My whole body started shaking in fear and panic, but now was no time to be scared.
MC: He's gotta be okay. He's gotta be...
I braced my limp body as I prepared to get up, when I heard the impending sound of footsteps.
MC: Who's there!?
A man in black appeared, pausing in the doorway.
From behind him, in walked a young woman with long, black hair, radiating arrogance and scorn, like a blood-spattered rose, both captivating and terrifying.
She was dressed all in black leather, and there was something ineffably unique about her. She was enticing, yet cold, making you want to get near her but also shy away from the danger.
Several more people in black lined up behind her, but none as intimidating as her.
MC: Who are you? Are you from Black Swan?
??: Right now, you don't need to know.
She stood there, looking down on me probingly, her dark grey eyes like an icy serpent's sizing up its prey causing me to shiver.
MC: You led us here on purpose?
MC: You made that elevator drop! Why did you have to do that? What's happened to Kiro? He...
??: He's not dead yet.
Even such an icy voice sounded like the angel answering my prayer at that moment. My nerves wound to the breaking point finally relaxed.
I held back tears and started taking in my surroundings. I had to escape from these people and reunite with Kiro.
The way we came was blocked, and one side was a reinforced glass wall. Behind me was an out-of-commission elevator and hallway. I only had one option left.
MC: What is your goal? If it's me, then let Kiro go.
??: Still worrying about others even now?
Her expression was slightly mocking, but more so, there was something profound that I couldn't read.
She neared step by step. The shrinking distance made all the cells in my body cry out to run away.
But what was I actually going to do? What could I do?
A sudden pain interrupted my thoughts. I propped myself up on the floor.
A barrage of broken images flashed in my brain. My eyes swam with grey, white, and black lights.
A crash of shattering glass, shards scattering everywhere, reflecting dazzling light...
I popped open my eyes, snatched up the phone from the ground beside me, and without hesitation-- threw it at a corner of the outer wall of glass.
*Bang--!!*
My vision replayed before my eyes. With a "smash", the whole plate of glass already riddled with cracks suddenly burst open.
Shards rained down where the woman was standing.
I didn't even look. I took advantage of the moment to run out to the hall behind me.
MC: Ooof!!
A sudden, massive force washed over me, sending me kneeling to the floor.
I seemed to hear my bones straining. I found myself doubled over trying to escape this force.
??: Stop.
For a moment, the strain on my body let up. With difficulty, I leaned on the wall and got myself up, and what I saw next shocked me.
All the shards of glass were suspended in the air shining in the dazzling sun, as if an invisible hand was holding them up.
A violent wind poured in from the broken window, almost blowing me over, but it didn't move the shards at all.
Below it, the black-haired girl was still in the same place, her expression neither alarmed or angry. She didn't move, not even so much as a centimeter.
The shards around her slowly rose up and carefully avoided her. I suddenly realized that there probably wasn't just one person here!
Thinking of the person in the darkness, my whole body started to tremble.
I was taken to another floor-- an empty lobby with a glass walkway suspended in the air. The view below made me feel dizzy.
The gravity pressing down on me had lessened, but it was still difficult to walk. I tried to remain composed and not let the terror I felt just now fill my entire mind.
MC: What do you want to do?
The woman's gaze shifted from the window to me. Her expression was a little surprised, but she didn't answer my question.
She walked over, stuck a hand under my chin and raised it. She did so gently, but even through her soft leather gloves, it made me shiver.
??: Nothing special about you at all.
Her frigid eyes regarded me as if looking at a dead thing.
MC: What?
??: If it wasn't because of... why would you cause him to sway?
She said this as if saying it to me, but also to the "him" she referred to.
MC: Who would that be?
??: You really still don't know anything.
She let me go, stood before me, and elegantly removed her left glove.
A snake crawled out her wrist, its obsidian scales merging almost seamlessly with her black outfit.
Its golden pupils locked on me as its forked tongue darted out of its mouth.
Although I knew snakes could only see prey up-close, I felt like it was watching me with an icy glare just like its owner's.
I couldn't control my impulse to run away, but the force of gravity still weighed on me.
I saw on her exposed wrist a strange black ouroboros tattoo, and there was an unnatural pale grey color on her fingertip.
Everyone else in the lobby unconsciously stepped back, trying to keep their distance.
I strained to think of another way of escape. My hands held behind my back trembled, but I had to keep a calm and collected facade.
Just then, the sound of a vibrating phone cut through the tense atmosphere.
The woman took out her phone, saw the caller, and glanced at me with a complex look on her face.
Who could that be calling?
Seeing her walk back over to the window to take the call, I breathed a sigh of relief.
I don't know why this person gave me such an intense feeling of danger. Just being near made me feel suffocated.
I could overhear her talking, and unless I was hearing things, she sounded much gentler than before.
??: I'm here to take back experiment equipment. PO29's effect isn't as predicted.
Hearing this, my body froze. I thought of Kiro's hypothesis about this being an experiment.
An experiment where every Evolver in Loveland City was a test subject. Was it really true?
All my attention was focused on this phone call, hoping to hear more information.
??: You knew?
??: I can't guess what you're thinking... Yes, you won.
She abruptly hung up the call and walked over to her bedraggled captive.
Her constant look of observation and her excitement at seeing me struggle were completely vanished.
A subtle fury was seething in her dark grey eyes. I had no idea what she was going to do next.
