MMORPG: Surviving a Death Game with a Glitched System

Ash sat in a precarious position, his body dangling above the void held by nothing more than the thin strips of his tattered tunic.

"I get that I surprised you, but there was no reason to push me like that."

"N-no reason?! Do you not realize what you’ve done?!"

"I helped heal you, did I not?"

’Not that I exactly understand how.’

"By kiss— ah, urgh!" With a deep blush, Demitra put a hand to her head. "Never mind. Thank you."

’Seems she’s calmed down a little.’

Ash had thought his final moments were upon him when she suddenly awoke and pushed him away just as [Focus] ended.

’I didn’t think she’d recover so quickly.’

Plus, it seemed she’d finally accepted Ash as something other than ’Monster.’

As she forced herself up, Ash watched her wounds heal with frightening speed.

"So... I don’t exactly understand how—"

But just as she was about to stand, she noticed the wolf sitting with its back turned to them.

"Wait... Why are you...? No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Why?!"

Having finally managed to pull himself back up, Ash regarded her uncharacteristic outburst with a confused glare.

’Her other version was so calm and collected...’

The wolf let out a quiet noise.

"I knew she’d freak out."

Demitra began crying while staring at her arms as though something was abhorrently wrong with them — as though they weren’t supposed to be attached to her body.

"Why?"

Ash tapped the sole of his sandal against the ground as he watched the silver-haired woman have a mental breakdown.

"I get that you’re confused, but keeping a clear mind is imperative."

The wolf tilted its head toward Ash, an odd look of solemn guilt filling its glowing eyes.

"She’s a smart girl... I’m sure she worked out what transpired the moment she saw me in this form. The issue is something else entirely."

"...?"

The woman ran to the wolf’s side and hugged it tightly. Through her tears, she choked out:

"Demitra... why?"

’Wait...’

Demitra had just called the wolf Demitra.

’Is that how it is?’

It didn’t make much sense, but either the Goddess of Spring was a future version of the wolf, or the silver-haired princess had taken the wolf’s name for some reason.

’And whatever that wolf — the true Demitra — did to me is why she’s bent out of shape.’

It had made him swear that foreboding promise, after all.

***

A fair amount of time passed before the woman eventually calmed down, allowing Ash to begin explaining the situation.

Well, he had tried to get the wolf to do it at first, but it seemed only Ash could understand the spirit due to their ’bond.’

Anyway, he’d explained how they’d arrived there and that he had agreed to help them for his own reasons. With the basics covered, Ash asked directly:

"So, can you explain what’s going on and why you’re here?"

The wolf had given him some details, but had skimped on anything too important concerning the woman directly.

Wiping away a tear, the girl shook her head.

"Not even going to ask my name?"

"Is such a thing important?"

"It—... No, I guess not. Not anymore, at least..."

’Ah, whatever...’

"You can tell me if you want."

The woman chuckled as she brushed a strand of sweaty hair behind her ear.

"You are quite impertinent... Demitra told you that I am a princess, did she not? Have you no etiquette? You even..."

The woman stopped, and her face flushed red again.

’Go on...’

But after five seconds, it seemed she had nothing else to say. She merely raised a finger and poked her lips, which were covered in dry blood.

Ash, wondering what his own face looked like after all he’d gone through recently, said curtly:

"As far as I know, you’re not a princess anymore... You’re even being hunted by your family, are you not?"

Rolling her eyes, the bashfulness drained from her expression.

"How blunt and harsh... You really have no concept of social awareness, do you? And, that’s coming from me, you should feel incredibly insulted." The former princess sighed, then added, "As punishment, I rescind my desire for you to know my name. You may refer to me as ’Princess,’ you tyrant."

"Well... as I was saying, Princess, I’d like to know more about the situation. And about you."

The princess stared at him with dead eyes.

"You really have no shame."

Lightly thumping her chest with a balled fist, the princess cleared her throat, then began:

"Let me explain my curse. Seeing that, despite being here, you’re ignorant..."

Ash listened intently as the princess began recounting her past. Despite his usual disinterest in learning about others, everything she said might pertain to completing the instance.

The princess had been born with the curse of being a "spirit healer." At first, the ability sounded more like a blessing; however, there was a caveat.

"Spirits are scorned and hated by humans..."

Her fingers tightened around the fabric covering her knees.

"My father tried to pretend there was nothing wrong with me. He told the others that my powers could be controlled — that I could live like anyone else."

A bitter smile touched her lips.

"He was wrong."

Due to her natural affinity for spirits, they had always been drawn to her. At first, only a few lingered nearby — small, harmless things that whispered through the walls or followed her through the palace gardens. But as she grew older, more came.

And they were not all harmless.

Despite her having committed no foul deeds herself, the spirits flocking to her had attacked, mutilated, and killed members of her family and kingdom one after another, all to "satisfy the world’s desire."

"The first time it happened, everyone called it an accident," she said quietly. "Then it happened again. And again."

Her gaze fell to her hands.

"Eventually, people stopped looking at the spirits when someone died. They looked at me."

The princess clenched her fist, nails biting into her palm.

"Without a proper countermeasure against the spirits, they decided the only solution was to be rid of me..."

The princess turned toward the wolf.

"That’s when Demitra appeared..."

Demitra’s presence — the wolf’s presence — had created a stalemate. No one could approach the princess without being frozen to death. At the same time, Demitra was a friendly spirit of sorts who only killed those who provoked her or the princess, while also keeping the other spirits in check.

For the first time in years, the princess had been safe.

But safety was not the same as freedom.

"It wasn’t the most comfortable life to live, one in exile and imprisonment, but I’d resigned myself to my lonely fate. Yet, as time passed, the looming prospect of ruin became reality."

The princess looked at the wolf.

"Demitra and I stayed in one place far too long. Due to my presence, her powers went out of control and turned the lush land into a frozen wasteland."

’Oh... the wolf did all of that? I wonder what it looked like before.’

The princess continued:

"It happened slowly... The rivers froze first. Then the fields stopped yielding crops. By the time we realized how far the cold had spread, entire villages had already vanished beneath the snow."

"The kingdom tried to endure it at first. Not for my sake, but out of fear. But their fear was eventually eclipsed by a greater fear as more and more of the world turned to ice. So, they declared war on me..."

Her voice remained steady, but the hand resting in her lap had begun to tremble.

"My father sent soldiers first. Then knights. Eventually, he sent people I had grown up beside."

With a sad look etched across her face, she added:

"That’s how we ended up here, bloodied and battered on the run."

Ash looked around the hellscape, where it felt as though a monster could appear and trounce them at any moment.

"Hmm... But why come here? And where is here?"

For several seconds, the princess said nothing.

Then she lifted her head. Whatever grief had filled her expression moments earlier had hardened into something colder.

"Oh... I came here to destroy it all. Escape this chained fate."

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