Inside a luxurious office, a mature woman sat behind a grand marble desk, her piercing gaze locked onto the young man standing before her.
The resemblance between the two was undeniable. Both shared the same striking light blue hair and icy eyes, though the woman's features carried the sharp refinement of age and authority. While the young man had an air of arrogance.
"I didn't do anything wrong," he scoffed, his tone laced with contempt. "She was a bitch, so I just taught her a lesson."
The room fell deathly silent.
Then, the sharp SNAP of the marble desk cracking under the woman's tightening grip reverberated through the room like a gunshot.
The woman spoke with a hoarse and heavily restrained voice. "What did you say?"
The young man flinched but kept silent.
"I SAID, WHAT DID YOU SAY!!" The woman who couldn't hold on to her anger anymore finally erupted
With a deafening crack, the marble desk gave way under her grip, shattering into jagged pieces that scattered across the floor.
"She disrespected me, so I just—"
Before the boy could finish, a lamp flew across the room with alarming speed, striking him square in the forehead.
The impact sent him falling to the ground, his head ringing as a warm trickle of blood began to seep down his face.
Dazed, William stared up at his mother, his mind unable to process what had just happened.
The woman, visibly trembling with frustration, brushes her hands through her once immaculate hair.
"Cynthia!" she barked. "Tell the guards to lock William in his room. I don't want to see his face again!"
Only when William was held up by the guards was he able to properly react.
"Wait, Mother! Hey, what are you doing? LET GO OF ME! MOTHER!"
His cries echoed down the hall as the guards dragged him away, but all he got was a cold and unfamiliar stare.
***
Waking up and breathing heavily, cold sweat can be seen trickling down William's temple, as he dreams about his past again.
However, pushing his feelings aside, William quickly got up and checked the time; it was already a new day, and his sparring session wouldn't begin for another couple of hours.
Breathing a sigh of relief, William sat back down on his bed, but as the adrenaline faded, a familiar weight settled in his chest. His emotions crashed over him like a tidal wave, bringing with them an overwhelming sense of dread.
'I can't do this anymore'
'I am going to die at this rate'
'I need to run away'
The intrusive thoughts spiraled in his mind, each one more suffocating than the last. But deep down, he knew there was no escape. Running would only make things worse; he'd learned that lesson the hard way.
Hence, in times like this, William wished he were still out cold so he wouldn't have to deal with all his destructive thoughts running rampant inside his mind.
Day 16
William collapsed in a pool of blood, his body covered in thousands of shallow, deliberate cuts.
Day 17
William's limbs twisted grotesquely as he was strangled and wrestled, his joints snapping under relentless force.
Day 18
William's flesh was shredded raw as he was dragged across the jagged ground, his face nearly unrecognizable beneath the blood and torn skin.
Day 19
'Why is this happening to me? When did it all go wrong?'
Day 20
'It's Impossible. I can't win. I don't even have the chance to resist.'
Day 21
'No…please, no more. I was wrong so…just…please…'
Day 22
Is this it? Is this how I am going to live from now on? Tortured? Broken? Living in pain every single day?'
Day 23
'Why should I keep suffering? Why… live on? Wouldn't it be better to just end it here and now?'
Day 24
'No one cares. Not a single person. If I disappeared, they wouldn't notice. They might even be happy.'
Day 25, 26, 27
Day 28
"Private William," a voice rang, dragging William out of his trance.
William's dull, lifeless eyes turned toward the senior officer standing beside his medical bed.
"Yes?" he asked, his tone flat and detached.
"Captain Jack will be unavailable, so your sparring session is canceled until further notice," the officer informed him.
"I…see," William muttered.
The senior officer hesitated, then placed a firm but sympathetic hand on William's shoulder.
"Just take the week off and rest, alright?"
"Oh. Okay.." William replied
The officer lingered for a moment, his expression clouded with pity, before turning away and leaving William alone in the sterile hospital room.
It took another couple of minutes before William registered what had just happened.
'No sparring today.' he thought to himself. 'A week off, huh?'
From his bed, William stared at the window across the room. Morning sunlight reflected off the white walls, lighting up the ward.
He didn't move. He just sat there—silent and still—as the sun rose, then began to fall again.
"Hey, kid."
A voice broke the quiet.
"Why don't you go out for a walk? It might help clear your head."
A middle-aged nurse walked over and placed a food tray on his table.
"Yes," William replied flatly. He stood up and left.
"Hey! At least eat something first!" she called out.
But he didn't stop.
Since being banished to Gorgon City, William's life had shrunk to three places: the barracks, the hospital, and the training field.
But today, with no orders, he wandered the base with no goal in mind.
'One of my instructors once said Gorgon City is one of the harshest cities,' he remembered. 'And always under monster attacks.'
He walked through the hospital's busy hallway. Doctors and nurses rushed past, faces tight with focus.
'They look even more tense than usual,' he thought.
Outside, a wave of noise hit him—sirens blaring, alarms wailing, vehicles rushing in and out.
Explosions echoed in the distance.
Soldiers with full suits of armor sprinted by, and scientists dashed between buildings, carrying tools and glowing equipment.
William stared for a moment, then turned and walked the other way.
"The base feels tense today," he muttered to himself, unheard.
In the fading golden sky, dark winged monsters appeared. They hurled fireballs toward the base.
But each fireball broke apart harmlessly against an invisible shield, which rippled as it absorbed the blows.
Responding to the attack, a nearby cannon glowed. Its core lit up, bending the light around it.
With a sudden flash, it fired. Bright beams tore through the sky, slicing the monsters apart. Ashes rained down.
'A monster attack,' William thought flatly.
More winged creatures swarmed. Commands echoed through loudspeakers. But to William, it all sounded far away.
He kept walking.
As the sun disappeared, more buildings came into view. The military base stretched wide, filled with towers and halls.
One structure stood out—a giant, egg-shaped tower at the center. Its curved glass walls reflected the last light of the day.
A glowing blue aura pulsed around it, beating like a heart.
William stopped and stared.
"That looks important," he said to himself. But he didn't care. He kept walking.
'So this is the second-strongest city, huh.' he thought.
When the sky turned dark, he returned to the hospital.
He showered, ate, got checked up, then lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
Even after a full day of walking, he wasn't tired.
His body rested.
But his mind stayed awake.
He lay still, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.
***
In the middle of the night, while the entire city is asleep, the halls of the hospital are still as bright as day, as nurses and doctors move quietly through the corridors.
In one of the wards, light spilled from one of the six cubicles, where a doctor and nurse were checking on a patient.
Through the corner of the doctor's eyes, he saw through a slit in the curtains, one of his infamous patients was still awake, sitting up and staring blankly into the air.
Going over and gently pulling the curtains aside, Dr. Lenny was met with the dull and lifeless eyes of William as he stared back.
"William? Couldn't sleep?" he asked in a gentle voice.
William nodded in response.
"Then would you like to take a walk with me?"
Seeing no reason to refuse, William silently slid off the bed and followed.
***
They walked through the quiet hospital halls, the fluorescent lights casting a soft glow around them. Occasionally, a nurse or doctor passed by, offering polite nods.
Breaking the silence, William spoke in a flat tone. "It's this late, and you haven't slept yet?"
"Sleep? Hah, what a foreign word for us medical professionals," Dr. Lenny chuckled softly.
He added, "How could I dare sleep when so many lives depend on me?"
"It must be really hard," William murmured.
"Hard…" Dr. Lenny paused, then shrugged. "I got used to it. So it's not so bad." He glanced at William. "But I think the person who is really having a hard time is you, William."
The words lingered in the air. William slowed his steps, eventually stopping. Dr. Lenny walked a few steps further before turning back to face him.
"No, Doctor. I'm fine," William replied stiffly, but his small, thin shoulders trembled.
Dr. Lenny's voice softened, but his words pierced deeper. "William. It must have been really hard, huh?"
William's fists clenched weakly at his sides. His head dropped, and when he tried to speak, the words caught in his throat. "I…"
Dr. Lenny continued gently, "You made a mistake, and as punishment, your family banished you to the frontlines."
As Doctor Lenny spoke, William could feel his airway getting more and more choked up.
"And since then, Jack's been beating you half to death every day."
Turning fully to William, Dr. Lenny looked at him with a gaze both kind and understanding.
"William. Do you need help?"
With those words, something inside William shattered.
A wail tore from his throat as he collapsed to the floor, his sobs uncontrollable.
"Please, doctor…I can't take it anymore…it hurts so much…" William cried, his voice raw with desperation.
Dr. Lenny whispered a simple spell, and a light barrier surrounded them, muffling the sounds from reaching the outside world.
Silently, he stood by, watching over William.
In the empty hospital hall, a frail boy lay crumpled on the floor, tears streaming down his face, while an old doctor in white stood quietly beside him, listening to his cries filled with pain and hopelessness.