Chapter 45 - Forget It All

"Young miss, when will you visit the family?" Marie asked with her head down. 

Ayami thought for a moment before she answered. "Maybe, next week."

"I'll inform them."

"Alright." Ayami nodded her head. Marie left after dropping her off to her dorm.

Ayami looked at the kitchen knife that was still stuck on the door. She left it be and opened the door to her dorm.

As she opened the door, she was greeted by a desolate place, making her heart feel empty from the sudden loneliness. After getting used to the vibrant life, it was hard getting used to this hollow lifestyle.

Everyday, when she goes back to the dorm, she would be greeted by either Celine or Rina.

Celine was still in her afternoon classes so she was not back yet.

Ayami shook her head and tried to ignore the void in her heart. She looked around her dorm, trying to look for something the stalker 'dropped'.

After searching every corner of her dorm, not surprisingly, she found several hidden cameras and a microphone.

As there was no use to it, Ayami decided to destroy it.

Ting!

Ayami took out the phone the stalker gave her as she set a different ringtone from her phone.

"What a shame you're not dead yet. Look forward to tomorrow then. It's more deadly than today." The stalker said in their message.

"Yes, it's also a shame that I wasn't able to find out more information from your subordinate." Ayami sent a reply.

"Hm? I don't have a subordinate?" The stalker replied. "But I do have puppets I could use. But you still haven't caught them yet."

What?

Ayami widened her eyes at their reply. Then the organization and this stalker weren't connected?

Then what's their motive then? Why would they want to kill her?

"Why do you want to kill me?"

"You want to know? Pretty late for you to ask questions. Well, I expected that from you." 

This person knows me, but who?

"Well, you're a threat to this world so I need you to disappear." The stalker responded a second later. Their response made Ayami think that they were crazy.

How did she become a threat to this world?

"You're crazy."

"Think whatever you want but that won't stop me from killing you."

Ayami frustratedly threw the phone away. To think there was a lunatic out there who wanted to kill her just because of their insane thinking.

Why the heck would she even become a threat to this world when she hasn't done anything grand??

Ting!

The countdown to your death has started!

If you are able to survive until the end of the time limit, then congratulations!

You win and destroyed this world.

So which will you choose:

Your survival or this world?

Time left: 5d 10h 21m 2s.

Ayami furiously typed in a reply. "What crazy things are you doing!?"

Then the interface changed into a deadlier looking one. A chibi mascot wearing a red robe and a white mask appeared and replied to her in text.

Wow, they really put effort in making this. Ayami sarcastically said in her mind as she rolled her eyes.

"If you think this is crazy, then feel free to die. You just have to throw this phone away again and BOOM! It will explode."

"Are you kidding me??"

Seriously? I've had enough of this!

"Does it look like a joke to you?" Probably, they were listening and using the camera's and microphone they replied those words. The mascot became menacing as the letters started to appear one by one.

Good luck surviving tomorrow~

Ayami cursed a lot inside her head as she almost threw the phone away but stopped. 

"What is this? A death game?"

First, a damn Cinderella story then second it became a mystery, then it became a freaking death game!

Ayami felt like her head was going to explode from jumping from one genre to another one. 

This world really likes to mess with her, huh?

"Why does this feel like I'm living inside a novel?" Ayami laughed at the absurdness of what she was thinking. She was being influenced by that crazy stalker. "Pfft. Ridiculous."

Ayami stopped thinking about ridiculous things and started mulling over what the stalker said.

'You are a threat to this world.'

Why did they say that?

Was it because she knows the future?

Now that she thinks about it, why would she return back in time?

What was her purpose in this life?

It was… strange…

A person like her who has many sins, wouldn't it be better for her to go to hell instead of giving her a second chance?

All she wanted was revenge, why does it feel so complicated?

A frown contorted on her face as many questions started to appear on her mind making her mind a mess. In the midst of her thinking, suddenly, she felt something crack.

"Fufu~ You're thinking about complicated things."

A person suddenly emerged in front of her. That woman was familiar. It was the woman she saw in her dreams, 'The Guide'.

Ayami stood up and warily backed away from her. As she did so, she noticed that the time was stopped. It was quiet, like there was no sign of anything in this world.

The woman stood up and approached Ayami. There was a voice screaming inside her to get away from this woman. Ayami wanted to run away from her but couldn't move, it was like she was stuck in the place. Fear crept up to her as she watched the woman slowly come to her, while words flowed out of her mouth. Ayami wanted to scream and protest, but no words came out of her mouth.

"There is no need to do that. All you need to do is get your revenge."

The woman stood in front of her. She raised her hand and placed it on her forehead.

"Forget what you are thinking but remember, you were the one who picked this choice."

Ayami slowly forgot what she was thinking. It was like everything was being erased. Her whole existence was slowly being erased.

"It is not the time yet.." The woman said as she placed Ayami on the bed and disappeared.