Show your love to great dhyeruih
Shown love: 1/2
Love is not enough
The text hadn’t changed.
The count was still one.
Caren clenched his fist.
Why wasn’t it working?
Why?
Why?
He exhaled sharply and slammed his fist against the slab.
A loud sound echoed through the room as his fist struck the stone.
Caren’s face twisted in pain.
He pulled his hand back, cursed under his breath, and cradled it with his other hand.
“Come on, please work.
I don’t want to be here.
I don’t want to die anymore—I want to go home.
I’ll never think about killing myself again.
I won’t run away from society anymore.
So please, work.”
He whispered the words, his voice trembling.
Just this once, Caren didn’t want to pretend to be strong.
Tears streamed down his face.
He knelt, no longer having the strength to stand.
His forearms rested on the floor, his head bowed.
“I’m sorry.
I should have spent more time with you.
I shouldn’t have been like that.
I was fooling myself.
It was because of you…
because of all of you.
I told myself I just wanted to help you.
But I was lying.”
Caren stared at the floor.
It was empty and featureless, nothing but darkness.
He slammed his forehead against the ground.
Again.
And again.
It hurt, but Caren wanted it to hurt.
He had to punish himself.
“I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.
Please, just stop this.
I’m sorry, okay?
Please let me go home.
I’m sorry.”
Caren clawed at the hard ground, leaving a trail of blood behind.
“I don’t want to die anymore.
I don’t want to die anymore.
So please let me go.
Let me go.
Let me go.”
He sniffed and remained still for a few seconds.
Then his eyes widened.
A cracking sound echoed through the room.
Caren rose and turned toward the stone slab.
New texts had appeared.
His throat went dry as he read them in a whisper.
Darkness wake up
“Prince?
What the hell is that?”
Was Darkness about to wake up?
What did it mean?
Caren glanced around.
There was nothing behind the darkness.
Because that wasn’t darkness.
It wasn’t an invisible barrier, either.
Suddenly, the room grew freezing cold.
A faint noise reached his ears.
It wasn’t loud, but there was something strange about it.
It resembled the sound of a powerful wind, yet it was different—heavier, overwhelming, almost meaningless.
There was nothing in the room.
Or at least, nothing Caren could see.
Then a voice spoke.
“Don’t forget, I’m waiting for my chosen one.
No one, don’t lose your determination.”
Caren broke into a run.
Why?
He didn’t know.
He only knew that he had to.
He had to get out of the structure.
Dead Guide followed close behind, but then…
It was gone.
Darkness surrounded him.
Caren struggled to breathe as he pushed himself to run faster.
He didn’t understand why he was running, only that every instinct in his body was screaming at him to keep going.
He knew he had Death Cheater.
But something inside him told him that even Death Cheater wouldn’t be enough against this darkness.
Why did it feel like…
He couldn’t leave.
Caren stopped and stared.
In front of him was nothing but pure darkness.
No light.
No sign of life.
The darkness slowly moved toward him, surrounding him from every direction.
Every cell in Caren’s body screamed at him to run, but he couldn’t.
He was afraid that he would run straight into whatever was hiding within it.
Caren shut his eyes, as if refusing to look at the thing could somehow keep it from hurting him.
The darkness touched him.
Then it wrapped itself around him in a tight embrace.
Caren’s eyes widened, but his body slowly relaxed.
What was happening?
He had no idea.
He just wanted to rest.
Even if it was only for a short while.
His eyelids grew heavy, and he surrendered to the embrace.
It was soft.
Gentle.
Almost comforting.
And…
real?
Caren blinked rapidly.
“Oh my God!”
He turned toward the voice.
A girl stood there with white hair, blue eyes, and a smile on her soft face.
Ren.
His attention shifted from her to his own thoughts.
Had he died?
But how?
His memories were fading, yet he felt strangely calm.
“Darkness…
what is that?”
Caren glanced at Ren, then at the structure.
He couldn’t kill her.
Not yet.
He needed her for the stone slab.
His thoughts had become a little sharper.
Strangely, he no longer felt guilty about what he would eventually have to do.
He was more important.
“Finally, finally I can leave this place.
I can go home and live with my family.
No need to worry about anything else…
Caren, let’s go.”
Caren nodded.
“Yeah.
Let’s go.”
He summoned the texts.
Had he lost an attempt?
Caren read through them.
Spoils: Dead Guide
He still had the Dead Guide?
But how?
Ren was alive and standing right in front of him.
Caren shook his head.
He could think about that later.
There was something more important he had to check.
Temporary Power: Death Cheater
Remaining Attempts: Last Chance
“Last chance…”
Caren whispered the words and let out a sigh.
He wasn’t terrified.
Not this time.
He was certain he could survive.
He had to.
Caren followed Ren into the structure.
Once they were inside, he summoned the Dead Guide and sent it a mental command to hide.
He didn’t know how he could do it, or why he knew it would work.
Maybe it was because of the Darkness.
He had no idea.
The place was still dark, just like last time.
Back then, Caren hadn’t known what the Darkness was.
Now, he still didn’t.
If anything, he had even more questions.
But right now…
Caren stood before the stone slab.
Ren joined him.
They both stared at it.
Maybe Ren was reading the texts.
She had never been here before, so she didn’t know what to do.
But Caren did.
He placed his palms against the cold stone.
His green eyes held a quiet patience.
Ren glanced at his hands.
“Are you sure this won’t end badly and cause trouble?”
Caren didn’t answer.
He simply kept his gaze on the slab.
Ren frowned slightly, but she placed her palms against the stone as well.