[Moving Phantom Barrier: Activated. Validity: 00:58:38]
"...what?"
Happy thoughts, Ramen thoughts
He looked at it again.
[Moving Phantom Barrier is active. 00:58:35]
34..
33..
He heaved a deep, deep, breath.
So... it seemed that this shield— that had been protecting him from these monsters—would only last an hour? After that, it'd be his innards being pulled around.
Finn didn't even need to pinch or slap himself to feel pain. His entire body was sore.
Then again…was he really hurting? Could it be a myth? Would someone deep in a dream even know if their dreamy brain was tricking them that they were actually feeling pain?
Surely, this wasn't something like what happened in those transmigration novels, right? That's just stupid. It was a popular genre, sure, but… surely… that couldn't happen in real life?
A thought came to mind, and he gasped. He immediately stood up (almost falling on his face due to weakness) and looked around as soon as he gathered himself. He narrowed his eyes at the surroundings.
He looked suspiciously at the trees and then at the skies, looking for anything that would confirm his theory.
He found none, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to make it stop.
"HAHA! Very funny! Is it funny to see me making a fool of myself, HUH?" he yelled. "I did NOT consent to this reality show!!"
He could already see the pilot episode title:
Fish Out of Water: Celebrity Chef Edition
DAMNIT.
Back when he won the first season of Master Cook, he exploded in popularity. He got a lot of offers to do several types of variety shows.
One of these happened to have a 'Cook in the Wild' concept, especially when they found out he hiked for fun.
He rejected them all, of course, and he vaguely remembered the PD over there cursing him, swearing that he'd get him to agree "one way or another"!
Anyway, this type of dramatic show must really make a lot of money! Whoever was behind this will get very rich!!
So the whole throwing him to the ocean was a prank, after all? There was no way something so idiotic would happen to him, right? That was something drama writers with flooded brains would write!
Finn, now half-convinced that things would magically get better after all, suddenly felt confident and was just pissed at the people who made a fool of him!
"You know this is illegal, right? You know I can sue? I might not be rich, but I opened a social media account! Within a week, I got a few million followers on TakTak and Instantgram!"
But… What if the people behind this were from the dark market? Those bastards wouldn't care about what was legal!
All these thoughts of self-denial and rationalization flooded Finn's overactive brain.
He barely even noticed the monsters fighting in front of him, rolling as they tried to eat each other up. Their attacks were sharp and deadly. Whether it was their sharp teeth or their lethal claws, they were obviously designed to inflict terror in the audience.
He flinched when one of them—the snake-like thing—was thrown smack against his barrier.
"Okay, these animatronics are seriously impressive. I didn't even know it got so advanced now! How much is the budget? Ok, just get out right now and I'll consider not suing!"
His voice stopped when he saw the monsters' fight ended up right next to him, stopping midair as if there really was an invisible barrier that stopped them from hitting him by accident. He knew this because blood had splattered all over, and yet not a drop of that reached him.
At this point, he couldn't utter anything anymore. The monsters still hadn't killed each other, but that deadliness could easily kill him within a few bites.
When he saw one of the beasts finally breaking the skin of its enemy, Finn watched in horror as the monster ate the other up. He even saw the innards getting pulled out.
Real innards, not machine parts.
So… not animatronics, then…
So it could only be one thing: He must've lost it for real then.
Fortunately, he knew very good mental institutions.
As he accepted this fact, he became surprisingly calm.
People did say that the crazy ones were sometimes the happiest ones.
That said, regardless of what it was, this seemed to be his reality now.
Whether he was crazy or dreaming, it wasn't like him to be passive. The fact of the matter was that, in some way or form, he was still alive.
It didn't mean he didn't need an adjustment period, of course. For one, his arms felt dead, like he wouldn't be able to grip anything for a while.
He sighed and just watched the monster devour the other in front of him, taking out more and more of its innards.
Some smaller but agile monsters also appeared—some even used his barrier as a landing pad— to steal some body parts. His eyes twitched every time he saw sinew being pulled out.
Finn pulled his sight away from the overly realistic gore image. He hadn't really watched a lot of movies in this genre, but the imagery of innards was really detailed.
Squelch
Grrr
Glomp
Crunch
Then he saw the monster's brain for real and felt bile rise up his stomach.
Bleurgh
Vomit involuntarily escaped from him, and he splattered his dinner and breakfast all over the soil.
There goes his happy ramen.
The scent seemed to be strong enough for the monster in front of him—and a few more nearby—to pause whatever they were doing and simultaneously turn their heads to him.
He froze, heart dropping. He shivered when he saw some stop what they were doing to hover around the barrier, sniffling.
Finn had frankly forgotten how to breathe.
Cool. Cool, cool, cool.
He could hear his own heartbeat though, but he remained unmoving, not daring to make other movements.
As he stayed in place, his peripheral vision caught sight of the floating odd icons at the side.
Until these monsters left, until his body gained even a bit of strength, and until he figured out his next steps, he didn't think he could do much.
So, while waiting, he thought he might as well explore the game-like interface and perhaps gain a clue on what he should do next.