"Haah… Hah… Haah."
Eren's breath came in short, ragged gasps, his chest heaving like he'd just run a marathon straight into hell. He tried to move, but it was impossible—his body was bound completely, bloodied and broken.
"Someone… help…"
The words barely escaped his lips. His eyes struggled to stay open.
He had no idea where she'd taken him anymore.
All he knew was this room, this prison. It was bright, uncomfortably so. Sunlight seeped through the window, but a curtain blocked his view of the outside world. Still, light pierced through the fabric and illuminated everything in this space. It seemed like a house in the middle of nowhere, isolated from any chance of rescue.
Creak…
The door swung open, and in stepped the girl he had come to dread beyond death itself.
"Anna," he rasped, his voice barely holding together. "Please… just let me die already."
His eyelids were impossibly heavy. He was trapped somewhere between death's door and what could barely be called living. She kept him alive with high-grade healing potions worth a fortune—the kind of potions capable of dragging a man back from the brink of death even when his body had given up entirely.
That was the circle of torment he was trapped in. She would torture him until he could barely feel anything anymore, until his mind started shutting down from the pain, and just as he was about to embrace the sweet release of death, she would bring him back with those cursed potions.
At this point, he just wanted to die.
"Tell me—why did you attack Jason?" Her voice was cold, devoid of any mercy or warmth. "If you don't start talking, I will resort to extreme measures."
She moved toward the table beside the bed, the one he was tied to, and his heart sank.
"No one… Please, I'm begging you, just stop this…"
Tears streamed down his cheeks. He wasn't even ashamed of crying anymore. Pride had died days ago.
She looked at him blankly for a moment, her face unreadable. Then her expression contorted into something ugly and raw.
"Do you—do you even know how much I want to rip you apart?!" She snarled, her voice laced with unhinged rage that made his blood run cold. "A disgusting filth like you, a waste of air, tried to hurt the love of my life!" Her voice trembled, not from sadness but from barely contained fury. Her hands clenched into fists so tight her knuckles turned white. "It drives me crazy! Do you know how much I want to skin you alive? How much I want to burn you and watch you endure every second of it?!"
She wasn't bluffing.
He knew. He had read the novel. He knew exactly what kind of person she was. Anna had no compassion for anyone who wasn't Jason. She would go to any lengths to ensure his happiness, to protect him, to make his life perfect. And right now, that meant extracting information about who might have paid Eren to betray him.
"Tell me who sent you… or I will make life a living hell for you." Her voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"No one. I've already said it a thousand times." His voice was weak, drained of all fight. "I did it out of envy. Just… kill me already. There's nothing left to say."
But—
"It seems you aren't ready to open your mouth."
She stepped closer. Then, suddenly, a glass bottle materialized in her hand, conjured from her inventory space. She walked toward him slowly, deliberately, cradling it delicately between her fingers like it was something precious.
"We have five days to ourselves," she murmured, popping open the transparent bottle with a soft click. "And I'm confident you'll talk before then."
"What's that?"
He instinctively tried to pull away, but it was no use. He was held too firmly, the restraints biting into his wrists and ankles. There was no escape.
She grinned.
"Acid."
That one word jolted him awake completely. His eyes snapped open wide, all traces of exhaustion vanished in an instant. He stared at her in pure, unfiltered horror.
"Don't do it… I beg you! PLEASE! JUST KILL ME ALREADY! PLEASE!"
His voice cracked as he thrashed against the restraints with every ounce of strength he had left, but it was futile. The bindings held firm. She stepped forward, held the bottle out over his chest, and tilted her head slightly.
"I'll ask you one more time—why did filth like you try to kill the love of my life?"
Her voice was calm now, eerily so. Devoid of emotion. Her eyes? Dead. Empty. Like she'd turned off whatever made her human.
"No one sent me."
He spoke.
After all, she would never believe the truth even if he said it.
But moment those words left his lips—
Splash.
His eyes widened in sheer terror as the liquid seared into his flesh, burning through skin and muscle like it was paper.
And then—
Pain.
A scream tore from his throat, raw and primal.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Agony. Unimaginable agony that consumed every thought, every nerve, every fiber of his being. The acid ate through him, dissolving flesh and exposing bone. Oh, how he wished he could die now. How he wished his body would just give up and let him go.
Why?
That was the only question left in his mind as his consciousness flickered.
Unfair.
His fate had always been unfair. Born into this world unable to awaken, he had realized from the start that his life would be nothing but suffering. He had tried to escape it, to outrun his wretched destiny, but then came the goddess with her sweet lies and false promises.
'Why?!'
Tears streamed down his face as his skin melted. He was dying in pain, but he still couldn't die. This was torture in its purest form. What crime had he even committed to deserve a life like this? After being betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and best friends, dying in the most ridiculous way possible, he was reincarnated here. But even here, there was no peace. Only more suffering.
Why? What had he done? What was his crime?!
'No…'
Then it happened.
A surge of mana flooded through his body, wild and uncontrolled. Consequences be damned—he had had ENOUGH. In that instant, he utilized a certain technique, one which would grant him instant strength but at the cost of destroying his mana core forever.
But did he care?
No. No, he didn't.
'Fine.'
In fact, he accepted it. Life was never fair. All fingers were not equal. But that didn't mean he would accept this miserable fate lying down. He didn't want to die. No—he wanted to LIVE. That wretched goddess had tricked him, used him like a disposable tool. All for the progression of the story. All for her favored children.
So what was he then? Trash?
'Fine then!'
Since he was destined to forever be a tool, to forever be in pain, to forever suffer for someone else's happy ending—
He would just end it all.
He would destroy these so-called FAVORED ONES as well as the bitch goddess who orchestrated this nightmare.
"What?!"
The girl's eyes widened in shock, but before she could react, he moved. Faster than thought. A blur of motion. His fingers locked around her skull with crushing force, and with terrifying strength born from desperation and rage, he slammed her head onto the table.
CRACK.
The wood shattered in half, splinters flying everywhere.
"Enough."
His voice was hoarse, raw with fury that had been building for lifetimes. His face was disfigured, barely recognizable from the acid burns, but his once-blue eyes glowed with an unfathomable hatred that burned brighter than any wound.
He had had enough.
Enough of being the one who lost. Enough of being the victim. Enough of being trampled on by fate and gods and stories that weren't his own.
This time—
They would be the ones to lose.
Every last one of them.
If he wasn't allowed a peaceful life, if happiness was forever out of his reach—
Then he would take that privilege from everyone else.