IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE for him to even have powers, much less escape a predicament that seemed utterly dangerous. It was his first time being in such heightened dread in all his feeble life, and so this affected him in ways that were cruel and tormenting. Hunter's knees turned to jelly, threatening to buckle into the earth.
[Crap! Just run!]
He . . . needed to escape.
One foot back, then another, and another, like a drunken man.
He almost lost his footing, and it was terrible.
With his jaws clenched, his chest almost burst from his pounding heartbeat.
[Hurry! I know it's difficult for you, but save our soul!]
The figure in front of Hunter seemed taller than the trees.
[It's not your sister! If you don't hurry . . . it will all return to the start.]
Hunter rasped for breath and, with all his might, attempted to dash toward the forest behind him as he turned.
You said I can drift. What exactly is it?
[It's your special ability, Hunter. Like . . . me.]
Hunter was engulfed by the towering trees, and yet he could still sense that he was being followed.
Especially the malicious giggles echoing everywhere!
You mean, out of us two, you are one of my special abilities.
[Yes, as I'm part of your mind, but not entirely you.]
And the drift?
[It's you forming another body and consciousness. Had you not had this ability, you would already be dead by now.]
How did I even get one?
His own subconscious became silent as he asked that question.
While it was an absolute mystery that a twenty-four-year-old had awakened, more questions rushed into his mind.
Hunter reached the slope and ran with uneven steps.
Crunch, crunch! The dry branches betrayed every step.
[Even I don't have any idea.]
Then how many times is it already, the loop? At least he had to be mindful of that part.
[I lost count already.]
It only signified he might have failed a hundred times.
In this loop, a failure like him was nothing more than prey.
But . . . should he be a failure forever?
If his sister truly was in danger, he could never afford another second.
How do I use the drift?
[It always activates whenever you get devoured by the dream beast. Which means you need to be harmed at least, and try not to die unless you form another body, lest you suffer and drift back to the start.]
Hunter's lips twitched.
Does that mean that my drift is connected to time?
[No, but because there is no constraint such as time in this place. Everything here is an illusion, and you are trapped in it, as your memories will jumble until all that's left is you and your abilities over and over again.]
Then I'll only be unending food for the dream beast . . . ?
[Only if we succeed can we break the loop and escape this nightmare illusion, Hunter.]
But how do we break the loop?
[I've been here observing from time to time. The beast is growing weak with each failed attempt to devour you, and it won't stop until it swallows you whole. Which means . . .]
Means what?
[It's going to reach its limit. If that happens, we can create an opening and try to kill it.]
But what if we're the ones who get exhausted first?
[Then all hell will break loose.]
Hunter went mum.
[Do what you need to do, and that is the only way we can save our sister.]
No way he would let his sister die!
From a slope, he hurtled down and down and down.
Then . . .
Reaching the foot of the slope, the trees became denser, and he could feel shadows behind him, as if obscuring his past traces.
He almost cursed but bottled it up.
He kept dashing forward.
Kept pushing on.
Again and again.
His body grew heavier with each step.
Unfortunately, even the land itself was about to become his enemy, as he ended up on a precipice, and falling from that point to the scree below several miles down would only mean death.
When he turned around, the shadows were devouring the space between, closing in until nothing would remain.
If they closed in until the beast reached him and gobbled him utterly, then that would be the end of this attempt.
Think! Sweat trickled down his forehead, as he could hear his mind being hammered.
He sought a lead, something that could lend him time, until he saw a stone beside his feet.
Harm myself? he thought.
Hunter picked up the stone and pounded his own skull, but it was not enough to activate the drift.
Crack! Losing focus with a dreary vision, he almost fell to his knees due to the numbing pain and weakened footing, until he felt his soul leave the body as cold enveloped him. Yet as if born like the wind, even when he was unfamiliar with the sensation, he leapt from the precipice and flew below the scree, and just as he was about to form another body, it already formed halfway, forcing him to jump and nearly collapse again!
Hunter heard the shadows roar.
"Brother . . . I see you~"
The beast was still mimicking his sister's voice, echoing through the forest.
But it only made Hunter's heart clench and ache.
"You cannot escape from me~"
It was not as sweet as his sister once sounded, but like a maniac that only wanted death upon him.
At this time, he turned left, his balance unsteady, struggling to steady himself on the uneven ground littered with jagged, shifting stones.
[You cannot go further.]
But it was too late.
Hunter was pushed back the moment he touched the invisible barrier.
You didn't say it earlier.
It seemed that in this dream, there was a boundary.
[I . . . I'm losing . . . awareness.]
Then that would mean Hunter himself was at his wit's end.
At his breaking point.
[We can only yearn for a miracle.]
It seems we have stalled this much, but is it even enough?
Both sides of the same coin could not seem to find the solution.
Would Hunter even be brought back to the start through his drift?
Or was this his inevitable demise?
The shadows were slowly reaching toward him with mischievous giggles.
"You cannot go away from me, Hunter~" the beast reminded him with vile madness and insatiable hunger.
The shadows became figures of dark hands, with many eyes wandering in the void, and everything was without end.
He was about to close his eyes until . . .
POOF! A frame appeared in front of him accompanied by a blinding light formed from white phantom leaves swirling around it.
It shaped into a slender body with a black hair bun, her back facing Hunter, wearing a strange black suit that was modern and advanced unlike his white tunic.
The woman whispered something while her finger was raised to her lips.
Suddenly, the phantom leaves attacked the shadows, until they growled in pain and extinguished.
As easy as that.
A deafening silence followed.
"Who . . . are you?" Hunter asked with a shocked expression.
The woman turned around and swiftly flicked Hunter's forehead.
He could not even react!
Then she whispered once more, "Begone, return, and wake."
Everything turned hazy as he heard his heartbeat grow wilder and wilder.
"He's waking up now."
"Did you kill the beast?"
"Easypeasy. It's only a Tier I."
"Then that means the boy lives."
Hunter blinked sluggishly, and as he slowly regained his sight, three pairs of eyes stared back at him in the dread of the moonlit night. He now felt himself kneeling on the ground, and what lay on his lap was the head of someone familiar. About to look closely, his heart sank the moment he realized whose head it was.
Skin fair, with dark eyes that were lifeless and without any sign of warmth.
Hunter caressed his sister's face.
Tears started to fall down his cheeks.
Then he wailed with the wind silencing his pained voice.
I was too late. Regret crept over him. I . . . I —
Someone dragged him from his sister's corpse.
"Phoebe . . ." Hunter wanted to hug his sister, but the grip of whoever held him was too tight as he was pulled away.
"We need to go before they come and take you," a masculine voice advised, but Hunter could not listen.
"Phoebe!" he wailed, as his heart sank deeper and deeper.
I'm sorry! he could only say in his mind.
"You know, ever since father died that day . . . I've hated you, right?"
I'm sorry for ruining your life. For your father, for you—
Hunter realized something.
Mother! He pushed the one holding him and tried to run down the crooked road to the bottom of the slope.
When he reached it, he saw a house burning.
It was their house.
"No!" Hunter wailed at the sight.
He did not know what was happening nor why on earth the situation had turned out like this.
He was dragged once more.
"Let go of me!" Hunter screamed as he tried to get near the burning house. "My mother, she might be alive . . . she—"
"She's dead." It was a feminine voice this time, but for all he cared what they looked like.
He was a failure, and he was always a failure.
"Now here lies the truth."
The woman continued.
"Should we leave you here wailing until you get dragged to the capital and punished? Or . . ."
The only noise was the burning house.
". . . do you wish to live and start a new life?"