Was I dead? Was this the afterlife? It was pretty comfortable at least. I floated in a warm, sticky darkness; I felt as if I weighted nothing.

A deep nothingness surrounded me, but a calming melody coming from afar somehow breached it. It was becoming more and more intense until it was no further than a couple steps away.

Senses were coming back. First thing, I felt my limbs anew. Such a weird feeling; it resembled the aftereffects of teleportation but not quite. It was more like being conscious before waking up, and then waking up.

I tried to move my limbs, and to my great surprise, I succeeded; it even didn't hurt at all. Even though I was awake, it was still pretty pleasant here.

A faint cocktail of scents filled the room: lavender and old paper. I slept on a soft mattress. How?

Before fainting, I was sure I was in the Castle of Nightmares. We were attacked by trolls and severely wounded. I fainted on dirt, and my hands were in shambles.

But now, I could move my fingers as well as before.

I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a big bed, I laid under a thick and cushy blanket. The sheets and pillows were all made out of fine silk.

I stood up and looked around. The room could only be described by a single word: 'nobility'.

Everything was visibly old and very expensive. Golden candle holders stood on a cupboard made from reddish exotic wood; beautiful paintings covered most walls.

The room was quite small but cozy. Although windows were no where to be seen. Still, a faint sound of rain came from upwards. Was I still in the level?

I looked behind me and found the origin of the calming music: an aged, perfectly pitched and masterfully crafted piano.

A blond woman sat before it; her small and precise fingers seemed blurry from their superhuman movements, and her technique was so polished that even if she played a false note, it would sound like an intended addition to the listener's experience.

I never ever witnessed music so excellent. Without even realizing it, I silently gawked until she was done playing. She stood up and looked at me.

"Oh, you are already awake?" asked she in a gentle voice.

She wore a white blouse with a black skirt falling under her knees.

Even though she talked sweetly, her face deeply troubled me. Do not get me wrong, she was beautiful—as beautiful as a lone flower on a dying tree. Her lips were thin, pale but slightly pink, and her skin was fair as marble and pale as snow; in other words, she was beautiful beyond human desire.

Her whole being radiated 'splendid', but her eyes. They were dark and tired. They were akin to those of an elderly monk seeking salvation.

She was incredibly old, which explained her refined piano technique. But her body was that of a young, naive woman.

"A vampire."

I jumped off the bed and took the candle holder; I could use it as a weapon. Her smile went away, and a saddening look painted itself on her pretty face.

"Yes, indeed, this is my sorry nature. But fear not; not a hundred of the likes of yours could stop me."

That wasn't reassuring in the slightest. But at least she seemed to want to talk before slaughtering me. She slowly walked and graciously sat down on the bed.

"I simply want to talk. I can even take an oath to not harm you or your companion. Now can you please let down that candle and calm down a bit? I have many things to ask you."

I ignored what weight a vampire's oath had.

"Alright, but first, where is my companion? Is he okay?"

"Yes, he is in a room nearby; although his situation was worse than yours, all of his magic was depleted and his inner body damaged, but I managed to fix him."

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I relaxed a bit, knowing that he was safe—for now at least. It was getting a little bit cold since I didn't have my usual clothing on.

I wore a white blouse and some wool grey pants. The fireplace was not enough to heat this room.

I placed back the candle holder and slid back under the blanket on the bed, as far away as I could from the woman, of course.

"Let's start then. I am Friedrich. I..."

"Wonderful, call me Lillian. While my father is away, I am the master of this place. You may wonder why I saved you. I watched you through the eye symbols. For intruders, you were very odd; you seemed to look for problems rather than the countless treasures of this place. When I ordered to kill you, you held on and never tried to flee. When you were on the brink of death, you fought to your very limit. I wanted to play with you a bit more you seemed original. You see, my life is very boring. But don't worry; I changed my mind when I saw a special piece of paper falling from your companion. I would like you to enlighten me about your origins.”

Lillian talked fast—so fast I had trouble following what was going on.

She then showed me Jinhyung’s ‘Ticket’. I couldn't lie…

"Well, we are adventurers; it's hard to explain. We have access to other worlds such as yours, and we have challenges to accomplish. This ticket allows us to travel between such worlds."

“Haha, I highly doubt such grandiose magic would be set up for the two of you. Lets assume I still believe you, why aren’t there more ‘adventurers’?”

“Well, once we enter a world for the first time, a temporary copy of said world is created for the party in order to ensure a fresh experience.”

If she was smart, she would understand. I tried to imply her erasure if ever we happen to die.

This way, she wouldn't try to harm us even after her curiosity would be satisfied. I looked at her; her eyes were even sadder than before. This was the look of a dying beast.

"This explains why my father has been gone since morning; he is not someone that can be replicated... So once you're gone, will this place vanish? But how can I be sure that you're not lying to me in an attempt to get away?"

It was only natural to not believe; the very nature of this situation was unbelievable. I had one idea in mind for how to prove it. Moreover, how come her father was out of reach of the train's power?

"I can prove it."

"Oh yeah? Go forth then."

I grinned, raising my arm and focused all of my ‘intent’ on my ticket.

"So?" Lillian wondered a bit what was happening

Nothing happened… My heart fell to my stomach. I quickly started to analyze every possibility why the ticket menu wouldn’t appear.

Copious amount of sweat dripped in seconds. As I found out, I let out a nervous laugh, how was this not obvious? I simply didn’t have my ticket on me!

“Everything then was a lie?” She said almost relieved.

“No, no wait. Where is my stuff?”

“Oh, sure, it’s in the chest under the bed.”

I jumped off the bed and dug straight into the chest. My cloak, coil of rope, grimoire and finally, my ticket.

My ‘intent’ to use the ticket was so high, the moment I touched it, an explosion of sparks filled the room revealing the ‘Ticket Menu’.

I then quickly navigated the inbox to find old messages, I needed the notice of arrival to the second car. Oh there it was.

As soon as she gazed upon the white text, the atmosphere around us changed. Her “What a funny prey I found” attitude vanished leaving place to an “Am I real?” despair

"I see... This thing reeks of outside magic," she mumbled as a grimace sketched itself on her cold face.

"I will believe you. Well, this concludes our tiny talk. I figured sharing myself would bore you to death and… This is beyond my interests."

She stood up and looked at me before exiting the room; her eyes were tearing.

She really wanted to not believe, but she didn't have the choice. She had to cope with her own demise. She couldn’t do anything to prevent it; no matter how strong she was, her end was unavoidable.

"What are you going to do?"

She said that our 'talk' was now finished, was she going to kill me now?

"I want to burn. I want to burn as the brightest flame instead of turning to ashes without ever shining."

That was surely an odd way to share her desires. But with whom? I was far too weak, and I highly doubted Jinhyung could even follow her movements right now.

"I fear I am far too weak to offer you such an end."

"I will let you have fun in my domain; anyway, it's a mere copy; then, when you think you can defeat me, simply call for me."

She might rival Jinhyung in terms of craziness, by letting us kill her subordinates for the sake of making us stronger. I should stop getting impressed; everyone with power seemed to be crazy anyway.

I followed her in silence through dark corridors until we reached a room similar to mine. In the bed, laid an unconscious Jinhyung.

"His belongings are in the chest next to the bed; goodbye, now."

Once she learned the truth, her answers were strangely dry and emotionless. I guessed dying was indeed such a big thing.

"Wait, how long have I been asleep?"

"Not long; I know you are on a time limit, two hours at most.”

Her small but far from frail frame faded away into a carmine hue tinting the darkness of the corridor.