Bluntgre

115

"Aaa....."

Witnessing four players had disappeared before my eyes, I felt a creeping chill caress my back.

*THUMB*

It's an unpleasant sensation, and I could feel my heart beating loudly.

*THUMB*

A scene I couldn't remember flashed back into my mind. I, who was supposed to be in a scorched land, stood in the middle of a snow-covered city.

At the coldness that shouldn't be here, I unconsciously hugged my body with both arms.

–It's cold. It's cold. It's so cold.

"No, no......"

My head hurts, it feels like it's going to burst.

No, you can't get headaches in VR. Yes, this was supposed to be an illusion, but the pain was so intense it felt like it would break me.

–No. No! No! I can't lose it again!

Something inside me is screaming.

The forgotten memory of that snowy day that constricted my entire mind.

–＊＊＊＊.

At the end of Sukuna's field of vision, Nanaka, wrapped in snow, muttered something to the sky with tears spilling out from her eyes.

☆

A palm that was unintentionally stretched out in a world so cold that it seemed to freeze everything.

It's not like she can grab anything with her frozen hand.

Sukuna's palm, which she thought was frozen, was melted by the warmth that shouldn't exist.

"Nana."

It's a familiar voice. It was a voice that she loved more than anything.

For Sukuna, for Nanaka.

Rinne's voice was a symbol of peace.

"...Rin...cha..."

"Calm down. I'm here. It will be alright."

Sukuna calls out to Rinne in a trembling voice, and Rinne pulls the weakened Sukuna into her arms so carefully, as if she were handling a fragile object.

Sukuna is suffering. Her heart was wounded far more than Rinne had ever imagined.

Sukuna doesn't care if she gets hurt or dies. But just by seeing the deaths of players she barely knows has put her in this tormented state.

Rinne knows the reason for this.

It was an experience that traumatized Sukuna.

This is the first death Sukuna witnessed since she started playing WLO, or perhaps, the first one after her parent's death.

She had never seen anyone else die, though she had died herself.

Rinne wasn't sure if Sukuna had ever seen a player died on the field. But something like was probably beyond Sukuna's control.

Even if they were a temporary one, seeing her comrades die was enough to bring the trauma back to Sukuna.

Just like Touka's injury has shaken her to the core, Sukuna had rarely seen her allies getting hurt. A little HP loss doesn't upset her, but even so, Sukuna had never once failed to protect Rinne during their time together.

Just like that time when she pushes Rinne out of Monster House, this time too, Sukuna had noticed something strange and was screaming frantically.

At time like that, she was so blinded by her inner turmoil. If Rinne wasn't there to forcibly pulled Sukuna into the barrier she had put up, Sukuna probably would have died.