"Argh!"
His head hurts, as if it were being crushed. And as he opens his eyes, Lian sees nothing but tiny beams of light around him.
"Dad..?" he calls out, confused. It feels as though something sharp is prodding his back and, completely immobilized, for some reason heavy objects lie upon his body. "Is anyone there? Please, help me! Someone...!"
No one answers.
Where is he? Why is he there? Why did they do this to him? The questions are endless and keep coming, just like the incessant drip on his forehead—the very same drop that woke him up.
"Is this some kind of joke...? A prank, perhaps? I was at home, so... what are the odds of suddenly appearing in some random place?"
His hand moves, allowing him to grope at his surroundings. Above him, a rough sensation, like a concrete wall. Below, something smooth with a seemingly sharp edge, along with holes and a cool, earthen texture.
"What's holding me seems to be a wall... or at least fragments of one. And what lies beneath... shards of glass and dirt. I might have thought it was a coffin if not for that pointed thing on my back."
As he moves his hands, everything trembles and dust falls into his eyes. Now with no more drips, the gap above opens, revealing a blue sky with faint remnants of the crimson clouds that once covered him.
"Then I guess this isn't an isekai..." Lian says, his tone carrying a hint of disappointment. Sighing, he resumes groping the walls that surround him.
"They trembled, but didn't fall... My body couldn't have borne all this on its own, so I don't know why, but whoever did this seems to have, at the very least, taken care to support or secure these wreckage fragments onto something... I don't know whether to be grateful or curse them down to their next generation... Wait, wreckage fragments...? No, haha... that's ridiculous. Get that idea out of your head, Lian. What are the odds?"
Paralyzed, he finds himself lost in thought. Whether to accept it or not is simply a matter of choice, with the correct answer appearing obvious.
"If this had happened, there would have been so much noise outside. They would have heard me screaming for help... Not that the idea of someone doing something like this isn't absurd—it would work well in one of those over-the-top urban manhwas—but... a collapse? Seriously? What are the chances of that happening?"
Suddenly, the ground trembles and the sharp object on his back vanishes.
"Huh? It fell? But to where—!"
His back gives way, as there's nothing left to hold onto. A terrifying tremor runs through everything beneath him and, frightened, Lian clings to the continuously fracturing ground, holding on to life. Then, shifting his gaze slightly, he sees an endless hole.
What could it be? Adrenaline? That was the most logical thought at that moment. Summoning an extraordinary strength, he dislodges the stones that were pinning him and makes them fall down into the abyss. Some of the larger ones even seem to have tumbled sideways.
Then, trembling, he runs away from the fissure at the first chance he gets.
"Arf! Arf! Arf!..."
It takes a while for his breath to return. But when it does, he also sees that the world around him has completely collapsed. Not a single house remains, let alone a neighborhood. Everything—buildings, mansions, all—is gone.
"Mom...! Dad!"
Running toward the rubble, he began hurling every stone in front of him far away. It didn't matter how heavy they were—he didn't even notice the difference. As if it were a mere pebble, even a concrete slab flew off with just a slight flick of his hand.
With such immense force and a terrifying sensation, as he instinctively turned his head to the side, something lodged itself into the concrete wall ahead.
"But what—?!"
Grasping the object in his hand, he couldn't understand. Its shape, appearance, and pattern were something commonly seen and ignored—after all, it was supposed to be utterly harmless. Yet now, for some reason, it bore a sharp edge along its borders and possessed a hardness and resistance capable of piercing even solid concrete walls.
"A leaf...?"
His body moved on its own once again, leaping to the other side of the vast fissure stretching across the ground.
"This is ridiculous!" he exclaimed, startled, as he realized he had easily jumped several meters in distance. "What the hell is happening?! Why am I—!"
The branches moved slowly, swaying from one side to the other. Once vibrant yet immobile, these creatures now appeared capable of even walking with their roots. And when they wished, they would launch their leaves like a sort of artillery.
Raising a nearby wall, Lian tried to defend himself. Or at least, he almost did. The leaves pierced through the wall, their tips stabbing out to the other side.
'There's no way this is real! I must still be dreaming, right?! This is all just happening, isn't it? Please, Mom...'
Bending his knees, he readied himself. Though he didn't know exactly for what, Lian heard something rapidly approaching. The wall split in half as it opened, and he leaped backward.
The branches were chasing him.
'It's far more fun to watch than to experience...!'
Jumping from one branch to another, he managed to stay safe. Yet his eyes couldn't tear away from the debris below.
"Lian!" he remembered the words his mother had said before leaving, and he realized, "They weren't home…!"
A kick sent a branch flying upward. With a push and a leap, Lian used the momentum to get as far away as possible from the creature.
The strangeness of his own abilities frightened him, but tossing heavy rocks as if they were made of styrofoam also thrilled him. He had read so many stories and watched so many movies and cartoons that these newfound skills even reminded him of a certain character.
"Could it be that I was also bitten by a spider while I slept?" he joked to himself. "Or maybe it was a dragonfly, hahaha?"
However, the situation around him left little room for jokes or playful banter. No people were in sight, only blood spattered across streets and sidewalks. The destruction, the creatures, and the growing tremors—was this the price to pay? For experiencing what he had longed for in those stories, was this truly the cost? If so, it was far from a fair trade.
'Please... I hope they're all right... Please...'
Using bicycles or cars was out of the question—after all, he didn't know how to drive, and more importantly, the roads simply wouldn't allow it. From one end to the other, everywhere he looked, fissures emerged alongside tremors that seemed to shake the entire planet.
So, with no other option, he kept running toward his mother's workplace. A task far from simple or easy. For besides the fissures, even the tiniest blades of grass attacked him—either ensnaring his feet or launching thousands of spines as hard as steel in his direction. The trees targeted him with their leaves and branches, and certain flowers released pollen—not only visible as a thick cloud surrounding them but seemingly possessing properties as destructive and strange as the others: something Lian would rather not discover, if possible.
With little time left, as the place seemed destined to collapse at the next tremor, even though apprehensive, Lian slipped in and began searching among the rubble for his mother.
"Mom?!" he called, venturing into the noisy debris of the building.
"Is anyone there? Mom? Someone?!"
His voice echoed, causing what remained of the structure to tremble. Small stones fell, making everything even more unstable and dangerous.
"Please... Mom..."
He tried to ignore the bodies. With blood clinging to his feet, he felt it, which made him clench his throat. Yet, with a purpose in mind and nothing left to vomit, his body hesitated—but Lian kept walking.
"Mom!"
A stone fell beside him, forcing him to collapse onto the bloodstained ground.
"Damn! No—!"
That viscous, disgusting liquid entered his mouth, but, more importantly, there were blond, long, wavy hair. His mind denied it, yet the gleaming ring on the finger in front of him forced him to accept it.
"Mom...!"
Anger, hatred, or guilt? What good would it do to ask? Grasping his mother's body in his arms, he ran out of the building as he felt the ground beneath his feet vibrate.
If it was anger, at whom? Hatred, directed at whom? And guilt for exactly what? Lian didn't know—he only felt and couldn't understand. Yet he wished to understand, to know why, to try and grasp the reason his mother had to die.
The tremor struck again, more intensely. And the creatures surrounded everything, encircling him with every passing moment.
His tears fell, and there was no reason to fight. His father would have agreed. What was there to live for in a world where nothing remained? No friends, no family, not even neighbors. Is life that important, to cling to it even when utterly alone? Lian didn't think so, and that was one of the things he least understood in the series or movies he had watched. Why strive so hard if the end is the same—lonely and cold?
"...Goodbye..." he whispered, kissing his mother's forehead and holding her tight.
Such an unreal event—what could be the reason? From space, they observed from their ship without any empathy or connection.
"The third test is complete," said one of the crew members—a bipedal being with scaly, bluish skin and gills on its neck. "The sample was a success."
"Analyze all the collected data and see what can be improved. But first, send the preliminary report."
"Yes, Captain."
The woman turned her back on the imploding planet before her eyes and wandered through the ship, whose interior was filled with a strange, viscous liquid.
"Plot the course. We will return immediately."
As the ship—which had previously been invisible—drifted into space, the Earth exploded.