Chapter 2

The second time, I didn't hesitate.

The moment I woke up in that familiar bed and saw it was 2:00 PM again, I jumped up right away. My temples were pounding under the heavy strain of the adrenaline surge.

Adam stepped out of the bathroom, but before he could say a word, I was already behind him.

As the heir to a legendary Asclepius, I knew every weak spot in the human body, every pressure point that could be exploited. I held a syringe between my fingers, its tip glinting coldly in the sunlight. The moment he turned, I struck with precision, driving the needle straight into the Atlas Point at the base of his neck.

"E... Evelyn..." His voice was like a snapped string, his eyes wide with shock and confusion. Then his body went limp, collapsing into my arms like a pile of wet clay.

I dragged him onto the bed, using ropes soaked in anesthetic to tie his hands and feet tightly to the bedposts. I turned off all my communication devices, deadbolted the bedroom door, and wedged a solid wood cabinet against it for good measure.

I stood guard at the door, leaning against the cold wooden surface. Inside, I could hear Adam's heavy breathing; outside, the occasional whisper of wind drifted by. My palms were slick with cold sweat, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of my chest.

'Just hang in there. It's only one hour,' I told myself.

2:55 PM.

Just when I thought I'd pulled off a miracle, a dull thud came from inside the room. Then came the sudden crash of glass being smashed—shards scattered across the floor, sounding eerily like someone gnashing their teeth.

I fumbled with the lock, heart racing, and burst into the bedroom.

The curtains flapped wildly in the wind, twisted like ghostly white hands. The ropes on the bed had snapped, and Adam was wracked by violent spasms, like a puppet gone haywire. He tumbled off the bed—bedframe and all—and went crashing out the window.

The second floor wasn't that high, but it was a fatal coincidence.

"Thud!"

The sound of his body hitting the ground was immediately followed by the screech of a truck's brakes. I rushed to the window, my breath caught in my throat, and saw him sprawled in a pool of blood as a massive truck barreled right over his body.

He wasn't dead yet. He looked up at me by the window, his lips trembling as he spat out a mouthful of dark red blood, faintly forming the words:

"It's... useless..."

After my ninth failure, the faint scent of blood lingered between my fingers, impossible to wash away.

Poison, fire, falling objects, even sudden heart attacks while sitting at home. No matter how I tried to stop it, death always claimed him at exactly 3 PM. This wasn't an accident. It was a fate woven with intention, one that had to be fulfilled.

The tenth cycle.

I timed it just right, crushing a transparent pill and mixing it into Adam's water before he could change clothes. It was a 'death-simulating pill'—after taking it, his pulse and breath would vanish completely.

Adam looked at me, a hint of sadness I couldn't quite read flashing through his eyes, but he still drank it obediently. Three minutes later, he slumped onto the couch, his face already tinged with blue. I didn't stick around—I snatched up his phone right away.

Sure enough, that unknown number called again.

I didn't answer. Instead, I slipped on my headphones and used the Asclepius's Guild's signature tracking skill to trace the signal straight to the outskirts of the city.

It was an abandoned leather factory, the air reeking of chemicals and mold so strong it made me want to gag. I slipped off my shoes and crept barefoot across the dusty steel beams, holding my breath as much as I could.

Right in the middle of the empty warehouse, a familiar silhouette lounged in an ornate European armchair.

It was Luna Sterling, Adam's stepsister. The same girl who'd tear up just watching someone gut a fish, always hanging onto my arm and calling me "sister" like it was the sweetest thing in the world.

She was scrolling through her phone, slow and almost lazy, the screen's glow lighting up her warped grin, making her look especially hideous. I saw it clear as day—the screen was lit up with intimate photos of Adam and me.

"Adam, pick up the phone. Stop hiding," Luna muttered to the empty warehouse, her voice sweet but poisonous. "Time to choose again. Should I send these pics to those old geezers obsessed with the Asclepius's Lineage, let that slut's reputation go down the drain and lock her up as a blood bag in some dungeon, or are you gonna just roll over and die yourself?"

My mind exploded—all at once, my fingertips went numb and cold. So that was it... Every single time Adam chose death, it was all for my sake. Just then, a man in a long vintage coat appeared, his steps steady, toying with two smooth silver coins in his hand.

I bit down hard on my lip, the taste of blood spreading in my mouth. That was the mentor I'd spent three years searching for—the one who taught me to heal the world, to help others, and to always carry a Asclepius's compassion in my heart.