"Don't you find it thrilling?"
"Huh? What? Thrilling?"
"You know—when you look down and your heart starts racing, you feel scared, and you want to grab onto something."
"Mm… looking down… I don't think I feel that."
"Figures. People who treat Schicksal Headquarters like home probably aren't afraid of heights…"
The roller coaster Otto and Cecilia were riding had slowly climbed to its peak. The clouds seemed within arm's reach.
According to the attendant, once it reached the summit, it would launch forward at two hundred kilometers per hour, plunging down more than a hundred and forty meters in a blistering descent. The track twisted into eighteen loops—enough to leave anyone dizzy.
Otto hadn't originally planned to start this big. He'd intended to ease into things—try the pirate ship first, gradually increase the intensity. No need to use a full-scale roller coaster to trigger some cheap suspension-bridge effect on a seasoned S-rank Valkyrie.
But Cecilia had locked onto this ride at first glance. She'd said she'd follow his arrangements—but her eyes betrayed unmistakable longing.
So, they rode it. If his girl was happy, that was enough.
Just as Otto sensed something—his gaze casually catching a fleeting shadow on the ground—the coaster roared forward. The wind swallowed all other sounds. The world blurred violently.
Naturally, Otto wasn't frightened. In his previous life, he'd loved extreme sports. He once joked that the most romantic way to die would be leaping from Mount Everest, embracing nature in freefall.
It was why he always seemed so calm.
Even if the calm was sometimes an act.
With nothing better to do, he turned to see what Cecilia was doing.
…She was calmly brushing her wind-tangled hair behind her ear.
Right. He'd forgotten. Back then, she treated Ferris wheels like elevators. She'd even had the leisure to chat with him mid-ride.
Trying to induce a suspension-bridge effect on a battle-hardened Valkyrie with amusement park rides was truly a rookie-tier mistake.
The other passengers, however, were fully committed. Screams tore through the air—raw, desperate, almost poetic in their intensity. Especially when the coaster banked sharply with metallic clanking sounds.
Adrenaline surged. People howled instinctively, as if trying to expel every last bit of air from their lungs—perhaps hoping that passing out from oxygen deprivation would be preferable to enduring the terror.
Whether the cries pierced the clouds was unclear—but several birds did stall mid-flight, dropping noticeably in altitude.
"What the hell?!"
"Motherf—!!!"
"This is terrifying! Aaaahhh!!!"
"Damn it! My shoe flew off!"
After one near-vertical drop, though, something changed. When the coaster paused high above and began rolling backward, many passengers went eerily silent.
Faces pale. Eyes vacant. Breathing shallow.
As if invisible hands had clamped around their throats, strangling the screams before they could escape.
Ah, what a pity…
Otto almost felt disappointed. The atmosphere had been perfect just moments ago!
A roller coaster without other people's screaming was like seeing Fu Hua not flat-chested in a doujin—something was missing.
The machine continued its wild course, flipping and spinning. Otto tapped lightly on the safety bar, gaze steady, thoughts unreadable.
Then—
His wrist brushed something cool.
He glanced down.
A slender, pale hand had tentatively reached toward him.
Otto raised a brow. He rotated his wrist and clasped her hand, warming the chill from Cecilia's fingertips.
Three minutes.
For ordinary riders, an eternity.
Weightlessness pressed in from every direction. Most had their eyes squeezed shut, fingers locked white-knuckled around the restraints.
But Otto and Cecilia sat in silence, hands entwined. The roaring wind drowned out all else. Yet through their linked fingers, they felt each other's pulse.
As though that rhythm was the other's breathing.
Perhaps, for them—
Time was short.
As the coaster slowed, voices gradually returned.
"Oh God! I'm never riding that cursed thing again!"
"I need to go find my shoe…"
"Lily! If you ever drag me onto something like that again, I swear I'll shove a giant stick up your—!"
"Haha! That's the best news I've heard all day…"
Otto looked at Cecilia.
As if sensing him, she turned her gaze toward him. No trace of fear on her face.
Instead—
She winked.
He nodded back, releasing her hand and stretching lazily.
Once the coaster stopped, Otto stepped down first. He walked to Cecilia's side, unfastened her harness, then extended one hand while placing the other over his chest, bowing in a flawless gentleman's gesture.
Cecilia smiled knowingly. She placed her hand lightly in his palm, extended one foot, and stepped down gracefully—like a noble lady alighting from a carriage.
Some fragments of etiquette still lingered in her memory.
"The view up there was amazing," she said brightly. "Just like at home!"
"…"
Otto noticed several bystanders staring.
Well, when you live in Schicksal Headquarters, the view tends to be spectacular.
Of course, he kept that thought to himself. He had no habit of showing off in front of ordinary people.
He patted Cecilia's shoulder and guided her away from the ride. Then he pulled the gloves they'd bought earlier from her coat pocket, giving her a mild but pointed look.
Cecilia blinked in confusion—then quickly realized.
"Hehe… I only just took them off. Not for long."
She sheepishly extended her pale, chilly hands.
"And yet you felt cold on the coaster?"
Otto gently kneaded her fingers until the frosty white tinged faint pink again, then slipped the gloves back on.
"Keep them on."
She grinned foolishly, clearly attempting to change the subject.
"Brother, I want to try that one…"
She pointed into the distance. Otto didn't press the issue. He nodded and headed toward the drop tower.
—but before they even reached it, screams erupted.
"It's already started…" Cecilia sounded slightly disappointed.
"Shall we wait? Or try something else?" Otto asked, settling onto a nearby bench. "My suggestion is—"
His voice abruptly cut off.
Cecilia, mid-thought, looked at him curiously.
Otto's lips pressed thin. His gaze fixed on the bushes to the right. His expression complicated—almost restrained.
"Brother?"
"I'm here." His brows furrowed, a hint of irritation surfacing. "My suggestion is that I have no suggestion. We're done playing."
Another scream rang out—not the thrilled kind.
This one trembled with raw terror.
"Run! Run! The zombies are coming!!!"
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