“Say WHAT?!” Shun peeked his head out of the window and immediately recoiled at the raw sight before the carriage.

 

Everywhere.

 

No matter where he looked, there were people everywhere. Crying for their loved ones. Screaming for help. Begging for mercy and salvation. The frenzied cacophony of voices and wails that heralded the Kingdom’s demise deafened him. 

 

While he was frozen in shock, Rya looked out of the window too and was rendered utterly speechless by the gut-wrenching scene.  

 

“Sir, w-w-what should we do?” The coachman turned to Shun with a frightened expression. 

 

What should we do? Did you just ask me what should we do? He looked at the coachman with sheer incredulity. O-oi, you are joking, right? RIGHT? Do I look like the President of the United States to you? Can you not see that I am about to f*cking lose my sh*t here?!

 

“Mister!” A woman shouted agitatedly when she suddenly caught sight of the carriage behind. “Mister, please, save my child! Please, I’m begging you!”

 

W-wait, this just got from bad to worse. 

 

At least a dozen more people suddenly came running forward, each trampling over the other in their frantic stampede. 

 

“Sire, take me with you!”

 

“Give mercy! We’re just common folks who are innocent!”

 

“Open the door, please! Please, let us escape!” 

 

The distressed coachman began to yell and chase them away, but his shouts fell on deaf ears. 

 

A man tried to force his way in through the carriage, causing Rya to scream in terror. “S-Shun!” 

 

“GET OUTTTT!!” He pushed the man away forcefully—but even more were trying to climb onto the sides and banging their fists on the door. Behind him, he could hear Rya whimpering in fear as the entire carriage shook violently.

 

Holy f*ck, I’m seriously going to die here if I don’t do something. Shun glanced down and realized that the big sack on the floor was still half-full. Wait, maybe...

 

He bent down and began rummaging through it hastily. “Sh*t, isn’t there anything useful?” Something like a horn, siren, anything loud—  

 

His hand froze on the impossible sight tucked all the way down the bag. 

 

The clean, polished surface of the wooden stock reflected his wide eyes. Its pitch-black steel barrel gleamed brightly despite the darkness.

 

“E-eh?!” Rya stammered when she saw the rifle he just pulled out. “Shun, what is that?”

 

“A simple bolt-action rifle that uses 7.7mm cartridges.” He adjusted his grip, feeling the satisfying grainy texture of the stock in his hand. “One of my favorite weapons when it comes to FPS games.” 

 

“Huh??” 

 

I guess she won’t understand what I just said. This is something that the irresponsible Goddess definitely prepared just for me, after all. 

 

Shun quickly opened the chamber and glanced inside. 

 

Five bullets...I see, they’re all blanks. Well, I wouldn’t be comfortable with real bullets either.

 

He stood up, keeping his balance on the unsteady carriage floor. “Oi, Mr. Coachman! Can you hear me?”

 

“Yes, sir!” A muffled voice came from the front. 

 

“Listen—I’m going to clear a path now. I need you to step on the gas once I do so!” 

 

“Step on the…? You mean, to accelerate?”

 

“YES!” Shun flung the door open and faced the crowd of people encircling the carriage. 

 

Sorry, guys. Dying in a political revolution isn’t my cup of tea either. 

 

He gritted his teeth and cocked the rifle. The bolt sprang back with a loud metallic clang. 

 

Rya grabbed onto his back suddenly. “Wait, Shun, what are you doing?!” 

 

“Rya, trust me on this.” He took her quivering hand and squeezed it before letting go. “I need you to close your eyes and cover your ears. Right now.” 

 

“O-okay?”

 

He pointed the rifle to the heavens. 

 

The next moment, the air itself shattered with an ear-splitting crack. 

 

As if on cue, the surroundings fell silent all at once. Everyone outside just stared at him in sheer shock; they were simply unable to process what had just happened. To them, it was as though the young soldier had just summoned a deafening crack of thunder out of nowhere.

 

Shun pointed the smoking gun in their faces and grinned. “Next time, I won’t miss.”

 

Three. The people closest to him began to step back, utterly frightened by the unknown weapon. Two. A few onlookers at the edge of the crowd began to run away hastily. One. 

 

The woman who first saw him screamed in horror. “Everyone, RUN!”

 

“GO, GO, GO!!!” he shrieked at the stunned coachman. 

 

“Y-yes!”

 

The carriage jerked forward, nearly causing him to lose his grip on the door handle. Anyone directly in the path frantically jumped to the sides as the carriage forced its way forward at a tremendous speed.

 

“MAKE WAY, PEOPLE!” With his ears ringing crazily, Shun methodically pushed the bolt forward and fired two consecutive blank shots into the air. “WE HAVE A PRINCESS TO SAVE!!”

 

The howling wind lashing at his face faded. The screams and panicked yells melted into the background. The passing buildings became a blur.

 

A nostalgic sensation suddenly welled up within him which he hadn’t felt since waking up in this world. I remember now. This is why I bought this game in the first place.

 

I was bored to death. No games that I played excited me anymore. It was just the same few maps, the same old teams, the same old meta weapons that I used to win the match. So when I saw the early reviews of this game, I immediately wanted to play it. I was hoping that its continually-updating maps will satisfy my desire of overcoming harder and harder challenges. 

 

Yet, this world was so uninteresting to the point that I hated every aspect of this second life. I didn’t care at all about anyone or anything. I didn’t want to spend my days stuck in a military barrack doing nothing but to listen to the orders of others. But I thought I had no choice. I thought that this was it. 

 

So I simply went with the flow of things. 

 

But, I feel differently about this world now. I have a purpose in this life. I can sense every emotion that surges within me. I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins.  

 

I can now live for the sake of myself.

 

Emptying his mind of any unnecessary thoughts, Shun did what he always did best in high-stakes situations like this—enter the zone and focus solely on the task of ensuring that nothing, not even the Goddess herself, can stop this carriage.

 

Wait. Did I just trigger a death flag?

 

“They are from the Palace!” someone yelled from behind him as the carriage thundered through the sea of people. 

 

The low wail of a blow horn reverberated across the tumultuous city, immediately alerting the Pacifists to their escape.  “All men, to the south! CAPTURE THE PRINCESS!!”

 

Unknown: Irelena-senpai, please stop playing and start doing your job...your reincarnation subject is in trouble, you know?

Goddess: Wait, I have to get Kokomi first~!