QT: Against My Will

129 3.08.34 – Ice Queen – Downfall of Humanity

With her eyes closed, Bing Shi felt blood seeping from her nose, covering it with her sleeve, she called for Kuro anxiously.

[“Kuro, I need your help.”]

[“Kuro, you hear me?”]

Not hearing any response, she opened her eyes in dread, seeing her body covered in a blueish, crystal-like layer, her expression was one of shock and horror. The blue layer kept flickering, appearing and disappearing in a flash, no matter what, she couldn’t control it.

‘I have to get out, nobody can see me like this!’

Forgetting the pain for a moment, she held her nose and got out of bed, her body twirled and jerked as she fell, “...Ugh...”

‘It doesn’t hurt.’

‘It doesn’t hurt.’

Bing Shi murmured under her breath, brainwashing herself so that she could subdue the static noise in her head. She had no control over the blue membrane, feeling the pain; the trial was still going on.

.....

Remembering who she was fighting for, she mustered all her strength and grabbed her gas mask. With blurry eyesight, she stuffed her nose with tissues, putting on the gas mask, she walked out of her tent to the open air – it was dawn, the rain subdued, leaving behind a muddy ground.

[“Kuro, I need to get out.”]

She felt the muscles of her chin tremble, hiccuping, she looked at her surroundings, her mind worked on overdrive, the side effect of this constant fear, constant stress she lived in. With Kuro, she felt like a player who cheated her way to success. Without Kuro, Bing Shi became vulnerable more than ever.

Writing a message on the whiteboard, she rushed out of the base. Along the way, she pressed her hand against the pipe wall for support as her legs kept on shaking and trembling uncontrollably.

‘I can’t fail.’

‘I hate failing.’

Lifting the lid, she climbed out and ran towards her truck, closing the door, she hid under the seats, unable to drive under such conditions.

‘I should have done it differently.’

The sobs from the pain were stifled at first to hide her grief, then it was overcomed by the wave of emotions as she broke down easily.

The blue membrane drained all the scarce energy she had left. Everything was a blur that swirled out of existence; she closed her eyes and surrendered herself into the infinite black space.

· · — · ???· — · ·

Everyone was fed up with the weather; they immediately rejoiced once it stopped raining. Hearing the footsteps outside the tents, who else could it be if not Bing Shi? They waited for her to come in, but she didn’t appear. Their bodies weren’t hurting as before; still, the fatigue caused them to continue laying on their beds, except for a few people.

Ziek was playing games on his phone when his stomach growled in protest. The trial couldn’t make him suffer. Still, it took a considerable amount of his energy. Taking beef jerkies out of his small pocket on his vest, he chewed on the meat as he continued to fight the zombies on the screen.

Not until he ate all the snacks out of his pockets, did he stood up in annoyance, his body was burning the food like crazy. On to the way to the kitchen, he saw Bing Shi stumbling on her way to the entrance. Though it was dark, due to her small silhouette, he could tell straight away that it was her, “...Hmm...”

Food or Bing Shi?

Ziek walked to the kitchen to look for some leftover food. Finding rice with meatballs in tomato sauce, he filled his tummy to the brim.

Going back, he decided to check on Bing Shi. He walked out of the base and noticed that her car was still here, his brows furrowed. Arriving at the front door of the truck, he saw nobody; trying to open the door, it was closed. ‘Where did she go?’

Too many vehicles were parked at the parking lot. With his memory, he could tell that none was missing. Maybe she went out to grab something out of the car and already returned? Why did he think she was trying to run away? Due to Bing Shi’s black clothing blending with the flooring of the truck, Ziek didn’t notice the fainted person inside the car.

In the last world, Bing Shi was so sure that fate would bring her and Xuan Mu together. Wasn’t it always like this, in every novel she read? But she found out.

Fate was not on her side, more like it’s fighting against her. If Bing Shi didn’t force it, if she wasn’t the most famous person on Earth, if she didn’t look for her boyfriend, would Ziek take notice of her?

Passing by Bing Shi’s tent, Ziek read the message on the sign. ‘Outside, looking for Kuro? But her car is still here...’

Feeling suspicious, he walked around the base, then outside again. In front of her truck, looking at the interior, he found nothing out of place, until his gaze caught the black bulp, curled up on the floor, “...”

What’s going on? He knocked on the glass window loudly, but there was no response. ‘Should I break the glass?’

Feeling a rush of unfamiliar energy within his body, Ziek grasped the situation immediately. He imagined himself using that energy to smash the glass, seeing the shards clearly; he analyzed if it would hurt the person below in any way. It shouldn’t as this glass had a transparent film in between, in case of a car accident, when suddenly...

*Crack*

The truck’s side window shattered like a cobweb, the same way he imagined...

Blinking his eyes in surprise, he thought about opening the door from the inside. Imaging a force pushing the handle, the door magically opened by itself.

‘The fuck?’ Ziek saw the unmoving body and tried to lift her with his mind, which didn’t work. Not giving up, he imagined lifting her clothes, nothing happened. ‘Nonliving object manipulation? Telekinesis?’

Then, he felt another energy surging from within. He looked at the car window on the other side and tried to smash it with the new power.

Nothing.