In a land of red corals, a young Awakened man with dirty gray hair ran tirelessly being chased by a giant ten-meter red crab.
It had about a thousand needle-thin legs, but with an immense shell the same color as the corals.
It had a huge mouth surrounded by dozens of pincers, and hundreds more mouths with dozens of rows of teeth all over its body.
Deep in its throat, a white sphere glowed.
As soon as he arrived at the Dream Realm, he felt a horrible Foreboding.
He fell into the nest of a Nightmare Creature and, if it weren’t for his supersenses, he wouldn’t even have noticed when that thing devoured him, which made it much worse.
Fortunately, the beast was not fast and its size worked against it as it chased him among the red corals, eventually leaving it behind.
Feeling nothing around him, he allowed himself a breather.
His breathing became too labored, panting heavily.
He looked at his hand; It had a part of the nightmare creature’s paw.
In a moment of danger and without weapons, he grabbed the first thing he found lying in the nest.
He held on and didn’t let go.
‘Do crabs shed their legs?’
The crab’s leg was red and had a sharp tip; It was one meter long and didn’t weigh much.
The weapon problem was solved for now, having another more uncomfortable one.
His own nakedness.
Honestly, he didn’t care.
However, when imagining a situation where a Sleeper like him was found and his innate masculine quality was seen, adding to his Enemy of the World Attribute, the other may have preferred to be killed by a Nightmare Creature before teaming up.
Having an idea, light particles manifested all over his body, forming a simple gray robe with a silver rope tied around his waist.
“It is also used as a garment.
How useful.”
The only drawback was its durability; it wasn’t going to protect him from any blow.
Although, because it is a tool, it may have worked differently.
It’s better than nothing.
The question is: where to now?
He looked to his sides and selected the opposite direction from where that ugly crab was.
He spent several hours exploring, until it began to get dark.
Looking for a refuge from the Nightmare Creatures, he found in the distance a very large coral with an irregular shape, as if it were trying to reach the sky.
The World-Loving Doll, which he had as a Memory, appeared on his shoulder without warning and began to hit his head with her small hand.
“I didn’t summon you.
What are you doing outside?”
Just then, his Foreboding hit him hard.
He didn’t think much about it and was already running towards that tall coral.
In the distance he could hear a stormy noise; something was ravaging within the corals –like a force of nature that sought to destroy everything.
As the red coral rose, he turned and found an immense black tide destroying everything in its path, with little time before it reached him.
He climbed quickly and barely made it to the top before the enormous mass of water crashed into the coral, causing only a small tremor, much to the relief of Aisling, who allowed himself to collapse at the top.
The coral was very small, barely enough to lie on, but enough to not be so uncomfortable.
The Doll reappeared on his chest.
She walked clumsily, as if she were just taking her first steps –partly because her legs were stiff.
Reaching Aisling’s face, she leaned in, fixing her dark eyes with a slight hidden expectant intent.
Intention that did not go unnoticed.
Remembering the last time, Aisling raised his arm and stroked the Doll’s small head.
“Thank you.”
This time the Doll did not disappear and remained sitting next to Aisling.
Night did not take long to arrive, along with the dangers hidden by the immense black sea that surrounded it.
‘Am I a victim of flood or shipwreck?’
Unable to sleep, he entertained himself in his thoughts.
It was the only thing he could do in the dark, cold reality.
“When I get out of here I’m not sure what I’ll do.”
“…”
“Well, it’s something complicated; My Aspect is strange, I don’t even know how to use it to make myself stronger.
“…”
“Something interesting: if we go out, I’ll buy a brush for you.”
“…”
“Right?
I thought about it for a moment.
My mother had one that she used; very special.
I remember it very well for some reason.
It was made of stone, the surface rough and irregular, carved with an inexperienced but functional technique.
I think it was the only thing I didn’t burn, probably because it was made of stone, but not needing it, I simply buried it.
Lying on the red surface, he couldn’t see anything; the presence of the Doll was his only company, which he could perceive more clearly than anything else.
The sound of the moving sea and very dangerous noises coming from the depths.
Without realizing it, he slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
───
Thunder fell on his head. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Or at least that’s how it felt when he received a bad Foreboding.
Aisling jumped up, hearing scratching, like a cat clawing at the wall.
The sun had already risen, and the black sea had vanished.
Looking down, he saw three red crabs climbing the coral.
They were much smaller than the thing that had chased him, only about two meters tall, with fewer legs, claws, and mouths.
But they moved with agility and greater ease.
Holding his needle-leg firmly, he could only wait for them.
He had the advantage of high ground.
Looking closely at the crabs, none of them had eyes, so perhaps they were more sensitive in other ways.
“That’s a good theory based on an observation made by an uneducated child who can’t read a book properly and who learned the alphabet from a lazy illiterate tramp sleeping in a tree.
Besides, I thought crabs would have fur.
Don’t all animals in the world have fur?
I thought they’d be like cats, or maybe they’re just Nightmare Creatures, or there are crabs with hair and others without.”
Aisling said this and looked at the Doll standing beside his on the edge of the red coral.
“What do you think?”
The Doll looked at his again, bent down, and stood up, repeating the action several times.
“I see; I’m not doing so badly.”
The Doll couldn’t make many large movements with her head, so she opted to use her body to nod very positively.
Aisling let out a small scream, but there was no reaction from the crabs; they just kept climbing.
“Let’s rule out hearing.
They don’t seem to have any either… Or at least that’s what I mean: you should have warned me that screaming in this place is stupid.
Let’s move on to the next one; let’s touch them.”
Aisling lifted the Doll, bringing her face to face with him.
“You can appear and disappear near me, right?”
He asked with a smile.
The Doll seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding gently.
“Do me a favor, okay?”
Without waiting for the Doll’s reaction, he let go.
The Doll landed on top of one of the crabs, causing it to shudder.
The crab growled angrily, trying to grab the Doll with its claws.
The Doll vanished as soon as it touched the crab, reappearing above Aisling’s head, but motionless.
“It works.
Sorry for the unexpected turn of events; I’ll make it up to you when we get rid of those monsters.”
The Doll settled onto Aisling’s hand and nodded.
After a few moments, the first crab reached the top of the reef.
Aisling remained still, not moving or daring to breathe.
He gently raised his arm and pulled the Doll down just as the crab had half its body on the small platform of red coral.
The moment her wrist touched the shell, the crab raised its claws and let out a cry, revealing a gleam deep within its mouth.
At that moment, Aisling knew it must be important.
If someone has a diamond ring, it must be vital… or am I bringing up marital issues?
That creature had a pearl smaller than its mother’s, but quite noticeable when it opened its mouth.
Trying to focus, he lunged, thrusting his hand into the mouth full of rows of teeth and piercing the Soul Core.
That mouth was large enough to swallow his entire body and be crushed.
The crab roared in pain, and Aisling quickly retreated.
A reprimand that never came: the crab stopped moving, the voice of the Spell echoing in his head.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Red Worm.]
‘What’s wormy about it?’
Without time, he kicked the body out of the coral.
With the arrival of the second crab, he applied the same technique, killing it with ease.
With a little more confidence, the last crab arrived.
He threw the Doll at the Red Worm and lunged with the needle-like leg, missing by a wide margin.
The needle-like leg lodged deep in its throat.
Knowing he had made a mistake, the creature didn’t forgive him and bit his arm, tearing it off in one bite.
“It hurts, you son of a bitch!”
Without his right arm, he threw himself to the ground in panic, narrowly dodging two pincers.
‘I already ruined it in our first encounter!’
He tried not to think about it too much, focusing on the anger he felt toward that thing.
A difficult task, because his arm hurt like hell and was bleeding profusely.
The Red Worm didn’t wait for him and climbed halfway up the coral, just a leap away from devouring him whole.
“Are you…
still hungry?”
A chilling coldness flashed in Aisling’s gray eyes as he clutched his shoulder tightly.
“Devour me, you hairy, shitty worm.”
The Red Worm lunged at him furiously, visibly enraged by the pain, and knocked them both off the red coral.
At the impact, Aisling felt as if a truck had slammed into him.
They fell hundreds of meters above the ground.
In the first moments in the air, ignoring the pain –more out of sheer danger of the moment than anything else– he grabbed the embedded needle-like leg of Inside the worm’s mouth.
In the following moments in mid-air, his entire body entered the rotten maw; he extended his needle-like leg and shifted it from horizontal to vertical, momentarily halting the worm’s imminent bite.
It was even positioned incorrectly due to the narrow space; it wouldn’t hold.
In the final moments, he propelled himself with the needle-like leg still attached to the worm and lashed out at the pearl with his longest limb: his leg, in a desperate attack.
At that very moment, they crashed to the ground with a harsh sound.
───
The Red Worm was unrecognizable.
Its shell was damaged and shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the impact.
In the midst of this, someone emerged from the shell.
With difficulty, he pushed through the broken pieces of the shell, despite its fragility from the impact.
From it emerged a young man of horrifying appearance.
His body bled everywhere, from his own blood and the creature’s, and parts of his body were missing: an arm, a leg, part of his torso, and half his face was torn off, one eye gone.
Even in excruciating pain, he continued to crawl out of the creature like a pitiful worm.
He couldn’t move his remaining arm or leg, and the slightest movement sent him into a hell of agony.
With his mangled body outside, he sat down, leaning his back against the Red Worm’s corpse.
The young man was barely breathing, his eye was unfocused, and his other senses were only just responding.
With his last bit of strength, he reached into a nonexistent pocket and pulled out a bag of blood.
His gaze held a deep, almost obsessive longing, yet a small inner conflict gnawed at him, one he believed he could still bear, even as a human.
‘Haven’t I given up yet?
Do I truly love being human…?
What a pathetic sight I am.
It’s not enough.
If I’m given a gift, I have to use it… So stop whining and act like a man, Aisling.
Clench your hateful teeth and keep going!’
He brought it to his mouth and squeezed the bag, spilling the blood between his fingers into his mouth.
When a drop of blood touched his tongue, he opened his eyes wide.
As if it were an addictive drug, he drank it, letting traces of blood trickle down his body, not caring about the waste.
When a drop of blood fell on his wounds, he gasped uncontrollably; he felt as if his body were ablaze, the flames burning deep and sensitive.
Even in so much pain, he continued drinking the crimson liquid.
When the blood ran out, he fell silent and collapsed to the floor like a sack of meat.
He was no longer bleeding, but his body was still incomplete.
He lay in that position for an hour until he finally showed signs of life.
He crawled to the beast’s carcass, pulled out the Red Worm’s needle-like leg, and used it as a cane to pull himself up.
‘It hurts too much…’
His Attribute didn’t help either –it only amplified the pain.
His wounds closed, but he was still incomplete; he was missing limbs and was in a terrible, emaciated state.
His muscles begged for rest, and his bones creaked, completely or partially broken.
Looking around, he immediately noticed the Doll on his shoulder, her dark eyes reflecting immense concern.
“I’m fine.
I’m just… hungry.”
What would be your last meal before you die?
As if the Doll had an answer, she pointed in a direction within the reef.
Without questioning, Aisling followed that direction, moving farther and farther away from the red coral.
He wouldn’t be able to climb it the same way even if he tried.
Slowly, he managed to use his Foreboding to narrowly avoid the creatures –his senses were almost useless, dulled by pain.
He walked for hours in a straight line with the Doll perched on his shoulder, which never disappeared and remained by his side.
“When things calm down… I’ll give you a name.”
He promised, hopeful of escaping his predicament.
He continued on his way, taking more than one detour due to the dangerous creatures.
Passing through a large stretch of red coral, a sweet scent reached him, as mesmerizing as it was dangerous.
The sweet scent of a human.
Clenching his teeth, enduring the pain, he quickened his pace.
An immense stone statue stood before him: a Headless Statue.
An astonishing sight, if only he had cared to pay attention.
Near the statue’s feet, a body lay dead and unrecognizable.
It had been a tremendous impact that him them a mangled mess on the floor.
The blood was still fresh, and Aisling’s senses exploded.
“It’s not my fault or yours… though you can’t even survive a damn fall.
I can only say thank you for giving me this chance.”
He crouched beside the body, taking in a faint trace of a face, his eyes wide open in utter terror.
He ran his single hand over the cold face, gently closing what remained of his eyes.
And he devoured him.