The rain outside the window never shouted.
It always came with long, melancholic whispers. Drop after drop tapping against the glass with the same rhythm every night.
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Like invisible fingers knocking on a door, asking for permission to enter a warmth that had never existed inside this room.
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The streetlights in this small town on the outskirts cast a dull orange glow through the misty rain, creating blurry circles that hung in the air like giant blind eyeballs, staring everywhere without truly seeing anything.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXTUI6LJti
The dormitory room sat on the third floor of an old red brick building that had stood for nearly two centuries.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjPrjik2Vb
Its walls were thick, painted a pale white, made of stone and plaster cracked in many places.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJLx9a3aBs
In weather like this at the end of the year, cold that pierced the bone, the air inside the room felt colder than the air outside.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lcfdCmN06
As if the ancient building deliberately trapped the cold, storing it in every pore of its bricks and every crack in its wooden floors, to torment its inhabitants who had never truly been wanted by anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7ZjVGoxQD
The central heater in the corner of the room, a rusted metal box that hissed softly all night long, produced only a shallow warmth, not enough to drive away the cold that crept from the wooden floor into the bones of the feet.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvu1doR4jG
Voltase Watt lay on his back on a bed far too large for his body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9IBXseSPf
The body of a thin boy, shorter than the average of children his age, where his body lacked the nutrition and protein to grow any further.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZDyLON1pJ
His shoulders were narrow, so narrow that the navy striped flannel pajamas he wore kept slipping off his left shoulder.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLRYBmfXjS
His arms were thin, with faint blue veins visible beneath pale skin that rarely saw sunlight.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6prkmUmfOp
His short legs could never reach the end of the bed, and every night he felt the tips of his cold toes touching the empty air beneath the blanket.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dGAqW3q8z
He had bought those pajamas three years ago, and even then they had been too big for his small body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFUs2mUpuT
Sometimes he thought that perhaps his body simply could not find a reason to grow, because growing required attention, nutrition, love, and he had never had enough of any of those.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgGwd0VqUn
No one will notice whether you're here or not, he thought.
The thought felt ordinary in his head, not a piercing sadness, but a fact he had accepted long ago, ever since his mind was old enough to understand that he was a burden moved from one place to another.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJs214jIlID
Things do not grow.
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He never knew his biological parents.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoVykqgETo
Voltase was a baby found on the doorstep of an orphanage in South London on a cold winter morning, wrapped in a faded blue blanket with a piece of paper bearing his name and birthdate.
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Nothing else.
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No letter, no message, no clue about who had left him there or why they had gone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8WpyokfID
He grew up in that orphanage for five years, changing caretakers and beds and faces that came and went.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxYqcY6m4e
Then a family came and chose him, a polite, well dressed couple who said the right things in front of the social worker.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmF0QlN7fjp
They took him to their home in the suburbs, gave him his own room, food, clothes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeWFTPGfsf
But they never truly wanted him.
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He knew it from the way they looked at him, not with hatred, but with indifference.
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As if he were an obligation, a task to be completed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzROcZnvBAE
When he turned ten, they sent him to this boarding school.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquyz5omGW6
An elegant, polite way to get rid of a burden without appearing cruel.
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They paid his school fees.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpA9WcCEDsC
They sent birthday cards, store bought cards with printed text identical for everyone.
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But they never visited.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3Kmn4eRnr
They never called.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYh2GnVPqey
Voltase was a receipt already paid in full, an obligation fulfilled.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrYO2Z6sLS
Now he was left here, in this cold room, in a country that was supposedly his birthplace but never felt like his own.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisg3goYiV5
You have no one, he thought, and he said it with lips that did not move, only inside his head.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlRUeqRWLY
You have never had anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDLSwawOjb
And you will never have anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylDsR2ALv6
Voltase had counted those cracks on the ceiling every night for two years since he first arrived in this room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqM2UsIFwIQ
The number of main branches was always twenty three.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ZftxIKl6o
Never changing.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMMmIl8Mpb
The small branches varied, depending on the humidity of the night air, the temperature, whether the rain fell harder than usual.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MeGgJYFPR
Tonight he counted forty three small branches, counting with his thin right index finger, tracing the crack patterns in the air without actually touching the wood.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSEEHeTPeI
If he touched it, he would feel the cold of the plaster and remember that he was still here.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4bAe8BA4Y
In the distance, the bells of St. Mary's church at the end of the street began to ring.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyqWdO2H4wL
The sound was old and heavy, with a slightly off key tone from age and dampness.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWh0Q7Lhm8b
Voltase counted each chime because there was nothing else he could do.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7IAcIhtkR
The bells stopped at the ninth chime, and silence returned, filled only by the patter of rain that never stopped here.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoQJLDuZAo
Voltase reached his right hand toward the small table beside his bed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIywfP1dX5z
The table was made of cheap wood, chipped in places, its surface covered with scratches from pens and pencils of children who had been here before him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7f101vG8hs
On it lay the cheap phone given by his foster family when he left for boarding school, a symbolic gesture so they could still keep in touch, and a small desk lamp he never turned on.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRPsAK3ZpQ
His long, thin fingers groped across the table's surface until they touched the phone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSfkw0T42T
The screen lit up.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MCer5fGxL
Pale blue light illuminated his face for a few seconds.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy7LvV9gkf1
The time showed 21:49 PM.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGflKUBu1y
He opened the game he was playing.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2glSXV0Yap
The app was colorful and bright, with the main character's icon smiling widely, a boy with black hair and oversized onyx eyes, with a smile that never faded.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjaRVNhZZ2
Voltase almost hated that smile.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7k7LdwwaSU
That character never got tired, never got sad, never felt alone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkimUfKeyp
He just ran, collected coins, dodged trains, and smiled the whole time.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kBETTMAqp
His right thumb swiped the screen, and the game began.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDn1tMSB2xH
Cheerful electronic music flowed from the phone's speaker, trying to drown out the sound of rain, while the character started moving along the railway tracks with a synthetic sunset sky full of orange and purple gradients stretching behind him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbNqkMTni0
Golden coins sparkled in the air, and every time the character collected them there was a satisfying ding sound.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04on0rrFEw
Voltase played mechanically.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXw9g8yF67
His thumb swiped left, jumped, swiped right, ducked.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicdoHcfBuv
The score in the upper right corner climbed, 240, 480, 710, 930.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3uRVTJI2p
He did not care about the score or the character.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0804uhJaqS
The only thing he needed was the sound.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJArqLAKAE
The music was a thin curtain separating him from the silence of the room, from the patter of rain, from the awareness that he was truly alone in this world and no one would come to save him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46a2x2up0L
On the right side of the screen, a second character appeared, a grown man in a white long sleeved shirt and a faded blue jacket, wearing a security guard's hat tilted back, and beside him a digital sheepdog ran at the same speed, its tongue lolling in a repeating animation.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtlZo2dqFY
The three of them ran together.
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A fake family in a fake world.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfpKCgrOgg
They are not real, Voltase thought, just code, they can never feel anything.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8IPPPHQC5
They are never alone because they never existed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjEd4sel5F
At 1,230 points, the obstacles increased.
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Train cars came faster and denser from both directions.
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Voltase's small fingers began to sweat, making the touchscreen feel slippery and sticky.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPkv2l6oGH
His main character stumbled, a repeated falling animation, got up, stumbled again, while the score stopped climbing and the music shifted into anxious, stretching notes.
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A giant steel train car passed right in front of the character.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaXzeke7XT
Bam!
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The screen turned blurry red, with a crimson gradient encircling the edges.
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Thick black ink pooled in the corners.
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White bold text appeared in the center.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyOHMCxcOA
GAME OVER.
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Voltase let out a breath.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOfp8rYQng
The breath left his small chest as a faint, almost inaudible sigh, like wind slipping through a crack in a door that did not close properly.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM6IxqvOuJZ
He pressed the home button, and the phone screen dimmed to black, reflecting his own face, the face of a thin child with weary onyx eyes, cheekbones beginning to protrude, and messy black hair.
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He put the phone on the table with a slow, reluctant movement, as if letting go of the phone meant letting go of the only thing distracting him from the silence.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwDiPnr49j
Silence returned.
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Rain returned.
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He was still here.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHhvhfgphq
Still small and alone.
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Voltase closed his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UukTa5sbj
In the darkness behind his eyelids, he imagined another place.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwRUQXGf4v
A place where he had a big, strong body that did not need to be afraid of other children mocking him in the school hallways.
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A place where he could become something, become someone meaningful, someone who could not be ignored.
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But the image was vague, like smoke vanishing before he could grasp it.
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He did not know what a big body looked like.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowUGfYDWXk
He had never had one.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMbUQftSW9
He only knew that he wanted it, something more than this thin, weak, useless body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1evnEi3EmE
Slowly, exhaustion consumed him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngofpRaQqW
His body curled up in the middle of the too large bed, knees drawn to his chest, arms hugging a pillow that had become dull and smelled of dormitory laundry soap, sharp and chemical.
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The rain kept tapping the window.
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The wind moaned among the old oak trees in the schoolyard.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnjcmdlvOe
His consciousness began to blur, sinking into a dark, warm abyss.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9znz14a7b
The clock showed 22:01 PM.
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Three minutes since he turned off the phone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJcA7uwY5J
Voltase Watt, a twelve year old boy who did not know who his parents were, who had no home to return to, who had never been loved by anyone, began to fall into a dream.
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The first thing that registered through his sense of smell was the stench.
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Not the musty, dusty smell of the dormitory room.
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This was a completely different smell, one he had never smelled before, yet somehow felt old, as if he had smelled it in another life, in a memory that was not his.
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The smell entered his nostrils like thick, heavy smoke.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4vGRWlTKf
It crept inside uninvited.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutNigslZcd
Stabbed the back of his throat like swallowed glass shards.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqJsMRZFn7
Settled on the roof of his mouth, leaving a residue that felt like a layer of copper on his tongue, salty, metallic, and with a faint sweetness that was nauseating.
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Beneath it lay another layer: a sharp, fishy stench like fish left too long in the sun, and the smell of wet earth mixed with something darker, thicker.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxomc9zRwf9
Blood, he thought, and the thought rose from the depths of an instinct he had not known he possessed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZkpuatUFw
The smell of blood.
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A lot of blood and flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJpG5sal13d
Rotting flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHImjWefFa
Voltase opened his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqxiOjrofr
The darkness he saw was not the darkness of his dormitory room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoPYCLRGue
This was total darkness, darkness that rejected light, darkness that felt solid like wet velvet pressed against his face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hcwGpOTso
His eyes blinked, adjusting, but the adjustment was slow, as if his pupils had to relearn how to catch light.
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Slowly, silhouettes began to emerge.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43avqBcYCf
He saw a shape above him, very close, only inches from his own nose.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVurqqntE4k
A face.
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But not the face of a living human.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PRU2YCetC
The skin of that face was ashen green, pale like dried clay beginning to crack.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbdsIUsWYf
On its left cheek was a large tear exposing the tissue beneath, a layer of dark red that had begun to blacken at the edges, like beef left too long in the refrigerator, its fibers drying and shriveling.
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On its chin was thin brown stubble, with flakes of dry earth clinging between the hair strands.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMfSkfeXrG
Its eyes, or what remained of them, were two dark hollows.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJ1Z84ucEc
No eyeballs.
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Just black holes filled with small, writhing movements.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDDjEkZ5DK
Voltase saw them clearly, maggots.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63PPjPKxnZ
Dozens, maybe hundreds of small pale yellowish bodies, segmented, with darker heads, writhing inside those eye sockets.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEiU1MIezK
They rose and fell like tiny waves that never stopped, eating the remaining tissue still clinging to the orbital bone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qzm863KUW
Some were larger than others, fatter and whiter, perhaps because they had been there longer and had eaten more.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndPhQXI0pK
One of them crawled out of the left eye socket, across the corpse's cheekbone, and fell right onto Voltase's cheek.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU27detnstk
He felt it.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmnbrJPDwk
Cold, Damp, and Writhing.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROTtwSjBPz
That small soft body clung to his skin for a second, then began to crawl slowly downward toward his jaw.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPh9BgZD4H6
Voltase felt every movement of that body, every small muscle contraction pushing it forward, every segment rubbing against his skin.
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At that moment, panic exploded inside him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcmD9KqKcs
Pure, primal panic that recognized no logic or reason.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDswiB0Pc1O
He wanted to scream, but his voice was caught in his throat.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZedV455hgA
He wanted to push, but his hands felt foreign and heavy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzU0ZhleWu
Because he realized: his body had become different.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXFdNHeaDU
His hands pushing the corpse away felt longer and heavier.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4LN6RwTQA
His fingers were no longer long and thin.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOwZPMKAEm
He felt protruding knuckles, long and sturdy finger joints, a wide palm with blue veins clearly visible on the back.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwZFQJ2WNn
When he pushed the corpse away, the muscles in his arms, muscles he had never possessed in the real world, contracted with surprising strength.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpAlWDqiRA
He felt the stretch of muscle fibers, pressure in his shoulders, and the weight of the body he pushed felt lighter than it should have.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7emOOvR79
The corpse rolled to the side with a wet, heavy plop, like a bag of wet meat falling onto mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6zzmFTRkz
Its head hit something hard, maybe a rock, maybe another skull, with a dull crack.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUHm67fYhO
Voltase coughed, choked, and sat up straight with a jolting movement.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19VuPYPmQ7
He sat up, no need to crawl or roll. He just bent his body upward, and the body obeyed, while the maggot writhing on his cheek had fallen to the ground.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dy8H3hbPT
His chest felt heavy, broad, and wide. His back felt solid.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHTuNElamZn
His shoulders were now thick and muscular.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhodfaKThoI
He looked down and saw his own body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9RHIgmAfh
A uniform.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3E3PlyPq8l
A long sleeved shirt in faded blue, made of thick wool fabric that was coarse and slightly damp from dew or blood.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayO7ze5O5W
Small metal buttons lined up down the center of his chest. Some were undone, and beneath the undone buttons he saw an undershirt in wet gray.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqBYZVZxc3
On his left shoulder was a patch bearing an emblem he did not recognize: an eagle with spread wings, its claws grasping something that looked like a snake.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl15KjdBHOc
The patch was faded, its edges torn.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHZTG1VReD
Blue trousers tucked into tall dark brown boots that felt heavy on his feet.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hjMOmh8eh
The boots were made of thick leather with hard soles. He felt small studs on the soles when he moved his feet over the ground.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5sRwdgqng
Loose metal buckles on the tops of the boots swung gently as he moved.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEqBuDvhkP
Voltase raised his right hand in front of his face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyxpR79qzf
The hand trembled violently.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1C94IpEw8
He could see it clearly, and it was not his hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUz2q4vY7nQ
The hand was long, thin but muscular, with blue veins prominent on the back.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCpuZ8aoWG
The fingers were slender with prominent knuckles and short nails dirty with black earth drying beneath them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPTUDQTL4n
There was a small wound on his middle knuckle, a scrape still wet with fresh blood, perhaps from a fight that happened before he woke up.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMoC4XMnS4
His palm was wide with deep, clear lifelines.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNv69aLNR2
At the base of his thumb was a thick callus formed from years of holding something. It could be a weapon or a tool, he did not know.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21ykv91DX5
This was an adult man's hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZN82hiiJyP
A strong hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2uyUBPQAC
A hand that could never belong to a weak, thin twelve year old boy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxE485Yh11N
He pressed his palm to his chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLdBPc6xjG
Beneath the thick wool fabric, he felt the contour of hard chest muscles, broad pectorals with wide ribs beneath them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz44Cvfy2XJ
And beneath those muscles, he felt a heartbeat.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbg7iqwgJM
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00PE0A5wwQ
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpseALvAv0L
A deeper, stronger, heavier heart.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyomk2CkQE
Each beat felt like a hammer striking the wall of his chest from inside.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnchAXfyvJQ
This is not my body, he thought.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnSwe4qwua
The thought sounded foreign in his head, deeper, heavier, with the resonance of an adult man he did not recognize.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpE68xRg5R
This body is not mine.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiB5ouaUGKR
I am inside someone else's body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNce451F1yh
I am trapped inside someone else's flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZN3xsAb2b
How can this be?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyOzHKxvI0
He wanted to scream, to call someone, to ask what was happening, but his voice only came out as a hoarse breath caught in his throat, like the voice of someone who had just woken from a long sleep and had not yet found his words.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1bSbDkwA6L
He straightened his body, rising from his current sitting position.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICXDO6oGsr
His knees wobbled at first. The long, strong leg muscles felt strange, unused to supporting this much weight, but he forced himself to stand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoZN4vo9Rb
Eye level was now above the piles of corpses around him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1K2zMtL4o3
He could see far across the field, farther than he had ever seen in his short, narrow life.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8PG77itcY
The body was now tall, a hundred and eighty centimeters or more.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45FrLuLPdA
When he looked down, he saw the long distance between his chest and the ground, a distance he had never experienced before.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡon6N20Hlc0
His long, sturdy legs felt foreign, like poles newly attached beneath his body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHIV1Bs82j
Every step felt like walking on an unstable stage.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzLW02Le7L
He felt his body's weight differently.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMcYCOvf6n
Gravity felt lighter on his bones, perhaps because his bones were now larger and stronger, but his muscles felt heavier and denser.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZyBXEi4Us
There was strength there, potential for movement he had never explored.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcQpNcsoZ5
He felt that this body could run faster, punch harder, endure longer than his thin, weak body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxsUDuLuPS
But that strength must have its price, something he was always aware of, that nothing in this world was free.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYXg8cW0lbr
Instead, he felt strange after obtaining this body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWU06qT1ff
Like a thief who had stolen something precious and did not know how to use it, where every movement felt like a violation.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sUraP8yRg
Whose body is this? The question repeated in his head like a mantra.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGoWjtoBYB
Where is he?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPrgZV415l
Is he dead?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvvw1W0mW1
Did I take his body?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4tAuC7pBZ
Did I kill him?
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0Q4cUXxqw
He looked around.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1FVG44CBW
Above him was not the cloudy gray English sky always ready to rain. The sky here was pitch black, blacker than the hollows in the corpse's eye sockets.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePtVtwOiBj
No stars, moon, or glowing clouds.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIH1zoHzMum
Just a black canvas stretching endlessly, as if someone had covered the entire world with thick velvet and forgotten it there, leaving it hanging without end.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZg09FpbZac
But beneath that gloomy sky, there was enough light.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZV3IomYeO
Perhaps from reflections off puddles of liquid on the ground that cast a dim gleam.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOxCnvDB1t
Remnants of fires long dead in the distance, still emitting thin smoke and red sparks beneath the ash.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkMJSLC64E
The source of the light was unclear, but it was enough for Voltase to see the sight that would sear itself onto his retina forever, burned there like a photograph exposed to sunlight.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewDSFlktjj
Around him, as far as he could see, there were only bodies.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZDkX0cNpB
Hundreds, maybe thousands, impossible to count.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgToPGf8PKr
They lay in chaotic piles like rag dolls thrown by an angry giant and then forgotten.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEd73scNikw
Some were stacked on top of each other, forming small hills reaching up to an adult's waist.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJmXM22iyc
Some piles were higher, reaching chest height.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAfxyKtn0T
Voltase noticed that the piles moved.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWTqNqSC60
Not moving like living things, but moving because of the maggots and flies writhing inside them, creating small waves on the surface of the flesh.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWdqFgS4qQ
Some bodies lay alone, separated from the piles, with arms bent at impossible angles.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgo4qgbU2g
Elbows twisted the wrong way.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZifb7JonBM
Fingers clutching empty earth as if they were still trying to crawl in death, still trying to escape something that had caught them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPWw08q5dO
Some had intact faces with wide open eyes staring at the black sky, expressions of fear frozen forever in the rigid muscles of their faces.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFPjYfHPxn
Some had no faces at all.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaeWuU2CmR
Just red, glistening hollows inhabited by maggots and flies, with remnants of flesh clinging to skull bones like unraveling threads.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtunezbKn2B
Their uniforms varied.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2v84uRHun6
Most wore faded blue, like Voltase.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPJvRwUzwS
Many wore pale green, the color of dead moss, a faded, dull green gray like leaves already rotting in an autumn that lasted too long.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAlPoONHzZ
Some others, fewer in number, wore ash, the color of gunpowder dust, or ash left after fire dies.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ637RRmdlfc
Those three colors mixed in this pile of death without pattern, without meaning, just chaotic horror.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFT8o73DTk
Often he saw blue bodies lying on top of green bodies, or gray bodies wedged between two blue bodies.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7BkVM92V2
Nothing was ordered.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxCdJqi3a7
Nothing was intentional.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCNa5s0xf1
They died where they fell, and they fell where they died.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYnC7pbfAC
The ground beneath Voltase's feet felt soft, not like the hard earth of the school garden, not like the wooden floor of his room.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUCMCKLUOd
He looked down and saw his boots sinking several centimeters into a brown black surface.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcKsfR1wj8
It was mud, but not ordinary mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iqL0me8CB
This mud was mixed with something darker, thicker, denser.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfM3qSZw5Ir
Blood.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRH1ieKkEnk
This ground was not earth.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kdAB30pmJ
It was a layer of flesh and bodily fluids that had soaked into the soil, mixed with mud, forming a new, horrific layer.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjUiipsOaC
When he moved his boots, there was a wet squelch, the sound of liquid squeezed out from the pores of the earth like water from an oversaturated sponge.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdksor0pA74
He saw small white fragments among the black mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0ZkHvBp5k
Bone fragments.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95EXygSJll
Broken rib pieces with sharp ends.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikw6DzhU4x
Severed finger joints still bearing remnants of flesh at the joints.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIJ9y9UdHs
Shattered skull fragments with pinkish inner surfaces from residual brain tissue.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuOuUi64Op
There were also torn fabric pieces, dull glinting metal buttons scattered among the mud, and undone shoelaces uncoiled like dead snakes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwkMx4tEJhb
The stench here was not uniform.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iLoHP44Bc
It came in waves.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHEEr7Yk7K
Sometimes sharp and stinging like ammonia burning the nose.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87msi74wAl
Sometimes sweet and nauseating like overripe flowers beginning to rot.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtocateSZPw
Sometimes like old iron scraped across the tongue, leaving a metallic taste he could not get rid of.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3N16XKpve
Every time the wind blew, cold, damp night wind, the smell changed, shifted, found new ways to torment his senses.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoJa6Hfmic
Voltase covered his nose with the back of his new, long hand, but the smell entered through his mouth, through his skin, through every pore of his now large but still vulnerable body.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObr4VF3l31
He felt it behind his eyes, in his sinuses, at the back of his throat.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9M8BhiPeM0
The smell became part of the air he breathed. He could not separate himself from it.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhU0RdOZ8k2
In the distance, he heard something.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX1YFHDLLD
Not the sound of rain. The sound was a crack, like a twig snapping.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlEXIHl8Mm
Voltase froze.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1chEBoQgv
He held his breath, that deep, heavy breath from this adult man's lungs, and tried to listen more carefully.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYN0WgYlNni
But his own heartbeat was too loud, too thunderous.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmVwE1CTcI
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKt9CbVl7eJ
Thump, thump.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGk1xUgW5b
This heart was like a war drum inside his broad chest, and he could not stop it.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHZqpZDHlv
Then, he saw movement.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ts00teS7V
Among the pile of corpses to his left, about ten meters away, the pile shook.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7HmNIeueC
Not from the wind. The wind would not move a pile of flesh that heavy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPlAFBx6dq4
Something inside it was moving.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4X1bWFmZBh
An arm emerged.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVGHaXfuNY
An arm that still had intact skin, pale but not rotting, with muscles still tense beneath the skin's surface.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPkj14800w
The fingers of that hand grasped the air, then pulled, pushed the bodies above them.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFEQ2ukGPJ
Those bodies shifted, rolled, fell aside with wet sounds.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLmeA6IEao
From that pile, a man's figure emerged.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXV01oLYOm
He rose with stiff, mechanical movements, like a wooden puppet whose strings were pulled by an invisible hand.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9M2ZYPdt3
He brushed dust and dried flesh scraps from his uniform, pale green, the same green worn by many corpses around him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEk5kXSJYQe
The fabric was torn in several places, and on his right shoulder was the same patch, the eagle or raven, but the colors were more faded, more worn, with threads beginning to unravel at the edges.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSbLfrOj9j
On his left arm was a large tear exposing the skin beneath, pale skin with an old, dried wound.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWTzISEdhc
The man was tall, almost as tall as Voltase.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNfx4E8G7n
His face was gaunt, with a firm jaw and prominent cheekbones.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIF8mwL6XND
His hair was dirty blond, short and unkempt, with sideburns slightly elongated beside his ears.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRgOX8U9L4
His dark eyes, dark like Voltase's eyes in the real world, stared directly at him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ry53BGNpw
The stare was unfriendly.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjb8aCacKbU
Full of suspicion, confusion, and beneath it, a layer of fear trying to hide behind a tightening jaw and pursed lips.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTmGYOD7Em
They faced each other.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMc8JAdB8j
Two adult figures in the middle of a sea of death.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80E2GYydAj
Cold night wind blew between them, carrying the stench of rot and old gunpowder smoke.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuMG6uwi8Q
Voltase felt the wind hit his face, carrying his long, dirty hair dancing around his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLB6jTZKEq
The man did not speak.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2acHrWm3Ba
He just stared, eyes narrowing, measuring whether Voltase was a threat or just another survivor.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6bqI1LYim
He examined Voltase's faded blue uniform, then examined his face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOw8fyYRmr7
Perhaps searching for recognition.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0yO3smVJn
Trying to remember if he had ever seen this face before.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzyqLezpq1
But there was no recognition in his eyes.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4U0dx8JEG
Only deepening suspicion.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtinj7jSsQq
Slowly, he bent down.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5p41hUuY7
His dirty fingers, crusted with dried blood beneath the nails, groped among the pile of corpses.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRDsLhBHke
He pushed some bodies aside, shifted others, and finally pulled something from beneath the pile.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJFTNIWub8
A long object.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3upDSp27y
Voltase recognized the shape even though he had never seen one directly outside the history books in the school library.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5JPvhAyxht
An old wooden stock, darkened by oil and covered with scratches and deep grooves from grips.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzho87hqW69
The wood was worn, its fibers peeling in places but still solid. He could see that the stock had been used for years, perhaps decades, by people he would never know.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxELe3NBW4Z
A long, slender barrel of dark metal, gleaming dully under the dim light, with grooves along its surface to reduce weight.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCirJBkFsj
Beneath it, just in front of the curved trigger made of the same metal with a finger groove, a small box magazine jutted out like a second jaw, loaded with ready to fire bullets.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVEn0l6wPn
And at the end of the barrel, he saw a locking mechanism, small grooves and metal protrusions, designed to attach a bayonet.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpm7FvoHks
It was a heavy, ancient, deadly rifle.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVz4BPn2FkG
A rifle that had killed more people than he could imagine.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJggw8AKPN
The man aimed the muzzle at Voltase's chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebNJMp1IYS
Voltase's reflexes acted before his thoughts could formulate a strategy.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNWtOnW3y3
Both his hands, the long, sturdy hands of an adult man, rose up, palms open wide, in the universal gesture of surrender.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEl4wGFtWhe
His heart pounded in this new chest, and he felt its beat at his temples and at the tips of his trembling fingers.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡripJduEeze
"Wait," he said, and his voice came out as a deep, hoarse baritone, a voice he had never heard before, a voice emerging from this chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xeDtQizZN
"I do not know where this is."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3zhcBNS0A
"I do not know what is happening."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTq9FBgMSeY
"I just woke up."
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywsIOOcAU4
The man did not answer.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEf3YNOSPRO
His eyes narrowed further, examining Voltase's faded blue uniform, then his face, watching Voltase's lips move, hearing his words.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3UzgNsv5D
But there was no response.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudW0eIrWWO
Perhaps he did not believe him.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXIYqHOW9j
Perhaps he had seen too many tricks in this place to trust anyone.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRsF9GTx2l
The man began to step forward.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEg48wNef2q
One step.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUvrFOl5kw
Two steps.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAqGFHRV2Z
The muzzle stayed aimed exactly at Voltase's chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkLkp8vHwf
Each step the man took was torture.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5yIes7qcZ
Voltase heard the squeak of the man's boots on the bloody mud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkrEBk1MIa
He saw every scratch on the rifle's wooden stock, every peeling fiber, every deep groove.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooOvsCuDjk
He saw the man's finger on the trigger, a steady finger that did not tremble, a finger accustomed to the weight and pressure of pulling.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9FWghw5j6
The voice in his head whispered.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZlWc5pMHa
If you do not move, you die.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5q9DQ21Iaj
You die here, in this place.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Hhgv5jY79
And you will never return to your dormitory room. No one will come looking for you.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnZUsvxocH
No one will care.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zgP4QtzAx
You will just be another corpse in this pile.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFejuSdD6UQ
The thought of the world's indifference, about foster parents who never called, about teachers who did not know his name, about the empty room with only the cracks on the ceiling, gave Voltase a strange strength.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhHz81tKIW
He had nothing to lose in the real world.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjedW24Dglx
No one would mourn him if he died.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthrSRD4fOf
But here, in this strong body, he might survive.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshd0IogDA6
He might become something.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmhHemyDye
And he moved.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡky1cAyGRPI
His tall, powerful body shot forward, faster than he had imagined.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3gg6msDYo
The muscles in his legs, muscles he had never possessed, contracted with surprising strength, propelling him forward in an instant.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH94lgpe5A1
His long hand grabbed the end of the rifle's barrel before the man could react.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbi0krSeLk
The metal was cold, very cold, like ice burning his skin.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQGfWhEFai
He felt the texture of the metal beneath his fingers, smooth in some places, rough in others from rust, and he gripped it tightly.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PNxwiwwGk
He twisted the barrel aside, away from his chest.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkJw9uCK8m
His other hand formed a fist and swung it at the man's face.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPE1vCf4T0G
The punch landed.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGKkPG3OdQ
His knuckles struck the man's cheekbone with a dull thud.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Oku9iRAKA
Voltase felt the hard impact in his hand, pain spreading like waves from his knuckles to his wrist.
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5XbTgtG7Z
But there was a primal satisfaction that his punch had connected.
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This was the first time in his life, both in the real world and here, he had ever hit someone with full force.
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The man stumbled back, his arm bending, but he did not fall.
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His head snapped to the side, and from the corner of his mouth, a drop of blood began to flow.
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He raised his hand to his face, touched his lip, looked at the blood on his fingertip.
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Then he looked at Voltase with changed eyes.
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Suspicion transformed into burning anger.
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With reflexes faster than they looked, he blocked Voltase's attack with his forearm.
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His other hand grabbed Voltase's collar and pulled him forward.
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At the same time, he bent his right knee and kicked forward.
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The knee struck Voltase's stomach, and the pain exploded in his solar plexus like a bomb.
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All the air in his lungs was forced out in one gasping exhale that sounded like a long, deep groan.
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Saliva and bitter bile from his empty stomach spurted from his open mouth, wetting his chin and dripping onto the faded blue uniform.
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For a moment, the world around him spun wildly, black sky, corpses, and the man's face all mixed into a nauseating vortex.
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He tasted metal on his tongue because he had bitten his own tongue from the impact.
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Fresh blood began to flow in his mouth, mixing with the bile.
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But Voltase did not fall.
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Unlike in the real world, where he always fell when pushed by other children at school, this body was stronger, heavier.
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His long legs planted in the bloody soil as he held his ground.
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His hard, trained abdominal muscles absorbed part of the kick's impact.
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Despite the overwhelming pain, he was still standing.
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With clenched teeth, enduring the pain gnawing at his stomach like burning fire, he launched a counterattack.
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His foot with the heavy boot and hard sole swung toward the man's shin.
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He swung his leg with all his strength.
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The kick landed with a harder thud than before.
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The man stumbled, losing balance.
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His kicked leg buckled, and for a moment he seemed about to fall, grimacing in pain, his teeth clenched, his breath coming in a long hiss.
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Voltase seized the moment.
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He twisted his body, pulling the rifle barrel with all his strength.
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The wood and metal, an object weighing nearly four kilograms, tore from the man's grip.
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It flew, rolled across the pile of corpses, and fell among the rotting bodies on the other side, sinking beneath the pile of flesh.
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Now, without weapons, they faced each other equally.
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The man swung a punch at Voltase's jaw, but Voltase ducked, feeling the wind of the fist brushing his long, dirty hair.
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He answered with a punch at the man's chin, but the man tilted his head with agile movement despite his large body.
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They fought wildly, punches, kicks, elbows, and knees, in the middle of the sea of corpses.
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Dust and dried flesh scraps flew around them every time they stepped on or fell into the piles of bodies.
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Voltase felt blood, both the corpses' blood and his own, covering his face.
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His lower lip was split, and he tasted his own salty, metallic blood on his tongue, mixing with the copper taste from the air around him.
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This is not me, he thought between punches, but his thoughts were fragmented by pain and exhaustion.
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Why am I here?
ns216.73.216.217da2 
and then Add to home screen.