I watched as the Pawsnap crept toward me. Elira's voice faded into nothing, and the world shifted into a golden hue. Everything around me turned to gold: trees, ground, even my own hands. I tried to shake off the shimmer crawling up my fingers, but I couldn't feel them anymore. It was as if I had been suspended in another realm, and this beast was its master.
"Piss off!" I shouted, forcing my fingers to drop the needles and manifest {Surgeon's Scalpel}. The moment the blade formed, I felt unstoppable, as though this weapon in my grasp made me invincible.
But my body betrayed me. I froze, rooted to the spot, unable to move a single step closer. The scalpel trembled in my hand, inches from its forehead, and yet… I couldn't pierce it.
"Just… a little… more! Come on!" I thrashed, fighting with every breath, but those golden eyes drilled into my soul. My body stiffened completely, my weapon vanished, and I felt my very essence harden. I was trapped, transformed into nothing more than a golden statue.
I didn't want to die, but it felt like I had already lost this battle… Why? Why did fate hate me? The thought echoed, sour and bitter, eating at me.
"No matter what you see next, don't panic. Believe in your own judgment."
Elira's voice rang inside my head, the words she'd spoken earlier repeating again and again. But what did she mean? Even now, as the world grew cold and empty, I still couldn't understand. How could I not believe what I was seeing? How could I trust my own judgment when everything pointed to my end?
It was silly to think those words could save me. What I needed was a weapon, strength, power—the kind characters in novels and anime awakened at the last second. Why? Why wasn't I powering up now? Was it because… I was just a side character?
Beatrice… her fate was always to die. I had only managed to run from that fate for this long. Maybe it was time to say goodbye.
No! Keep fighting!
The voice came from within me, raw and sharp, a scream clawing out of my own heart. Damn it… I hated myself. Even back in the hospital, every time I wanted to rest, it was the same. That voice refused to let me. It pushed me up, demanded more, because others needed me.
Even now...
"Believe in your own judgment…" That voice again. But what judgment is there? My judgment says I'm already dead. Yes… that's the truth, isn't it? Do you want me not to believe that? Do you want me to think this isn't reality, that it's just an illusion? But the facts scream louder than words. I can't see, can't move, can't breathe—
Wait.
If I can't breathe, then I should already be dead. So why am I still alive? How much time has really passed since I was turned into this statue?
Thank you… Elira. I understand now.
The golden layers began to peel away, flakes falling from me like dust, light rushing back into my eyes. At the very moment the world seemed darkest, her voice pulled me out. I would repay that kindness someday, one way or another.
For now… my fingers moved. Free again.
The beast hadn't struck. It only glared, those golden eyes cutting through me like blades. It didn't matter. I wasn't about to spare it.
I manifested {Surgeon's Scalpel}, and with every ounce of force I had left, I drove it into the space between its brows. Blood sprayed, hot and metallic, covering my face as the golden world dimmed, colors draining until everything shattered like broken glass, collapsing into the dark.
"Beatrice!" I heard her voice, but my eyes were fixed on the blue sky. The stench of smoke was the first thing that dragged me back to my senses. My head pounded as if someone had smashed it with a hammer. I forced myself up into a sitting position.
The beast lay dead before me, my needles buried in its eyes. There was no wound on its forehead, which meant the strike I remembered had only happened inside my mind. What a terrifying creature… I thought, still dazed.
"Beatrice!" Her voice again. Only then did I notice Elira wasn't beside me. She was far off, near her house, locked in battle against several monsters: one a bat larger than a man, the other a wolf so white it looked carved from snow itself.
"Move…" I told my body, but my legs refused to listen. I was still weak, too weak to stand and help my friend. "Move, I said!"
The words burst out louder than I meant, but they triggered a response I hadn't expected. The system. My stomach twisted as the screen appeared before my eyes.
[You have received a new quest: {Slaughter all attacking demon beasts}]
[Reward: Five combat levels. Failure will be punished by instant death. You have one hour to complete this quest.]
I knew it… Nothing in this world comes without a price. And now the system had chosen to beat me while I was already on the ground. Great. Just perfect.
Forget safety. Forget hesitation. I had no choice but to throw myself at an impossible task.
My legs suddenly felt lighter, and I pushed up so fast it almost looked like a power-up. But I knew that it was just adrenaline burning through me. And when it ran out, I'd collapse face-first into the dirt.
I summoned the needles from the beast's eyes and coiled them around my hands, spinning them in circles like a whirring machine gun. At the same time, I summoned my {Surgeon's Scalpel}, controlling it purely by instinct. My fingers didn't even touch it. I knew its power would be weaker this way, but it didn't matter.
I used {Shadow Step}, vanishing and reappearing beside the massive bat. Elira sensed it too, channeling every drop of strength into her own attack. Bloody wind surged around the white wolf, wrapping it in crimson currents that shredded its flesh apart, tearing it into minced meat.
While the bat faltered under her storm, my needles struck, sinking deep into its body. It screamed and plummeted, and before it could rise again, I drove my scalpel across its neck in a clean, ruthless arc. Its head hit the ground with a dull thud.
My eyes burned with fury. I was ready to kill until my body gave out.