I was thrown backward with the door, and before Augustus could get close to me, I grabbed onto the faucet to stand up. But I accidentally turned it on. Great. Now I was wet, but at least I was on my feet.
I thought fast. No one was coming to help me anymore. At that moment, the showerhead caught my attention, and a plan formed in my mind.
Augustus charged at me like a bull that had broken free, swinging his palm toward my head with all his strength. I quickly threw myself to the side. He snarled at me as if he wanted to tear me apart.
"STOP RUNNING, YOU COWARDLY RAT!"
And he lunged at me again.
At the last moment, I slipped between his legs and dashed toward the showerhead. He turned to face me, and right then, I blasted his face with scalding hot water.
A scream of agony filled the room. His face turned bright red. On his already dark complexion, the burn looked almost unnatural.
Without wasting a second, I jumped onto Augustus's back while he was hunched over in pain. I wrapped the shower hose around his throat and started to strangle him. The boiling water was still pouring down on us.
Then, his Rune of Restoration glowed, and all his burns began to heal. It was as if time itself had reversed.
With a sudden burst of strength, he grabbed the hose and ripped it apart. His throat bled at first, but then, just like before, the wound sealed shut as if it had never existed. Time rewound again.
Augustus raised his right hand and grabbed the metal fixture that held the showerhead.
From behind me, Nathaniel shouted.
"STOP! DON'T DO IT!"
But it was too late. Augustus tore the metal bar from the wall and, with all his strength, drove it into my knee.
At that moment, my world went dark. An involuntary scream burst from my throat. My face contorted as if a camera effect had distorted it. Snot, spit, and tears overflowed, running down into my mouth.
My scream echoed through the entire building.
I had reached my limit.
Everything had piled up—again and again, without end.
Why was I weak? Why couldn't I choose my mother, my father, or the life I was born into? Why did even the girl I loved turn her back on me? Why was the only help coming from the person I least expected? Why didn't I even have a damned rune?
Everyone who saw my eyes froze in fear.
What did they see?
For me, the world had stopped. I felt like I was in a trance. Slowly, as if waking from a midday nap, I stood up.
In one swift motion, I pulled the metal rod from my knee. Blood gushed down my leg, but I didn't care.
Augustus turned to run, but his foot slipped on the wet floor, and he crashed down hard.
I felt no pity.
I didn't hesitate. I drove the metal rod into his Achilles tendon and pulled it back out.
A strange scream tore from his throat.
"STOP! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I… I SHOULD HAVE CONTROLLED MYSELF!"
I didn't stop.
I grabbed the loose tendon, and like tearing meat off a bone, I yanked it out.
A piece about 18 to 20 centimeters long dangled in my hand before I tossed it aside. Augustus's leg looked deformed, collapsing inward where his tendon had once been.
Again, his strange healing ability activated, but I didn't stop.
I shoved my fingers into the wound.
Augustus screamed, something inhuman. His voice cracked, then faded.
The wound healed around my hand, trapping it inside his flesh.
But I didn't stop.
I reached deeper, gripping his heel bone—and crushed it.
Augustus passed out from the pain.
But I still wasn't satisfied.
I raised the shattered bone, ready to drive it into his ribs.
Then Alice appeared beside me, using her aura to restrain me.
I looked at her, my eyes filled with sorrow.
Why?Was I not enough? Was my love too heavy to bear? Or were you never planning to stay, and I was just too blind to see it? I accepted you as you were. I loved your flaws, your brokenness, the darkness inside you. I was willing to burn with you. But you… you threw me into the fire instead.
Tell me… Why did you choose to watch the flames instead of pulling me out?
I'm still here. Even if you tore me apart, shattered me, ripped my heart from my chest—I would still belong to you.
I tried to hate you… But every attempt drowned in the echoes of my love for you.
And the worst part? I could forgive you. If you came back, I would still hold you with the same tenderness. But you didn't even give me that chance.
You chose not to love me.
And I… I can't stop loving you.
Tears fell from my eyes as I threw Alice off me with all my strength.
Then, drenched in blood, I walked out of the corridor.
Outside, teachers were running toward us. Every healer in the school followed them.
I smirked bitterly and tossed the metal rod aside.
How ironic, wasn't it?
No one had come when I was being beaten from wall to wall.
But now, they all rushed to protect someone valuable.
That was what I was—worthless.
Even power wasn't enough to prove my worth.
What was power, anyway? Just the ability to win? The instinct to survive? Or was it simply accepting the reality of a world much bigger than myself?
If power meant stepping on others to rise, if it meant forcing my existence upon the world—then there was no place for me here.
Because I was neither ruthless enough to crush someone beneath me nor strong enough to break my own limits.
But here I was.
Breathing.
Even my own breath felt like a mistake.
My mind echoed with a single question: "Why?"
Why should I keep walking? Why should I keep fighting? Is there a meaning? Or am I just supposed to drift in this chaotic storm until it swallows me whole?
I'm tired.
Tired of losing. Tired of fearing. Tired of wanting. Tired of hoping…
Are humans born only to lose?
Or are we meant to fight in a world where loss is inevitable?
No one can answer that.
Because no one knows.
Everyone just lives by the lies they can tell themselves.
And me?
I'm too exhausted to believe in any lie.
But here I am.
Everyone is running.
Running to save someone.
I'm not that person.
I never was.
And I guess I never will be.