This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 542.1: The End of Reincarnation is Nirvana
The snow was falling heavier and heavier.
The roaring cold wind swept through the sky in waves of silver. The snowflakes descending from a crumbling heaven seemed ready to swallow every subject who dared look up.
Joey, clad in a heavy exoframe, looked up at the low-hanging sky.
Was it getting dark already?
The clouds looked lower than before.
For a fleeting moment, it felt to him like this entire settlement was a deep well, and everyone trapped in it was like a beast, desperate to bite a chunk of flesh from one another...
“Elisa has been found!”
The voice from the comms snapped Joey out of his thoughts.
The team operating the military drone had locked onto Elisa’s coordinates, locating her in an alley leading out of the city.
Aerial footage followed immediately.
Seeing her standing amidst a group of rioters made Joey’s heart tighten. He quickly tapped his helmet with a finger and shouted his command, “All squads, take note! Target location has been uploaded to your terminals. We must bring her back to her parents before things spiral beyond control.”
“Move out!”
“Copy!”
The unanimous reply came through his headset.
Wasting no time, Joey gestured and charged ahead, leading his unit toward the alley.
That girl was about the same age as his daughter.
He didn’t like some of the things Malvern had done, turning everyone’s life upside down with money, but children were innocent.
Whatever the case, he still hoped Elisa would make it back safely to her parents.
He had made a promise to his children, and he would be their example.
He would return with victory and honor...
...
In the alley,
The girl, frozen stiff by wind and snow, slowly fell to her knees.
“I’m sorry...” She bowed her head, eyes red with sorrow. “My father, mother, sister, and brothers... They've done many awful things. You must be so angry...”
“I can understand your anger. If someone hurt the people I love, I’d be furious too... I’m sorry.”
“I know saying sorry doesn’t help. It’s happened so many times already, and every time, the apology has been brushed aside. You’ve had enough, which is why you’re finally standing up... I know it’s too late, but I still want to say it, truly and sincerely... I’m sorry.”
“I won’t beg for another chance. If you want to hit me or curse at me... That’s okay.”
“I won’t fight back. I won’t blame you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, rolling down like pearls onto the snow.
She knew crying didn’t help. Even in her most helpless moments, she had never cried out loud.
But now... She didn’t know what else to do. Nothing she said would truly be heard, and she had no solution left.
Her hairpin that cost a single silver coin was cute, but if she couldn’t even persuade her own father, mother, or brothers, how could she possibly convince anyone else?
The bearded man walked up to her. His clothes were ragged, his pants stained with ash and wood chips.
She sensed a shadow fall over her. Shutting her eyes tightly, Elisa’s shoulders flinched and she shrank her neck, bracing for a blow.
But he didn’t hit her, or kick her. Instead, he bent down, picked something up, and handed it to her. “Here.”
Through tear-blurred lashes, she peeked and saw something that filled her with surprise.
It was her rag doll that had fallen earlier into the snow.
“You dropped your toy. Take it... It’s pretty. Prettier than my daughter’s dress. Would be a shame to get it dirty.” The man muttered under his breath.
Elisa hesitated. He didn’t wait. He stuffed it into her hands and looked her in the eyes, which widened in astonishment.
“Listen,” he said. “We never wanted to burn all your houses or rob everything inside. When Spielberg read the papers to us, he always said we had to stick together. To take back what was already ours... Our salary, our dignity... He never told us to steal from others’ pockets.”
“We don’t want to become like you.”
“If we turned into new lords like Stephen, then one day more people like Bore would rise up against us, and this cycle would never end.”
He reached out and pulled her up from the snow.
“My name’s Lorette. I’m a carpenter.”
“I’m glad you stood up and scolded those lunatics. You’re a good girl. You did something remarkable. On behalf of the workers, thank you sincerely. We’ll take you back to your parents.”
“And then...” Lorette turned to the crowd behind him and shouted with all his might, like a true leader, “We’ll do what Bore was meant to do!”
That was the original slogan they swore by when they decided to take action.
They had marked Kent, cut ties with traitors in their ranks, and declared where they stood.
They were not aiming for aimless violence!
They weren’t there to become another Stephen.
They were here to do what Bore should have done!
As long as they were united, all the Stephens in the world would tremble!
Just like what was happening. After victory, everything would change!
The crowd stirred. People seemed to remember something. After a brief silence, more and more raised their fists.
“That’s right!”
“We’ll do what Bore should have done!”
They accepted his words.
No one knew exactly how they’d found this common voice, but the scar-faced man’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the suddenly galvanized group and screamed hysterically, “... Are you insane?!”
“This is a rebellion! Do you even know what rebellion means?!”
“Worst case, if you want Spielberg, use this girl as leverage! Trade her! But you’re siding with her?! Sending her back?!”
“All of you are naive and idiotic!”
He was a mercenary and was overflowing with strength. Perhaps, he was close to awakening. His voice was louder than usual, shouting wildly in hopes of waking them up.
He hadn’t joined the group for Spielberg or bread. He was just looking for some fun, the kind he couldn't get from those polished nobles.
Like that well-groomed bank clerk. She was his type, far better than those reeking wastelanders. If everyone wanted to mess with that girl, he would have gladly stepped in. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
Weren’t these people the same ones who wanted to hang all nobles from the great wall?
Why were they hesitating now?
And... Who the hell is Bore?
Why did they all follow him?
More people began to leave the strongest man in the alley, drifting toward Lorette.
Maybe, in countless other possibilities, they would’ve sided with the true thugs. But at least for the time being, they didn’t want to.
They wanted to stand with what they believed was right.
Lorette locked eyes with the mercenary and spoke slowly but firmly, “That’s a different matter.”
“We’re going to rescue our comrade, but we will not make those comrades ashamed or embarrassed to stand with us.”
Under the weight of so many stares, the scar-faced man instinctively took a step back. So did his buddies. They had always looked down on those submissive, obedient factory workers who endured exploitation instead of risking it all in the wasteland.
Of course, they weren’t saints either. Most of the time, they took noblemen’s chips and acted as their hounds.
But now, faced with a united front of workers, he couldn’t summon the will to fight them.
He was strong, but so did they.
He had weapons, and they did too.
With little confidence, he muttered, “Your naivety will get you all killed...”
Lorette sneered. “Then let us die with some damn dignity, and make it big!”
Maybe playing it smart would let one live safely forever, even become a dazzling elite, or at least a ‘Kent’ with 25 chips to his name.
Too bad, they weren’t born to be that kind of people!
Unaware of the arguing, the woman in the snow stared at Elisa, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
There was guilt, regret, and a deep sense of despair.
Her job was definitely lost after this... No, not just her job, her entire future would be gone!
Little Elisa was definitely going to tell her father.
If Lord Malvern found out she had betrayed his beloved youngest daughter, he would sell her off to a pit she would never crawl out of.
If only the little brat would just die...
Bang!
A gunshot echoed in the distance.
The woman, who had only just gotten back on her feet, shrieked like a startled rabbit and crouched down covering her head.
Everyone turned toward the source of the gunshot and saw, at the far end of the alley, a group of soldiers clad in exoframes, fully armed.
Seeing the ragged survivors, and Elisa among them, Joey’s eyes flashed with anger.
He raised his rifle and fired several blank rounds into the air as a warning. Then he leveled his weapon directly at Lorette and roared, “Let her go, or you all die!”
These people could no longer be called protesters.
They were rioters!
