Kyle froze.
It wasn't just him. Everyone else in the room froze upon seeing the words on Seth's phone.
[Kill me]
What sort of...
'Are you mad?!'
Kyle almost found himself shouting while glaring at the smiling Seth. How could he remain so calm in such a situation? No, why was he even smiling at the prospect of dying? Kyle was well aware of Seth's personality.
He was the last person that he'd think would ever want to die.
He was that much of a coward.
This request made no sense to him. It was completely different from the Seth he knew and understood. He had noticed the changes before, but tried to brush them away, but he could no longer do that.
The current Seth...
He was behaving way too strangely.
'Did he get possessed? Why is he even doing this? I don't understand at all!'
Despite Kyle's best attempts at keeping a calm and rational mind, he found that he couldn't.
Seth... He was really going to be the death of him.
Nonetheless, no.
'I'm not going to kill you.'
Kyle shook his head while staring at Seth.
However, Seth remained where he was, staring at him with the same smile. That was when Kyle thought back to all his previous thoughts.
'Wait a second...'
Seth was a coward, yes.
He was one of the biggest cowards that he knew.
He was the last person who would suggest something dangerous. In that case, the meaning of his words wasn't exactly as he meant them?
Kyle's mind started to churn.
"I think now that he's gone, we should be able to speak again."
Hearing Seth's voice, almost by instinct, Kyle found himself opening his mouth to speak. Thankfully, Kyle was quick to notice the situation as his mouth hastily shut.
Unfortunately...
"I-is he really—Akh!"
A sudden scream tore through the room as Kyle's head jerked to the right. There, he saw Ryan, one of the recruits sent with him, suddenly twist in agony, his arm snapping unnaturally as a tall, shadowy figure materialized behind him.
'When!?'
CRACK!
With another crack, his other arm snapped in half, and so did his legs as his body fell limply onto the floor, his face slowly withering like the others in the past.
The process was so quick and sudden that the others struggled to comprehend the sight before them.
By the time they did, their entire bodies stiffened.
"He's not here... We can speak now."
Seth's voice echoed again. This time, however, everyone saw the Twisted Man move its lips, looking around as though it was mocking them.
"...He's not here. Speak."
Its lips pulled further into its top hat, sending chills down the spines of Zoey, Kyle, and Raymond.
Along with Seth, it was just the three of them...
'This is bad. Really bad.'
Kyle could feel the sweat pooling down the side of his face as he desperately looked around. As he did, Seth's words replayed in his mind.
'Kill me.'
Kyle hurriedly shook his head.
No, fuck that! Anything but that. It was just Seth being crazy.
There was no guarantee that it would work.
Plus, he was never going to kill Seth. He quickly brushed the thought away and tried to think of another way, but his mind was blank. Regardless of how much he tried to think, he couldn't think of anything.
The same appeared to be true for Zoey and Raymond as the two desperately looked around the room.
'Reinforcements should be coming soon. I know the Guild is aware of the situation, but I don't know exactly when they will come, or if there have been any changes above. I need to find a way to drag time. I—'
Kyle paused again.
His mind once again turned back to Seth's words.
His chest churned, but then...
'Seth is a coward. He's a coward.'
He would never suggest something dangerous.
That was unless...
'There's more to his words than I know. But 'kill me' is pretty straightforward. What could he want? How can I kill him without killing him? No, is that even a thing? His heart would need to stop and—Eh?'
Kyle's thoughts paused for a moment.
He suddenly thought about Seth's words, and things that would make one be considered dead.
That'd be...
Stoppage of the heart.
For one to be considered dead, the heart would need to stop.
All of a sudden, Kyle's mind started to churn. He started to think about the smile on Seth's face and his words.
His brows slowly started to widen as he looked towards Seth, who was staring back at him calmly. He seemed to be waiting for him to get it, and the moment their eyes met, Seth nodded.
Typing something onto his phone again before showing it to him.
[Stop my heart. Once the Twisted Man deems me dead, the game will stop. I am supposed to be the final target. Once he leaves, collect my body and leave.]
Kyle bit his lip, taking out his own phone and typing.
[But what if the Twisted Man doesn't leave you even after you're dead? What then...?]
Seth paused, looking at the message.
Then...
With a smile, he started writing again.
[Leave me.]
Kyle's mouth opened, but he stopped right after as he looked at the Twisted Man.
Then, clenching his teeth, he glared at Seth.
[You know I can't do that. I won't leave you.]
[...The reinforcements will come. You can leave me. They'll take me back.]
Kyle began to type on the phone again, but as he typed the message, he found himself deleting it before rewriting it again and deleting it again.
Regardless of the many times he wrote the message, he found himself deleting it over and over again.
He knew that he didn't have much time at his disposal.
That every little second mattered.
...And in the end, he could only put his phone away and look towards Zoey and Raymond. In the end, he nodded.
'Okay.'
The Twisted Man was an incredibly tricky monster.
It had all sorts of tricks and ways to make someone fall for its devious plots. Kyle was sure it had more up its sleeve. So many had already died. He couldn't afford to have more dying.
Seth's plan was the only one that seemed to work.
Even if it somehow failed, and Seth was wrong about the criteria of the game ending, Kyle didn't think there'd be any harm to them so long as they remained quiet.
'Right, even if I can't bring him back with me, the reinforcements will be. This is the best way to do this.'
Kyle was quick to make up his mind.
His face grew calm, and his heart started to relax.
Although he was still on the fence about the plan, he knew that this was their best shot at freedom.
For that reason, after taking a deep breath, Kyle turned to face Seth and extended his hand in his direction.
The nodes in his mind started to churn, his mind prickling as he focused his attention on Seth's body.
Kyle had several nodes, all of which were from the Temporal Decree. He could control time, and as he stared at Seth, he used his most powerful node.
[Intermediate Node : Time Freeze]
In that moment, Seth's entire body froze completely.
Be it his heart, his organs, or even his brain. Everything froze at once.
And with that...
Thud!
His body turned to the side, producing a muffled sound as the Twisted Man's attention turned towards Seth.
Staring in the direction of the Twisted Man, Kyle held his breath.
Was this going to work?