-"I wish... that day, you had died instead of Mom..."
Raiden froze at those words.
That day.
The day of the nightmare that left an indelible scar on Raiden and instilled in him the obsession of being hated by others.
The girl's words pierced like a sharp dagger into the unhealed wound.
A sensation as if his flesh was being exposed and his insides were being gouged out struck the boy.
Raiden's face turned pale, but
His younger sister, who had her eyes tightly shut, didn't see it.
Unfortunately, her mouth kept moving.
-You should have died!!
-Why did trash like you survive while Mom died...?
-You should have just! You should have just died!!
Raiden felt his breath hitch.
His lungs tightened, his breathing became ragged, and his heart felt like it was stopping.
Even for him, who wanted to be hated, the pain of this wound was overwhelming.
-Run, Raiden!!
A nostalgic voice rang in his ears, and...
-Thud!
The unpleasant sound of metal blades piercing flesh, cutting through the frail woman's cry.
-You should have died!!
His sister's words, intertwined and overlapping with the past, made him dizzy.
Feeling like he was about to vomit, Raiden fled the scene.
Returning to his dormitory, the boy clung to the trash can and vomited for a long time.
And that night.
-Raiden, my son... If it weren't for you, I could have lived...
-Mother...?
-It's your fault, Raiden... Because of you...!
The boy had a terrible nightmare.
The precarious tower he had built with obsession and foolishness crumbled at his sister's words.
He had always blamed himself, but
Hearing those words from someone else, especially his family, was utterly devastating.
Because he cherished his family so much.
Because she was his younger sister, whom he loved as much as his mother.
The words that came out of the girl's mouth deeply wounded the boy.
-...
Raiden quietly got out of bed.
He stumbled out of the dormitory.
Students were restricted from leaving the dormitory after 10 pm, but Raiden didn't care.
He walked.
He left the academy and threw himself into an unknown space.
With no destination or thoughts in mind, the boy simply repeated the act of 'walking'.
He wore a blank expression, endlessly ruminating on the screams and resentment of his mother from the dream.
Ten minutes passed.
Thirty minutes.
One hour.
Two hours.
Six hours.
When he could no longer tell how much time had passed,
Raiden's body was in the forest of a mountain.
It seemed he had arrived at a strange place after walking aimlessly forward.
Raiden realized that the surrounding scenery was strange, but he didn't try to stop.
Like the obsession that had taken root in his mind.
He continued to move forward.
That must have been why.
Raiden didn't see the tree root at his feet.
-...!
As he lost his balance and fell, a high cliff awaited him.
This too, Raiden had missed while walking mindlessly.
The boy plummeted into the air.
-Thud!!
The sound of his skull shattering echoed.
And Raiden's story ended there.
.
.
.
"..."
I opened my eyes, feeling a soft sensation against my back.
As I lifted my heavy eyelids, the first thing I saw was an ornately patterned ceiling.
A scene that felt familiar despite seeing it for the first time.
It was Raiden's room.
"Ugh, groan..."
I sat up, frowning at the lingering headache.
My tattered shirt had been replaced with a new one, as if someone had changed it for me, and my body had been thoroughly cleaned.
Bandages were even wrapped around the wounds I had sustained while leaving the mountain.
'It's exactly like in the memories...'
A familiar room layout.
It was slightly different from before Raiden's last visit, but
Most of it was exactly as he remembered it.
A strange sense of familiarity welled up from deep within my heart.
Of course, it wasn't my emotion.
It must have been Raiden's.
'...This feels kind of creepy.'
The thought of an emotion that wasn't mine rummaging through my head was incredibly unsettling.
As I sighed and tried to soothe my throbbing head, I heard a rustling sound from beside the bed.
"Mmm..."
I turned my head and saw a girl sleeping with her head resting on the bedside.
Judging from the bandages and empty potion bottles scattered on the floor, it seemed she was the one who had treated me.
I softly called her name.
"Rachel."
My heart ached as I looked at her.
Rachel was the only person who didn't turn her back on Raiden despite his delinquent behavior.
To push away the girl who wouldn't leave him no matter how badly he treated her,
Raiden had been particularly harsh towards her.
"Ugh..."
The girl frowned slightly, as if her hair was tickling her eyes.
Tear stains were clearly visible on her pale cheeks.
I quietly reached out and brushed her hair aside.
It wasn't a conscious action.
My body simply moved reflexively.
It felt like Raiden's will was interfering with my body.
It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
Pushing aside the tangled thoughts, I called up the status window.
"Status window."
-Ding!
[Confirmed that the user's consciousness has returned.]
"How much time has passed?"
-Ding!
[Six hours, thirteen minutes, and fifty-seven seconds have passed since you lost consciousness.]
[The possession perk 'Synchronization' has been successfully completed.]
"Right, synchronization..."
To think that the possession perk they threw at me was a process of forcibly merging my consciousness with Raiden's.
It was a moment when I truly yearned for death.
With Raiden's obsession and self-loathing added on top of my already fragile mental state, I felt like I was about to burst with depression.
As I tried to manage my emotions and organize my thoughts,
-Ding!
[Skill 'Iron Will' nullifies the user's negative emotions (depression, lethargy, suicidal urges, etc.).]
-Ding!
[The user's negative emotions resist 'Iron Will'.]
[The effects of 'Iron Will' are partially reduced.]
[The user's depression and suicidal urges are weakened but not eliminated.]
What's this now...?
I frowned at the blue screens that appeared before me.
"Status window. Explain 'Iron Will'."
-Ding!
[Iron Will]
Category: Skill
Rank: EX
Description: A special skill directly bestowed upon the user by ○○, boasting the highest performance among mental barriers.
Effect: Blocks 99% of mental status ailments (suggestion, intimidation, brainwashing, negative emotions, etc.) directed at the user.
However, status ailments that exceed 'Iron Will' cannot be completely blocked.
"..."
No wonder I felt refreshed and clear-headed.
Some unheard-of skill was suppressing my lethargy and suicidal urges.
It was nice not to feel depressed, but... it felt a bit strange.
'More importantly, an EX rank skill...'
An EX rank skill.
Even in the novel 'Sorrow-erasing heroes', an EX rank skill never appeared.
It was only mentioned in passing, saying that such a rank existed after SSS rank.
Even the highest-ranked skill the protagonist possessed was only SSS rank.
[However, status ailments that exceed 'Iron Will' cannot be completely blocked.]
I chuckled at that message.
There couldn't possibly be a status ailment that could break through an EX rank mental barrier...
[The user's negative emotions resist 'Iron Will'.]
[The user's depression and suicidal urges are weakened but not eliminated.]
"...There is?"
It seemed my condition was more serious than I thought.
No, even with the combined depression of two people, could it be this bad...?
An obsession that pierces through an EX rank mental barrier.
'Now I understand why I received this skill...'
If it weren't for 'Iron Will', wouldn't I have tried to bite my tongue and commit suicide again the moment I woke up in the forest?
Actually, thinking about it, I think I really tried to do that at first...
"But I'm glad."
I wasn't sure if it was thanks to this skill, but my mind was much more peaceful compared to my previous life.
It felt a bit precarious, but I could consider this state to be good.
It was much better than being consumed by thoughts of death every day.
"Hmm."
With my improved mood, I continued reading the status window.
Among the numerous blue screens, one message stood out.
[The possession perk 'Synchronization' has been successfully completed.]
Seeing that, my excitement seemed to subside.
I quietly pondered the words on the screen, lost in thought.
Raiden, whom I had simply considered a "one-time refreshing development sacrificial lamb", was a character with a story.
A boy whose life was twisted by trauma and obsession.
I felt a sense of kinship with him.
'Raiden... You must have been through a lot...'
It was a completely different type of pain from what I had experienced.
Unlike me, whose life was ruined by a crazy father,
Raiden had ruined the world he loved with his own hands.
Of course, I felt that Raiden was foolish, but
My sympathy for his pain and loneliness was greater.
It was ironic that I, of all people, was sympathizing with someone else...
"Mmm..."
As I was lost in self-deprecation, the girl who had her head buried in the bed let out a faint sigh.
Realizing that it was a sign of her waking up, I stopped thinking and looked down at her.
Soon, the girl's eyes opened, revealing hazy brown irises.
They blinked weakly for a moment before focusing on me as I sat up.
I spoke softly to those transparent glass beads.
"You're awake."
What expression would Raiden have made here?
Not the Raiden wearing the mask of a delinquent, but the real 'Raiden'...
With that thought in mind, I gently curved my lips upward.
It felt awkward.
Smiling was indeed difficult.
"Good morning, Rachel."
A gentle greeting.
The girl stared at me blankly for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and slumped back down.
"What... It's a dream."
Rachel mumbled, burying her head back into the bed.
I tilted my head at her reaction.
Why was she acting like that? Was my smile that awkward?
"It's not a dream."
"It is a dream~ There's no way the Young Master would smile at me like that..."
The girl's eyes looked inexplicably sad.
"Maybe three years ago, but the Young Master now..."
Her darkening complexion seemed to represent her sadness.
The blue pupils, filled with affection and compassion, shone brightly.
My heart ached at her dejected expression, so I reached out to her without thinking.
And then.
"Huh?"
Squeeze...!
I pulled on her plump cheek.
"Eeeeek!!"
A soft, squishy sensation lingered on my fingertips.
I felt a twinge of nostalgia.
Rachel used to love it when Raiden pinched her cheeks like this.
"Y-Young Masteeer...?"
As I was lost in the memories I had absorbed, I felt the stretched cheek mumble something.
Confused brown eyes stared at me.
"Huh? It hurts? It's not... a dream...?"
"I told you it was me. Are you deaf, Ray?"
Rachel's pupils widened once again.
Ray was Raiden's nickname for her when he was young.
It must be surprising to hear the name he hadn't uttered since becoming a delinquent.
I chuckled at the dumbfounded expression on the girl's face.
And then I greeted her once more.
"Good morning, Ray."