My legs swelled as I screamed for help, yet I knew no one would answer.
When trying to pull my legs up, an intense pain shot through every fiber of my being.
Somehow, I managed to form a coherent sentence through sharp breaths and gasps.
"Hah, W-wait, I, I don't—have any...thing, hah—on me—"
Yet I had a feeling that he knew.
That he knew I didn't have anything on me.
Because just barely illuminated, I could make out his unnaturally stretched-out lips.
"Oh, I know. I know you don't have a single thing on you."
He lifted the plank back up again and playfully held it behind his neck and around his arms. Mocking me.
Though I couldn't have cared less about his mocking.
Should I just stall?...Grandma Guanhuai has to notice I've been gone soon, right?
But I couldn't just bet my life on chance.
This wasn't going to work.
I could feel the adrenaline slowly trickle away as the pains in my body started to become increasingly clear to me.
The man crouched down, finally reaching my level, but still high enough that I had to look up at him.
His once hooded face had now become as clear as ever.
His eyes were full of excitement, and his face contorted into a smile that showed every single tooth.
"Didn't I say how much I hate rich fucks like you?"
I couldn't help but think about how stupid everything was.
How I was getting punished for something I never even got to enjoy.
He walked over to my legs.
"...Hah...what, are you–AUGH—"
My entire body shook as he twisted my legs even further.
"STOP-"
I felt like I was fading in and out of consciousness.
Then I saw it.
His shadow on the ground, slowly lifting the plank right above my head.
My legs were completely paralyzed as I uselessly thrashed my arms around.
"W-WAIT, STOP, PLEASE!"
The plank came rushing down as everything flashed before me.
Like snippets of my true feelings unraveling right before my death.
....How cruel.
Would....would Grandma Guanhuai miss me?
What would be the expression on her face when she sees my lifeless corpse?
Who'll sell her potions then?
What about that waitress? Would anyone look for her?
I still had things I needed to do.
People that I need to see, need to talk to before I leave like this.
I hadn't even told that Granny yet...
...how she's someone I've started to care about.
...I
I don't want to die.
But none of those words came out of my mouth, no matter how much I meant them.
And even if I had, he would've just marveled at my pathetic pleas.
I shut my eyes.
.…..?
Right as the plank should've hit me, a powerful glow pierced through my eyelids.
A blinding light flashed through, and I could hear a loud grunt.
And just as quickly as it came, the light left...but it left something behind.
Dark scarlet smoke engulfed us, and I could no longer see the man.
"...What...what is that...?"
As the smoke slowly faded, something shiny poked out from the smoke.
A golden scale stood between the man and me.
There was this old, yet elegant wood as the middle support holding the weights, with small carvings engraved in it that I couldn't make out.
The scale was huge, seemingly able to fit an entire human on either side.
Just as the smoke parted, I saw the man glaring at me through the scale.
Shit!—I need to-
But the second the man lunged at me, the parted smoke reshaped itself into a bright scarlet light, quickly wrapping around the man.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS—WHAT DID YOU-"
The second every part of his body was covered by the light, his body seemed to shrink, like a black hole...then he was gone.
...W-what...what just happened?
He was gone, but I couldn't relax; in fact, I had tensed up even more.
I couldn't move.
Or maybe I was too scared to.
What if I move, and that thing takes me too?
And just as I thought that, the man had suddenly reappeared, but this time, he stood on one of the scales.
One side of the scale held the tied man, while the other had a small golden revolver neatly propped on a wooden stand.
....No...this can't be...
The deep red smoke engulfed us once again, but this time it formed a circle around everything and began taking on an almost humanoid form.
The red shadows mimicked a crowd of faceless people, with incoherent whispers filling the quiet alley.
I had seen a view like this once before.
A loud voice echoed through the air.
It felt like the voice was squeezing my heart as it spoke, as every tendon in my body felt like a string it was pulling.
Not a single sound came out of my body.
[ALL RISE. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF WEN IS NOW IN SESSION, THE HONORABLE JUDGE WEN PRESIDING.]
A blinding red light enveloped my right hand, forming a heavy gavel that I struggled to even hold.
The intense pain in my legs felt like miles away now.
And my legs...felt good?
It was like a surge of power filled through my body.
I was able to stand, perfectly fine!
This was Hanzhi's skill.
A skill that never actually made it in-game.
A skill that was hidden away from everyone.
And unsurprisingly, it was eerily similar to Wen Shouyi's skill.
From the deep red lights down to the court motifs.
An imitation of a courtroom with the user being the "executioner," but in Hanzhi's case, it seemed like he was the judge.
This was the Wen Household's speciality.
The House of order and judgment.
[THE SCALES HAVE SHIFTED; ALL WORLDLY KARMA NOW FALLS UNDER THE PURVIEW OF THE HONORABLE JUDGE WEN.]
"...Hah. Ah, hahahhahhah!"
I couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"YOU—WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?! WHAT IS THIS—"
He struggled against the golden chains around him, but the chains didn't budge.
"...That's weird. The gameplay should be a lot like Shouyi's, but I'm not getting any specific choice options to choose from."
"WHAT THE FU-"
"I guess that means I'll just have to make my own choices."
Looking at the setting, I'm a judge…and in games like these, anything I say goes, right?
...No, things couldn't be this easy.
"...I...I sentence you mercilessly for the attempted murder of Wen Hanzhi!"
I lifted the gavel and struck downwards.
Almost immediately, a loud bang erupted from the gavel, and the whisperings among the smoke intensified.
Then, everything was silent.
It seemed like a decision had been made.
Numbers appeared on the top of the scale as the side the man was on went down a little.
25-0
"...."
I have to tip the scale all the way down, don't I?
I lifted the gavel again, but it wouldn't budge.
...huh?
A figure slowly appeared between the man and me...and it started speaking.
[It was done righteously in the name of subduing a known drunkard, as shown in the fact that my client only inflicted harm on the non-lethal parts of the body.]
The scale churned, slightly tilting to the other side.
25-10
"...HAH! PROVES YOU RIGHT, YOU FUCK!"
"What?"
Why had the scale moved? It just lied? I wasn't a drunkard, and it was obvious he had murderous intent...
But...
Hanzhi was a well-known drunkard and a pretty violent person. It didn't matter that I wasn't the one who had done it.
...It specifically said known drunkard, not that I was actually drunk in the moment...which means it still has to say factual information, even if it means twisting it.
The gavel in my hands became lighter, seemingly saying that it was ready again.
...I need more information; this isn't enough.
"He attempted to rob Wen Hanzhi, and while attempting to do so, inflicted violence upon him. This wasn't his first offense."
This time, it almost felt like the gavel was lifting itself up, and as the bang echoed throughout the court, the numbers shifted once again.
35-10
The scales shifted even further.
[The prosecution claims robbery; however, no property was successfully taken. Therefore, the charge remains incomplete, with the intent unproven. Along with that, the victim actively struggled against my client, escalating the situation even further than it should have.]
Mechanical cogs churned once again.
35-17
Through everything, I had realized something.
The bigger the crimes, the bigger the weight.
And the more challenging something was to defend...the better for me.
"He intentionally disfigured Wen Hanzhi, evident from the wooden plank he used as a weapon. This was a planned assault, which was proven to be successful."
It was a piece of irrefutable evidence.
I looked up to see twenty-five more points being added to the tally.
60-17
This time, the faceless smoke stood for a while, as if thinking on his next words.
[...Again, the victim's injuries were non-lethal, and the escalation was mutual. This was not premeditated, but instead, situational.]
60-20
The number only went up by three points.
...Did the points added get lower because the defendant only restated his original points?-
The numbers on the scale shone brightly before disappearing into the scale.
A loud, unwavering voice was heard once again, putting my body in a state of paralysis.
[FINAL JUDGEMENT. THE DEFENDANT IS CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED THEFT, ATTEMPTED MURDER, AND AGGRAVATED BATTERY. THE SCALE HAS WEIGHED YOUR SOUL, AND OF ALL CRIME YOU ARE GUILTY OF.]
"... Everything's already over..?"
"HEY, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS HAPPENING..."
The gavel in my hands turned into an even heavier revolver that once sat on one side of the scales, and the man now stood bound, right in front of me.
[PRAY FATE BRINGS YOU MERCY, FOR THIS COURT HAS NONE.]