(W-why is Rush here…!? Did he survive…!?)
Zenon was shaken by the arrival of an enemy character that should not be there, a black crab monster with whom he had a history.
His casual attitude from just a few seconds ago was completely gone, and he was in a state of half panic.
Why did this monster armor beast appear instead of the Toad Stinger? Did some sort of change happen to the event again?
The situation changed completely from one he understood perfectly, as Melt and the others were just as, if not more confused and shaken. As Zenon’s hanger-ups saw the black crab monster armor beast, an uproar broke out around him.
“W-what’s that thing…!? I’ve never seen that!”
“Is that the thing controlling the villagers…?”
“It’s all right! We have Mister Zenon with us! I’m sure he can beat it!”
“T-that’s right! Let’s leave it to him!”
“Uu…!?”
Zenon let out a pained groan, as he felt the expectant eyes around him.
He did just step in front of them confidently, and told them to leave it to him. There was no way he could say he did not want to fight that crab.
He did not expect that to happen, and as he felt bewildered by this development he did not see coming, he readied his weapon.
But the tip of the sword pointing at the monster armor beast was trembling a little, and it was clear he was feeling an intense fear.
(T-the sword doesn’t work against that thing. The shell is too tough, so it’s just going to bounce off like last time. What about fire magic? But crabs are aquatic creatures, right? Aren’t they resistant to fire!?)
The more he thought about how to defeat that monster armor beast, the more his thoughts were dragged in a negative direction.
They were carved into his instincts. The fear of the crab, along with the pain, distress, and despair from when Rush beat him. Those memories were all carved deep into his heart, and could not be cleared away.
Even when people played games for fun, there were most likely enemy characters with such fiendish abilities, that it could be said they traumatized players.
And much like how players agreed they did not want to fight certain enemies again, Zenon’s was the monster armor beast standing before him.
Also, there was something else he was not conscious of. In this world, the fights he experienced… Were not like a game. Being hit hurt. He bled. He could die.
Even if it was a world just like the one in Luminous History, actually being in it meant that it was completely different from pushing buttons in a safe place.
He pretty much did not understand that the one being hurt, the one whose life was in danger, was the main character Zenon, and Haino Seto.
“Uu, ah, u, uah…!?”
It was not just elation and excitement he could feel, but also negative things like pain and fear.
When Zenon was finally made aware of this, it was all too late.
“Ash, watch out!”
“Uaaaaaah!?”
Melt called out to Zenon, but his body had stiffened, as he watched the monster armor beast that was right in front of him at that point.
His mind was so consumed by fear, that he pretty much could not see the enemy moving. He just sort of fell into the status condition known as fear all on his own, and could not move, even as a swing of the claw threw him to the ground.
“Agah, gah…!? N-no! No…!!”
He remembered the fear from when Rush beat him. The fear that he would die. The despair born from thinking he would be killed.
As Zenon laid on the ground, flashing back to that humiliation and fear, he completely fell into a state of panic.
“Gigi, gi, giiih…”
“Gueh!? Guuh! Agah!?”
His body was stomped, much like what Rush did.
Again, again, again, again… None of the students tried to help, as that trauma was being dug up. As if stamping him again and again to make sure the stamp was perfect.
By the time one of them, Melt, fired magic energy blades to help him, Zenon’s heart was completely broken.
He laid languid with hollow eyes, as the crazed people crowded around him and threw him into the approaching red mist.
“Ash…!”
Melt was taken aback by Zenon’s all too sudden defeat, but all the other students were even worse than her.
Zenon, who they elevated as their leader, who seemed so reliable, was so easily defeated and taken out of the scene. They fell into panic.
“U-uwah!? They got Zenon! We’re done for!!”
“It’s over! It’s over for us!”
“E-everyone! Calm down! Calm down, we still have plenty of people who can fight! If we work together, we can fight as we retreat…”
Melt’s voice echoed in the night, as she tried to calm her panicked colleagues.
But no one listened, as everyone did their own thing, and the situation got even worse.
“Help! Help!”
“I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!!”
Some cried while attempting to flee, and tripped and fell.
Some simply wailed and did nothing, as the crazed people swarmed them and caught them.
Melt could only watch as one by one, they were all thrown into the mist, and she shook her head when her mental state was reaching a breaking point.
“What should I do…? At this rate we…”
Would be wiped out. Just as she was about to say that, the crab monster armor beast raised its claw to attack her.
Melt reacted a moment too late, but she quickly took a defensive position, when the old lady used the nata knife and attacked the monster armor beast.
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The difference between Zenon and Yuugo is that Zenon thinks that real world doesnt apply and thinks that he is still in a video game, meanwhile Yuugo expects that he can still be beaten up and die because like in Tokusatsu, you can really die like what happened in Ryuuki, Faiz, Kabuto and Kiva
Zenon got his reality check too late, by the time Rush first beat him, he was already overconfident on his protagonist status. The fact he didn’t reflect on himself doesn’t help either.