Since I was a kid, I was always praised as the "ideal" son: quiet, obedient, invisible.
My grades were good, and my parents couldn't be happier.
But despite all that, I failed at one crucial thing:
Socializing.
On a bed lay a boy with dark hair and eyes still closed, trembling slightly beneath his eyelids.
Beep. Beep. Beep...
Next to the bed, on a table, the continuous, monotonous sound of a phone cut through the morning silence. Anyone hearing it would think it was a real assault on their peace.
"Ughhh…"
Forcing my eyes open, I stretched out my arm to grab the phone off the table, grumbling:
"Shit…"
On the screen, the word school stared back at me, and I immediately sighed.
But it wasn't the school itself that annoyed me. It was because...
"I forgot to turn off this damn alarm…"
Today was the first day of school vacation. No classes so early.
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the door. I barely had time to wonder who it was when a female voice called out from the other side:
"Davian? Are you awake?"
Recognizing the voice, I rubbed my eyes, trying to "wake them up," and answered just loud enough for my mom to hear:
"Hi, Mom. Yeah, I'm awake."
Without missing a beat, she exclaimed:
"I knew it! I heard an alarm… Decided to get up early today?"
I made an ironic face.
"Yeah... sort of."
"Really? Then why don't you take out the trash for your dear mother?"
The regret hit me immediately.
"Yeah, Mom…"
"Great, son! The trash is by the front door. Counting on you!"
After her footsteps faded down the hall, I got up. Put on some simple, comfortable pants and a light shirt — the heat here was almost unbearable.
"Guess I'm gonna lose my sleep just walking all that way to throw out trash..."
I checked my phone. It was 6:23 a.m. — about forty minutes before the usual school start time, if there were classes today.
'It's been a while since I woke up early for something unrelated to school… Well, actually, my life has never been busy. So maybe this is normal...'
But it's not like I just sit around all day, you know? After school, I usually play on my phone, read some manga, then novels. Actually, you could say I'm busy. Everyone has their way to pass the time, right?
'Damn… another full internal monologue. Need to stop with this habit.'
I opened the door and headed outside. Then I smelled something awful.
"Whoa... what the—?"
I stopped mid-sentence when I saw a black trash bag covered in flies.
"Shit... forgot she left that here. And I was just messing around in my room..."
I grabbed the bag and hurried to the disposal spot.
Outside, I noticed someone standing in the street, looking directly at my house.
Dressed in dark clothes, totally out of place with the weather. Their eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, with a small scar under one of them.
'Hmm... maybe a friend of my dad? Whatever.'
As I passed by, I felt a slight discomfort — like I was being watched.
'Guess I'm getting paranoid.'
I hurried to the end of the street and dumped the trash.
"Argh... finally I can go back."
"Davian? Is that you?"
A chill ran down my spine. I turned toward the voice.
There was a boy with light blond hair and ocean-blue eyes.
Derek Slane. Outgoing, popular at school, and... a good guy. I think.
"Oh, hey, Derek."
Silence hung for a moment until he broke it:
"I forgot you lived on the same street. Anyway, didn't expect to see you up so early."
"Uh... I guess so?"
'Why didn't he expect that? Whatever.'
The silence returned, now more awkward.
"Well, I'm off. See you on the trip. Have a good day."
Without another word, Derek walked to a nearby house.
'Damn, running into this guy… Yeah, he looks like the type who wakes up early. Anyway, better head back.'
"Oh right... I didn't even tell anyone I'm not going on that trip."
'Well, they don't really need to know.'
With that, I started back home.
When I got close, the man from before was gone.
'Hmm...'
Without thinking much, I went inside.
"Im-impossible. Am I dreaming?"
I spoke with a slight hint of joy, staring at my phone.
"YES!!! Finally... finally that damn novel got canceled!"
I was glowing. A novel I hated with all my heart had officially been canceled.
About the novel? Pure cliché: system and harem.The protagonist dies, transmigrates to another world, gets a system, becomes powerful and attractive, surrounded by girls.In short? Complete trash.
Still, it was a massive success. Why? No clue.
"Sigh… Just thinking about that shit pisses me off."
I left my room and saw my 15-year-old sister sitting on the couch. On the table in front of her, a bunch of makeup tools. She kept looking in the mirror every second.
This was my younger sister, Nathaly.
"What was that scream?! I could've messed up my eyebrow design with that yell!"
I couldn't hide my disgust. Luckily, she wasn't looking at me.
"Well, maybe you should've messed it up…"
I muttered quietly.
"You say something?"
"N-no…"
'Shit... how did she hear that?'
I never got along with my sister. She's my complete opposite — outgoing, always out of the house.
Today, for example, she was getting ready to travel with friends.
Meanwhile, I only woke up because of the forgotten alarm.
'Speaking of which...'
I remembered my classmates also planned a trip in four days. Not like I was going.
Not even to school excursions.
Thinking that, I went to the kitchen.
Mom was sitting at the table, waiting for the stove to finish its magic.
"Hi, Mom. Good morning."
I greeted her even though I'd talked to her before.
Despite the fights with my sister, I acted normal with my parents. Especially with Mom — kind, hardworking, good-hearted.
She looked at me and said:
"Oh! I thought you went back to sleep. Good you decided to stay awake... or are you going out now?"
She smiled thoughtfully.
At the same time, I made an ironic face:
"Well, I guess not today…"
'And probably not anytime soon.'
"By the way, did anyone knock today? A man in black, with sunglasses?"
She looked surprised.
"Hmm... no, not really. Why?"
"Never mind... I'm going back to my room. Call me when the food's ready, okay?"
"Sure. Even if you didn't ask, I'd call you. You know that."
"Yeah... I guess."
I went back to my room.
"I think I'll rest a bit."
I threw myself on the bed and closed my eyes, planning just a short nap.
For a moment, everything seemed to sink into an absolute silence — dense, unnatural, like the world was holding its breath.
And then, I fell asleep.
"ARRRGHHH!"
A scream ripped through the silence and jerked me awake. I opened my eyes abruptly... and what I saw was not my room.
"What the hell...!?"
The place around me was completely different. Strange. Unknown. My heart raced, but something in my mind felt... clearer. Like I was thinking faster than ever before.
But thinking didn't help.
Instinctively, I ran toward the scream. Before I could reach the door, other screams filled the air — distant, yet as clear as if they were right beside me.
"HELP!"
"SOMEONE HELP ME!!"
"MOM!!!"
They were desperate cries. Stifled sobs. Pure terror.
I felt like I was losing my mind. The sounds pierced my ears, sharp and vivid, like I was living them with whoever screamed.
Still, with trembling legs, I opened the door.
Right ahead, an old woman lay collapsed on the floor. Bright red ran from her eyes, staining her face with a grotesque glow. Her jaw was... dislocated, deformed, like she had tried to scream until she couldn't anymore.
From her body, small black particles escaped — like living smoke — floating out the open window, carried by the wind.
The scene was too much for me.
My body bent over on its own, seized by spasms, and I threw up everything in my stomach. Nausea tore me inside, the bitter taste of bile rising up my throat.
When I finally stood up, I saw the vomit carried dark particles too, just like the woman's. They moved, slowly gathering before flying out the same window, as if searching for something... or someone.
Gathering the little strength I had left, I approached the window.
What I saw made me forget to breathe.
The whole area was engulfed in thick, black smoke. On the ground, people writhed in agony until they stopped, motionless... turned into nothing but soulless shells.
Even with my mind racing, even with all the thoughts I could have then, only one was clear:
This place...
Was Hell.