Story Reader / Main Story / 27 Aeon Reforged / Story
Die!
Spiteful words echo alongside the gunshot.
Ugh... Aargh...
Zong freezes as the soldier falls, Zong's arm still holding up his gun mid-air for a counterattack.
Having fired the last bullet, you insert a new magazine into your pistol before walking over to the stunned Zong.
Ah...
He seems to have just snapped out of his daze.
It's not about whether or not I'm okay!
Didn't we agree I'd handle the rebels while you focus on the Hetero-Creatures?
Zong pulls at his hair, his face contorted with guilt.
He wasn't a Corrupted or a Hetero-Creature... H-he was...
Bright red blood slowly seeps and spreads from the corpse's back—something that never happens to Corrupted or Hetero-Creatures.
A human body is such a fragile thing. One bullet to the heart is all it needs to take away its ability to fight.
You experience this firsthand for the first time.
That's not supposed to happen... You're the hero who leads the fight against the Punishing Virus. You shouldn't have been the one who did it.
...
Using all your strength to stop your right hand from trembling, you pull Zong up from the ground. Right as you are about to leave...
A chilling sensation crawls up your back.
I thought I wouldn't be discovered.
The fallen corpse slowly melts into the purple field as the figure of a young woman gradually emerges above the rotting blood.
This is the third time we've met each other, [player name].
She curtsies in almost the same way as last time.
You?!
Zong immediately steps in front of you and aims his rifle at her.
She does not try to dodge away, however. Instead, she stares down the barrel aiming at her curiously.
Is this what hostility looks like in the real world? The instinct living organisms have developed to protect others... No. This is slightly different.
She mutters to herself, seemingly lost in thought.
I'm here to retrieve the discarded.
She lands on the ground. The melted corpse has been fully absorbed by the purple field.
Controlling? I don't think that's accurate...
But please forgive me. I don't yet have the words to accurately describe my relationship with this land.
She says politely.
If you wish to leave, you can head that way.
She points in a direction.
Because I want to see more stories.
She says earnestly.
I want to understand civilizations, societies... humanity.
The stories of humans are more important than humans themselves.
So I sincerely hope you will leave more stories behind.
...
Now, please allow me to take my leave.
And she vanishes as abruptly as she has arrived.
C-Commandant... What on earth was she?
Zong looks at the spot where Cradle has vanished, his usually cheerful face now full of worry.
Escaping the besiegement of your new pursuers...
Evading the attacks of Hetero-Creatures...
Pushing through strange vines and branches...
You can finally see normal daylight through the gaps in the treetops...
Your almost half-year-long escape seems to be nearing its end...
Crossing the boundary between the strange and the normal, you can sense that the air is no longer tinged with the sickly sweet, rotten smell.
Excited by the impending end of your ordeal, you have failed to notice...
Someone has fallen behind...
Watanabe! Watanabe! Wake up!
W-why is it happening again?
Staring at the gaping hole in Watanabe's chest, Zong seems to have been transported back to that helpless afternoon.
He desperately tries to keep Watanabe alive, but he is powerless to do anything.
With his own bomb-scarred body, Zong tries to drag Watanabe away from the battlefield.
Then he sees...
He sees a girl in a green robe walking on the purple field. Corpses sink into the soil wherever she steps.
He's dying.
Stay back!
His... core, I suppose? It was shattered by the bomb earlier.
She pauses until she finds the right way to phrase it.
He will enter an eternal sleep very soon.
Please leave him to me. His story will be passed on through me.
Go away! Watanabe will survive!
He won't, not unless someone is willing to exchange their core with him.
I can! We'll find a way once we get to the camp!
Zong suddenly realizes that only the Forsaken know their whereabouts. Returning now might mean walking into a trap.
The girl does not seem to notice his hesitation and asks gently.
Is this what you call a sacrifice?
I won't let the same thing happen again!
More than a sacrifice, then?
She ponders briefly before nodding.
Alright, I accept your deal. This will be a new story for me.
Wait, I didn't... Mmph...
The purple field envelops the two of them.
Since I've fulfilled your request, I shall claim my rewards as part of the deal. It is only fair.
Hearing your call, Zong slowly opens his eyes. He has no idea how long he has leaned against a tree.
Commandant...
I remember now... I've seen... that green robe before... after we were attacked...
He tries to speak in his usual cheerful tone, but his strength is fading.
She... helped transfer my core into Watanabe... and then installed something else where my core used to be.
After entering the Clean Zone and crossing the boundary between the strange and the normal, Zong felt the thing in his chest disappear.
No...
Zong grasps your hand.
Commandant... I want to know... Did I do the right thing?
You do not know what to answer.
It's... hard to tell, isn't it...
I'm not very bright, Commandant... or very strong... I haven't been much help... even after I became a Construct.
So... That was the only way... I didn't want to feel powerless like I did back then...
Still... I had to rely on others in the end...
Commandant, tell me... Will Watanabe... be infected because of what I did?
That wasn't me... I'm merely a reader here.
I've finished reading the story in his heart. As a part of our deal, I shall return the book intact.
That's good. I've been afraid... that I've turned Watanabe into something he hates.
But it must be okay... if someone like you... promise.
I don't want to become... a Corrupted... I've seen the face Watanabe made when he had to execute the comrades who'd turned...
It was hard to watch... So don't make me go back... please...
Don't feel sad for me, Commandant... After all, I've finally achieved what I always wanted... even though I needed some help...
He slowly raises his right hand to salute you.
Can I ask you one last favor?
Sunlight slowly shines on the young man's face as if covering him with a layer of golden sand.
Please tell Watanabe that the little crybaby who used to be a burden...
...Can now protect others too.
His hand falls as he falls silent, never to rise again.
Hey, someone seems to be coming.
Where? Is it a Babylonian? Have they finally lost their patience?
Doesn't seem to be coming from the same direction... And that person's carrying someone?
Meanwhile, at the Babylonia outpost.
Someone's here!
Strange. I don't think that person's armed.
Feeling the weight behind your back, you walk forward step by step.
Sweat soaks through the bandages on your body. Yet to fully heal, wounds new and old begin to ache.
You do not have to look up to feel countless barrels coldly aiming at you from both sides.
You take a deep breath and pull out two flags from your pocket.
Yeah. You'll use that one, Commandant, and I'll use this one.
It's like giving them a heads-up.
Hehe. I've been practicing for a long time.
You know this is a dangerous move, but without Zong, this is the only way to get both sides to the negotiating table.
To not betray his resolve...
To hold up your end of the deal with him...
To not break the promise you made to yourself...
What is a little risk?
Two flags flutter above the buffer zone, one bearing the emblem of raven feathers and a shield, the other a symbol of a gas mask, sand, and fire.
