Grimaldi: Allies from the Night

Chapter Three

Flashback

There was once a saying that life seemed to be a game. We won and lost, made choices, faced consequences, and sometimes failed. But there was never a moment when Kaia imagined that everything would unfold like something from a book. In fact, it felt more like a game than reality because of what she witnessed the instant she opened her eyes.

She didn't have time to wonder where her classmates' bodies were or why she was suddenly lying on a table. The last thing she remembered was sitting in a chair, yet somehow, she had lost consciousness and woken up in a completely different place.

Kaia slowly opened her eyes.

She was horrified.

She stared at the ceiling, her breathing becoming uneven as something strange floated above her. A hologram was suspended in mid-air, almost exactly like the status windows she had seen in video games. The sight alone made her heart pound.

Then she read what was written on it.

Her fear only grew worse.

(❕) ALARM

You survived the hidden tutorial "Desires of the Mortal."

(❕) ALARM

[WELCOME, PLAYER]

The [SYSTEM] humbly congratulates the commendable player for surviving the tutorial.

(❕) ALARM

[THE GODDESS OF WAR, ATHENA] was moved by your bravery and determination.

(❕) ALARM

[THE GODDESS OF WAR, ATHENA] blesses and bestows the [TITLE: ATHENA'S DISCIPLE] upon you. May prosperity and victory be with [PLAYER: KAIA].

Kaia was left in awe, unable to process what she was seeing.

Her head suddenly throbbed.

A sharp, excruciating pain spread through her skull, forcing her to close her eyes for a moment. Everything seemed impossible. It felt as though she had somehow stepped into one of the fictional novels she enjoyed reading.

A fantasy or science-fiction story where an ordinary person suddenly awakens to find themselves becoming a player.

A world where holograms appeared in mid-air.

A world where a mysterious system announced quests, rewards, titles, and punishments.

But this was not fiction.

This was reality.

Or at least, it was supposed to be.

"But how?" Kaia whispered. "How did it happen?"

Her voice trembled.

"How did this happen? This is a reality, not a game or some kind of fiction."

Her hands shook as she stared at the hologram.

"I'm still trying to process everything that happened. It happened so fast that I almost lost my mind if Gail hadn't been there."

Her voice cracked.

"But tutorial? How did that turn into a tutorial?"

The word itself felt insulting.

Tutorial.

A simple word for something that had cost so many lives.

"Many people perished," Kaia whispered. "Our chances of surviving were practically zero. We did nothing but run and hide."

She lowered her head.

"I was pitiful. Helpless. Powerless."

The more she spoke, the more her body trembled.

She began second-guessing herself.

Condemning herself.

Maybe she should have done something.

Maybe she should have protected them.

Maybe she should have died instead.

Kaia had completely forgotten about the wish and determination she had carried before she passed out. The determination to survive. The desire to save everyone.

All of it disappeared beneath the crushing weight of guilt.

Her chest began to ache again.

She tried to stand, but exhaustion overwhelmed her. Her balance failed, and she stumbled before collapsing against the table.

Her swollen eyes continued to stream with tears.

Then she screamed.

It wasn't a scream of fear.

It was a scream meant to release everything she had been holding inside.

The pain.

The guilt.

The fear.

The helplessness.

Her two friends were simply too important for her to forget their deaths.

When Kaia was diagnosed with depression, they had been there for her.

When she struggled with thoughts of suicide, they stayed beside her and comforted her.

They had been there through her ups and downs, through the days when she felt like she could conquer the world and the days when getting out of bed felt impossible.

And when her parents died, they were still there.

They were the ones who stayed.

Her life had already fallen apart when she lost her parents.

Losing her friends felt like losing the entire universe.

Kaia's voice cracked as her throat began to hurt, but she didn't stop screaming. She cried until her body trembled uncontrollably.

She cried until she could barely breathe.

She cried until her tears turned...

blood.

(‼️) ALARM

Your mental health has dropped drastically, causing your heart to pump abnormally.

-5 HP reduction every second.

-You will lose your sanity.

(‼️) ALARM

Your remaining HP is now 25.

[PLAYER: KAIA GRIMALDI] needs to calm down!

(‼️) ALARM

INSANE STATE

[[PLAYER: KAIA GRIMALDI] has gone insane!

You won't be able to think, understand, listen, taste, feel, or smell anything. A [PLAYER'S] weakest state.

-[PLAYER: KAIA] will have tantrums all the time.

-After 15 days, the [PLAYER] will die.

Kaia had lost her mind, according to the system.

She was completely oblivious to the alarms ringing around her.

She couldn't hear anything.

Not the system.

Not her own screams.

Not even the sound of the door opening.

Gail had arrived.

The moment she saw Kaia, her face immediately changed.

"Kaia!"

Gail ran toward her and embraced her tightly.

"Kaia Grimaldi! Listen to me!"

Gail was crying too.

"Please, calm down!"

But Kaia couldn't hear her.

She couldn't understand her.

She couldn't even recognize the warmth of her friend's embrace.

She was trapped inside the weakest state of a player, completely disconnected from everything around her.

Gail continued to hold her.

She called Kaia's name repeatedly, desperately trying to reach her.

But nothing worked.

Hours passed.

Eventually, Kaia fell asleep.

She did not wake up the next day.

Nor the day after that.

A week passed.

Still, Kaia did not wake.

Gail stayed beside her.

She refused to leave her friend alone, even when there was nothing she could do.

Fifteen days later—

Kaia died.

(‼️) ALARM

YOU DIED.

'''﹌ ' ''

There was a place where there was utter darkness.

You couldn't hear a sound.

You couldn't see a sight.

You couldn't smell a fragrance.

You couldn't feel anything.

No warmth.

No cold.

No pain.

No comfort.

No life.

No death.

No one would ever want to visit this place.

A void.

It was inside the universe but outside the world.

And Kaia found herself there.

"Huh?"

Her voice echoed strangely despite there being nowhere for the sound to travel.

"Where am I? What happened?"

She looked around.

Nothing.

Only darkness surrounded her.

Kaia attempted to recall what had happened, but her memories felt strangely incomplete. She tried harder, searching through her thoughts for something familiar.

The only thing she could remember was waking up.

And seeing a hologram.

"Hologram..."

The moment she thought of the word, a hologram appeared in front of her.

Kaia froze.

The screen displayed her final moments in the world she had just left.

She gasped.

She wanted to cry.

But she couldn't.

She couldn't experience the sorrow properly because she was no longer inside her body.

She was a soul.

A soul that had only just departed from her dead body.

Still, watching everything unfold made something inside her ache.

Kaia saw Gail.

Her friend was crying.

She stayed beside Kaia from the moment she fell asleep until the moment she died.

Every day, Gail checked on her.

She talked to her even when Kaia's body could no longer respond.

She stayed beside her lifeless body, hoping that somehow, Kaia could still hear her.

Kaia watched silently.

She wanted to reach out.

She wanted to wipe the tears from Gail's eyes.

She wanted to tell her that she was sorry.

But she couldn't.

Then she saw what happened after her death.

Gail lost her smile.

The person who had always tried to remain strong finally broke.

And then—

The System showed Kaia something else.

The first quest.

Gail had failed.

And after failing, she died.

Mercilessly.

At the hands of those hideous monsters.

Kaia stared at the scene.

Her entire existence seemed to freeze.

"How could I...?"

Her voice trembled.

"How could I forget Gail?"

Remorse filled her.

Then guilt.

She had forgotten.

She had abandoned the one person who had stayed beside her until the very end.

"Why am I always in regret and guilt even in my last breath?"

Kaia lowered her head.

"I'm such a pitiful and stupid person."

She clenched her fists.

"That system was a chance for me to become strong..."

Her voice became quieter.

"But I let it go."

For a moment, there was only silence.

Then—

(❕) SPECIAL QUEST

GAME OVER OR NOT?

[SYSTEM] grants you a chance to resurrect. However, *** *** ****** 733;$!9#02

REWARDS

- Resurrection.

- You will come back to the past.

Will you accept?

Your refusal means accepting death.

YES NO

"Huh?"

Kaia stared at the screen.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

An intriguing alarm had appeared out of nowhere, offering her something impossible.

A chance to resurrect.

A chance to return.

A chance to change everything.

Her lips slowly formed a smile.

Then she laughed.

It started quietly.

A small, broken laugh.

But it quickly became louder.

She laughed like someone who had finally lost whatever remained of her sanity.

She couldn't stop.

She laughed until her expression slowly changed.

The smile disappeared.

Her face became dark and sullen.

"What is this?"

Her voice trembled with anger.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

She stared at the hologram.

"Is the system some kind of god or what?!"

Her voice echoed through the void.

Kaia didn't hesitate.

She chose YES.

There was nothing else she could choose.

She didn't want to think anymore.

Every time she tried to understand the extraordinary events taking place around her, her head seemed to ache.

If this was a chance to go back, she would take it.

Even if she didn't understand why.

Even if she didn't know what awaited her.

Even if she had to suffer again.

She wanted to see Gail.

She wanted to save her.

She wanted to save everyone.

(❕) ALARM

Transporting soul of [PLAYER: KAIA] back to Earth.

[TIMELINE: EARTH'S END]

-The player must close their eyes during the process.

Kaia slowly closed her eyes.

She surrendered herself to the system's will.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then—

Pain.

Her soul was suddenly pulled upward with tremendous force.

It felt as though something was sucking her existence out of the void itself.

Even though she no longer had a physical body, she could still feel pain.

Excruciating pain.

Her entire existence seemed to stretch apart.

Her limbs felt dislocated, even though they technically shouldn't have existed anymore.

Kaia screamed at the top of her lungs.

The pain became unbearable.

She felt as though she was being torn apart and forced through something far too small to contain her.

She suffered for a few more minutes.

Then, gradually—

The pain disappeared.

Silence returned.

Kaia could no longer feel anything.

For a moment, she wondered if she had died again.

But somewhere in the darkness, something began to change.

A faint warmth touched her skin.

Then came the sound of wind.

A familiar sound.

A familiar world.

Kaia slowly opened her eyes.

And for the first time in fifteen days—

She breathed again.