In the world where moonlight fears to appear, vampires linger in the dark, ghosts drift through walls, shadows themselves come alive. Every nightmare is real here, and there are horrors beyond imagination.
I have lived among them for five years, long enough to know a few truths. The mindless ones who hunger without end, Zyn. The cunning ones who weave traps of lies, Vex.
This place is no ordinary world. It sprawls like a shattered tower, its broken realms folding into one another. Some paths climb into a blood-red sky; others descend into an endless earth. Here, boundaries are meaningless. Nightmares slip freely between these layers as they please.
To survive, one must remain calm. The moment composure falters, the darkness will devour them.
I once cursed the old man who cast me into this abyss, but now I have no regrets. That is because of my master, Xaria. She is the one who taught me her skills and made me the second-best doctor in the Nether Valley. The best, of course, will always be her.
As for others who dared to call themselves doctors, they are long gone. Some vanished into the mist, others mysteriously disappeared, their names fading to whispers.
Master has been missing for some time. She always vanished without warning. Where she goes, what she does, I never knew. She only said she would "return soon."
As for escaping from this nightmare, returning to see my parents and friends or taking revenge, I no longer believe in such childish thoughts. Perhaps death is the only exit or even that will not suffice.
Yet still, I live. I work. I wait. And when the Master returns, when she finally approves of me at last, then I will…
Tick… Tock… Tick…
The clock on the wall groaned, its cracked glass trembling. Hands like bone-claws scratched against time. Each swing rattled like dry bones knocking at the door.
A crow-feather quill hovered in my hand, its tip dripping red like blood. I closed the diary, revealing its cover made of skin, marked with a red-dark symbol.
Lifting the lamp, a faint smile touched my lips. "Time to open the shop," I murmured.
The red flame writhed violently, whispering like a trapped voice.
Hsssshhh… Aaaahhh…
Outside, its glow pushed the darkness back. Shadows fell silent.
The chair welcomed me once more. Waiting. Calm as ever.
' ' '
A massive, blue-skinned ogre came through the door. His body was covered in scars, one arm freshly severed and bound in a rag, soaked with green blood. In his other hand, he carried the severed limb.
"Are you the doctor?" The Blue Ogre's voice was rough with pain. "Fix my arm. Now."
Kai held up two fingers. "Two hundred coins."
The ogre's tusked face twisted with fury. "Two hundred? That's a dark night robbery!"
But his gaze fell to the bleeding limb. With a growl, he slapped a pouch onto the counter, green droplets splattering. "Fine, just hurry!"
Kai untied the pouch, coins sliding under his fingers as he counted. "One… two… three…"
The Blue Ogre's fist slammed the counter. BOOM. "Count faster!"
Kai only tilted his head, smiling faintly, as though recalling something. "Ah, I forgot. There is a faster way."
From beneath the desk, he took out a dusty golden statue, shaped like a frog with jagged teeth and gemstone eyes that glimmered faintly. One by one, the coins slipped into its mouth. SNAP. The jaws closed.
"Two hundred coins… received," a dry voice whispered from the statue.
The Blue Ogre shook in anger but said nothing. He needed the doctor to heal his arm.
"Follow me," Kai said. "To the surgery room."
---
The moment he entered, the Blue Ogre froze. The blood-stench was suffocating, walls lined with heads, stitched bodies, and hung against the rusted hooks.
His voice cracked. "W-what is this place?"
"The surgery room," Kai answered. "Lie on the table."
It was a rusted metal Table, brown with rust, black with old blood stains, several leather straps dangling from its sides.
"You… are you sure you are a doctor… not a butcher?" Fear shook the ogre's words.
Kai raised the needle. Black energy shimmered faintly at its tip.
Zy.
The Blue Ogre's throat went dry. Few could wield such power. To use Zy you needed to form a Zynite core and only monsters or the most dangerous ghosts of this realm could form one.
"Don't worry," Kai said softly, stepping closer. "I am a doctor. My master, however, is a butcher."
The needle gleamed. The ogre's will crumbled. Trembling, he laid himself onto the table and submitted without a sound. The straps automatically snapped shut around him, like finally getting something to eat.
Kai tore the filthy cloth away, exposing bleeding flesh. From a shelf behind him, he fetched a glass bottle filled with bubbling black liquid.
The Blue Ogre's breath faltered. "W-what's that?"
Kai poured it on the wound.
SSSHHHHHHH!
The wound smoked, flesh sizzling. The ogre's scream ripped into the walls. "AAAAAAAAHHHH! IT BURNS! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
A faint smile touched Kai's lips. "I call it Acid. My own special mixture. It stops the bleeding."
Fear gagged the Blue Ogre.
Kai lifted the severed arm and pressed it back into place. Dark thread glowed with Zy as he stitched flesh to flesh.
"GRAAAHHHHH!" The ogre screamed with every pass of the needle.
Kai ignored the noise. His hand worked steadily, each motion clean and precise. For Kai, when focused, the screaming was no more distracting than the ticking of a clock.
When the final knot was tied, he took out a vial of glowing green liquid from the shelf. "This will heal the wound within a day. Your arm will soon be as good as new."
He poured it over the stitches.
KRRRSSSHHH! Smoke curled upward.
The Blue Ogre's body arched against the straps, his voice reduced to pitiful gasps.
At last, he slumped, trembling. "D-didn't you… have something… to dull the pain…?"
Kai chuckled softly. "Ah, I forgot. I do have anesthesia. Would you like it now? Only thirty more coins."
The Blue Ogre's glare burned, but silence was his only answer. What's the point now, you fucking madman?
Then, the straps slid loose. He stood up and ran away as fast as he could.
Kai waved after him, smiling warmly. "Come back soon. Next time, I'll use the anesthesia first."
Hearing this, the ogre's footsteps quickened, disappearing into the darkness as he vowed never to return to this madhouse.
Kai sat back at his desk, calm as ever, feeling happy. Another life saved…