I walked down the corridor filled with students, moving forward while thinking about my current situation.
Not long after, I had already arrived in front of the exit door of this institute building.
Outside, it was raining. Heavy rain. The sound of the raindrops was loud enough to drown out the chatter of the people around.
I took an umbrella provided by the building and opened it with a slow motion.
Then I looked around, searching for someone. The person who had wrapped me up with vines in class earlier using her Hamartia. Strangely enough, I felt somewhat familiar with that girl, even though I was certain I had never once crossed paths with her before.
I searched and searched, but instead of finding that girl, I ended up seeing someone who made my anger swell up again, just a little.
There, Gabriel the Protagonist stood while sliding his fingers across his phone screen.
Not long after, a girl appeared. The large-chested girl who had been flirting with him earlier.
"Hey, Gabriel!" she said while waving. "Can I share an umbrella with you? I forgot to bring one earlier."
I tilted my head and let out an incredulous grin.
What kind of nonsense was that girl spouting? Did she not know there were free umbrellas provided?
After taking another look, it became obvious. The girl was deliberately playing dumb and seemed to just want to be alone with Gabriel.
Are Heroines usually this desperate toward the Protagonist?
"Rachel…?" Gabriel looked surprised at Rachel's appearance. "Um… do you mind being together with me?"
"It's fine. Actually, I think I'd be happy to, fufu."
"Alright, then." Gabriel moved his umbrella closer so they could share it.
The two of them then started walking together through the heavy rain.
I felt slightly irritated again, because I noticed Gabriel was tilting the umbrella too much toward himself, causing Rachel's shoulder to get wet from the rain.
Ah, whatever. Let that dense Protagonist have his fun. More importantly, I needed to think about how to transfer classes now.
I also started walking, right in the middle of the pouring rain.
***
A loud rumble of thunder echoed from afar, so piercing that it made me cover my ears.
I looked up. The thunder grew more frequent, and the sound of emergency sirens rang out, signaling that residents should remain inside their homes.
Hearing that, I quickened my steps even more. Why were the sirens going off, you ask? Well, because these roaring thunderstorms also counted as disasters that spawned special monsters.
In the distance, I saw dozens of Hamartia users wearing coats and communication devices in their ears, running back and forth.
Damn it. Looks like I'm going to have to run.
Boom.
Boom.
The thunder was getting closer. Up ahead, I saw an intersection, and at that intersection, I saw Rachel—the large-chested Heroine—almost getting struck by lightning.
BOOM.
The lightning only struck the tip of Rachel's blonde hair. She was shocked beyond measure. I stood there gaping from afar.
When the lightning vanished, in the spot where it struck appeared a white-furred dog, bright blue electricity wildly coursing around its body.
Shit. There were no Hamartia reinforcements in this residential area. They had all gone toward the distant thunderstorms where lightning kept striking repeatedly.
"RUN!" I shouted at the top of my lungs toward Rachel, who was frozen in fear.
And also, why didn't she have an umbrella? Didn't Gabriel lend her his?
Rachel snapped out of her fear and looked at me with trembling eyes.
"You—?"
"What the fuck are you doing! Run! Run as fast as you can!" I yelled even louder.
The dog slowly approached Rachel. Its blue eyes and electricity shone brighter and brighter.
Rachel swallowed hard, then took a deep breath and ran toward me.
Why in the hell are you coming toward me? You should've run the other way, stupid!
Because Rachel ran toward me, she naturally moved closer to the electric dog.
The dog immediately lunged forward. Rachel saw it and shut her eyes tightly.
Bam!
Thud! Thud!
I kicked the dog with all my strength before it could bite Rachel. The dog was sent flying several meters ahead.
I immediately grabbed Rachel's wrist and pulled her along as we ran together.
"What the hell was that just now?! Why didn't you run the other way?!" I asked, my voice edged with anger.
Rachel narrowed her eyes and shot back, "I should be the one asking! Why are you here?! And about that, I need y—"
Bzzztttt.
The dog fired electricity toward me and Rachel. My body moved before I could think, and I covered the two of us with my plastic umbrella.
In an instant, the plastic umbrella burned up from the powerful electricity.
I quickly threw the umbrella aside.
Great. Now we're both soaked and don't have an umbrella. Guess I'll have to do laundry twice. Damn it.
The dog charged at me again, its sharp fangs bared, ready to bite.
I dodged to the side and kicked it again, this time right in the stomach.
The dog flew backward and slammed into someone's fence. The fence cracked from the impact.
I glanced toward Rachel.
"Can't you do something?! Don't just stand there!" I shouted irritably.
"I can do something! But I need your hel—"
"Watch out!" I yelled when I saw the bolt of electricity the dog released racing straight toward Rachel.
Thud!
I caught Rachel and we both fell onto the asphalt. Rachel looked at me with a shocked expression.
"Why did you…?"
I stood up, then turned back to look at the dog, which was now breathing heavily. It seemed its stamina was nearly depleted.
I grinned. The problem was, my stamina was also almost gone.
"Your back…" Rachel whispered.
Yeah, damn it. Because of my stupid action to save Rachel, my back was burned by the electric strike, revealing blackened wounds.
I glanced at Rachel while taking a defensive stance against the dog.
"Do you have Hamartia?" I asked.
"I do have Hamartia," Rachel replied.
"Then why didn't you tell me that earlier?!"
"Because you didn't give me a chance to talk!" Rachel shouted, sitting on the asphalt.
The dog charged at me again. I dodged by jumping to the side.
"What are you waiting for! Use your Hamartia!" I said while avoiding the electric dog's attacks.
"But I need your help to activate it! That's why I ran toward you earlier!"
"Is your Hamartia the type that needs to be charged before it can be activated?!" I punched the dog, my hand getting burned in the process.
It fucking hurts. My back and my hand were hit by high-voltage electricity.
"Then tell me what I need to do!" I stared at Rachel.
Rachel's mouth opened and closed, like someone stuttering and struggling to speak.
"Say it!"
Rachel shut her eyes tightly, her hands clenched.
"I need you to punch me in the face!"
I frowned, confusion clearly written across my face. The sound of the rain faded away.
"What…?"