His lips curled into a lazy smile, a familiar shadow barely discernible beneath his aloof demeanor. But his words were so harsh. "Annika, as the daughter of a murderer, what right do you have to attend such a good school?"
I was stunned.
The last hope in my heart seemed to disappear, and everything before me grew hazy; his face twisted and wavered in the scorching sun.
For a moment, tears streamed down my face, and I almost leaped off the building.
He was my last hope. How could he utter such hurtful words?
Just as I was about to faint, a pair of hands caught my waist.
I couldn't tell if it was a hallucination or reality, but I heard Willie's urgent breaths by my ear, "Still fainting so easily, huh?"
For him to speak to me like that, he must have detested me deeply; why would he care if I fainted?
At the same time, a mechanical voice sounded in my mind: [Congratulations, host, you have activated the quest. You can choose to pursue Willie. If successful, you may die.]
[If you fail, you will continue to cycle through this world.]
I closed my eyes as tears slipped down my cheeks.
Willie, do you know how I've been cyberbullied and mocked by strangers these days? People spat at me in the street, calling me the daughter of a murderer.
How can the boy who once promised to stand up for me join them in bullying me?
[Please make your choice.]
The system repeated mechanically in my mind.
[Ten.]
[Nine.]
[Eight.]
…
[Zoe, I accept.] With that final decision in my chaotic mind, I lost consciousness.
I didn't want to face the strange looks of the one I loved, nor did I want to live in a world devoid of hope.
Perhaps, death was my only release.
When I woke up, a familiar face was before me.
Willie leaned against my hospital bed, propping his head up with his hand, eyes closed as if asleep, yet his brows were tightly furrowed as if he was trapped in a nightmare.
There were dark circles under his eyes; he must not have slept well for several days.
Willie, was that just a dream?
As if in a trance, I reached out to touch his face.
His eyes suddenly snapped open, bloodshot, and filled with a mixture of sorrow and anger that nearly consumed me.
In an instant, his expression turned cold again as he swatted my hand away.
"I'll go call the doctor." He began to stand, but I grabbed the hem of his shirt.
"Willie, do you still believe in me?"