My Illusion Is Survival - Chapter 6

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 6

“Azel.”

When I called Azel’s name in a composed voice, the familiar black head of hair slowly turned to look at me.

“What are you?”

Our eyes met briefly. Azel’s first words were cold as always.

“You said you came here to save me? That was original, but that’s as far as it goes.”

He had been waiting for me to come all this time, and now he was interrogating me the moment he saw me.

‘It’s not like he’s some wary stray cat.’

I bit my lip while choosing my words to respond, but Azel’s voice immediately continued.

However, his next words were something I hadn’t anticipated.

“But there’s something even stranger. Your identity—no matter how much I searched, nothing came up.”

“…What?”

What didn’t come up?

“No records, no testimonies. I couldn’t even find out when you started waiting for me in that square. All records are completely blank.”

“…!”

“As if you fell from the sky.”

His thorn-like voice was coldly interrogating me, but I was still at a loss for words.

‘No records? Wasn’t this just a normal possession?’

My mind became complicated in an instant.

“What are you.”

“…”

“What purpose did you have in approaching me.”

But this wasn’t the time to be stupidly flustered.

If I let my guard down even a little, he’d tear me apart.

“I don’t really know about my identity, but I do have a purpose. To save you.”

“That again. I’m getting tired of hearing it.”

“Even if you’re tired of it, there’s nothing I can do. That’s all there is.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Azel’s fine lips twisted viciously.

A silence of a completely different dimension descended between us.

“You? How.”

His low voice spread through the momentary quiet.

“I was watching to see how far you’d go, and indeed, you know no limits.”

“You don’t trust me.”

“How could I trust you. The words of a woman I’ve never seen before.”

“…!”

“What’s with that expression? Are you still going to insist that I forgot you?”

Nasty bastard.

He’s right, but it’s annoying.

He’s definitely choosing only mean words on purpose for me to hear.

But I wasn’t someone who would be shaken by something like this.

‘Sorry, but I have nowhere to retreat to.’

He underestimated me too much. If I was going to be scared by something like this, I wouldn’t have started at all.

“Just now, for the first time, I thought it was fortunate that you forgot me.”

“What?”

“If you knew you said such things to me, the you I know would surely regret it.”

“…!”

Drop, drip.

As soon as I finished speaking, tears that had formed at the corners of my eyes flowed down my cheeks.

‘You didn’t expect me to come at you like this.’

When I looked at him with wounded, deep eyes, Azel finally showed a face that had run out of patience.

“That expression again…”

Azel, who had been showing faint irritation with an unreadable face, finally exploded in anger.

“…It’s annoying.”

“Azel.”

“Why do you keep looking at me with those eyes?”

The atmosphere had become even colder, but I wasn’t someone who would be intimidated by something like this…

“…I’m sorry.”

Right.

…Honestly, that last part was a little scary.

I subtly averted my eyes and let out an excuse that wasn’t really an excuse.

“You don’t have to trust me. But there’s only one thing I can say. I came here to stop your regression, and even if you don’t believe me, I’ll do my best with what I can do.”

Though there was a slight lie mixed in, I truly intend to save Azel.

So it wasn’t a complete lie.

But there was a problem.

Somehow Azel’s reaction was strange.

“End the regression?”

Unlike the vague words about saving him, directly mentioning regression seemed to be a trigger.

“Regression. You’ll end the regression.”

“Azel…?”

Confusion, hatred, fear, mockery.

Raw, unrefined emotions swirled in the red eyes that glared at me.

“How could you end the regression. What are you to dare speak such words in front of me.”

Azel, who had approached me in an instant, seemed like a completely different person from before.

“I don’t know what you think you can do, but fine. Tell me. Let me hear that brilliant plan inside that tiny head of yours.”

“That… I can’t tell you right now.”

“Are you trying to play games with me right now?”

“I can’t tell you the method. But please trust me. I didn’t lie.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You won’t tell me anything but expect me to believe those words?”

I know very well that even to my own ears, this sounds absurd.

But the Azel in the game was always captivated by a strange belief, almost like faith, that he would regress again.

To make such an Azel believe, I needed clear evidence, but I couldn’t bring that evidence.

‘Because I’m a damn extra.’

So in the end, I had to use a different method.

“If you knew, you’d get hurt.”

When I pretended to be calm and spouted nonsense, Azel’s eyes went wild as expected.

“Annoying. So annoying I could die! Your talk about saving me or whatever, pretending to know me well! Even the way you keep looking at me with those eyes—it’s all annoying!”

Angry shouts poured out like blades.

My fingertips trembled instinctively at this explosion of emotion I’d never seen before, but I couldn’t step back.

Because Azel’s appearance, breathing roughly, looked precarious to anyone watching.

“Calm down, Azel! First, your breathing—!”

“Get your hands off me! Stop that disgusting act and just answer properly!”

At this rate, the kid’s going to pass out!

Thinking something terrible might happen if I left him like this, I recklessly pulled Azel into an embrace.

“…!”

His chest, swollen from rapid breathing, was tight, but instead of running away, I stubbornly rested my cheek against Azel’s heart.

“What are you doing—!”

“I’m sorry. For not being able to tell you. For making you suspicious, for hurting you, I’m sorry.”

The sound of rapidly beating hearts was so loud I couldn’t tell whose it was.

“But I promise you. You won’t have to lose anything more. I’ll definitely return your life to you.”

I’m an extra, so I can’t use the clues from the game.

However, this place was no longer a game.

Reality.

Since I’m an extra without a predetermined role, I can break Azel’s curse in my own way instead.

“Just one month. Stay with me for just one month. Then you can escape from this eternal hell.”

And according to my plan, one month would be enough for all of this.

“When everything is over, I’ll leave quietly. I’ll disappear quietly as if I never existed from the beginning. So please, just trust me this once.”

And when everything is finished, I can just leave this place.

I have no intention of staying by the mastermind’s side for long either.

“If I fail…”

“Then kill me.”

“…!”

“Then I’ll gladly die by your hands.”

So please, just let me deceive you for one month.

‘I’ll definitely save you. And when everything is over, let’s never see each other again, Azel Viotz.’

I was confident.

*

And exactly 10 minutes later.

I was sitting alone on the cold stone floor.

“Is this right?”

The words I unconsciously uttered echoed off the walls around me.

The cold rising from the floor made my bottom numb, but it was better than the iron bars I could see when I looked up.

“No, is this really right?”

That’s right. This place was a prison.

To be locked in prison just 10 minutes after being confident of victory was truly a remarkable achievement.

“…Damn it.”

It seems like I’m screwed.

‘Well, I did choose some rather unpleasant words to say. But what’s with suddenly throwing someone in prison?’

It was even more unfair because the atmosphere had been pretty good until just before that.

‘He’s such a helpless fool that I was already anxious about leaving him alone.’

So I had planned to stick close by his side until everything was finished, but I never expected to be imprisoned like this right away.

So what should I do now?

“Phew… Okay, let’s escape.”

“Sis, are you really crazy?”

I thought I just heard my younger sibling’s voice for some reason, but it was probably just my imagination.

This is a decision I made after rational thinking!

‘Well, I have no choice.’

Azel awakening his power on his own would be the worst case scenario, but I also couldn’t ignore the possibility that he might lock me up here and never let me out.

Since hesitation was a luxury, I immediately started knocking on various parts of the prison walls.

‘I remember there was an escape mechanism somewhere around here.’

I was once called ‘rotten water’ for this game, so escaping from prison should be obvious to me…

Tap, tap, tap…

“…?”

Obvious…

Tap, tap, tap!

“Huh?”

…It should be obvious, right?

I should have heard the hollow sound of an empty brick around here, but surprisingly, no sound came at all.

“…”

It seems like I’m ‘really’ screwed.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————