WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 135: ■■ (3)
──────
The world gradually narrows.
First it contracted from outside the city. Then into the city itself.
[The implementation of the trauma is deteriorating.]
[Data restoration failed.]
From the fringes of the city, the consuming darkness slowly crept into the streets. Wriggling and crawling, the darkness resembled living tentacles. I decided to call this ominous, dark fog "Emptiness."
“…I’ll go to school a bit early today.”
Many things became invisible. People’s faces. The church spires. The signs plastered onto the shops like tree bark.
The world was stained with Emptiness.
“I need to go to the animal pens to feed the rabbits.”
But there were things that became visible for the first time.
“Animal pens?”
“Yeah, behind the school... oh well.”
Constellation Killer sighed.
“Like you’d know. Anyway, there’s a place where we keep rabbits and chickens. I have to feed them.”
‘Is there such a place?’
I recalled, at the orphanage, there was also a place for raising animals, though it vanished quickly. Perhaps middle and high schools also had animal pens in the past.
“Why are you the one feeding them? Shouldn’t there be a designated person for that?”
“…There used to be an animal care club. Remember last year, a foreign woman broke into the school at night and jumped with her newborn? The baby, unfortunately, fell into the animal pen. After that incident, no one wanted to join the club anymore.”
This was news to me. But Constellation Killer spoke as if it was a well-known incident. It seems various events have occurred at this school.
“A foreign woman and her child at another country’s school…”
“They say the baby was fathered by a teacher from this school who caused trouble while away on an overseas business trip.”
"......."
“A middle school incident, not high school,” muttered Constellation Killer.
“Anyway, the club no longer exists. The middle school class presidents take turns managing the pens... but you know how middle schoolers are. They’re not diligent about this kind of stuff. It's mostly the security guard, me, and some kid from the middle school who end up feeding them.”
That was…
A corner of the world I never knew existed.
The animal pens.
There, rabbits and chickens were confined in cramped cages, their limited space becoming their entire world.
Were they not being properly cared for? The stench of chicken manure and rabbit urine was strong. The carelessly dumped, bulk feed, soaked and dried repeatedly, also emitted a foul smell.
“Ah, seriously. Someone pretended to do it and left again.”
The Constellation Killer frowned.
“If they’re going to be like this, they might as well not be assigned. Doing nothing is better than this.”
“Need help?”
“No, it’s fine. I have to finish it all anyway.”
Constellation Killer rolled up his sleeves.
“Just stand there. Or go back to the classroom if you want.”
He removed the rotting fluffy piles and dumped them into a large sack. He fetched a broom and rake from the storeroom and cleaned up.
He worked as though the task were thoroughly familiar.
Constellation Killer picked up a rubber hose and sprayed water over the animal pens.
Shhhhh-
In a world where so much had become invisible, a world narrowed and rusted by Emptiness, water sprayed by a high school student at around 6:40 a.m. scattered behind Shinseo Middle and High School. It was quiet. The water resembled the color of dawn.
"......."
I glimpsed a scene spread in the void of the world.
[You're seriously filthy.]
[How are you even filthier than the math teacher?]
[You really stink.]
The world.
Gradually narrows.
[The implementation of the trauma is deteriorating.]
Meaningless things to the Constellation Killer, or ■■, began to disappear, one by one.
[Data restoration failed.]
Mountains surrounding the city were engulfed in dark fog. This world was under siege. Day by day, Emptiness tightened its grasp.
Streets and paths were severed.
-■■, ■■ ■!
-■■■.
Spirits kept appearing and disappearing on the broken paths. Flickering. Where people came from, where they went, none of it mattered in the [Constellation Killer’s World].
Humans were not characters in this world.
Weeds coiled in the gaps between the paving blocks.
[The implementation of the trauma is deteriorating.]
In one corner of the garbage dump, a ginkgo tree that had not yet been cut down stooped over.
[The implementation of the trauma is deteriorating.]
As evening fell, the red sunset faded.
[The implementation of the trauma is deteriorating.]
Finally, Emptiness completely enveloped the school.
"......."
Raviel was standing at the school gate.
Beyond the gate was pitch-black darkness.
“Raviel.”
It was dismissal time.
Amidst spirits walking towards the absorbing Emptiness, Raviel stood quietly. Even as I called out, she didn’t turn her head.
“Yes. I did feel something was wrong.”
She whispered softly.
“Thinking back, it was strange to be called by a foreign name. Ban Siah. That was the name given to me. Yet, for some reason, I felt compelled to be called [Raviel], as if under an obsession.”
"......."
“Most of all, I can’t recall how I met you. No, that expression might be misleading. I remember receiving a confession from you at last year’s school festival. I had harbored affection and fondness for you even before then. We easily became a couple.”
Raviel turned to face me.
“But now, I question the truth of it. Gong-Ja. Our love was not like that. We would never fall in love so easily.”
"......."
“Kiss me. Now.”
Carefully, I placed a hand on Raviel's shoulder. I took her chin in my left hand, lowered my own head slightly, and pressed my lips to hers.
“Hmm. As expected.”
Raviel smiled.
“My heart flutters.”
She caressed my earlobe.
“There is no falsehood in my love. It’s impossible for me to love you so deeply just because you're good-looking and articulate. But to reduce us to just a couple in Shinseo High’s history... Tell them to stop. You and I are the strongest in the universe.”
“Yes.”
“If my love is true, then surely my memory has been distorted. This must be a hallucination or a dream. Gong-Ja. Am I dreaming of you? Or are you dreaming of me?”
“I am dreaming of you, Raviel.”
“Interesting. Truly fascinating.”
Raviel curled her fingers and stroked a chin.
Not her chin, but mine.
“I am your one and only beloved.”
“Yes."
“Even if it’s a dream, even in a fleeting moment of dreamland, I should always be the one you long for. Only I am worthy of that place.”
“That’s true.”
“I commend you, my lover. You do love me well.”
Raviel let out a laugh.
“Now close your eyes.”
"......."
“Don’t open them. Call my name with your lips. Understand? Never open your eyes. If you do, I’ll scold you.”
I closed my eyes.
"Raviel."
"Yes."
"Raviel... Ivansia. That's the name of the person I love."
And then.
The hand that was stroking my chin disappeared.
"......."
I opened my eyes.
Raviel was gone.
"............."
She did not show me her crumbling into a shadow.
Until the last moment.
That was Ivansia's way.
[The implementation of the trauma is deteriorating.]
[Data restoration failed.]
Now there is no breath of Raviel here.
The world has narrowed that much more.
-Ding, Dong, Dang, Dong.
The speaker installed in the schoolyard rang.
A nameless, formless broadcaster spoke.
-■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■■■■.
Attention to all students remaining in school, this announcement is from the Broadcasting Club.
-■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■.
Except for those participating in evening self-study, all other students are now asked to leave school.
At that moment.
The Emptiness lurking beyond the school gate surged and overflowed.
Like a flood-swollen river bursting its banks.
"Hm."
I stepped back, retreating from the Emptiness. Tentacle-like mist strands reached out from the Emptiness, quickly entwining the school gate. The sign reading [Shinseo High School] was devoured, and soon the gate itself was completely swallowed by darkness.
‘It's finally collapsing.’
The world of trauma was beginning to crumble.
“---What are you doing there?”
Someone spoke behind me. It was Constellation Killer. Wearing a tattered backpack, he stood there and stared at me as though I were behaving strangely.
“Not going home? Well, if not, it's fine. I was getting uncomfortable mooching off your parents anyway. I get you want to sincerely apologize to me, so let's just stop this. It's awkward for both of us.”
Constellation Killer walked toward the place where the school gate had been. As he was about to pass me, I grabbed his wrist and yanked him back.
“Hey, what? What's going on!”
By the narrowest margin, Constellation Killer avoided stepping into the Emptiness. Even now, black fog kept flowing past the gate and over the wall into the schoolyard. If [that] swallowed him, everything would end.
“Come with me for a bit.”
“Again? Where are you taking me this time?”
“Somewhere you can still live, even for a moment. Somewhere you can breathe.”
“…What?”
“This place is already dangerous. Let's move.”
I pulled Constellation Killer across the schoolyard.
Emptiness relentlessly devoured the school in pursuit of us.
“…I don't understand what you're saying, Gong-Ja. You've been acting too strange since last month. Why are you so scared? What are you trying so hard to do? You were never like this.”
“I promised to live desperately, no matter what happens. My master swung her sword even as the world ended. My lover defended her country even as the world repeated. People like that exist. I am trying because I want to stand beside them.”
“I really, truly, don't understand any of this.”
“There was also someone who kept casting themself aside to devote themself to what they believed was right.”
We entered the school building.
Still, Emptiness did not stop its relentless advance.
"......."
In the hallway, lost souls wandered aimlessly. However, one among them, with the face of Black Dragon Master, [Class President], just stood blankly in front of the girls’ bathroom. She was the only person I hadn’t dismantled yet.
Because.
In the previous trauma, when Constellation Killer jumped, she was the only student who lowered her head.
“…Strange. Why do I feel guilty about entering the girls’ bathroom?”
Black Dragon Master seemed, out of nowhere, to be questioning her gender identity. It was admittedly an age when one had many things to worry about. I approached her, still holding Constellation Killer’s wrist, and grabbed Black Dragon Master's wrist with my other hand.
"Huh?"
“Come with me. You can't stay here.”
“Huh? Oh, wait. What? Gong-Ja? Hey, what are you doing...?!”
Black Dragon Master panicked, but then suddenly noticed Constellation Killer. Her surprised expression quickly turned stern. She frowned, hung her head low, and let me pull her along.
[Warning!]
[The implementation of the trauma is deteriorating.]
[Data restoration failed.]
[Unable to maintain the trauma.]
Emptiness swallowed the first floor of the school.
I rushed up the stairs with the two of them. Quickly. We passed the first floor, sprinted up the second, skipped the third, crossed the fourth, and ran up to the fifth. Behind me, Constellation Killer and Black Dragon Master panted heavily, but it couldn't be helped.
Emptiness was rising with terrifying force.
[■■■ ■■■♪]
[■■■ ■■■♪]
[■■■ ■■■■♪]
The mottoes on the stairs were submerged. The black mist turned into a dark, murky water surface, engulfing the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth floors.
Only one place remained in this world.
“Huff, huff… Huff…”
“Ugh. I feel nauseous…”
I stood in front of the rooftop’s iron door. Four locks were coiled around the door handle, accessible only to teachers. But I released Aura from my fingertips and easily cut through the chains.
“Let’s go out.”
“Huh...?”
Constellation Killer, still panting, stared blankly at the door.
“It's open...?”
“Wait a minute. We can’t go to the rooftop! It’s against school rules!”
Black Dragon Master panicked and shouted. If not for Emptiness threatening to engulf us, I might have respected the school rules more. I pushed Constellation Killer and Black Dragon Master onto the rooftop, half-forcing them, then---.
Thump.
I closed the door.
"......."
I stared quietly at the door. It was silent. Fortunately, Emptiness had not invaded the rooftop. It was probably just a brief respite, but for now, we were safe from the flood of Emptiness.
“Good. We should be safe for a while.”
“What’s safe about this?!”
Black Dragon Master exploded in a frenzy.
“You have no idea how sensitive our school is about rooftop access! After all that happened in the middle school last year! My god!”
“It’s okay.”
“Do you know what will happen if the teachers find out I was here?! My school record… That jerk! You’re responsible for my college admissions!”
The world was completely engulfed by Emptiness.
Beyond the fence on the rooftop, all that could be seen below was pitch-black darkness. The playground, the schoolyard, the main building of the middle school opposite.
In this trauma, only three remained.
“Class President."
“What!”
“You knew what was happening in our class.”
"......."
Three survivors.
The perpetrator.
The victim.
“…So?”
And finally, the bystander.
Black Dragon Master, with the face of the Class President, glared at me.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
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