Chapter 93

Vice-President Riki.

Someone mistakenly thought she had dyed her hair blonde and accused her of being a delinquent, but the truth was the opposite. She hadn’t dyed her hair blonde; instead, she dyed it black, which was actually the result of bleaching.

Since walking around as the vice president with blonde hair would be too incongruous, she used to dye it black.

Of course, in the current school where students had hair of all colors, it was a rather meaningless act. However, socially, it was better to maintain her bleached hair dyed black rather than let it remain blonde.

But after meeting Erica, she stopped maintaining her hair black.

“If dyeing will make the hair fall out, that’s disappointing. Such beautiful hair.”

At that moment, she still remembered the small, pretty hand that had been gently stroking her own hair…

She had been lost in too many irrelevant thoughts.

Vice-President Riki, after showing a fierce smile, attempted to charge again, but the power in that smile was not the same as before.

Though she hadn’t sustained any critical injuries, the numerous large and small arrows that had grazed her body had caused her to bleed as if from fatal wounds, making her resemble a wounded beast.

“What exactly are you trying to protect?”

In truth, the vice president, someone who didn’t have any goals in the first place — or Busan Girl, who didn’t even know that this woman was the vice president — was merely perplexed.

“Hah, protecting? Does this look like protecting to you?”

“Hey, if you’re just going to quickly achieve your goal and leave, or vanish suddenly, there’s no problem.”

Using the debris of the building as a wall to evade would have made dodging the sound arrows much easier for the vice president, who had remarkable physical abilities among the supernatural ability users.

However, Vice-President Riki didn’t do that. Instead, she continuously blocked attacks with her body, protecting Erica and her group from any harm that might come their way.

If she tried to attack all at once or sought out different angles of attack, a beast with eyes that seemed intent on killing her would have attacked immediately. Therefore, Busan Girl was wasting time according to her opponent’s intentions.

“I’m not trying to protect anything. I just don’t want to lose to someone else the person I wish to fight.”

“Hmm…? You seem quite strong, but that person doesn’t look so…”

In response to Busan Girl’s comment, the bl**d-streaked woman didn’t retort. Instead, she lifted her bat again. Despite enduring multiple rounds of sound arrows, the wooden bat hadn’t bent or broken, a testament to its durability.

This bat was a symbol of her relentless fighting spirit—something that would not break as long as its owner’s heart remained unyielding.

Rather than abilities that allowed her to directly communicate with the necessary parties in battle or discern the location of foes she must fight, her wooden bat closely resembled the essence of combat itself.

“Hmph, if that’s your wish, I’ll let you have it.”

The girl, who had been flicking her fingers repeatedly, suddenly stopped. Instead, with her finger, she merely drew a line in the air.

Though Vice-President Riki prepared to strike with her bat, she quickly realized what the girl’s action implied.

Instead of being struck down one by one, dozens of blue arrows had emerged, ready to fire, not like the surprise-focused sound arrows but arrows that were far stronger in physical power. The ripples visible inside the arrows hinted they were created by freezing nearby ocean water.

The line the girl had drawn in the air, manipulating the principles of distance, managed to connect the sky and the sea.

Despite knowing that flailing her bat wouldn’t stop the multitude of arrows piercing through her, the vice-president let out another fierce laugh and charged forward. It was right after Erica had told her to wait for ten minutes.

*

There are supernatural abilities that can only be honed and used in the midst of fierce battles.

Erica’s “protection” and “bl**d erosion” were examples of that. Protection activates when her opponent is in danger, giving genuine strength. bl**d erosion activates when her body suffers a significant impact, providing regenerative powers.

However, because both abilities only function during intense combat, Erica couldn’t fully understand their limitations unless she personally experienced the fight herself.

Currently, with “bl**d erosion” activated and “protection” temporarily dormant, Erica understood the weakness—both abilities could not activate simultaneously.

Had “protection” been an impenetrable shield, then “bl**d erosion” was akin to providing an immortal body.

According to Erica’s deduction, when “bl**d erosion” was the reason she survived her “s*icide,” it acted as if influenced by someone’s will that the user must never d*e — yet when protection activates, the healing effects of bl**d erosion stop.

To use protection to allow her to fight Busan Girl once more, Erica first had to shut down “bl**d erosion.”

Trying to accomplish this without relying on herself was a challenge — especially when someone was risking their life to buy her time, burdening her even more.

If she just viewed Vice President Riki as an NPC in this world, her guilt about someone dying because of her might lessen a little, but it wouldn’t make her feel any better.

Ultimately, this time she had to solve the problem using only her own abilities. Finishing her deep breath, Erica once again focused on her inner self.

Recognizing the existence of the force wasn’t difficult—it was evident in the intense heat that bl**d erosion was providing.

The problem arose because she didn’t know how to turn the blazing heat into protection.

Given that bl**d erosion was activated due to an injury to her hand, once it healed, the erosion would naturally subside, allowing her to activate protection. But she didn’t have the time to wait for her hand to heal naturally.

The battle sounds coming into her ears made it impossible for her to focus completely, even though she wanted to shut her eyes and concentrate fully.

Although Erica didn’t want to waste any time, her efforts yielded no results, and her time continued to flow uselessly.

“If I could fight like this…”

Even after a lot of deliberation, if she couldn’t find a way to switch to protection, this state might be enough to fight. However, fighting without the empowerment from protection would likely result in a quick defeat.

The girl suddenly noticed a change within her body—the heat initially contained in her hand had started spreading throughout her entire body.

Moreover, although this strength was weaker than what was granted during moments of protection due to someone else’s attacks, it was stronger than the strength that she used to voluntarily produce with protection.

This was not a change she had deliberately controlled. It was more like the bl**d erosion had chosen to heed her wishes—though erratically.

“Even though it activates and gives strength arbitrarily, I should be thankful in this situation.”

While feeling grateful that something she couldn’t control was still listening to her, the first thing the girl saw when she opened her eyes was a giant mass of bl**d.

A closer look revealed the back of a woman whose red-dyed hair appeared to be falling apart.

“Crazy woman. Was it ten minutes or twenty? Can’t you even count right?”

Despite Vice-President Riki’s immediate barrage of insults, Erica was unable to respond.

Thinking that Busan Girl might not harm Riki since she seemed to have treated Erica casually yesterday might have been wishful thinking. Perhaps she had simply been ignoring the sacrifices being made on her behalf.

“Riki. Five.”

“Our student council president doesn’t even scold her friends.”

After trying to say a few more words, the vice president paused upon hearing the student council president’s command and struck the bl**d-soaked bat on the ground. A fissure spread outward from the point of contact, and water soon filled the crack.

Creating water arrows from underneath the ground and destroying their form by striking the ground—that was the combination of the student council president’s insight and the vice president’s execution.

The perfect coordination between the two enabled them to endure for a surprising twenty minutes, even while carrying someone who couldn’t move. Nevertheless, they were reaching their limit.

The perpetually confident, delinquent-like woman who seemed about to collapse now looked like a sick patient. Erica deliberately ignored the trembling hands of the vice president and located the enemy’s position.

“Finally, we’re done.”

The Busan girl, wearing a dress with water-drop patterns, directed the hovering arrows using her finger as a baton and shot them all at once.

The vice president prepared to step forward and swing her bat, but Erica stopped her with her left hand. Then, she nodded in agreement with the question presented by a floating message on the air.

[Would you like to use the special skill “Bad Ending 0: Laughing in the bl**d-red World (Name has been changed)”? Erosion Rate: 11.5%.]

bl**d Erosion.

If she lacked both the ability and knowledge to properly handle it, borrowing the strength from when she could control it was all she needed.

As the blue arrows approached Erica, the arrows began to turn red the closer they got, eventually crumbling into a puddle of bl**d just before reaching her.

[Skill: bl**d Erosion – World Erosion has been used.]

An ability that converts other substances into bl**d.

Revealing that regenerative powers were merely a byproduct of her bl**d Erosion, Erica’s display was already powerful without any special application tricks.

“…Are you okay? Erica, this power is something you dislike, right?”

“Just this once is enough.”

Given the urgency of the situation, there was no time to reflect on the likes and dislikes of her previous self. Erica averted her gaze from the numbers ticking down from 9 minutes and 47 seconds and walked towards the Busan Girl.

Busan Girl, who had maintained an easy smile, now had a tense expression on her face.

“I said it’s finally over, right? And I agree. Because now we can finally conclude today’s events.”

—Seeming as if she foresaw the ending that lay ahead.

Between Busan Girl and Erica, the final act of the day was about to unfold.

Who would win? Who would lose? And whether the winner would truly obtain what they desired—no one knew.