Aire awoke to the taste of shit in his mouth and nose.
"Did I die?" he whispered, feeling half relieved that it was finally all over.
「20 new viewers have tuned into your station. You are 30 viewers away from your first prize.」
"I guess not," he sighed, trying to pick himself up. He was lying in the small pit that once held the blood well, though it seemed that the well had dried up.
'Wait. The witch, the blood... the notification,' he realized all at once. It took him a difficult moment to tame the thoughts that flooded his brain.
He slowed his breathing, focusing on recovery first. His walking stick was a few crawls away; he felt disgusted at the fact that so many witches were watching him drag through the blood of his comrades.
Once he was back to his feet, he checked for injuries or any other changes to his body.
There were none.
'I drank the blood... well, it was shoved down my throat by whatever that thing was,' he thought, scanning the room. 'It doesn't seem to be here anymore,' he realized. 'And neither is the monster.'
'But anyway, I'm certain something special is supposed to happen to me now.'
「A special viewer has sent you a message. Interact with your chain to read it.」
That was the second time the notification system had mentioned a special viewer. And it was the first he had heard of it. Though not much had been explained to him before he was dragged off to this place.
'The chain? It must mean the implant,' he realized, before scratching the back of his neck. He felt a piece of loose flesh, and peeled it back. It revealed a smooth metallic chill, and once he pressed against it, an interface opened in front of him.
━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━
Name: Fearless Mongrel {!New}
Rank: Hybrid— Stage Zero
Flame Constellation: Black (Interlinked with {Cabin ofFear'})
Curse Runes: [Fearless]
Vows: —
Overall Viewer Rating: E-
[You have one new message!]
Aire took a moment to process all the new information. The first time he had used the 'chains' it had only shown his Overall viewer rating. But back then it had been an F-.
"Fearless Mongrel? And who the fuck decided that?" he mumbled.
He moved on, focusing on the flame constellation. He didn't know much about witch powers, but he knew that each of them fell under a certain flame constellation that decided how their powers would work. If it was claiming that he had one, then it meant he really had gained powers.
'One more part of me infected with their filth,' he thought in disgust. Though he knew that these powers would help him, he couldn't be picky as a cripple trapped in hell. After all, he knew that his freedom would come at a steep cost.
'But how do I use it?' he thought.
He didn't feel any different than before, there really wasn't much for him to go off of. 'I'm sure Eden would've been able to figure this out,' he thought, remembering one of his friends... well his only friend, from back at the orphanage.
'Enough, no need to start getting sentimental,' he told himself, before focusing on the new message notification.
It opened a moment after.
━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━
From: [Fearless Mongrel Fangirl#0001]
Message: [To activate your powers, whisper these words and perform a binding action.]
"The strong shall bleed to grant the flame,
But only the innocent sustain the name.
The price of survival; this unholy wrong,
so speaks the curse, so binds the song."
P.S I think your cane looks cute.
Aire furrowed his brows. 'Just when did I become some kind of pet?'
He looked at the camera overhead and raised his voice. "My cane looks cute? It'll look cuter up your ass—if you haven't already torn it fucking yourself to all of this."
He tried to calm down, performing his breathing exercises. It seemed that ever since his fear had been taken away, his other emotions were all out of balance.
'At least they told me how to use my powers,' he thought.
'So just the dumb words, and a binding action?' He had no idea what a binding action was, but at least he had a place to start.
He cleared his throat, reading the words slowly and deliberately. Not out of care that it might not work, but because some of these words were too difficult for him. Witch-tongue had never been a favourite subject of his.
"...
so speaks the curse, so binds the song."
And with that, he tapped his walking stick on the ground.
He waited in silence, half excited at what might happen, half angry that he was.
Black smoke billowed from the mouth and nose. He stumbled back, tripping over himself, but it did not stop.
「Artificial activation of flame constellation has failed. Interlinked flame: 'Cabin of fear' requires special items to activate.」
"Fuck," Aire muttered under his breath. 'At least I know the witch wasn't lying to me.'
He stood there for a moment, breathing in the rot, trying to piece it together. However this was way out of his league.
Witchpowers were a black box; books on them had been banned for decades. He wouldn't know a special item if it stabbed him in the throat.
He glanced up at the hovering drone.
He considered asking for help. That special viewer seemed to like him enough.
However, he quickly decided against it. They weren't allies. They were the reason he was here in the first place.
He sighed and started limping toward the exit, one step at a time. The burn in his gut still hadn't faded.
'Cabin of Fear… what the hell is that supposed to be?'
Then he heard it; something groaning in the darkness of the corridor outside.
Low. Wet. Wrong. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. And it was getting closer. Fast.
'Another one? You've got to be kidding me.'
「11 Viewers have cheered on your station. Your global ranking has moved up by 2.」
"Fuck! I don't have time for that! How do I activate the fucking powers?"
Moments like this made him miss fear.
At least fear brought clarity...adrenaline sharpening the mind, forcing answers where there were none.
But now?
All he could think about was how hungry he was.
And how much his leg hurt.
An idea sparked. 'The door.'
'I can use that as a shield,' he realized. Not a real plan, but maybe enough to buy time... perhaps he could even ask his new fangirl for help.
He grabbed the doorknob and swung it back.
「An appropriate item has been engaged. Initiating Cabin of Fear activation.」
Black smoke poured from his mouth and eyes again, burning... choking, but this time it clung to the door, igniting it in dancing black flames.
The 'changed' came into view.
A human. No... three humans. Stitched mouth-to-rear, slithering like a centipede. Black rot dripped from its torn jaw, sizzling like acid as it hit the ground.
"Faster!" Aire yelled at the door, like the magic could hear him.
The wood groaned. It darkened, before the flames snuffed out, and finally it creaked open—just as the abomination reached the doorway.
Beyond the strange door was darkness. A single candle burned at the center of a small room.
Aire didn't hesitate. He threw himself in.
The door slammed shut a heartbeat before the thing could follow.
「Connection to host station has been severed... reconnecting.」
Then silence.
"Welcome, stranger."
Aire froze. The voice didn't come from the shadows...it came from inside the candle. "Who said that?"