Overheat

WHAM!

After the fall, Seth hits the bridge of the eighth floor with a sharp, painful thud. The impact knocks the air out of his lungs, and a jolt of pain shoots through his ankle.

"AGH!" For a second, his body refuses to move. Then adrenaline takes over. He drags himself up, breath ragged, and keeps running.

"I'M ALMOST THERE!"
Dragging his injured leg, Seth charges toward Building B of the abandoned university.

WHUUUUUM!

A powerful impact slams into the bridge. It vibrates violently, throwing Seth off balance. The structure sways up and down, cracks spreading across it. Overwhelmed by the force, Seth stops and turns to see what caused it…

And there it is.

The beast stands just a few meters away. No corners. No stairs. No exits. Only absolute death, staring straight at him on that bridge.

"Damn it… I— I have to get away from that thing."

Seth tries to take a few steps back, but pain explodes through his injured foot.

"AGH! Come on—this isn't the time! I just have to get to the other side!"

Desperately, he scans his surroundings.

"There has to be a way out! Anything!"

His eyes fall on the Rem pistol at his waist...
In a blink, the memory hits him—

"…when that thing came for Mira, what did you actually do?"

Mira's injured shoulder.
The moment he failed to draw his dagger.

Because he hesitated.

I can't imbue the weapons with Rem energy.
Without it, everything I do is meaningless.

I know that.
I've always known that.

And yet…
I still wonder—what would've happened if I'd done something else anyway…

The beast advances slowly, each step cracking the concrete of the bridge beneath its weight.

Death is right in front of me…
And I… I have no idea what to do…

Frozen in despair, Seth watches it draw closer. His breathing quickens. His gaze drops to the weapon at his waist.

No… I won't hesitate this time.

It's now or never.
I don't care anymore…
I don't care if this works or not…

His hand shakes as he draws the Rem pistol.

This is all I have.
This is the only thing I can do now...!

He fires.
The shots echo, rattling the bridge beneath his feet.

"GET BACK—!
JUST—GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He squeezes the trigger again and again, but the bullets bounce uselessly off the beast's armored hide.

"IT'S USELESS—!
I'M AN IDIOT!
I CAN'T— I CAN'T EVEN HURT IT…!"

He screams in desperation, still firing as he stumbles backward, dragging his injured foot.

The shots keep coming.
The result never changes.

"AAAAAAGH—!"

He tries with all his might to focus his Rem energy—and the same blue traces he once saw on his companions appear.
They behave the same way, leaving his body and drifting toward the pistol, slowly trying to imbue it.

But something goes wrong.

The traces stop halfway.
They don't advance any further.

"No… it's not working—!
I-it's not working again…"

Tears well up in his eyes, and he stops firing.

"Am I really going to die like this?" he asks, his voice breaking.

He lowers the gun. Smoke curls up from the barrel, barely veiling the desolation in his eyes—the tears, the despair—as his head sinks.

“I… I made a mistake…”

He looks down at his trembling hands as the bridge shudders with each step of the beast.

I thought that if I rebelled—
if I did more than what was expected of me…
if I even threw my life away—
I could change something. Somehow.

But I shouldn't have been here in the first place.
I forced myself into this mission.
Forced myself to stay… to hold that door.

And it led me here.
This is my fault. All of it.

WHUUUUUM!

Another violent rumble shakes the bridge. The beast wants to reach its resigned prey quickly—
but it advances slowly, careful not to collapse the structure beneath its weight.

As it continues forward, Seth looks up.
Face to face with it.

A being that obeys no logic.
An unstoppable machine that leaves only death in its wake.

"I guess… this is how it was always going to be."

Then—
A faint flash of light cuts across his vision.

"H—huh…?"

He looks to the side.

Something metallic lies against the concrete, its dull gleam standing out sharply from the gray of the bridge.

"Is that… my capsule…?"

It rolls slowly across the ground.
A Rem energy capsule.

Seth freezes, staring at it—time stretches thin.
The beast stands ahead, massive and inevitable, continuing its slow advance.

And there, to the side—
That capsule.

Something that shouldn't be there.
Something that shouldn't exist, Yet it does.

My capsule…
It must've fallen out when I landed…

Gasping, he stayed motionless, his heart pounding in his chest like a war drum, while adrenaline flooded every inch of his body.

That capsule…

Minutes stretch into hours.
Even with death standing right in front of him, Seth can focus on nothing else.

Then—
His eyes sharpen.

The beast keeps advancing, its movements mechanical, relentless. Tentacles coil through the air, hungry, searching.

A breath catches in his throat.
"I… see it."

The words slip out of his mouth before he realizes it.

Fear twists into something else.
A tense, nervous smile.

His gaze shifts, from the beast… to the capsule… then to the pistol clenched in his hand.

My shots are useless.
I already know that...
Without Rem energy, they can't hurt it at all.

His eyes lock onto the metal container as his stance steadies.

But metal…
Metal can be pierced.

A spark ignites—
Pure, desperate clarity cutting through the panic.

I only need one bullet...

He tightens his grip on the weapon, his knuckles turning white.

Just one hit...

He raises his arm, the barrel trembles in his grip—but he doesn't aim at the beast.
He aims at the cylinder near his feet.

Just one chance...

The beast lashes out with its tentacles. The air fills with a deadly hiss.

...I just need one chance to create—

"AN EXPLOSION!"

He pulls the trigger.

BAAANG!!!

The bullet tears through the air—just one.

But this time, it isn't driven by desperation. It's driven by intent. By resolve. By the kind of ingenuity that only surfaces when a miracle is the last option left.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

At the brink of death, rookie Seth Harper finds the light—just in time. The bullet strikes the capsule.

A blinding flash bursts forth, followed by a violent wave of heat and force that slams him to the opposite side.

And yet, there's something unsettling about him.
As the bridge shatters into fragments, his face doesn't twist in fear.

His eyes still held that sharp gleam—even in the face of death.

KRIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!

At the center of the explosion, the beast vanished into fire and smoke, swallowed by the blast as it fell screaming into the abyss with a shriek that seemed to tear through the sky itself.

An impossible outcome that defied the laws of nature—
the triumph of a weak, defenseless prey over a predator vastly superior in every way.

SPLAT!

Seth was dragged by the shockwave, torn through the collapsing rubble.
A severed tentacle flew through the air, landing beside him.

Bruised and sprawled on the ground, his eyes still carried that sharp glimmer—the same one born the moment he chose uncertainty.

Now, however, he could no longer recognize himself…
or the person capable of doing this.

And so, from that day—February 14, 2274—nothing was ever the same again.