"So, aren't you going to give any instructions on how to collect these pseudo souls? Will you give me a weapon?" Sanjay asked with hopeful eyes.
That's how things happened in fairy tales and novels.
"Why should I?" Dolly asked with perplexed eyes.
Sanjay was speechless, 'She is not even trying to hide the fact that she wants me to suffer. Is this game made for self-discovery or something? Players have to figure out a lot of things on their own.'
"So when are you going?" Dolly asked impatiently.
She was expecting a good show from him.
"When the abyss gets close... " He said as a matter of fact.
"Oh boy! You have to wish that you want to fall into the abyss, and it will appear instantly. Didn't I just tell you? Abyss is within your head, " her statement was shocking.
Sanjay shook his head, "That's a dangerous clue you gave me. I can't think about it before I am ready."
"Too bad. Mind isn't so easy to control. Hehehe, " her giggles were like the laugh of death.
His eyes darted far forward until he saw a pitch black end of the sea that reflected trillions of stars' light.
He could finally feel the wind as his isle was drifting to the abyss faster than before, making clear ripples.
He smiled wryly, "This game is not simply about survival of the fittest. It is actually a fun show for those higher beings. They want us to struggle for their blessings."
"If this abyss is really like the wishing well with a price. Then I know what I should ask for."
Dolly stared at him while drifting backward, her legs were always on the surface.
[Thunderbolts blasting]
Hearing a long series of thunderbolt blasts, Dolly realised what Sanjay had wished for, "You... You are really courting death. You should be playing this game wisely. Even if it is the first trial, you can still die because of your recklessness."
Sanjay wished for the highest difficulty in the abyss that triggered the lightning.
His smile became a crazy, smug, "Oh, drop your acting! If you are truly a good spirit, you would have helped before reaching this point."
"Since I am going to face death, I might as well court death."
"The current generation of death is a male, " Dolly commented.
(Awkward silence)
Sanjay didn't speak a word to her again. Talking to her led him to the abyss faster than he was meant to.
He wore his wet jeans and shoes again. He didn't know what would happen next, but it was never a bad thing to be prepared.
His smartphone showed it was 8:10 PM.
"Dinner time... Has she eaten?" He was still worried about his mother.
His relationship with his mother was love and hate together.
No matter how annoying she was to him, wasn't it normal for a child to worry about their parent?
Dolly drifted to the water on the right side of the Isle, as there were fewer than 30 seconds before falling.
She was extremely wary about the abyss.
Her expression showed fear and that wasn't an act.
Sanjay didn't know how the seemingly endless sea was ending because of his mere thought, but he couldn't help but get scared at the brooding darkness in front of him. It was like a black hole that was swallowing everything, even the sound.
The thunderbolts from earlier couldn't be heard anymore.
"Any last words?" Sanjay asked Dolly.
"That's my line!" She complained.
"Say it, bitch!" He insisted.
"Hahaha! You are showing your real colour, now that you are close to death, " She was also showing her real twisted self.
But she still gave him one last piece of advice, "This sea is my territory. But the abyss is the territory of my enemy. Keep it in mind."
Sanjay didn't find it so useful at that moment, but he would realise just how important it was.
When the isle got to the edge where sea and abyss were together, Sanjay got to look at the bottom, his eyes widened with horror.
It wasn't all black. There was something... Something bright red. He couldn't see it clearly, but his mind was telling him that hell of his imaginary creation was waiting there.
The isle of sand turned into a grain of sand when it came into contact with the darkness of the abyss.
Sanjay was startled by losing his footing instantly, but he screamed dramatically and maintained his posture straight, holding onto the Sand Law Stone that wasn't affected by the darkness.
Dolly stayed on the sea. He didn't know the whole story behind the first trial, but it was clear that a story of this abyss and sea would be revealed by time.
10 seconds...
20 seconds...
30 seconds...
He kept his eyes narrowly open during his superfast fall. The red thing got bigger with each second.
It was a barren dyed in red... Blood?
He didn't know how he would land, so he decided to sacrifice his legs. He bent his knees in mid-air like how Japanese people sit. Had he decided to land on his straight legs, then he would have died painfully like in that American movie series called "Last Destination".
40 seconds...
80 seconds...
120 seconds...
The red barren land had gotten bigger than a continent.
In TV, skydivers choose a height of 10,000 - 15,000 feet for skydiving. It takes them approximately 2 minutes.
But Sanjay kept falling for 8 minutes. He didn't know how his body was able to endure it. But he could see that he was about to crash.
Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth were all he could do at that moment, preparing for a hell of pain and the worst-case scenario.
Thud!
He heard a low 'thud' sound as his bent legs touched the red crimson ground. But nothing happened to his legs.
He opened his eyes and touched the ground, "Red sand... Even falling on sand can kill a human... "
A flash of thought came to his mind. The handsome guy said that he was summoned here. But he never said he was alive.
Sanjay assumed that he was alive because he was breathing, feeling his heartbeat, hunger, thirst and his senses were working fine too.
But what if... What if the game system were made in a way that dead souls could feel and live like living ones?
Sanjay shook off the idea and stood up on his feet, searching his surroundings.
He was in a terrain surrounded by high plateaus and mountains. While it looked like a barren land where life had no hope, he saw some giant red trees in the distance. The sky was the same here... Dark but sparkling with trillions of stars.
He was about to go to the nearest red crimson tree, but the system window popped up.
[You have chosen the most difficult area of the abyss—Crimson Garden.]
It was speaking in a female voice that he couldn't forget.
It was the voice of Dolly. She sounded cynical and cold through the system.
[You think darkness is the scariest place? Don't be so old-fashioned. Humans are the scariest creature... The creators of monsters]
[And what flows through the veins of these monsters is—blood~]
Sanjay uttered, "Dolly, what are you doing in the system?"
[...]
[You ruined my flow. Can't you quietly listen to my storytelling?]
Sanjay rolled his eyes and began walking towards the nearest crimson tree.
The system window always maintained a 12-inch difference between them and stayed ahead. It was blue but semi-transparent. It had white letters.
"What are you actually? A spirit or some artificial intelligence?" He asked.
[That's my question. I have been wondering how you are keeping your head cool in this bizarre world?]
"First of all, I have read countless stories from childhood and played games that I can't remember. People like me won't lose their minds in this world. We are the kind of people who always think outside the box and search for something new and exciting, " He explained. "Second point, I am prepared to die playing this game. Death doesn't scare me but pain does. I would rather die from falling than slowly being eaten by monsters."
[Oh~ I see. Now, it is my turn. You see, this game is really fun if you can keep your head cool all the time. Otherwise, you will die before even passing 10 trials.]
[Earlier I couldn't give you any clues because that's the game script written by the game creators. There are some points fixed and some can be changed. Like now, I can answer your questions but not tell you everything.]
Sanjay concluded, "Like how comics have canon events. A hero must lose his parents to have enormous pain in his heart. Only then could he be compassionate towards the pain of others. It is a cliche so sick that it almost made me hate comics."
[Do you also have a tragic life?]
His answer was, "Abandoned by an asshole of a father, ridiculed by society because I was born from a minor, abused by a mother who had a hard time in raising me, starved during school lunchtime because of poverty, never confessed to a girl because of my average looks and poor background, never had any best friend because of trust issues, had a hard time in finding a job because didn't study hard, never had luck in gacha games, 25 years old but still a virgin because low bank balance and can't even afford an escort..."
Then he made a serious pondering face, "Hmm... I don't think I have a tragic life."
[Wahh--!]
"What the hell! That startled me!" He looked at the system window with a strange expression.
[*sobbing* You jerk *sobbing* you should have told me *sob* you have such a tough life *sob* you are fated to be hero *sob* so cliche *sob* so touching *sob* want me to be your heroine?]
He gave her an expressionless stare, "No thanks. I would rather die a virgin than die at the hands of a psycho like you."