Who was Richard Williams? Was he just a studious, lonely, and antisocial boy? No, he was far more than that—in both the best and the most terrifying sense.
To understand Richard, we must first forget what pain means. Only then can we step inside the boundaries of his world. Let us go back to where it all began.
Richard was born as the sole heir to a wealthy family. As a mere infant, when his first teeth came in, he began to bite his lips until they were torn apart—yet he did not cry. When his parents rushed him to the hospital, they learned that their only child suffered from CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis).
Richard could not feel pain. To prevent him from harming himself, assistants were assigned to watch over him 24/7. As Richard grew, his life became enslaved to the watch on his wrist. Even the most basic needs, like eating or using the bathroom, were nothing more than soulless, scheduled tasks.
As the years passed, his family lost hope and left Richard alone with his own darkness. He began to see himself as a monster; a monster devoid of pain, foreign to emotion, and utterly alone.
Not a single day went by without him asking, "Why me?" "Why... why... why?"
When Richard turned eighteen, his heart beat for someone for the first time in his life. That girl he saw in the schoolyard on the first day had shattered the silence in his soul. He had no idea what to do with this strange sensation. When he entered the classroom, he felt his cheeks flush. The girl stepped up to the board and smiled:
— "Hello! I am your new math teacher, Lily Taylor."
As Lily began introducing herself to the students, Richard was so shaken that how he managed to say his own name when his turn came remained an unsolved mystery to him.
"A teacher!" he thought. Why, out of all people, had he fallen for his own teacher? He knew he had to suppress these feelings, but he couldn't. Over time, this innocent sentiment transformed into a dark obsession. What started as trying to be the best student to catch Lily's eye spiraled into a plan to kidnap her.
The attack he suffered on the roof during lunch break on May 31, 2024, was the final straw. That day, Richard made his decision:
"This world is too dangerous; I must protect her from everything."
That night, as Lily Taylor was heading home, Richard emerged from the darkness and set his plan in motion.
Now, identities have been revealed and the masks have fallen. So, what happens next?