Noi Karn stepped onto the rubble and blinked his eyes.
He was still a bit distracted because the first thing he saw after regaining his sight was the basement.
That same basement where he lost his sight.
The coincidence was both unpleasant and motivational at the same time.
Unpleasant because he still had a lingering trauma from that day, so staying here was suffocating.
Motivational because he could finally step outside of this dark symbol of his trauma and into the light.
"Noi Karn," [Blind] said.
Noi Karn looked at his face and heard his voice.
The fact that it was exactly like him was both unsettling and annoying.
Luckily, his headphones were on him and not on [Blind].
The feel of the cool metal comforted him.
"[Blind]," Noi Karn retorted while taking a step out of the basement.
"How are you here?" [Blind] glared at him.
"It is my body that you are using, so who gave you the audacity to ask me that question?" Noi Karn sneered.
"And you were the one who agreed to that deal," [Blind] retorted back.
"Naturally I would have, especially after you tortured me," Noi Karn mocked him.
"That doesn't change the fact that you are still that weak little boy who had his sight taken from him," [Blind] smiled at him.
"And that doesn't change the fact that I'm going to kill you right here," Noi Karn smiled back.
[Blind] seemed to have heard something funny because he couldn't restrain his laughter.
He laughed wildly while clutching his stomach.
"You—" [Blind] said while pointing at him, only to break into laughter again.
"That really was hilarious," [Blind] said, wiping a tear.
"Why don't you find out how funny it really is," Noi Karn answered calmly, already halfway up the steps.
"You're starting to piss me off here," [Blind] was suddenly talking seriously.
"Why did you have to give me extra work to do?"
"Couldn't you have just stayed dead like the deal said?" [Blind] said, glaring at him.
"I have things to protect now, so I don't care about any deal," Noi Karn pursed his lips.
"You can't just go back on your word just because you feel like it," [Blind] said.
"That is why I will compensate you in my own way," Noi Karn said a few steps away from him.
"Compensate me—hah, so killing me is my compensation?" [Blind] scoffed.
"No, it's the compensation to myself so that I can let go of the hate," Noi Karn said while standing at the same level with him.
"I can accept wanting to kill me; after all I have a thirst for killing my enemies," [Blind] had a crazy smile.
"But I can never forgive you for letting go of the hate," [Blind] had a sharp glint in his eyes.
"I don't need a dead man's forgiveness," Noi Karn also had a sharp gaze.
[Blind] activated his ability directly with just a look.
Noi Karn found that his environment had turned to darkness once again.
But he did not panic; after all, he had lived in darkness for five years.
Instead he tried to vigilantly look for [Blind].
He listened with all his senses and desperately looked around for any indication.
Just then his eyes tingled and he was able to 'see' something.
It was a huge fist coming for his face.
Noi Karn dodged to the side, almost tripping, as [Blind]'s fist drew past.
Noi Karn rolled away and stumbled to get far away from him.
He thought in his heart about how he wished he could see the objects blocking him.
And suddenly he could see the objects on the ground.
No, it was more like seeing the location of large rubble that blocked his path.
Noi Karn ran forward and turned his head back but saw nothing behind him except darkness.
But he also "saw" that [Blind] was actually close to him but just not within his sight.
To explain it: he saw [Blind] running through the darkness after him.
[Blind] had a teasing smile on his face and would laugh from time to time—clearly teasing his prey.
Noi Karn squinted his eyes and ran faster while thinking about something.
He turned and thought about seeing a huge piece of rubble.
True to his thought, he saw a huge piece of rubble appear in the darkness.
Noi Karn ran in the opposite direction, but he could still see that rubble from any angle.
If his guess and his instinct were correct,
then he had gained the ability to track any object he could think of within his environment.
But what should he do now?
[Blind] had all the advantages due to his physical prowess.
Noi Karn was very clear about just how strong [Blind] was because he had seen just what [Blind] had done while inhabiting his body.
Although Noi Karn wasn't exactly weak right now and was very strong for a human being—which he realized immediately as he started to run—his progress compared to [Blind] was negligible.
That meant a head-on attack would be equal to certain death.
The idea of using weapons was his only hope.
Honestly, Noi Karn had the idea to just run [Blind] over.
But [Blind] looked like someone who could outrun a car.
Knives require close contact.
Guns would be better, but where on earth would he find a gun?
A bomb would have been nice, but then he might be able to dodge it if he saw it coming.
Noi Karn stumbled on a stone and almost fell, but he managed to right himself.
[Blind] laughed while drawing close to him.
Noi Karn increased his speed while ignoring those chilling laughs.
[Blind] retreated once again, looking satisfied.
Noi Karn also had an idea.
He thought deeply and remembered that the principal had once invited him to his office.
Noi Karn was just fresh out of the basement and refused to listen to anyone.
The principal sat behind his desk smiling while fiddling with a gun.
Then he placed the gun in front of Noi Karn.
The eleven-year-old boy didn't even think twice.
He had grabbed it from the table and aimed it straight at the principal.
He remembered the way his hand shook while holding the trigger and also the principal's excited voice.
"I thought you would have shot already.
But you realized that shooting me would do nothing.
You will still be a blind boy.
But this time you definitely would not survive the slums.
That place would tear you apart in a snap.
So now you will have to drop the gun and behave.
Or your meaningless life will be ended by me before you can take your revenge.
Isn't that so, my dear boy?"
Noi Karn remembered screaming his frustration out as he pointed the gun at himself and pulled the trigger.
Click—
And there was darkness as the sound of the bullet released from the chamber sounded.
Noi Karn woke up the next morning on a bed with the principal beside him.
"Foolish child, your life isn't yours to take," then the principal walked out after dropping a sentence.
Noi Karn at that time completely broke down.
Then he listened to the caregivers and obeyed their arrangements.
"Reminiscing about good memories," [Blind] spoke at this time.
"I guess you might not have realized this, but now you are blind once again," [Blind] spoke.
As expected, he did not realize that I could now see.
But he still used his ability—how cautious.
Noi Karn mused.
But if he thinks I'm blind then why does he play with me?
"So what, even a blind man can kill people."
"After all, the most important thing to use is my hands," Noi Karn retorted while changing his direction.
Instead he headed for the gun that had appeared out of the darkness.
While running, he stumbled a lot of times on purpose.
Heck, he even rolled on the ground once.
Now his whole body was covered with scratches that oozed blood—especially a large gash on his left arm—and he was sweaty and dirty.
"And the most important thing is that I know this place like the back of my hand," Noi Karn said, picking up the gun.
He aimed it at his front while looking around.
"I remember this gun," [Blind] spoke.
Noi Karn pressed the trigger and shot in the direction of his voice.
Of course, he made sure to be slightly off.
But [Blind] still dodged away.
Unfortunately this guy really is faster than a gun, Noi Karn thought while sighing.
"It was also one of the times your hatred for the principal increased."
Noi Karn fired another shot.
"How many bullets do you think are inside that gun?"
Noi Karn did not reply but fired another shot.
"How many of them are blanks?"
Another shot.
"Or maybe all of them are blanks."
Another shot.
"I wonder how that gun survived the blast."
"I'm too excited so I'll just tell you."
"See, the principal kept it in a safe just to remember that day.
After all, you were the only one who weighed the pros and cons and could calmly reason while angry that dying would give the biggest blow.
The principal, in his own perverted way, did find you endearing after that.
Dare I say it, but he really cherished you.
So, Noi Karn, can you feel it? Can you feel how much he cherished you?"
[Blind] spoke slowly while advancing forward.
He dodged the rain of bullets fired by Noi Karn, whose expression gradually distorted into rage with each sentence spoken.
Soon the chamber was exhausted and [Blind] was right in front of him.
[Blind] raised a hand to his neck and grasped it tightly.
Noi Karn felt his breath cut short and waved his hands wildly.
He looked like a dying man trying to drag his attacker to death with him.
"Have you realized it now?
You can never beat me because you will never be able to let go.
You will always be trapped in that despair and be a person rejected by the world.
Accept your hatred and accept me."
[Blind] squeezed tighter.
"Say you accept me," [Blind] whispered in his ear, smiling crazily at him.
"I—I... I choose to live." Noi Karn said, stabbing a large shard straight at [Blind]'s chest.
Somehow the adrenaline rush amplified his physical prowess,
so the long shard of glass stabbed directly into his heart and passed through the other side.
[Blind] stared in shock and coughed out blood.
"How?" he asked.
"I have been able to see since I appeared.
But your ability did work on me.
It's just that I was now able to see things I wanted no matter what it was.
I also noticed that you seemed to direct me here.
You think that you are the only one who remembers this place.
Unlike a fake, I actually lived here.
So I knew you were not only toying with me but wanted to show me something.
After all, we do not have enough hatred between us for you to torture me—especially after you sounded so annoyed for having to do extra work.
So I followed along and remembered the gun.
I also remembered the story behind it.
And you were right to lead me here.
Because this really was the starting point of my hatred and yearning for revenge.
At that point, I had never hated someone as much as I hated the principal.
I cooperated with your play so you would not notice the shard hidden in my shirt—the same shard I picked up while rolling away.
After that, all I needed to do was wait for an opportunity.
And your last sentence made me realize that you did not want to kill me.
I wanted to kill you, so I took a gamble—to see whether you could not kill me because we are still linked.
And I was right." Noi Karn said while coughing out blood.
"Damn you, Noi Karn.
Are you really going to die like this?
Sacrificing yourself to save a world that had never saved you?
To save people who scorned you and made fun of your misery?
Are you really willing to let go of the Noi Family?
Answer me, NOI KARN!!!!" [Blind] shouted hysterically.
"Are you afraid to die?
Well, I am not.
Besides, this is also my way of living.
I will never forget what the Noi Family has done to me.
But I can also never forget what my real family did for me.
You say the world mocked me but they did not.
They never abandoned me.
So that must mean there are some good people left in the world.
Right, guys?" Noi Karn said, collapsing into the arms of Shae Harris.
The others stood around him in tears .