HoloWorld: Alternative!

Chapter 6 (Vol 1) - Internal Conflict

Just before he was going to open the door, he heard a slam inside the room. He almost attempted to rush inside in case it was a thief or somebody else that wanted to attack Yagoo, but then he heard this,

"Tanigo-sama, are you ignoring our request-peko?!"

P-Pekora? Hajime thought, baffled. Why is she here?

"I'm not ignoring your request. I'm simply saying that you all are having an unsound judgment. Hajime IS the true Chosen One. Are you saying he's incompetent?"

"Yes! He was just a normal civilian in the other world, and we dragged him out into the harsh world outside! Are you saying we should jeopardize him?! He almost died, for God's sake!" Flare said.

"He will suffer more if you don't guide him through all the way. He hasn't awoken his full potential yet. Do you expect him to be the hero everyone wants him to be when he himself has yet to discover the whole world? Not even babies learn to walk from crawling in an instant."

"That's not the point! Our point is that demons have started to attack! He almost died out there if it wasn't for Noel! We need to investigate what Kuphra has been doing lately, now! Hajime-sama-...No, Hajime-san needs to get away from all the danger! This must all be a mistake!"

Hajime's heart sank like an anchor in the sea, dull to any noise to his surroundings. He couldn't believe it. The hope that kept his motivation going even when he was dejected earlier has now gone away. If they said he wasn't gonna survive against the world outside — and they were more experienced than him — he had to take it as truth.

...I'm done. Hajime thought as he ran away from the door, crying with the same dull noise his heart had.

Meanwhile, Kerai was done with the torn clothes earlier and sat on Hajime's bed, checking her pocket watch and wondered how long his talks with Yagoo would take, until she heard loud footsteps along the corridor. Curiosity got the best of her and she opened the door, only able to see a glance of short black hair as the figure ran down the stairs.

"...Hajime-sama?" Kerai mumbled as she went out and closed the door, scuttling along the corridor to look down at the first floor.

She got a glance of the figure once again running outside, but despite it being a second glance, she already picked up that it was Hajime.

As she ran down the stairs, she could hear the footsteps in the distance as Hajime ran down from the castle.

"What is he up to right now?" Kerai continued running after him.

She still had him in her sights even when he finally got to the streets, but when she got down herself and followed his path, she couldn't find where he exactly went, and the fact that there was a lot of noise in the surroundings didn't help at all. In this case, she could only smell his scent and follow it. It may be mixed among everybody else's scents, but she could tell which belonged to Hajime.

As for him, he made his way towards the Peaceful Green Forest and stopped at the location he last trained in. Panting, he rested his head against a tree and clenched his fists.

"Fuck. Fuck! FUCK IT!" Hajime said as he punched and kicked the tree continuously, not caring for how much he's bruising his hands and feet.

"I COULDN'T DO MY MOM'S PROMISE, I COULDN'T STOP DAD AND HELP HIM CALM DOWN, I COULDN'T FULFILL MY ROLE AS A 'CHOSEN ONE', I COULDN'T USE MAGIC, I COULDN'T EVEN PROTECT ANY ONE OF THE SOLDIERS BACK THERE! FUCK!" Hajime punched the tree one more time, cracking it and flinging a small chunk of the tree away, in exchange for his bloodied and bruised hand.

"...I'm weak...I'm useless...I just wanted to serve one purpose in life. Just one, no matter how small it was." Hajime wept with the last of his strength available as he slowly knelt down.