The designer story: I was reincarnated as a villain in a game

Chapter 36: Chaos 2

"I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have done that... I’m sorry... I’m sorry..."

Those words echoed frantically in my head, until I no longer knew to whom I was addressing my apology. All I knew was that I felt a desperate need to apologise... As if my entire soul was clinging to those words.

Even when I saw the three men rushing towards me, and when I realised they were about to kill me, I didn’t stop apologising. Tears were streaming from my eyes, blurring my vision and distorting the world around me.

But when I felt one of their blades touch my body, my instincts kicked in before my mind could think.

I dodged the stab, then took a step back before spinning around in a flash and delivering a roundhouse kick to his face.

My foot struck his jaw with tremendous force, nearly shattering it, though at the last moment he managed to raise his forearm and absorb some of the blow’s force.

I gripped the monster’s corpse tightly, whilst through my blurred vision I caught sight of the other two men approaching rapidly.

And at that moment, I saw one of their hands glow with a dark purple light.

Then I felt something strange.

The metal I was standing on began to rust.

At a terrifying speed.

I leapt away immediately.

Sssshhh...

"Haaa..."

I stared at my feet, which were partially rusted, and then that sadness overwhelmed me again, even more intensely than before.

"I know I was wrong... but I had no choice... I had to do it."

My voice trembled as I continued to mumble.

"I’m sorry... for not being a good friend..."

The words choked in my throat, while the tears flowed unceasingly.

"It shouldn’t have ended like that..."

But suddenly... all the emotions that had been overwhelming me vanished.

It was as if something inside me had snapped or stopped working.

I snapped back to normal in an instant, breathing rapidly as I stared into space.

How did I know that?

Because I wasn’t crying anymore.

I wasn’t acting like a madman anymore.

And I no longer felt that strange numbness.

Even the throbbing pain in my missing arm returned, and with it came the tension I’d always felt.

Ssssh... Click!

"Can’t you give me a moment to calm down?"

I let out a short, sarcastic laugh before continuing:

"Looks like the answer is no, doesn’t it?"

Ssssh... Click!

I dodged the giant’s sword at the last moment, stepping back a short distance, then hurled a stone pillar at his back, striking him just below the jaw.

But I didn’t have the luxury of following up on the attack.

The hairs on my body suddenly stood on end.

I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.

The cause was the gaze of one of the four figures; I could make out the strange look behind the black mask.

’I’m going to die.’

That thought popped into my head without warning.

It wasn’t a conclusion. It was an instinctive certainty. And so I leapt immediately.

Boom!

The spot where I had been standing just a moment ago vanished; I rolled away, clutching the monster’s corpse tightly.

The next moment, a section of the ground suddenly rose up beneath me, propelling me high into the air.

As I soared, I began frantically searching for somewhere to hide from those people’s gaze.

There was something terrifying about them.

An indescribable feeling.

A feeling that made me think they were capable of killing me with a single glance.

Perhaps I was exaggerating.

Or perhaps not. But of one thing I was certain. If I didn’t hide from them... I would die.

"Huh..."

A faint smile crossed my face as an idea suddenly struck me.

I waved my hand towards a nearby small rock, pulling it towards me.

When I got close enough, I pressed down on it with all my might, using it to change direction mid-air.

Boom!

I landed with tremendous force right in the middle of the horde of monsters.

I wasn’t particularly afraid of them. All I needed to do was release a little of my aura, and they would be overcome by that instinctive fear that weaker creatures feel in the face of predators.

After all, most of them were just low-level monsters.

But the problem was that not all of them were. And so it turned out to be more difficult than I’d expected.

I was forced to stop time and again, constantly changing direction, whilst taking care that no one discovered my true location.

All the while, I was carrying the monster’s corpse above my head.

I knew that wasn’t the best idea in the world, but it was the best I could come up with at.

Especially as I was on the verge of being turned into mincemeat on more than one occasion.

Had it not been for the luck that had accompanied me so far, I would have considered my survival a true miracle.

Especially in my current wretched state. But the biggest problem was time.

And yet I was almost there. It was as if another miracle were unfolding before my eyes. Even now, not a single rock had fallen on the warehouse.

In fact, it was the only place that remained intact amidst all this destruction. It seemed as though some hidden force was protecting it, but even so... I felt that something was wrong.

Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I mean, there was no way things could be going this smoothly.

They should have discovered me long ago. I couldn’t believe, even for a moment, that my plan would succeed so easily.

And yet I kept going. I didn’t even notice the strange thing happening to my feet.

At first I thought it was just exhaustion. But the truth was different.

I was slowing down. Slowly... but noticeably.

But the intense tension I was feeling prevented me from noticing it.

And when only ten metres separated me from the warehouse, I stopped looking around me. I no longer cared about anything else.

Because time... was running out.

[Time remaining: 00:10]

So I pushed off the ground with all my might and sprinted towards the warehouse as fast as I could.

I was so close.

So close that the distance between me and it was no more than a metre.

Come on...

Come on...

Come on!

I reached out towards the door. Just as I was about to touch it...

Boom!

"Whoosh!"

My body slammed violently into the door, and I fell to the floor with tremendous force. The door was torn from its hinges and flew inwards, whilst I rolled across the floor several times.

My vision went blurry. I felt warm liquid trickling from my nose. I tried to get up, but failed. I tried again, and again, but the result was the same.

I couldn’t move my body as I wanted.

I frowned as I looked down.

And in the next moment... the blood ran cold in my veins. My breath caught in my throat. My eyes widened in shock.

How could this be?

My feet had vanished; all that remained in their place was torn flesh and blood gushing profusely onto the floor.

For a full second, my mind refused to process what I was seeing. I didn’t even feel any pain.

Just... shock. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Then suddenly... a hand clamped around my neck... Before I could resist, my body was lifted into the air as if I were a weightless puppet.

[Time remaining: 00:00]