THE SECOND CHANCE 1

The Hero lay unconscious on the ground, beaten and bleeding. It was already dark, shadows covering the area.

The first man raised his katana to kill the Hero. But suddenly, he froze. Blood started dripping from his mouth and nose. Slowly, he looked down, frozen in fear.

He saw a hand-a dark hand-holding his heart, which was still pumping. He stared at it in shock, unable to move. The hand then crushed his heart, and blood splattered everywhere. His lifeless body fell to the ground.

The second man stood behind, watching the scene in shock. In the darkness, he could see glowing red eyes and two wings in the shadow. He couldn't clearly see who or what it was, but he knew it wasn't human.

In a low, trembling voice, he whispered to himself, "What the fuck is this? It's not... a human."

As the second man stood there, terrified by what he had just seen, he raised his hand suddenly in fear. In the center of his palm, a small circle began to form on his glove-а glowing magic circle.

In his mind, he was panicking, thinking to himself, I just have to escape from this place. This is not a human. Something is wrong here.

The small magic circle began to activate. It was a teleportation circle, forming in his palm, glowing faintly. He tried to use it to escape, but before he could act, his body suddenly froze.

The magic circle shattered into pieces, disappearing completely. His arm fell limp, lifelessly dropping to his side. He stood there, frozen in place, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. Blood began to trickle from his mouth, slowly dripping to the ground.

He couldn't understand what was happening to him. His expression was locked in fear and disbelief, his body motionless. Moments later, he collapsed to the ground, lifeless. His eyes remained wide open, staring blankly into nothingness, even as his body lay still.

[after an hour]

Hero slowly opened his eyes. His vision was unclear, and everything around him appeared blurred. He blinked several times, trying to focus, but the blurriness persisted. He barely lifted his head, struggling to see what was happening.

As his eyes shifted upward, he saw a girl sitting next to him in a Japanese-style posture. Her hands hovered near his body, and in the center of her gloves, a small, glowing green magic circle was visible. On the back of her gloves, there was another small magic circle, positioned directly opposite the ones on her palms.

Using these two circles, a larger green magic circle surrounded him, glowing faintly as it healed his injuries.

Hero couldn't move much, and his thoughts began to swirl in his mind. What if I hadn't entered this fight? If I had gone home, I'd be fine now, right? His mind continued to wander.

But no... that's not me, is it? You're such a loser, ken. You don't have any powers, but your character? That's what always gets you into trouble. I hate that stupid part of me.

He thought about the situation. I was beaten by those two... Did they kidnap me with her? I think so. That must be it. What's really happening here? Am I safe, or am I still in danger?

As he tried to focus, his blurred vision started shifting downward, making everything seem distant and unclear.

As the hero's vision clears, he sees two bodies lying in front of him. Blood is everywhere-on the floor, splattered on the walls, and behind the first body, the second person's eyes are still open. Blood drips from their mouth.

Suddenly, the hero wakes up fully. Shocked by the terrible sight, he quickly moves backward, sitting up. His face shows fear as he looks around at the bloody scene and the lifeless bodies.

The girl, who was sitting next to him in a Japanese-style position, was healing him with her magic. When he moved suddenly, she got scared, and the magic circle she was using disappeared. Her hands lowered as she looked at him, startled.

The hero stares at the terrible scene in silence, his face full of shock. After a moment, the girl asks softly, "Are you okay now?"The hero looks at her, his expression still uneasy, and mutters to himself, "It happened again... just like always. But she's still alive." Then, he looks at her and asks, "How did you survive? I thought you..."

The girl's voice shakes as she replies, "I... I don't know. Suddenly, terrible things happened. There was blood everywhere... and those red eyes..." She pauses, remembering the horrifying events. "I don't even know if it was real or not," she says, her voice trembling. "But one thing I know for sure-we are not safe."

The hero slowly stands up. He bends down to pick up his bag and notices his broken headset lying nearby. Picking it up, he says quietly, "So this is broken now."

The girl, still sitting behind him, says softly, "It's because of me. You came here for me, and now it's broken. I'll buy you a new one." Her voice is calm, but it's clear she's still shaken by everything that happened.

The hero's face returns to its usual calm expression, he speaks normally to the girl, "No, you don't have to do that. It's not your fault. I did it because I wanted to. The headset broke because of me, so you don't need to spend any money."

He looks at her sitting on the ground, still unable to move much. He thinks to himself, "I think she saw that evil thing, that's why she can't move." Realizing what she's going through, he bends down, takes out a clean handkerchief, wets it with some water, and gently starts wiping the blood splattered on her face and around her.

Her expression doesn't change much as she looks at him—still processing everything that happened. She gazes at him while he carefully cleans her face. The hero meets her eyes briefly and says calmly, "If we stay here any longer, it's going to get dangerous. It's already night. If someone sees these bodies with us, it'll become a bigger problem. They might misunderstand, and it could ruin your life, your image, or worse. Nobody would believe the truth about the terrible things that happened here."

Finishing cleaning her face, he straightens up and adds, "We need to leave this place and find somewhere safe. You're coming with me."

The girl, still seated, softly replies, "Okay," her voice low but steady.