Kim Young had eventually lost track of time, not because she didn't know how many hours she had been in the tower, but because the structure itself seemed to have arranged itself to render any measurement useless; but for that, she would first have to regain her strength.
This realization annoyed her more than her confinement. She found it hard to accept not understanding a system she herself had designed; how could things have been so altered?
She found herself alone in front of her watch screen; she could no longer deny it.
She is surrounded
Three nails were spread across his screen: the first displayed the flaws in the Tower of Endless Fall, the second information relating to players present in the different areas, and the last the financial reports of Fantasy Game.
She stopped in front of it. The overall situation had finally begun to stabilize. The number of spectators, after having fallen enough to worry investors, was gradually rising again. Kang had recovered thanks to the remedy and could resume her activities. Above all, she had finally obtained the financial support she had been seeking for several weeks.
But now his biggest problem was written right below the numbers.
CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP: TRANSFER OF SHARES CONFIRMED.
She stared at the line before letting out an irritated sigh. To regain access to Fantasy Game, she was forced to cede part of the game to the "owner" who had agreed to save it. A necessary decision, she knew, but no more pleasant to accept: after years spent building every cog in the system, she resented the idea that someone could now legally own a portion of what she still considered her creation, even if she no longer played the same role.
She turned her watch and leaned against the wall.
– All this to repair the damage caused by a traitor.
Anger returned immediately. She had created Fantasy Game, she knew its architecture better than any engineer who had worked on the project, and she was the one who had developed this version, far more difficult than the one that had once brought it success. Yet, ever since the doll had taken control, she no longer had free access to her own facilities.
– damned
She sat up and began to spin around on the spot.
Only bare rock surrounded it, rising up on all sides like a natural circus, and the uniform, colorless sky seemed to mock it.
She gave a sharp blow to the stone and quickly folded her leg, clenching her teeth, dark circles under her eyes. Her watch showed even more, striking straight into her fate.
And to think she was supposed to sign the same kind of contract she had planned for those heartless sponsors.
"How ironic," she murmured.
She signed the protocol.
VERIFICATION IN PROGRESS.
The countdown ticked by slowly. Then, without transition, the screen turned red.
FAILURE. ACCESS REVOKED ON: [DATE DELETED].
She remained for a moment without reacting, her gaze fixed on that red line as if by staring at it long enough, she would eventually change on her own.
– ...…
She clenched her fist against her thigh.
A warm wind rose between the rocks, laden with the scent of blood. Her watch vibrated one last time before the screen went completely dark; she gave no further sign of life.
His mind was nothing but total darkness.
She slid down against the sharp wall and sat with her back against the rock, gazing at the sky.
– Lamentable, that's what this father would have said if he saw me.
I wanted him to recognize his talent.
I spent several hours studying it, you find it ridiculous.
Kim Young gave a quiet laugh as he looked up at the sky.
– naive...
She imagined it.
A curt remark, probably accompanied by that expression he used when he felt she had made an obvious mistake.
That should have annoyed him.
Instead, Kim Young remained silent.
The situation was somewhat absurd. She had agreed to go much further than what her parents had once deemed acceptable.
She had personally selected her victims: suffering, selfishness, betrayal, from spectator to actor.
She is so disheartened that anger no longer stirs her heart.