Transmigrated as the Cuck.... WTF!!!

"Haaah…" she exhaled slowly, as if the very act of speaking to me had been some exhausting ordeal. Then, with a lazy flick of her wrist, her voice lowered to something almost playful, though the malice beneath was unmistakable.

"No worries. I was only curious because you were a little nuisance in the paradise I've made for myself. But… if I can't understand you," her tone sharpened into steel, "I might as well erase you."

Every nerve in my body screamed. My instincts jolted awake before my mind could even process the words. In the same breath, her hand shot forward, fingers like spears, aimed directly for my face.

Swish!

I slipped to the side, water swirling in jagged ripples from the force of her strike. The movement was clean, almost effortless on my part, but it wasn't confidence that moved me—it was instinct.

And in that fleeting instant, I saw her clearly.

Sharp, sculpted features. Eyes the color of fresh-spilled blood, burning with something between curiosity and irritation. Hair that shimmered like strands of sapphire, catching every fractured glint of light in the water. She was beautiful, yes—but in the same way a blade was beautiful.

And right now, that blade was aimed solely at me.

Her brows pinched together. "How in the red sea did you dodge that?"

I allowed myself a thin smirk, ignoring the stinging ache in my chest. "It's like you said—I'm a seasoned fighte—"

I didn't even get to finish the sentence.

The water itself seemed to shudder, then press in on me from all directions. It was as if invisible chains had suddenly wrapped around every inch of my body, holding me in place with crushing weight.

My muscles locked, my ribs creaked, and the air was ripped from my lungs.

Then she moved.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Blows landed faster than I could even register, torso, ribs, face, legs, arms, stomach, each one detonating against me like a depth charge.

I didn't even see her limbs move; they were just there one moment, gone the next, and pain bloomed in their wake. My vision blurred.

My body screamed. Blood drifted into the water in lazy crimson clouds, some of it streaking across her face.

She didn't blink.

My consciousness began to fray at the edges. My eyelids grew heavier. The world narrowed into darkness.

And then the crushing pressure vanished. My body sagged, weightless. She turned away from me as though I had ceased to be worth even the effort of finishing off.

I let myself fall limp for a heartbeat. Then—swoosh!—I surged forward, making a break for the exit.

Except… there wasn't one.

Where the doorway had been, only an unbroken expanse of wall remained, stretching in both directions.

"Shit…" I turned back—too late.

She was already there.

Her hand closed around my throat with inhuman speed. Her fingers were deceptively slender, yet they might as well have been forged from iron.

They tightened—slowly, deliberately—until my windpipe felt like it was seconds from collapsing.

"Now, now," she murmured, voice rich with mockery. "Look at you. You've got more endurance than I thought… I'm impressed. It's such a pity you're an eyesore. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to kill you."

Even through the growing burn in my lungs, I managed a crooked, strained smile. "Weren't you… just talking about childish mannerisms? And now what—who's acting like the child here? Just because something's a nuisance in your eyes, you want to kill them? That's not strength, that's a toddler throwing a tantrum."

Thud!

She slammed me onto a table with enough force to shatter it in half. Jagged splinters pierced my stomach, and I felt the warm trickle of blood mixing with the water around us.

"Ahhh…" Pain flared in every nerve, but I forced my gaze to stay locked on hers.

She chuckled low in her throat. "Such a pity I really am a child… Haven't you heard? When people grow old, they return to their childhood. And me? I'm 3.6728 million years old." Her grin widened. "I was here before most species even learned to crawl."

My eyes narrowed, a dry, humorless chuckle slipping from my lips. "Now that's something… So you're just an old hag with temper issues?"

Her eye twitched. Her head tilted. And then she started glaring—really glaring—the kind of look that promised this was going to get much, much worse for me.

But!

I doubled down, refusing to give her even a sliver of satisfaction. "What? Your grand-grand-grand-grandchildren's grand-grand-grandchildren's… grand-grand-grand… children aren't listening to you anymore?" I asked, each repetition dripping with mockery.

Her lips twitched, but she held her smile, the kind of smile that promised creative pain. "Nice… very nice. Just so you know—" she leaned in, her voice sweet and venom-laced, "—now, you won't have a painless death."

Splech!

With a sharp tug, I yanked the splinter lodged in my side free. Blood welled instantly, warm and slick against my palm. I pushed myself upright, ignoring the sting.

"To be fair," I said through a faint grin, "you're just proving my point. You're an old hag with temper tantrums. You found something new, something you can't control and now you're desperate to destroy it."

Argh!

The air rushed from my lungs as my back slammed into the wall. Her fingers coiled around my neck like steel serpents, nails digging deep enough to draw thin trails of blood.

Her face hovered just inches from mine, every line of it carved with fury, and her eyes those molten red irises blazed hotter than a forge.

I didn't look away. I didn't blink. "What? Hit a sore spot?"

My voice rasped from the pressure on my throat, but the words came out steady. "Your perfect paradise has a wild card now… and instead of using it to cure your boredom, you're trying to crush it. To destroy the one thing that might actually entertain you."

Her grip tightened, each breath becoming a struggle.

"Think about it…" I wheezed, every syllable a battle. "Aren't you bored because of your perfect, hollow utopia? Where everything bends to your will? Where nothing can surprise you? You've become numb to your own existence. I—"

I coughed, blood flecking my lips "—I am something different. Something unplanned. Look at this situation from another angle… you could kill me now and go back to your dull eternity… or you could keep me. See where the chaos goes."

Something flickered in her eyes—just for an instant.

Then her voice cut the air. "Why?" Her tone was low, almost questioning. "Why are you resisting me so much…?"

The heat in her eyes snapped back, her grip like a vice. "How are you resisting me so much?!"