The murky black sea began to rise and churn. As if a colossal living creature was trying to flee from the gray sunlight.
Ren, along with his strange raft, started to sway uneasily. The subtle movements became more frequent, until eventually, the raft began to rock.
Gripping tightly onto the smooth support, Ren lifted his eyes to the sea.
It took a while for him to believe he wasn't seeing an illusion… the sea seemed to be receding.
Slowly at first, then more rapidly as the gray sunbeams pierced further beneath the overcast horizon, the ocean pulled back faster and faster.
Ren's makeshift raft, the thing that had helped him survive the cold and terrifying black sea, began to lose balance.
He gripped the raft tightly with both hands, trying to keep it from capsizing.
As the sun climbed higher, the ashen current continued to recede.
It dragged both Ren and his raft along the strange tide.
There was no time to observe as the raft began spinning with the water's flow, like a small whirlpool devouring everything in its path.
Ren's hands, clamped like iron vises, stung and bled. The strange fibers he clung to sliced into his palms with a gentle precision.
Dark crimson blood streamed from his pale palms, staining a portion of the gray fibers red beneath the gloomy sunlight.
It was only then that Ren noticed how strange the raft really was. Its outer shell was tightly wrapped in gray silk bands, completely sealed.
But that wasn't something he could afford to think about now. The sea current was sweeping him and the raft away faster and faster.
As if it were trying to escape something... or someone.
The raft rocked violently, as though about to flip.
Ren didn't know where the current was carrying him, but one thing was clear, it wasn't anywhere safe or pleasant.
Then, suddenly, dark crimson blades erupted from beneath the ocean's surface, scattered here and there.
With no way to slow down, Ren's raft slammed into the newly risen sharp peaks.
A grating, deafening screech filled the air as the raft scraped along, eventually coming to a halt.
Along with it came a tearing sound, like fabric being ripped. The raft seemed deformed.
Perhaps those red tips had damaged it, but it was still being swept by the current.
Ren felt the fibers wrapped around his hands loosen.
Eventually, he and the raft became entangled in a dense cluster of dark red spikes. It was this that kept him from being dragged away any further.
Still, Ren needed to understand what these things were. He didn't dare touch them, only observed.
As the water level receded even further, it was as if a crimson forest slowly emerged from the depths of the black sea.
And worse still, they towered over Ren's head as his raft sank lower with the tide.
These "trees" were formed from some kind of material, resembling coral, crisscrossing and reaching toward the gray sky.
They were massive, with strange indentations, intertwining in bizarre patterns across the red and black divide of this world under the pale sun.
They looked like the hollow shell of an ancient demon.
Ren saw jagged rocks jutting up between them, but he lost sight of them as the water continued to pull him downward.
Without hesitation, not even for a second, Ren abandoned the raft that had saved him the day before and jumped to the side.
He grabbed onto one of the grotesque hollows in the coral wall and began to climb.
Finding a spot that was relatively safe with a stable foothold, Ren waited, to see whether the black sea would recede further.
Half an hour later, under his stunned gaze, Ren blinked.
The sea had vanished completely.
If not for the seaweed clinging to the walls and coral pillars, he might have questioned his sanity.
Or wondered if the black sea had been just a mad illusion of his mind.
The area he now clung to was utterly alien, like a vast coral labyrinth.
At that moment, the darkness of night completely withdrew, replaced by a daytime just as bleak.
"I've never read or heard of anything like this."
Ren thought to himself. He couldn't associate any known region within the Dream Realm, the human-known world, with something this bizarre. A place like this should have been memorable and prominent.
Shaking the thought away, Ren began climbing between the leaning coral pillars.
First and foremost, he knew, if the sea could vanish, it could definitely return.
"Maybe on a daily or monthly cycle."
Ren wasn't sure, but he would prepare for the worst.
When something bad happens, it always happens in the worst way possible. No exceptions.
He needed to find a safe place, one higher than the sea level when the tide returned.
He also needed water and food.
If not, he would have to retrieve his lost raft and pray that tomorrow would be as lucky as today.
If today hadn't been lucky, he wouldn't have survived to see tomorrow's misfortune anyway.
His bare feet stepped across the freezing, muddy ground. Ren's body trembled slightly, feeling as though some of his strength had been drained.
He picked up a few strands of enormous black seaweed nearby large, tough, and as durable as tree bark.
Not edible.
But at least usable for clothing, offering a bit of warmth.
He didn't have much time. Ren wasn't sure where the terrifying sea creatures had gone.
Perhaps they were swept away with the black sea the best-case scenario for creatures that couldn't function on land.
Ren stared into the tangled red coral paths ahead. Maybe some had gotten stranded, and he could harvest their meat or, with luck, Soul Shards or Memories.
But that was just wishful thinking. He quickly tied some seaweed around his waist to cover himself.
Looking around, he began to move quietly through the mud.
He headed toward the nearest rocky outcrop, hoping to climb up and get a better view of this place.
Maybe he could find a way out of this labyrinth before nightfall.
But the complex and chaotic structure of the red coral maze kept him stumbling.
He kept walking, orienting himself by the sun.
Suddenly, Ren heard footsteps on the muddy ground.
Not just one... more. Around four.
"Something… no, they..."
Cautious, he lowered his breathing and slowly followed the direction of the sound.
The footsteps stopped. Instead, he heard scraping and the crunch of bones or metal.
A few meters later, Ren spotted a large dark figure.
It was about two and a half meters tall, a grotesque blend of crab and demon.
It had four pairs of long legs, the source of the footsteps Ren had heard.
Its segmented limbs ended in sharp, sickle-like tips.
In front, a humanoid torso jutted out of a shell wrapped in chitin armor.
A head... presumably sat atop the torso without a visible neck.
The creature had two narrow eye slits and a slimy mouth with several glistening pincers.
Instead of arms, it bore massive claws.
Ren's presence didn't alert it, the monster had its back turned, seemingly focused on eating something.
The pincers struggled to tear at some gray-white strips. Ren peeked.
It looked like his raft… or rather, was his raft.
Ren furrowed his brow. He needed that raft in case he couldn't find a high enough area.
The raft could be the key to survival... even if his chances were slim.
But he had to do something before the disgusting crab-like scavenger destroyed it.
He could also get food if he succeeded in defeating it.
But Ren didn't dare move out just yet... perhaps, he would wait a little longer, until it completely let its guard down.