I sat there on the ground, my back resting against the cold wall, and my mind slowly processing the shock that hit me like a stone wall. That face… that face wasn't mine. It wasn't even close to me, but it was the face of that boy "Kyle."
"Damn… damn… damn…"
The words came out from between my lips like a desperate wail, as if I were trying to curse this reality in hopes it would collapse around me. I clenched my hands on my knees, pressing tightly in a futile attempt to regain control, but the tears did not stop. They flowed freely down my face, as if mocking my pathetic attempt to hold it together.
"I'm dreaming… of course I'm dreaming… how could something like this happen?"
I was murmuring to myself, trying to extract some lost logic from this madness. A faint smile crept onto my face, a scared, fragile smile that almost faded before it fully formed. I was trying to calm myself, trying to believe that this was just a silly nightmare, and that I would wake up soon, return to my bed, my room, my real life.
But the place remained silent. Nothing changed. Nothing responded.
Doubt began to creep into my heart, its icy touch crawling across my skin… what if this wasn't just a dream?
"Heyyy! Someone answer me! Anyone!"
My voice echoed in the room, bouncing between the cracked walls without receiving any answer. I gasped, searching for my breath amidst the chaos raging in my chest, then screamed in a more desperate voice:
"Speak, you stupid thing! Didn't you speak before? Say anything! Tell me this is just a stupid dream… and that I'll wake up from it!"
But the silence was cruel. The emptiness remained as it was, as if my words didn't even get a chance to leave a trace in this desolate place.
The faint smile I was clinging to like a lifeline faded away, replaced by tears, falling relentlessly, mercilessly. I was trembling, not from the cold, but from the deep fear that had crept into my core like a creeping poison.
There was no answer. There was no sound.
I stood on my feet, my heart pounding violently in my chest, like war drums. But I could hear nothing but the sound of my thoughts, the sound of the chaos that had destroyed everything around me. I took steady steps, like someone walking a path of no return, until I reached the table. It was a decayed table, barely held up by its wooden legs…
There, amidst the chaos, was the knife. Lying there with deadly calm, as if it were waiting for me. The edge of the knife was shiny, gleaming under the dim light seeping through the broken windows. It was sharp enough… sharp enough to do what I wanted.
I reached out slowly, as if I were touching more than just a sharp tool. The thought spinning in my head grew clearer, forming before me like a dark specter I couldn't escape from.
I grasped the knife between my fingers, my hand trembling while my eyes remained fixed on it, drowned in a sea of tears that didn't know their way out. My gaze was dark, full of loss, as if I were searching for a way to escape this nightmare I had become part of.
"Tsk."
The muttering sound came out with difficulty from between my lips, as I tried to convince myself of what I was about to do.
"I have to do it... I have to go back home. To see my mom. She might be really worried about me now."
I couldn't bear this feeling any longer, and I placed the knife on my neck slowly, as if I wanted to test the edge of death—or perhaps just reclaim a sense of safety. I closed my eyes, ready to cross this harsh threshold.
Come on, do it if you want to go back.
With the same motion I had always hesitated in, I cut, and the moment was steeped in terrible silence, then…
In a single moment, blood splattered on the ground horrifically, like red threads that recognized no boundaries. The knife fell, and its harsh sound echoed as it hit the ground, as if announcing the end.
But... you're mistaken, dear reader—what you think is the end is just the beginning… a beginning of madness, of loss, of pain for those who don't know it like our foolish hero…
…..
…..
…..
The... silence enveloped the place, until I woke up again, a sharp gasp tore the stillness of the room. My chest rose and fell wildly, as if I were in a desperate race with oxygen, panting as if I had just emerged from underwater after a long drowning. Sweat was dripping from my forehead, gathering in cold droplets slowly crawling down my cheek, but my hand didn't move to wipe them.
Instead, my fingers rushed to my neck, feeling it urgently, as if to make sure I was still alive, that my pulse hadn't stopped. The sensation was real, tangible.
"Tsk…"
The sound came from between my lips as I gritted my teeth in anger, I felt the bitterness fill my mouth, as if frustration itself had become a flavor stuck to my tongue.
My hand was still clenched, and my fingers were digging into my palm as if I were trying to hold onto something tangible in the midst of this madness.
I muttered in a voice barely audible, but its echo rang in my head like a faint sound repeating endlessly:
"Why… why didn't I return to my home? Why?"
I raised my eyes to the moldy ceiling, to the cracked walls, to everything around me, but nothing was familiar. The place, the air, the smell... even the silence here was different.
At the moment my head sank into a whirlpool of questions, a faint light appeared before me, dancing on the edges of my vision like a mysterious call drawing my attention against my will. I turned slowly, my eyes wide with suspicion, to see a floating screen in the void.
Its color was black, but its edges glowed with cool blue touches, as if it pulsed with a life of its own. It wasn't just a screen, but something more complex… more strange. I looked to the top of the screen, where a line was clearly written:
"Player Statistics"
I froze in place. Player? Who's the player? Does it mean me?
A chill crept down my spine. Something unnatural was happening here, something that defied logic. I swallowed hard, my eyes fixed on the screen, awaiting the next step in this unknown puzzle.
. . . .
. . . .
I waited a bit, and the air around me was charged with a strange feeling, a mix of anticipation and anxiety. Then, slowly, a new window appeared in front of me.
I stared at it with tense nerves, while the words began forming before my eyes.
(Name: Kyle Estorite)
(Species: Human)
(Level: 1)
(Rank: E-)
(Class: Unknown)
(Ability: Unknown)
I frowned as I read the last lines.
"Rank and ability… unknown?"
I mumbled with discomfort: "This is strange…"
Every time I played this game, characters had their abilities defined from the start. So why am I… I specifically… not given anything? Is this an error? Or have I not yet discovered my true self in this world?
I stared intently at the other words that began to appear in sequence, as if sliding onto the screen. They weren't clear instructions… but more like scattered notes, written by a cruel mocking mind.
Note one:
"The higher the player's level, the greater the reward. And the higher the level… the more valuable the reward."
The promise was tempting, but something in the way the sentence was written made me feel the price wouldn't be simple.
Note two:
"The player will be given information… but according to the cost in points. If the price is high, the information will be direct. If it's low… rely on your intelligence. (If you have it… hahaha)."
The laugh at the end wasn't just a joke. The system was mocking me, openly, as if I were a toy in its hands.
Note three:
"In case the player fails to carry out a mission assigned by the system… punishment will occur.
Either by electric shock,
or by sending them to another dimension,
where monsters several classes stronger await him… and so on."
The note's ending didn't complete the punishment details, but it didn't need to. The message was clear.
And at the bottom of it all, a small italic sentence appeared, shining with bitter sarcasm:
"Good luck, stupid player."
I muttered bitterly as I read the words that appeared before me on the screen. Every sentence carried behind it a sharp sarcasm, as if a real person—not just a dumb machine—was the one writing me these messages.
I felt like someone was watching me, sneaking into my depths through those words, enjoying challenging my mind and patience.
"Tsk…" I whispered to myself, trying to suppress the feeling of anger that began to rise in my chest. The words were getting crueler, but I had no other choice—if I wanted to return home, I had to continue…
"What should I do now?"
As soon as I uttered those words, I felt something strange seep into my body, like an invisible wave sweeping over me. My head began to spin, and a sharp buzzing echoed in my ears, as if the whole world was reshaping itself around me.
I gasped, and my voice came out trembling, mixed with pain:
"What is this… it hurts!"
I fell to the ground, and my body began to writhe as if something was trying to tear me apart from the inside. I clutched my head tightly, my nails digging into my scalp, while the pain grew more intense, like claws ripping my mind mercilessly.
Memories… images… sounds…
Everything flooded into my mind all at once, a merciless chaos, scenes overlapping, voices I had never heard before, names I had never spoken, feelings that didn't belong to me… but they were seeping into me as if they were mine.
I gasped hard, as if searching for air in the middle of a whirlpool pulling me downward. Then suddenly…
I fainted and closed my eyes. I was there, lying on the cold ground, my exhausted body no longer resisting. Darkness swallowed me completely, as if I had drifted into the depths of a bottomless sea.
Time passed… passed… then passed again…
I don't know how long I stayed there, drowned in nothingness, floating in suffocating silence. There was no light, no sound, only absolute void.
But amidst this stillness, amidst this darkness… something began to change.
Faint whispers, as if sneaking through the walls of my mind, distorted, overlapping, incomprehensible voices. Then… I felt the presence of something approaching.
Something… was waiting for me.
A girl's voice rang in my ear like a gentle song, strangely soft, almost unreal.
"Kyle! Hey, Kyle! Wake up!"
Slowly, I opened my eyes, the light was dim, foggy, as if I were waking up from a dream I could no longer tell whether it was a dream or a nightmare. In front of me stood a small girl, her features radiant, as if she belonged to a world different from this miserable place. She was small… and beautiful, something gentle amidst all this chaos.
Before I could grasp anything, she came closer, until her face was very close to mine.
"Finally! You woke up, you lazy guy!"
Her voice carried a fake annoyance, as if scolding me, but in her eyes was something different… joy? Or impatience? I couldn't tell.
She didn't give me a chance to reply, suddenly grabbed my hand, and her hand was soft, strangely warm.
"Let's go now!"
I understood nothing. I was still trying to grasp what was happening, where I was, and who this girl was… but she didn't seem willing to wait for my explanation.
She walked ahead of me, leading me to a place that wasn't clear, as if we were walking through thick fog, or as if our steps were crossing between reality and illusion.
Then… the scene changed.
I was no longer there. I was no longer walking behind her. Suddenly, I found myself in a completely different place—in the middle of fire.
My eyes widened, and heat swept over me, like flames devouring everything around me. Tongues of fire rose, dancing wildly, as if trying to consume me. I was trapped, unable to breathe, unable to think.
"Where am I?"
"Are these Kyle's memories?"
My words came out fragmented, weak against the roar of the flames. I couldn't comprehend anything; everything was too fast, too hot, too frightening.
My vision started to blur, the heat making my body—now the body of a small child—collapse, as if I were melting amidst the tongues of fire.
Then…
The door of the room burst open violently, and the silhouette of a tall person appeared. I raised my head with difficulty, trying to see his face, a desperate attempt to understand what was happening.
But I didn't get the chance to see his face.
All I got… was darkness again.