Kisaragi Station || Apocalypse Paradise #3

235: Truth or Dare (2)

Hannie's foxy face.

"You took 21 minutes and 34 seconds. You have exceeded the time limit." Hannie reported in a rather monotonous manner. When she finished reporting, her voice quickly changed into an overly-pleased tone. She watched Rena's expression and said slowly, as if reveling in pleasure, "How was it? You probably thought that fulfilling that request would be very easy, that it wasn't demanding, right?"

Rena took a breath of air. She felt her heart sinking like lead.

She had wasted quite some time failing to get that duoluozhong's number by interrogation. Afterward, she rushed to "Soaring Blue Sky Education Consultancy" and found the HR department. She wasted most of her time digging through various cabinets before finding Yu Meizhen's contact number in her employee file. Even though Rena ran as fast as she could, she did not reach Hannie within the 20-minute time limit.

"The most impressive part of my ability is that the dares it issues may appear random at first glance. However, it is generated after the surrounding environmental and situational information is computed. The first three dares are designed to give me an advantage. Oh, I don't mind letting you know this," Hannie said as she toyed with a few Special Items in her hand as if she was undecided about which of them she should use to attack Rena. "I am unable to get you to hurt yourself or get you to commit suicide using my ability. It also wouldn't generate an impossible task. After all, games don't work that way in our everyday lives. Though that is a drawback, it is just a very fun ability."

Rena stood motionlessly. As she had exceeded the time limit, she had to endure a single attack from Hannie. Just a moment ago, she had realized in shock that her body had already stiffened, and she had no control over it.

Rena had never been known for her physical resilience. If the woman in front of her attacked her to kill, she probably wouldn't survive.

Rena's mind was blank for a few minutes. After that, tears started pouring from the teenage girl's eyes without warning. Perhaps it was fear or something else. Not even Rena could describe her feelings. After all, she was too young. In this world, the most nerve-wracking thing might be to witness your own death approaching. What else could surpass that?

"Let's use this. I don't want to waste any of the good stuff." Hannie picked up her black metal pipe from the floor leisurely. She stored the items she had brought out, "This should be enough."

When they exchanged blows previously, Rena had more or less figured out Hannie's strength. If Hannie chose to use that black metal pipe, she wouldn't be able to kill her. While Rena felt a sudden relief, she couldn't help doubting this new lease of life she was given.

'Why would she simply kill me? Does this woman enjoy this game that much?' she thought.

Before Rena could process her thoughts fully, they were crushed by the sudden force of a black shadow that hit her. Rena's ribcage was instantly shattered. Her organs felt like they were scrambled. She couldn't say a single word as she felt a suffocating pain. She nearly blacked out for five to six seconds. She only regained her vision after vomiting a large mouthful of blood.

It was obvious that Hannie had intentionally held herself back while fighting with Rena. Her strength in this attack was far beyond what Rena had expected. Thankfully, Rena was still alive.

From her blurry vision, Rena saw that woman in boots walking toward her.

While the teenager lay on the ground defenselessly, Hannie pulled up her dress and looked at her back. Then, she walked back, holding her black pipe in her hand, and seemed rather unhappy.

She turned to look at the teenager on the ground and snorted, "You won't die. Get up. You still have three—"

Hannie had just said those words, but then her expression stiffened as if she had realized that she had let something slip. She immediately shut her mouth.

Rena could still hear the ringing in her ears; it was the sound of her blood flowing. She almost thought that she misheard Hannie.

"Three what?" Rena asked softly after she coughed a few times while she lay on the ground.

Hannie did not answer her.

"Aren't you going to stand up? I am going to state the second request," Hannie said a little impatiently, "I still have two chances... mmm..." After she said that, she seemed caught in her thoughts.

Those words quickly caught Rena's attention, and she set aside her doubts about that number three. She propped herself up with much difficulty, pushing her hands against the ground. She didn't know how she was still able to stand up. She was surprised to find that the suffocating pain she felt had vanished very quickly, even though she clearly suffered a serious blow from Hannie.

When she pressed her abdomen, it hurt badly. If it wasn't for that, she would have forgotten that she was injured.

"Well, for the second request..." Hannie dragged her words, "I choose dare. I don't want to hear a little kid's dawdling about her true feelings."

Her voice changed the next second, and, just as before, she spoke in a mechanical, monotonous tone.

"Steal something from Zhu Mingchun. Condition: You can steal anything. You can only steal, but not snatch. You will have to steal something from the person without him noticing. Zhu Mingchun's current location is unknown. You have 10 minutes."

"This request is way harder than the previous." Rena was stunned. She looked at the woman in front of her, almost in despair. Then, a muffled sound suddenly came from the bank building. The sound was very soft. If she had talked to Hannie, then Rena would have missed that unusual disturbance.

"Lin Sanjiu—" A glimmer of hope appeared on Rena's grim face. No matter what, she had Lin Sanjiu backing her up. Lin Sanjiu had saved herself and her brother many times and was a reliable companion. Rena was sure Lin Sanjiu would probably bring her brother to a safe location even without her.

"I give up on this request. Just use whatever attack you have on me," Rena said coldly, gritting her teeth. She didn't forget that Hannie only had three chances. After that, she would become the requester. As the second request was near impossible, Rena didn't want to waste time. If she acted rashly, she might even exacerbate her injuries.

Rena wondered if she could survive till she could become the requester in this game. Even though she was a fourteen-and-half-year-old girl from Twelve Worlds Centrum, she was just another person in an apocalyptic world. Hannie was frowning. When Rena told Hannie to go ahead, she was already prepared to die.