Run.
Breathe.
Bleed.
Repeat.
I don't remember how long it's been.
My legs are fire. My lungs feel like they're filling with nails. Branches claw at my face. Thorns slice my arms. My own heartbeat thunders so loud I can't even hear the crashing behind me anymore—
But I know it's still there.
Deviljho.
> That thing just tore a person in half like she was a snack.
It's not supposed to exist.
It's not supposed to be real.
I was just in my room.
I was just playing the game.
> I don't want to die!
I don't want to die!
I don't want to die!
I don't want to die!
I burst through a thicket and—
There's no ground.
Too late to stop.
My foot steps into air. The world tilts. And for one perfect, breathless second—I feel like I'm floating.
Then the fall takes me.
---
Crack.
Stone punches into my ribs.
I bounce.
Tumble.
I feel my shoulder tear.
My forehead smashes against something jagged. Something wet runs down my face—my blood. My vision goes red, then black, then red again.
My back hits the ground.
I don't move.
Can't move.
I just lie there, twisted, half-buried in dirt and shattered bone. Above me, the night sky begins to bleed into view between the trees—blue and full of stars I don't recognize.
And in the distance…
Silence.
No roaring.
No stomping.
No breathing furnace of death chasing me anymore.
I must've fallen too far for it to follow.
I survived.
Barely.
---
> I don't want to die.
I don't want to die.
I…
Darkness pulls me under like water.
---
…Time Passes
How long?
Minutes?
Hours?
A day?
I don't know.
But something wakes me.
A sound. Not human. Not monster. A mechanical pulse, distant and low, like an ancient heartbeat deep underground.
I blink.
Stars overhead. A full moon that isn't Earth's. The trees around me are foreign, black-leaved and knotted like sinew. The air is colder now. Damp. And I can feel every inch of pain in my body like my nerves are screaming.
My body's broken. Bruised. But… not dead.
My legs twitch. I roll onto my stomach with a grunt and crawl to a boulder. Use it to pull myself upright.
Then I see it.
Half-covered by roots and dirt—a wall, glowing faintly. Ancient. Geometric carvings pulse a faint blue, barely visible unless you're looking directly at them. They stretch across the cliffside.
I wasn't just lucky.
I landed somewhere important.
Somewhere forgotten.
Somewhere old.
And below the markings… a door, barely cracked open. Just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
> I don't want to die… but going back isn't an option anymore.
I limp forward, toward it.
Toward whatever lies beyond.
Because in this world, it seems, death is patient.
And it's still watching.