Chapter 4: The Stranger's Encounter
After hearing the voices coming from the nearby house,
he approached cautiously—
his eyes wide with fear.
He gently pushed open the black wooden door…
and was struck by a terrifying scene:
A group of people, eating—
drinking thick, dark red blood.
Every pair of eyes turned toward him at once.
His anxiety spiked.
He rushed to a dark corner,
where a worn round table and a cheap wooden chair stood abandoned.
He sat down, frozen in shock.
Suddenly, an old man appeared out of nowhere.
Tall, hunched,
with a pitch-black crow perched on his shoulder.
He spoke with a deep, mechanical voice—unnatural and cold:
"You!
You are not the first to arrive in this dreadful world…"
The young man slowly glanced around him—
noticing that the "people" present weren't moving.
They sat like statues.
Or corpses pretending to breathe.
After a moment of silence, he summoned his courage and asked:
"Who… who are you?
What is this place?"
The old man replied in a voice like an aging machine:
"In this world,
nothing is free.
Even knowledge… comes at a price."
The answer startled him.
But he had no time to respond—
for silence returned like a curtain falling.
Then, before vanishing,
the old man spoke one final time:
"This is the first and last advice you'll get from me for free…"
His next words sent a chill down the young man's spine:
"Nothing happens by accident.
Even your fall into this world… was scripted long ago."
When he looked up,
a dwarf with a long black beard was standing before him.
The dwarf stared at him with sharp eyes and asked:
"What do you want, stranger?"
The young man, sweating and stammering, replied:
"I… I have no money… to pay for anything…"
The dwarf let out a raspy laugh:
"Then it's your lucky day.
I've got work—lots of it.
Help me for a day,
and I'll give you food and a free bed for the night."
The young man smiled faintly… and nodded in agreement.
The dwarf grunted:
"Follow me.
I'll show you what needs doing.
But first… what's your name?"
The young man paused.
A heavy silence fell.
Then, softly, he replied:
"I don't know…
I don't have a name."
He looked the dwarf in the eyes and added:
"I am…
a Stranger."