She went on to explain this world. This place seemed to be what other transporters called "The Dark Dimension". It seemed to have the same overall geography of Earth, yet something was different. The sun would never rise, and the sky would be permanently tinted with a blood moon. Creatures of different shapes and sizes roamed the land, hunting down unsuspecting humans; they were broadly classified as "Zenith". It seemed that the one I encountered was a D-grade, Zenith breed. Its name, untranslatable to any human language. They called it the "Tri-pophobian".
"People would come from random places and random times into this place. No one knew why or how they did it or if some otherworldly power was involved in this. But all everyone knew was that they had to survive. Most don't survive past the first day... You did, so maybe you have something in you..."
Her voice trailed off.
I looked at the window, the red light playing around the slightly opened windowsill, sometimes slightly flickering and getting washed over by an unpassable darkness.
"So, what are those scenarios?" I questioned.
She promptly responded,
"The scenarios are what help us survive here... They come in many forms. You have to do what it says in the [Win Criteria] and ensure that the [Failure condition] doesn't come true. Then you'll be rewarded."
"Wait, so you don't question what the scenarios are and why they exist. You blindly follow a screen telling you to do something?"
Her eyes seemed to glean something for a moment. And just as quickly, that light vanished.
"When the conditions are life or death, that incentivises you to complete the scenario... And in all honesty, they're the only way to survive unless you get some myth-grade weapon. Completing a scenario gives you skills, charms, weapons, and other abilities. These the only way we can keep up with the Zeniths, and those that stray from the Wall."
I narrowed my eyes. "Those that stray from the Wall?" I asked, tilting my head ever so slightly.
"The Zenith are our main problem here in Runesca, that is, the North American continent. However, going south. There's a great wall that separates us from the Empire. The Empire have it a lot worse with their choice of enemies, and sometimes, those creatures come beyond the wall, into Runesca. Every time one does, it's a bloodbath"
An eerie silence blanketed the room for some time.
"So, what's your name? I told you mine."
"My name is Rhere..."
"When did you transport to this world, and wait, how old even are you, can you be smoking?"
"Around a year ago... And you don't need the answer to the second question. Okay, listen to me, and listen to me. I'll only say this once. As soon as you wake up, go north. The runesca guild's regional branch is north. They can help you finish your first scenario. Don't wander, don't try to fight anything..And most importantly-"
I cut her off,
"WAIT- What do you mean 'As soon as you wake up'?"
I barely finished my sentence as the girl muttered something to herself, glanced around, sighed and waved her hand. All I remember is an unbearable pain. And my consciousness seemed to fall this dark abyss.
_____
I was on the 'road' north. And all my mind could think about was that kid. Why was she smoking cigarettes? (Not my primary concern.) What could this world have done to one so young? Why did she do that to me and leave?
Well, there was nothing to be gained from thinking about her. I glanced around at the crimson moon and the stars that seemed to be watching me walk along this hole-ridden excuse for a road.
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was that the screen was glaring in front of me.
Main Scenario #1: A New World
Difficulty:
[F grade]
Win criteria:
[Defeat the Tripaphobian]
Rewards:
• 1 B grade skill
• 5000 Geld
Time limit:
[None]
Failure condition:
1. Your physical body's death
2. Leaving the scenario area {Runesca}
[No deities are watching this scenario.]
As I saw this, I was reminded of all the things I had wanted to ask her and now could've lost my only chance. What were these deities, and how do we get out of this world?
She didn't seem particularly fond of this place, and if she was telling me the truth, she'd been here for at least a year. If she still couldn't leave....Then.
A few dark thoughts enveloped my head, but I managed to push them aside.
I looked around the room to find a mug filled with water that looked and smelled like it'd been taken from a lake filled with dead fish, two pieces of stale bread, and a compass.
Well, something was better than nothing. That's what I told myself as I went on all fours like I was some beast and ended up eating the two pieces of bread in just a couple of bites. I gulped down the water and looked at the compass.
It was intricate, engraved with what seemed to be runes of some sort.
I didn't know what it said, but the large silver owl in the middle of the compass indicated it was some sort of noble house's crest.
I went tied the laces of my shoes, which had come undone, removed my shirts collar button, which had been poking my neck for the past hour or so, and got ready to set for North.
And that's how I ended up here, somewhere between 5-20 miles from that house. I'd lost the distance a very long time ago. The landscape barely changed. It was a mix and an alternation of corn fields and small houses.
Every once in a while, I'd see a humanoid shadow in the corner of my eye. Whenever I did, either voluntarily or involuntarily, my pace would pick up.
It was soon night. Or was it always night here? Nonetheless, the temperature dropped rapidly. I was now freezing.
"Altair, don't go crazy. Don't go crazy. Don't go crazy."
I kept repeating that to myself as a sort of a mantra. A charm for, you guessed it, keeping me from going crazy.
I kept walking, as fog completely rendered my optical view useless. That was that. I needed someplace to go, someplace to rest. Unfortunately, both sides were cornfields within my limited field of view.
After about a couple hundred feet, I saw my first refuge, a house with more holes and openings than the one I had been in earlier.
I went in, locked the main door (Not like that was gonna save me) and went into the first bedroom I found without a hole to outside the house.
The bed was just as tattered, if not worse. There was no sign of food or drink, and the temperature kept dropping.
I wasn't sure if any deities were watching my scenario, but it must've been through one's blessings that I'd found a rag in their pantry. A heavy one at that. I dragged it to the bedroom and threw it on myself as I lay down.
____
It'd been at least an hour, and I couldn't sleep.
I mean, I don't think anyone could in my situation. The glaring threat of death wasn't the best way to cure my insomnia, after all. However, the body's processes do go on, and after another grueling 20ish minutes, I felt my mind wander as my eyelids shut.
____
I opened my eyes, and I immediately regretted that decision. A towering body stood at the foot the bed. A 7-foot, armoured hunk of a man- was it a man?- covered in dark rags. His armour seemed straight out of a dark fantasy game, and his face was covered with a mask. One with a primitive painting of a man cutting another down with a sickle. He didn't move, nor did I.
I stood still, not even daring to let a breath through. As I analysed him further. I couldn't see any of his hair behind the mask and the hood, and he seemed humanoid enough. But I didn't have enough information about Zeniths to classify him as a human just yet.
As I was thinking, his mouth opened. A gravelly voice boomed.
"Famine's fate shall not claim you today, child blessed by the Ice Empress's grace."
I blacked out.
____
"Oh"
I exclaimed as I woke up. A deep sigh escaped me as I realised the skull warrior was merely a product of my dream. An exhilarated feeling filled my soul, there was no way someone like him truly existed, not even in this world.
I touched my arms and legs, as I realised there was no damage to my body, except.. my neck felt awfully itchy.
I realised the frost had gone, and it was time for me to move.
I decided to leave the rag behind, as I had no idea if it would prove useful against a zenith. Those monsters seemed a bit too scary for me to risk getting caught. And the last time, I only escaped because of my speed. I didn't want to risk compromising that lugging that huge rug around.
I decided to search for a mirror to check on what was on my neck, maybe an insect bite. I went to each bedroom, and what I saw was the same thing. This gave me another revalation about this world. Every single mirror here was broken down into fine dust, and small shards. I tried to pluck a shard and use it as a mini mirror. Yet, it wasn't dynamic enough for me to see myself in 180°. However, i did see my nose, mouth, eyes, and every part of my face individually. They were all covered in soot. I looked at my dark hair, praise the lord, it was untouched. I decided staying here would be risky, and decided to head out.
I went out and continued northward. I looked around and realised the houses grew more and more damaged the farther and farther I went north. With some crumbled down houses beginning to appear. Was this a good sign? How much could I trust that little girl? Well, if she wanted to hurt me, she could've done that when I was knocked out.
I consoled myself and marched forward.
Yet the crumbled houses kept going on and on, with no sign of an end.
The entire scene looked so subliminal. I felt fear, but not the kind I felt when I watched The Conjuring for the first time. I realised that was merely an imitation of a primal emotion. The one emotion everyone possessed, fear, true primal fear. I felt like my heart was going to stop.
Would there ever be an end to this journey? Would I even make it to the base alive? Would they accept me, even if I made it? What if they sacrificed me to some eldritch god?
So many dreadful thoughts filled my head. As I looked around, I saw nothing different. I held back puke and swallowed it, the burning aftertaste left in my throat. I felt my entire body tense up, and sweat began pouring down from every pore in my body.
That's when I first began to realise. This wasn't normal anxiety. This was being pushed onto me by something else. I needed to get out of there. Unfortunately, self-awareness didn't seem to stop my thoughts, nor did it help me move my body.
I stared at the ground. I stared at it for what seemed like an eternity, the tip of my nose touching a piece of sharp gravel. I couldn't move. Suddenly, a screen appeared in front of me.
Sub Scenario: Death is Permanent
Difficulty:
[C grade]
Win criteria:
[Survive the Eternal Fear for 10 minutes]
Rewards:
• Your life is safe.
Time limit:
[10 minutes]
Failure condition:
1. Your physical body's death
2. Leaving the scenario area {Runesca}
[4 deities are watching this scenario.]
It took me a second for the information on the screen to be fed into my brain. What the fuck does this mean. I didn't know what the eternal fear was. And I swear to god, I didn't want to find out.
But fortune never seemed to be in my favour. I finally got the strength to get up. As I got up, I looked behind me, and I immediately went back down on my knees.
[That's the indescribable fear.]
I thought to myself, hating myself for coming this way, for trusting that little girl, for even trying to save Alice back home.
No matter how I tried, I couldn't comprehend it, I couldn't understand what it looked like. The closest thing I could affiliate it with was a grotesque amalgamation of contorted limbs and writhing mucus, each part seemingly incompatible with the whole. Its surface was a sickening blend of slick, translucent skin and scales that reflected no light, creating an unnerving visual distortion.
A shrill scream escaped my throat. What the absolute fuck was this. My brain felt like it was about to melt, my heart like it was about to get crushed by the weight of an invisible anvil. I could feel every single nerve in my body slowly stretching as if they were about to tear.
The creature's movements were erratic yet deliberate, giving off this feeling that this was something alien, to me, to this land, alien even to reality itself. I couldn't get myself to run. I couldn't get myself to move. I felt true fear for the first time.
Yet even that fear wasn't comparable to what I felt when it started to move towards me.