Chereads / Programmer Superstar / Chapter 16 - Breaking Point

Chapter 16 - Breaking Point

"Hey, Liam! Can we talk for a bit?"

A high school boy called out to the raven-haired student, but the letter seemed oblivious to the call.

His green eyes were locked on a crumpled piece of paper filled with text and covered in blue ink scribbles, rendering it nearly unreadable. His focus was so intense that he barely noticed anything else around him.

Silent, barely audible mumbles escaped his lips as he rehearsed lines from the paper, his concentration deepening. His eyebrows twitched a few times, but his expression remained unreadable.

The other student, watching from the side, couldn't decipher what was going through Liam's mind as he murmured, his focus entirely absorbed in the paper.

The blond student's expression shifted from anxious to excited, his eyes closely tracking every subtle movement on Liam's face. He watched intently, noticing every slight frown or the faint narrowing of Liam's lips, eager to catch any hint of what was going through his mind.

In the next moment, Liam turned away from the script and set it down with a disappointed sigh.

The breath caught in the young man's throat as he watched Liam, his eyes trembling before he dared to mutter a few words with shaky hands. "What do you think about it?"

Liam looked directly at the blond youth, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look… William, it's a bit messy, but I think we can fix up some parts and turn it into something genuinely good. I believe we can make an amazing play out of it."

Liam smiled sincerely as he picked up the script again and brought it towards William from the side. His finger traced some lines in the middle of the second page, which, like the rest, was full of blue ink scribbles.

"Look, this first act feels forced, just like the ending, but I genuinely like the second act. The only thing I would change—" Liam continued to talk, explaining every aspect of the play he liked and disliked, offering constructive feedback to the boy.

But instead of listening intently or noting ways to improve his script, the youth grew increasingly unhappy with Liam's criticism.

His face twisted further as he glared at Liam with a chilling expression. "Do you think you're better than me?!"

Liam's expression suddenly shifted while almost jumping back and putting his hands in the air while trying to calm the youth down. 

"Oh, no! Don't misunderstand me, William, I wanted to help improve the script as you asked me to, but I do think that this is an amazing script!" 

***

It was beyond terrible, and I only know this because this was the exact thought of Liam… 

He was just being kind to that rat, but what he wrote up as a script is a joke, it was unusable… 

It was an absolute joke how bad it was… but it triggered something in the memory fragments of Liam…

[44%]

I could remember the conversation between the two over the script like a flash before my eyes.

The ache only dulled, and my senses nearly shut down from the relentless waves of pain, akin to a tidal wave fighting to drown my consciousness.

The script was another trigger, bringing more memories that continued to overwhelm me, flashing vividly in front of me.

Trigger after trigger, my mind is struggling to persist, no matter how hard I fight…

My control over my body is slipping, and even breathing has become a conscious effort. My bodily functions will shut down if my mind can't recuperate.

Yet, despite the tidal wave of information crashing against my mind, even more memories flowed into my head as I continued to absorb the script's contents.

It's too much… 

The information was too much—just like the script's content flashing before me. It was overwhelming, too much for me to handle...

And the worst part?

I had to endure the absolute dogshit information the script contained. At least Liam's life was interesting… the talent, effort, and sheer joy he brought to everyone around him made the painful onslaught of memories bearable, at the very least.

But this script?

It was long… boring, and at its very best, it was still dogshit. Even if William had listened to Liam and improved it, it might have become…

…Shit.

Liam wasn't a mage; he couldn't have made this any better.

Damn it… I'm cursing again… if this really is the afterlife, Eve would have sent me to the afterlife².

Just the very thought of her brought a smile to my face… I miss her.

But my smile quickly faded as I hear Amelia's voice call my name repeatedly and my attention was broght back to the script in front of me.

Grabbing it, I turned to the rest of the club and broguht it into the air before dropping it to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" 

"Hey!"

Even though the rat's expression was revealed, he no longer hid behind his mask when I openly started to disrespect his big work.

Then…

I stepped on it time and time again, stomping on that piece of shit, that waste of perfectly good toilet paper.

"This isn't even to wipe my ass with, were you joking when you wrote it?" 

His expression only shifted further… as if looks could kill.

I had to fight the urge to smile at his dumb look, but I wasn't done yet, no… far from it.

"Or under the influence of alcohol? That would be the only saving grace of this, at least you would have a plausible excuse of being capable of writing something so… bad." 

Come on, what are you waiting for, lash out… isn't this hurting your fragile ego?

"Absolute joke…" I raised my bruised fists in the air and showed them to the rest of the club who watched me in horror, as if a ghost was in front of them… well, Liam never acted in this way. 

And that's why Liam was used… but I still don't know what made him beat up this rat… well, it doesn't matter, not now.

"You should have beaten yourself up for disgracing yourself with this joke, or maybe the others should have done that instead of me for ruining their chances of even making it, pathetic, that's what this play is really?" 

"Liam, it's enough—" 

"No Amelia, it isn't, or you are that eager to side with William again? Even after all the things I did to help you guys? That's what I get, being scorned?"

Even Amelia's expression shifted for the worst… I didn't want to hurt her because I know from the memories that she was the only one who still stood by Liam, even if it was only behind the scenes… 

Fearing this much for her reputation for her to even abandon her friend in front of the others… well, she was still a dumb youngster.

I didn't blame her that much… 

But I couldn't allow myself to ponder so much on her, my gaze shifted to William whose expression already crumbled and his complexion turned ashen white from the rage that he felt.

Good, it's time to reveal yourself, aren't you angry?

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists while glaring holes into me, his calves tensing as his expression only continued to darken.

He was so close to the edge.

And I was ready to push him further.

"But this isn't about your script, is it? It's about your pride… even though you have nothing to be proud of, you don't even walk you pathetic piece of shit… you glide, like a lizard on ice…" 

He seemed to pick up only my intent and remained standing still, trying to hide the anger and shame from the others… but I could still push his buttons further.

I just smiled before turning to the others.

"Guys, just give me a day and I can make a usable script out of this waste of toilet paper." 

That's all it took…

He was charging at me like a bull that only saw red.

This wasn't the most optimal way of getting into the play… on the contrary, this was a terrible idea.

But it felt good.