Chapter 61: Fear, Flight, and Kersey

Kersey’s first instinct was to run.

The terror she once felt in the classroom.

Once Norius used the skill , she couldn’t do anything at all.

She ran very fast.

She fled toward the back door.

Norius watched her scurry away like a hamster and, for the first time in a while, smiled.

His first thought was to lock the door, but he realized this front door couldn’t be locked without a key.

Oh well.

He could guess where she’d try to run.

Then, Norius strolled after Kersey in the direction she fled.

Three days ago, his parents paid enough bail to get him released, and the remaining teammates told him about Cliff.

–What kind of joke is this!? Cliff fell off a cliff by accident?—

–It’s true! How could I make something like that up?–

Angry, he grabbed the other by the collar on the spot.

What terrible luck!

With Cliff hospitalized, who would help him vent his anger?

And all of it was because of that trashy weakling Siloque.

No choice, he’d have to find Siloque himself and beat him up.

These days in jail, just thinking about Siloque’s mocking smile made Norius grind his teeth in hatred.

He wanted to go to school and settle the score with Siloque, but from his parents’ scolding, he learned he was suspended for a month.

So, when he angrily arrived at the school gate ready to ambush him, he saw Kersey and Bried laughing as they walked out, but Siloque was nowhere to be found.

He decided to ask Kersey directly, choosing a moment when she was alone.

The reason was simple—she looked like one of the weakest in the class and was the easiest to bully.

Back then, just a single glare from him could freeze her in terror.

So, over the past two days, Norius had watched the store, confirming her routine, especially noting the locations of the security cameras.

He figured he could question her and blow off some steam at the same time—a win-win.

***

Kersey was the first to run to the office, wanting to call for help, only to find the phone line had been cut.

She hurried back to the employee locker room to search for the Ring Chart.

“Where, where is it? Why can’t I find it?”

In a panic, she overturned her bag, scattering its contents, but no matter how she searched, she couldn’t find it.

Step, step, step.

Kersey felt Norius’s deliberately slow footsteps.

A bird caught in a trap, with nowhere to escape.

But she had to try.

Kersey turned out of the locker room—

And found herself just three meters from Norius.

Those eyes, full of malice and mockery, made her shudder.

She kept running, Norius watching her from behind.

Where, where could she get out? Which way to escape?

Her breathing and heartbeat burned with anxiety.

Right, the warehouse’s back door!

There was a small door there, only opened with a key, leading to a hidden alley.

Kersey turned left, ran into the warehouse, and quickly found the door, opening it with her key.

It was a moderately sized alley.

On the left were a wire mesh door and several rectangular cremators; on the right were piles of miscellaneous items.

At that moment, she saw three figures near the street on the right, sitting around a motorcycle and drinking.

There are people here! Now Norius won’t dare come over!

With new hope, Kersey moved to seek help, but a bad feeling warned her:

Who’d be hanging out and chatting in a narrow alley like this late at night?

Thinking of this, Kersey stopped just as she was about to take a step forward.

Sure enough, the three turned as if sensing something.

Their eyes mirrored Norius’s.

Almost as if confirming her suspicion, Norius appeared behind them, and the four exchanged high-fives.

So they were… together from the start?

Had I been set up from the beginning?

Kersey stepped back, a clatter echoing as she bumped into something.

Her back hit the wire mesh door.

No way out.

From five meters away, Norius spoke first:

“That trash, what was her name? Ka, something…”

Even after watching her for days, Norius couldn’t remember her name.

He squinted at Kersey’s nametag on her uniform.

“Kersey? Oh right, that’s it. Do you know Siloque? The bottom-ranked guy in your class. Tell me what you know about him.”

“W-what?”

Suddenly asked about her childhood friend, Kersey didn’t know how to answer.

The air was hot and sticky, making her uncomfortable.

“I don’t know, I really don’t know anything.”

“Hah?! You think saying that means I’ll let you go?”

“I know you won’t let me go no matter what I say, but I really don’t know! Please, just leave!”

Norius curled his lips.

“If you agree to let me do you, I’ll leave.”

“Norius, what the hell are you talking about? Didn’t we agree to share?”

“You think we help you steal for free?”

Hearing this, Kersey instinctively hugged herself.

But this pose made her look like she was cupping two peaches, making the four of them whistle.

Since before, her figure easily attracted boys’ gazes.

Even worse were the looks from other girls.

Sometimes her shoes disappeared from the locker, or dead mice appeared in her drawer.

She didn’t dare wear her favorite clothes to school, as they were always slashed.

Even in a top high school, there were petty tricks and small acts of malice.

Because of that, Kersey was highly sensitive to others’ gazes.

Getting into the National Explorers Academy was partly to escape her terrible memories from middle school, and partly to gain the strength to protect herself.

But she never thought someone could show such blatant malice.

The way Norius and his friends looked at her—as if deciding which part of their prey to start with—made Kersey’s face turn pale.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Kersey grabbed a brick from the ground in warning.

This only made the four laugh.

“Don’t get worked up. Since you don’t know, we’ll just play a fun little game to help you remember. It won’t hurt you.”

Norius took a step forward.

Sweat seeped from Kersey’s grip on the brick.

She had to act.

She recalled the Throwing Method Bried had taught her and hurled the brick at Norius with all her might.

Norius neither dodged nor flinched.

He knew how much damage a Lv5 could do—and even more so for a [Cleric] hiding behind teammates, whose combat ability was nearly zero.

Taking the hit head-on would show Kersey that trash was trash—they couldn’t fight back against a Lv8 like him.

“Puah!—”

“Norius? Are you okay? That’s a bit much for acting.”

The brick arced with a red glow and slammed into Norius’s stomach, the pain folding him over like a “>”.

“Um…?”

Kersey was a little stunned too.

She looked at the brick dust in her right hand, then at Norius, who was kneeling on the ground, face pale and clutching his stomach.

Ah, I get it!

These days, Cass kept taking her and Bried to all sorts of strange areas to level up.

Her level rose quickly—she’d taken over two years to reach Lv5, but in just a few weeks, she’d climbed to Lv8.

If this guy looked so hurt, it meant her attack worked.

Maybe his level was even lower than hers. Maybe—she could win!

Just as Kersey saw a sliver of hope.

“Don’t get cocky, you damn **.”

Norius’s bloodshot eyes glared at Kersey.

Skill activated:

“..!!”

A wave of terror pierced her, icy fear spreading through her body.

The hope she’d felt vanished.

Her arms and legs went limp and uncontrollable, and Kersey collapsed on the ground.

So scary so scary so scary so scary so scary.

So scary.

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, her teeth chattering.

Actually, she still had a talent—[Pain Sharing].

It was an ironic talent, something she could use to fight back, but Kersey’s mind was in chaos, unable to think straight.

“Even if your Lv went up and your strength increased, your spirit is nothing compared to mine. I’ve spent years fighting Dungeon Monsters up close. How can a [Cleric] like you be more threatening than a monster? Don’t look down on people, trash.”

Kersey saw Norius push aside the companions trying to help him and stand up.

It’s over.

What’s going to happen to me?

Will I be pinned down and ravaged by these men until they’re satisfied?

An hour?

Or all night?

I don’t want this.

I don’t want it…

Norius and his companions approached, laughing.

Kersey didn’t even have the strength to lift her head.

Norius continued to use , leaving her only fear and despair.

She couldn’t see their faces, but she could feel their eyes full of lust, tearing at her body.

Kersey wondered if there was anything else she could do, but found she could only close her eyes…

“This ends here. I won’t allow you to lay a finger on my teammate.”

A deep, powerful voice echoed through the alley.

Standing behind the four was a young man in a National Explorers Academy uniform.

His strong presence shattered Norius’s .

This voice…!

Kersey turned toward it, hope lighting her face.

She saw the familiar blue hair and deep sea-blue eyes.

Before Kersey could speak, Norius sneered:

“Cass, right? That arrogant, self-important piece of trash.”

Norius pulled an eighty-centimeter katana from his Ring Chart, and the other three each drew brass knuckles, a chain, and a metal bat.

I heard you’ve been looking for me?

A seventh voice.

It sounded old and magnetic.

Norius immediately recognized it as a poorly disguised voice—someone was using a voice-changing device.

But he quickly realized who the real owner was.

At some point, the person stood next to Kersey, helping her up.

He wore a slightly wrinkled gray hoodie, black jeans, a light blue baseball cap, and a black metal mask—but his night-dark hair revealed his identity.

Norius spoke the name.