I opened my eyes, then I couldn't seem to close them.
I found I was lying on my back, covered in red sand and clothed in a rag.
Above me was a crimson sky peppered with pitch-black clouds.
My mind was quite hazy, and at the same time scrambling to figure out my current situation.
I had no memories of my past, but I did have one piece of knowledge that seemed to have been there all along:
"Follow the moon's eye."
However, it was quite unclear what this meant.
With no clear answer, I decided to take a closer look at my surroundings.
I slowly stood up, battling against the weakness in my legs, and spun around.
I took in everything there was to see and was quickly overwhelmed.
It looked like I was standing on a wall of some sort.
This wall was massive and stretched on into the foggy distance.
I looked down on either side.
On my left was a forest with bright white trees and grey grass.
On my right was a seemingly endless red desert.
However, one thing caught my attention as I took a closer look at the sky.
Even though it was daytime, there was a moon.
And on this moon was an eye, similar to that of a human.
But this eye wasn't a repulsive sight; rather, it was so beautiful I was nearly brought to tears.
My already weak legs began to tremble, causing me to fall to the ground.
My sight was glued to that moon; however, its eye looked down at the desert.
Specifically, a mountain of red rock, topped with a blue glowing light that contrasted with everything around it.
That had to be what I was supposed to find; "important" was practically written all over it.
Now that I knew where I needed to go, the only issue was how to get there.
I was on a cliff with no clear way to get down, and even worse, the blue light was on top of a giant mountain.
However, this wasn't even the worst of my problems.
What was I supposed to eat? Or drink? And even if I had those basic resources… what hid beyond the distant fog?
My stomach dropped, while my pulse rose.
Right then in my panic, strange words and numbers echoed in my mind.
-STATS- (visible to everyone)
[Memories: 0]
[Souls: 0]
[Tokens: 0]
-INVENTORY- (visible to everyone)
Armor: [filthy rag: (+0)]
Weapons: [sharp rock (+0)]
Guided acts: [stab (+0)]
Items: [water bottle (reusable x9999)]
Consumables: [water] [loaf of bread]
Key items:
I had already been somewhat desensitized to the bizarre by then, but it was still a lot.
A good chunk I didn't understand; however, I was relieved to see I had food and water.
I thought, "Bottle, appear," and the water bottle actually appeared in my hands.
I did the same with the water itself, and an orb of water floated in front of me.
I wasn't thirsty at the moment, so I opened the water bottle and captured the orb inside, then I put the bottle back in my inventory.
I also took the sharp rock, which would be handy to have out when in danger, but decided to keep everything else in my inventory until something was needed.
Now that I was armed and ready, I decided to walk forward and find a way down.
I had to find one quickly, as my resources were limited, and if I didn't…
I was doomed.
As I walked, I noticed a humanoid figure somewhere in the fog.
I looked closer, but couldn't make out exactly what it was.
Suddenly, this figure began coming towards me.
I brandished my sharp stone and slowly stepped backwards.
"Can I help you?" I called out.
The figure stood still.
I didn't know if I was going to get a response, but eventually I did.
"Yes, that would be very nice. Why don't you come closer so I can tell you what I want, hm? If you do… I believe we could both get something out of it."
The person spoke in a soft tone, but still gave off a menacing aura.
I didn't want to take any chances
"I'm fine over here. If you really want to discuss something, you can stay where you are, too."
The person giggled, then spoke.
"Hmmm… you're cute, so I'll follow your little rules for now."
I felt very uncomfortable with how this person was talking to me, but I continued to converse with them.
"What's your name?"
"How should I know? You don't even know your own~"
'Now they're really getting on my nerves.'
"Just tell me what you want, or leave."
"Aww, I thought we were going somewhere there~"
"I said speak."
"Fine… I know how to get down this cliff… are you coming?"
'Damn… my survival is in the hands of this weirdo.'
'If I go, I could get killed, for all I know.
But if I don't…
I will surely die.'
"Fine, where do we go?"
"I'll show you… But I want you to come closer first… I'd like to see your face~"
I hesitantly walked closer, gripping my weapon tightly.
There was still a significant distance between us, but we could both make out each other's faces.
"Ah, there you are~"
The stranger looked rather androgynous. They had short, messy pale hair and a delicate physique.
They looked at me with a hazy smile and held out their hand.
"Want to hold hands, cutie?"
"Don't touch me."
"Aww, boring."
They puffed their cheeks and frowned.
I followed them for a while, enduring their strange comments and questions until we arrived at a steep staircase that trailed down the wall.
"Here we are! Just try not to fall to your death, okay?"
The stranger began laughing maniacally.
Ah, so they weren't just creepy, they were somewhat homicidal…
'Just wonderful!'
I cleared my throat before I spoke.
"Go ahead, I'll be behind you"
They looked at me and winked
"Hmmm, clever boy~"
They started moving down the staircase.
I waited until there was a wide space between us before following.
"Hey, cutie… I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"What's in your inventory?"
Wait, how did they know about the inventory?
Could it be that they had the system too?
No, it was too risky to say anything about it.
'I'll just play dumb for now.'
"Sorry, but I have no idea what you're-"
"Haha! So he's not just clever, but he's a good liar too!"
'Crap, they're onto me!'
"I still have no idea what you mean"
"Alright, if you're so certain that you have no inventory, come closer so I can check."
'So that's why they've been trying to get closer to me…'
"You know what? I actually do have an answer to your question now."
"Hm? Well, what is it?"
"No, I do not trust you. How could you expect me to trust somebody I just met! And after losing my memory, too! So, no thank you. I will not get closer to you."
There was a suffocating silence.
I had regretted what I just said, and at the same time anticipated the stranger's reply.
Moments passed and nothing happened, until it was all shattered.
KRAKK!
The stairs below me crumbled, and I fell through.
My back hit the stairs below, and the air was knocked from my lungs
The stranger was standing over me with wide eyes and pursed lips.
"You just couldn't help yourself, could you? You just had to open your mouth and speak those disrespectful words?"
They kicked me in the stomach
"Well, guess what? You pissed me off! Congratulations!"
They kicked me again in the jaw and my teeth shattered.
"If it weren't for me, you would've died up there! Well, you wanted to die so badly? Fine! I'll do it for ya!
They stomped on my knee, breaking my leg in half.
I howled in pain and started sobbing like a little girl.
"Nighty-night-night!"
The stranger kicked me off the edge of the stairs, and I plummeted to the ground.