Chapter 112: It’s both of us who can’t do it

If Blake could choose another path, then would he take it?

In front of him stood Myles and Asher.

Neither of them moved.

They simply stood there in the dark, shoulder to shoulder, their expressions empty, eyes fixed on him as though they had already accepted whatever choice he would make.

A strange pressure settled over Blake’s chest.

’What the hell?’

The words barely left his mouth before something suddenly appeared in his hand.

It was quite heavy, the material was definitely metal.

Blake froze, his eyes lowering slowly.

It was a gun.

’Ack!’

Instinctively, he hurled it away from himself or, at least, he tried to. But the gun didn’t leave his hand.

His fingers twitched violently around the grip as panic shot through him. It was like the weapon had fused to his skin, glued to his palm no matter how hard he tried to shake it off.

Disgust crawled up his throat, his breathing growing uneven.

’No, no, get off—’

[ Mission: Kill one of the two people in front of you. ]

[ !Warning!: This will irreversibly change the fate of the world. ]

[ Time limit: 5 minutes ]

[ Penalty: Death ]

[ Reward: ??? ]

’Ah...’

The sound caught in his throat.

’Ah?!’

His heartbeat slammed painfully against his ribs.

Blake stared at the screen, trying to steady his breathing.

This was a dream.

Right?

It had to be.

Nothing about this made sense.

His mind scrambled desperately for logic, for anything familiar enough to anchor himself to, but the moment his eyes landed on the floating system interface again, his stomach dropped.

The system was there, exactly the same as always.

’No way.’

A dream wouldn’t have the system.

Would it?

His fingers tightened unconsciously around the gun.

Cold sweat trickled down the side of his neck.

No.

No, this wasn’t a dream.

It couldn’t be.

’Myles?’

His voice cracked slightly as he looked toward him, but there was no response, Myles simply stared back at him with no expression.

He wasn’t even blinking.

Blake swallowed hard.

’Asher?’

Even with him, there was nothing.

The silence felt unbearable.

The two of them looked alive.

They were breathing, standing and watching him, but there was something horribly off about them.

It was in the eyes, because their pupils didn’t move, not even slightly, just like dolls.

Anxiety twisted violently inside Blake’s chest.

’Stop screwing around...’

He took a step forward, then another.

’Myles, answer me.’

Nothing.

’Asher?’

Still nothing.

His pulse quickened, and the air suddenly felt suffocating.

Blake moved faster toward them, but the moment he got close enough to reach out...

Thud.

A violent force slammed into him.

"Gh?!"

His body flew backward before crashing hard onto the floor, pain shooting up his spine.

’What?!’

Blake looked up immediately, but there was nothing there.

Yet the moment he stretched his hand out again, his fingertips met resistance.

It was a barrier, an invisible one.

’What kind of bullshit is this?!’

Panic sharpened his breathing.

He pushed harder, but nothing, the barrier didn’t even tremble.

Then Blake suddenly remembered, he had a strength buff.

He stepped back, clenched his fist tightly, then punched forward with everything he had.

Bang!

The impact echoed violently, pain exploding through his knuckles, but the barrier remained untouched.

Blake stared at it in disbelief before punching again.

And again.

And again.

BANG!

BANG!!

BANG!!!

The invisible wall didn’t crack or shake. It simply didn’t react at all.

Meanwhile, his hand began throbbing painfully.

’Damn it!’

His breathing became ragged.

He stepped back unsteadily, dragging a trembling hand through his hair before biting harshly at his nails.

’Think, think...’

He needed to talk to them and get answers.

Why were they here? What did they know? Did they know about him? About the system? About everything he knew?

His eyes darted desperately toward Myles again.

Still unmoving and staring, like he was waiting for Blake to choose.

A chill crawled down his spine. Slowly, he turned toward the floating screen again.

[ Time remaining: 03:02 ]

’...Ah.’

His breath hitched.

He only had three minutes.

His legs suddenly lost strength.

Blake crouched down hard, fingers gripping his hair as panic flooded through him all at once.

’No, no no no...’

He couldn’t die.

He couldn’t.

Because if he died here, would he even go back? Would he wake up in his original body? Or would this be it?

A world would end because of him, because he couldn’t choose.

His vision blurred slightly.

Blake squeezed his eyes shut tightly before forcing himself back onto his feet.

One of them had to die.

His gaze slowly shifted toward Myles.

The final boss stood silently under the dim light, face calm, unreadable.

Blake’s throat tightened.

’You still want to destroy the world, right?’

The question slipped out quietly, but Myles didn’t answer.

But somehow, staring at that impassive expression, that empty stillness, Blake felt like he already knew the answer.

Right?

Someone Blake could never fully understand.

The timer continued ticking down.

Each second louder than the last.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

[ !Warning!: 01:00 remaining ]

Blake spun around violently.

His hands shook harder around the gun, his breath becoming uneven again.

His eyes darted toward the both of them.

And then, Blake froze.

Because looking at Asher, he felt nothing: no panic, no grief, not even much hesitation.

Nothing at all.

The realization unsettled him more than anything else so far.

’Huh?’

His lips parted slightly.

Why?

Why didn’t he feel anything?

Asher was in an ambiguous position now, sure, but he still stayed around him and talked to him.

And yet, there was nothing.

No emotional resistance.

No desperation to protect him.

His chest remained strangely empty.

Cold.

Blake stared at him in confusion, the gun trembling slightly in his grasp.

Then slowly, he raised it.

The barrel pointed directly toward Asher’s forehead.

A crooked smile appeared on Blake’s face.

His finger rested against the trigger.

Asher stared back silently.

Myles watched from beside him.

The timer continued counting down.

00:17

00:16

00:15

Blake’s heartbeat thundered violently inside his ears.

The world felt distorted and muted.

Like everything had sunk underwater.

And then, ge pulled the trigger.

BANG.

Blake jolted upright violently, a strangled breath tearing from his throat.

His entire body was drenched in sweat.

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe properly.

His chest rose and fell sharply as he stared blankly into the darkness of his room.

"...Ah..."

His hand immediately pressed against his heart. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It was still beating, although a bit too fast.

The sound of the gunshot still echoed inside his head.

Blake swallowed hard before frantically reaching for his phone beside him.

Screen light flooded across his face.

Right.

Right...

He had a call with Myles yesterday.

They weren’t even in the same city right now.

There was no way he could’ve been anywhere near either of them.

It was a dream.

Just a dream.

’...Fuck.’

Blake leaned back slowly against the headboard, trying to steady his breathing.

His eyes drifted toward the call screen still open on his phone.

Then he froze.

Call duration: 6h 52m.

"What?"

Blake blinked.

Why were they on call for almost seven hours?

He scratched the back of his head slowly. Definitely, he fell asleep during the call.

But then, why didn’t Myles hang up?

A weird feeling settled in his chest again.

Blake unlocked his phone fully before typing quickly.

Good morning

He stared at the message for a second before beginning another one.

Did you also fall asleep or—

The screen went black.

"Eh, no way..."

Blake clicked his tongue sharply.

Dead battery, of course.

He stared blankly at the dark screen for several seconds.

Then his expression slowly changed.

The dream resurfaced again.

The gun.

The timer.

The choice.

And most importantly the fact that he chose Asher.

Blake frowned faintly.

’Is my moral compass seriously that messed up?’

It was only a dream, obviously.

But even then, he still pulled the trigger without much hesitation, without feeling much at all.

Maybe it was because Asher’s position had become strange lately, while Myles’ got a bit more favorable.

But still, nothing was set in stone.

Right?

Blake rubbed tiredly at his face before exhaling slowly.

His skin felt disgusting.

Sticky and cold.

He pushed himself off the bed and opened his backpack, pulling out fresh clothes absentmindedly.

’I need a shower...’

After grabbing a towel, Blake left the room quietly and headed toward the bathroom.

The moment the hot water hit him, his entire body weakened slightly.

Steam filled the room slowly.

He stood there silently under the shower, eyes lowered as water ran down his face.

The heat should’ve relaxed him.

Instead, it only made him think harder about the dream.

About the choice he made.

About Myles.

At the end of the day...

There was only one person in this world Blake truly couldn’t abandon.

Only one person he couldn’t turn his back on.

Myles.

And somehow, that realization worried him more than the dream itself.