I looked at the blood. It was a lot. A shocking, poetic amount. It seeped through the fabric, tracing a line down my abs. I remembered the thirty-four others. Tripped on wires. Elbowed in the ribs. One poor soul felled by a falling foam axe. All minor. All embarrassing. All bleeding .
“Just a quick adjustment,” I whispered, fiddling with the clasp. The crowd for the main stage was surging. A Gundam knocked into a Pikachu, who stumbled into me. JK Navel Stab Bleed 35
As he pressed gauze to my wound, the star-compass still gleaming with my blood, I realized the truth. The safety pin was just a distraction. The real villain was chaos. But me? I was the statistic that broke the streak. I was the punchline that became a legend. I looked at the blood
Outside, a kid pointed at the ambulance. “Mom, is that cosplayer okay?” It seeped through the fabric, tracing a line down my abs
I was different. I was Bleed 35.
Steve’s eyes widened. He looked at his clipboard, where a ticker read: Minor Incidents: 34 . He drew a shaky line. “You’re the one,” he whispered.
I didn’t call for help. I didn’t panic. I turned, walked through the service corridor, and found the paramedic, a bored-looking man named Steve. “Navel stab,” I said, lifting my shirt. “Bleed 35.”