<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <style type="text/css"> body { font-family: monospace; width: 10ch; outline: 1px solid black; } div { -moz-column-width: 0.4px; -moz-column-gap: 3ch; } b { font-weight: inherit; display: inline-block; } #r { border: 1px solid red; } #r:before { content: ""; } </style> <script type="text/javascript"> function boom() { document.getElementById("r").style.counterReset = "c"; } </script> </head> <body onload="boom();"><div>a b c d <span> <b>m</b><span id="r"><b>x</b><span></span></span></span> </div></body> </html>