Chapter 51.2
“Bandages.”
Adeline had stocked up on gauze and antiseptic at the shop. She was about to direct him to it, but he was already applying pressure to the pressure point above her clavicle.
Next came the antiseptic. The burning sensation was searing, and she bit back a cry. It felt like her flesh was on fire. Her mind went blank, and she instinctively reached for her potions, downing them one after another. They seemed to restore her energy but did nothing for the wound itself.
Layers of gauze covered the injury, followed by a bandage wrapped firmly around her left shoulder and across her chest. There was a flicker of self-consciousness at the unexpected intimacy, but he kept his gaze averted, his touch clinical.
As he finished, they heard it.
Thud, thud.
Multiple footsteps echoed, bouncing off the walls. Damian froze, and a moment later, Adeline tensed.
Someone was approaching. Two people? No, three?
A reckless fight in an unknown location was a bad idea. Her eyes, accustomed to the darkness, scanned the area for cover, landing on a partially open barred door. Silently, they moved towards it.
The metal door creaked softly as they slipped through, concealing themselves in the deep shadows. The footsteps were close now.
“There’s no one here? Gunshot? Must have been hearing things.”
“No, I definitely heard it. It came from this direction.”
“No, you were probably just checking the stock market again.”
“Hey, speaking of which, I should have bought at least one share of Leon. I heard they finished the underwater gear. Test run in a few days, then straight to the new continent.”
“You idiot, one share? What good will that do you, even if it goes up a few times? You gotta go all in.”
They seemed to have come looking for the source of the gunshot. Fortunately, they were too engrossed in their own conversation to notice the hidden presence.
“And you’re the one who keeps losing money at the Colosseum?”
“You don’t understand. If I get one good hit, it’ll be a jackpot. I’ll show you a whole new world, little brother. Wanna come with me next time?”
They placed the lamp they carried on something in the center of the room. In the dim light, Adeline hadn’t noticed it before, but it was a stone table.
The area around them brightened, revealing a sparsely furnished reception room, cave-like and rough-hewn, containing only the table and a few chairs. The men wore long robes that covered their entire bodies, similar to the priestly garments she had seen in books.
Adeline found herself wondering where they were.
The question evaporated the moment she saw the creature beside them.
A blue monster, twice the size of a man, sat on the floor. It had a vaguely humanoid shape, but its head was bald, and its long tusks extended down past its chin. Its upturned snout gave it a distinctly pig-like appearance.
The realization hit Adeline like a bolt of lightning.
The blue skin, the long tusks, the protruding jaw. It all matched the description of the pigs bred for human consumption in the ninth pen.
This was the ninth district, the Orc district.
“Well, I’d rather see the new continent than some ‘new world’… What’s up?”
The creature suddenly sniffed the air, as if catching a scent.
It crawled along the floor, its nose to the ground, stopping at the spot where Adeline had been tending her wound.
“What is it?”
“Probably just a rat. Let it eat.”
The man with the lamp, thinking it might not be a rat after all, shone the light on the floor. His expression shifted to one of surprise.
“Hey. Blood? It’s still fresh.”
Adeline felt a chill run down her spine. She tensed, drawing her pistol again. They might have to fight after all. But then, the other man, sitting casually with his legs spread, spoke, casually cleaning his ear.
“Oh, that. Deborah came back half-dead just now.”
“Deborah? What happened?”
“Don’t ask. I don’t know. Ahab took her away immediately.”
Deborah must have been the woman who killed Rune. Adeline felt a strange pang of relief, and it struck her as ironic. She had pushed the woman to the brink, yet deep down, she hadn’t truly wanted her to die.
“She seemed pretty excited about the sea route opening. Maybe she saw something she shouldn’t have out there.”
“I don’t know. Ask her next time. Speaking of which, have you heard that rumor going around?”
“What rumor?”
While the men were distracted, the monster, still sniffing, lumbered towards the barred door where Adeline and Damian were hiding. It was only five paces away.
“People are getting logout errors everywhere. But the company’s denying it, no explanation whatsoever.”
One step closer.
“Oh, that. Yeah, I heard about it. The other day, someone was saying we might get trapped in the game. Like it’s some kind of comic book or novel.”
Another step closer.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind. Can’t even see the sun anymore with all the air pollution. Inside or outside, what’s the difference? Sometimes this place feels more real than real life. Never have to deal with people in the real world.”
The orc, hunched over in the darkness, was right in front of them. Adeline calmly raised her pistol, thinking that whether it was a Serpente, a fairy, or an orc, they were all remarkably human.
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