This was their final sprint. Kumi slowed down by half a step, dodging and grabbing one of the pipes that was aiming for her.
She broke the pipe in half with her knee, tearing it apart and using the two torn pipes as make-shift batons. She deflected the remaining pipes, not stopping in her stride as she followed behind Vaeril, who seemed unnaturally zoned out, focusing solely on the exit.
Kumi pierced through the pipes and broke apart the remainder. Seemingly, nothing more remained.
The exit was in front of them now. A few short steps and they would get out of here.
Vaeril took a step as he reached out his hand.
There were barely any traps around them, no pipes or cameras locked on to them. This was it. This Was It.
Yet. Hesitation.
Kumi, two steps behind him, quickly glanced around before speaking.
"Well? Are you going to open the door or what?"
She slapped Vaeril on the back, still keeping her eyes peeled on the surroundings.
"I doubt this is any kind of instant kill trap. So we made it. This is the end of our sprint."
Vaeril was lucid again. This situation had been happening each time they closed in on the exit in the previous runs. He suddenly goes quiet and just moves forward as if in a trance.
"So? Are you leaving with me?"
Kumi asked as she stepped beside him, looking up at his face which wore a troubled expression.
What Vaeril wanted... was jumbled. Many questions remained. Could he just forget about this place and the torture he experienced here?
Vaeril took a steady, deep breath.
His eyes were steady.
He mouthed the words he wanted to say to Kumi, but his hesitation muted him.
Was he making the right choice here? He didn't know. Could he escape after doing this now? He didn't know, but he had already turned around.
What he did know was that he was still Pissed. Whether he got the answers he was looking for after beating down that faceless butler with an office chair or not.
For Vaeril, there was one way to move on from being stuck in this Pale Yellow Layer of Hell, and that method wasn't to 'Forget it' but to let out his frustration and 'Rage at it'.
Vaeril's gaze was no longer on the door, the exit standing behind him. He took a step and then started running.
Kumi looked at his speedy dash with a smile which then turned into a grin, ending with a laugh.
"I knew you were crazy but you're Actually just insane, Vaeril!"
Kumi left the exit door behind, running after Vaeril. Her curiosity about this guy she found in this technological reality had peaked as she saw him hesitating in front of the exit.
Kumi believed that she could tell what Vaeril wanted to do, but she was certain that he wouldn't.
The muted words he tried to say.
The emotionally charged self-contemplation infront of the unlocked door of his prison cell.
But most notably, that Maniacally Violent Grin that was plastered on his face as he started dashing straight at the floating window frame.
At this point, Kumi refused to be left out of this climax, regardless of Vaeril's wishes. She wouldn't leave this unfinished, regardless of what was waiting or happening outside, beyond the exit.
This is something she hadn't experienced ever before. This stimulation of human interaction. Never truly knowing exactly what the person beside you will do next.
Vaeril, for better or for worse, had essentially become Kumi's first actual friend, stimulating her curiosity towards 'People'.
Vaeril would not think much of this fact, this friendship. For Kumi, however, this was a step forward.
Kumi was joyful. Laughing, almost cackling as she wiped a tear from under her eye.
She truly did believe that Vaeril would either leave at the first opportunity or ask her for help in capturing and interrogating the missing butler.
This, she didn't expect. The impression that Kumi had about Vaeril up until this point was that he was a Knight. One that wasn't that serious about his job and not particularly good at it either.
That impression, obviously shifted.
Kumi caught up to Vaeril, with a mischievous smile, she spoke to him.
Kumi now saw him as a crazy, grinning mercenary.
"You aren't leaving me out of this, Parky~. I am not missing out on watching you beat someone up."
Vaeril's grin remained unaltered as his gaze remained on the window.
"Figured. Keep up."
Kumi stifled a chuckle.
Truly, her impression of this guy was way off. Probably because of his time in this stimulant lacking simulation, he had adopted a more rational and calmer exterior.
Yet now that freedom was proven to be possible, he was most likely back to his 'original'.
The traps reignited. Impossibly long pipe spikes were again closing in from the distance. With their origin point not in sight, they couldn't be dismantled as effectively as Kumi had done before.
A wall slammed through the floor beneath, breaking it into pieces as Vaeril and Kumi split up, each dodging in a different direction.
Kumi used the pipes targeting her as leverage and bars to swing from, returning to the floor path before jumping off, moving towards the window.
Vaeril had grabbed on to the infinitely long wall that burst out from beneath the floor, using it's momentum to launch himself in the air and towards the window.
Kumi jumped from one floating office desk to another. Now below Vaeril during his ascent, she jumped and grabbed on to his foot, using it to swing straight at the window.
"I'm getting front row seats!"
Kumi yelled out as she smashed through the window frame, finding herself in a unnaturally constructed room.
Although Vaeril's ascent was slightly stifled by Kumi and his balance thrown off, he still managed to grab on to the window frame and pull himself up.
"This Damn Girl. Seriously."
He muttered to himself, his grin widening as he set his eyes on the missing butler.
It was an older gentleman in a black suit with a yellow belt and tie. He had short silverish hair and a moustache.
He swung his arm down as pipes appeared from the ceiling of this strange monitoring room. Nearly all the walls were filled with screens, half of them unresponsive, showing only static.
Kumi dodged to the side, the pipes missing her as she rolled and jumped over the butler, stepping on his shoulder.
"He attacked on sight! Beat the shit out of him!"
Kumi announced as Vaeril had already appeared next to the butler, launching his fist at his face.
The butler could barely react, raising his hand slightly as a few pipes shot out from the ground, slightly impaling Vaeril's stomach.
But that could never stop him.
Vaeril's fist connected with anomalous weight, slamming against the butler's face and making it taste the ground. As such, the butler's body was impaled on his own pipes.
"That looks like it would sting a bit. He hasn't even gotten a chance to talk yet, you know!"
Kumi commented as she was now sitting on the floor, watching Vaeril who had raised his fist to strike again.
The butler, however, already seemed 'offline' as he started flickering in and out, almost glitching.
Vaeril furrowed his brows, slamming his raised fist against the butler's face again, nearly turning it into mush.
Vaeril stood, flicking his wrist.
"Not as satisfying as I'd thought it'd be."
"But was it worth it?"
"Yeah. I'd say so. Let's get the fuck out of here."
Vaeril walked over to Kumi who slapped his back.
"Didn't know you were hiding this side of yourself from me. Violent old man."
"I'm not old-"
*Click*
They both turned around. The butler stood again, his head hanging on by a few thick threads of muscle.
In his hand, some kind of device.
All the monitors on the walls were turned off.
From the other side of the room, pipe spikes burst out of the floor and ceiling. An immense amount at that. One by one as if shot by a minigun, the room was slowly being filled.
"How about we leave faster?"
"Yeah. Let's do that."
Vaeril held his stomach as he jumped out of the window, Kumi following from behind him.
With a quick few jumps, they were back on the floor path to the exit door. Pipe spikes were now not only coming in a large wave from above and below but some were aimed directly at them from the sides as well.
It was like a full server reset. A Kill All Command.
At this point, though. Merely a barrage of pipe spikes could be overcome with little difficulty.
Usually, at least.
Vaeril was struggling. The wounds he idiotically received from the butler's surprise pipe shank attack pierced deep.
He was pushing himself and in a few more short moments, he would undoubtedly collapse.
Kumi was now running infront of Vaeril as he had slowed down.
Vaeril spoke up.
"Kumi. I think I'm dead."
He forced a smile as they continued running.
"Seems like it. You're going to be a step too late or so."
"Well, it's fine. There's always the next run. You go on and leave. I'll make it out. I know I will." Vaeril spoke with confidence. He now was certain that it was possible to escape and with no butler to meddle, it would most likely be even easier than before.
"Yeah. I get it. But I think now it's your turn."
Kumi spoke as she slightly picked up speed. Vaeril was now a few steps behind her and the pipes were closing in at an extreme speed.
"My turn?" Vaeril asked as he watched Kumi reached the door, pulled it open and turned to run back towards Vaeril.
"Stop! You won't make it!"
He yelled. Keeping Kumi from experiencing death here had been one of his main goals the moment she arrived. A child shouldn't experience it.
Vaeril mustered his remaining strength. Pushing himself to the limit, he was now only two measly steps away from the exit, with Kumi only a step away. Still, he wouldn't make it.
"Your choice surprised me. Really. Now, witness my choice, Parky."
Kumi grabbed onto Vaeril's shirt and threw him through the door.
If she had grabbed and yanked Vaeril towards the door, because of their positioning and height difference, Vaeril would have fallen with only the top of his head reaching the doorframe. The possibility of that not counting as an actual 'escape' made it so that this was the only way for Kumi to get Vaeril out of here with 100% certainty.
"You've been here long enough."
Even if she were to take that final step now, she wouldn't make it.
A pipe pierced through Kumi's neck as Vaeril dissipated into the world beyond the exit door.
Vaeril was too slow to get any words out as Kumi's body was shredded apart by the endless pipes.
...
The clock ticked and was still again.
Kumi trembled as she held back her vomit. Covering her mouth with her hand.
"He wasn't lying, that was horrible." she muttered to herself.
Kumi stood up from her chair and walked out of her cubicle.
Looking at his desk, she saw no one there.
"Great. The senior can finally catch a break now."
Kumi spoke to herself as she stretched her arms.
"I wonder how many runs it will take me to solo clear this..."
The method of death was brutal, but Kumi had handled worse pain. The texture of this pain was what was nauseating.
Kumi rubbed the side of her neck in silence. For but a moment.
She continued moving.
Kumi walked over and grabbed the mug of coffee which was still sitting on that lone desk.
"I wonder when we'll meet again," she pondered as she took a sip of coffee, "oh, wait. Did I ever ask where he lived?"