Well, maybe I went overboard with the shit talk…
That was my last thought as the weasel collided with me, sending me hurling to the ground, nearly smashing my head in the process.
"William, calm down! Don't let him provoke you!"
Several students called out, rushing to shield poor William from the evil, mean Liam, who was trying to bait him into losing control and compromising his position in the play.
I must be the villain here, right?
"Pffthh."
A chuckle escaped me before I could stop it, drawing sharp looks from the others. Old Liam wouldn't have dared, but I wasn't the old Liam, was I?
Even if I didn't want to stand out, I couldn't let them just trample all over him… I won't let them do that to him, not again.
All that light, only to be snuffed out…
What a joke.
"You'll never amount to anything. All you do is destroy and put others down so you can climb higher on their backs. Come on, hit me!"
My laughter echoed inside the now silent club room. No one said a word. The sound of their breathing stood out in the stillness—only my laughter filled the room.
I glanced around as the coward continued to hover over me, ready to punch me at any moment. Let him—whether he hits me or not, I have no reason to care about him.
Ignoring his presence entirely, I shifted my focus to the rest of the club members. From the surge of memories, most of their faces were familiar, or rather, they were familiar to Liam.
But we weren't the same, and no matter how many memories flooded my mind, I could never forget who I was.
I wanted to help. I wanted to improve his life. And I wanted to find out what had happened to him.
But I needed to get back to my children, no matter how distant that goal seemed. First, though, I had a job to do.
Their gazes bore into me, wide-eyed, shocked by the whole scene and my laughter, which probably sounded unhinged.
This might seem like it's compromising my plans, but I know how to get into the play. This is the real part of acting. Go on, Liam—let's show them your talent…
Your hard work and passion…
The object of your obsession.
…
Emotions.
The very core of acting, its goal is to convey emotions to those who watch the performance, and influence their emotions through acting.
Everything matters when you act.
The tone of your voice and how your body moves are just as crucial as the smallest flicker of expression. It's all of these working together that create a true performance.
And Liam is going to show them…
I am just a programmer, who had the same dream as a child, but him?
He had been training for this since childhood, and while he had a long road ahead of him to become a top actor, he was walking steadily on his road with only one person standing in front of him.
But I was going to push him aside.
I felt the muscles in my face, feeling the memories of Liam that almost became second nature to him, thanks to that, I could do the same.
My expression shifted and I got ready to perform while recalling everything about the script, while it was terrible, the rest of the club had to be familiar with it… not sure if I should feel bad for them or just laugh.
— First Act —
"Lonely knight of the west wall"
That was the name of the first act, it was time to show them what Liam was capable of…
*huff*
I took a deep breath and rose from the ground almost knocking off William who stood up on his own, his eyes never losing the hostility they had towards me.
My body was shaking and my face contorted to one of extreme pain, I started walking towards the stage with slow movements…
William… that loser made a terrible script, but behind the scenes, Liam worked tireless nights on making another script on the same theme.
A superior script.
Liam's way of acting was special…
It was time for me to get into the body of the injured knight who had arrows stuck into his shoulder.
I felt my shoulders tense, my breath becoming labored, as though the weight of those arrows were digging into my flesh.
With each slow step toward the stage, I wasn't just Liam anymore—I was Doyle, a man on the edge of collapse… hate to admit it, but that was a relatable part.
The window continued to shine right beside me, but this time, I was showing two things to me, one that felt both uncomfortable and reassuring at the same time.
[50%]
[Skill partially unlocked: -???]
***
Cold.
I felt so cold…
I only watched the slowly cascading snow while putting my hand forward to collect a handful of the snow in my hand which instantly turned into water… but as my body heat continued to drop, the snow no longer melted the same way.
I felt so cold… why is it so cold?
Why can't we feel just a bit of warm?
I wanted to curse.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to cry.
But what would that bring?
Nothing.
That would achieve absolutely nothing.
'It hurts so bad…'
My words came out as nothing but a silent whimper as I looked down from the west wall.
Utter hopelessness was the only thing I felt.
My heart ached as I looked down and the cold sweat that accumulated on my back remained while my vision faltered.
I felt the world around me spin uncontrollably.
My ears were ringing, I could barely hear the screams of pain around me…
"D—y—"
My heart was beating out of my chest… but I swear I could feel it in my throat.
I couldn't even mutter a sentence as the lump that blocked my throat made it impossible… not like I had anything to say.
"Doy—!"
As I looked down from the wall, even with my blurry and spinning vision, I only saw black.
Nothing but black…
A sea of black.
Boom
Explosions went out around me as a large stone crashed into the wall from one of the catapults, another wave was incoming.
One, two, three… oh my god.
I couldn't even begin to count them all.
There were just two many of the fiery stones of the catapults.
"DOYLE!"
*Slap*
I felt a sudden strike on my cheeks coming together with a burning sensation.
"Wha—"
My blade was in my hands, which I instantly struck with, my heart beating even stronger now, fear was grasping my heart.
"Doyle, stop, it's just me!"
"Jamie?"
The person in front of me had dirt blond hair, his helmet was long missing while blood gushed from his left side, and his blue eyes staring holes into me, the moment I noticed his injuries, I felt my heart drop even further.
"Jamie, are you all right?"
He called out to me first, but like me, he was clearly out of it.
His eyes locked onto the sea of black beneath the wall, I could see his hopes being shattered in front of me.
*Boom*
"Arg…"
My foot slipped out from under me as the deafening sound of a large burning stone clashed against the wall, directly in front of the two of us.
Our time was limited with small pieces of stone debris getting separated from the wall.
I could hear my heart pound harder and harder and my vision was reduced to nothing, but I was not ready to give up…
I had to get home.
We… needed to get home.
Cold… so cold.
But we had to survive the biting cold of winter to welcome the warmth of spring.
And we were going to survive.
Grasping the blade in my shaking hand firmly, I grabbed Jamie's shoulder and slapped him across his cheeks as well.
*slap*
"Sorry, I had to pay back your kindness, let's get to the tower!"
I had to scream at the top of my lungs, or else he wouldn't have heard me through the noise of the siege going on around us.
"Okay…" Jamie screamed back, turning backward and starting his rush to the tower that was at least 200 meters away from us… but he could barely walk.
I could clearly see his wounds now, it was fatal…
"You need to get treated as soon as possible!"
I shouted but my voice came out weak, he barely heard me through the chaos of noise.
'We are not going to make it.'
'Both of us are going to die here.
'If not the catapults, then the arrows…'
Dark thoughts cling to me as I was unable to see a way out of this—certain death was awaiting us.
"Jamie—"
I got him by the shoulder and gave him my shoulder, attempting to support him, his face turned ashen white long ago, and the blood loss was coming to him.
We had to hurry up and reach the bastion before the wall completely fell, and it was going to fall.
My heart was struck with terror as I looked down, our fall was not a question of if, but when…
Step after step, the two of us started our walk to the only place where we had a chance to survive.
*boom*
*boom*
Faster, move faster!
*boom*
My body refused to listen to me completely, I had to force myself only to be able to step forward while carrying Jamie at the same time, his movements got harder to make as well.
Faster!
Move faster!
"150 meters! We can make it!"
I screamed with all I could produce, but I wasn't sure that Jamie could hear me anymore, I couldn't even hear myself as my surroundings blurred harder.
Pain…
I felt a sharp pain in my heels.
'What—?'
Looking back, an arrow stuck into the back of my leg, coming out clearly on the other side.
I didn't scream… I couldn't.
I felt my leg get rooted at the same place.
"Doyle?"
We are going to die…
No matter what we do, we are going to die.
Never seeing the spring.
Never getting home to our families.
"DOYLE!"
Jamie screamed into my ears, I could hear him clearly, too clearly.
But then, he followed my line of sight and stared at my leg, his expression darkening together with mine.
"Jamie…"
My voice was barely a whisper.
Before I could have continued what I was saying, I saw a ladder being put up right next to me…
I couldn't help but chuckle before turning back to Jamie.
"…I don't think we are going to make it."