Namita widened his eyes in surprise. He imdiately materialized a mask and wore it, following Seiji a step behind.
Inside, Seiji had stopped in the hallway, seeing the familiar photos and interior.
Now, the guess in his heart was slowly being confird.
He slowly shifted his gaze to the stairways.
"Why… is it here? Why?!"
His face was utterly pale, as if he lost all his blood.
Then, upstairs, a loud sound echoed.
Thud!
"No…"
Seiji's lips trembled in fear, looking at the stairs.
It was as if that day was repeating again.
Perhaps out of fear or resentnt, he found himself slowly walking upstairs.
Each step he took caused a creak, disrupting the pale and lifeless silence.
Namita looked at him from behind calmly.
After a minute, Seiji arrived on the upper floor.
There was only one room upstairs.
Seiji looked at it, and his lips turned dry.
"Why is this possible…?"
Mindlessly, he walked towards the door.
Whatever was beyond the door, it could cause sothing irreversible.
But Namita didn't stop him.
A mont later, Seiji finally arrived in front of the door.
He hesitated for a mont, his hands freezing in the air.
But pushed by sothing unknown, he opened the door.
Creak…
A gap opened to the room, and inside, he could see a man standing on a chair, grabbing a rope.
Creak!
Seiji imdiately pushed open the door, his eyes bloodshot.
"STOP!!!!"
Schk!
But at that mont, the man had hung the rope around his neck and jumped, dying in front of Seiji… again.
Again.
The man's body hung limp, swaying in the air.
"No, no, no, no…!"
Seiji ran towards the man, imdiately trying to rescue him. But when he touched the man's body, he imdiately felt a distinct coldness—
The man was dead.
"Brother…!"
Seiji shouted hoarsely, his voice broken.
At that mont, a voice echoed in the room.
"You're too late."
"You couldn't even save your brother, who sacrificed his entire life for you."
"Seiji, oh, Seiji… you're just like the rest of them. When I had no more use, you threw away, like a useless toy."
Hearing that, Seiji was startled, because the voice… ca from above.
He raised his head, and his heart shook,
The corpse of his brother was talking.
"Seiji… why did you let die? Oh, Seiji!!!"
His brother had an ugly expression on his face, full of resentnt. He stared at Seiji resentfully. If eyes alone could kill people, Seiji had probably died over ten tis already.
At that mont, Seiji's eyes turned blank.
Bam!
Outside, Namita attempted to enter the room, but suddenly he was blasted from the door!
Sothing was preventing him from interfering!
Thinking of sothing, Namita imdiately shouted:
"Seiji! Snap out of it! I can't enter the room! I can't help you!"
"You have to snap out of it! Find a way to get out of there!"
"We still have to find the kids! The kids!"
Hearing that, Seiji was pulled out of his daze, his eyes regaining clarity.
'The kids…'
Akihito and Ayase flashed in his mind.
To be honest, Seiji didn't like kids.
No, he completely despised them.
They were abhorrent, small, weak, helpless, vain, stupid, foolish, and irresponsible beings.
He was a kid once, so he knew.
But…
Seiji's lips trembled soundlessly, looking at his brother's corpse in the eye.
So kids were unlike others, unlike him.
They were amazing.
His brother was one such kind.
Perhaps that was where the envy ca, where he desired, envied, and hated everything about his brother.
His brother who was much smarter, stronger, and responsible than him.
That's why when his brother spiralled into depression later on, he couldn't care less, even mocking him in his mind.
Yet when his brother ultimately died, and he saw the pain in his expression, that's where sothing broke in him.
'I'm sorry…'
Seiji wordlessly cried, tears sliding down his cheeks as he looked at his brother.
He couldn't understand why he was so terrible, so evil, to have let his brother die that day.
If he could've just let go of his jealousy, his hatred… his childishness, then his brother might not have died.
After his brother's death, Seiji had also died inside, and everything after it was just a blur to him.
Chasing every drug to fill the void inside him, multiple attempts at suicide, and even overworking himself just to forget about everything.
He did forget, but then on a random, unknown day, in a baseball podium, he rembered.
Everything.
Akihito's words lingered in his mind, reminding him of his brother cruelly.
That night, Seiji had almost killed himself again.
But if he was going to die, he might as well die on a mission, or so he thought.
But if he knew this was going to happen…
A pathetic death would've been more pleasant.
"Are you going to let it happen again?!"
Namita's voice echoed in the room.
Seiji turned his head, looking at Namita. He spoke shakily.
"You don't understand…"
"Seiji, if you die now, I won't be able to escape this illusion by myself. I wouldn't be able to save the kids by that ti."
"But…"
"You lived for your life pathetically, and now you want to die just because you want to? What gave you the right?"
Hearing that, Seiji froze, his lips soundlessly shaking.
That's right.
What gave him the right to die peacefully?
"What should I do…"
Seiji asked weakly, looking at Namita.
Namita replied. "Survive and save the kids."
Seiji fell silent.
As if moved by sothing, he raised his head once more, looking at his brother's corpse.
But the mont he saw his brother's eyes, his heart fell, unable to do it.
But Namita's voice echoed in his mind once more.
'Survive and save the kids.'
Seiji let go. He closed his eyes and stopped hesitating.
He used his skill to the maximum.
[Overti — Fra Adjustnt].
He increased all aspects of his speed to maximum, using all of his spiritual energy in the process.
At that mont, Seiji felt the world slow down, his brain burned while blood dripped from his nostrils.
Yet his mind, reaction speed, thought speed, and other aspects of speed, scaled 24 tis.
For two minutes, he was 24 tis faster than the world.
Seiji opened his eyes, carefully looking at his brother's face.
"I'm sorry…"
"I should've been the one who was paralyzed that day."
He smiled.
It was a broken smile.
Then, he grabbed a knife in his pocket.
In under a millisecond, he stabbed it in his brother's neck.
Red tears slid down Seiji's face, his lips trembling as he sobbed.
Tchk!
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