"Why do you look like you're about to go insane?"
"Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a room. A rubber room. A rubber room with rats. The rats made me crazy. Crazy? I was—"
"Hey, can you shut up?"
I sat on the grass, giggling like a madman, only to be smacked on the head by a red-haired girl.
"Looking at you, I can already tell how bad your stats are, but that doesn't mean you should be depressed, right?"
I wish I could be that optimistic. Unfortunately, stats determine your entire future in this world.
Now I understand why main characters in novels always get cheated on. They probably had trash stats like me.
Wait...
With stats this bad... does that mean my banana is small too??
Panic struck me. I immediately pulled down my pants and looked down.
'...Wait a second. This thing is oversized. Actually, it might be bigger than the average European's.'
I sighed in relief, but then I noticed everyone—including the red-haired girl—was staring at me. Her face was as red as her hair.
"...This is my personal problem. You guys don't need to worry about it."
"...Kay."
As everyone started walking away—except for her—I cleared my throat.
"Ahem, I don't think I asked for your name. What's your name?"
"Huh? Oh... Aura."
"Well, by the way... see ya!"
Without hesitation, I turned around and ran. I wasn't planning on sticking around any longer.
"..."
Aura had no desire to get involved with this guy, yet for some reason, something about him felt... intriguing.
She couldn't understand why, but she felt an odd pull toward him.
Weird...
***
Ahhh, goddamit.
I ran in the wrong direction and got lost.
The teacher told us to head to the classroom we were assigned to. And yet, here I was, completely clueless about where I was.
I regretted running. Maybe I should've stayed put.
I looked around, surrounded by doors.
"..."
Ummm, why is this academy so damn complicated?
I picked a random door and opened it.
It was a storage room.
I tried another door.
It was the kitchen.
One more.
There were two people inside… doing something.
All right. I wasn't going to describe that.
They looked at me. I simply gave them a polite smile and nodded.
"Be careful, okay? Having a kid this early wouldn't be ideal."
I closed the door and moved on.
Finally, I opened the last door in the hallway—
And saw a guy beating someone to a bloody pulp.
Blood splattered everywhere. The person on the floor twitched weakly, barely alive.
"..."
I slowly, very gently, tried to close the door—
CREAK.
The sound echoed through the hallway like a damn microphone.
I hate my life.
The guy turned to look at me. His eyes were cold and terrifying.
"Umm… how about this? I'll walk away, and you can continue your business. We pretend we never saw each other. Sound good?"
He didn't respond.
I gave him a thumbs up.
"Okay, we cool, right? Cool."
Just as I was about to close the door—
A strand of webbing shot out and wrapped around my wrist.
"Spiderman? AGHHHH!!!"
I was yanked toward him. His hand grabbed my throat and squeezed.
"S-So, you're not chill, huh?"
"You saw too much… I need to clean up the evidence."
"Hey, I can prove I'm really good at keeping secrets—agh!"
He slammed me onto the ground.
From his back, several spider-like legs emerged, twitching menacingly.
He raised them, ready to strike.
Panic surged through me.
"You little shit!"
I spat in his eye.
He flinched, and his attack barely missed, stabbing into the floor next to my face.
"AGH! YOU DISGUSTING BASTARD!"
I kicked him in the stomach, sending him staggering backward.
"Nigerundayo!!!"
I scrambled to my feet and sprinted away at full speed.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!"
The guy roared in rage and smashed through the wall, chasing after me.
"AHHHHHH!!!"
I screamed at the top of my lungs, running as fast as my pathetic stats allowed.
Who the hell was this guy?!
I didn't remember him being in the novel.
…Then again, I never finished the book. I only read the first volume.
Fuck.
A random teacher opened a door nearby.
"What's all this noise abou—"
He paused.
Right in front of him, a student was running for his life while another student with four spider legs chased after him like a demon from hell.
The teacher rubbed his eyes.
He blinked.
Both students were gone.
"...Maybe I've been watching too much hentai."
He shrugged, then closed the door, completely unaware of how much chaos was still happening in the hallway.
Meanwhile, I was still running for my damn life.
"SOMEONE HELP MEEEE!!!"
I ran while dodging the obstacles ahead.
He shot a web at me, and it stuck right to my leg.
I fell to the ground, face-first.
Damn it again? My luck really is something.
He walked toward me, his cold eyes staring down.
"Goodbye, you filthy insect."
He raised two of his spider-like legs, aiming straight at my heart.
Sweat dripped down my face as I frantically looked around.
If I don't do something, I'm dead for sure!
I'm going to die!! Die for real!!
...
...Die?
For some reason, every time I think of death, I remember one person—
My younger brother.
The fear inside me slowly faded.
'Why him, and not me?'
'Since when did I become afraid of death? Why am I acting so weak?'
It was replaced by another feeling.
'Since when did I let anyone decide my death?'
'Why did God take my brother's life away from me?'
Rage.
'What right does he have… to decide MY death?'
[Spirit +1]
The sound of flesh being pierced echoed. Blood splattered onto his face.
"Hmph."
With disdain, he tried to pull his leg back.
"...?"
But he couldn't.
It was stuck—like something was holding it in place.
He looked down at his victim, only to see a pair of murderous eyes glaring at him.
I gritted my teeth and forced my body to move.
The spider leg dug deeper into my flesh, even piercing through my back.
He couldn't believe it. He stared at the person he had stabbed straight through the stomach.
Blood poured onto the floor, but I didn't care.
Adrenaline surged through my body. Blood dripped from my face like a demon out of hell.
"GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The moment he was within my reach, I swung a punch straight at his face.
He couldn't react in time. My fist connected with full force, twisting his jaw out of place.
"Y-you bastard!!"
He roared in anger, preparing to strike back.
But both of my hands grabbed his shoulders.
A sound like two rocks smashing together rang out.
His vision blurred as blood trickled down his forehead.
'A... headbutt?!'
He stared into my face—
Bloodied.
Seething with rage and murderous intent, like a predator about to devour him.
For the first time in his life, he felt true fear.
"G-get away from me!!!"
He lashed out in a panic.
"GAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
I grabbed one of his spider legs— And drove it straight into his eye.
A sickening crack. The leg snapped.
And I stabbed it into his eye socket.
He screamed in agony.
I followed up with two more devastating punches to his face.
A loud crack. His skull fractured.
I seized his face with one hand, my thumb hovering over his remaining eye.
"N...no...! S-stop...!"
I jammed my thumb into his eye, then raised my fist.
And drove it down into his face.
Crack.
Both of us collapsed. I didn't know if he was dead or alive.
But I sure as hell wasn't okay.
"Ughhh... gahhh!!!"
I deactivated my skill and yanked his spider leg out of my body.
Blood gushed down.
My breath was ragged.
My vision blurred.
"...This is it, huh?"
No way in hell I was going to survive this.
I mean, look at this damn hole in my stomach—being able to think and move at this point is already some bullshit.
Ah, here we go…
My consciousness faded.
I couldn't think anymore.
"Hey! PETER!"
It's Kai, you idiot.
I don't know who you are but at least call my name right before I die…
Ugh...