"Please, save me. I'll do anything. I'll tell you everything I can. But, but I can't tell you what I don't know."
It might sound like I'm making excuses, but I couldn't bring myself to tell them such things—they'd probably call me insane and treat me even worse.
If I said I could see the future, they'd demand I use that same ability to show them the future, which I couldn't do.
When I wanted to cry out, "Why are you doing this to me?" memories that felt both mine and not mine were already answering for me.
Is this what it feels like to resent yourself?
I rattled against my restraints.
I struggled to break free, but predictably, the belts binding my limbs only tightened around my wrists and ankles.
The rattling only made the pain in my wrists and ankles worse.
While I was grimacing, a person dressed in black approached me.
The mask they wore only heightened my fear.
They weren't holding anything in their hands, but they began examining the items the researchers had brought earlier.
When everyone had left earlier, I'd thought being alone might be better, but now with just this one person entering, my terror reached its peak.
Cold sweat ran down my face. My head kept turning toward where they stood, desperate to see what they were doing.
"W-wait, please..."
I called out urgently, but they showed no interest, not even acknowledging me as they began rummaging through something.
They opened what looked like a large wheeled container and searched inside. From my position, I couldn't see what they were looking for, which made me even more anxious.
"Th-that, um, that..."
This person won't listen to me.
They probably only listen to their superiors.
With that thought, I quickly turned my head toward the black glass.
"Wait, please! I-I'll tell you everything else I know!! Really, I really don't know what the Strange One didn't tell me...?! If you need anything to find out more, I'll cooperate...! I-I won't run away, I'll be good...!"
[That's a good attitude.]
The voice that responded sounded satisfied.
If they had been standing in front of me, I imagine they might have been smiling.
But that wasn't enough reason to stop the man beside me, as the voice continued.
[Honestly, looking at Kanna's behavior, she doesn't seem that threatening. We already know from reports that Kanna wants to show a cooperative attitude toward humanity.]
"Yes, yes... So then!"
[But—the results always differ from that, don't they?]
"What...?"
A dumbfounded sound escaped my lips.
[From our perspective, it looks like Kanna is just trying to make a good impression on us. If Kanna is truly innocent and was merely swept up by the Strange One, I feel bad for doubting her like this. However, looking at the results so far, the damage caused by the Strange One far outweighs what Kanna is trying to show us.]
"W-wait, please... B-but!"
I needed to say something, but what should I say?
I wish someone would tell me the answer. I don't know what the best response is here.
The thought that one wrong step could mean my death seemed to prevent me from making proper judgments.
It was terrifying to know that one mistake could be irreversible.
What choice should I make?
As I struggled to get my uncooperative brain working and tried to speak, a voice cut me off, blocking my escape route.
[Things Kanna can't answer—even if we force the questions, we won't get answers. Whether you truly know or not, as long as we don't get definitive answers, we can only speculate.]
I couldn't say anything.
[And the Wall has already collapsed four times. In the approximately three months since Kanna entered the Academy, the Strange One has entered four times. We couldn't help but be suspicious, and it's difficult to know what the Strange One did to Kanna and what they're plotting behind the scenes.
That's why we're afraid.
With humanity crowded inside the Wall, we fear what Kanna's presence—which threatens the Wall itself—might bring about in the future.
Over 6,000 citizens have died without being able to resist the Strange Ones and monsters. Many heroes have also died in the line of duty.]
They might have died because of me.
[According to the report from the Ramiris family about the second encounter, the Strange One attacked while moving to the Ramiris family bunker, and it was precisely at Kanna's location. It's too coincidental that it happened in a remote area where people rarely go.]
Because of me.
[It's evidence that they're tracking Kanna's location.]
Everything because of me?
[Also, it was reported that Kanna's limbs were severed, and the human side conducted the same experiment, and as stated, they regenerated. This means that not just the limbs, but the entire body has undergone Strange One transformation. This supports our earlier statement.]
Maybe the Wall would have been safe if someone like me had never existed from the beginning.
But, but that seems too unfair.
I didn't maliciously pass on information or anything.
[Moreover, all three attacks targeted the Academy simultaneously with the Wall's collapse. This is...]
I was running out of things I could say.
All circumstances pointed to events happening because of my presence.
"...I..."
What am I supposed to say here?
Do I even have anything left to explain?
I didn't know any stories.
No, I did know, but I had no awareness that I had done those things, and the thought that I had made such choices and had such a past felt distant.
I was taken by the Strange One? Oh, searching my memories, I guess I was.
But are these really my memories?
After experiencing this situation repeatedly, I began to resign myself.
I said I would answer anything, but I realized these people hadn't called me here to punish me because I was a bad person.
They were simply saying they feared what happened because of my existence.
They didn't like that the Strange One kept breaking through the Wall to contact me.
What could I possibly say to that?
I didn't think even Ha-min could solve this if he were here.
Even though Ha-min would try to save the world, he would need to be a third-year student, but he's still only a first-year, which is another problem.
If they're just saying that scary things happen because I exist, and they don't like it, and they're looking for ways to deal with it, what can I say?
I can only wait and ask, "So what should I do?"
And that answer didn't come back in words.
When I came to my senses, a shadow approached with a swish.
A person wearing a gas mask, with only their eyes visible, stood before me holding a hammer.
Their heavy breathing sounded menacing.
Oh no, are they going to kill me with that?
If they're just going to kill me quickly and end it...
[We will now verify Kanna's abilities. Once we're certain, we'll later examine how the Strange One locates Kanna.]
They're not going to kill me?
Can I live?
Just as I thought that, what was hidden in the masked man's fist revealed itself.
When there was just a hammer, I thought they were just going to hit me painfully, but when I saw the nail between his fingers, everything changed.
Of course, being hit with a hammer would certainly hurt, and I questioned whether I could endure it, but with that pointed thing, my feelings of revulsion rose more intensely.
"W-wait a moment! Wait!! I'll do anything!!"
The chair rattled.
As I begged desperately, a cold voice came from behind.
[First, secure the hands and feet.]
No.
NO!
"D-don't! Please!"
As I shouted, the man's fist slammed down on my hand.
"Hnngh!"
And the nail held between his fingers aimed at my trembling finger.
"J-just wait... please, please..."
Tears welled up now.
Unlike shouting with intense emotion, I was now a person begging desperately through tears.
But before this heartless, indifferent person who was just following orders,
my desperate cries faded meaninglessly.
My palm was immobilized, but I kept moving my fingers because I really didn't want this.
Moving up and down was pointless, but I could still try to move side to side.
The man holding my hand had clenched his fist to secure my hand, apparently planning to nail comfortably, but my constantly moving fingers seemed to annoy him.
And at that moment, his fist flew toward my face.
Thud.
My nose felt distorted.
It stung, and my eyes ached even though tears were already flowing.
The blow was so painful that my teeth ached too.
There was ringing in my ears.
As I coughed—kuhuk—my voice seemed to come from far away.
After the punch that seemed to say "stay still," there was a clink as the nails fell carelessly to the floor.
And now, as if to show that resistance was futile, the man's hand firmly gripped my finger.
I couldn't imagine anything more terrifying than this man trying to nail my finger to the metal chair with an iron nail.
It was the moment when a sharp pillar would pierce the small, gentle arc of defense.
Clang. The hammer struck the nail.
The nail crushed my fingernail.
The penetrating nail pierced through my finger.
And continued until it hit the chair.
It hurts.