Project: Alternative

Chapter 24: What am I? (Eru)

"W-When did he get here?" a man asked

"Who cares? Get him!" another one shouted.

"Wait! Don't-"

But Jun-kun couldn't finish his sentence as the two of them along with another one jumped at the cloaked man.

And then I realized who our enemy was when the men's bodies began to glow a red light and the cloaked man pressed a red screen that appeared near him. After that, the three men disappeared.

"How could you delete them like that?!" Jun-kun shouted.

Delete.

I gulped down as that word echoed in my mind. Jun-kun said that Reality was like a computer program and Coders could tamper with it. That's why I thought it was possible for them to "delete" things like in a computer.

Things made sense for me. I questioned how Kageyama Shien was able to lead a rebellion despite being an outsider from another world. For starters, he should have trouble communicating with people because of the difference in language.

And then there was the weird fact that Jun-kun trained me to fight against a Coder. If he only wanted me to survive in this world, he should've just used magic and martial arts since that was what I was going to most likely deal with.

It seemed our real enemy wasn't just a simple warrior, mage, or monster. We were fighting Coders.

"Are you mourning for them? They are mere lines of codes. You can just replace them, right?" the cloaked man asked.

"That's not the point!" Jun-kun shouted.

"Oh? Are you worried about the Bugs and Dump Files created by that Deletion? While it's true that they could cause damage, they will only harm mere lines of codes. It's not a loss for us because if we face them, they are as good as dead."

"You asshole!"

A large number of swords appeared above Jun-kun after he pressed a violet screen and he was about to input the commands to make them launch at the cloaked man when...

"Go ahead. Shoot those swords. I can easily avoid them. But I don't know about your comrades near me", the cloaked man spread his arms.

He had a point. The cloaked man was in the middle of the battlefield. That made Jun-kun hesitate for a second and in that single second, the man pressed a red screen and the swords disappeared.

"Oh dear. You're not acting like a proper Coder. Are you sure you're okay? Can you fulfill your responsibilities as a Coder if you let those emotions take over your mind?" the man asked.

Jun-kun's face looked completely confused. He knelt on the ground and touched his chest. I could feel the gears in his mind rapidly turning as he questioned what was wrong with him.

This was bad! The man was winning in psychological warfare! At this rate, Jun-kun will lose!

"Jun-kun! Get a grip of yourself! The enemy is in front of you!" I shouted.

He finally noticed that I was on the battlefield and looked at me. But it was a mistake to carelessly put the spotlight on myself.

"It seems you need to learn more about what you're feeling right now. I'll gladly let you experience a much more intense emotion", the man said and pressed a red screen.

Jun-kun's face paled and it didn't take long for me to realize that I was royally screwed.

"Eru! Run awa-"

But my body was already glowing. If I was highlighted, then that means I was the target of a Coder. And from what happened earlier, I knew my inevitable fate.

"Begone", the man said and pressed the red screen again.

Lots of thoughts raced in my head as I realized my regrets. I didn't say goodbye to Botan. I haven't repaid my parents yet. I haven't even got my first girlfriend.

I was going to be deleted so I closed my eyes and prepared for whatever would happen.

And then I stopped glowing.

"Eh?" the cloaked man asked.

My body began glowing again and the man pressed a screen. But like what happened before, my body merely stopped glowing.

A sword appeared near Jun-kun and he lunged at the man. But he just simply pressed a screen and teleported a few meters away.

"This is very very interesting", the cloaked man said.

"J-Jun-kun? What's going on?" I asked.

"I have absolutely no idea but let's be thankful he hasn't deleted you!" he shouted.

And then an explosion happened as a piece of Krusmond's walls broke down.

"Finally. She's here", Jun-kun sounded really relieved.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Simple: The kingdom made a move to crush the rebels here", a black-haired beastman walked towards the cloaked man.

My eyes widened when I saw Kageyama Shien was free from my restraints. That was impossible. He was surely lying unconscious over... there...

And I saw another Kageyama Shien who was tied up and lying on the ground. What in the world was going on?

"I see... An NPC, huh?" Jun-kun asked.

"I have the power of god-like beings on my side. It won't be easy taking me down", Shien smirked.

And then five more cloaked people appeared and each of them had red screens surrounding them.

"Looks like our plan to have this kingdom suffer from a rebellion failed", the first one said.

"Well whatever. There are other ways to ruin this project", the second one told him.

"So this is the 1412 that has potential huh?" the third one asked.

"He managed to foil our little game. I guess he's not a 1412 for nothing", the fourth one added.

"From what I observed, he seems to be confused with his emotions. I can see why you think he would be a good fit", the fifth nudged the opponent Jun-kun faced.

If all of them had those screens surrounding them, then that means we were fighting six god-like beings in this battle.

"And as I've said before, as long as love exists in your heart, we will cross paths again, 1412", Jun-kun's opponent faced.

"And you too, Reika Eru. Looks like you'll be an interesting opponent", Shien looked at me.

Each of the six Coders pressed a screen and they disappeared.

And this entire situation was resolved when the kingdom's army marched inside Krusmond.

Or at least... It was supposed to be resolved but I had one more question.

It wasn't like I was complaining but why wasn't I deleted?

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A/N: The next chapter will mark the end of  Project: Alternative's Volume 1. Thanks for supporting it all this time!