Chapter 1

"What’s one plus one?"

On the highway, my brother Sam suddenly asked.

I hesitated. "It's..."

Before I could finish, my mother flew into a rage and slapped me hard across the face.

"I have a master's degree. Your father has a PhD."

"Your brother is a math prodigy who gets perfect scores every time, and you have to hesitate over one plus one? You’re nothing but a useless waste!"

My cheek burned. Terror flooded my chest.

I shook my head, crying: "Mom, please don't hate me. I'm not useless. Sam said-"

But she wouldn't listen.

She pushed me out of the car

"A piece of trash that inherited nothing but inferior genes doesn’t deserve to sit in the same car as us. Walk home yourself!"

I ran after them desperately, but my parents drove off with Sam anyway.

A massive truck came speeding from behind. Suddenly, my body felt light.

I caught up to their car.

"Mom, Dad, I'm not useless! My teacher called me a young artist and said everyone has their own strengths!"

……

"A child's stride is is roughly between 0.3 and 0.5 meters."

"I did the math for you. From here to the highway rest stop, you only need to walk 3,000 steps."

"This is your punishment, but it's also meant to activate your potential. Since you're not naturally clever, it'll help you fit into our family."

Once Mom finished, she turned and got into the car without a second glance.

I ran after her.

"Mom, don't leave me behind."

The car window slowly rolled down. Mom just tossed a small camera out from inside the car.

"This is the latest cloud camera. It'll record you, so don't try to slack off and skip counting."

"Be careful on the road. You can only walk in the emergency lane."

Mom left those final instructions, and the window immediately rolled back up.

I watched helplessly as the car drove away.

The taillights grew dimmer and dimmer until they completely disappeared into the darkness.

"Mom, it's so cold."

The weather lady on the forecast said today's temperature was 10 degrees below zero.

But Mom forgot to give me my coat.

I held up the little camera dejectedly and spoke to the lens.

"Mom, I'm not useless."

"I'm the best at drawing in my whole class. My teacher said that's called having different strengths."

But the camera lens couldn't talk back.

I sniffled and held back my tears, then started counting seriously.

"1, 2, 3..."

But it was so cold. Even the warm breath I exhaled seemed to turn to ice.

I counted slower and slower, and my steps got smaller and smaller.

When I reached 1,000, my legs felt as heavy as two big stones.

I tripped over something and fell to my knees. The pain shot through me instantly.

My whole body hurt. I apologized to the camera lens through my tears.

"Mom, I'm sorry. It really hurts too much. I'll just rest for ten counts."

Our family often played counting games. Success brought rewards, failure brought punishment.

Sam always got the rewards.

I always failed, and Mom would punish me for ten counts.

Ten slaps on the hands, ten spanks on the bottom.

I used to think ten counts was so slow, but now it felt so fast.

When the ten counts ended, I struggled to get up from the ground.

I moved my legs bit by bit. The blood from my knees soaked through my pants, and every step hurt so much.

I gritted my teeth. Just 1,970 more steps and I could get back to our hometown.

My grandparents were waiting for us at the reunion dinner.

But my body grew colder and colder. White spots seemed to drift before my eyes. I cried toward the camera.

"Mom, I don't think I can keep going."

She didn't answer.

Then a blinding light flooded in from behind me. I had wandered into the middle of the road without even realizing it.

When I woke up, I suddenly realized my body had turned weightless.