a little more.
A little deeper.
The more blood flowed and the more pain he felt.
The more he felt both life and death at the same time.
And just as he was about to free himself from life.
GRAB—.
Someone's hand stopped him.
"What are you doing?"
"......Let go."
"I asked what you are doing."
"I have come to my senses, so you may let go."
The masked owner roughly knocked his hand aside, sending the scalpel falling.
"So it was 'that' after all."
"Everyone else was too dull to notice, yet you realized it quickly."
"Someone around me died from addiction."
The masked owner dragged over a nearby chair and sat down.
"How many Potions have you used so far?"
"......Can you not pretend you never noticed?"
"Fine. I will pretend I never noticed."
The masked owner stood up and kicked the scalpel away.
"But if you are going to die, crawl off somewhere alone and die quietly."
Several emotions tangled together like threads in her eyes.
Seeing them, the old man let out a short sigh.
"I will die soon enough anyway. Once I find a place for my grave, I will leave on my own."
SWISH—.
Without answering, the masked owner went outside.
"I will come get you soon, child."
His dark red gaze resembled dried blood on his hands.
It was filled with regret.
***
"Hey, wake up."
"Hm?"
"It's morning. And he woke up."
"Huh?"
"Your companion."
JOLT—.
Sleep vanished from me in an instant, and I rushed into the workshop.
"Hm. Seeing you confirms that I am indeed still alive."
"Phew......."
"There is no chance of you dying, after all. Hahaha."
"How are you feeling?"
"Perfectly fine."
His complexion looked haggard.
Anyone could tell "perfectly fine" was a lie.
"Get some rest."
"Where is Berry?"
"I'll bring her."
I brought Berry back to the workshop.
"Grandpa! Are you okay?!"
"Of course. I am perfectly fine."
"Th-Thank goodness......."
"Do not cry."
They looked like a granddaughter and grandfather.
The kind of family scene I had wanted, since I had never really had much of a family myself.
"Take Berry outside for a minute."
"......All right."
The masked owner, who had been standing behind me, took Berry and went outside.
Now only the old man and I remained inside.
I finally said aloud what I'd only been thinking.
"From now on, live in Paradise with Berry."
"......."
"And don't ever go to the surface again."
"......Why are you telling me that? What right do you have?"
The old man painfully pushed himself upright and glared at me.
But there was no strength in his eyes.
"Potion Addiction."
The moment I said those two words.
"......!"
The old man's eyes shook violently as he drew in a breath.
"No one survives against a megacorporation."
"But P......."
"Stop bringing up that dead bastard already."
I dropped into the chair right beside him.
"When you rescued those people from the megacorporation, how did you do it?"
"......Naturally, I took advantage of the chaos......."
"What about the Potions?"
"......."
This game was cruel.
To gain something, you always had to lose something.
Compression and modification for strength were the same.
You gave up Humanity and gained power.
Potions were no different.
The first one or two seemed like blessings that granted unconditional regeneration.
But beneath that was the residue of monsters.
"How many have you used so far?"
The more you used, the more ruined a person became.
Wounding yourself.
Healing with Potions.
Self-harming.
Endlessly seeking pain.
Feeling the horrific sensation that you yourself were turning into a real monster.
Crying out for stronger stimulation.
Stronger pain.
And eventually driving a blade into your own throat.
Leaving the person you loved in front of you with a wound greater than anything else.
No one escaped that.
"I will not say."
"Please, just live quietly with Berry."
"I still have something I must do......."
"That damn duty. That mission. Does any of that put food on the table? Does it make money?"
I pulled the old man's hand out from beneath the blanket and gripped it tightly.
Tremble......
His hand was visibly shaking.
"I'm asking a second time. How many bottles?"
"......."
The old man lowered his head and said nothing.
"I'm asking one last time. Tell me how many."
"Thirty...... six bottles."
"Ha."
Including the Potion I'd used on him.
'Thirty-seven.'
This man was not sane.
He was at a level of addiction where it would not be strange for him to hack off his own left arm with his right and laugh while doing it.
"So that syringe was a Potion Addiction Suppressant."
"......Correct."
He was even using a Potion Addiction Suppressant.
He wasn't someone desperately trying to become a monster.
Nor someone simply struggling to die.
What the hell was he doing all this for?
"Stop everything now."
"Did I not tell you earlier? I still have something I must......."
"What the hell is it?"
"To become even a little stronger on the surface...... and take revenge for my granddaughter......."
The old man continued while trying to ignore the trembling in both hands.
"My granddaughter, who should still be underground at Pentatech...... I want to send her off with my own hands......."
"So that's why you took the EMP?"
"One cannot fight a megacorporation barehanded......."
Veteran or whatever.
That was a fight no one could win.
"......."
This was not a game.
A single gunshot could kill someone.
One monster could slaughter people.
'Fuck.'
JOLT—.
I shot to my feet.
"I'll be going around alone for a while, so just rest."
"......Thank you."
I walked outside without looking back.
"You can go in."
"Y-Yes!"
Berry heard me and entered the room where the old man was.
"What did you talk about inside?"
"Nothing much."
"Your expression seems too frustrated for that."
Me?
I looked frustrated?
Because one NPC in a game was dying?
GRIND—.
Why was I angry?
I had been the strongest.
Closer to clearing the game than anyone.
A being from reality who had played it thousands, tens of thousands of times.
They were nothing but fragments of data living inside the game, all at the mercy of a player like me.
'......Why?'
Even in the game, I never cared much when NPCs died unless they were my companions.
They had been stepping stones for me to become stronger.
NPC sacrifices for my sake.
In a game, that was only natural.
Stagger—.
I suddenly lost my balance and collapsed.
"Are you all right?"
The masked owner hurried over and helped me up.
Tap—.
I pushed away her warm hand and stood.
"Sorry...... give me some time to think."
"......All right."
CREEEAK.......
I staggered through the weakly opening door and went outside.
Games were meant to bring people enjoyment.
Not to make them suffer.
But me, right now.
'Am I suffering...... or enjoying this?'
I did not know.
***
Two days later.
A quiet spot inside some building on the surface.
CRUNCH—.
I leaned against the wall while chewing on a Protein Block.
'This is irritating.'
Nothing ever seemed willing to go smoothly.
Even for a garbage game that was originally like this.
"This is too much......."
Muttering to myself, I lightly dusted off my hands and stood.
If I wanted to earn money, even time like this spent resting felt wasteful.
'I need to get my Expedition Member license as soon as possible.'
Why I was so desperate for money.
Of course, it was partly because every action in a person's life cost money.
But for me, that wasn't the only reason.
'I need to get stronger as fast as possible.'
The moment this game became reality.
Whether it was enjoyable or painful no longer mattered.
Only one thing mattered most.
'Survival.'
And for survival, becoming stronger took priority above all else.
To gain that strength, I needed to earn money as quickly as possible and buy equipment.
And obtain an Expedition Member license so I could freely explore the surface.
Then the best choice I could make right now was.
'Gather companions.'
Find useful companions, whoever they might be.
Make money together with them.
Then become Expedition Members.
"Phew......."
That was my best option.
But the dice called life always rolled however they wanted.
The face you believed was your best choice did not always land on the best result.
'My head hurts.'
For now.
All I could do was roll the dice.
And hope for a good result.
SWISH—.
I slung my sack over my shoulder and stepped outside the building.
But.
BANG—! CRACK—!
I heard the sound of someone fighting not far away.
Rustle—.
And along with it came the smell of blood.
'A monster? Or people?'
There was no gunfire, so it probably wasn't a fight between humans.
And it didn't seem like monsters fighting each other either.
The surroundings were far too quiet for that.
'Then what's left is.'
A human fighting a monster.
Paradise had an unwritten rule among Expedition Members and mercenaries.
Never interfere in someone else's battle.
If you interfered, it complicated the division of loot.
And there was always the possibility of being attacked while wounded.
In other words, that fight belonged entirely to whoever was in it.
'So what?'
An unwritten rule?
Why the hell should I follow that?
It had nothing to do with me.
Right now, I wasn't an Expedition Member exploring the surface.
Nor a mercenary who specialized in requests.
Which meant.
Pretend I didn't know and join the fight.
Then take whatever benefit I could get.
'Nanomachine.'
[Activating NeuroTech (NeuroTech) low-cost detachable model NTF-08 'Combat Assist Neural Stimulation Device.']
CLENCH—.
From my spine through the rest of my body.
I felt strength flood into me.
'Works well.'
The device I'd taken from the raider leader I killed three days ago.
I had asked the masked owner to modify it for me.
Of course, it was cheap equipment from a failed company.
But unlike body modification, it was an item, so I could freely attach and remove it.
And because the Nanomachine made it easy to control, its cost-effectiveness was decent.
Besides.
I had gotten it for free.
TAP, TAP—!
I roughly smeared dirt over my face and clothes to make myself look shabby, then ran toward the fight.
Grrrrrr—!
The closer I got, the clearer the monster sounds became.
"Hahaha! More! More!"
And when I arrived.
'I've seen that person somewhere.'
For some reason, the person looked familiar.
CRACK—!
The person standing at the center of the battle was drenched in blood and enjoying the fight.
"Still not enough! More!"
The unidentified person slaughtered monsters with a single sword while long red hair whipped through the air.
HISS—.
Even while fighting, the person injected a syringe held in one hand into their neck.
Their already red hair seemed to flare up in an instant, turning an even deeper shade of red.
'Nanomachine.'
[Scanning.......]
[The syringe used by the target is 'Combat Stimulant X-03.']
"Hm."
I watched the battle from higher ground.
BARK—! BARK—!
There were twenty-one Starving Wild Dogs still alive.
Several more were already dead.
'Pretty good.'
The movements of the person at the center of the battle were anything but ordinary.
If I had to compare.
'It's strangely similar to my control.'
To be precise, it wasn't actually the same.
It felt more like they were forcibly imitating it through raw physical ability.
You could say most movement looked similar in the end.
But most Expedition Members and mercenaries in Paradise fought from range with firearms.
This person was fighting with a sword.
That was why I could recognize exactly how similar the movement was to mine.
'Do they know my character, P?'
Imitating that control was not easy.
And there was also the sword they were using.
'Only a tiny number of people used that modification method. And they were all my companions.'
HUMMMMM—.
The blade kept vibrating continuously.
[Let's Modify Weapons Freely! Beginner Edition]
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It was exactly the same weapon modification method I had devised.
What kind of modification was it?
HUMMMMM—!
YELP—!
A device was embedded into the sword to create continuous vibrations.
And any monster touched by that blade.
CRRUNCH—!
Had its flesh ground away as though struck by a chainsaw.
"Too easy! Come on, give me more!"
The Wild Dogs could not easily approach the person.
Even brushing against the sword tore chunks of flesh away.
Grrrrrr—.
They slowly began putting distance between themselves and the person, watching cautiously.
They were not running away.
It was purely instinctive movement.
Rumble—.
That instinct was more familiar to monsters than humans.
The food chain.
Eat or be eaten.
"Below!"
I hurriedly shouted and launched myself forward.
GRRRRRT—!
They had summoned something that preyed on them.
A predator even higher in the food chain.
SKREEEEEE—!
No. 157, Mole Cricket.
"Fuck."
A battle could change completely in a single instant depending on one choice.
Whether that change was for the better.
Or worse.
"Move!"
Only the one left standing at the end would know.