Endless forest

Elizabeth wakes up in an unknown place. Her whole body is aching and trembling, while her mouth is dry. She slowly gets up and checks her surroundings, and all she can see is an endless forest. As she looks around, she notices there is not a single animal in sight. However, when she looks up, she sees something unusual and impossible in her world. The sky has three moons and two red stars.

"Is anybody here?!? HELLO! Anyone?" She screams for help, but no one answers.

She begins feeling immense fear as she stares at one of the moons. It is dark purple, just like the eyes of a girl named Veronica who, together with her friends, did not mind using even magic for their evil pranks. There were so many cases where they went overboard that Elizabeth couldn't even count. Most memorable and most painful was when Veronica set Elizabeth's body on fire.

"If this is a prank, it's not funny, guys! Please, stop it!" At the moment, the only logical explanation is that someone put her inside an illusion. It could not be one of her classmates. None of them have enough magic power to create, not to mention such a solid and realistic illusion active. The spell is way too powerful for a beginner. But obviously, they could have paid someone capable of such strong curse magic.

"Please…"

But again, there is no one to listen to her helpless plea in the first place. However, this is all she can do at the moment. She knows nothing about the spell that put her inside this place. Maybe, there are some hidden dangers. Curse magic is known to be one of the evilest magic.

"I beg of you… At least answer me…." Elizabeth whimpers. At this point, fear of the worst-case scenario - curse magic, might be a reality.

There are few people with an affinity for curse magic, but their services are not expensive—illegal ones. Drug addicts or even alcoholics with the capability of curses would do this just for quick money. Their curse magic services are unlawful, cheap, and, worst of all, lack competence. The level of this spell is too high to be a spell of a random addict. It must be a high-ranked mage with a high affinity for cursed periods. Someone spent quite a lot of money to get rid of her. But who could have done it?

"M-mom… Dad…"

 She is just a girl with no mana, a nuisance, and an eyesore to teachers, classmates, and everyone else. Teachers feel it is a waste of time teaching a person with no mana capacity, not to mention affinity for any magic element. While classmates bullied her for three reasons, firstly, some girls hated her because they were envious of Elizabeth's good looks. Secondly, some boys despised her after she rejected them. And third, some just joined because it seemed fun. The only ones who wanted to get rid of her were the ones she was a burden on, her parents.

"I am sorry… I am so sorry…."

She kneels and buries her face in her palms while crying. The thought that her parents could do something as cruel as getting her cursed is overwhelming. Even though they hated her, they still took responsibility and continued raising her. At first, the parents were in disbelief, but they grew colder and colder. In the last few days, they ignored her existence.

"I am so useless…" - she says helplessly. However, she begins to wipe the tears away.

 All the pent-up emotions flood out like a waterfall. Elizabeth was blaming herself for being born without a single drop of mana. However, she begins to think everything through. 'Why? Am I really to blame?' She never asked to be born like this, and if she had a choice, she would trade her good looks for a bit of mana capacity. So she could at least use some elemental spells. Sadly, this thought disappeared as fast as it came. Continuous reminders that she was a useless failure and would never be of any worth to society made her believe that it was her fault. But her will to survive and get out of this forest defeated depressed thoughts.

"Nothing good will come out with me staying in one place…."

She stands up and begins walking. She walks straight, aimlessly. If this is a curse, she will walk until she dies due to exhaustion. However, if, by some miracle, this is the real-world…, she will find something if she continues walking.

*Meanwhile, inhuman world*

"Can you tell me, sir, when your daughter began to show suicidal thoughts? Why did you not call for a psychologist? I assume you were warned that you must get Elizabeth into a meeting with a psychologist at least once a week."

A doctor looks at the man with questioning and blaming eyes. It is not the first time he had to deal with people who abandon their relatives if they are born without mana. Elizabeth's parents were no different. They blamed each other for Elizabeth's condition and began neglecting her.

"Of course, I knew that, besides, we were busy last week, so Elizabeth stayed with her grandparents. She couldn't meet her psychologist. Besides, she was perfectly fine yesterday."

A man becomes frustrated and raises his voice at the doctor. But the doctor continues with more questions.

"Can you tell me, sir… What was Elizabeth doing yesterday?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that? She stayed in her room…."

The man nervously gulped but continued staring at the doctor. The doctor, on the other hand, kept looking at his notes and did not even bother to look at 

 "What was she eating? Have you two talked?"

"N-no… I…"

 "What were you doing yesterday?" The doctor finally looks at the man with fierce eyes.

"Are you trying to accuse me of something?" Man raises his voice again. This time he was trembling with rage.

"No, nothing like that. Well… Yes. I am curious, why she had access to a whole bottle of sleeping pills when you knew she had depression and suicidal tendencies! She tried killing herself four times already!" - The doctor loses his composure and shouts at Elizabeth's father.

"Y-you!"

An enraged man tried punching the doctor; however, the doctor just raised his hand, and a transparent barrier appeared in front of him. Even though he does not seem like one, the doctor is an A-ranked magician, and when the man realizes this and begins to regret his actions, the doctor starts smirking and continues provoking the man.

"You know what I think? You're not a dumb person, you knew she will 'accidentally pick up the pills, and ends up taking them all at once. Didn't you?"

"N-no, sir… Listen…"

But the doctor is not listening to the man at all. He looks at Elizabeth's medical records and sighs as he takes his gaze back to the man.

"To be honest, in my eyes, this is no different than someone forcing the pills down her throat yourself. Don't you agree with me?"

"B-but… I… I would never!"

The doctor checks the documents and finds Elizabeth's father's name.

"Mister Arnold Blair."

"S-sir… You see…"

Arnold begins spouting countless excuses as to why the pills were left in an insecure place and why there was no surveillance at that moment. However, the doctor isn't listening. Instead, he goes to his computer and writes something down. 

"I-is that…" - Arnold begins to sweat nervously.

"It's just for future references. If the girl survives, she will be taken from your custody."

"F-fine!"

His daughter will be taken away doesn't seem to bother Arnold at all. Instead, he looks relieved. To him, this isn't even a punishment but a reward. And seeing this, the doctor gets irritated.

"One last question…."

"Y-yes?… Ask ahead…"

The doctor hates people like Arnold, but he sees them almost daily due to his work. They always give out similar excuses for why they abandon their family members. However, about a year ago, his son Leviathan also became comatose. To make matters worse, the perpetrator got no punishment due to Leviathan being a mana less person. The doctor still can remember the smug face of that kid. After that incident, he began hating the society that abandons its people. He hates families that leave their children.  

"How do you feel right now? How does it feel knowing that your daughter might end up dying, because of you and your incompetence as a parent?"

"W-what?… S-sir, I feel like you have something against me! Did I somehow offend you?" - Arnold gritted his teeth as he wanted to punch the doctor, but he knew the doctor was much more powerful than him. 

Instead of answering his question, the doctor asked again. "How do you feel?"

"I… I feel angry! Look at all the trouble she just caused the family!"

"W-what?"

Usually, people at least try to pretend that they are feeling sad or grief. However, Arnold's blunt answer shocked even the doctor. Arnold noticed the doctor's confused reaction and tried explaining what he meant. He misinterprets the doctor's confusion as if the doctor didn't understand what he means, not that doctor can not believe how dumb Arnold is.

"Y-you see, now neighbors are looking at us weirdly and all our friends think it is our fault she did it. Talk about a selfish girl."

"Y-you… What? Ah, never mind. You may go now, Arnold.

After Arnold left the doctor's office, he just sat in front of the computer and stared at the list of victims of a cruel society. List of people who tried or even succeeded with suicide. Most of the people on the list were born without mana. After finding Elizabeth's name, he opened her file. A beautiful girl with long brown hair showed up on his screen.

"Not going to lie, you remind me of my son Elizabeth… You could be twins. Haha," - He laughed to himself. 

He looks at the picture, and tears begin to fall on his cheek.

"Angry… Mister Blair was angry at Elizabeth. No remorse, no sadness… Angry because of a ruined family reputation."

The doctor hates this world. The society of humans abandons and bullies those different from themselves, even though they did nothing wrong nor chose to be that way—a culture where a parent can lead their cripple child to their demise.