On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Just like yesterday, I can't remember clearly what happened the night before when I wake up, but my body feels invigorated and lighter than yesterday. My morning would've been perfect, if not for the fact that Darth Valeria is already inside my hut, looking at me intensely.

"It is already 6 in the morning. You woke up late."

"Ah, I'm sorry. The food was intense..."

"Get dressed, and skip bathing—you have no time to waste."

Darth Valeria looks as stern and scary as usual, but I dare say she is rather lenient to me compared to yesterday. I expected her to stay there and watch me dress up, but she has the decency to give me some privacy by getting out of my hut.

'Well, I don't really need to get naked anyway.' I shrug lightly, before standing up and look for my tailcoat. I slept in my white t-shirt and black trousers last night, so I don't really need much time to dress myself up.

I quickly get out of the hut afterwards, and Valeria is already waiting right beside the door like Cerberus guarding the gate of hell. She inspects me from top to toe briefly, then walks ahead without saying anything.

I, being a good mentee, immediately catch up to her, before walking on her side.

"Do you know what are we going to do from now on?"

"Training my stamina... By allowing a wild Beast chasing after me."

"That is correct, but still incomplete." I am about to ask what Valeria means by that, but she immediately explains herself. "We will also train your survival kill from today onwards. Therefore, make sure to not get killed."

"Honestly, I don't see any way I can run away from that Beast."

"You just need to be fast enough."

"Well, that would be some time in the future then..."

I sigh and shake my bitterly. I instinctively know that my stamina has improved rather drastically, but I am sure the outcome wouldn't change much; I am confident I can run faster and longer than yesterday, but I will definitely end up dying like yesterday.

Darth Valeria—Valeria in blind mask—has stated clearly that she will never interfere in any of my training. The only time she will interfere is when the time for the next session of training has begun or when the current training session has ended.

In this case, though it is not stated, I strongly believe Valeria will only interfere after I Reset—after the Beast kills me—as that is what she has done yesterday.

Since there is no definite time written on the schedule for the morning run—stamina training, as Valeria likes to call—I think it is safe to assume it ends after I Reset.

In other words, I can make the morning run session end as fast as possible by allowing the Beast to kill me. Of course, I will never do that; I don't want to Reset too often, so I can keep my mind sane.

"You have turned quieter today—that is a good thing—but you are less energetic compared to yesterday ... Do I need to up the training?"

My heart immediately sinks to the bottom of my stomach the moment I hear the casually spoken question, and I can't help waving my hand frantically to prove my point.

"NO NO NO! I am fine with the current training!"

"Is that so? Why do you look so unenthusiastic then?"

"How can I be enthusiastic when I know I am just going to end up as a wild Beast's food?" I shake my head bitterly. "My body is full of energy, but I can't help dreading my fate."

"Hoh? Are you afraid you won't be able to run away from the Beast?"

"I am confident I will be able to run away from the Beast, but it will be just a matter of time for the Beast to catch me ... I can't keep running forever after all."

Valeria abruptly stops in her step, and, being a good mentee I am, I also stop at the same time. I only realized we have already arrived at the place where my morning run starts when I look around.

Facing me, Valeria gazes at me from behind her blind mask. "You talk like running is the only option you got."

Her word honestly pisses me off, but the way she pins me with her gaze that is concealed behind her blind mask makes me think hard of what she actually means.

"Do you think I will be able to do it?" I look up to her the moment I realized what she means, and I can't help but look at her weirdly. "I mean, isn't it even more impossible—"

"You haven't tried it, but you can already confidently say you can't do it?"

"No, I mean, think about it. I am just—"

Before I manage to finish my word, Valeria throws something at me. I catch it in reflex, and immediately cringe the moment I see what I have caught—a black dagger with an intricate design and a length of 20 inches.

"This is...?"

"Your survival tool."

"I might stab my heart with this instead of hurting the Beast."

"Don't be self deprecating—you will do great."

Valeria gives me a reassuring pat on my shoulder, but it unsurprisingly doesn't calm me down at all. She disappears after she takes her hand off my shoulder, leaving me looking at the dagger silently in contemplation.

Rumble.

"Ah... It is coming."

I can hear and feel the quick, heavy step coming my way as I stop contemplating. Wasting no more time, I immediately dash towards the direction the red arrow on the ground is pointing to.

I can run faster than yesterday just as I expected. I can even confidently say that if I were still on Earth, I would be the fastest human in history.

Still though, no matter how fast I am, it is not fast enough here. I can feel the Beast is already behind me.

"Was this Beast just playing with me yesterday?" I click my tongue the moment I look at the Beast behind me. "It runs even faster than yesterday!"

As I fully know that minding it won't bear me any result, I focus on where I am going instead. I keep my eyes focused on the arrow and what is in my way so I don't accidentally fall like the last time.

That way, roughly an hour passed. I am already spent and out of breath, but unlike yesterday, I am still unscathed. The Beast is, of course, still behind me; it is extremely pissed as it will constantly threaten me with its two protruding fangs whenever I look at it.

Being tired but unscathed is not the only thing I have achieved for the past one hour though. I have also realized that the arrows on the ground are leading me nowhere.

Due to the speed I am running at, I have reached the place where the arrows are pointing to roughly 15 minutes ago. I have made sure to follow all of them, and ended up returning to the place where my morning run begins.

Since then, I have been exploring—essentially running aimlessly—the forest while running away from the tenacious Beast.

"Fuck! I can't run anymore." Another 15 minutes have passed, and my lungs can no longer handle the burden. "I need to think of something!"

I instinctively look at the dagger I am grasping strongly in my hand, and I can't help chuckling in amusement. The dagger won't likely deal any damage to the Beast, but I am too tired to mind about it too much.

"Since I am going to die anyway, I will die trying!"

I stop abruptly, spin on my heel, and hold my dagger in vice grip. The Beast is clearly surprised by my decision, but I am too busy thinking about how I should kill it to properly observe its reaction.

After deciding what I will do, I propel myself at the Beast by kicking the ground. The distance between us is covered in less than 3 seconds since both of us are running toward each other.

Despite so, I still managed to jump just a few inches away from it so I can stab its eyes with my dagger ... At least, that is what I have intended to do.

Bam!

"Kuhak!"

The Beast unsurprisingly has a way better reflex than me, so by the time my dagger stabs its eyes, its paw hits me from the side. Just from the loud cracking sound alone, any idiot can tell that my ribs are broken.

Roar!

I am already convinced that the same tragedy will occur to me after I landed on the ground, but the Beast runs away instead of coming at me. I am at disbelief at first, but then I quickly chuckle in a weird sense of accomplishment.

"Kuhuk! Kuhuk! Ah, shit, that hurts!"

My happiness doesn't last long however, since some of my broken ribs have stabbed my lung, making it painful for me just to breathe.

"Need help?"

Luckily, someone has come to save me, but I don't feel like celebrating the moment I see who the person is.

"Millonia..."

"At your service!" The lunatic beauty smiles at me.