The best and most trusted doctors and researchers whom belonged to Death's Doorstep were summoned.
Numbering less than 10, immediately on arrival to the main base on the Southern Continent, they were all subjected to the best Resistance Skill training that Ayaka could offer them.
Hilde was visiting Vivian during her recuperation. Once every 2 hours, in order to check if she could remember or discern even the smallest additional detail. Yet she came up with nothing.
It was D-Day. At any moment in the next hour, the Bioweapon would wake up.
...
One day earlier. Kumi and Vaeril had gotten back from their 4th consecutive run with no break in between.
Kumi rolled out of her cubicle, riding her chair.
"This is way too tiring, Parky. How did you manage this by yourself."
Leaning back, Kumi couldn't even be bothered to stand up and steal more of Vaeril's coffee.
"I don't remember. I was zoned out after a while of doing non-stop runs."
Kumi let out a sigh as she stretched and looked up at the ceiling.
"We made it to the end again. We're close."
"Yeah," Vaeril responded, leaning back in his chair, balancing so as not to fall over, "we were."
"So?" Kumi asked, turning her eyes towards Vaeril's back, yet not moving her body an inch, "Did you see it this time?"
"I did. That's the supposed 'butler' you mentioned a while back?"
"Probably. Hiding behind that window. Could be another one of those scribbled-up humanoid shadows too, though that doesn't explain the weird window it's in."
"Hidden Bonus Stage? No. Actually. I don't even want to entertain that chills-inducing idea."
"So it's either the missing butler looking down on us from his flat floating window," Kumi raised one finger, resting her head on her other hand, "or one of the squiggly shadow people. Sixty-Sixty."
"Sixty-Sixty?"
Vaeril turned his head to look at Kumi, as she specified.
"Chances are half and half, it's a math quote or something. Like one or the other."
"I don't think that's really accurate, Kumi."
"Well, looky over here everyone, we have a mathicist~!"
Vaeril now fully turned in his chair, faced Kumi, a sly smirk on his face, and asked.
"You mean a mathematician?"
"Oh, shut up. Let me distract myself with my badly remembered jokes."
"So you know that you aren't funny?"
Kumi didn't give Vaeril the satisfaction of answering him as she spun in her chair, now facing his direction.
"Tell me... your choice." Kumi stared straight at him, her face neutral and unreadable as she had no need to lighten the mood of failure any more.
"My choice?"
"Yes. I'm curious. Now that we've basically accepted that the butler does exist in our server, what would you want to do? Just leave and forget about it? Or beat up that artificial thing that hasn't lifted a finger to help? Or something else?"
Vaeril had a slightly surprised yet questioning look on his face.
"Did you always have this large of a vocabulary? You're acting even more grown up than when you first arrived here."
"I am? I couldn't tell..." there was a second of silence and thought, before Kumi continued, "but this isn't about me. You've been trapped here for like... a lot longer than me. So I wanted to find out if you knowing this piece of information about the butler existing changes anything for you."
Vaeril looked away from Kumi, casting his gaze upwards as he pondered to himself for a few moments.
"No. I don't think so. Sure, I could have gotten out faster if something like a butler helped out, but then I wouldn't have... met you I guess?" Vaeril didn't even sound half sure of his answer.
"Is that the only positive that you could think of or is meeting me not even a positive point, Parky?" Kumi asked, her words neutral yet dripping with sarcasm.
"No, it's. Hmm. I'm not even sure actually, I feel like I could just leave it in the past. What's done is done. But it still feels like shit."
"Meeting me felt like shit but what's done is done? Wow, Parky. Wow." Kumi asked in the same tone of voice.
"Noo! I- you know what I meant."
"Yeah. I know. Maybe I should start asking you for money since I've kind of been working as your phisicist these last few run?"
"No, wait. First off, it's psychologist or a more fitting word choice would have been therapist or something, but-"
Kumi didn't say much after, she just silently looked at Vaeril as he fell into a long spiel. Kumi had her own thoughts on Vaeril's choice, or rather, his lack of making one.
Yet she didn't voice those thoughts. She let them simmer at the back of her mind. Not wanting to sway Vaeril's choice either way.
Kumi had come to quite enjoy Vaeril's company, and he had earned her respect over the time they had spent together. Perhaps because of this unique relationship of comradery, Kumi, for the first time, felt genuine Curiosity towards another living creature.
What decision would he make at the end? Would she herself go along with such a choice?
Kumi had a faint smile as she watched Vaeril, who was still yapping away about some other topic, which she wasn't listening to.
This First Curiosity would, in the far future, be formally recognised as her First Sin.
...
Returning to D-Day, present time.
Again, Vaeril and Kumi reached the last stage. This had become simple clockwork to them after a multitude of runs together.
Again, the two glanced at the distant window for a moment, before continuing on as time was limited.
A certain amount of time after entering the last stage, all subsequent traps and the fusions of these traps would start appearing one by one in a seemingly random pattern. The timing of these appearances and what appeared was meticulously studied by Kumi each time they ran through this stage.
Kumi dodged a small barrage of pipe spikes, jumping to and from surrounding office desks as Vaeril rushed in from a different angle.
" "18...19...cameras." "
They both muttered to themselves, almost perfectly in sync.
Cameras appeared on the pipe spikes which were aiming at Kumi, almost instantly locking on to her.
Thick pillars erupted out of the distance, each aiming straight at her as the pipes relentlessly continued their advance.
Vaeril, from the side, pounced off a floating wall, he landed on the cluster of pipe spikes, a few piercing the soles of his feet, as he tore apart the cameras that had all locked on to Kumi.
The moment the cameras broke, the pillar like slam walls no longer had a visual on their target and they all missed as Kumi jumped away from her position.
Falling in the direction of another floating desk, she noticed a few pipe spikes flying above her.
Ducking her head just in case, she wrapped a leg around one of the pipes before grabbing on and swinging from it as if playing on monkey bars, gaining some additional distance.
"Lucky~"
She muttered to herself as she landed on the floating desk, just able to hold her balance. She didn't stop, jumping right back onto the floor path which was connected to the exit door.
Vaeril was already running down that path, dodging the few pipe spikes that were still targeting him.
Kumi jumped and dropped next to him. They were now closer than any previous run.
Uncharted territory.
A short sprint away from the exit doors, barely 20 meters remained.