In an oddly pale room, Zaen sat idly in a chair. The sound of the gate opening made him smile as a person took a seat in front of him.
"Good morning, Zaen," the man said in a cheery tone.
"Morning, Dr. Ramsay," Zaen replied.
The doctor nodded and took out a stack of medical records, only to jump up when a chain rattled. The stack fell to the floor, while the doctor looked almost scared for his life.
"Sorry," Zaen replied. "My nose was itchy."
"U-Understandable," Ramsay said, eyeing the attendees next to him.
The three people dressed in suits signaled the doctor to continue, which he did, albeit hesitatingly.
"Ehm, since I was assigned to your case recently, I was hoping to get to know you and your story from the beginning."
"What do you want to know?"
"Let's… start with your eyes. What happened to them, if you don't mind my asking?"
The air in the room went still. The smile on Zaen's face dropped as he turned sideways, as if trying to see something.
The only thing was… other than white walls, the chains binding him and the four individuals, there was nothing for Zaen to see. Not like he could see without his eyes.
"A monster took it," he replied, almost like a whisper.
"…monster?"
Zaen nodded before breaking into laughter. The chains binding him to the chair clicked against the metal, startling the doctor again.
"How gullible can you be?" he asked in the middle of laughs. "Actually, I don't remember. From what I was told, I was having a party with my friends then… we were attacked by a group of criminals."
Zaen's head hung low as he clenched his fists. "They killed Harris… my friend, took another friend's arm and… my eyes. What happened after that... I don't know."
"Do you feel angry?" Ramsay inquired.
Zaen nodded.
"At what? Because the criminals never got caught?"
Zaen nodded again.
"That seems reasonable," Ramsay replied, bravely reaching out to Zaen. "I know it must be difficult losing so much and then getting locked up... here."
Suddenly, Zaen chuckled, and Ramsay immediately withdrew his hand, afraid that he might bite it. After all, Zaen had done that to the doctor before.
"Well, what difference does it make?" Zaen asked, pointing at his bandaged eyes. "I'm blind. My girlfriend dumped me for it. I was locked up here because of my hallucinations. There's not a lot I can do even if I were free."
"These hallucinations you speak of, are they the same ones you informed other doctors about?" Ramsay asked again, fiddling with the papers until he found what he was looking for. "A monster who killed your friend, severed other's arm and blinded you?"
Zaen nodded once again.
"Can you tell me more about this creature?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because... I never saw that creature. How can you describe a delusion to someone?"
The doctor nodded. At the same time, the individuals in suits left the room. Not wanting to stay around Zaen alone, the doctor wrapped up the re-examination, told him he would be free soon, and left in a hurry.
Only when the doors shut, did Zaen go back to the bed.
Twenty-one days.
That's how long he had been trapped inside the room.
He didn't know how he got there or what had happened to the game. All he remembered was a bright flash before everything turned dark.
Once he came to, his entire body was in pain, and he... had gone blind. He told everyone what had happened to him, even begged them to believe him, but no one did.
Even Shyra, Rouland, and Hina refuted his claims about such a game. The story about criminals targeting them for Zaen's fortune came from them.
He stubbornly refused to forget the truth, only to end up in a psychiatric hospital. They said it was all a hallucination, a trauma response from his brain.
They said it was normal for one's brain to make up strange tales to justify such inhumane actions. In their words, Zaen had turned those criminals into anomalies to protect his view of humans.
Every week, a new doctor would appear, asking him the same questions over and over. In time, he realized he wouldn't be allowed to leave the place until he submitted and forgot the truth.
So... he did it.
He admitted there were no monsters in a lie detector test.
The interview or re-examination was conducted afterwards to ensure the test was correct, and from Ramsay's parting words, it seemed they believed him.
Even I would have believed it, if not for this...
Even without his eyes, he could see a few things. Namely, the fortune wheel and his status page. Their presence confirmed that he did not hallucinate. The games, the anomaly, everything was real.
Level... 8.
He had indeed killed the Endless. The increase in levels and the six spin points he had were proof of it. The two previously locked screens had opened up.
One was the [Shop] and the other was named [Rewards].
Although he could see their names and what was listed under them, he couldn't use them. It was the same with the Fortune Wheel. For some reason, he couldn't interact with them. Not even his status page.
What he could interact with was a new screen.
It was called [Tasks].
Like the name suggested, it had a bunch of tasks listed, completing which would give him spin points, or the strange currency he could use within the shop.
Not like any of it mattered since he had a hunch this place was made to stop the anomalies from interfering. If true, it would make sense since the fortune wheel and the weird screens were all anomalous in nature.
I can only wait until I get out to use them.
But why would someone who had gone through so much still want anything to do with the strange game?
Well, there were two reasons.
First, he didn't want Aeron or Uncle Mack to suffer as the game said it would target the player's family if the players quit the game.
Second, he saw a reward at the [Shop]. It was an eye symbol. Those were... his eyes.
The sadistic game had taken his eyes, only to set them as an item, and the only way to get them was to earn the currency, which he could get from participating in the games or completing the [Task].
For both, he had to get out of there.
Just as he was thinking about it, the doors opened and he smelled a familiar fragrance wafting inside.
"Zaen!" Aeron exclaimed, jumping into his arms. "We're here to take you back!"