Encouraging these bad men to reflect on their actions~☆

That girl was just another prey who'd stumbled their way into alley.

Prey. That's what she was supposed to be. Just scare her a little, make her leave some money—maybe even play around with her a bit. After all, getting to mess around with someone like me? She'd probably enjoy it too.

So when I approached her with that running through my head—

"Ugh, this routine is getting old. You guys following a script or something? Just come at me already, you losers."

"You little—! I'll kill you and play with your corpse!"

"Oh nooo, I'm sooo scared! I might just pee myself!"

She laughed mockingly as she said that.

I couldn't take it. I was thinking of keeping her as a pet or something since she looked decent enough — but screw that. I'm gonna kill her!

I swung the wooden plank I was holding at her, and—

CRACK—it shattered.

It felt like I had slammed it into a massive rock. My hands went numb from the recoil.

"Wh… huh?"

"Aaaand that's a textbook case of self-defense!"

"Y-you… what are you—?"

Just as that thought hit me, my entire view turned pitch black.

The lights were gone, and suddenly it felt like we were in some wide-open space under the starry sky.

"W-what the hell!?"

"What is this!? What did you do to us!?"

"Huh!? Wait… damn, that you, Brad?"

There were others around me.

As my eyes adjusted, I saw familiar faces—guys I sorta recognized—and realized we were in some sort of ruined building. What was this place?

Then, suddenly, only the area around us lit up. We squinted against the light.

Some kind of light magic? This little patch looked like broad daylight.

"Okay, everyone, attention pleeease~!"

"Huh!? You're— wha…?"

We turned toward the voice. It was definitely the same girl I'd tried to pick up earlier.

She was floating in mid-air with nothing underneath her.

 

 

"What… the fuck did you do to us!? My legs—they won't move! Guh—!"

I tried to rush at her to punch her, but my legs were stuck like they were nailed to the floor. Even my upper body and my fingers were completely frozen.

Only my head could move.

"What the hell is this!? Help! Somebody!"

"This is BS! The hell's going on!?"

"Nooo! Why!? Help me, brooo!"

Not a single guy in the ruined building could move—we were just screaming and panicking.

"Okay, so now, everyone's going to fight to the death—just kidding! Ahem. Do you~ believe in God~?"

What? The hell is she talking about?

Everyone here was probably thinking the same thing.

"God is very angry. Because you guys are bad people. Weren't you taught not to bother others, hmm~?"

"Shut up already—!"

"You're the one bothering us right now—!"

"So this is your doing, huh!? I'm gonna ki—!"

Then, one by one, their voices started cutting out like someone hit mute.

"God's been watching you people like it's a comedy show. Wondering how best to punish you all… And that's where I come in!"

She tapped her thumb against her chest. Crazy woman.

I wanted to laugh it off—but this was just too unreal.

One second we were in an alley, the next in this wreck of a building. Just by blinking, we were transported. If that's not divine intervention, what is? Could it be… the real deal?

"Now then! Time for a teensy bit of punishment! If you're ready to repent, just raise your hand! We'll keep going until everyone confesses and promises to turn themselves in. Group responsibility, folks!"

"Huh?"

The moment she said that, all of us started floating off the ground.

We were flying—no, being shot into the sky at high speed.

Then our bodies twisted to face the ground.

We were so high up. The ground down below was brightly lit like it was daytime—we could clearly see how far we had risen.

It was like being a bird—until we realized the ground was rushing up to meet us.

We were falling!!!

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"GYAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"

"WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA DIIIIE!!"

Wind blasted against our bodies. The pitch-black ground drew closer fast. Just as we were about to crash—

Screech! We stopped. Just a finger's width from hitting the ground.

"H-huh…? Wha?"

Sweat poured out of me.

I really thought I was gonna die. Maybe I did?

"Sooo~ Feeling sorry yet? … Hmm? I can't hear you! One more tiiime!"

"W-wait… huh!?"

The ground shrank away again. We were being lifted back up.

"E… eh?"

Once we reached the same height as before—

DOWN we went again!

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"I-I'M SORRY! I'M REALLY, REALLY SORRY!! I'LL TURN MYSELF IN!!!"

Wham—stop! Right before the ground again.

Okay. That… that was rough. But maybe if I knew it would stop, I could survive this.

"AAAGHH, MY ARM!!! IT'S BROKEN!!"

"Whoops, my bad! I slipped! Let me fix that for ya~"

"GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! … Huh? Eh? It's… healed?"

"Yup, all fixed! That was exhausting. If I mess up a few more times, I won't be able to fix it again, so you better repent before that happens~!"

… So yeah. These death-defying punishment drops? Not totally safe I guess.

"I-I'm sorry! I'll confess! I'll turn myself in!"

"Me too! Help me, please!!"

"Aww, good boys! But not everyone said it, so… one more time! Let's gooo!"

And off we go, ascending again.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

"MOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!"

"… … … …"

"H-hey. Someone passed out, didn't they?"

"Crap. She said we'd keep going until everyone repents…"

"Wait! If someone's unconscious, does that mean it'll never end!?"

After that, we kept diving again and again until sunrise—until every single one of us shouted "I'm sorry! I'll turn myself in!" in unison.

Even a second out of sync? Back up we went. One more set.

We were all soaked in piss and shit, in the most humiliating state imaginable.

—But in the end, no one died. No one even got seriously hurt.

"Alright, alright, good job repenting! Phew, night's over and I'm finally getting sleepy. I was this close to just letting go of all of you. Way more hassle than I expected."

Absolutely terrifying. And with that cheerful remark, we found ourselves dumped outside the town of Solasidor.

"Don't tell anyone about me, got it? I remember all your faces. Dismissed!"

We staggered away, crying in relief that we were finally released.

"Oh, wait—one more round?"

""""" WE'RE SORRYYYYYYYY!!! WE'LL CONFESS!!!! """""

Perfectly synchronized, hands up in surrender.

"Tch. Fine. Now it's dismissal for real. But if even one of you doesn't turn yourselves in, or leaves anything out… I'll abduct you again. You'll confess not only your own sins, but everything you know about your buddies too. Got it?"

We heard her click her tongue and hammer in that last warning.

Needless to say, we didn't even stop to clean ourselves up—we RAN to confess.

If anyone had tried to run, we were ready to drag them back by the neck—

—but thankfully, we were all thinking the same thing.