Date: September 20, 637, Time: 01:34. Location: Once again, deep within the forest, in an unknown place. My dream had rewound itself once more. I was back to the moment where the girl was drawing something on the ground with iron. I still had no clue why I was here for the third time or who had brought me. The last time, I thought I had made the right decision by approaching the girl, but was I wrong? I didn’t think so, because I had learned something: Rebirth. Thinking I could learn something again, I began to approach her. However, I encountered a problem. No matter how far I moved through the rubble, I couldn't get closer to her.

I don’t know how many minutes I struggled, but the sky had grown dark. The sun had given way to its smaller sibling, the moon. The wind had started to grow colder, and my body began to shiver. The strange outfit I wore wasn’t helping at all. Since my first dream, I had been wearing this outfit. It was like a long, thin, dust-covered coat. On my head was a hood that seemed to belong to this garment. I couldn’t take the outfit off in any way. It was strange.

I stopped, lifted my head toward the sky, and pondered the absurdity of the thoughts I’d just had. How could I witness the sun and the moon exchanging places when the thick clouds of dust obscured even the sun? It was understandable, but what meaning did it hold? Why had this wretched world come to this state in the first place? All my questions found their answers when the girl suddenly rose and grabbed my arm. She looked at me with her non-existent face, and words spilled from the mouth that had just appeared:

“It’s your creation.”

It was my creation.

I found myself trembling where I lay. I was trying to make sense of what I had just seen. I was startled. I was afraid. Was it really my creation? Had I brought about that apocalyptic scene? How was that even possible? Who… Who was I? What was I? Why was I seeing these dreams? What was I supposed to understand from all this? I brought my hands to my head and pressed lightly against my eyes. This helped me gather my thoughts and regain my composure. Once I calmed down, I lifted my body, gazing at the moon—the smaller sibling of the sun—and looked around for the tiny, pitiful bird.

The bird was nowhere to be seen. The sun was gone, and since the moon wasn’t providing much light, searching for it didn’t seem practical. Instead, I decided to focus on my own problems. I needed to find a solution for my trembling body because I wasn’t feeling well at all. I had learned that fire helped, so trying to start a fire seemed like a logical solution. However, I didn’t know how to start one. My brief research in the Archive had given me a few ideas. I needed a few dozen branches, some dry grass, and specific types of stones to create a spark. If I could conduct a thorough scan of my surroundings, it would make my task easier. I could try the combinations offered by Analysis. However, despite further research on those combinations, I had found nothing useful. It seemed that the idea of starting a fire had to be shelved for now.

I guess I had no choice but to move forward and find a place to shelter. My body was only showing signs of cold and shivering, but I had no idea what would happen if this continued. My lack of knowledge was putting me in danger, but there was nothing I could do. I decided to find the river again. From what I had learned, it was possible to find warm places near the springs where rivers originated. Various creatures preferred those areas as habitats. This was also true for humans. Even though I didn’t want to encounter them again, I had no other option.

I had no idea how far I needed to go or whether what I was doing was right. Although I was calmer while trekking through the damp terrain, the words from the dream still haunted my mind. Your creation... However, the world I was currently in was entirely different from the one in my dream. If I was responsible for what had happened in that dream world, how could this world be explained?

As I tried to approach the situation logically, the crickets in the forest seemed to be in sync with me. To be honest, it was the first time I’d ever encountered the sound these creatures made. I had come across them during one of my random explorations after gaining access to the Archive. That’s when I learned they made sounds at night. The Archive mentioned that their sound had a calming effect. At first, I thought that sounded illogical, even ridiculous. But now, I realized that their sound was helping me collect my thoughts with ease. I had been wrong. So, could I not also be wrong about my dream?

Dreams didn’t always reflect reality. I might have been mistaken. At that moment, I knew I shouldn’t exhaust myself by overthinking it. My body was growing heavier, and my steps were slowing. Rather than focusing on a vague, timeless dream, I needed to concentrate on the present. Things were becoming serious. I had started stumbling, and I didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to me if my body gave out. I couldn’t afford to lose this opportunity after so long. Even though seeing in the dark was challenging, I had to keep moving. I needed to use every ounce of my strength to keep going.

As I struggled to make my way along the riverbank, I noticed lights within the forest beside me. Their numbers were growing, and they were getting brighter, signaling that danger was approaching. It was clear this wasn’t a good sign. Had they found me? I didn’t have to wait long for my answer, as a burning arrow landed near my foot.

I stopped and turned toward the figures emerging through the trees, examining the ugly expressions on their faces. Their intentions were clear from their looks. I knew I needed to conserve my strength just to stay standing, but I also knew I had to confront this obstacle. I was ready. I could trick them by maintaining my weak appearance, so I didn’t change my stance. When I looked ahead, I saw the self-assured, lumbering stride of the person who had shot the arrow and was now preparing to speak to me.

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“You’re making this really difficult for us, you naughty jumpy girl.”

The man, speaking with a wide grin, had called me a "girl"? He must have mistaken me for a human. Perhaps it was because I looked like one. He had addressed me as a female human. Although I didn’t fully understand the implications of this, I didn’t have time to dwell on it. The archer beside him glanced at me, asking a question as if in response:

“How did you cross the river? Don’t tell me you actually jumped?”

The other loudmouth chimed in, and the two exchanged a few sentences:

“Impossible. Even a Haura couldn’t pull that off.”

“How dare you insult the Saintess? You insolent fool!”

“Aland, shut your mouth! Everyone already knows how devoted you are to your religion.”

At that, the rest of the group burst into laughter so loud it drowned out the crickets of the forest. I couldn’t understand what was so funny. When their laughter finally subsided after a few seconds, the man turned to me again and resumed speaking:

“Now let’s discuss what we’re going to do with you, because you don’t look like you’ve got much energy left. Honestly, for a young woman like you, wandering alone in the forest at this hour and in this state can’t be easy.”

As he spoke, he toyed with a short knife in his right hand, tossing it and catching it repeatedly. With his left hand, he rubbed his chin and head, pretending to be deep in thought. His body was massive, and his clothes clung so tightly to his frame that there seemed to be no room for movement. A thick, black mustache stretched between his mouth and nose, bobbing up and down as he spoke. If I had to fight him, I doubted any blows I landed would have much effect. But I knew how fragile humans could be. For me, he was no problem.

They had given me time to think by stalling, inadvertently increasing my chances. I was merely waiting to see what their next move would be, curious if I could learn anything from their words.

“But you’re awfully quiet. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue from fear? Don’t be scared, little lady, we won’t eat you. We’ll just use you.”

The group erupted into laughter again at this comment. In that moment, I noticed the drooling. Humans’ grotesqueness was unmatched. Even if I were human, their behavior alone would have made me forsake my humanity.

I had shown enough tolerance. It was time to act and teach them a lesson.

Without hesitation, I used the Speed command and hurled the still-burning arrow from the ground toward the loudmouth who had spoken so mockingly. Before they even realized what was happening, the arrow struck him square in the forehead. The group froze, stunned, watching as the massive man collapsed to the ground. None of them had anticipated such a move.

They began murmuring amongst themselves, asking questions like, “What just happened?” and “Was it her?” But I didn’t have the luxury of waiting for them to figure it out.

With Speed still active, I dashed toward the scrawny archer who had fired the arrow and severed his head from his body in a second. As their shock began to fade, giving way to a mixture of fear and adrenaline, I had already taken down five more. Their confusion made my task easier. At this point, they had all become stationary targets.

The Speed command played a significant role, of course. My physical speed had reached such a high level that their movements appeared sluggish to me. The torches illuminating the dark forest were extinguished one by one with each passing second.

The forest, once again cloaked in darkness under the moonlight, stood silent, devoid of a single living human. I had managed to eliminate them all, but my exhaustion was evident in every aspect of my being. My eyes struggled to focus in the darkness, the world around me turning blurry. I felt as though there was a hollow void within my body, and at the same time, it felt like a knife was carving into my stomach. My arms and legs had lost all strength. Without control, I fell to my knees. To prevent my head from hitting the ground, I braced my hands against the earth, trying to lift my head.

My hair, damp as if it had been submerged in water during the fight, clung to my face and glistened under the moonlight, blinding me. My breathing was rapid, but I knew I had to keep going. I had to move forward. I had to reach the spring and save myself. No one was coming for me. I was alone. If anyone did come, it would only be those despicable humans who sought to kill me.

I waited a few minutes for my breathing to stabilize and my energy to recover. My body had warmed during the fight, but now, as the cold began to creep back in, I slowly stood and started moving again. It took me only a minute to reach the marshy terrain by the water’s edge. I wasn’t actually that far, which was proof of just how drained I was. Even gathering my thoughts felt like a monumental task. My legs continued forward, despite their unwillingness, and I believed I was still in control.

As I progressed across the marshy land, I hadn’t considered the possibility of losing my balance, and my worst fear came true. A misstep on the muddy, unstable ground at the water’s edge caused me to lose control, and my legs gave way, dragging me into the river’s cold waters. It didn’t take long for the current to carry me in the opposite direction of my goal.

I'm waiting for your favorite parts of this episode and your theories about it in the comments. ~AIIEV

The sharp and jagged rocks beneath the surface delivered heavy blows to my body, making it nearly impossible to move in the water. Keeping myself afloat was already a struggle, but this made it an absolute nightmare. After a while, as breathing became increasingly difficult, I lost track of everything. Darkness consumed me, and the rest was a void.