This world was empty. There was no sky, no ground, just a gray emptiness that seemed to move, twitching like an endless sea of fog. The air here was so cold, it pierced the skin to the bone, yet strangely I didn't shiver. It felt... like I was no longer myself.
Then, the sound came. A low hum echoed from a distance, followed by the sharp sound of metal scraping. I turned around, my instincts screaming warnings of danger, and that's when I saw it.
The figure. A creature towering three meters tall, its body wrapped in a layer of flesh that clumped like melting wax. Its face had no eyes, just a large mouth gaping with rows of long, sharp teeth. Black liquid dripped from its jaw, falling onto the invisible ground, evaporating like smoke.
I took a step back. My heart pounded hard. Cold sweat trickled down my back.
"What is this?"
The figure didn't answer. Instead, it moved. In an instant, the creature shot towards me, its claws raised high. I didn't even have time to think before its sharp claws struck my chest. An overwhelming pain exploded in my body.
I screamed. Blood gushed from the gaping wound in my chest, and my body was thrown backward. My vision trembled, my breath was caught, while my consciousness slowly faded. Then everything turned black.
I opened my eyes. I was still here. This world was still gray. The air was still cold. And the sound - the same low hum, the same metal scraping. I turned around. The creature was still there, standing in the same place as before, staring at me with its gaping mouth.
Impossible. I had just died. My chest should have been torn open, my blood should have flowed out, but here I was standing again, whole, as if nothing had happened. Before I could process everything, the creature attacked again.
I tried to dodge, but my body felt slow, as if I was moving through water. Its claws struck my shoulder, tearing skin and flesh, and once again I felt excruciating pain. I fell to the ground, blood flowing heavily from the new wound on my body. My vision blurred. Darkness.
Then I opened my eyes again. I was back. I was still here. I didn't know how many times I had died. Ten times? Twenty times? A hundred times? I didn't know. What I knew was that every time I was killed, I returned to the starting point - standing in the midst of this emptiness, facing the same creature, with the same fate.
I tried everything. I tried to run - but this place had no end. I tried to fight - but my punches were nothing more than a mere touch to the creature. I tried to hide - but there was nowhere to hide in this shapeless world. I could only die and die again.
However, there was something different this time. I felt it in my body, a faint pulse that had never been there before. The pulse appeared every time I died. Every time I rose again, my body felt stronger, a little faster, a little more accustomed to the pain. And on the umpteenth death, I saw something.
In the last moments before my consciousness faded, I caught a glimpse of light, something shining in the distance, like a reflection of light on water. I repeated my death again and again, just to make sure the glimpse was real. And on the umpteenth attempt, I managed to see it more clearly. It was another figure.
Someone standing in the distance, shrouded in a thin mist that enveloped this place. I couldn't see their face, but I could feel their gaze. I tried to approach them, but the creature always killed me before I could get close. But now, I had a purpose.
I didn't want to just die and rise again without meaning. I wanted to know who that figure was. And I wanted to know what was happening to me.
I started fighting differently. I couldn't fight this creature directly, but I could learn to read its movements. I could dodge better, move faster. I started noticing its attack patterns, the way it raised its claws before swinging them, the way its jaws opened slightly wider before launching the next attack.
I died less often. And for the first time, I managed to get past the creature. I ran. The figure in the distance became clearer. I could see them now, their long hair, their white robe fluttering in the emptiness.
I reached out. "Who are you?"
The figure didn't answer. Instead, they raised their hand, pointing towards my chest. I looked down. There was something there. A wound - the same stab wound I had before I entered this world.
I was startled. Instantly, the world began to shake. The creature that had been chasing me disappeared, dissolving into darkness. And suddenly, I could hear another sound.