Chapter 51: Forgotten Face

Counting's done, and I spin around to check on Amy. Of course, she was gone. Well, we're in the middle of a game now, and I've got her game plan pegged.

The sky above turns all golden. I was hoping to get Amy out of the way quickly so I could get back to hunting her friends.

Peering back down, there it was – a trail of blood leading straight to a building in front of me. Talk about a rookie mistake. Got me wondering how the heck she's managed to survive game after game.

And then it hits me – Benjamin. That guy saved her in the game. But man was Amy one cold ass to toss Benjamin's daughter aside like that after he's gone. Takes my irritation levels up a notch.

So, with a sigh, I kicked off the hunt and headed into the building to track down our elusive player. Game on.

As I entered the building, silence hung heavy, and the place was a wreck with ceilings missing all over.

It wasn't some grand skyscraper; just a five-floor building. I traced the blood trail to the second floor, leading to one of the rooms.

The blood trail hit a dead end, and Amy was nowhere in sight. Smart move – she must've downed a health potion, healing up that wound. Crafty little move, but not enough.

I decided to swing open every door on the second floor, yelling, "Amy, where are you? Remember me now?" I cranked up the volume, even stomping around so she'd know exactly where I was.

I wanted her to feel that fear – the fear of being chased, the fear of the unknown. Give her a taste of what Ara felt being left behind.

Ara was lucky when I brought her into my party, sheltered from all this madness. But I wanted Amy to feel some sympathy, and realize what she'd done to Ara was dead wrong.

Of course, she never quite caught on. Didn't even remember me. Pretty hilarious, right?

I climbed the stairs to the third floor, and then it hit me – a bullet whizzed by. Lucky for me, I dodged that sucker. Amy, turns out, wasn't as much of a scaredy-cat as I thought. Interesting.

"Argh! You bitch!" I put on a stellar performance, acting like the most wounded guy on the planet.

I kept moving, watching Amy make a run for it. Sure, I could catch her quick, but I wanted her to think she had a shot at winning this game. Make her realize how wrong she was.

"Come here, you asshole! Look, you shot my arm!" I yelled, laying it on thick. Gotta keep this twisted game interesting.

Chasing Amy, I kept the drama going, letting her think she had a shot at winning this game, even screaming every time she turned around to take a shot. "I will kill you!" "Do you know how much this hurts?"

Soon enough, she stopped and laughed. "I thought you were strong, but how wrong I was! Die, you crazy bastard!" Amy declared, gun in hand, ready to shoot.

Faster than her, I kicked her hand, sending the gun clattering to the dirty floor, and shot her in the stomach. She clutched her belly, either trying to stop the bleeding or because it hurt like hell.

"You! Why?" she cried, terror in her eyes.

"You think your sloppy moves will kill me? You're just too weak for this, and I'm bored of all this chase," I said, turning to the window as half the sky darkened. "I need to hunt the rest of your party."

"And it's been 9 minutes since you ran. So I thought it must be the time you'll die, right?" I added, relishing the fear on Amy's face.

She started materializing another gun, a long barrel this time, but I was quicker, shooting her again, this time in the legs.

No way she could hold a gun now. "Shit! What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?" she cried, a bleeding mess on the floor.

"Don't you remember me? If you do, I might forgive you," I offered, giving her an easy out. She stared at me for a moment, but I couldn't wait any longer, so I sighed.

Was my face so forgettable that she couldn't even recall me? Or was she just a dense, arrogant jerk who brushed off today's whole drama like it was no big deal?

"Remember my name. I'm Seth, the one who brought Ara to your party." I dropped the bomb while her eyes widened.

"Oh, you remember now, but alas, I need to kill you."

Before I offed her, Amy was on the floor, crawling for dear life. Her stomach kept bleeding, leaving a grim trail behind her.

She mumbled stuff like, "I'm sorry," "Forgive me," "I don't want to die," or something along those lines. Couldn't make out all the words, but desperate times, you know?

I didn't have a moment to sympathize. No guilt on my end, just this nagging question in my head: Why the heck was I doing this? Was Ara really worth all this madness?

The answer hit me like a brick—nope. It wasn't about Ara; it was all for me. That rush of taking control, especially over someone's life, was one heck of a high. I get why serial killers can't hit the brakes; it's like an unstoppable euphoria.

Then out of the blue, Amy pipes up, "It's been 10 minutes! I win! Hahaha, you can't kill me now."

I cocked my head. She had a point; time was up, and I couldn't finish the job. So, I stashed my gun and flashed a smile. Even without me shooting her, she was a goner.

The bullets had poison to them, thanks to Morph Arsenal and its skill. The notification pinged about her death, but who cares?

I didn't bother taking away her weapons or skills. The fact that she had no resistance against me, even with some crazy skill, revealed her weakness.

Moving on to the next target, a couple with "Enhanced Vision," I could see them not far away. They must be done with the mini-game. With zero enthusiasm, I approached them.

I hope this wraps up soon. It's starting to make me uneasy, and it's freaking me out a bit. I mean, here I was, offing people, and it hit me—I was basically one step away from being a serial killer.

But hey, I was not some heartless jerk doing this for kicks. No, it's all about justice! Of course, this was a lie, I didn't have any strong sense of justice anyway.

Ugh... I gotta pull myself together and take a break from the whole killing spree thing for a bit.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!