---

The first to notice the anomaly was a small office in the Violet Barracks.

As usual, Doctor Yurik Pereira was engaged in discussions with Professor Albert and diligently reviewing various materials for a small research project when the sound of a dish breaking outside interrupted the experiment.

“What’s going on? No, oh my…”

As he opened the door, he was met with the sight of a girl writhing in pain.

The coffee and snacks that had been requested were scattered across the floor, and in the midst of it all, his secretary Violet was thrashing about with a face twisted in agony.

“Cough…ugh…”

The girl couldn’t even scream. The amplified pain piercing through her body rendered her voiceless.

Feeling the severity of the situation, Yurik hurriedly picked up Violet and ran.

“Professor Albert! Where are you? Call an ambulance right now!”

The Violets had collapsed. Those on standby and those covertly observing the situation outside the barrier all succumbed to the overwhelming chaos.

Inside the barrier, as the Third Clone, Room 2203, toppled over with a loud crash, Lucian, who had been lying down with earphones in, startled and checked on Violet.

Violet’s eyes were rolling back as she foamed at the mouth.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you? Are you okay? Damn it, this is insane… Sophie El!”

Nearby, Sophie El rushed over, examined Violet, and injected a recovery potion from her pocket, but it made no difference.

A baffled expression covered Violet’s face as she faced the unexpected situation.

“Why is this happening?… She shouldn’t be in this much pain!”

Pain spreads like a pandemic through the network. Outside the Exhibition Hall, the mass of Violets, who had deployed artillery and mortars and were waiting in the rear, collapsed amid the chaos.

Nearby the location where the barrier had been deployed, blood spewed from the mouths of waiting Violets.

They couldn’t endure the pain and bit their tongues.

“Emergency! Medical team needed! We have critical patients here…”

“Violet! Violet! Stay with me!”

“Ugh…ugh…”

As the convulsing and crying Violet lay there, Adela and Irene called for medical assistance.

A large quantity of painkillers and various recovery formulas were administered, but there was little improvement.

Those confronting Violet’s situation were at a loss for what to do.

What kind of pain could make a child as resilient as Violet tremble like this?

However, no one was as shocked as a girl from the dormitory who knew Violet well.

“Why isn’t this working! This can’t be happening…”

Daphne’s hand, holding her staff, trembled. Violet, with a towel in her mouth, had blood smeared around her lips.

It was due to having bitten her tongue right after the seizure began.

“Ugh, uaaaaah…”

Despite multiple attempts, the situation didn’t change. Violet merely curled up helplessly, shedding tears.

While she was frantically trying to think of a way to deal with this situation, the phone rang. Upon answering, Kalia’s urgent voice came through.

“Daphne! Daphne! Where are you? Hurry! Violet’s condition is strange! Right now—”

“Kalia! I’m doing my best here! Is it happening over there too?”

Daphne was flabbergasted to hear that Violet’s condition was bad on the other end.

“Wait a minute, is Violet there too? This is insane. Really… Oh, no. Wait a second!”

Just as the panicked Kalia was about to do something, the sound of gunfire echoed on the line.

At that moment, Daphne suddenly remembered that her friend had a history of self-harm.

While she felt distressed about her friend’s suffering, she pondered Violet’s abilities.

Pain distribution ability. Collective Consciousness network.

After urgently reaching out to all locations where Violet might be, she felt more certain about her suspicion.

“Irene! Where are you right now? Violet is—”

“Good timing. I was just contacting someone. Here it is…”

Just as Daphne was hurriedly getting in touch with someone else, Violet’s seizures abruptly ceased.

Violet, with her body soaked in sweat, managed to stand up, gasping for breath.

“Are you okay? Are you coming back to your senses?”

Ignoring her friend’s voice, Violet urgently pulled out a white bag from her pocket.

Then, before anyone could intervene, she stuffed it into her mouth.

“Violet! That’s—”

“Ughyaaaaah!”

**

I don’t know what those things are doing to me. One thing is clear.

The Violets at the scene were engulfed by tremendous pain.

The pain surged like a tsunami!

It hurts so much.

It’s terrible, I’m in pain, and it won’t go away! I want to die, but I can’t!

Daphne’s healing powers were utterly ineffective against this crushing level of suffering.

Fortunately, our Violet is an adaptive creature.

Even amid this ripping ordeal, she could quickly discern the source of the distress.

“Pain! Pain amplification! That’s what it’s called!”

“Ahh! Aahhh!”

Amid the Violets all screaming in the network, a memory surfaced.

What lingered in my mind were the mocking faces of a man and a woman before me.

Groaning, we pursued the source of the pain.

Surely, it must be transmitted to the Violets who were injured on site.

There’s only one way to solve the problem of pain.

Eliminate the source.

What is the source of the pain? Violet.

We will get rid of Violet!

“I’m dying! It hurts! I want to die!”

“Then let’s die!”

“I’m dying!”

We pulled our consciousness from our wounded bodies in an instant.

At the same time, one by one, we pulled the pin from the grenades we held in our mouths.

-Kaboom!

The wave of pain that had been crashing over us began to subside.

However, the residual pain continued to bounce around like a ping pong ball, flitting between the Violet Network.

Painkillers and recovery items were far too slow.

All that was left was extreme measures!

“Hey, the stuff we grabbed from the gang is still around, right?”

“Yeah, I’m eating it!”

The Violets pulled out bags of drugs and stuffed them into their mouths.

The rewards obtained from ambushing the Pinnacle Network to save Uncle Kalia long ago.

As the potent drugs spread, the thrill surged. In an instant, they became high, but thanks to that, their consciousness finally cleared.

The flood of information poured in from all directions.

“Are you okay? You’re not dying, right? Don’t commit suicide!”

“Ugh, yeah… I’m fine. Ugh…”

Thanks to Daphne’s re-treatment, the pain began subsiding a bit faster.

While I was sniffling from an unwanted ache, a shred of comfort emerged.

“Everyone is worried about us!”

However, it’s not over yet. Looking at my still-numb body, it was evident that the spell they cast was still in effect.

“…The reaction speed is quite fast.”

Before me stood a man and woman whose identities were unclear. As I slowly pieced together the memories, a name surfaced.

Familiar attire, an unforgettable strange atmosphere.

“…Unity Cult?”

“I didn’t expect anyone to remember us.”

The male side casually replied as if confessing.

My guess was right. They were definitely related to a cult group.

“You’ve come out of the binding quicker than I expected. But this is just the beginning.”

“What do you mean?”

I inadvertently blurted out a question due to my annoyance.

They were inspecting me like kids looking at toy store displays.

And just above their palms floated that strange symbol from before.

“You can’t possibly escape from here. It’s absurd to think you can fight us without a single scratch.”

I tried to chuckle at them, trying to back away. I had already devised a counterplan.

“Suicide will be the way out!”

But then the male snapped his fingers.

“Even if it’s without that girl?”

The walls silently rose to encircle us.

The Violets they were looking at were those trying to carry Levi away.

“I overheard your situation earlier; you seem pretty close. You wouldn’t abandon your friend, would you?”

Ah, what a predicament. A hostage!

“And, you foolish bug. Did you think what we amplified was limited to just ‘pain’?”

As the woman began to chant, we staggered under the torrent of sensations crashing down on us.

Wait, this is strange. It feels as if the entire world is pouring down on us.

Someone is forcing information into my mind as if they’re prying open my skull.

“Somatic sensations are just a part of the sense transmitted through the nerves. Evading injuries isn’t the end of it.”

I can feel it. The flow of air against my skin. It feels stuffy and suffocating, like someone is deliberately blocking my sinuses.

The scent of incense and dust, the heaviness.

Countless lights spiraling into my eyes.

“Show some respect. Your senses have been expanded to a level that your inferior kind cannot comprehend.”

What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this?

Even the slightest tingle and prickling of my skin begin to morph back into pain.

“Hey, I shouldn’t have taken the drugs!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

As the drug effects piled on, my vision turned dazzling, filled with shimmering colors like oil spilling over the surface of a calm sea.

I feel dazed.

“It’s too far away!”

And then I could see it.

Finally, I saw it.

Violet was rendered speechless, feeling as though she’d been hit on the head.

The amplified sensation was not only of the five senses.

Amid the trembling, I saw the flow and shape of Ether surrounding those things—

“Ugh, uaaaaah!”

“Not human!”

How can magical power move like that??

Just as I retrieved a setting from the game I had barely forgotten while swirling in the network, I heard Irene’s voice urgently calling out to me.

“-Violet? What’s going on in there? I’ll deploy immediately!”

-Our rescue team is already prepared for deployment! Hurry!”

No, no, they shouldn’t come.

That’s not a human. It’s a monster from another realm!

My friend’s voice echoed in my ear, and I gasped as I shouted.

“Stop! Don’t come in!”

“What? Why are you saying that?”

“It’s a monster! You’ll all die! Don’t come! Absolutely—”

Another sister in the Exhibition Hall seemed to sense something odd and quickly asked.

“What’s wrong? Violet, what did you see to say that?”

I struggled to shout.

“There’s a monster here! The leader of the beasts!”

The word barely left my lips when the staggering Violets crumpled under the unseen force and exploded in succession.

-Kaboom!

“Ugh! Uwaaaaah! Charge!”

“Levi! We have to get Levi out!”

We rushed in desperation.

To face an opponent we couldn’t beat.

 

---