"Your eyes..." Sera said softly, her hand dabbing at the dried blood on Rune’s cheek.
I floated there like a phantom, watching her tend to him, her gaze locked on his as if she could pour courage into him with just a look.
"Don’t worry," she whispered, her voice firm despite the tenderness in her touch, "they won’t bully you again."
Rune forced a faint nod, though the shadows in his eyes didn’t lift.
"Ahh, I know!" Sera suddenly brightened, a thought flashing across her face. "How about... we leave the village? Just the two of us."
Her smirk widened with pride at what she clearly thought was a masterpiece idea. Rune, however, only bit his lower lip, his silence heavier than any reply.
"Bring the light back into those eyes, Rune," she teased, though her smile carried a fragile edge.
Rune kept his head lowered.
Sera’s pout broke through the air. "Tch... get back here!" She snapped, giving him a playful knock on the head.
He nearly toppled, steadying himself with a startled glance. "Hey, what was that—"
Before he could finish, she leaned in.
She threw herself onto him, her lips pressed against his.
Ti froze. My breath caught. Rune sat stiff, eyes wide, as if struck by lightning.
"They’re... soft," I murmured under my breath, unable to stop myself.
Beside , Nexar’s blue script flickered into existence. [I envy you.]
Rune didn’t move. He just sat on the edge of the bed, stunned, like the kiss had carved itself into his very soul.
"I’m leaving," Sera said abruptly, her cheeks flushed. "Tell your decision tomorrow."
She bolted for the door, vanishing before Rune could react.
Silence filled the room, broken only by his ragged breathing. His trembling hand rose to his lips, touching them as though afraid they’d vanish with a blink. The awe on his face lted almost instantly, swallowed by sorrow.
His eyes brimd, water spilling down his cheeks. With a heavy sniff, he staggered toward the drawer of his table.
Nexar’s words shimred beside . [What’s he writing? A suicide note?]
"I... I don’t know." My throat tightened. "I never paid attention to the contents of this cutscene before."
Rune’s hand trembled as he pressed pen to paper. His tears blurred the ink, drops staining the parchnt with every word.
Dear Sera,I love you! But I know my place. A loser like can’t stay with the future guardian knight. I will only hold you back. Please... move on. Don’t mind a loser like .
The paper grew wet, his tears blotting letters into smudges. A ssy sniff filled the air as he dragged his sleeve across his nose, yet he kept writing through the blur.
"Ughh..."
I clutched my head suddenly as a sharp pain stabbed behind my eyes.
[What’s wrong?] Nexar’s words glowed beside .
"This... this never happened in my first walkthrough..." My voice cracked. "Is it because I read the letter?"
Then it hit .
A flood of mories — not mine, but Rune’s — crashed into . His humiliation. His despair. His agony during yesterday’s combat class. Every sneer, every fist, every helpless cry burned itself into my skull.
The pain in my skull sharpened until the world around dissolved, and suddenly—
—I was there.
Rune’s mories bled into mine like ink spilling across paper.
The clamor of the training hall echoed around . Wooden dummies, training swords, and the reek of sweat filled the air. And Rune stood trembling in the center of the ring.
Vorrak’s boot crashed into his ribs.
"Ghhk—!" Rune’s thin body folded, spit flying from his mouth as he collapsed to the dirt floor.
"Pathetic," Vorrak spat, towering over him. His eyes glead with that feral crimson thread, teeth bared in a predator’s grin.
Gunther and the other lackeys circled Rune like hyenas.
One yanked him up by the hair, forcing his face into the open. Blood trickled from his split lip, soaking into his tunic.
"You think you can keep hanging around Sera?" Gunther sneered, slamming his fist into Rune’s gut. Rune gagged, knees buckling, only for another blow to crack across his jaw.
"Leave her, worm," one of the lackeys jeered. "She’s wasted on trash like you."
Vorrak crouched low, his hand gripping Rune’s chin hard enough to leave bruises. His hot breath stank of arrogance.
"Sera belongs with soone like . My father’s the mayor. I have talent, power, resources. With , she’ll rise. She’ll be famous, admired. And you..." He slamd Rune’s head into the dirt. "You’re nothing. A wimp who drags her down."
Rune tried to crawl, wheezing, his bloodied hands clawing at the ground.
But a kick to his spine flattened him again. His HP bar flickered in the corner of my vision. Plumting.
They didn’t stop. Boots ground into his back. Fists pumled his ribs. Laughter echoed cruelly.
"Look at him cry! Does the little weakling want his mommy?" one lackey mocked, wrenching Rune’s arm until it popped audibly. Rune’s scream rang through my skull.
My fists clenched. I wanted to hurl myself into that mory and tear them apart, but I couldn’t. I was trapped, forced to watch.
Then —
Her voice.
"Enough!"
Sera stord into the circle, eyes blazing, her figure cutting through the pack like a blade.
She shoved Gunther aside and knelt by Rune, shielding his crumpled body with her own.
"Touch him again, and I’ll break your arms," she snapped.
For a heartbeat, the lackeys faltered. Even in this mory, I felt it. The authority in her tone.
Vorrak only smirked. He leaned close, crouching until his lips nearly brushed Rune’s bloodstained ear. His voice dropped into a venomous whisper, too low for Sera to hear.
"Your death will make your girlfriend’s life a hundred tis better. Just die already."
He straightened, laughing as if nothing had been said, waving his lackeys away. "Let’s go. Playing with garbage stinks up the place."
They left Rune sprawled in the dirt.
Sera lifted him, her lips trembling with the effort to not cry.
"It’s alright... I’ve got you," she whispered, her voice trembling despite the fire in her eyes.
Rune’s head lolled against her shoulder, his body limp and broken. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say sothing but no sound ca.
The mory blurred, bleeding back into the present, and I staggered, clutching my chest. My own heart hamred as though I’d taken the beating in his place.
"Bastards..." I hissed under my breath, rage boiling in .
["Look... he’s not ntally stable,"] Nexar wrote beside .
I lowered my head, watching Rune with hollow eyes as he suddenly crumpled the letter and hurled it away.
"Haa...!" he scread, slamming his head into the desk with a wet, sickening thud. His cry reverberated through the small room, a sound carved from despair itself.
"I can’t... I want to be with Sera. I love her!" His trembling hands clawed through his own hair, tearing at it in violent desperation.
The anguish in his voice wasn’t sothing I could watch without feeling it, like his pain had word its way into my own chest.
Rune’s breathing steadied for only a mont before his gaze fell back toward the drawer.
His hands, shaking yet deliberate, reached for it again. He whispered to himself, each word more broken than the last.
"...But I shouldn’t. I’ll only sadden her more. If I don’t exist... she won’t be sad anymore."
His eyes hardened, a faint gleam of resolve in that madness.
[What kind of twisted logic is that?] Nexar’s words scratched across the void beside .
Rune drew out the dagger once more. His fingers unwrapped the paper cover with painstaking slowness, revealing the small, green herbal ball inside.
He held it between his fingertips like it was both salvation and doom.
"If I don’t exist... she’ll live well. She won’t have to waste herself taking care of a nobody like . She won’t have to struggle to keep her promise..."
As he muttered, the world around blurred. Suddenly, mories that weren’t mine forced their way into my skull.
A field of flowers. The sound of the wind.
Sera sat leaning against Rune, the golden light of dusk washing over them both.
Rune had turned his hand to hold hers, his voice unshaking, full of the innocence only he could wear.
"Never feel like you have nothing in the world... I’ve got your back," he had said, smiling wide, pure.
Sera had tightened her grip on his hand, her eyes shining as she whispered back, "And I’ve got yours. You have ... and I have you."
Then the two of them laughed together, their voices echoing into the horizon—warm, full, eternal.
The vision shattered like glass.
Rune lifted the green sphere to his lips. His eyes glistened, brimming with tears, but his hand didn’t tremble anymore.
"...I’m sorry, Sera," he whispered, and swallowed.
His body convulsed instantly. He clutched his chest, a strangled gasp tearing from his throat as he collapsed to the floor. His breath ca in ragged pants, each one weaker than the last.
I could only watch. Helpless. Heart splitting.
"Nexar... how long does he have?" I asked, my voice almost breaking.
[O-one sec...] The words appeared on the hovering blue screen, stamring as if even Nexar struggled to say it.
[The round ball he just consud is Deathroot... Poisonous and low grade lethal bead. He has an hour at best.]
My chest clenched.
[Where are you going?] the words ford again as I drifted lower, moving closer to Rune’s writhing body.
Sothing unseen, sothing oppressive pushed back.
I strained against it, hovering closer, forcing myself through the burning sensation that crawled across my transparent form.
My whole body felt like it was set on fire, every step toward him agony.
Still, I reached my hand above his contorted face, his breaths shallow and violent.
"You endured well... pass on the torch to . I’ll take care of the rest," I murmured, my voice barely holding steady.
His eyes shot open.
Those golden irises fixed on , clear as day. His lips curved into a faint smile. And before I could react, his trembling hand rose and clasped mine.
"Please..." he whispered.
I froze. The burning sensation vanished, replaced by a heavy stillness that stole the air from my chest.
"What...?" The thought clawed through in disbelief.
[What happened to you?] Nexar’s words flickered rapidly on the screen.
[Why did you freeze mid-air? I thought you were trying to touch him.]
I turned to the glowing blue pane, my mind rattled. "You... you didn’t see that?"
[See what?] the words blinked.
"Rune spoke. And... he touched ."
There was a pause. Then fresh text scrolled.
[These are the list of diseases that cause hallucinations. Pick one.]
"Tsk." I clicked my tongue, glaring at Rune’s body as he lay panting, every breath weaker than the last.
[Shall we go and explore the village in this hour?] the words asked again, too casual, too detached.
"No. I’ll stay with him."
[As you wish]
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