Disclaimer: All characters and game elements belong to NetEase. I own nothing but a will to write.
At the sound of glass cracking, the world around her shifts, sending her to a place she's never been to before.
Helena trembles, both in anticipation and anxiety. Her first match, finally—the start of her struggle towards the promised reward.
The moment she entered the manor, no, the moment she received that letter, she knew that her life would never be the same again. It was such a delicious temptation, enough to lure her insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge into a place farther than she's ever been away from home. The owner of the manor had offered her something no one with reason would've refused—a chance to make her one dream come true. Even the others are guilty of this; everyone came here for that sole purpose.
But little did anyone know that the host had planned a special game for them—one that nobody knows if it has an ending. A game of survival—four survivors versus one hunter—that they would have to repeat endlessly until a winner is proclaimed.
Of course, Helena complied. Everyone did. She wanted to go to university and get a college degree more than anything. Even if everything else in her screamed for her to run and escape, she held fast to her wish and accepted the challenge.
The young woman shakes her head to clear those thoughts away. If she wants to really win, she has to focus on what she has to do.
Her blindness did little to deter her from seeing the world. There is darkness everywhere, but there is also light where the sound waves of her tapping reach, illuminating her vision for a moment as she moves about. Even in this game, she is as functional as a normal person as long as she moves. Actually, even more so, as the game grants them a mystical ability to see important things in the match—fellow survivors, cipher machines, treasure boxes, and hunters. She doesn't exactly know how it works, but she's grateful for the temporary insight.
She finds the nearest cipher machine and starts working. Typing out words that don't make sense to her, she churns out all the strength she has in her nimble fingers. Her teammates have entrusted her with the task of decoding and decoding she shall do for the rest of the match.
The sound of a shutter closing rings around the arena, halting Helena in her movements. She's heard that sound before, from a camera taking a picture of her not too long ago. Did the manor owner hire a photographer to document their game? She stomps her cane against the ground, searching for the extra person, but surprisingly, finds the five of them missing one. She sees her fellow survivors, but not the hunter. Shuddering at the prospect that the hunter might be immune to her ability, she moves away from the cipher to find another one farther away from the box-like object standing near.
A few moments pass without much incident and the woman smiles as her decoding progress is nearing its limit. Her blindness has sharpened her other senses, giving her an edge in decoding without much trouble in triggering calibrations. However, the darkness enveloping her while she works is unsettling and scary. She always looks behind her back, wary of danger.
Helena has just finished her first cipher when she hears the clear sound of a bell in the distance, signifying damage inflicted on a teammate. She looks up, catching the briefest lighted glimpse of her injured comrade and the pursuing enemy and trembling in fear; it's the hunter.
She has never seen a hunter up close. The ones in the tutorials that they had to undergo weren't really active, if they were even in the match at all. But from what she's heard from the others, they were all cruel monsters who'd jump at every opportunity to catch and eliminate survivors. The thumping of her heart would alert her if they are near in which case, they advised her to run as fast as she could.
So, she runs away until she finds another survivor working on another cipher. When the loud bell rings again as the Female Dancer falls to the ground, The Mind's Eye has just started to work on the machine, missing the calibration mark in shock. The Gardener beside her stops as well, reassuring her that she will go and save the victim.
"Just focus on decoding, Helena. Leave the rescuing to us," Emma says cheerfully, tapping her shoulder before leaving.
"Alright," Helena replies as she waves at the fearless girl who always smiles even in the face of danger.
She does as she's told, continuing to work while keeping her eyes on the bright figures in the distance. Both Emma and Vera, another teammate, went to rescue Margaretha, disorienting the hunter who tries to hit the injured survivor but ends up hitting one of the rescuers instead; it's purely chaotic that's for sure. Helena can't help but feel envious of their teamwork, wishing that she herself can work with others like that instead of just being left alone in the background. But she humbly accepts the role, knowing that if she were to try to be anything else, she'd be a burden.
Vera comes stumbling to her, panting after running from the hunter who was thankfully intercepted by Emma. The effect of Last Effort finally wears down, sending the Perfumer down to the ground as soon as Helena sees her in her limited view.
"Vera! Let me heal you." Helena comes to her aid quickly, applying the special healing bandage.
"Thank you…" is the weary reply.
Even though Helena has never been struck before, it doesn't require much effort to see how painful it must be. She thinks that allowing two hits before being incapacitated is a little too generous, as she feels that one hit will be all that her frail body can endure. The lack of blood relieves her a bit, however, as she doesn't want her clothes to be ruined.
After healing her teammate, she returns to the machine which only needs another second of attention before lighting up in completion. Helena stomps her cane on the ground to see the others, who are not too far from where they are. It is confusing to her that now she can see the hunter whereas she hasn't been able to before.
"What was that? Is that your special ability?" Vera asks, amazed at seeing the others as well.
"Yes," Helena affirms, "I'm blind, but I can temporarily see with my cane. However, it lets the hunter know where I am as well, so I just use it after I finished my decoding."
Helena swells with pride at her strategy, knowing that she is helping others in her own way. Despite the danger that it entails, she feels more like she's part of the game.
"Wow…" the older woman says. "I never would've guessed that you're blind, since you are so fast in decoding. But we have to get out of here now, the hunter's coming this way!"
"Right behind you!" Helena exclaims as she follows Vera who runs to another cipher machine, the last one they'll need to finish.
Helena feels hope bubbling up within her; they could win this match! But as if to dash her newfound hope, the two other survivors fall down almost simultaneously, the loud bell tolling the inevitable outcome. She stops decoding, considering to go and try to rescue them along with Vera, but the other lady halts her thoughts with a command.
"Just focus on decoding. I'll rescue them," admonishes the Perfumer. "If he gets all three of us, you find the dungeon and escape."
"What? But I want to help! I can distract the hunter while you save them!" the blind woman retorts.
"No, Helena. You stay here and finish the cipher. No matter what happens, don't risk yourself. You have to escape," Vera says finally as she holds Helena by the shoulders, staring through her black veil and into the latter's unseeing eyes.
It hurts deeply to be told that she doesn't need to do anything else—that nobody expects more from her—as if she were a child: too young and helpless. But it cannot be denied. No one—except from her beloved father and herself—believes in her.
She sighs, casting down her head to hide her glazed eyes. "I understand… Take care, Vera."
"You, too, Helena," the woman bids her goodbye as she disappears from view.
Helena wants to prove everyone wrong about her abilities. But this game requires teamwork and cooperation. The least she can do is do her part in the background. So, with a firm resolve, she continues decoding even as the Perfumer falls victim and the other two near their elimination. She wants to help them, but she this is the best she can do. Despite the conflict within her, she sticks to the machine, its electrical whirring giving her a semblance of stability and safety from the horrors in this game she'll have to repeat endlessly.
"Get out of here!" "Don't rescue me!" they order, and Helena feels ashamed at herself for being too weak to save them.
"Sorry…" is all she can reply as she watches them fly off in the sky one by one. As the last of her teammate disappears, Helena pops the final cipher machine, triggering the loud blaring sounds of the Exit Gates.
With nothing else but strength and determination carrying her through, she bolts straight towards the nearest Gate—the location of which she already knows as opposed to the dungeon's which changes—praying that the hunter would instead go to the other one and just leave her be. With all the guilt she has to endure, she's certain that any more pain would break her down. It's one thing to fail on her own, but to fail in spite of others helping her—it almost makes her wish she hasn't joined in the first place.
Once again, Helena shoves away such thoughts to the back of her mind. She won't let their sacrifice go to waste. She has to escape.
Just a few more meters, just a few more steps and she'll reach the threshold. Just a little more…
As the large metal doors appear in her view, a strange blur emerges beside the Gate, making her heart skip a whole beat.