Recordings

Chapter 101 - Recordings

Mike closed the additional reward window with a flick of his mind. The main interface returned, its soft blue glow casting faint light across his room.

[Doomsday System’s Last Recordings]

He selected it, and the footage opened on a scene he wished he could forget. The warehouse appeared beneath harsh lights, its cold concrete floor stained with dirt and blood. Eve lay bound and helpless while Sam forced himself on her, ignoring her cries and struggles. Across the room, Mike saw his past self tied to a thick pillar, unable to move, forced to watch everything unfold.

His fingers curled against his palm. He remembered that night too well, but the angle of the recording was different from what he remembered seeing. The camera shook with every breath, capturing the warehouse from Claire’s point of view. He had been so focused on what had happened to himself that he had never considered what Claire had witnessed.

Mike dragged the progress bar forward. He had no desire to watch the entire scene again, not when Eve’s screams still echoed in his memory. He stopped the recording at the moment everything changed.

On the screen, his past self lifted his head, and his eyes flashed violet. A heartbeat later, purple mist burst from his body and rolled across the concrete, twisting around him like a living creature. His feet rose two inches above the ground as black scales spread across his skin. Claws formed along his arms, followed by the winding body of a dragon. The tattoo crawled over his flesh as though the ink were alive, covering his body with a pattern that looked less like a tattoo and more like something forcing its way out from beneath his skin.

A black window appeared in Claire’s field of vision.

[RUN]

She didn't wait to understand. The camera lurched as she turned and sprinted toward the exit, leaving Sam, Eve, and the entire warehouse behind her. Mike watched the scene with a tight jaw, wondering what Claire had seen when she looked back at him.

The next scene opened inside a car. Claire gripped the steering wheel with both hands, tears streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to catch her breath. Her eyes kept darting toward the road, but her attention seemed to be somewhere else entirely.

"I left him..." she whispered, her voice breaking. "I left Sam in there."

She pressed a trembling hand against her mouth, trying to hold back a sob, but it escaped anyway. Her shoulders shook as she struggled to breathe, and she wiped her face with the back of her wrist.

"I'll take your revenge, Sam. Don't worry. I'll do it. I swear I'll make them pay."

A notification appeared before her eyes.

[Sam – Party Member 1 – Died]

Claire went still. Her fingers loosened around the steering wheel, and for several seconds, she simply stared at the message as though she couldn't understand what it meant. The car drifted toward the sidewalk, its tires approaching the curb before she jerked the wheel back onto the road. She barely seemed to notice the near accident, her eyes fixed on the notification as if staring long enough might force the words to change.

Another black window appeared.

[Handle yourself. Live so you can take revenge.]

Claire sucked in a broken breath and wiped her face again. Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. She stared at the road ahead, swallowed hard, and pressed the accelerator. The city blurred past the windshield as she drove through the streets, her face still wet with tears.

Mike dragged the timeline forward, skipping ten minutes, then twenty, then another stretch of footage. He watched Claire drive through intersections and along empty roads until nearly an hour had passed. When the recording finally resumed, her car was slowing before a pair of familiar gates.

Sam's family estate.

Claire stumbled out of the car and rushed through the entrance, barely keeping herself upright. Her face was swollen from crying, and her clothes were rumpled from the drive. A butler stood waiting in the entrance hall, his expression as calm as if nothing unusual had happened.

"I need to see Mr. Jason," Claire managed between sobs.

The butler regarded her without changing his expression. "Mr. Jason is currently at the island residence. You will need to return another time."

Claire stared at him, seemingly unable to believe what she had heard. She had driven there in tears, desperate for help, yet the man in front of her offered nothing beyond a polite refusal. He didn't ask what had happened, offer her a glass of water, or even show the slightest concern.

Mike's jaw tightened. He dragged the timeline forward again, impatient to see what happened next, but moved too far and skipped a section of the recording.

The image jumped, and a silver blade plunged into Claire's stomach.

Her body jerked as the knife pierced her clothes and flesh. For a moment, she seemed unable to understand what had happened. She looked down at the weapon buried in her abdomen, her eyes wide with disbelief, while blood spread across her shirt. Then she slowly raised her head.

Mr. Jason stood before her, one hand wrapped around the knife's hilt. He pulled it free, and Claire staggered backward, pressing a hand against the wound as her knees began to weaken.

Black windows flooded her vision, one appearing after another.

[CRITICAL INJURY DETECTED]

[Emergency Treatment Available]

[Use Healing Potion?]

[Contact Emergency Services?]

More notifications appeared, overlapping until they covered almost everything she could see. Claire didn't select a single option. She only stared at Jason, her lips parting as if she wanted to ask him why, but no words came out. Her knees finally gave way, and she collapsed onto the polished floor. Blood spread beneath her while the system windows continued flashing before her eyes.

Claire's gaze slowly lost its focus. Her fingers twitched against the floor, then went still. The light faded from her eyes, and the recording went black.

Mike stared at the empty display, his mouth dry and his breathing shallow. Sweat gathered along his forehead, and his palms had grown damp without him noticing. He had just watched Claire die, and the man who had killed her was Sam's father.

For several seconds, he couldn't move. Questions crowded his mind, each one leading to another. Why had Jason killed her? What had happened between Claire's arrival at the estate and that moment? Had she discovered something she wasn't supposed to know, or had she said something that made Jason see her as a threat? And what had happened to Sam?

Mike looked back at the interface and moved his finger toward the progress bar. He needed to see the missing footage, especially what had happened before Claire reached the estate and what had led Jason to kill her. The recording had shown him the end, but the reason behind it remained hidden.

Before he could rewind, a sharp knock rattled his bedroom door.

Mike jerked upright, making the bed creak beneath him. He turned toward the door, his heart still pounding from what he had just witnessed.

"Mike, come down. Mom's calling," Rem said from the other side, his voice casual and slightly annoyed.

Mike took a slow breath and forced himself to calm down. "Coming."

He turned back to the interface and quickly skimmed through the sections he had skipped, searching for anything that might explain what he had seen. The footage passed before his eyes, but nothing immediately stood out. With no time to investigate further, he closed the recording and dismissed the remaining windows. The blue displays vanished, leaving his room quiet once more.

Mike wiped his damp palms against his pants and stood. He would have to return to the recording later. Too many pieces were missing, and until he understood what had happened to Claire, he couldn't make sense of Jason's actions or the events that had led to her death.

He opened the door and stepped out.

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