Dark red blood ran slowly down Kai's thigh, mixing with the freezing rain that continued to pour relentlessly over the forest. The metallic scent of blood filled the air, blending with the damp smell of wet soil and the foul, rotting stench that always clung to goblins. The mixture made the air thick and suffocating, as if the forest itself were closing in on him.
For a strange moment, Kai felt as if time had slowed down.
Every raindrop falling from the sky.
Every trembling breath leaving his lungs.
Every heartbeat pounding violently inside his chest.
All of it echoed loudly in his mind.
Kai let out a crooked laugh, his lips twisting from the pain.
His voice came out weak and hoarse.
"Damn it… if this were some kind of story or a comic book … someone should be showing up to save me right about now…"
Before he could finish the sentence, a searing pain ripped through his body.
A goblin had rushed from behind.
Its rusted dagger plunged straight into Kai's thigh.
"AHHHHH!"
The pain exploded like fire inside his flesh.
His legs collapsed beneath him. His breathing became erratic and ragged. The world around him blurred and shook as if the entire forest had begun spinning.
Hot blood streamed down his leg.
But the rain cooled it instantly, turning the warmth into an icy numbness.
Kai gasped for breath.
"It… hurts… damn… this hurts way more than I thought…"
Around him, the goblins began laughing.
Their laughter was harsh, cracked, and horribly distorted.
They weren't rushing to kill him.
Instead, they formed a loose circle around Kai, hissing and pointing, watching him struggle like a group of cruel spectators enjoying a show.
Kai realized it.
And he laughed again, though the sound was bitter.
"You bastards… hah… you're playing with me, aren't you?"
The goblins shrieked louder.
Then suddenly…
They attacked all at once.
"So this is… how it ends…"
As death approached, Kai's consciousness began drifting far away.
The rain faded.
The forest disappeared.
Instead, he found himself sitting in a familiar place.
A small kitchen.
An old wooden table.
A dim yellow light hanging from the ceiling.
His father.
His mother.
His older sister.
They were sitting around the table, eating dinner, chatting, laughing.
It was such an ordinary, peaceful scene.
And yet it hurt to look at.
Kai opened his mouth.
"Dad… Mom… Sis…"
No one answered.
No one looked at him.
It was as if he wasn't even there.
As if Kai had never existed.
Then his mother turned her head slightly.
Her eyes were cold.
Her voice dropped into a low, disappointed tone.
"When are you finally going to change?"
The words slammed into Kai's mind like a hammer.
"Mom, everyone….Im just…."
His family look him dead in the eyes, their face doesn't show any kind of emotion but it can only be described in one word
Disappointment
"Why don't you try to do anything?"
"Why?"
"Why?"
Kai's eyes snapped open.
Reality crashed back.
A goblin's blade sliced through the air inches from his face.
Instinct took over.
Kai rolled desperately to the side.
The blade struck mud instead.
Water and dirt splashed everywhere.
His thoughts began racing.
"What the hell…?
How did I still dodge that…?
Why am I still struggling…?"
Kai forced himself to stand.
The pain in his leg was unbearable. Every step felt like stepping on knives.
But he ran anyway.
Behind him, goblins shrieked and chased him, their small feet slapping against the mud as they followed relentlessly.
His mind screamed at him.
"It hurts… stop… just stop…
This stupid body…
I already gave up…
So why are you still running…?"
Rain hammered down on his back like stones.
His lungs burned.
His vision darkened.
Then…
Kai tripped.
He slammed face-first into the mud.
Before he could even push himself up, a goblin jumped onto his back.
Its dagger stabbed down twice into Kai's arm.
"AHHHHH!"
The pain was so intense that his mind nearly went blank.
But in the brief moment when the blade stuck inside his flesh—
Kai grabbed his last chance.
He twisted his body violently, throwing the goblin off balance.
His shaking hand grabbed a large rock beside him.
He didn't think.
He didn't hesitate.
He slammed it down.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The sickening crack of bone breaking echoed beneath the rain.
"It hurts… it really hurts…"
Rainwater mixed with blood.
Mixed with tears that Kai didn't even realize were falling.
"Why… why am I still fighting…?
I already gave up…
I've always been afraid…
Always running away…
Wouldn't it be easier to just die…?"
His hand trembled.
The rock slipped from his fingers.
The goblin beneath him stopped moving.
Kai slowly raised his head.
Then suddenly he screamed.
A raw, furious scream that tore through the rain and echoed across the forest.
It wasn't directed at the goblins.
It was directed at himself.
Kai forced his body to stand again.
His thigh and arm were still bleeding heavily.
But he moved.
Step by step.
He ran again.
Not because he had a plan.
Not because he believed he would survive.
But because something inside him refused to stop.
He ran until his lungs felt like they would burst.
Ran until his legs trembled uncontrollably.
Ran until the sounds of the goblins behind him slowly faded away.
Finally—
Kai stopped.
He turned and looked behind him.
Nothing.
The forest was empty.
The goblins were gone.
Kai staggered toward a massive tree and collapsed at its base. His back slid down against the cold, rough bark.
Rain continued to fall.
But he barely felt it anymore.
His entire body trembled.
His breathing was shaky, uneven.
But it was still breathing.
Kai whispered softly.
"…Alive…"
His chest rose and fell slowly.
"…I'm… alive…"
In the middle of a blood-soaked forest beneath a merciless rainstorm, Kai sat there.
Not as a hero.
Not as a victor.
But simply as someone who had fought desperately…
…and managed to reclaim the right to keep existing.