I am a firefighter.

A beam crashes onto me in the middle of a burning building. At the same time, my oxygen is about to run out.

I writhe and struggle as much as I can to reach for my backup oxygen canister, only to feel my fingers brushing over a bottle of water instead.

When I turn around, I see my wife, Leah Sawyer, giving the last backup oxygen canister to her new mentee, Roderick Wyndham.

I begin calling out to her via a walkie-talkie.

"Leah, I'm being pinned down right now, and my oxygen's running out! Where is the oxygen canister?"

As Leah shields Roderick behind her, she replies impatiently, "I've already given it to Roderick. It's his first time inside a burning building, so he's frightened. Having an extra canister on him gives him a sense of security.

"You're already a veteran firefighter, so you can just think up a way to resolve your situation. Don't go around wasting precious resources."

I can feel thick smoke infiltrating my lungs at that moment. Feelings of asphyxiation soon overwhelm me.

"My leg is broken, so I can't move at all! Without oxygen, I won't be able to hold out till I get rescued!"

But Leah merely chortles in response.

"Stop playing the pity card! Every time we're out on a mission, you're always the cowardly one who's terrified of dying! You have zero sense of dedication at all! I shouldn't have let you join the firefighting squad, to begin with!

"What's the use of you clinging to the equipment? Giving it to the newbies is the best way of maximizing its value!"

I can only smile bitterly in response. Using what's left of my strength, I switch to a public channel and begin reporting to the command center.

"For the record, Captain Leah Sawyer deliberately tampered with the essential rescue equipment in order to protect Roderick Wyndham, causing me, a fellow firefighter, to be trapped in a deadly situation.

"I hereby request the immediate activation of the Firefighter Emergency Evacuation Act. Also, I formally charge Leah with gross negligence and attempted homicide."

The public channel went dead silent in an instant.

Then came the anxious response from the command center. "Cedric Simmons! Report your situation! Hang in there!"

Leah Sawyer's voice immediately cut through the private channel, sharp and furious.

"Cedric! What are you thinking? You're causing trouble over an oxygen bottle? You're disrupting the public channel! Are you trying to get everyone killed? It's just one oxygen bottle, and you're blowing this up to the point of accusing someone of murder?"

Each breath I took felt like I was swallowing burning coal. The pain in my lungs was unbearable.

"This isn't a joke. This is murder."

Behind me, Roderick Wyndham let out a scared sob.

Then I heard the hiss of oxygen being intentionally emptied from the oxygen mask. What a waste.

"Ced, sorry. I got nervous and slipped."

His voice crackled through the walkie-talkie, tinged with a hint of smugness.

"The captain's just looking out for me. It's my first time. What if I die in this fire?"

I gripped the steel rebar so tightly my nails cracked, but I didn't even feel it.

The heat was searing every inch of my skin, and the exposed areas were already blistering.

I stared at the figure in the distance, the one Leah was shielding with her body.

Roderick was holding the oxygen bottle that should've been mine like it was some kind of treasure.

He looked at me through the flickering flames with no remorse in his eyes but only smugness and mockery.

Leah's voice rang out again, this time with a cold, commanding tone.

"Command center, the fire on the third floor of District D is too intense. The structure is unstable, and a second collapse could happen at any moment."

She continued, "For the safety of the other team members, I order the abandonment of the rescue on the third floor of District D! As a senior member of the team, Cedric should be ready to sacrifice for the team!"

She was clearly handing out my death sentence.

The other team members' voices burst into the channel, loud and chaotic.

"The captain's right. It's too dangerous to go in there now."

"Cedric, think of a way to break through and get out by yourself!"

"Yeah, you're usually so tough in training, so what's going on with you now? Don't drag the team down over something small."

Not one of my teammates, the ones I fought alongside and trusted, spoke up for me.

Their words hurt me more than the flames around me. Driven by survival instincts, I reached for the signal gun at my waist, hoping to help someone locate me faster.

But just as I touched it, I felt a foot slam down on my hand.

It was Leah who had returned. She kicked the signal gun away from me.

"You have this and didn't use it sooner? You just wanted to make us look bad, didn't you? What a malicious guy you are."

Was I the malicious one?

Anger and despair consumed me like a wildfire.

When the fire broke out, everyone was afraid of the core area's extreme heat. No one was willing to be the first to rush in and rescue the trapped people.

I was the first one in, braving the threat of explosions, locating the trapped people, and mapping out the safest route.

That was why I burned through my oxygen quicker than the others and got my leg crushed by a falling beam.

But now, my wife and captain didn't care if I survived and took every life-saving resource I had.

I pushed my upper body up with a burst of strength, spitting blood at Roderick.

"You don't deserve to wear that uniform! You're fired!"

Standing behind Leah, Roderick screamed in fear, while Leah kicked me over onto my back.

"Cedric! What the hell are you acting all high and mighty for?"

The other team members who had just evacuated to safety heard the commotion over the walkie-talkie and immediately started speaking.

Without exception, all of them sided with Leah and criticized me.

"Captain Simmons, how could you be so violent toward the rookie? He's scared to death."

"You're shouting so loudly that you don't even look like someone who's lacking oxygen. Why were you stealing oxygen from Roderick?"

What a huge joke. I was simply taking back what was mine, and now I was being accused of stealing stuff?

I was at a loss for words.

The floor beneath me was searing hot, like I was being roasted on a metal grill.

My vision started to blur as the pain in my lungs grew worse.

Roderick, behind Leah, silently mouthed to me, "You should die."

Then, he pretended to say, "How about I give the oxygen bottle back to Ced? I think I'm fine without it. As a firefighter, it's my honor to sacrifice myself for the rescue mission."

Leah immediately turned around, blocking him and shielding him from any danger.

"Don't speak nonsense. I won't let anything happen to you."

Meanwhile, I was completely abandoned in the heart of the fire.

I shouted with every ounce of my strength, each word filled with desperation, "He doesn't care about the lives of his teammates! It's ridiculous for him to say that!"

Leah turned around, glaring at me with pure venom.

"Stop slandering Roderick! I'm his mentor! I know exactly what kind of person he is!"

Mentor?

When Leah broke the rules and let Roderick join our elite team even though his fitness was subpar, she said the same thing.

I foolishly believed it.

But would a normal mentor show such bias to the point of neglecting even the life of her husband?

At that moment, my ears began to ring, and my consciousness was slipping.

My survival instincts caused me to struggle toward the fire axe nearby.

Leah saw through my intentions and swiftly kicked the axe away.

Immediately, the sickening sound of bone breaking filled the air as my fingers were crushed under the heavy back of the axe.

The sharp pain made me let out a stifled grunt.

Other team members' voices came through the walkie-talkie.

"He really sounds convincing. Cedric should go into acting."

Leah's voice was icy.

"If you insist on pretending to be out of oxygen, then stay here and experience what true suffocation feels like! I don't believe an elite member of our team isn't able to handle this better than a rookie."

I couldn't cry for help and could only watch as they turned and walked away.

The intense heat burned every inch of my skin, and the fear of imminent death enveloped me.

Through the walkie-talkie, I could hear their casual chatter as they evacuated.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, a face appeared above me.

It was Roderick.

"You still don't know, huh? The captain's been wanting to divorce you for a while."

Hatred flickered in my blurry eyes.

Roderick was grinning with satisfaction. "But that's not going to work. If you two divorce, you guys have to split all your assets."

"Leah being a widow is the best outcome."

He twisted open the backup oxygen bottle and directed it at the nearby flames.

The compressed pure oxygen caused the flames to erupt, reaching a height taller than an adult.

"So, I'm burning up this oxygen instead of giving it to you!"

I instinctively tried to crawl over and breathe in the small amount of oxygen leaking out, but it was impossible.

Roderick laughed, lowering his body to get closer to me.

"The fire is about to reach the load-bearing wall. Once that happens, this place will collapse completely. No one will be able to save you."

He took out an army knife and slashed my arm harshly.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll hold a moment of silence for you."

Blood immediately poured out from the wound.

In a fit of extreme anger, I mustered all my strength and slammed my head into Roderick's knee.

The taste of blood in my throat was frightening, but it brought me a sense of madness.

"Roderick, you're committing murder!"

My voice was hoarse and filled with anguish.

Hearing the commotion, Leah and the others rushed back and held me down tightly.

Roderick, who was helped up by them, pointed at the knife on the ground in panic.

"I just wanted to help him cut the wire tangled around his leg, but he lunged at me with the knife. He said the blood would bring more trouble and that we'd all die here!"

It was a complete distortion of the truth, and I wanted nothing more than to tear Roderick's mouth apart!

Leah, holding Roderick, kicked me angrily.

"Cedric! Are you even human? Just because I wouldn't let you, a senior member, abuse your privileges, you want to get us all killed? Roderick even tried to help you, but you don't deserve it!"

I forced a few broken words from my throat. "It wasn't…"

Before I could finish, Leah interrupted me with an expression of disgust.

"The one who should die in this fire is someone like you!"

Her vicious words pierced through my heart.

A teammate spat on me.

"We thought you were just jealous because Captain Sawyer favors Roderick. But you're really malicious enough to try to kill all of us. How unlucky we are to meet someone like you!"

They were once my teammates who had fought alongside me. I used to trust them with my life, and now, not a single one of them would show me any trust.

I let out a muffled sob and struggled to move my arm, which was still bleeding heavily, trying to make them see that I was the one injured, not Roderick.

None of them saw it, or maybe they simply chose not to.

They were all comforting Roderick.

"Don't be afraid, we're here for you."

"When this mission ends, we'll go and report him."

"We can't just report him. He should be sent to a military tribunal!"

Leah scoffed. "Let's see if he even makes it out of here alive."

Their words, sharp and cutting, left my heart in pieces.

The prefabricated ceiling above me began to crack, and dust started to fall.

I knew the building would collapse soon.

But I kept bleeding, and my consciousness grew fainter and fainter.

Roderick's gaze was full of malice, while Leah's was icy.

"Cedric, don't blame me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not knowing when to back off."

I completely gave up as I lay helpless on the searing ground, waiting for death. The final breath in my lungs was squeezed out, and the suffocating pain caused my body to convulse.

Just as I was about to lose consciousness, a loud, wind-like sound ripped through the air.

With a bang, the wall beside me was shattered by a tremendous force from the outside.

Several fully armored figures rushed in. Their fire suits were different from ours and were more advanced and heavier.

The leader acted quickly, locking onto my position immediately.

"Target spotted! His vital signs are weak. Commence immediate rescue!"