The footsteps kept coming closer and closer, feeling as if they were being hammered against Angela's heart. Shane could also feel her emotions, but he was much calmer. After experiencing Noah, he knew how to handle the emotions of his hosts.
He just had to avoid talking to them for a while, until they calmed down on their own. If not, he would end up arguing with his poor hosts and might even demotivate them. He had a hands-on experience with this. Since he didn't want to experience Noah again, he decided to stay silent until the girl's heartbeat returned to normal.
After a while, he said, "There's a pillar. Hide next to it."
The girl took a deep breath and nodded slowly as she scooted closer to the pillar and curled up against it as if she were afraid of being found. Soon after this, the footsteps got too close, close enough for Angela to make out the shape of the body that was coming closer.
It was too dark. Even with the tiny bit of brightness coming from the other end, she couldn't see clearly. She squinted her eyes, but the figure wasn't clearly visible. The person soon passed by the pillar and went toward the bright side.
Angela heaved a sigh of relief. She kept hiding there until the sound of footsteps stopped all of a sudden. Her body was now completely relaxed as she took a deep breath. Just as she was about to get out of there, an ear-piercing scream echoed from the bright side of the tunnel, making her hairs stand on their ends.
After a while, there was another sound of something being slashed, and then, the sound of that person, assuming to be a man, cut off without any hesitation.
Angela was so afraid that she trembled from head to toe and kept hiding there for a while.
Shane rolled his eyes. This little girl was seriously so inexperienced. Why did he have to get newbies for hosts? They wasted a lot of his time. He waited, waited, and waited patiently, but the girl's trembling didn't slow down. He couldn't help but say, "Angela, we have to go."
He urged as the girl took a few deep breaths and finally got up on her feet, "I k-know. Let's go."
She turned toward the dark side and continued to walk. She didn't even dare to sneak a glance at the brighter side of the tunnel after hearing that ear-piercing scream behind her back. She was trembling all over as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, but the chill that went down her spine didn't refuse to leave.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHer situation was bad.
Shane sighed after seeing this, "Do you want to watch something for the time being?"
"Watch?" Angela tilted her head as her steps paused.
"Yeah. I currently have been given the set of music and entertainment shows to keep the host motivated on their journey," he clicked the folder in his menu and said, "You might feel better with soft music playing in your head. If there's something, I'll give you a heads-up."
The music soon echoed in the background inside Angela's head as the two people listening to it calmed down their nerves.
Just as Shane was going to relax completely, he suddenly saw a white dot coming toward him at a faster rate. He opened his mouth, "Go back to that pillar. Someone's running toward the bright side!"
But it was a teenager who was told to sprint back instantly. She was afraid in the first place, and the statement about someone running toward her made her entire body frozen. If she had reacted sooner, she would have ended up escaping instead of bumping into that person, but she couldn't. In the end, an unknown woman bumped into her and fell back as she let out an 'ow' from the dark.
Angela also fell down as she whimpered, "I'm sorry."
"No…." the woman spoke, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't be running."
"But…. Why were you running so fast?"
The woman was silent for a while. Shane could sense that the other person didn't want to reveal anything, and even if she revealed anything, it might not be the entire truth. So, he wanted to warn his host not to believe anything she said, but before he could open his mouth, he heard the woman speaking, "Well, I heard the sound of someone's scream, and I got scared. I wanted to check out what's there on the other side."
"Did you come from that dark tunnel?" Angela asked tentatively while glancing at the place behind the woman who got up on her feet soon after.
"No," the woman shook her head and continued, "It's too dark. I don't dare to go."
"I…." Angela licked her lips and said, "I don't want to go to the bright side. It feels too easy for our mission goals."
"You're right. Mission goals are important," the woman hesitated and asked in a slow voice, "Girl, I feel like you're familiar with me. May I ask who you are?"
"Don't!" Shane warned again in a cold voice, "We don't have to make friends here. Don't you remember what the world history warned us about?"
Angela this time ignored her system, Shane, and turned toward the woman, "Angela."
The woman instantly put her hands on her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. Her hands trembled, "A-Angela….. Thomas?"
The girl nodded as she frowned.
"Oh my God! I never thought I would see you alive today after what happened at the park!" the woman grabbed the girl's shoulders and said in an excited tone, "I'm your mom's friend, Lucy! We all came together!"
"Aunt Lucy?" Angela was stunned. This woman was like her family member, second to her own mother. Her heart bubbled with joy as a grin formed on her face. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she wiped her face and said, "Aunt, thank God! You have no idea how scared I was!"
The woman gently patted the girl's head and said, "We both have to get out of here and be reborn again, yeah? Oh, by the way, what's your mission goal? If we have similar mission goals, we can work together."
Shane's eyes narrowed. He had had enough now, "Angela, if you utter a single word…. Don't say it. I'm warning you again."
Angela again refused to listen to her system in the moment of this new found joy of meeting her family. She smiled at her aunt and said, "It's to destroy this place. What about you?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmShane looked at the screen only to see darkness, but the woman opposite to him got unnaturally silent. He sighed. It seemed the other woman's goal was opposite to his. It was over. Perhaps his enemy had found out about his mission sooner than expected.
Then he heard the woman saying, "Same here! Let's go there to the bright side together and see what's going on!"
Angela was hesitating, but she finally nodded and hopped behind the woman like a little kid going to kindergarten.
Shane saw the entire scene without saying another word. He knew that this teenager was in a rebellious period, and she wouldn't listen unless she had experienced the atrocities herself. So, he chose to not say another word and be ready to face anything in the future.
He silently calculated in his head that if the other person knew about his goal, the woman might be planning to get rid of Angela. So, just in case, he grabbed a few bottles of healing pills from the system menu and saved it in his inventory. He would immediately take over the body, heal it, and deal with the dangers before giving it back to Angela in the critical situation.
He couldn't keep leaning on his hosts to do his duty.
And he was right. The woman's face hidden in the darkness was way too stiff as her hands trembled. Finally, after a while, she took a deep breath and curled her fingers in a fist as if she had just made a decision. Then she pulled out a knife from the inventory and turned to Angela behind her.
The poor girl had no idea that she was about to be stabbed to death. Even Shane couldn't see in the dark as he thought he should also choose daily necessities from the shopping center and send it to his host. Just then, he felt a stabbing pain in the stomach and realized that Angela had been stabbed.
His brows raised as he calmly saw the entire event. This situation came sooner than expected.
Compared to his calm attitude, Angela was so shocked that her voice stopped in her throat. She couldn't even say another word. She continued to stare into the dark where Aunt Lucy was standing a while ago as the latter said in a crying tone, "Angela, dear, I want to live, and my mission is to kill the world destroyers. I'm sorry, but I had to do this. My system said if I don't do this, I will die. So…. I'm really sorry. I'll take care of your parents, okay? Don't worry, girl."
Angela's face was filled with tears at this time. She finally found a voice to speak, "Aunt…. I never thought…." After that, she didn't have the energy to speak anymore as she fell flat on the ground without anyone holding her body. Her breathing became slower and slower as her vision blurred.
Was this the last moment of her life? Angela didn't know. She just wanted to be in the embrace of her parents once again, but it seemed that she was too late.
It was at this moment that Shane chose to take over, and so he opened his eyes through the girl's body.