A mass of translucent grayish-white fog rolled about in the distance, making the far away objects appear blurry and indiscernible.
He was looking at the cemetery gate with an eerie smile plastered on his bloody… distorted face.
…At some point, the skin on his face had sloughed away, exposing the raw, meat-colored muscle fibers beneath. Strands of pale white skin were squirming around his body like octopus tentacles. His eyes bulged outwards as if in an expression of shock. As the skin and outer flesh had peeled off, he looked like he was smiling.
Inside the cracks covering his body, the eyes were moving frantically. It looked as though he had long since turned into a mindless monster, embraced by eternal madness.
However, on the inside, he felt that there was still a strand of humanity left in him. And he was holding on to it like a drowning man holding on to a narrow stick. He wouldn't let go of it, no matter what.
But, right now, he knew with certainty this would not last long. Something had to be done, or else…
"..."
In the dead of night, the cemetery gate suddenly opened on its own, with a disturbingly eerie sound.
He looked at the crow, who was flying forward without concern.
'Should I really put my trust in this crow? In the first place, why help me? What's in it for it? Hmm…'
He looked at the crow scornfully, and let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
'Not that I can do anything about it. I am already in a situation where I don't have the luxury to refuse. Every movement hurts, my breathing feels alien, every part of my body turning into massive blobs of bloody lumps of flesh and bone… It hurts. It hurts really badly. Right now, I can't really say no to the only hope I have. Beggars can't be choosers, I guess.'
He followed the talking crow with anticipation.
In time, they appeared in front of a particular grave and stopped. There was no one resting in the grave. It appeared as though it had just been dug out.
The crow looked at him, meaningfully. It moved its beak and produced an almost humanlike voice.
"Bury yourself, here. Recite my name. And wait, patiently."
"Ah…" He was taken aback. He nearly blurted out, 'You crazy little bird!' but of course he did not.
Instead, "What is your name?" he asked reluctantly. He wanted to retort, but he restrained himself. He knew this crow would not make fun of him like that.
And he did not have the time to raise any questions about this. He could feel his humanity slowly slipping away. He could not delay any longer.
"My name is Zairul, the emperor of gluttony."
"Anything else?" he asked.
The crow shook its head and flew away, leaving him near the grave.
'All, or nothing, I guess.'
With a bemused sigh, he jumped in. Lying inside a wooden coffin, he shut the lid and waited, panting heavily. There was a bright pool of blood slowly starting to gather around his body, gushing out from his own mutilated body.
He slowly recited the name of the talking crow.
After some time, He could hear the faint sounds of soil being thrown over the coffin.
"..."
He did not move a muscle, waiting patiently with an unperturbed expression.
After nearly five minutes, all discernible sounds came to a halt, and he was feeling a bit disappointed.
'What now?'
He was getting restless. Of course, how could he not? Every inch of his body was hurting. He could feel his brain slowly melting and splattering out from his nostrils and ears. His whole body felt like it was undergoing a certain kind of 'metamorphosis'. He was uncertain about what would happen to him after this, but, naturally, he wasn't planning to wait and find out.
''Agh… come on.''
Suddenly, a barely discernible squirming sound came near his ears. He wanted to look but alas. It was too dark.
He felt something enter his ears, rapidly squirming about. As there was no space for his hands to reach for his ears, he could only endure. His hands only struck the wooden surface of the coffin.
From the constant movement inside his ears, he could not help but laugh out loud. But just as he did, he regretted it.
A centipede-like creature entered his mouth and started biting into his lips, tongue, and Oral cavity with its talons.
A bloodcurdling scream could be heard from the coffin.
***
My surroundings were a constantly changing mass of indiscernible forms and figures.
It looks as though all the colour in the world gathered in place, forming a new distinct form of art.
I felt something tugging at me.
I trembled.
My eyes looked down.
Seeing an infinite mass of bloody, distorted corpses hanging on my leg, my eyes dilated.
I swam up, flopping my hands with great ferocity.
I was scared.
I moved my hands with all the strength I could muster.
It was fruitless.
'...'
Suddenly, I saw a small distortion appear in front of me. It gradually widened.
It emitted an iridescent light. It slowly penetrated this strange and mysterious space and gathered around me.
I saw mysterious symbols being etched all around my whole body.
I closed my eyes and felt my consciousness slowly drift away, once again.
***
When he came to, he was lying near the grave.
Now it was sealed off with fresh dirt. It was emanating a mysterious, malicious feeling.
Slowly, he realised with a shock, his body had returned to normal.
He let out a sigh of relief.
'Guess, It's over.'
He sat quietly, not moving a muscle. He felt a great sense of melancholy.
Suddenly, he heard a soft sound coming from his side.
He followed the sound and realized the talking crow from earlier, was staring at him with its dark, pupilless eyes, sitting atop a tree.
"I have sealed the seed of corruption and the part of your soul that was corrupted by it in that grave," the crow said deeply and mysteriously, "But it is not permanent. You must find another way to seal it properly, as soon as possible. If not, it might break the seal, enter your body once again, and make you lose control."
'Hoh…' he was only now able to process his current situation, given his half-crazy state from before.
'So, simply put, I transmigrated, then somehow got cursed, then somehow managed to get cursed once again — but this time, the curse only took part of my soul and not my life. But it looks like the second curse isn't very stable; it might break anytime and bring back the first curse. Now, I have to find the correct method to seal the first curse, or I'll die…'
At this point, 'he' sighed self-deprecatingly and looked at the barely discernible sunrise in the distance. He said in a low whisper,
"Off to a good start, are we?"