Chapter 5: A Nightmare’s Soft Edge

The days started to blur together, slow and steady.

I kept studying, not letting the monthly exam get to me.

Sebastian got used to my weird bullying. Sometimes, if we were late after school, he’d already be waiting, asking, “What took you so long today?”

My tests stopped stumping him.

The system warned, “If you keep this up, you’ll never finish your bullying task and you’ll die.”

I stiffened.

After school that day, Sebastian smiled at me. “Autumn, you’ve changed.”

“How so?”

He hesitated, then blushed and mumbled, “You’re way nicer now.”

I was caught off guard, feeling awkward. “Nice? Yeah, right.”

But I knew he probably wasn’t scared of me anymore.

That was a problem.

I’m supposed to be his nightmare.

So the next day, I gave him even harder questions. When he messed up, I sneered, “One lap around the track for every mistake.”

He only got three right.

He ran seven laps, then collapsed on the field.

Worried about his heart, I rushed over. “Get up and keep moving!”

Sebastian looked at me, pain and fear all over his face, then gritted his teeth and kept going.

“Nice job, keep it up,” the system cheered.