‘Gasp!!’
Taking a sharp breath, I woke up. I felt no remnants of a slumber and instead found myself insanely sober and active.
‘What happened? Where am I?’ I looked around, my first priority, discerning the nearby situation.
I sat on a chair, in an abandoned room made of wood. There was no one around me, and from the single window on my left, I could see an expansive forest of orange and brown. It looked to be autumn.
The room looked dirty, with surfaces covered in dirt and the floor blanketed by a uniform layer of dust. It didn’t look like anyone had been here in a while.
That brought another question.
Who tied these balloons around my hand?
Looking at the balloons hovering above me, gracing me with their smiley faces, I felt dumbfounded.
‘Let’s think of that later. The most important question right now is, how am I still alive? I was sure I was dead. My… left arm told me? Wait, that doesn’t make sense… or maybe it does?’
I don’t know what had happened, but for some reason ever since I woke up that day in the hospital, my arm had changed.
It would itch continuously, it had gotten so bad that I was having trouble sleeping. But for some reason, the itching would always degrade to the point of almost non-existence during nighttime.
Not only that, but I could remember the times I felt a jolt in my hand. Every time I had received those moments of guidance Aline talked about, my left hand had reacted strongly. As if reminding me of something, trying to make me understand it. Guiding me.
Not to mention the last moment…. I remember the scene in my vision. The death of a star. How my left arm had shown me the view.
I don’t pretend to understand the view completely, but I remember the feeling of loss and emptiness I had felt at that moment. How we had died as soon as the star did.
Joining all the clues, I can only think of one conclusion.
Aurinko was dead.
But that felt preposterous! How could it even happen!? And why was I still alive in that case?
Questions, questions, questions but no answers!
It was frustrating. But if Aurinko is dead, then did he leave something in my hand for me to see that view? Wait, did he know he was gonna die? But why show it to me, wouldn’t it make sense to show it to someone like the Pope?
Wait, if I am alive, does this mean others are too!?
‘Yes, it’s possible. Although the chances are small, maybe they really are. But they will have to wait for now, I need to figure out this place first.’
And so I placed my attention back on the balloons. There were 11 of them, I counted.
But they were too much of a distraction. I wanted to remove them, and so I looked around my left wrist and….and…and…. where the fuck are the strings!!!?
I looked closely, I touched the place, I even licked it to feel anything, just anything. But no! There really was nothing there. It was as if the balloons were attached to me. The string from the balloons just moved towards my wrist and into it.
It was so bizarre I almost toppled the chair. Quickly balancing myself, I saved myself. But that left a loud thud from the chair hitting the floor.
And then I realized how loud it sounded. It reverberated around the room and spread across the world. It felt like the explosion of a bomb ringing in my ears.
And for the first time while I was here, I heard the rustling of the wind. Felt something tremendous pressing on me as my body contorted trying to sit upright.
With extreme difficulty I looked up, buckling my spine inwardly with blood out of my eyes. It was a huge plate or something similar pressing on me and coming to swat me.
I didn’t get the chance for any last thought as the huge plate slammed on my head, and after a spike of disastrous pain, everything went quiet and I died.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Taking a sharp breath, I woke up. I felt no remnants of a slumber and instead found myself insanely sober and active.
‘What happened? Where am I?’ I looked around, my first priority, discerning the nearby situation.
And then the memories of being flattened came back.
I would like to say I was very conscious of my recent death and it didn’t faze me at all. But embarrassedly, I shrieked. In a girlish way, and then feeling embarrassed and cautious, shut my mouth quickly.
But I was not fast enough.
For the second time since I’ve been here, I heard the rustle of wind again. It came, carrying a blood-curdling shriek with it. Destroying the glasses and wood into splinters, in its way, it reached me.
I tried closing my eyes, but it did nothing as I felt my body rupture very quickly, my eyes burst in a cloud of blood and my eardrums went numb. Unable to hold it in, I shouted in agony.
It only fuelled the shriek as it grew in intensity. No more just shrill, it grew in loudness and my body finally couldn’t hold it, as I died.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Taking a sharp breath, I woke up. I felt no remnants of a slumber and instead found myself insanely sober and active.
‘What happened? Where am I?’ I looked around, my first priority, discerning the nearby situation.
Then the memories of the last restart came back rushing in and I felt a phantom discomfort in my chest. I felt fatigued, nauseous, and anxious as fear took hold of my body.
I tried to comfort myself, taking deep breaths out of my mouth, trying to chant the mantra out loud, and I think that’s what I did wrong.
Cause, unlike the last time, the rustle of wind didn’t come from the windows. No! It came from everywhere and it bound me in my seat. Squeezing me, tighter and tighter. I felt as if my eyes would squeeze out, and my organs would burst. But none of that happened.
And then came the voices.
It started as a slow chant, but slowly it picked pace. It picked volume and soon enough I was engulfed by a series of mysterious indecipherable chants that I couldn’t understand no matter how much I focused.
It felt overwhelming, there was so much noise, it came from every angle and position I could think of, mixed in with low, high volumes, shrill and dulcet, loud and muffled; far and just beside my ears.
Eventually, the voices overwhelmed my mind and I died before I could become a vegetable.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Taking a sharp breath, I woke up. I felt no remnants of a slumber and instead found myself insanely sober and active.
‘What happened? Where am I?’ I looked around, my first priority, discerning the nearby situation.
Then the memories of the last 3 restarts came rushing in and I dared not speak another word. I found solace and comfort in myself as I sat there hugging myself tightly.
I felt claustrophobic in this small hut, but I dared not let a single whimper.
I might not be the smartest, and it shames me that it took me dying thrice to understand it, but there hid a small spark of inspiration borne out of a need for survival in the last moments of my last life.
Every time I died it was because of a catalyst. And it was always me making an audible noise.
The world wasn’t after me out of necessity, but only when I disturbed this silent sanctuary with my noises.
So this time I was determined to stay silent. I’ll sit here, not making a noise, and survive as long as I can.
But…. my initial thinking was too naive and driven by fear. It took a few minutes of calming down, but then I realised. I couldn’t just stay here. Eventually, I can make mistakes, and I will make mistakes.
I need to go out, I must go out and explore, find a way to go back home and I was sure that’d disturb the master of this place. But since I would be back to life in a few moments anyway, it’d be foolish not to take advantage of this.
It irked me, that in this, the master of this place was clearly stronger than Aurinko, but I shoved that part of me deep, deep down. I had no need for it right now and I have much to learn right now.
Not to mention I was deeply curious. It was like a flame burning inside me, wanting to strip this place and learn everything about it. How did they do it!? How can they bring me back!!?
I had these questions even when I lived, but Aurinko was always a god, he felt so very far away. How could I ever even reach him?
But now? Knowing someone else wields the same power, it felt so so close. And I wanted to know.
How did I not know it was Aurinko who had lived and healed me? I did not. Maybe that was the truth and I would be happy just knowing that.
But…. I just had this feeling. I don’t know what must I call it, but I just knew that it couldn’t be Aurinko. I was unusually sure that he was dead.
And if that really was the truth…. then I wouldn’t be shy in knowing about those powers. Maybe it can uncover some curtains behind the mystery of 549?
After what felt like hours of mentally readying myself, I broke out of my cocoon and looked around me again. It was the same room, unmarred by any human intervention for years, clear by the dustiness of the floor and surroundings.
But this time I looked closely, not discarding anything. And that’s when I noticed an envelope. It too was layered by ancient dust, sitting on an upper cabinet on the wall opposite to me.
It dared me to move and fight against my fear, and I for a second shrank back at the possibility. But eventually my curiosity overcame the fear and I set foot on the ground again.
It creaked against the sudden increase in pressure and I quickly embraced for whatever was to come. Nothing did. I was surprised, but quickly realised the difference might be the audibility of the noise made.
I figured it made sense, otherwise, how would I play this game without….. moving.
‘Wait, why did I compare it to a game? Didn’t he say something about it?’
I stood there, balancing my weight so as to not make any extra noise as my mind traveled back to the time when we had just reached Corbaux and sat in the carriage with a royal escort. Back then he had delivered me a message from the Mad Emperor. He said,
“If you reach there, know that the game has begun. And every game has its rules.”
‘Is this what he meant by that? How did he know about this place? Has he been here himself? So there is a chance of returning back home!! But how did he know I’d reach here?
‘Was he the one who got me here? Is he the master of this place and can do magic? It doesn’t seem likely though…. I mean if he was really so strong, then he wouldn’t have put up with the church for so long like this.
‘So it’s highly likely that this is a place which exists beyond the capabilities of everyone. Is it the sought-after afterlife? A life beyond Elysium?
‘If it really is…. then does that mean the Emperor had died once to reach here? Is that why I’m here?’
I had many questions, but the answer to none was possible right now. So I shoved them down too, and focused on the task at hand.
Taking careful small steps, I tried to not stick too much to the floor, keep the weight distributed, not too much on the heels, not too much on the forefoot, body down the leg, and up with it.
Careful, I finally reached the cabinet, and standing perfectly still and balanced, I took the letter.
I wiped the dust across my foot, and read the contents which were perfectly preserved somehow,
> “Welcome!!
>
> We hope you die, and you will oblige.
>
> We hope you live again, but you won’t stay there for long.
>
> We hope you walk straight, but you won’t be satisfied.
>
> We hope you reach the end, but you won’t be quiet about it.
>
> We hope to never see you again!!”
‘Talk about being ominous huh…’
I stared at the letter for a few more minutes. Reading it again and again, trying to dissect every line and understand what they all meant. Individually and put together.
‘Are these the rules the emperor talked about? The first and second line both reflects on this life and death cycle I’m trapped in. But can they read my mind too? They knew I planned to explore the place and die a few more times in the process.
‘But then again, any sane person would wanna explore a place they randomly find themselves. So I guess it’s not that weird.
‘But what about the last two lines? We hope you walk straight…is it a metaphor? Or is it a real road they are talking about?
‘Well the last line makes me feel like reaching the end of this metaphorical or physical road is the goal of this game. I just hope it’s a real road, I don’t wanna delve into some kind of philosophical debate with myself about the rights and wrongs of my ways.
‘Well the feeling is pretty mutual buddy, I hope to never see you again after this too’
Reading it a few more times to engrave it in my mind, I looked up and decided it was time to journey outside. I still folded the letter and placed it in the pocket of my pants.
‘That reminds me… how do I have pants here? Well, Oliver, you’ve outdone yourself, thinking about pants when the master of this place can bring me back to life continuously. Really well done!’ I humored self-deprecatingly.
Walking to the door, I braved myself, chanted the mantra a few times to calm my nerves, and finally stepped outside.
The scene of an expansive autumnal forest greeted me, parted in the middle to allow a narrow trail. The surroundings, apart from the trail, were scattered by dead leaves.
It was a beautiful scene of orange and brown, with the setting sun in the background painting the world in its beauty, but I understood the underlying danger in this scene. Every leaf here is a death sentence, and so much more I was blind to.
‘They really want me to stay on the trail huh…. makes me wonder why I won’t be satisfied from it? Well no time to waste, I’ll know with time.’
And so I started walking the trail. Walking only a few minutes, I was deep in the forest and I could hardly see the hut I came out from.
It was in no way dangerous. There were no animals, no man-eating plants, no reptiles stinging me to death, no trees trying to strangle and suspend me in the air like a chicken up for cooking. There was no one. Not even a note of sound, not even my heartbeat, except for the muffled sound of my footsteps which also felt like gunshots to my ear.
It was eerily quiet and that was the most discomforting thing about this forest.
I don’t know how long I walked, but I was starting to grow insane. All kinds of thoughts floated in my mind. Will I ever get out of it? Will I ever be enough? Have the others survived or not? Are they here somewhere? Do I want them here? Do I want them to live?
Some of them made me somber, some made me guilty and embarrassed, angry at myself, a guilty relief and so many feelings at once.
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But before I could go insane from those questions, my attention was finally caught by something else.
I stood in front of a fork in the road. One led me on my original path and then there were two more intersections for me to explore.
’So this is what they meant…’
I could stay on my path and maybe I will be out of this place in a few hours at max. Maybe I’ll be insane by the end of this, with a mixture of regret at not taking other paths mixed into it. But I probably won’t die and might even live after getting out of it.
But…. I wouldn’t be satisfied with it!
I wouldn’t dare take those paths in any conditions. I value myself too much to get stuck in one of them, but…. here I can resurrect multiple times! It’s the rule of this game! So why not explore it all?
‘Yes, it totally makes sense! “We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn”, so let’s learn!’
And so I chose the left path. For no reason but a gut feeling. I was starting to put more trust in it.
And so I walked for at least 5 more minutes before I reached another fork. This one only gave two options and I, following my gut feeling, took the left again. But it quickly reached a dead end.
Though not everything was lost, cause I found a letter at the end of the road. The only problem? It was floating in the middle of a small pond. It was just at the right distance I could read with a jump.
‘They want me to die just for that letter, don’t they? Hahhhh so this is what they meant by “I won’t be quiet about it”. Never mind, I have chosen this for myself, so let’s just do it. I’ll give up sometime else.’
Taking a deep breath, I surveyed the distance between myself and the letter and comforted myself in my ability to jump. Pulling a little distance, I steeled myself for the upcoming trauma, taking the balloons into control, I sprinted.
Reaching the edge of the pond, I strained my muscles and jumped, soaring across the pond for a few meters, I landed with a splash into the icy cold water, just an inch behind the letter.
Fortunately, the pond wasn’t shallow enough for me to hurt my legs too much. And neither was it deep enough for me to deny a platform to stand.
Knowing I didn’t have too much time after this, I quickly got hold of the wet letter, opened it, and read,
> “You jump like a little girl.”
‘What-‘
I didn’t have the time to finish my thought as the surrounding water suddenly churned and drilled into me through every hole they could find. Every hole.
Very quickly I bloated akin to a balloon, skin pale white and nerves visible across my body as my blood mixed with water and in a split second I exploded.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Taking a sharp breath, I woke up. I felt no remnants of a slumber and instead found myself insanely sober and active.
‘What happened? Where am I?’ I looked around, my first priority, discerning the nearby situation.
The rush of memories from the last 4 restarts broke my reverie and I sat there for a few seconds going through everything I experienced. I sat there quietly, although my body yearned for air from this phantom feeling of drowning, but I controlled myself and only allowed it slow ones.
After a while, I finally felt fine again.
‘Huuu, that one was intense. But I guess it is the way I thought of. The way I make noise determines how I die. Very interesting.
‘Anyway, what was up with that letter? Is it gonna be useful in the long term or is it just an attempt at ridicule to lower my motivation? Was the feeling right or wrong?’
I thought hard about it. Whether to keep following my feelings or not. But eventually, I decided it was worth it. Even if I die a few dozen more times, it might change everything.
The master has clearly put that note for me there, and interacting with him? her? Them? might be a good enough payoff.
So let’s walk again.
Walking in the forest, I traced my path back to the pond. This time there was no letter floating for me.
‘I guess that’s it for this path. Time to see more’
So walking back, I came to the fork that led me to the dead-end. This time I chose the other path.
Walking on the trail, I once again witnessed a fork and this time I chose right, listening to the feeling. Unfortunately, I once again came across a dead-end. And another letter awaited me there.
Just this time it was encased in a glass case. And I would have to break it if I wanna read it.
‘Hahhh let’s just get this over with’
Slamming the case against the hard floor, it shattered into a million beautiful pieces, filling the jungle with a shrill chime.
Uncaring about the glass pieces in my hands, I brushed the glass off the pieces and read quickly,
> “Is this really worth it? You know this one’s gonna hurt right?”
Without a second wasted, I felt an excruciating pain as if nerves were and my mind was being pricked by millions of glass shards. Then my arteries, my veins, my organs, tendons, muscles, and every individual cell were being lacerated.
Some slowly, some quickly, but eventually my mind didn’t survive the pain and I died.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Taking a sharp breath, I woke up. I felt no remnants of a slumber and instead found myself insanely sober and active.
‘What happened? Where am I?’ I looked around, my first priority, discerning the nearby situation.
Once again the memories rushed in like last time, and I sat there hugging myself, waiting for the phantom pain to withdraw. It keeps getting worse with each restart. I believe it’s due to the short timeframe of the death.
But since I’ve kept myself busy, my brain doesn’t have the time to input the trauma. But this forest with its unusual solitude….. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep myself busy long enough before I cover it.
But that’s for a future Oliver. For now, let’s walk again.
Walking in the forest, I retrace. Left and a right, but this time I go left again. And as I expected. I came across another fork and following the feeling, I took a left. Cause why not?
And as I expected, I came across another dead-end with a letter waiting for me. This time…. in an envelope.
‘Ugh, these nasty people…. I know where this is going’
But of course, I wasn’t gonna stop because of that. And so I picked up the envelope, and tore it, producing a clear crisp noise across the forest. Reading the letter it said,
> “If you know where this is going, then why do it?”
Again I died, being torn in half, both body and mind.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Let’s walk again
Left, right, left, right, left, and another dead-end with a letter. This time, in a pile of dead leaves, clearly too far for me to take it without disturbing the leaves.
Hahh
> “You will like this one!”
I died from someone stepping on me and the only thing that broke were my bones. I laid there for what felt like hours, crying, wailing in agony and only after my mind broke did I get the respite I wanted.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Let’s walk again
Left, right, left, right, right, right, and another dead-end and another letter. This time in a bowl of boiling hot oil. How the letter survived is beyond me, but it did.
> “You are just wasting time at this point”
There’s something about having your entire body covered in mustard and then fried under a waterfall of unlimited oil. It stinks having to die like that, but it amuses me a little. Maybe I should do it to someone I hate someday?
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Let’s walk again
Left, right, left, right, right, left, left, and….. another dead-end with a letter.
> “I hope you’ll like this one too”
When I was lacerated, my first thought was, that it’s too repetitive for the master. But when he poured a waterfall of salt over my body, I kinda wished he hadn’t read my mind.
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Let’s walk agai-
This restart brought a new surprise I hadn’t expected to receive. For just as I was about to walk out again, my eyes fell on the bundle of balloons and I was surprised to find one of them missing.
Every restart I had kept special care for them. Checking them every time a new one starts. And I had started every one of them with 11.
But my 10th restart started with only 10 of them. Shocked for a moment, I had almost stepped wrongly on the floor but only caught myself at the last moment.
‘What went wrong this time? It can’t be that drying in a special way is detrimental to the balloons. Unless maybe I don’t really have an unlimited stock of lives. Maybe the balloons dictate the limit?
‘So if 1 disappeared after 9 deaths, that means I have 99 lives in total! Well 90 more right now, but that’s still…. I don’t know. Would I have enough to last to cover all the paths? Will I have to take the straight path after all?
‘Well maybe I could stop collecting the letter- ah yes, what a joke, ahahah. Let’s just go now, I’ll think about it later.’
And so I walked again to my death. Each time more creative than the last, leaving me with no complaints. As they say, complete customer satisfaction.
----------------------------------------
There’s something about knowing you have so many lives to waste and then you go and do just that… you waste them. That too in a short time frame. It’s kind of disorienting for the first 20 times.
It took me so much time to just come to terms with my new self after dying.
But around the 27th term, it kind of became….refreshing. Well, not the dying part, that I still wish to evade. But the waking up part. There’s just a weird satisfaction in waking up refreshed, fresh out of death.
Even alive I only got to die once and now I regret that.
Around the 50th term, I was excited about getting out of here. Not only cause this place was getting boring and I hated to die, but cause I was excited about getting a tattoo on my face now. I have seen many have one of those back when I was in the undercity.
I never understood the point of it, but now I kinda do.
It happened after I had to retrieve a letter from a paint bowl, which had a hidden alarm inside. And as a consequence, I had my entire body colored and tatted in so many places, so many sensitive places and so many times, that my mind couldn’t handle all that strain.
But I had mistakenly seen my reflection on the bowl of paint, which I suspect was made reflective by the master, and I thought ‘They actually look not that bad’
So yes, but if this place taught me anything, was patience. So it’s not like I’m dying to get a face tattoo as soon as I get out, but someday for sure.
By the 80th term, I even held a small amount of anticipation for the next torture. Mind you I don’t like dying or the pain yet, but since I only had a handful of lives more to go, I wanted to see how creative could the master really be.
I was proven right once again when the master played with the sugar concentration of each cell of my body, going through thousands of combinations of low and high over a time period of months; after I had to wash a yard of area filled with sugar to find the letter underneath.
I hated those, the ones that took so long. It allowed my mind to go to many places in between the torture. My mind, lacking the endorphins due to the repetitive torture. But this one was still good enough.
And now it was the 97th restart, I had died 96 times, and I was still on the original left turn. I had crossed left and right so many times on this trail, I forgot a lot of times, hit a dead-end, and walked back.
But now I was at my final dead-end. The last time I had taken right at the juncture, I had run into a dead-end. And taking the left at the same juncture had also produced a dead-end. I had finally traveled the entirety of the left trail.
This time there were no traps. No condition to get the letter. It just sat there on the ground. Untouched.
Feeling amused, vigilant, and a little disappointed, I carefully went and prodded the letter a little with my leg.
‘Okay, my leg is still safe, nothing blew up and I’m still alive. So it should be safe huh’ I reasoned
Picking the letter, I found myself hoping for a little something new. Something better. Maybe some kind of answer?
> “How does it feel like being disappointed?”
It turned out to be the same kind. I wouldn’t lie, I was utterly disappointed and disheartened.
I only had 3 more lives left, and would travel across the unknown right trail really be wise?
Hahhh
Sighing I walked back.
It felt having to walk back to the starting point very weird. Usually, I’d just wake up around there.
Especially when I didn’t even die this time. I kept squirming in my clothes weirdly, experiencing weird sensations and phantom pain all over myself.
It made everything a little weird and I got lost tracking my way back since I confused left with right a lot of times. I believe it took me more than 3 times the time it takes for sauntering down before I took my clue and stopped being stubborn with my memory for path navigation and started using the feeling more.
‘I know gosh, can you stop sitting on my head, Carl!? I know I lost a ton of brain cells when that tube filled my brain with chilly sauce!
‘You aren’t any better yourself! I’m sure you have some sauce in there too, that’s why you are smiling all the time. Look at me, I’m a foolish smiley Carl. That’s who you are!
‘Now get off my back or I’m seriously gonna punch you!’
I waited for Carl to get off but he just floated there looking at me with that stupid smile of his, taunting me to do it. I didn’t notice it earlier, but he thinks he’s some big shot just cause he’s the last one remaining.
‘That’s it! You’re down now. I have refined my boxing in these weeks? months? Whatever time thingy.’ And so I tackled Carl down to the ground and beat him up with my right hand.
It was a shame I couldn’t use my left one as he’d float up too if I lifted it.
After two minutes of punching him and him taking it all like a sponge, I finally retired. Gosh was it infuriating punching him. He’d never burst!
‘Hahh, I swear to god Carl, you make me want to die more just to get rid of you!’ I snapped at him and then focused on my path. I decided I was gonna ignore him no matter how much he gave me his puppy eyes.
I resisted it for a total of 5 minutes this time. I’d consider it an improvement.
‘It’s okay, I was just kidding, you know it na? I would never want you to go. Come let’s find a way out of here together’ Eventually, Carl was easy to please and we were back to finding the starting point.
After another 15 minutes of walk, I finally reached it.
And now I was presented with the same question I had been postponing till now with my conversations with Carl.
Which trail should I walk?
Should I take the obviously safe but unsatisfactory straight trail and complete the journey, or should I risk a few more lives just to go on an empty goose chase toward the right?
‘By the way what even is a goose? I have only ever heard others use it. Is it just a saying or a real animal?’
No! I was going off-track again! It has been happening a lot these “time-y’s”.
After long hard discussions and arguments with Carl, I realized. I couldn’t lie to myself. I really wanted to know what was on the other trail, even if it meant wasting one of my last few lives.
It was okay, I reassured myself. I still have 3 more lives. I could die two more times. I’m sure I’ll be fine.
And so I walked to the right. It felt wrong somehow, but also amusing. Everything looked so new and refreshing!
The novelty lasted till I reached my first fork. With it came a strong déjà vu and a shiver that ran through my body involuntarily as I unconsciously took a step towards the right direction following the feeling, before I caught myself.
NO! I can go there! It should be okay! For once it should be, yes!
If it’s another trap, then I’m obviously not coming here again.
And so I braved through and walked once again. A different trail, a different location, a different me, but yet it felt so same as the first time.
Ironically or unironically, I was met with the same pond, with a similar letter floating above it. I don’t know why, but the letter looked a lot similar to the first one. Maybe it was too.
Used to the drill, I prepared myself, and with no special motivation, I ran and jumped, soaring through the air in a beautiful arc mastered over dozens of restarts, and still landed just an inch away from the letter.
Snatching the wet but fine letter, I read,
> “You still jump like a little girl!”
‘Hahahah- gosh the humour is never lost with it-‘
I didn’t get to enjoy my predicament though, as the water around me yet again came alive and tore into me. In a fit to be creative, the master didn’t kill me like last time though. No, this time he only applied the water to my bones.
Ah, dying of hyponatremia while losing control over my body with seizures and exploding bones inside my body? Just refreshing!
----------------------------------------
‘Gasp!!’
Walking out of the hut, eyes closed (something I learned after I got bored of coming out normally), I walked the same way till the fork. This time I was prepared to walk the normal way.
Fuck it with curiosity, I died enough times for it. I don’t need it anymore!
But I might have not factored in my body’s inherent “desire to die”, since as much as I willed, my “soul” yearned for the adventure the other trail provided.
‘What the hell! I don’t need any more foolish adventure! Why is the feeling so strong here?’
It felt like a part of it was there, and “I” wanted to be full again.
I thought about it, I thought hard. On how should I deal with it. How can I ignore this feeling? But the more I thought, the more it felt logical to me. Why can’t I go? I have one more life, right? The game said I’d be safe, so I will be.
Yes, so let’s go there.
I felt a faint memory of someone named Carl stopping me, but I don’t think I ever met him, so maybe just a dream.
Right I walked, and this time, I took left.
I envisioned a fork again, very soon. Very soon. Very….
Well, it never came.
It felt weird, not having to make a choice after a certain point of time. But quickly I forgot about it and kept walking.
The walk felt so long, and so boring. I had no thoughts occupying me and everything felt mechanical. I enjoyed it for once. A soothing journey it has been. Almost stress-free.
So when a floating letter finally intercepted me, just ahead of a dark void illuminated by an occasional streak of beautiful light, I walked over and read it with the same calmness,
> “Congratulations! You have proven yourself, you are officially a Bastard of Death now.
>
> Please enjoy the curiosity it brings you.”
And then the world crumbled, sucked into the void, or maybe it never existed. But one moment I was staring at a dark paradox, the next-
----------------------------------------
-I was staring at an old man begging me for food?
‘Wait…. WHAT THE FUCK!’
What the fuck just happened right now!!
Wait did I win the game!? Did I really win it!!? It can’t be! DidIReallyWin!!!?
“Sir, nice sir. Please sir give me just 2 coppers sir, I will eat tonight. Please sir.” the old man begged in front of me.
“No, yes, no, no I don’t mean I don’t wanna give you. But I don’t have anything to give you right now. But can you please, please tell me where we are right now. I’ll promise you a full meal and a full bed to sleep if you can just tell me that” I pleaded him. I was so happy to see someone else after so long, I almost teared up. I looked around me and we were in a crowded bazaar and there were so many people. Wow!!
“We are in Shikan Bazaar sir, will you give me food now?” the old man looked at me with hope and whispered the last part, ignoring the strangeness of my words.
“No not like that, I meant which city are we in? Which state and which empire?” I asked, patiently.
“Oh, we are in the Darlave Empire’s Amoros state, at city Barg. I fulfilled your promise sir, please help me now!” the man said.
‘Wow… I resurrected really far! But it’s okay, I’ll just have to reach the nearest church and I should be able to go back home. Gosh, I wonder if they went through it too? I have to ask Aline about hers!’
“Yes I will” focusing back on the man “but can you just tell me where could I find the nearest church from here? Which city that is?”
“Church? Haven’t heard someone use that word to describe it, everyone just uses Depository. But who am I to judge Sir’s knowledge. Yes yes, let’s go. I’ll show you the way.” He frowned in question but smoothened out when he saw my own frown.
‘Why would they call it a Depository here? It’s not a bank or something?’
“Why would you call the place of god a depository? And how is it even allowed?” I asked, as I followed him.
“God, sir?”
“Yes, God!”
“But sir, not to mean any disrespect. But God is dead.” he said meekly.
“What!? How? when? Who told you that?” I asked, furious, but I could feel myself losing confidence myself. An image I had forgotten played in my head again.
‘It can’t be true right….?’
“It was the greatest news of the century, sir. How could I have missed it! The emperors came together and killed the evil entity and his followers. It was the purest and most happiest the world has ever felt in almost a thousand years. If I remember correctly, the 15th anniversary should be approaching in a few days!” the man forgetting his worries showed a reverential look as he eyed the east.
‘Wait wait wait, no no no… this can’t be this can’t be this can’t be… what happened!! Why is it already 15 years! No that’s not important!!’
“What did you say about his followers!!? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!?” I shouted, uncaring about the looks I was getting from everyone.
“The-they… vanished one day! All of them! Like dust in the air. They deserved it, those vermins!” The man spat at me as he said those words.
“Did you come looking for them here?” He continued seeing my lost gaze.
“The old trains have come and gone.
“For how long will you stand at that station?”
{End of Volume 1: The Remnant}