He was weak. A coward. A pitiful, talentless boy.
He shouldn’t have had any aptitude for magic. Yet, he couldn’t give up. He clung to a hazy dream.
A dream where everyone acknowledged him, praised him—where he was the hero.
But reality was cruel. Before he knew it, he was the butt of jokes. Of course he was. He was always afraid. In his dreams, he was brave, admired.
But in truth, he was too scared to even approach monsters. Swinging a sword? Impossible. So, he chose a crossbow—keeping his distance, firing from safety. His aim was decent.
If monsters got close, he’d flee instantly. He’d only shoot from where he couldn’t be hurt. Sometimes he hit. Sometimes his hands shook, sending bolts wildly off course. His reputation? Below average.
“Everyone else just decides my limits for me…” That was his mantra. He tried. But the world… his lack of talent… He always had an excuse.
—He was always looking for a reason to quit.
He wanted to be cool. He tried to be cool. But Tork was a boy who always compromised, always accepted his limits.
Then, he met fate. Her name was Alicia. She was everything he wasn’t—strong, talented. He envied her. But he also admired her.
—Just being near her made him feel fulfilled.
No one saw him. But she did. That alone made him happy.
Yet, what he gave her was loss. A horde of enhanced goblins—red subspecies—surrounded them. Panicked, Tork fled, leaving Alicia behind.
Not to abandon her. Just to reposition somewhere safe. From there, he’d support her with his crossbow. But then—
Another goblin lurked nearby. Startled, he misfired.
That bolt—
Gouged out Alicia’s eye.
She screamed, but somehow fought her way back to the surface. After emergency treatment, Tork apologized endlessly. Guilt consumed him. He became dependent on her—a stalker.
And Alicia? Seeing his weakness, she saw herself. In the Tork Route, they’re bound by a twisted, toxic love.
Online, Fei’s past-life fans praised it as peak yandere storytelling. But Tork had just as many haters.
After all, he took her eye.Prosthetic eyes were expensive, but obtainable. Still, the sin remained.
—What happens when Fei gets involved?
Not even the gods could predict that.
Fei’s group walks through the dungeon. Alicia explains the quest to Tork. Then, they talk.
“Huh, so you just got to this city? And you’re already this strong?”
“Obviously.”
“…That’s amazing. You don’t seem like a rookie at all. You’ve got aptitude for all five magic attributes? I only have the non-elemental one…”
“Fei here’s non-elemental too.”
“Huh? Really?”
“…Got a problem with that?”
“N-No! Just… curious.”
“…Right.”
Fei speaks minimally, marching ahead. Tork keeps staring, intrigued. Someone like him—non-elemental, looked down upon. He wants to relate.
“What? Your staring’s annoying.”
*”S-Sorry! It’s just… the non-elemental thing… and I got curious…”
“…Tch. Your staring is annoying. If you have questions, just ask.”
“Ah, thank you! Well… do you have a dream?”
“A dream… If I had to say, it’s becoming stronger than anyone else.”
“…Even with just the non-elemental Null attribute?”
The boy was slightly astonished by Fei’s confident declaration. Unlike himself – who had avoided saying such things out loud for fear of being mocked.
“You got a problem with that?”
“N-no! It’s just… normally people say those with only Null attribute have inherent limits… Don’t the voices around you bother you?”
“No.”
“That’s amazing… You’re different from me. I’m scared… terrified that one day I’ll realize my own helplessness, that I’ll have to abandon everything. That all the dreams and ideals I’ve held until now will become meaningless. That all my effort, suffering and hardships will amount to nothing. That’s why I can’t commit… can’t stake everything on it. The fear of futility never leaves my mind…”
“Can’t relate.”
“…Aren’t you afraid? That one day you’ll wake up from an impossible dream, and everything you’ve worked for will become worthless…”
“No.”
“Why…?”
Even though their situations seemed similar, everything about this person before him was completely different. The questions kept piling up in the boy’s mind.
“From the start, our ways of thinking are fundamentally different. Humans are selfish creatures. No matter how much suffering we endure in the past or present, as long as it leads to a good outcome in the future, we accept it. ‘All my efforts and hardships were worth it’—that’s what we tell ourselves.”
“……”
“But when it doesn’t pay off, we lament that it was all for nothing. Even if you stop just one strike short of breaking down a door that would’ve shattered on the hundred-and-first blow, the future you will justify the past you. I will keep moving forward until I reach that point. Who the hell would willingly choose futility? Who would settle for mere suffering?”
“—Gh!”
A surge of overwhelming, spine-chilling dominance.
“I don’t do regrets. In the future, I will reach the moment where I justify my past self. That’s all I think about. That’s the only difference between you and me.”
“……”
“I’ve said too much… But fine. Maybe I should’ve given you a simpler answer. There’s just no reason for me to give up. That’s all.”
“No reason to give up……”
Before he realized it, Fei found himself repeating those words. A version of himself that kept searching for excuses to quit—and a man who kept walking toward the future without hesitation.
Their potential might have been similar, but the paths they took were worlds apart.
“I… No, even I—”
He almost said it. For a moment, he wanted to believe in himself, to place his hopes in the future. But then—a deafening noise erupted.
Dungeon, Second Floor. A vast, open plain. From beneath the earth, red goblins began to emerge—hundreds of them.
In an instant, Fei and Alicia snapped into combat stance. Tork, however, paralyzed by fear, fled before they could even surround him. The two noticed but had no time to dwell—they focused on the battle ahead.
Alicia and Fei cut through the goblin variants with relentless swordplay, reducing the monsters to ash one after another.
Meanwhile, Tork, now in a safe zone, drowned in self-loathing. Again. I ran away again. He had repeated this cycle over and over.
(When… When will I ever stop running…? N-No, it’s not too late. I have to help them—!)
With trembling hands, he gripped his crossbow. His finger hovered over the trigger—but just as he was about to fire, a goblin burst from the ground beneath his feet.
“GYAAAAAH—?!”
His aim jerked wildly. The bolt—now streaking toward Alicia’s eye.
“Huh…?”
She froze in shock. There was no time to react, no way to block it. The bolt was already too close. How could anyone expect an attack from their own ally at this moment?
She had known where Tork fled. She had trusted he’d provide support from afar.
But instead—he had fired at her.
If this continued, her eye would be destroyed. Even her Star Enhancement couldn’t save her now. But then—
THUD.
A forceful shove from behind sent her crashing into the ground. The scent of blood filled her nostrils. When she opened her eyes—
Fei’s left eye was impaled by the bolt. His hand, having pushed her beyond her limits, was swollen and dark with ruptured blood vessels.
And from his eye—blood poured.
“Ah… Fei… Your eye… It’s—”
“Doesn’t matter. Focus on clearing this out first.”
Later, the quest was completed. But the price—Fei had lost his left eye.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
(I… I… What have I done…? I’m the worst. I shot at my own party member…!)
Upon returning to the surface, Fei was immediately taken to the guild’s infirmary. Around him, hushed whispers about Tork swirled like a storm.
Even if he couldn’t hear them, he knew. A torrent of curses and scorn. His body wouldn’t stop shaking. Was this guilt toward Fei? Or just self-preservation? He couldn’t tell.
Eventually, Alicia stepped out of the room.
“A-Alicia…!”
“…You… Do you even understand what you’ve done?!”
“I-I’m sorry…!”
“‘Sorry’ doesn’t cut it—!”
Her anger burned—not for herself, but for Fei, who had lost his eye. At her core, she was soft. She could brush off harm to herself, but when someone she cared about was hurt, her fury knew no bounds. Her hand instinctively rose to strike—
CREAK.
The infirmary door opened. Fei stood there, his left eye bandaged, his expression unreadable. His first words silenced everyone.
“—Shut up.”
Alicia. The onlookers hurling insults. Even the guild staff.
The pressure was suffocating—as if gravity had multiplied tenfold.
Tork felt it too. It made him nauseous. This is the weight of his anger… directed at me. He was terrified. But he deserved it. This was his fault.
“Come with me for a minute.”
“…Yes.”
Fei led Tork outside the guild. Under the dusk sky, they stood face-to-face in a deserted area.
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