After I attacked the police…
Well, no wonder they cuffed me right away with silver handcuffs and gave me a one-day "tour package" to the station.
Inside the interrogation room of the East St. Carlen Police District, I stared at the rusty bars in front of me and, for some reason, I actually felt safe.
Serial killers, pirates with million-dollar bounties, even occultists who went insane after messing with supernatural powers— they had all been locked up here.
Indirectly, they'd all been my "cellmates."
Outside the interrogation room, heavily armed officers marched back and forth. It was still shift change, so most of the district's forces were gathered here.
My situation right now… honestly, this was the safest place for me.
"What are you looking at, kid? Thinking of escaping?"
The officer in charge of interrogating me frowned as I glanced around the room.
"Not a chance…" I answered seriously. "Even if you asked me to leave right now, I'd refuse."
He tossed a thick stack of files onto the table and gave me a weird look.
"So strange…" he muttered.
"Have I really fallen this far behind young people? And now there's one who actually wants to be locked up here?"
"Sir…" I looked at him seriously.
"Speak."
"Can you keep me here for a few more days?"
The officer slammed the table in irritation.
"You think this is your house? Coming and going whenever you please?"
I chuckled softly.
Seeing me looking completely unrepentant only made him more annoyed.
He closed the file, cleared his throat, and then fixed his serious gaze on me.
"Rowe Edlyn. Sole heir of the Edlyn family. Parents deceased. Inherited property in the Western District. First-year student at Saint Carlen Royal Magical Science Academy."
"Four years ago, dragged into the Blackwater cult incident, fell ill, dropped out, went abroad for treatment. Returned just three days ago to repeat your first year at Carlen."
"Records say you're an only child. No siblings. The Helena you mentioned doesn't exist in any orphanage records in this city. No social identity, nothing at all."
"We even sent a team to your house. Nobody with that name was there. Too many lunatics have come out of your academy, so forgive me if I find it hard to believe your story."
I nodded while listening, pretending to look serious.
Honestly, I had already guessed they wouldn't find Helena. That slum was too chaotic, filled with people without official identities.
As for the missing orphanage records… most likely Helena herself erased her traces over the past four years.
Even so, what the officer said actually answered some of my own questions.
So that's how the "game" patched the bug about me "disappearing for four years."
The Blackwater cult case— that was the last chapter I played before I "crossed over." I kept dying there, unable to escape.
A bizarre city full of twisted monsters and mad cultists.
The game explained my absence as "illness" and "treatment abroad." A plausible enough setting.
The officer sighed as he saw me nodding as if I was paying close attention. He looked even more troubled.
Cases involving supernatural forces could never be taken lightly, even if I looked like I was joking.
"Even though I can't confirm everything you've said… I already contacted your 'old acquaintance,' Chief Raymond. He's in the field right now but will return soon."
He snorted.
"You'd better not be lying. If your report is false, even if you're underage, the consequences will be severe."
I gave him a faint smile. Despite his stern face, he was rather patient.
"Thank you, sir."
He closed the file, stood up, and left the room.
"You'll be transferred to a holding cell soon."
"Got it."
"Goodbye, sir!" I waved politely.
Once he was gone, silence returned.
I leaned back in the chair, listening to the shouts and curses echoing from nearby rooms.
If Chief Raymond didn't return today, I'd be stuck here for the whole day. If he did, I could finally connect to the Division of Special Affairs.
Either way, today was safe.
For someone who had died countless times without ever seeing the sunrise, that thought felt strange.
Could I really make it through the day alive…?
Leisurely, I started planning again.
Now that all the anomalous creatures I had once captured had escaped, I was left with only my basic attributes.
As soon as it was safe, I needed to return to the asylum, study alchemy and potions again. That was the only way to survive.
Just as that thought crossed my mind…
The police station suddenly grew silent.
The shouts, the curses— all vanished.
I frowned, glancing toward the bars.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway, one after another.
A long, dark shadow drew closer with each step.
My heart pounded. I braced myself.
Who was that?
The footsteps finally stopped.
A man in a special all-black police uniform stood before me, keys in hand.
"Rowe?"
I narrowed my eyes and nodded slightly.
He nodded back, unlocked the cell, and stepped inside.
Sitting across from me, his voice was deep and low.
"Division of Special Affairs. Agent Calder. We received your report about the anomaly. We need more details."
Hearing "Special Division," I felt somewhat relieved.
"Why didn't you say so earlier… you scared me for nothing."
I told him about Helena's threat.
But I couldn't mention how she had killed me and I had "loaded from a save," so he would never truly grasp how terrifying Helena was.
That's why the officer before him only half-believed me, probably thinking I was pulling a prank.
"Shoggoth, huh? Tentacles… I hate those things. This will be troublesome," Calder muttered.
He seemed to be thinking.
"You could send some of your elite agents with me to the old house. You have plenty of strong magicians, right?"
"Our agents can't be dispatched so easily." He shook his head with a faint smile.
Then he gave me a sharp look.
"First, tell me about this 'sister' of yours. Helena. What is she, really?"
"She…"
I frowned. Even now, it was hard to explain who Helena was to me.
She used to be timid, fragile, a little girl who clung to me like she was invisible.
Maybe because she lacked affection when she was young, she grew sensitive, insecure— and the game's dialogues showed that clearly.
She had strange habits. Always hungry. Obsessed with food.
She talked to her little dolls.
So when she nervously served me a table full of homemade dishes, her eyes filled with hope…
For a moment, I truly felt pity.
Pity… for Helena? How could I feel that?
This world was absurd.
She had killed me twice, each death worse than the last, and yet I still felt pity?
Yes. Pity.
But pity couldn't erase vengeance.
I could pity her. But who pitied me?
Every time I remembered the pain of dying twice, my anger flared again.
Even knowing she was twisted by the backlash of her own power, even knowing the "real Helena" wasn't like this…
I was still furious.
I thought I was the one playing this game. But it turned out, the game was playing me. That cruel irony wouldn't fade anytime soon.
I narrowed my eyes, my voice low and heavy, as I told Calder everything until my throat went dry.
He sat still, unmoving, as if he never grew tired.
Resting his chin on his hand, he pondered my words.
"A vile creature… disgusting, slimy tentacles… insane. Cunning. Don't be fooled by appearances; beneath it all, a true monster," he murmured.
Then he nodded.
"Alright."
I looked at him.
"So? Can you protect me now?"
But Calder didn't answer.
Instead, his voice changed.
"So, in your eyes, Brother, I really am that disgusting?"
The deep male voice twisted into a sharp, cold female voice.
I froze.
In front of me, Calder's body writhed strangely, as if something beneath his skin was struggling to break free.
"You…"
The interrogation room filled with wet, crawling sounds.
The man's body shrank, limbs twisting, until what stood before me was a woman in uniform.
Helena.
"Hel… Helena?"
Only then did I notice the blood seeping through the corridor, flooding like a red tide.
No wonder the station had gone silent…
How many people had she killed!?
The world spun as I felt a web tightening from above.
No matter where I ran, it would choke, trap, and crush me.
"Brother~"
Her pale face twisted into a horrific smile, lips moving without warmth.
Her voice was sharp, trembling with anger.
"So that's how you always saw me, huh? I'm so disappointed, Brother… But it's fine…"
Her hand trembled, melting into writhing, disgusting tentacles.
Their soft ends sprouted hard scales, sharp as blades.
"Even if you don't love
me, that's fine. As long as I love you, Brother… that's enough. We'll be together forever, very soon."
The tentacles bloomed like a flower of death— terrifying yet strangely beautiful.
I watched them close in.
And slowly shut my eyes.
[TO BE CONTINUED]