Kabooooom!
The sound of a massive explosion tore through the air above and behind Jisung.
His eyes snapped open in a sharp gasp. For one long moment, he couldn’t tell which direction it came from. Pain gripped his skull like the blast had gone off inside his own head.
At first, he couldn’t move because nothing around him seemed to make any sense. There was no ceiling, no barrier with people moving behind it, no bed, and no runes pulsing on the walls. There was no trace of the room he had been in only moments before.
Instead his hands were pressed into something cold, wet, and sickly green. It clung to his palms, his face, and every part of his clothes. The ground beneath him was carpeted with it.
Nausea rolled through his stomach. He tried to suppress the feeling but failed.
’...Shit.’
He shoved himself upright and vomited onto the slime. He gripped his stomach afterwards and soon felt relief.
Scrambling to his feet a second later, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The green muck coated his clothes and stuck between his fingers. It was thick enough that his boots sank slightly with every step.
Another section of wall exploded behind him. He ducked and tried to run, but his foot slipped and he hit the ground hard.
"Fuc—kk! Ugh!"
It hurt, but the frustration outweighed the pain.
’Where the hell am I?’
Jisung forced himself up again and moved carefully across the slick surface, thankful that no falling debris had struck him.
As he pushed out of the worst of the green carpet, he finally looked up. The air smelled of dried blood and wet stone. Worse, there were people everywhere, running, screaming, fighting, and falling. And in the middle of the chaos, hundreds of bodies lay lifeless on the ground. Some were even headless.
Jisung’s eyes went wide with shock.
Crrk! Crrk! Crrk!
A horrible tearing sound came from behind him. He flinched and turned.
A gigantic flying beast smashed through a section of the large stone wall that seemed to surround everywhere as fast as his eyes could see. Goosebumps raced across his skin. He tried to speak, but no words came out.
The creature’s long abdomen trailed behind a swollen body. Eyes covered its head in uneven clusters, some large, some tiny. But all of them moved independently. It dove, jaws opening far too wide, and bit the heads off three people at once. Their bodies dropped to the ground.
Jisung clapped a hand over his mouth. His heart slammed hard against his chest.
’...W-what is going on?’
His hands were shaking and legs almost gave out, but he held on trying to stay as quiet as he could so the creature wouldn’t notice him.
Within seconds, more of the same creatures broke through other sections of the wall. They swept down, snatched screaming figures off the ground, and climbed back into the air with wet, heavy wingbeats.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to run. But he was too horrified to move a muscle, and somehow he still could not look away. Slowly he began to take a few steps backwards when he heard someone suddenly call out.
"Hey! You!"
The voice cut through the noise. Jisung blinked and traced the sound until he found the source.
"M-Me?" he stammered.
"Why are you standing there like that? Do you want to die?" the figure yelled.
It was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, though the dirt and blood streaked across his face made it hard to tell. An axe hung loose in one hand, dark blue fluid dripping from the blade.
"Hey!" the man called again, louder. "You bett..."
One of the creatures attacked from behind before he could finish speaking. The man moved swiftly, ducking just in time, twisting in one clean motion, and severing one of the creature’s legs. The beast shrieked and flew away.
Breathing hard, the man walked up to Jisung and gripped his shoulder.
"Now’s not the time to fear, kid! Follow me! Hurry!"
A section of wall behind Jisung cracked and began to fall. The man’s shout finally unlocked his legs.
"W-Wait!"
Jisung ran after him.
"What’s going on?!" he shouted, but the man didn’t answer.
The massive wall came down. Jisung cleared the falling stone by pure luck, but the shockwave still caught him, throwing him forward across the wet ground until he slid to a stop at the man’s feet.
The man hauled him upright by the collar.
"Move. Now."
They ran together as more creatures poured from the broken walls. The man never slowed. When one of the beasts dropped low toward them he shouted,
"Duck!"
Jisung dropped. The man stepped in, swung the axe, and split the creature’s neck. The body crashed to the ground as dark blue fluid poured from the wound.
The man stopped and stared at Jisung, pointing the axe at him. Jisung raised both arms in defence.
"W-Wait!"
The man still didn’t seem to hear him.
"You!" he yelled, still pointing the axe. "You don’t seem like you’re from around here. Who are you?"
Jisung swallowed. "Y-Yu Jisung. I’m Yu Jisung."
The man studied him for a moment, then let out a deep sigh and lowered the axe.
"They keep sending people like you. What do they want after leaving us here to suffer and die?"
’...Die?’ Jisung thought, staring closely at the man as he spoke. ’What is this man saying?’
"What?" The man pointed the axe at him again. "Are you one of them?"
Jisung shook his head hard.
The man squinted, then dropped the axe once more.
"Too bad I can’t even hear you. I have so many questions." He nodded at Jisung. "You’re lucky you found me. People like you die easily around here. I’ve counted more than twenty bodies already. Get up if you don’t want to be next."
Jisung’s head was spinning. Too many thoughts crashed through his mind at once.
The man broke into a sprint. When he looked back and saw Jisung still standing there, he turned and ran straight toward him.
"Look out!"
Jisung stared, wide-eyed, as the axe swung toward his neck. A sharp rush of air passed through his hair.
Clang!
Something heavy hit the ground behind him. The impact shook the earth. He turned and screamed, scrambling to his feet faster than he thought possible.
The man yelled, "I told you to keep running! Do you have a death wish?!" Then he broke into a sprint again without waiting.
Fear gripped Jisung hard enough to make the choice for him. Staying near this man was safer.
They sprinted for nearly a minute before the man dragged him behind another stretch of the same stone wall. A small group of people was already there. Men, women, older faces, and even children, pressing tight against the stone. Their clothes were rough, patched, and dirty. Fear sat on every face. None of them looked like the people of Paradise.
Jisung’s breath came hard. "What is this place?" He asked. "What’s going on?"
No one answered. They just stared at him and looked away. They all looked terrified. The man with the axe only scanned the sky above the wall.
"Please!" Jisung turned to the group. "Someone tell me what’s happening."
He tried to speak to a woman nearby, but no one responded.
"Stay here!" the man ordered, then disappeared back into the chaos.
"Wait!" Jisung called after him.
Before he could follow, his vision flashed.
For half a second he was back on the bed. Metal restraints locked around his wrists and ankles. Bright light from the observation side of the room glared against the transparent barrier and a masked figure stood over him.
"Dream... Dream... Two... One... One."
Then the flash ended.
The smell of blood and wet stone rushed back in.
’What is this?’ he grabbed his head as it began to ache.
He had just seen the masked figure leaning over him and the restraints digging deep into his skin.
Skrrckk!
In that same moment, a loud sound came from directly above the huddled group. Everyone gasped as one of the creatures dropped low and closed its grip around a child.
"No! No, no, noooo!" The child’s mother lunged forward, both hands locked around the small arm still visible beneath the creature’s claws. She pulled with everything she had, screaming in pure terror while everyone else scattered in every direction.
Jisung watched, completely frozen. Part of him wanted to help. But another part was too afraid to move.
"Mommy!" the child screamed as pain exploded in his arm from both sides.
That was enough.
Jisung ran forward and grabbed the mother, pulling with all his strength. Out of the corner of his eye he could see they were almost winning.
’Almost... there...’ he thought as the child’s arm was almost free from the creature’s grip when suddenly, images materialized before his eyes and another flash hit him.
"...D-D-Dream... Surrogacy... cy... cy... c-commence...!"
A distorted voice echoed loudly. His head spun. He could see a masked figure standing over the bed, hand pressed to an earpiece, looking straight at him.
The flash ended.
That single second of distraction was enough. The creature wrenched upward, pulling the mother and child, still clinging to each other, into the air and vanishing with them.
"No!" Jisung screamed and ran after them. A few meters into the open he slipped on the green muck and fell. Pain shot through his legs, but he still looked up.
"No."
The word came out as a whisper.
The mother and child were gone.
His eyes watered. He let the tears fall. Around him the slaughter continued. Walls collapsing, more screaming, then a strange distant silence.
He shut his eyes, letting the tears roll freely.
"Head back. It’s time."
’...huh?’
He opened them and turned, scanning everywhere, but no one was speaking to him.
"Operation Dream Surrogacy..."
Another flash hit. He grabbed his head as the ache turned physical. This time the words came through clearly.
"Operation Dream Surrogacy is ready to commence."
The echo repeated. For the first time he fully grasped the word that had been repeating since the flashes began.
’Dream.’
He gasped loudly. ’...is this... a d-dream?’
His mind locked onto it just as a massive crash sounded nearby.
He looked up.
A wall exploded only meters away. Stone and dust blasted outward. Jisung ran. He needed cover. Any cover. Something was pressing on his mind and he had to stay alive long enough to think, especially since he couldn’t use any ability.
’...This is what I get for manipulating the Diary Session,’ he scolded himself as he ran.
He ducked into the shadow of another standing section of wall and pressed his back against it, crouching low.
Fighting and screaming continued beyond the stone. His breath came in short pulls. He looked down at himself for the first time since waking.
These were not the clothes he had put on that morning.
The fabric was rough, stained, and torn at one knee. His feet were bare and filthy. Mud and green slime coated his hands and ankles. The realization landed with a cold weight. He had not noticed until now.
A high cry tore through the air overhead. Another creature passed close enough for the wind of its wings to hit him. He stayed pressed to the wall.
A second explosion erupted behind the section he was using for cover. The force threw him forward. He hit the ground hard and slid, stopping face-down in front of a shallow puddle of dirty water.
He groaned and pushed up onto his elbows. His arms shook. For a moment he only wanted to stay down. Then something about the water caught his attention.
He crawled closer.
The surface of the puddle rippled with the vibrations of distant impacts. He leaned over it, expecting to see his own face looking back. Something like a dark haired figure, the shape of his eyes and the dirt on his skin.
But nothing looked back. He froze.
He moved slightly to the side. The water shifted, but still nothing. He reached out and touched his own cheek with dirty fingers, as if to confirm he was still solid. Then he pressed his fingertips into the edge of the puddle and watched the surface break and settle again.
The water showed the sky and the broken stones, but it refused to show him.
Jisung’s voice came out low and unsteady.
"I-I..." He gasped loudly.
’I can’t see my reflection.’
’’’
Author’s Note: If you’re enjoying the novel, don’t forget to add it to your library and show some support. It really helps!
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