Chapter 114 - Odds of Survival

"Klum! Let's go!" Eniyala calls, beckoning me to join the group on the top of the hill. I can see the sun's rays pouring over the crest, and it's evident that a beautiful sunrise is just over the grass mound.

I chuckle, looking at each of my party members. Eni, Termi, Lynsel, Ro, and even Yorun wait expectantly for me to rejoin them at the top of the hill, only a few dozen feet away.

I go to take a step forward, but immediately find that I can't move my leg, as something is holding it back. 'What…'

I look down to see a blood-stained hand deathgripping my ankle, and keeping me stuck in place. Another accompanies it, and another pair latches onto my other leg. I freeze in shock; my body won't even respond, won't listen to the urge to break free and join my friends.

More bloody pairs of hands grab onto my legs and torso, and I look up desperately to Eniyala and the others to shout for help, only to be met with faces of disappointment and disgust. Silently they turn away, walking past the hill, and disappearing. "W-wai— agh!" I try to call out loudly, but the hands on my sides dig their fingernails into my skin, squeezing the air from my lungs.

Ten, fifteen… a total of twenty hands latch onto separate parts of my body, holding me back. Two more hands grab onto each shoulder, and two faces appear from the dark behind me to put their faces level with mine. I don't have to look.

Speaking simultaneously, the lifeless faces of Christy and Yauln ring harshly in my ears.

"You don't belong there. You belong here."

Two final hands wrap around my head and face, yanking me backwards, and—

"AHHHHHHHH!" I scream at the top of my lungs, bolting upright in bed. Three small figures, one round, and two humanlike, bounce backwards, and just as they're about to fall, my body reactively shoots out, scooping both of them back onto the bed. Unfortunately, my momentum is too strong, and my head slams with a loud THUNK onto the floorboards.

"Why is it always my head?" I groan, rolling to sit criss cross on the floor. The three I had just saved from my fate land gently on top of the bed, and one of them giggles. "You're still pretty glumsy, huh?"

"Clumsy, and yes. Unfortunately," I sigh, moving to stand up.

[Cooldown complete!]

"You gotta be fuc—"

[Activating Klum's Reincarnation…]

[DEX reduced to 1.]

My foot completely misses the floor, swinging my leg out as if I was in a cartoon and had slipped on a banana peel, and I fall flat onto my back again. This earns another giggling fit from Raeki and Taisha, and I groan. "What are you two doing in here?"

We had rented out the inn down the road from the Bleeding Widow once arriving back in Estraia. The trip had been considerably shorter than before, as we didn't have a single monster encounter, which felt… odd. But, a low travel time and less energy spent? I couldn't complain, especially when, even a week after the incident at Mt. Turra, my body was still recovering.

Raeki is the first to recover from his laughing fit, smiling sweetly at me. "We were playing with Panko!"

Taisha nods in agreement, and even Panko gives a content purr. I smile at them, but my heart pangs slightly with sadness as I look at the boy sitting on the bed. Saying he had recovered from the attack would be too much of an overstatement. While he seemed fine for the most part psychologically, he refused to eat anything that came from any sort of cow, and apparently had nightmares every night.

And in terms of physical health…

- - -

When we had first arrived back in Estraia, both Eniyala and I had beelined straight for the rebuilt hospital, while Termi, Lynsel, and Yorun went to the inn to rent out our rooms for a few nights. We had found Ro's sister, Rala, on the main road to Estraia, and he had left the party just fine. I had some suspicions about why some of us (namely, Lynsel), were party locked, but I had no way to test or prove any of them yet.

Once we had gotten to the hospital, we only had to wait about five minutes before Raeki came out to see us himself. He was bound to a wheelchair, which in Puria had four evenly sized wheels spaced on each edge of the chair. The chair itself is simple, two wooden slabs with plush cushions supporting him in the seat as he happily pushes a small stick on the armrest connected to a small Manastone that powers the chair. He throws his arms up happily when he spots the two of us, and we rush the rest of the way to hug him. "Hey, buddy," I murmur, pulling my arms free from the tangle of Raeki, Eniyala and I to inspect him. "How are you doing??"

"Good," he replies simply. "They said I'm making decent pog west. I might be able to walk soon! I can stand on my right leg now, and I can even hold things in my left hand!" To prove it to us, the boy slowly drops his hand onto the blanket over his lap, closing his hand slowly to take a piece of it into a weak grip, grinning at us as if he had just ended world hunger.

"That's not 'decent progress,' that's amazing work!" I exclaim, giving him a gentle high five. Gaslion, who stands by the door leading into the hospital where Raeki emerged from, scoffs. It seems he still doesn't agree with his children being around me, but with the news from Mt. Turra spreading like wildfire across the regions, he couldn't deny that I was doing good work.

At least, in the public's eyes.

I accidentally let an evil smirk slide onto my face as I stare at him. 'Or maybe he's just scared of me now that I took down a Low Demon.'

Seeing my unintentional smirk at him, and immediately understanding why, he begins to storm over, but I wag my finger and point at Raeki, and his reddened face turns almost purple as he slides back up against the wall.

The boy had been asking his sister several questions, all of which she patiently answered, but now he turns to me, who gives him an innocent grin. "How long are you guys staying?? Do you think we can all go and do something fun together? I want to meet the other Saints!"

My smile falters, although only barely. "It's just one other Saint. Your sister became one too, you know."

His eyes shine with pride at his sister, with an expression that screams that he expected this outcome as I continue. "I don't think we're staying for too long, though. We gotta head to the City of Simulrisen soon, but we should have enough time to do something with all of us!"

The boy cheers, raising his right fist into the air in excitement. "Yay!"

- - -

I watch the two children chattering happily as they discuss what kind of playdate they wanted to have with the current Saint's Party, absentmindedly scratching Panko behind the ears. 'Tutorial.'

< Hello, user! How nice of the user to call on the tutorial. >

I snort quietly, focusing on thinking clearly. 'Can you calculate something for me?'

< Sure can! >

'If the Demon Lord resurrected right now, what are the odds that my party would handle it?'

< … >

I watch the slowly blinking dots for what feels like an eternity before another two messages finally replace it.

< Communication with the Ancient World Lines complete. >

< Chance of user survival: 24% >

Something about the word 'Ancient' bothers me, but the low number below it irks me more. 'Damn, there's less than a one in fourth chance of us winning?'

< Oh the user wishes to know the odds of beating the Demon Lord? >

< … >

< Complete. >

< Chance of defeating the Demon Lord: 0.2% >

My jaw drops in shock. 'Why is there such a big gap? What the hell does surviving even mean, then?'

< User survival is literal: It is the chance of the user surviving the encounter, regardless of victory or other deaths. >

Feeling my blood run cold, the little strength that has returned in my resting period leaks out of me once more. 'Tutorial, show me all of the statistics for this, please.'

Seeming almost uncertain, the tutorial slowly opens several messages in front of me.

< Chance of user surviving unharmed: 0% >

< Chance of user surviving with 1 or more missing limbs: 98.9% >

< Chance of complete combat crippling of the user: 100% >

< Chance of full party survival: 0% >

< Chance of Eniyala Ignios survival: 2% >

< Chance of Eniyala Ignios survival without costing user's life: 0% >

< Chance of Termi Foartiff survival: .5% >

< Chance of Termi Foartiff survival without costing user's life: 0% >

< Chance of Lynsel survival: 0% >

< Chance of Y0ru/\/ survival: 1o0% >

< Chance of Y0ru/\/ joining in combat: 0.o5% >

< Chance of user's sacrifice in losing situation: 100% >

< Chance of Demon Possession of the user: 98% >

My face goes numb reading the several messages that surround me, my blood thumping so loudly in my ears I can't hear my own thoughts. 'I'm still so useless…'

"… -lum!"

A tiny blue fireball singes the ends of the inside of both eyebrows as it hits right in between my eyes, yanking me back to reality and my head backwards from the surprising amount of force behind such a small amount of Mana.

"What's so interesting about the wall, weirdo?" Eniyala teases, sitting above me on the edge of my bed, helping Raeki into his wheelchair. Taisha bounces around, playing with Panko, who apparently left my arms when I stopped petting him.

"… Huh?"

She tilts her head a bit; confusion fills her eyes. "Uh, the staring at nothing? You looked like you saw a ghost or a hundred."

My eyes flick back and forth between the numerous messages and her. "… Uh…"

'She can't see the tutorial?'

< The tutorial can only be seen by the user, as it is not of this world. >