I don't know how long I was unconscious. Time held no meaning in a place like this.
But before my consciousness completely faded, I managed to think one thing. Perhaps death isn't the end, but the beginning of something darker.
Darkness. For an unknown length of time, that was all there was.
No sound, no sensation, as if I was submerged in something thick and silent. Yet slowly, within that darkness, something began to pulse weakly.
A beat.
One… two… then three.
My body reacted, refusing to be still. My eyelids opened heavily, and a dim light greeted my sight.
Thin fog shrouded the forest canopy, and damp air filled my lungs.
I could still feel the bitter taste in my mouth, the remnants of the raw meat I had forced myself to swallow.
My head throbbed, but not as strongly as before.
I was still alive. I took a long breath, then slowly moved my fingers.
My muscles feel stiff, but strong. It feels like something is different, something new.
I glanced at my arms, and my legs, which a moment ago had been bleeding freely. but now the wound was gone.
Not only is it covered, but it disappears, leaving only smooth skin under dirt and dried blood. It was as if the wolf's fangs that bit me, never touched me. But the pain inside still lingered in the bitten area.
What is happening to me?
I remember I had just eaten wolf meat, and I felt pain all over my body.
I stood up slowly, my body still felt heavy but stable. Every movement brought a strange sensation, no longer painful, but tight, as if my muscles had just been forged. The air around the forest was still damp, but now it no longer felt as cold as before.
I could feel a different pulse in my body. My hand moved up, staring at my own palm.
My skin was still dirty, covered in dried bloodstains and soil, but its form felt different, stronger, denser.
Then my eyes stopped at the tips of my fingers.
My nails… they'd changed. Long, sharp, and colored a faint purple that dimly reflected the faint light from the fog.
I tilted my hand, observing its reflection in the air.
The color was like fine crystal that had just formed, shimmering softly but sharp at the tips.
I touched one with my thumb, and its tip lightly scratched the thin skin beneath it with little effort.
A shaky breath escaped me.
"This is real… I'm not dreaming."
When I speak, I am surprised by my voice, my voice sounded strange to my ears. Its sound different, as if there was something in it, a deep calmness, and more authoritative.
That small change made me want to confirm something. I slowly walked towards a puddle of water under a tree root and knelt at its edge. The water was calm, faintly reflecting my image amidst the floating mud and leaves.
My hair was still long and black, heavy and tangled with mud. Several strands stuck to my cheeks and neck, covering part of my face. I brushed them aside slowly, trying to see clearly.
My face was still the same, pale, dirty, with remnants of dried mud on the skin. Yet there was a small detail that made me pause.
The hollows under my eyes… had vanished. The skin around them looked smoother, fresher, as if all the fatigue and hunger that had accumulated there had been wiped away.
I looked deeper. My eyes… were still the same as before, the color, shape, everything. But for some reason, there was something different within them.
My pupils seemed slightly darker, not from a color change, but because the new gleam in them was calmer, and deeper, as if something was hiding behind them.
My own gaze made my chest tremble, not from fear, but because I barely recognized who I was looking at.
I reached out, touching the water. Its surface rippled, and my reflection shattered.
"I'm still me." I murmured, trying to reassure myself.
But my voice didn't sound convincing even to myself.
I looked at the nails again. The purple color seemed alive, not like paint or magical light, but like a part of my body that was supposed to be that way.
The forest around me was still quiet. No bird or insect sounds. But I could hear small things, faint vibrations from afar, even the rustle of the fog as it moved between the trees.
My hearing was much sharper, as if this world was opening itself up a little to me.
I breathed slowly. The air entered easily, my chest felt relieved. I looked at the sky between the trees.
The fog there was still thick, but I felt I could penetrate it, not with my eyes, but with instinct.
My hand clenched. The sharp nail tips pressed into my palm, causing a slight sting.
That feeling is real. And strangely, it's comforting. Maybe I am no longer the same human I used to be.
But for the first time, I didn't feel afraid of that change.
Because in a world that had rejected me, the only thing I could trust was the power I now possessed, even if it came from monster blood.
I looked again towards the forest. The fog moved slowly, opening a slight path ahead of me, as if inviting.
I took a deep breath, then stepped forward. With nails colored faint purple reflecting dim light amidst the fog,
I walked, leaving the cold ground behind, leaving the remnants of the monster's body that had given me a second life.
My steps were heavy but firm, and for the first time, I felt the earth beneath me no longer rejected me. The fog began to thin, as if the forest was slowly yielding to the light trying to penetrate from the gray sky.
I stood in the middle of the swampy ground, amidst the remnants of blood and the fur of the dead wolf not far from me.
The air felt heavy, but no longer suffocating. Maybe because my body has stopped feeling fear.
Or maybe because I've stopped caring.
My hands are still a little shaky. The pain in my arms and legs feels a bit throbbing. But it's okay. It's proof that I'm still alive.
I looked at the nails on my hands. Pale purple, sharp, shimmering faintly under the soft light penetrating the foliage.
Before, I would have been terrified to see myself like this.
Now, I only felt calm.
There was nothing wrong with this body. There was nothing wrong with me.
What was wrong was the world that looked at me like something deserving to be trampled.
I looked at the wolf's body once more. The smell of its blood mixed with damp soil stabbed my nose, but I didn't turn away.
"Thank you." I whispered. Whether to the creature, or to the world that still gave me a chance to exist.
Then I turned, stepping slowly on the soft, heavy ground. Every step felt like shedding my old skin.
And with each step… their faces returned.
Eri.
Her face appeared the clearest. Her sneering smile, her satisfied eyes when she laughed at me and bullied me.
She who looked at me like a disgusting object, who even in this new world still wanted to prove that I was just trash.
If this world was fair, she should have been thrown into hell first.
Dito.
His loud laughter, the voice that shattered every attempt I made to hold back tears. He lived only to bring down the weaker, because without people like me, he had no value.
One day, I'll make him know what it feels like to be laughed at by a world that no longer sides with him.
Maya.
With her beautiful face and poisonous words, she looked at me as if my existence polluted the air.
I can still remember clearly when she, creating a water ball from her magic, then threw it at my back, just to see me fall and be humiliated in front of everyone.
Those cold water drops felt like mockery that clung to my skin for a long time, even until now.
And one day, I want to see her eyes look at me again, but this time with fear.
Sari.
She didn't laugh, but her silence was painful. She knew, she saw, but chose to remain silent.
Now I know, her silence meant agreement. And I won't forget.
However, above all of them, there were those who made my days in the palace a living hell.
King Thorian.
He sat on his throne, looking at me like dust stuck to the palace floor. To him, I was nothing more than a mistake to be discarded, a stain among the "heroes" he proudly raised.
His gentle voice when he said 'you will be given a chance now' felt like poison wrapped in honey.
He never intended to give me a chance. Only a path to the end he determined himself.
His smile, just before the light swallowed me, will forever be etched in my memory, a calm smile that didn't care at all, like throwing trash into its proper place.
One day, I will stand before that throne again, not as a bowing servant, but as a judge.
And when that time comes, I will look into his eyes, then make him understand what it feels like to lose everything he considers valuable.
Eldrin.
The Archmage who should have been wise, yet his words were nothing but lies wrapped in friendly smiles.
He was the one who led that ritual, who looked at me as if believing in me, then deceived without hesitation.
He knew where that spell would take me. He knew that what awaited me wasn't power, but death.
And still, he did it.
If one day I stand before him again, I don't want to repay him with just death.
I want him to feel the same fear, the same feeling of losing control, when all his magic and wisdom can no longer save himself.
Mira.
Her red hair, her cruel smile, she who forced me to crawl like an animal, who stepped my hand until it nearly broke while ordering me to say I was trash.
I can still feel the weight of her shoe on my skin.
I will make her utter the same words one day, while looking at the ground from the same position as I once did.
Leo.
Mira's friend who made my hunger a source of entertainment. He laughed when I crawled, when I cried, when I fell.
I want to hear that laughter again, but this time accompanied by the sound of his own fear.
Then Gregory.
The man in the magnificent uniform who should have protected, but instead treated my life like a joke.
He who ordered me to come before the King, as if giving a chance, when in fact he was only delivering me to my disposal.
His cold gaze will always be remembered. If the world gives me time, I want to look at him again, with eyes just as cold.
And the palace guards.
Those who stood on the sidelines and laughed, who enjoyed every humiliation I received as if it were a spectacle.
I will remember all of them. Not one will be lost from my memory.
I will repay them all.
Their names spun in my head like a mantra.
Eri, Dito, Maya, Sari, Mira, Leo, Gregory… and all those who laughed behind their proud uniforms.
I let out a long breath.
The forest air entered my lungs, cold and bitter, but I felt alive. All those memories were no longer wounds, they were fuel.
And amidst my boiling thoughts, another face emerged.
Mr. Anton.
The teacher who once looked at me with pity.
The only person who ever promised me food, but never came. I once thought he cared. That perhaps, among all the lies, there was still an honest person.
But now, only silence remains. His pity never reached me. And I brushed aside the thought of him like dust in the air.
I don't need pity.
I don't need forgiveness.
I looked at the sky. The fog still clung, but soft light slowly penetrated, falling on my face.
The light was cold, but it actually made me aware that I still existed.
"I will live," I whispered, my voice soft but firm.
"I will survive. And when the time comes…"
I smiled faintly. Not a sweet smile, but a thin line from someone who had stopped dreaming and started deciding.
"…I will return."
I looked at the path ahead of me, the dense forest with roots sprawling like earth's veins, shrouded in thin fog rolling like the breath of ancient creatures.
My steps were heavy, but firm. Every breath carried determination, every wound was my new birthmark.
I no longer felt hungry. I no longer felt afraid.
Only one thing remained. The desire for revenge, not with burning anger, but with a cold, certain conviction.
One day, they will all know the meaning of the name they scorned.
Vira.
The talentless girl. The discarded servant.
The trash unworthy of life.
That name will become something that makes them tremble upon hearing it. And until that day comes, I will keep walking.
Amidst the fog and drying blood, I stepped forward.
The first step of someone who was no longer a victim.
The first step of the new Vira.