DanMachi: It's destined to lose its self.

Thoughts… Kopii flinched at Kanae's voice. "What a pity, Kopii, that you've decided to leave. Things could have been different. What a shame we won't be getting free potions from you anymore. Such a pity. You could have just shut up and been a good boy, but you turned out to be bad, and that's very bad, Kopii. You must be punished for this. But don't worry, Kopii, we're not animals, we won't kill you."

Kopii looked up. Everything swam before his eyes; the pain wouldn't let him focus. Suddenly, he noticed Kanae taking something out. He couldn't make it out. Kanae came closer, and Kopii heard the click of a vial opening. An instant later – something was trickling down his head. "What is it?" flashed through his mind. He didn't know, but he sensed something bad. With difficulty, through the pain, Kopii croaked: "Wh… what is this…"

It was hard for him to speak; his voice was ruined by screaming. In response, he only heard laughter. That laughter shattered Kopii's inner world, and for the first time, he desperately wished for death. Relief from the unbearable pain, from the feeling of worthlessness and inadequacy. He just wanted to give up. When the laughter subsided, Kopii, gathering his last strength, asked again: "Plea… please… tell… tell me, plea… please…"

With each word, his speech became a little more confident.

They both stared at him in silence. Finally, Kanae spoke: "You won't die so easily without enjoying your situation? No one would want that, right? Ahahahaha!"

He burst out laughing. Complete incomprehension was written in Kopii's eyes. He didn't understand the meaning of Kanae's words. But he wasn't given a second to think.

"So, I'll help you enjoy it! I'm sure you'll like it, Kopii."

Gedo took something out. Even in his current state, Kopii recognized the familiar vial. A healing potion, much better quality than the ones Naaza gave him. Gedo roughly grabbed Kopii's face and poured the potion into his mouth. The liquid burned his throat, and almost immediately Kopii felt relief. The pain receded, although the sharp pain in his leg remained, but it was halved. His vision returned.

Kanae opened his mouth to speak again, but then the sound of an approaching angry mob reached them. Kanae and Gedo immediately ran away. Kopii watched them go until they disappeared from sight. The footsteps grew louder and louder. Kopii tried to stand up, but a sharp pain pierced his leg. He realized: Kanae had poured a potion with ant pheromones on him. If his guesses were correct, a terrible fate awaited him.

That's why they wasted such an expensive healing potion! They wanted him to suffer even more. They wanted this from the very beginning. So that he would experience agony before death, so that he himself would desire death. And they almost succeeded. "I have to run! Faster!" He tried to stand up, but his leg seemed to be broken. Kopii didn't give up. He tried to move by hopping, but suddenly froze, struck by horror. "Where to run? They poured ant pheromones on me. Wherever I go, they'll find me. No matter how hard I try, the broken leg slows me down a lot."

At the realization of imminent death, his blood ran cold. He was destined to accept death. Just recently, he himself wanted to die, but now that death was so close, he desperately wanted to live. After everything he had experienced today, Kopii couldn't take it anymore. His mind began to cloud. And he cried out:

"I don't want to!"

"I don't want to!"

"I don't want to!"

"I want to live!"

"I need to run!"

"Somebody help me!"

"Help!"

His hoarse voice only worsened the situation. No matter how much he shouted, no one responded. Suddenly, it dawned on him: he needed to get out of the dungeon! Then he would be saved. He just needed to get to the surface. Kopii didn't remember what floor he was on, but it didn't matter now. He needed to go up, and maybe he would be lucky enough to meet other adventurers. Hope flickered in his heart.

Kopii looked up, and it immediately went out. There stood killer ants. There were so many of them.

"I don't want to!"

"I don't want to!"

Kopii tried to crawl away, but it was useless. The ants were rapidly approaching.

"Stop!" Kopii cried. "I don't want to die! I want to live!"

Suddenly, he saw a dagger. Perhaps Gedo or Kanae had dropped it. He crawled towards it, and when he grabbed the hilt, a sharp pain pierced his leg. Turning around, he saw one of the ants digging into his leg, trying to drag him away.

"Let go of me!" Kopii began to fight back with his other leg. But then other ants caught up with him. One bit him on the hand, and Kopii, without hesitation, stabbed the dagger into its eye. The ant squealed. But there were too many of them. "Get away from me!" Kopii cried in terror.

"Aaa! It hurts! Let go of me!"

Kopii saw his body being devoured by killer ants. Time slowed down, as if it had stopped. He remembered growing up in the orphanage, how he first joined Orario, how he ended up in the orphanage again, then met Miya and Naaza, who became dear to him. How he first descended into the dungeon. How he received his first reward. He remembered everything: both good and bad. Up to this moment.

Kopii looked into the eyes of a killer ant. In those eyes, there was only hatred and bloodlust. They wanted to tear him to pieces; their hatred was so strong that they didn't feel pain.

Kopii didn't want to admit that he would die soon, that his whole life was useless, that all his training was in vain. That the world is heartless to the weak, and only those who have adapted and move on, despite all obstacles, survive in it. He will become the best!

Continuing to look into the monster's eyes, he wondered: what is it like to be a monster? What is it like to always feel bloodlust? What is it like to hate everyone around? Time returned to normal. Kopii saw the killer ant about to bite off his head.

He couldn't accept imminent death, resisted with all his might, but the ants held him by his hands and feet. "It hurts a lot," Kopii thought, preparing for death. Suddenly, he felt anger and hatred towards everything. Rage overwhelmed him, eclipsing all other feelings. Kopii stopped being aware of anything.

He began to resist madly. At some point, he managed to free his hand with the dagger. He plunged it into the head of the ant that was about to bite off his head. Killing it, Kopii felt only one thing: it wasn't enough. He wanted more. He felt bloodlust.

As if insane, Kopii began to strike furiously with the dagger, crushing chitinous shells and piercing the vile bodies of the ants. He didn't care that they were tearing his body to pieces. He was seized by primal rage, animal hatred, which eclipsed fear and pain.

"More! More! Die all of you! I'll kill you all to the last one!"

He screamed, and only despair and mad rage were heard in his voice. Every blow, every movement was imbued with the desire for destruction, the desire to tear to pieces. Kopii didn't understand what this feeling was, but he didn't care. He only craved more.

Blood splattered in all directions. The dagger kept getting stuck in the chitin, but Kopii didn't stop, pulling it out and inflicting more and more blows. He was like he was possessed, driven only by mad rage. The ground around him was stained with blood and littered with magic stones, but the ants continued to attack, their number seemed endless.

But in the end, there were fewer and fewer of them. Until Kopii killed them all. His whole body was bleeding, there was no living space on it, he was all in blood. But after killing all the ants, his bloodlust only intensified. He wanted more. He wanted to kill everyone, to tear everything into small pieces.

But over time, the fear of death prevailed. And Kopii, with all available speed, began to rise from the dungeon, not noticing the pain and huge blood loss. The higher he rose, the weaker his body became. He began to lose consciousness.