The heart-wrenching wails of a young girl echoed through the laboratory. Grief-stricken, Petula hung her head, her grip tightening around her elbow as the Florian's voice began to break. Tennyson's fists trembled at his sides, his heart sinking under the crushing weight of guilt.
Reeza clung desperately to the side of the pedestal used as an operating table, her legs buckling beneath her. Harsh tears streamed down her face as she gazed at her mother's still form. No matter how intensely she willed it to be false, nothing changed—her mother lay breathless, her life cruelly extinguished by the forces of evil.
As her body slumped to the floor, a distant memory resurfaced. She had been ecstatic, having amassed half of the funds necessary to free her mother. That day, she had rushed to the woman's cell to celebrate, a hopeful spark in her eyes and joy in her heart.
She vividly remembered her mother often garbed in a kimono. Despite their dire circumstances, she always wore a wholehearted smile and often encouraged Reeza to forget about her and live her own life. Now that her body was no longer hidden behind the concealing garments, Reeza could see the gruesome wounds that marred the woman's skin—a harrowing telltale of the life of abuse she had endured alone.
"What was the point?" Reeza cried out, her voice laced with anguish. "What was the point of stealing and hurting so many people if I couldn't even save her in the end?"
"Casimir was undeniably the worst kind of scum, but he wasn't exactly stupid," Daisuke argued as he strode into the room. "You'd expect him to milk every opportunity for profit before severing ties, especially when the opposition hardly poses a threat."
Everyone glanced down at Reeza's broken form on the ground. Daisuke, in particular, regarded her with a mixture of emotions. But the most predominant had to be anger. While her situation was tragic, her deeds were extremely selfish—and countless people were affected by her actions, including Zephyr.
Daisuke had been burned far too many times, and he had already promised himself that unnecessary kindness was a burden he no longer intended to shoulder, especially when he didn't stand to benefit.
As malice slowly reared its unpleasant head, consuming what little sympathy he had in his heart for the girl, Daisuke's fingers began unfurling. Every fiber of his being was telling him to summon the Lipanthyer's Fang and end her miserable life then and there.
But just as he was about to concede to the dark deed, his fingers stilled. Before the power of his eyes, a strange entity manifested itself. It was in the form of a stall bird, electricity flickering from its wings as it hovered defensively in front of Reeza.
DING!
[The Djinn, Voltina, fiercely guards her prospective contractor.]
...A Djinn? Daisuke frowned inquisitively. What's that? And am I the only one who can see it?
[Name: Voltina
Level: 27 | EXP: 12,864/113,906 (11.29%)
Race: Lightning Djinn
Current Species: Yellow Canary
HP: 2875/2875
[Mysterious and elusive elemental beings often regarded as the messengers of Guardian Spirits. Djinn are inherently shy and peaceful creatures with the extraordinary ability to sense the goodness in others. On rare occasions, they form sacred bonds with individuals with whom they share a profound and uncanny connection.]
Without warning, the Djinn invaded Daisuke's mind in an attempt to cool his rage. Like the pages of a flipbook, he was shown snippets of Reeza's character and lifestyle that weren't readily seen on the surface.
YOU ARE READING
Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended
FantasyWhat would you do if you found yourself trapped in a video game as an NPC with seemingly no hope of returning to the real world? Having grown up without parents, Daisuke finds himself in a perpetual cycle of poverty as he tries to survive in the bot...
