The first thing that assaulted River was an odd smell similar to alcohol.
He didn’t move immediately, first trying to understand the state his body was in.
He was lying on his back, but his bruised waist wasn’t hurting. His arm didn’t feel like it was inside a cast, either – unexpectedly. Did that mean that daily injuries would be healed? How long was the timespan where healing would still happen? If he hadn’t broken his arm but completely lost it, would it be reattached inside the dream?
Unable to stop himself, he made a couple assumptions while knowing exactly that he’d never find out. As the chess piece, it wasn’t within his power to find out the rules of the players putting him on the gameboard.
River listened to his surroundings. With the haze from waking up vanishing, he could hear several people. Once again, he had woken up late compared to everyone else.
River sat up, only to find his face directly in front of someone else’s – leaning over him, close enough to feel his breath.
Aspen’s eyes were glowing. In a world of gray, his eyes were shining brightly like jewels. River took in the entirety of his expression, the slight upwards tilt of the other’s lips, the raised eyebrows.
He read something like expectation off the murderer’s face. A tinge of joy, relief. A bit of reliance, maybe.
It was an expression that River could not remember the last time he had seen. It made him relax immediately, oddly enough.
Partner. He felt like that was an appropriate word for this kind of relationship.
“You’re finally awake”, a female voice said.
The subtle smile vanished off Aspen’s face. The youth tilted his head to look up with disinterest, and River followed his gaze.
Honey stood behind him, arms crossed. The clearly visible mark on her arm made it easy enough to remember her… or maybe it was the fact that the last time, he had killed her.
“It’s been a while. Good to see you’re still alive”, Honey said, squatting down and smiling. River watched her closely. He couldn’t spot any hostility. “You two are together again, huh?”
“Yep.” Aspen’s eyes wandered over her as well. Suddenly smirking, he started to probe. “What about your friends? Are they still alive? We saw them at the end of that… dream and they were still around.”
Honey frowned softly. She unconsciously raised a hand to the back of her head. “We were all lucky, it seems. Although I can’t say that I truly feel it… I died at the end of the dream. Not a pleasant experience.”
“You died?” Aspen’s eyes widened with the perfect amount of surprise and shock. “How?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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How stupid.
To think that you’d know another’s heart, how truly stupid.
And he himself was no better.
“Anyway, I guess you two will be running around together again?” Honey leaned on her elbow. “In that case, I’ll ask someone else to follow me.”
There were three others inside the room. Two men and one woman, with the woman hiding in a different corner. They were all three shivering and perfectly quiet, not exactly looking like the kind of people who would happily join Honey for no reason.
River met the woman’s eyes – she had been looking at him. She flinched and quickly turned away.
“Okay, I’m done. We can go – this seems to be an old asylum.”
But he didn’t have to ask Honey about her partner. Her partner appeared at the perfect time, returning from outside the safe-room.
River felt a shudder that was completely detached from his feelings. While his body reacted, his mind was blank.
The man that came inside was young, somewhat handsome. A disgusting smile on his face. Instead of looking at Honey, his gaze was turned towards River. The foxy eyes narrowed a bit, and if it wasn’t for those, River wouldn’t even have recognized him. “Hey there. Long time no see.”
The man waved playfully at River, revealing his bare arm.
Deer.
River had no doubt that it was the joke of a Gambler to choose this sign.
“You know each other?” Honey exclaimed in surprise. “I didn’t expect that.”
River finally stood up. He turned his back to the wall, eyes fixated on the gray version of the damned man.
“Very well, even.” The Deer jumped over, wrapping an arm around River’s. With a seductive smirk, he pressed his body against River. “Right? Don’t we know each other well?”
Disgusted and repelled to the point of nausea, River tried to increase their distance again. He did not care much about the Deer, but he did not want the man sticking to him. He was a troublesome person with a questionable personality.
Honey’s eyes flickered between the two men. She wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. “Did you have a dream together before?”
“Nope”, Aspen declared in River’s stead. He took a step forward, wrapped his slender fingers around the Deer’s wrist and pressed down. Whatever he did, the Deer flinched away in pain, allowing Aspen to directly pull River out of the man’s grasp and closer to himself. “And you?”
“No. Crisis and Rhythm – my friends from last time – know him. From school, I believe?”
“That’s correct.” The Deer rubbed his wrists, eyeing Aspen for the first time. His eyebrows jumped up when he noticed the metal embedded in Aspen’s arms. “…Would you look at that? Handsome, you should take a step away from that guy. He’s dangerous.”
River tilted his head.
What was danger? The possibility of suffering harm or injury. In that definition, both were dangerous, although Aspen was potentially more lethal.
What about the other definition?
The chance of something unpleasant happening.
Behind his glasses, River’s eyes lowered. “…I believe you are more dangerous.”
Between the Deer and Aspen, it was clear who was easier to be around for himself.
Honey reached the Deer’s side, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder. The Deer gave her a pacifying, friendly smile. “What is wrong?”
Before, there had been a discussion about Aspen being weird. This time, with someone who appeared to know more, of course she would ask. Ultimately, knowing about the people you were in a dream with could help you survive by avoiding backstabbers.
The Deer tapped his wrists, sighing sadly. “I think my poor friend here is being cheated by this guy’s soft face. What he’s having on his hands… Are special shackles. The only ones who get these are criminals of the worst sort. The sort of psychotic killer that only gets around the death sentence because they’re so interesting that someone wants to study them.”
The mood changed. Aspen appeared irritated at the Deer’s smug face, while Honey slowly tensed up.
River took in all of the Deer’s body language. How he was waiting for River to be shocked. How he was waiting for River to look betrayed, even. How he was looking forward to River’s reaction.
But seconds passed and no one said anything. Slowly, the Deer’s smugness wavered.
“Oh”, River said, simply. The same as last time.
“That’s a psychotic killer”, the Deer repeated, eyebrows beginning to furrow in irritation. “You don’t believe me?”
“No, I know”, River corrected, voice soft. “So?”
Why do I have to care?
What is it to you?
Who he kills, who he tortures, what is it any of my business?
This world never cared for me. Why do I have to care about it?
If murder was legal, would anyone even mind in this twisted time? Truly, what was he supposed to worry about?
That Aspen would kill him?
River laughed softly, shaking his head to himself. “Let’s go and check the stage”, he whispered, turning to Aspen.
…Oh, wouldn’t that be perfectly alright?
Author’s Note
This arc is a bit gruesome in terms of disgusting things and true stories, but I guess if you’re here reading a survival game story then you don’t mind anyway…
I made sure that the facts I state aren’t just nonsense. What River says is stuff I’ve found during my online research, so hopefully all of it should be correct. (I now get a ton of ads about medical school…….) The layout for the building isn’t accurate though, it’s been adjusted for game purposes.
Thanks for the chapter and your hard homework!
Thanks for the chapter and for the likely FBI watch list-worthy search history sacrifice. Love trying to write a story and getting questionable ads to match my equally questionable searches. 🙃
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for making this questionably well informed arc 🤭😉😊
|ω-o)
Thanks for the chapter, as always I love your work ! <3
Really want Aspen to kill Deer. Can’t wait for more!