"Ha," I exhaled, dropping to my knees.
It hurt.
Not the kind of pain that could be ignored, not the sharp sting of a wound or the dull ache of exhaustion. This was the kind that settled deep, crawled into your bones, refused to leave.
The kind that overshadowed everything else.
The pain of losing her.
The pain of losing something you cared about more than yourself.
The pain of being powerless.
That was why I swore to get stronger when I came to this world. Not just because I knew the future, not just because I had the advantage of foresight.
No, it was more than that.
It was excitement.
Because in a world like this, with mana and monsters and limitless potential, it was possible.
In my old world, no matter how intelligent I was, no matter how many plans I devised, there had always been limits. I could run. I could outthink. I could survive. But I could never win.
Not against the world.
Not against the machine of power that crushed people like me without a second thought.
