69 Fear
‘I’ve faced countless Demons, I’m stronger than I was before. I shouldn’t be scared of Melissa anymore. I’ve changed!’r
Reciting this mantra to convince myself, I could feel her approach the door. In a few seconds, she would be here. In just a few seconds, I would once again see the person who had tortured me for so long.r
‘Shit! This can’t be… I’m so nervous!’r
Apparently, I had assumed that I had changed. Meanwhile, deep in my core, I was still the same feeble Jeremy. I only convinced myself to be in control of everything, since my opponents so far were evil monsters and naïve individuals. However, against the shadows of the past… was I still so helpless?r
>CREAK< The door opened.r
I buried my face into the book I was reading, pretending to be unaware of the girl that entered the room. r
A whole second felt like an eternity to me. I struggled to hide my nervousness, but it appeared my acting skills were failing me.r
‘Keep it together, Jeremy.’r
“Oi, who are you?!” She suddenly asked.r
Clearly, she had seen me, and it was only a matter of time before I had to give a response.r
‘Come on, Jeremy! Show this bitch who’s boss!’ I screamed internallyr.
“U-Uh… I…”r
My nervous reaction shocked even me. What the hell was I doing? r
Melissa approached me hastily all of a sudden, as though she was about to do something.r
‘Oh, shit! She must have recognized me. What do I do? What do I do?!’ My thoughts rang.r
There was no other choice now. Since she entered, I hadn’t even looked at her once. My usual posture of bowing my head any time she was around had stuck with me.r
I wasn’t worthy to look at her face in the past. If I was caught doing that, I would be further humiliated, and Daniel, her boyfriend would make me even more miserable than I already was.r
‘Shit! Jeremy, you bastard! At least look up! Just look up for once!’ r
Mustering all of my strength, I raised my head hesitantly.r
“I-I’m new here, and…” r
I stopped speaking the instant I saw her. My brain went into overdrive due to the panic, and everything seemed to be slowed down.r
Melissa, as always, was beautiful. She must still be using her skincare products, even in this Apocalypse, since her body was so flawlessly good and clear. Her auburn hair flowed down her shoulders, giving her a strangely satisfying appearance.r
If I ignored the disgusted look she had on her face, and the terrible memories of who she was, Melissa appeared to be quite the perfect beauty.r
Call me a simp, but I was completely being honest with myself.r
She was incredibly busty too. Just watching her two melons firmly gripped by her tight outfit sent an excited tingle down my body.r
‘Ah, thinking dirty thoughts Jeremy? You bastard.’ I sighed internally.r
To my surprise, though, my libido seemed to have lessened my fear. My mind became clearer, and my heart rate lessened.r
‘This is…!’ I suddenly realized something.r
Melissa was standing nearly motionless, as though frozen in time. Well, not entirely frozen.r
That was when it dawned on me. Was I moving and thinking too fast for her?r
Naughty thoughts danced in my head, making me regret watching so many questionable videos in the past. Thinking about just how much I could get away with made me snicker, but also eased the nervousness I was feeling.r
It wasn’t completely gone, though. How could it be? This girl standing before me was the cause of so many things that deeply scarred me in the past.r
Still, it made me curious. If she was so slow, and I was so fast… just what was our difference in Level?r
A smile formed on my face, and as I made the thought, her Status Introduction popped up.r
[SYSTEM INFORMATION]r
Name: Melissar
Race: Humanr
Sex: Femaler
Level: 3r
Alignment: Chaotic Neutralr
[End Of Information]r
‘Oh… Oh my…’r
Suddenly, the fear and unease were gone. Those emotions were replaced by a sense of foolishness for even fretting over someone like the girl before me. The foolishness didn’t last long though, as it faded away too.r
The only thing that was left now… was my usual self and a sense of amusement.r
After all, the girl that had traumatized me, Melissa… was so weak!r
‘Is this even possible? The Camp sheltered someone like her?!’ r
Well, it was possible if they could accommodate bums like those fools who could do nothing but sing the praises of the heroes. Still, for her to have entered Ana’s room so casually… I thought she had a high rank or something similar.r
My eyes went to her Alignment, and it felt insulting that I had the same kind as her.r
‘Is the system broken? Why is she the same as me? No way! Melissa should be evil, evil I say!’r
Welp, there was no means of sending my complaint to whoever made the system, so I had to keep my righteous opinions to myself.r
In any case, my fear was gone. Just like that. It was only natural, though.r
The strong shouldn’t fear the weak! It’s that simple.r
As I eased up, so did the slow movement of time. Melissa began moving faster, and everywhere slowly returned to normal.r
My eyes were still on her though, watching her face change as she spoke.r
‘It’s getting even more and more difficult to look at her, yet my eyes couldn’t seem to get away from the face she’s currently making.’ I mused.r
Her lips moved slowly, just as they used to in the past. She appeared to be saying something, but everything was still so slow that it was hard to hear her clearly.r
I eased up even more to quicken everything else, it was as if I was nerfing my senses.r
‘Ah, this was difficult indeed… so very difficult.’r
Now that I had gotten over the fear I originally felt, other things slowly started appearing.r
The urges I had kept buried for so long were beginning to surface. Murderous thoughts and purely malevolent intentions were ringing in my head, and the worst part was that I could now act on them.r
If I so desired, I could kill her this very instant, torture her as she tortured me… no, even more. r
However, now was not the right time…r
‘Hold it in, Jeremy… let’s be patient. When the right moment arrives… we’ll kill her in the most painful way imaginable!’r