Ch-2
The Settings started almost too disclined, "What is your name maiden? Or do you prefer me to call you a…maiden?"
Was this stupid thing thinking it was being funny? She had never heard something so forced before. Despite her irritation she replied, "Sera"
The Settings hummed a response as it didn't bother with her name anymore. She sighed, her hands fidgeting on her lap she looked around the impenetrable darkness surrounding her.
She was about to say something when the Settings interjected before she could voice her thoughts,
"Alright, so Kia died pathetically"
A huge screen appeared in the dark void. The screen projected a blue hue on her silhouette as she blinked from the intensity.
Suddenly, a scene starts— the almost dark room was lit up by the low light of the torch, Kia's slender fingers held onto it almost too tightly, her breathing ragged.
Taking cloudy steps she walked towards a drawer. Looking back once before letting out a shaky breath, her hands trembled. As if she was committing something treacherous. Almost too dirty for her to do.
Suddenly Diane, the female protagonist of the novel, enters the scene.
Her lips curled up into a cryptic smile, her translucent arms creating a jarring contrast against her bloody fingers. Taking slow deliberate steps she didn't waste a second of hesitation.
Slash!
Blood trickled down from the thin fabric of Kia's shirt. Her eyes wide as she struggled to scream, her lips trembling before she coughed out fresh blood.
Diane remained unfazed, twisting the knife thoroughly making Kia gasp in pain— Pulling it out swiftly. Kia's body fell down as she held onto the drawer leg, her eyes going blurry.
Taking huge breaths she stared into Diane's almost cruel face. The woman in front of her looked nothing like the angelic girl she remembered. Blood dripped down Diane's fingers, her body remained motionless.
Relishing Kia's painful death, she crouched to Kia's limp body; blinking in amusement her eyes sparkled with sadistic pleasure,
"Kia how dare you go for what's mine?"
Her voice turned frosty with each word that came out of her pretty lips, her sparkling sapphire eyes turned almost grey making her look disturbingly lifeless.
Before staring right into Kia's eyes; her voice dark and low, "Devian told me about your little treason"
The words hit Kia like a freight train. She desperately wanted to deny that. But, she herself knew that Diane never lied…
At least, she knew that Devian would do something like that if it meant Diane would look at him.
Tears formed in Kia's red eyes, if she had known this would happen today. Maybe, for the first time she wouldn't play onto Devian's whims.
Her love remained unresponsive to her pain, his eyes always set on the woman standing before her like a monster.
She finally let out shuddering cries of pain, clutching her stomach her heart ached as if Diane had struck right in her heart not her back.
An ache deep in her shattered heart which was more notorious than anything else, immense regret and longing made her go restless as she let out loud cries of plea.
Diane remained nonchalant, her gaze glued to Kia. Watching her die silently.
Kia's life ended in the most miserable way possible, not only did she lose her life. She finally realised the person she held onto forgetting everything else was always beyond her reach.
Someone who never looked at her despite everything she did, her family whom she abandoned at every step she took just for the man who betrayed her in the end.
Sera watched the scene and felt a painful throb in her chest. The screen paused on Kia's lifeless form. Sera stared at the screen with wide eyes. She had never heard such bone-chilling screams before.
The screams which only come out when death stared right into your eyes. Her heart almost fell to her stomach, Kia's scream wasn't because of her fear of death or hope for survival. It was because of regret and bitterness.
Looking back when she read this exact scene she hadn't given it much thought.
To her it was obvious and to be honest, deserved. But right now she felt her judgement was poor. Biting her lower lip she lowered her lashes.
Why did I suddenly remember her face after watching this?
Sera remained silent, her thoughts went back to…that person. Something she thought she had buried deep inside of her heart, in an area where she would never find herself again.
But today this scene weirdly depicted…the death of her mother, someone desperately wanted to let go off.
The Settings cut through the thick silence. Its voice unperturbed as if to it the scene it has just projected was a play not something Kia went through.
"I mean…Can you avoid this ending?"
She jerked out of her thoughts and sighed lightly, masking her real emotions she tried to appear nonchalant, "Yeah. Everyone in isekai avoids death."
Although she did feel restless, she truly didn't want what happened to the original Kia to happen to her as well. Lifting her head, she shrugged almost trying to desperately make her words seem believable.
The Setting laughed aggravatingly seeing right through her facade,
"Pfft...You think you are the protagonist? Sorry ma'am. It's Diane kindler"
She smiled forcibly, "I will avoid every stupid main characters"
The Settings sighed, "It's not that simple. There is a force in the story that will make you follow the story without your consent."
She frowned as she turned her head towards the screen still in front of her, "Like, I will be forced to act exactly like how Kia does in the novel?"
Her voice was laced with hesitation and honestly she hoped she wasn't right.
"Yes, but only when the original timeline starts until then you are free of the bounds."
Sitting upright her face contorted to thoughtfulness,
"...So…in order to escape my death I need to break the bounds before the original timeline. How do I do that?"
Its voice suddenly switched to being the new employee on its first day, "Bingo! You have six months before the original timeline. There is a thing called Luck Value (LV)"
Sera shifted forward, almost invested, her mind remained blank as she focused thoroughly.
"The more you gain the (LV ), the less the original story can control you. It will be hard to collect for someone so insignificant as…you"
She blinked, as she didn't even notice the Setting's slight belittlement, "What's a LV??"
Settings replied enthusiastically, "It's basically your luck And it's value"
A brief moment of silence…
She snapped, "Are you stupid?"
"For an obvious question an obvious answer"
She knew it was correct, but she wasn't just going to let it win. She crossed her arms and asked broodingly, "Then why did you answer it?"
Ignoring her petulant remark it continued almost too robotic now, " The LV is what breaks the full control. You can escape your death with it and getting mud shot by car tires during rainy days"
She nodded as if understanding every word, "So how do I collect it?"
The Settings gave out an almost extremely sly chuckle, "So, do you really wanna know?"
The line almost made her feel a shudder in her spine.
Why did it have to speak like those scary men who sit by the roadside selling illegal knives made to cut nothing.
Keeping her thoughts aside she shook her head.
"Well LV is fucking hard to collect. Especially since collecting LV also depends on the person's LV. Yours…is pathetic…it's zero"
Poking her cheek with her tongue, her tone ruminating, again oblivious to the setting's slight mockery. Her tone dripping with sarcasm,
"So I am at zero. What a great start!"
She swung her arms around in frustration.
Geez, where did I get myself stuck. Fucccccckkkkkkk!!!
Schooling her extremely contrasting internal thoughts she nodded, her expression contemplative, "So how do I earn this?"
"Pretty simple honestly, just cling to someone with a higher luck value…although it's hard to find them especially for someone like you"
She turned her head as she felt the Settings was belittling her LV situation. Well it's not like she owed it money, what is wrong with it!?
Before she could ask anymore questions it's extremely annoying voice rang, "Oopies, it's already wakey wakey time~ kekekekekekekek"
What the fuck was that? Why does it laugh like freaking Donald duck??
Her jaw hung low as she blinked slowly, shaking her head.
°•~~🌹~~•°
The next morning when she woke up, Sera was pacing around her room. Her mind was an extreme mess of thoughts. She never really got any answers, but one thing was clear.
She was dead in her own world. And she doesn't wanna die again.
How the fuck would I find someone with high enough LV?
scratching her head, she narrowed down her first target. Kia's dad. Walking downstairs she found the old man humming and making breakfast.
The sight made her smile a little, yesterday that same man was so stoic and uneasy. Should she go to him? Would her presence make him gloomy again?
She was extremely curious about Kia's relationship with her father, it seemed really strained. The father didn't have anything to talk to her about and the daughter…well she isn't here anymore.
Shaking her head she grabbed her bag and announced, "I am going out"
He paused as he watched her leave silently, his face contorted to stoicism. Setting up the table he sat alone as he took a bite of his food, his eyes fixed on the empty plate opposite him.
His eyes dimmed, maybe he wouldn't ever enjoy a breakfast with her again. It was too late to fix things. And the thought only made the painful ache in his chest grow bigger.
—-
—-
She had decided to find some target in the park. If it weren't for her unsocial life she wouldn't have just stood in the middle of the park like a statue.
"How does it feel to see the sun after so long?"
She didn't respond as she thought,
Should I just hack its darn system to silence?
"Madam, I can hear you." the Settings replied politely for the first time.
You can hear my inner thoughts? That's so perverted.
"Yeah"
She looked around as she felt the undeniable urge to hide under a bench or under the slide.
Damn it! The sun…it's…blinding. Eww. Ugh
A kid was curiously looking at the woman who was standing in the middle of the park like a statue. He wobbled towards her and tugged her sleeve, Sera looked down as she almost jumped in fright.
She barely held her inner scream,
Wahhhhh! A kid!? Oh my god! What should I do? They will think I kidnapped the kid…or worse I am the kid's darn mother!
She didn't realise the weird looks she got from the parents of the kid as she acted like a caveman released from the cave after 84 years in solitude.
Putting her hand over her face like the sun burned her skin, and looking at the kid with the most petrified look.
No doubt she really did look like an escaped woman from an asylum.
"You do realise how weird you look, you are scaring off the kid!"
Sera's reaction made the kid cry as his mother hurriedly took hold of him giving Sera a dirty look. But Sera didn't even seem to notice that.
Is it my fault that I can't socialise or touch grass?! Everyone in my generation goes through this! It's a generational issue!
The Setting didn't bother continuing, knowing how stubborn the woman was. She won't admit defeat.
She tried everything, starting from playing with kids who had high LV. Unfortunately the mother of that kid had already started to spread about her being a mentally unstable person. So her plan to get LV from kids, failed.
She even tried to make friends with a dog because she sucked with humans. Turns out she sucked with dogs as well.
She knelt down to the sleeping dog as she smiled sweetly, "Here, would you like a biscuit?"
Her voice soft and airy, the dog lifted its face lazily. Stared at the biscuit in her hand and looked away unbothered.
Her eyes twitched, looking at the biscuit then at the dog which remained indifferent.
"Even the dog doesn't want your company…gosh" commented the Settings almost pitifully.
Shut up. I don't wanna talk to that arrogant prick either.
She crushed the biscuit in her hand as she stared at the dog with a feral glint in her eye, the dog immediately felt the negative energy and looked back almost afraid.
The dog had only encountered someone like that two times in its five years of existence. Without wasting a second it bolted out of sight.
The dog knew that the lady with the cheap ass biscuit was a hardcore cat lady.
Sera stood there in silence, watching the dog run away like flash. She blamed it on Kia's angry resting face.
Then she went into a café to eat something and scanned the area for potential targets. A group of old ladies were gossiping and one of them seemed to have a high LV.
She also seemed to be one of the talkative ones in the group. A smirk formed in her face as she stared down at the old lady.
It didn't take long for the lady to feel her ominous energy and spoke in an almost intimidated tone before bolting away , "I…I…forgot to turn off my stove"
Leaning against the wall of some random house, she sighed,
Why can't I just find someone? Why is life so hard? Maybe I should just give up and die.
As she put her hand over her forehead in a pathetic mood. Sulking alone as she felt even more pity for herself.
I am also broke as hell.
"Who told you to bet with kids then?" The Settings spoke its voice tainted with disdain.
I had no choice…the…kids. They were back alley thugs.
"Seriously?" The Settings remarked unimpressed.
She started to share her point of view of the story by a clearing of her throat.
(Kia's side of the story)
I was sitting on the pavement terrified-
"Why were you terrified?" Asked the Settings monotonously, hiding its curiosity.
Settings
"Yeah?"
Fuck off.
Back to (Kia's side of the story)
Biting my nails I felt extremely nervous, I still had no luck( no pun intended) finding my LV bank. Suddenly from the corner of my eye…
I caught sight of the old, sketchy alleyway. Its narrowness was making light difficult to reach. I squinted my eyes into the crow's feet to see, two small eyes looking back at me.
Confused, I stared, before a hand reached out from the alleyway. I gasped, I reluctantly stepped forward. Inside I found three middle schoolers.
Although they didn't look like kids at all. The girl leaning against the wall. Her eyes didn't have any mercy. Sharp as a knife, she looked through my soul.
The boy who reached out to me stared at me with one strap of his Barny, that weird purple and green dinosaur bag on one of his shoulders.
Crossing his arms he remained silent. The third boy was sucking a lollipop, his eyes focused on the food. The atmosphere felt slightly amiss.
Clouds started to blanket the blue sky, I gulped as I asked "What do you guys want?"
My voice is extremely cautious. The girl smiled as she pushed off the wall and walked to me and said, "What in the sigma is such a Sussy Baka doing here?"
I blinked as I tried to comprehend what she just said.
Sussy…? Baka??
The boy with one strap sighed as he said, "Found her by the road sulking like a kid."
K-kid??
The girl continued as she scoffed, "Whatcha looking at Shawty? Never seen a skebidi mewing gang before?"
I felt my brain go dry, what the actual fuck?
As the boy sucking a lollipop finally opened his mouth, "Bombardino crocodilo"
Huh?? Did he cast some voodoo spell?!
I genuinely didn't know what I had gotten myself into. This part still gives me chills, I wonder what Bombardino Crocodilo is…a mafia boss of crocodiles??
Back to the story, the kids looked at me sternly, was I seriously getting intimidated by fucking kids?
Yes.
Noticing that my fragile ego was getting bruised I decided to soften the mood. I cleared my throat as I asked, "W-wanna play marbles?"
The girl looked at the laying marbles on the floor lazily before looking back at me, "Bet"
Bet? She wants to bet with me…how do you gamble??
Despite my confusion I nodded. They were thrashing me at every angle. With how good they were with the marbles, I lost all of my money-
Kia's side of the story got cut off by the Settings, its voice incredulous, "That's not how it went at all! You are insane to make up a story right in the spot"
You! Who asked you!?
Settings cleared its robotic throat before starting, (Setting's side of the story)
In the bright, narrow alleyway the kids were playing marbles and giggling.
The girl had the sparkle of innocence in her big eyes as she smiled. The boy definitely had his bag over both of his shoulders. And the barny bag was definitely not weird!
The other boy with the lollipop used the sleeve of his uniform to wipe the snot from his mouth, making the girl grimace, "Eww I think you ate your snot again!"
The boy with the lollipop responded, "I don't know, but I did feel something gooey get inside my mouth"
The boy with the Barney bag shook his head with exasperation as they played marbles. He had almost every marbles due to his incredible experience in marbles games.
The lollipop kid stared at him in awe as he put his lollipop away, snot dangling from his nose, "Hey…Rupert give me the balls!
Rupert made a disgusted face, "No, these are called marbles not balls!"
He wiped the dangling snot with his sleeve again, "Yeah, yeah whatever. Small balls"
As the boys argued, the girl noticed something extremely ominous. Tuning her head she met a definitely dangerous woman peeking at them through the walls.
Her face screamed Slendrina…but worse. The girl felt her throat go dry. She poked Rupert and said, "Is…is this the lady mom warned us about??"
Soon after, all the kids noticed as they broke out in tears, before the 'mentally unstable lady' ran to them, tripping on the way and giving them money to shut up.
(End of Setting's side of the story)
Haha, that's not how it went either.
"Well it's more close to the truth than yours"
She rolled her eyes, as she clenched her fists. She didn't get any LV and she had gone broke to middle schoolers all because of that kid's mother!
Could this day get any worse?
"I don't know, but who bets with kids and loses? Even if your luck is pathetic…" the Settings laughed maniacally at the thought.
Settings I really, REALLY, would appreciate if you close that mouth of yours.
"I mean, you are fucking idiotic kekekekek"
Settings we don't curse here you fucking loon.
Before Settings could retort, footsteps approached her. She whipped her head to the side to feel an immense aura. She felt rooted to her spot. Her eyes glued to the direction of the footsteps.
It wasn't LV. It was an incredible aura of power…the aura felt different and extremely intense that a thought,
a very dangerous thought crossed her mind.
Could it be Diane?
Her eyes grew wide as the silhouette became clearer with each step. Was her death coming soon??
There was no way someone other than the world's female lead could have such an aura. Why would she run into Diane now??
It can't be! She hasn't even done anything wrong!