Chapter 99

However, before Erica’s bizarre rest could truly commence, the system issued an alert. Lying down on the floor, still partially covered in a blue coating, the girl indulged in the luxury of looking up at the sky while reading the system message.

[You have acquired all the fragments accumulated by your opponent after successfully defeating the girl from Busan. The role of the Busan girl: With the main heroine of the Busan side having been stripped of the fragment, her role has now been changed to sub heroine (Busan).]

Erica had believed that understanding more about the revolutionary of Busan would grant her access to more fragments, yet after obtaining one fragment, she was no longer awarded any subsequent ones. She reasoned that perhaps her understanding was insufficient, but in truth, the reasoning was quite simple.

The fragments beyond the first already had an owner—another girl chosen as the successor by Busan’s revolutionary. This girl was groomed to become the next revolutionary of Busan.

Understanding Busan’s revolutionary could indeed grant fragments—but not in the manner Erica imagined. The best way to learn about the revolutionary of Busan wasn’t by visiting related historical sites but by confronting the girl who had inherited everything from the revolutionary.

Erica, perhaps unconsciously, chose the method of defeating this girl to acquire the fragments, rather than befriending her and collecting them gradually.

[Congratulations. You are now beginning to inherit the power possessed by Busan’s revolutionary. While you already possess two formidable abilities, acquiring more may seem unnecessary, but you likely don’t care about that anyway.]

[Current abilities: Protection, bl**d Erosion, Revolution (inactive).]

Three abilities.

Most of the ability users Erica had encountered had just one ability, yet she had obtained three. Moreover, each of Erica’s supernatural abilities was notoriously difficult to handle, and mastering all three to work as fluidly as her limbs would be considerably challenging. Mishandling them could even turn them into more of a hindrance than a benefit.

“Hmm? Suddenly?”

Though Erica didn’t understand why defeating the Busan girl led to her gaining the revolutionary’s power, she wasn’t overly concerned. In her mind, strength gained from any source was always advantageous.

Had she lost the fight, what might have happened? Erica quietly pondered the scenario.

She might have become a hostage for a terrorist group, used as bait to force exceptional characters like Inna (her sister) into taking reckless actions. This time, unlike the situation with the Queen of Lies, who excitedly relished others’ misery and despair, there was no apparent lust or malice emanating from this opponent.

[Your bl**d Erosion has now been activated due to this fight. You can now use bl**d Erosion in everyday situations. Is this a boon or a bane? Only your skill will decide.]

Once Erica had somewhat organized her thoughts, the system displayed another message, reminding her she could now use bl**d Erosion without relying on the Bad Ending List.

Though Erica had possessed the bl**d Erosion ability before, the inability to simultaneously use it with Protection made things increasingly complicated for her.

Seeing the continuous system messages felt almost like a post-game summary.

“Summary…”

The single word made Erica consider something else. Recalling the fleeting image of the woman she’d encountered earlier, unsure whether her hair was dyed gold or red, she found that her thoughts were being deliberately guided by the system.

[You owe a debt to Vice-President Riki from this battle. While you might think it’s an easy debt to repay, remember that the heart saved by someone’s sacrifice isn’t something that can simply be erased. Keep this in mind—favorability of this nature doesn’t diminish easily.]

[Favorability towards the Student Council Vice-President has increased by 10 points: 30/50.]

But amidst the several system notifications, there wasn’t any information Erica was looking for—such as a safe method for landing from the sky ship.

Though Erica was aware the system wasn’t designed to spoon-feed her every answer, she had hoped for guidance regarding the current predicament. The enemies lying on the floor were slowly recovering and inching closer to her, clearly not defeated despite their apparent injuries.

Disabling their limbs hadn’t completely incapacitated them, as their injuries weren’t targeted to their tendons or vital areas. Their limbs still had strength despite the bleeding, and they were crawling closer to Erica.

It wasn’t because Erica deserved it—this was due to their resentment over their dreams being crushed by the disruption of the Busan girl’s plans.

Though one could criticize their obstinacy, Erica decided it was better to avoid further unnecessary conflict. Two exhausted women vs. dozens of injured but still dangerous opponents—though the former seemed advantageous, they were currently inside what was assumed to be the enemies’ main base: the sky ship.

Not knowing the various traps or functionalities of the sky ship, Erica knew staying there with hostile people could lead to unforeseen dangers.

And the simple reason she wanted to disembark without further hostility was that she didn’t desire any enmity toward these enemies. Erica briefly glanced at those on the floor—darkened and barely resembling humans.

It’s hard to hate non-human entities unless they’ve caused major harm, so Erica had neither the will nor the desire to remember them.

But staying here would require fighting, leading to remembering them. Amidst her thoughts, a peculiar vibration caught her attention.

“What is this?” Realizing the vibration was coming from her jacket pocket, Erica pulled out what she’d assumed to be a broken phone.

The phone, surprisingly intact despite heat and shock, suddenly buzzed violently before going dead.

Was it having a malfunction? Or did someone actually try to contact her? Erica turned on the phone to check.

There was a text message. It was from an intelligent character, much smarter than the average students despite being Erica’s age.

–Just wait there for around 20 minutes, and a ship will come to bring you down.

The mention of “ship” rather than “airship” made Erica understand that more than one sky ship existed.

Relieved by this revelation, she showed the phone message to Riki, who was sitting far away, and they both waited quietly.

In 20 minutes, the chaos below would likely settle, perhaps in a favorable manner. Though she could jump right now, relying solely on Protection to land and interfere, Erica didn’t feel the need to push her exhausted body. She reasoned that others would conclude their own battles just as she had concluded hers.

Surprisingly, her phone, which had functioned throughout the ordeal, remained intact. After downloading a game and playing it with the sound cranked up, Erica noticed her hearing improving.

“…Hey!”

An acquaintance’s voice started reaching her ears. Though Erica didn’t know many people here, there was only one person whose voice she recognized, so it held little significance.

The recovery of her hearing might have been faster due to the bl**d Erosion ability. While playing her game, Erica had contemplated when to finally unwrap her right hand, still clenched in a fist inside a handkerchief.

Upon looking up, instead of just the Student Council Vice-President, Erica saw another girl with a captain’s hat and a black cloak standing nearby. The girl appeared young—perhaps a middle schooler at most.

Of course, if anyone compared the petite Erica with the young captain, they might perceive them as peers. Nonetheless, Erica didn’t think herself qualified to assess the girl’s age.