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.
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The dormitory room sat on the third floor of an old red brick building that had stood for nearly two centuries.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xAQgWVUpJ
Its walls were thick, painted a pale white, made of stone and plaster cracked in many places.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Voltase Watt lay on his back on a bed far too large for his body.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sPh7sgUzh
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SJ9WEfp1w
His shoulders were narrow, so narrow that the navy striped flannel pajamas he wore kept slipping off his left shoulder.
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His arms were thin, with faint blue veins visible beneath pale skin that rarely saw sunlight.
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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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFUJgYtKTH
He had bought those pajamas three years ago, and even then they had been too big for his small body.
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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.
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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.
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Things do not grow.
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He never knew his biological parents.
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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.
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He grew up in that orphanage for five years, changing caretakers and beds and faces that came and went.
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Then a family came and chose him, a polite, well dressed couple who said the right things in front of the social worker.
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They took him to their home in the suburbs, gave him his own room, food, clothes.
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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.
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When he turned ten, they sent him to this boarding school.
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An elegant, polite way to get rid of a burden without appearing cruel.
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They paid his school fees.
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They sent birthday cards, store bought cards with printed text identical for everyone.
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But they never visited.
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They never called.
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Voltase was a receipt already paid in full, an obligation fulfilled.
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Now he was left here, in this cold room, in a country that was supposedly his birthplace but never felt like his own.
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You have no one, he thought, and he said it with lips that did not move, only inside his head.
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You have never had anyone.
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And you will never have anyone.
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Voltase had counted those cracks on the ceiling every night for two years since he first arrived in this room.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67TM91MNMF
The number of main branches was always twenty three.
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Never changing.
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The small branches varied, depending on the humidity of the night air, the temperature, whether the rain fell harder than usual.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyi6ev4fOdm
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.
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If he touched it, he would feel the cold of the plaster and remember that he was still here.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQcHbTZdVA
In the distance, the bells of St. Mary's church at the end of the street began to ring.
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The sound was old and heavy, with a slightly off key tone from age and dampness.
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Voltase counted each chime because there was nothing else he could do.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sAw7DgNgv
The bells stopped at the ninth chime, and silence returned, filled only by the patter of rain that never stopped here.
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Voltase reached his right hand toward the small table beside his bed.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROFNXzBONA
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.
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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.
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His long, thin fingers groped across the table's surface until they touched the phone.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuLJbJKq7o
The screen lit up.
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Pale blue light illuminated his face for a few seconds.
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The time showed 21:49 PM.
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He opened the game he was playing.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrHuUjtotB
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzsDeGyNCL
Voltase almost hated that smile.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpiZJJu6td
That character never got tired, never got sad, never felt alone.
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He just ran, collected coins, dodged trains, and smiled the whole time.
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His right thumb swiped the screen, and the game began.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsN0epUxAue
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qZOwWRuOT
Golden coins sparkled in the air, and every time the character collected them there was a satisfying ding sound.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IQuq5KQgY
Voltase played mechanically.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNFW3dFmdQ
His thumb swiped left, jumped, swiped right, ducked.
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The score in the upper right corner climbed, 240, 480, 710, 930.
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He did not care about the score or the character.
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The only thing he needed was the sound.
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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.
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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.
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The three of them ran together.
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A fake family in a fake world.
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They are not real, Voltase thought, just code, they can never feel anything.
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They are never alone because they never existed.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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GAME OVER.
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Voltase let out a breath.
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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.
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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.
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Silence returned.
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Rain returned.
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He was still here.
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Still small and alone.
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Voltase closed his eyes.
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In the darkness behind his eyelids, he imagined another place.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFtthJ69sg
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.
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He had never had one.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoYMg55HYz
He only knew that he wanted it, something more than this thin, weak, useless body.
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Slowly, exhaustion consumed him.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4CdWNDNJn
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBADDLAXOf
The rain kept tapping the window.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhQrkrNGB1
The wind moaned among the old oak trees in the schoolyard.
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His consciousness began to blur, sinking into a dark, warm abyss.
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The clock showed 22:01 PM.
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Three minutes since he turned off the phone.
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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.
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It crept inside uninvited.
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Stabbed the back of his throat like swallowed glass shards.
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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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QUCai7VMe
Blood, he thought, and the thought rose from the depths of an instinct he had not known he possessed.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAL0MCLqFA
The smell of blood.
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A lot of blood and flesh.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORySCRqStZ
Rotting flesh.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHJI47m4y1
Voltase opened his eyes.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTMrQzVMwZ
The darkness he saw was not the darkness of his dormitory room.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtJL7WqY9U
This was total darkness, darkness that rejected light, darkness that felt solid like wet velvet pressed against his face.
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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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0ox4zdZaF
He saw a shape above him, very close, only inches from his own nose.
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A face.
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But not the face of a living human.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTw2XahZXC
The skin of that face was ashen green, pale like dried clay beginning to crack.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzYRquZ50W
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.
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Its eyes, or what remained of them, were two dark hollows.
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No eyeballs.
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Just black holes filled with small, writhing movements.
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Voltase saw them clearly, maggots.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8jn93e6ey
Dozens, maybe hundreds of small pale yellowish bodies, segmented, with darker heads, writhing inside those eye sockets.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZNliI8w4s
They rose and fell like tiny waves that never stopped, eating the remaining tissue still clinging to the orbital bone.
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Some were larger than others, fatter and whiter, perhaps because they had been there longer and had eaten more.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB92C3WANwY
One of them crawled out of the left eye socket, across the corpse's cheekbone, and fell right onto Voltase's cheek.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBQdR1IRUf
He felt it.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5aY34if8j
Cold, Damp, and Writhing.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dSu2VIN7m
That small soft body clung to his skin for a second, then began to crawl slowly downward toward his jaw.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80TdQ0dGQj
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.
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Pure, primal panic that recognized no logic or reason.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhMCqUQPIM
He wanted to scream, but his voice was caught in his throat.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIUdMf5Tbv
He wanted to push, but his hands felt foreign and heavy.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjJGOb2gqC
Because he realized: his body had become different.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUtdA9KRew
His hands pushing the corpse away felt longer and heavier.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMrgP59Z0Z
His fingers were no longer long and thin.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Yz7RGyVbd
He felt protruding knuckles, long and sturdy finger joints, a wide palm with blue veins clearly visible on the back.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoebLC42D5u
When he pushed the corpse away, the muscles in his arms, muscles he had never possessed in the real world, contracted with surprising strength.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYPbCXBbvS
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HizuRp0wQ
The corpse rolled to the side with a wet, heavy plop, like a bag of wet meat falling onto mud.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5k0ky9Hidh
Its head hit something hard, maybe a rock, maybe another skull, with a dull crack.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3z2yipnQcd
Voltase coughed, choked, and sat up straight with a jolting movement.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZo3okBikqX
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.
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His chest felt heavy, broad, and wide. His back felt solid.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZE4FVmyMn
His shoulders were now thick and muscular.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0DAgDipeS
He looked down and saw his own body.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0A7pCwRdyD
A uniform.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfcAtSMkpJ
A long sleeved shirt in faded blue, made of thick wool fabric that was coarse and slightly damp from dew or blood.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvRRzJ85or
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9FeY6kJQV
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfy3POFcqKc
The patch was faded, its edges torn.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0q9GeYRz0l
Blue trousers tucked into tall dark brown boots that felt heavy on his feet.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMEE8BJKNj
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz04OqVPN4N
Loose metal buckles on the tops of the boots swung gently as he moved.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XGh1irXJM
Voltase raised his right hand in front of his face.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eVxE67ABx
The hand trembled violently.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzF7hs3hna
He could see it clearly, and it was not his hand.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JjLx5YVPr
The hand was long, thin but muscular, with blue veins prominent on the back.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJS0bVC09F
The fingers were slender with prominent knuckles and short nails dirty with black earth drying beneath them.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOphTrVyadY
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTByBUdCXE
His palm was wide with deep, clear lifelines.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5yNp5lSRB
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnLL9O4Ron
This was an adult man's hand.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3uycY9RYc
A strong hand.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutOBfjT3kH
A hand that could never belong to a weak, thin twelve year old boy.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHt0JXj1fH
He pressed his palm to his chest.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkCddY1vlO
Beneath the thick wool fabric, he felt the contour of hard chest muscles, broad pectorals with wide ribs beneath them.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoFH72H5VG
And beneath those muscles, he felt a heartbeat.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6CoNL2TXA
Thump, thump.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSINPknteU0
Thump, thump.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnwdmwitBt
A deeper, stronger, heavier heart.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazpVjbfTE3
Each beat felt like a hammer striking the wall of his chest from inside.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0Nvhg4ykS
This is not my body, he thought.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSGePMgRzH
The thought sounded foreign in his head, deeper, heavier, with the resonance of an adult man he did not recognize.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAfvQtCV45
This body is not mine.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCTgQ1AQFK
I am inside someone else's body.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhnIdDXqt8
I am trapped inside someone else's flesh.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbS7vnZNAWD
How can this be?
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMl1BRmrd3
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMkeE2dgkl
He straightened his body, rising from his current sitting position.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQtkhD5sYc
His knees wobbled at first. The long, strong leg muscles felt strange, unused to supporting this much weight, but he forced himself to stand.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcfYF7uKxP
Eye level was now above the piles of corpses around him.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpKu9Q9vuS
He could see far across the field, farther than he had ever seen in his short, narrow life.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTaFu946Uoo
The body was now tall, a hundred and eighty centimeters or more.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3ZF9GUMPG
When he looked down, he saw the long distance between his chest and the ground, a distance he had never experienced before.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTa5l55XEi
His long, sturdy legs felt foreign, like poles newly attached beneath his body.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8I9YrD4VV
Every step felt like walking on an unstable stage.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHDmiczHjl
He felt his body's weight differently.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRB422SU4K7
Gravity felt lighter on his bones, perhaps because his bones were now larger and stronger, but his muscles felt heavier and denser.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94FJNOhH9m
There was strength there, potential for movement he had never explored.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8DtY5tWXvm
He felt that this body could run faster, punch harder, endure longer than his thin, weak body.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHyaKEBPfJ
But that strength must have its price, something he was always aware of, that nothing in this world was free.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHo6LYy7esN
Instead, he felt strange after obtaining this body.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cpQcZxHa3
Like a thief who had stolen something precious and did not know how to use it, where every movement felt like a violation.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPngwEZXGA
Whose body is this? The question repeated in his head like a mantra.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj91rLoPVoe
Where is he?
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzAUBIZcPt
Is he dead?
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5PHmyawo8L
Did I take his body?
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRCOvSvHLC
Did I kill him?
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijxMrJNVFH
He looked around.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsP3SXqmWhg
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWG0YuzFmv1
No stars, moon, or glowing clouds.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsEttYcY78
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWQB29h0OS
But beneath that gloomy sky, there was enough light.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzS2yAycDX
Perhaps from reflections off puddles of liquid on the ground that cast a dim gleam.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZmfLv8ccx
Remnants of fires long dead in the distance, still emitting thin smoke and red sparks beneath the ash.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRBJrIkf63
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI41C9IY4iv
Around him, as far as he could see, there were only bodies.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyayMWaLIp
Hundreds, maybe thousands, impossible to count.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMsabZlOfW
They lay in chaotic piles like rag dolls thrown by an angry giant and then forgotten.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhAF5IUhEv
Some were stacked on top of each other, forming small hills reaching up to an adult's waist.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhOw2qFmX2
Some piles were higher, reaching chest height.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCo9N9KMkje
Voltase noticed that the piles moved.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56og1S5M3b
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBd5zD18iC
Some bodies lay alone, separated from the piles, with arms bent at impossible angles.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnUAMqSSYO
Elbows twisted the wrong way.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu29tBRN1pL
Fingers clutching empty earth as if they were still trying to crawl in death, still trying to escape something that had caught them.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm5qbFvYcCZ
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVnuSdWHND
Some had no faces at all.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQp4XlWanPT
Just red, glistening hollows inhabited by maggots and flies, with remnants of flesh clinging to skull bones like unraveling threads.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPSRdOcdv1
Their uniforms varied.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjYqelM4sT
Most wore faded blue, like Voltase.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7KalB3U6K
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr71bSDrLjc
Some others, fewer in number, wore ash, the color of gunpowder dust, or ash left after fire dies.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmunOnUvW5
Those three colors mixed in this pile of death without pattern, without meaning, just chaotic horror.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjBKD74IlA
Often he saw blue bodies lying on top of green bodies, or gray bodies wedged between two blue bodies.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAkpkAcObI
Nothing was ordered.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5AmSa8MwDT
Nothing was intentional.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjX16K81Qbb
They died where they fell, and they fell where they died.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42qEyU1Q9J
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡur9PMewS7l
He looked down and saw his boots sinking several centimeters into a brown black surface.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KncLYRlsQ
It was mud, but not ordinary mud.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKiMpJCQQG
This mud was mixed with something darker, thicker, denser.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GxL2i8h9S
Blood.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdAiPuS4fW
This ground was not earth.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS20h5C7HNj
It was a layer of flesh and bodily fluids that had soaked into the soil, mixed with mud, forming a new, horrific layer.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9QPip1qas
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2nPrn0ThL
He saw small white fragments among the black mud.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRqpWzzjt7
Bone fragments.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2qLIe4QPpO
Broken rib pieces with sharp ends.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfKEHFIClw
Severed finger joints still bearing remnants of flesh at the joints.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFzGTz9h3U
Shattered skull fragments with pinkish inner surfaces from residual brain tissue.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNb5e6FUCt
There were also torn fabric pieces, dull glinting metal buttons scattered among the mud, and undone shoelaces uncoiled like dead snakes.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqoieF9veo
The stench here was not uniform.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraNiiH5I4k
It came in waves.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVCRpgw2SC
Sometimes sharp and stinging like ammonia burning the nose.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsT4xi3ab2
Sometimes sweet and nauseating like overripe flowers beginning to rot.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRHTEiCsSg
Sometimes like old iron scraped across the tongue, leaving a metallic taste he could not get rid of.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogQhCHMcZd
Every time the wind blew, cold, damp night wind, the smell changed, shifted, found new ways to torment his senses.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtc2bWec6X
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aJ52yRtb6
He felt it behind his eyes, in his sinuses, at the back of his throat.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85EGkAUihn
The smell became part of the air he breathed. He could not separate himself from it.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24lqnN153u
In the distance, he heard something.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDZSvfVKs4
Not the sound of rain. The sound was a crack, like a twig snapping.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJBAt1eii4
Voltase froze.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzvBYoU814n
He held his breath, that deep, heavy breath from this adult man's lungs, and tried to listen more carefully.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzb6Fsm6GL
But his own heartbeat was too loud, too thunderous.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qDJjkUGTT
Thump, thump.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjU1G8POYx
Thump, thump.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5r4hvDNKF
This heart was like a war drum inside his broad chest, and he could not stop it.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJfcovPMG5
Then, he saw movement.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5ctMU6rhF
Among the pile of corpses to his left, about ten meters away, the pile shook.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoDLYZqKLR
Not from the wind. The wind would not move a pile of flesh that heavy.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHO8TpJ20qo
Something inside it was moving.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ421eAFpF98
An arm emerged.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1zbwXNBJn
An arm that still had intact skin, pale but not rotting, with muscles still tense beneath the skin's surface.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMOxoSx8Wb
The fingers of that hand grasped the air, then pulled, pushed the bodies above them.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6P0OszSOC
Those bodies shifted, rolled, fell aside with wet sounds.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dHroRAFoI
From that pile, a man's figure emerged.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxwaQYTPiG
He rose with stiff, mechanical movements, like a wooden puppet whose strings were pulled by an invisible hand.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h4BmAiO8r
He brushed dust and dried flesh scraps from his uniform, pale green, the same green worn by many corpses around him.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujpLqtk3be
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4mDhyS1tB
On his left arm was a large tear exposing the skin beneath, pale skin with an old, dried wound.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzclpLOgTO
The man was tall, almost as tall as Voltase.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWAvxNwS7O
His face was gaunt, with a firm jaw and prominent cheekbones.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1US3FC7OO
His hair was dirty blond, short and unkempt, with sideburns slightly elongated beside his ears.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJOWhYXPY5
His dark eyes, dark like Voltase's eyes in the real world, stared directly at him.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2e0tNSv4tE
The stare was unfriendly.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaaPBZmwmB
Full of suspicion, confusion, and beneath it, a layer of fear trying to hide behind a tightening jaw and pursed lips.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmmxjWhBQu
They faced each other.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EFgnvlziJ
Two adult figures in the middle of a sea of death.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVXlH4P0M7
Cold night wind blew between them, carrying the stench of rot and old gunpowder smoke.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAi88A3Zln
Voltase felt the wind hit his face, carrying his long, dirty hair dancing around his eyes.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOpfGcJeDj
The man did not speak.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHm180etDav
He just stared, eyes narrowing, measuring whether Voltase was a threat or just another survivor.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAz6DC7x8Eu
He examined Voltase's faded blue uniform, then examined his face.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyzNY7ExCm
Perhaps searching for recognition.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmc6QABC6M
Trying to remember if he had ever seen this face before.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiF8h7xMO2
But there was no recognition in his eyes.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZonX79R2M
Only deepening suspicion.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzB6umNt0w
Slowly, he bent down.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uwwcxwnB9
His dirty fingers, crusted with dried blood beneath the nails, groped among the pile of corpses.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwhTi3P6yQ
He pushed some bodies aside, shifted others, and finally pulled something from beneath the pile.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSBxfqr92p
A long object.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uTfsTsKhA
Voltase recognized the shape even though he had never seen one directly outside the history books in the school library.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8hMVlZTjQ
An old wooden stock, darkened by oil and covered with scratches and deep grooves from grips.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4kjgu6I4O
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKVdiqYuut
A long, slender barrel of dark metal, gleaming dully under the dim light, with grooves along its surface to reduce weight.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xs7FSTK0q
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5QrV4hSCF
And at the end of the barrel, he saw a locking mechanism, small grooves and metal protrusions, designed to attach a bayonet.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8OKR183RF
It was a heavy, ancient, deadly rifle.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGF0byX687
A rifle that had killed more people than he could imagine.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRwvaURo89
The man aimed the muzzle at Voltase's chest.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8G853kMOK
Voltase's reflexes acted before his thoughts could formulate a strategy.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbPxr4HwSa
Both his hands, the long, sturdy hands of an adult man, rose up, palms open wide, in the universal gesture of surrender.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheW2As8VHg
His heart pounded in this new chest, and he felt its beat at his temples and at the tips of his trembling fingers.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUM0s3QIGRL
"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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ieQV2A84Z
"I do not know where this is."
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3w9iibqsK
"I do not know what is happening."
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIIQnWxnrY
"I just woke up."
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4QgeACynD
The man did not answer.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rDqRKMlpm
His eyes narrowed further, examining Voltase's faded blue uniform, then his face, watching Voltase's lips move, hearing his words.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEc7ciG1aP
But there was no response.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsRFAHfPyA
Perhaps he did not believe him.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZopIqo4DSC
Perhaps he had seen too many tricks in this place to trust anyone.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgn5gmlFe8
The man began to step forward.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxe5ZdPIQ4h
One step.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuSBzzGSbns
Two steps.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HNZsoDpXs
The muzzle stayed aimed exactly at Voltase's chest.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrDVx2xpFB
Each step the man took was torture.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnBrzQOzpB
Voltase heard the squeak of the man's boots on the bloody mud.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEO0ECeZhnn
He saw every scratch on the rifle's wooden stock, every peeling fiber, every deep groove.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPmgSqjOmw
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9oP0ztEMI
The voice in his head whispered.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmduba07dP
If you do not move, you die.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjLjzXMUHZ
You die here, in this place.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQTs3GFD5Y
And you will never return to your dormitory room. No one will come looking for you.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡju6PnCP2Jw
No one will care.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpe9AdlXc1
You will just be another corpse in this pile.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfsg5187xK
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjHPxihIDr
He had nothing to lose in the real world.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKtO1cxyNL
No one would mourn him if he died.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOayKmgePa8
But here, in this strong body, he might survive.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtlliQNTl5
He might become something.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyeSbrIVRh
And he moved.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZ4zYFfohb
His tall, powerful body shot forward, faster than he had imagined.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Qc17KvkNW
The muscles in his legs, muscles he had never possessed, contracted with surprising strength, propelling him forward in an instant.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKm9nFcI5cA
His long hand grabbed the end of the rifle's barrel before the man could react.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsccuMVpzx9
The metal was cold, very cold, like ice burning his skin.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyASv7KNX3A
He felt the texture of the metal beneath his fingers, smooth in some places, rough in others from rust, and he gripped it tightly.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgc7fLC9rqI
He twisted the barrel aside, away from his chest.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5o26cKasz
His other hand formed a fist and swung it at the man's face.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1B9KhT0UTS
The punch landed.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYJjO0tstC
His knuckles struck the man's cheekbone with a dull thud.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJBBYgsfIO
Voltase felt the hard impact in his hand, pain spreading like waves from his knuckles to his wrist.
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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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPBU66Y9YC
The man stumbled back, his arm bending, but he did not fall.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RO16JOVgH
His head snapped to the side, and from the corner of his mouth, a drop of blood began to flow.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOEHavjwm7
He raised his hand to his face, touched his lip, looked at the blood on his fingertip.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF87dETYqiJ
Then he looked at Voltase with changed eyes.
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Suspicion transformed into burning anger.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvGvGCKCSN
With reflexes faster than they looked, he blocked Voltase's attack with his forearm.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCY89IEMOCK
His other hand grabbed Voltase's collar and pulled him forward.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8UUij50P5
At the same time, he bent his right knee and kicked forward.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmVKuYqhVB
The knee struck Voltase's stomach, and the pain exploded in his solar plexus like a bomb.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gbcFaaQ1T
All the air in his lungs was forced out in one gasping exhale that sounded like a long, deep groan.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiddoISjSp3
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDKON5fxNY
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVTGnjQwmS
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwSl0UFXof
His foot with the heavy boot and hard sole swung toward the man's shin.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6El8kh4nc
He swung his leg with all his strength.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPVDl05Uiq
The kick landed with a harder thud than before.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwYhf58O3p
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmtdO6Rxp4
Voltase seized the moment.
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He twisted his body, pulling the rifle barrel with all his strength.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡme1gWXh04B
The wood and metal, an object weighing nearly four kilograms, tore from the man's grip.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZvogCGBno
It flew, rolled across the pile of corpses, and fell among the rotting bodies on the other side, sinking beneath the pile of flesh.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhq98PLSTn5
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0guRFbEBW
He answered with a punch at the man's chin, but the man tilted his head with agile movement despite his large body.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnEaACZJTj
They fought wildly, punches, kicks, elbows, and knees, in the middle of the sea of corpses.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcsgQ72KDd
Dust and dried flesh scraps flew around them every time they stepped on or fell into the piles of bodies.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDBnFB0Emf
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.
21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECx4yFnvZr
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.