I woke up like I did every morning. Tired, lazy and not wanting to live another minute. I don't know why, but my nose felt irritated, like when you get a lot of dust and want to sneeze.
Apartment 1163 in Tower 13 was completely silent. On the eleventh floor where I lived, a green light penetrated that gave the place a gloomy appearance. I had just moved in, so I had a lot of work going on. The masons still did not arrive despite the fact that the clock already marked 9:00 a.m. However, it was also strange that no noises were heard around besides the slight tapping of a zinc sheet. Usually, on a Tuesday morning the drills and saws were at full blast.
The ERGO residential complex was recently, no more than a year old. Many had moved into their respective flats. They had put flower pots, tables and all kinds of things on the balconies, but others preferred to do the repairs and remodeling before moving in.
Still bewildered, I tried to get out of bed.
What!? Had it always been like that? I had the feeling of being taller last time. Since when were beds the size of a swimming pool and the doors were immense portals? No. Everything was still in the same place. I recognized my home, even if I had only been there for a short time. It was the same chair, the same desk, the same Ukiyo-e painting.
So why was everything suddenly so gigantic? Either I had shrunk, or the world had increased in size at least 10 times.
There was an explanation. It must have been a dream.
"Hey, wake up," I said to myself.
The voice bounced off that apartment that now looked like a castle.
"What are you doing?" You have a meeting at 9:30 a.m. Appointment with the psychologist at 11:00 a.m.
But I did not wake up. My senses, in fact, seemed very real. I saw normally and felt the icy breeze outside like an ordinary human being. What was out of place was that damn congestion.
I looked down. The ground was far away. If I jumped, I would break my legs.
"Tsk! Shit. What am I going to do?
I still had the feeling, however, that he would soon wake up. I decided to take a chance.
"But what!?"
I noticed that my legs were very different from the ones I used to see. They were riveted with metal slats and had a bluish sheen.
"Damn!" As far as I know, I don't consume hallucinogens. Last night I was at home, I didn't go out to party. What is this shit?
I didn't care. I would soon wake up. Grey, my psychologist, said that dreams often had subconscious connotations and reflected childhood traumas. What would he have answered if I told him that he had dreamed that he was a humanoid robot? That charlatan would have shit on himself.
I finally jumped out of bed. Really, I am not lying when I say that the height was considerable. To give you an idea, that was the same as jumping off a rooftop.
"AHHHH!
I felt the pain in my spine and almost fainted. Not even the excruciating toothache I had at the age of twelve compared to this one. The sensation of the vertebrae breaking I don't wish on my worst enemy.
Yes. The stimuli were real, unfortunately. I was not in a dream taken from some hallucination. Every breath and every beat of my heart belonged to a living body that could die from any event. Instantly, I chickened out and panicked me.
I watched with terror the colossal bed where a giant would have slept comfortably. Everything suddenly took on the aspect of a horror novel. The Ukiyo-e painting showing a cloudy mountain caused me terrible fear. The chair, the desk, the water bottle... What would happen if some of it fell out of place and crushed me?
I tried and crawled out of reach of any object. Already, as tiny as it was, it was several times larger than me. I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if the earth shook.
I thought that's how ants must feel. Once, while walking, I had wondered what existence would be like for them when almost anything, even trivial, could end them perfectly. That was a difficult life!
"Fucking luck! I thought in anguish. If I had known this was real, I wouldn't have jumped out of bed."
I crawled with both hands in the direction of the door of the room. I thanked heaven that I had not left it closed. My back hurt terribly, as if a tractor had run over me several times. However, for some unspeakable reason, I was not dead.
I recognized then that my arms were the same shape as my legs: they were riveted with metal and shone with a blue glow. Surely my face would look similar. At least the acne and blemishes on my face would be gone.
I knew that I could do very little in this situation. But I kept moving.
The door was already in front of me when suddenly a sign appeared, like a hologram, covering the frames like a thin cloth. I stopped. I screamed and looked at him stunned. How could I not dream? So many things would drive me crazy. It occurred to me that maybe I had died, and this was some kind of next life.
An Isekai. Oh, I hated isekai!
[DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE THE SAFE ZONE?]
I read the words without understanding their meaning. Safe zone, were we kidding? This was beyond the comprehension of a simple graphic designer working as a freelancer. Hell. I was not a scientist or a physicist to explain the absurd with mathematical formulas and terms that the language had to learn to spell.
"Yes. What do I care!
The sign changed upon hearing my answer.
[HAS ENTERED THE GRAY ZONE]
[THE SAFE ZONE HAS DISAPPEARED]
[FIRST QUEST (PER 100 FRAGMENTS): FLEE FROM THE NEST OWNER]
[TIME: 40 MINUTES]
[GOOD LUCK!]
The screen vanished, leaving me with more doubts than certainties. Something awoke inside me, an unsettling doubt. My primitive instincts warned me that I was in danger.
"Ah! What was that? Mission? What am I supposed to do?
I kept crawling, this time in the direction of the living room. I wanted to see if it was just me who was affected by this madness, or if it was everyone's thing. It was nonsense. Hours ago, the world seemed normal. The boring scenario where we all had to follow the same line until we perished. There were earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, wars, homicides, elections and coups d'état... The common.
For some reason, I thought of June. Would she also be affected by the phenomenon?
"What would you do if the world broke up, Lope? If there were an apocalypse," she had asked me in the park.
"I would jump for joy," I answered. The world would cease to be boring.
"Sure!
Her laughter continued to play in my head as I crawled like a mortally wounded cockroach. June, the only thing worth living for. I wished she was safe. I was a long way from the room, but I was moving slowly. Logically, if I didn't move, I would have a better chance of staying alive. But would someone come to my rescue?
Before I died, I would at least try.
"Crac!
A whispering noise stopped me. My hair twitched like the ears of corn. I noticed that the metal slats suddenly changed from a blue glow to a red glow. Intense.
Danger.
First, I saw its long legs. Then, his horrendous head.
The spider advanced towards me.
[TIME REMAINING: 39 MINUTES]