Molly was starting to get heated at Brian's words. She looked away not wanting to see his face. She
tried to control her temper but she couldn't so she started to type, "You grew up with the care of your
parents. They loved you. You're so lucky, heaven blessed you. You can do anything as long as you
want it. You can get anything you want without even having to lift a finger. We're completely different
people and we've led completely different lives. You have no idea what it's like to be me. Who are you
to judge me?"
Brian smiled a little, fixating his stare at her, "Do you think this is my whole world?"
Molly frowned unsure what he was trying to say.
"I was raised with very caring people. Richie, Shirley, Wing, they all treated me very well." Molly just felt
worse with what he was saying. Sensing her emotions, Brian continued, "If you look at it that way, I am
luckier than you. But there are a lot of things you don't know.
I started learning about guns so young - I was just three years old. I started to learn about finance when
I was four, managing my own property when I was five, surrounded by killers when I was six, survived
Hell Forest when I was eight. When I was there, I didn't know I would stay alive to see all of this
happen. I thought I was going to die then. Not only did I have to fight with every single one of my
friends there but I had to try and figure out how I would survive. I couldn't sleep at night because I was
afraid that snakes might bite me and poison me to death. I couldn't sleep at all because I was afraid of
getting assassinated by the same people I was with"
Molly was shocked most especially because Brian was saying all these things robotically as if he didn't
care anymore or as if he was talking about another person. At that rate, Brian was already underselling
Hell Forest making it sound not as worse as it really was. He continued, "The first time I went to Hell
Forest, I stayed for a month. When I came out, I was wounded and bruised and was so hungry that I
felt I could eat my own arm. I was too young then to know how to take care of myself. The second time
I went in, I was nine years old. Since I'd already entered before, I stayed longer - forty days this time.
After that, every time I went in, I stayed longer. But once, I didn't reach the prescribed time
requirement. Because I was bitten by a poisonous snake."
All the blood had rushed out of Molly's face as she listened to Brian's story. She was staring at him, her
eyes unblinking. She never would have thought that anyone would be subjected to that kind of danger
and cruelty as Brian had been through. And now, Brian was telling the story so coldly and unaffected
but even then, Molly could still feel the underlying fear of death in Brian.
His story made Molly's heart melt - he was so young then! Why would he have to go to Hell Forest?
Brian continued his story, "For the first time, my life was in danger. Even though I survived, I was so
weak and I couldn't go back for about a year."
Brian paused, his mind lost in recollection. After that year, they had tried and failed to suck the venom
out of Brian's body but to no avail. At that point, Brian was about to go insane and because he didn't
want to be a burden to the people around him anymore, he decided to return to Dragon Island alone.
This was where he met Becky. Becky, then was a little girl who had brought him her power.
Brian's heart pinched at the thought of Becky. The time he had spent with her in Dragon Island back
then was the most precious thing in his life. But somehow, he had a hard time recalling this right now.
Unaware that Brian had drifted away, Molly was still in shock of what she had just heard. She never
would have thought that someone like Brian could have gone through something so horrible. She could
feel Brian's disappointment with himself that he wasn't able to go back because his body couldn't
handle it.
"One year was a very long time for me to wait. But the only thing I could do back then was to wait for
my recovery," Brian continued, leaning back in his seat. His eyes were staring straight ahead, "I was
fifteen the last time I went to Hell Forest. I stayed for a year at that time. During that year, I passed all
my trainings but I still wasn't able to achieve the goal I had set for myself."
Molly felt crestfallen for him. "Even if the results weren't what you were expecting, you still did your
best," Molly typed. She pulled herself closer to him as she held up the phone for him to read.
After reading what she typed, Brian turned to look at Molly. A smile slowly formed in his face - the kind
that Molly had never seen. She was head over heels.
"You're empathizing with me?" Brian asked, his eyes lighting up.
Molly tried to deny it. She pressed her lips together keeping her face away to try and hide the flush in
her cheeks.
"Mol, we show to other people what we want them to see and that's not necessarily the real us. And
only ones who can really know us is ourselves. You and me, that's how we are." Brian leaned over, his
thumb on Molly's chin forcing her to look at him. "We escape reality, ignore hardships because we don't
want to face them. But they're a part of our lives."
His eyes scared Molly that she blinked to hide how anxious she was.
When Brian was cold and uncaring, it scared her so much but when Brian was like this, he could look
through her soul and read what was on it. She could never escape that whenever she was with him.
"If all you do is escape whenever a challenge comes up, then you're never going to move on from
where you are." Molly remained still, feeling downcast at what Brian was saying. He glanced at her
before continuing, "You were drugged and that's why you lost your voice. But you've recovered now.
Because you think you can't speak then your body responds to it. It's just your fear holding you back
from ever speaking again."
His eyes were like daggers, cold and piercing. She could feel the tension coming from his body, he was
so serious. She heaved a deep breath to try to calm herself down.
"Mol, tell me I'm wrong. I'm right, right?" A knowing smile formed in his face along with his piercing dark
eyes which seemed to see right through her.
Molly couldn't stand how intense he was staring at her so she pushed him away. But the moment she
pushed him, Brian grimaced in pain. He placed his hand on his left shoulder where he had gotten hurt
before. Suddenly, Brian was bleeding.
Molly's first instinct was to run away but the blood froze her in place with anxiety and concern - her face
pale as a sheet. She got mad at herself for having forgotten his gunshot.
"Ow!" Brian groaned, obviously in pain.
Molly was so anxious, she leaned forward, "Bri..."
She stopped, mouth agape. The grimace on Brian's face disappeared and was replaced with a
knowing smile. He pulled Molly into a tight hug, whispering in her ear, "Mol, your voice is back. You can
speak again..."
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