"Hey... did you all hear that?"
Chen Guang's face went pale, every hair on his body standing on end.
"We did, but..."
"It's nothing like what we heard before."
Sun Feng clenched her fists, eyes fixed on the impenetrable darkness ahead.
[MANDATORY QUEST: SURVIVE THE TRAINING SESSION WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT]
[TIME REMAINING: 3 HOURS 12 MINUTES]
A blue screen appeared before Chen Guang.
Scared the hell out of me... damn it...
His fists clenched until his knuckles popped.
The pain's gone. There's obviously no healing skill... some hidden function?
He flexed his fingers.
Three hours left... has it already been nearly six hours?
He raised his wrist and wiped the watch face clean.
"Time... keeps getting stranger."
The hands spun wildly—sometimes racing ahead, sometimes snapping backward.
Sun Feng studied his watch in silence.
"You're... still... alive?"
The eerie voice echoed, making all three recoil.
"Should we... answer it?"
Mei Mei's legs trembled as she shrank behind Sun Feng, clutching the back of her shirt.
A gust swept past.
Shhk.
Countless straight lines carved across the ground.
A tear split open on Chen Guang's shoulder.
"Why does it suddenly burn?"
He muttered, reaching up to touch his cheek.
A faint glow filtered through the trees behind them, forcing his eyes to narrow.
The moment his fingers brushed his cheek, a familiar scent hit him.
"Blood?!"
Shhk.
Strands of Mei Mei's and Sun Feng's hair drifted through the air, neatly severed.
"Remember that headless corpse from earlier?"
Sun Feng extended her hand, catching several strands as they floated down.
"The thing that cut its head off..."
"...it's here?"
Sun Feng gave only a slight nod before opening her palm.
A single strand of black hair rested there, as dark as the abyss before them.
She blew on it gently.
The strand split cleanly into five equal pieces.
Mei Mei covered her mouth.
Five shorter strands.
Each cut to exactly the same length.
"I think it's warning us."
Chen Guang turned toward her, brow furrowed.
Her expression told him enough.
"If it wanted us dead..."
"...we'd already look like that corpse."
She brushed off her hands.
The forest fell silent.
"Humans?"
The voice drifted out of the darkness.
"Yes. We wandered in here by mistake."
Sun Feng raised a hand, stopping Chen Guang before he could speak.
"Please forgive the intrusion. We truly don't know the way out."
Sweat dripped from her chin.
"Stop."
The wind died at once.
For a brief moment, no one moved.
"Come."
It said.
"I'm sorry, but we can't see—"
Before Sun Feng could finish, pale blue flames flickered to life ahead.
They hovered in midair, circling the three of them once.
A wave of cold spread through the air.
Mei Mei hugged herself.
"So cold..."
Chen Guang could no longer keep his hands from shaking.
"Will-o'-the-wisps...?"
Chen Guang mouthed the words.
He glanced at Sun Feng. She, too, was watching in silence.
The ghostly flames descended.
Then they separated into two neat rows.
One after another, the flames brightened, casting an eerie blue glow.
"Come."
The command came again.
No one objected.
Chen Guang stepped forward before anyone else could.
We've come this far...
Step by step, he walked between the twin rows of ghostly flames.
Ahead lay nothing but darkness.
Not a single ray of light pierced through.
With every step they took, the blue flame behind them winked out while another flared to life farther ahead.
"How... long have we been walking?"
Mei Mei murmured, her fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of Chen Guang's shirt.
"Less than a minute."
Sun Feng's quiet reply drifted from behind.
It feels like we're walking straight into hell...
Every muscle in Chen Guang's body tensed as his gaze swept from side to side.
Beyond the pale blue flames stretched an endless sea of black.
The air grew colder with each step. Mud clinging to their clothes froze solid, then shattered and drifted away like powdered frost.
His breathing became uneven, thin white mist escaping with every exhale.
Why does my body... feel so heavy?
He forced one foot forward.
Something held it back.
Sweat streamed down his forehead, soaking the back of his shirt.
The blue flames around him began to warp.
Twist.
Distort.
"Do either of you—"
Chen Guang turned to look behind him.
Mei Mei was still following.
Slowly.
Mechanically.
Like a puppet being guided by unseen strings.
Her eyes were nothing but empty white.
"—feel..."
The words caught in his throat.
His vision blurred.
He blinked.
Mei Mei was fading away.
Dissolving like mist.
"Sun Feng?"
His head snapped forward.
No one stood there.
He was alone.
The blue flames writhed, convulsed—
Then burst apart.
A scream echoed every time another flame vanished.
A chill crawled across his scalp.
He spun around.
The path of ghostly fire was gone.
Only endless emptiness remained.
"Sun Feng? Mei Mei?"
The names slipped from his lips before he realized it.
Color drained from his face.
"Who... are they? Why did I... call their names?"
Whispers rose beside his ears.
Words spoken in a language beyond his understanding.
The whispers slowly twisted into anguished moans.
Pain exploded inside his skull.
Blood seeped from the corners of his eyes and mouth.
Both hands clutched his head as he dropped to his knees.
The moans became screams.
They reverberated through his mind.
"STOP!!!"
He collapsed forward, fingers digging into his head.
Every muscle trembled uncontrollably.
Then—
Silence.
Thump.
Only the sound of his heartbeat remained.
Drops of blood fell into the darkness below.
Sizzle.
Heat rose from beneath his feet.
Gray faces suddenly filled the void.
Twisted.
Misshapen.
All screaming in agony.
"IT HURTS!!! PLEASE..."
"SOMEONE... SAVE ME!!!"
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! GRRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
Their cries merged into a deafening chorus that echoed without end.
"SHUT UP!!!"
Chen Guang threw back his head and roared.
He dropped to both hands, gasping for breath.
Sweat dripped from his brow onto the backs of his trembling hands.
"I..."
His fingers had turned deathly pale.
They became transparent.
He raised both hands before his eyes.
"...Who am I?"
The final words left his lips.
Who am I?
WHO AM I?!!!
The echoes refused to fade, swallowed by the chaotic chorus of screams.
Every gray face turned toward him.
"A... new one."
Their screams twisted into laughter.
The faces grew even more warped.
Even more grotesque.
His fingers began to crumble into dust.
Desperately, he grabbed at the hand that was slowly disappearing.
"Please..."
Both eyes had turned completely white.
His body turned transparent from the fingertips inward.
He reached for one arm.
It dissolved the instant his fingers touched it.
His remaining hand flew to his chest.
Gone.
It had vanished without him even noticing.
He tried to scream.
His throat crumbled into ash.
Every shred of flesh disappeared from his body.
Nothing remained but a naked skeleton.
Thump.
At its center...
Something crimson pulsed with fierce vitality.
Thump.
Each beat grew louder.
Until it thundered through the endless void.
From the darkness...
A hand emerged.
As though the darkness itself belonged to a colossal being.
Slowly, it reached toward the crimson heart.
Every gray face brushed by its fingers screamed in agony.
The faces crumpled like sheets of paper...
Then dissolved into the abyss.
The hand came to rest upon the skeleton.
Crack.
Fine fractures spread across the bones like cracks in shattered glass.
"STOP!!!"
Chen Guang's scream rang out from nowhere.
The cry alone made the surrounding faces recoil in terror.
The black hand continued forward.
Its fingertips brushed the crimson heart.
Caressing it.
Cherishing it.
As though it were something precious.
Some of the faces sobbed uncontrollably.
Others stretched into twisted smiles.
Laughter mingled with weeping.
The hand paused.
Then—
Its fingers closed around the crimson heart.
Blood burst between them, running down the arm.
"PLEASE!!!"
A scream of pure agony tore through the darkness.
The grip tightened.
Harder.
Harder still.
The crimson heart shattered.
Fragments scattered into the air.
One by one, they faded to gray.
They hung motionless.
Thump.
One fragment remained untouched.
Still crimson.
Still beating.
A pitch-black finger stretched toward it.
"NO!!!"
Light burst forth from the place where the heart had been destroyed.
Its radiance forced the black finger back.
The glow began to move, slowly taking shape.
Arms.
Legs.
A brilliant ribbon of light unfurled across the void like the flowing hair of a young woman.
She floated silently in the darkness.
Facing the black hand.
Warmth poured from her body.
The hand retreated another step.
"Don't hurt my brother!!!"
Her light blazed ever brighter, driving back the darkness around her.
The gray faces shrieked.
Then burned away within the radiant glow.
"Will..."
A voice drifted out from the darkness itself.
The black hand slowly withdrew.
Then vanished into the darkness.
The girl turned toward the lone crimson fragment.
She drifted closer, cradling it gently in her hands.
It seemed as though she was smiling.
Lowering her head, she pressed the fragment against her forehead.
The remaining gray shards stirred.
One after another, they began circling around her.
Their lifeless gray slowly gave way to a deep crimson.
Piece by piece, they came together.
Until they formed the shape of a heart.
Thump.
Its heartbeat returned.
Faint at first.
Then stronger.
Stronger still.
The girl gently stroked the restored heart.
From the darkness, shattered bones began to gather.
A skeleton formed around the beating heart.
Veins spread across the bones like roots taking hold.
Muscle followed.
Then skin.
Before long, a man's body lay whole once more.
Eyes closed.
Motionless.
The girl of light reached down and rested her hand upon his.
"Wake up, big brother."
Then...
The light faded.
And disappeared into the darkness.
"Ling..."
Chen Guang's lips trembled.
A finger twitched.
"Don't go..."
His hand reached out.
It grasped nothing but empty air.
Tears spilled freely, soaking his face.
A trembling hand brushed them away.
"...Where am I?"
His gaze swept across the darkness.
His hands flew over his body.
His arm.
Still there.
His fingers traced the roughness of his own face.
Then slowly came to rest over his chest.
Thump.
"Ling... you saved me again..."
Beneath his palm...
His heart still beat.
Fresh tears welled up once more.
"A... remarkable... will..."
A voice drifted to his ear.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
Chen Guang shot upright.
His eyes locked onto the source of the voice.
His pupils dilated at once.
"What... is that?"
An icy chill enveloped him.
Pale blue flames flickered in the darkness.
By their faint glow, he barely made out what stood before him.
The moment he got to his feet, his legs began to tremble on their own.
They gave out so completely that he collapsed without even realizing it.
Both hands clawed at the ground, shaking uncontrollably.
His lips moved, yet no words came out.
Only a chaotic storm of terror and the instinct to flee screamed inside his mind.
Before him—
Something resembling a massive stone cross stood driven deep into the earth, its surface covered in moss.
Suspended before it was a woman with pale, sickly skin.
"That posture..."
His teeth rattled uncontrollably.
Both arms were stretched wide, pulled so taut they looked ready to tear free from their sockets.
Her legs were locked in restraints.
The rusted metal reeked of blood and decay.
"It's like... she's been crucified..."
Clang.
A sharp metallic crash echoed through the darkness, forcing his gaze upward.
From the void, enormous blood-soaked chains emerged, twisted tightly around one another.
They scraped relentlessly together, filling the silence with horrifying metallic shrieks.
Under the ghostly blue light, her entire body was drenched in blood.
Two chains pierced straight through her wrists.
From each chain hung a massive iron sphere, nearly the size of a human head.
Blood dripped from above.
Drip.
Drip.
Each crimson drop landed upon the hanging spheres.
Dark red stains slowly spread across their surfaces.
A wind rose from nowhere.
The iron spheres swayed gently, groaning with long, creaking cries.
Her stomach clung tightly to her ribs, as though she had been starving for years.
Another chain wrapped around her waist, leaving blackened marks in the flesh.
Thick yellow pus seeped from the wounds, carrying a nauseating stench.
Around her neck was a heavy iron collar connected to yet another chain.
The blue flames flickered once more.
Spikes...?
The hand at his side rose to his own throat without thinking.
A frown creased his brow.
"Human..."
A raspy voice echoed through the darkness.
Thud.
It was followed by the sound of something driving into flesh.
"What... are... you... called?"
Thud.
The same sound again.
Chen Guang frowned, scanning the darkness for its source.
"Chen..."
His lips barely moved.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
"...Guang."
The name escaped in broken breaths, almost too faint to hear.
"Chen... Guang..."
The woman repeated it.
Thud.
The sound followed once again.
Every word she spoke... that sound came with it.
Could it be...?
One of the blue flames drifted beneath her neck.
"You..."
His eyes widened.
The spiked collar...
It stabbed into her throat every time she spoke?
His gaze locked onto the blood streaming from her neck.
It ran over her body.
"Can..."
Thud.
Her body trembled.
"...you..."
Thud.
Her head slowly drooped.
Long, matted hair spilled forward, concealing her face.
The chain fastened behind the collar rattled loudly.
"...help... me..."
Thud.
Her head lifted.
Her entire face remained hidden beneath tangled, blood-soaked strands of hair.
"...fulfill..."
Thud.
"...my wish."
Blood burst from the wound like a spring.
It spread across her body.
Then flowed down the stone cross in crimson streams.
For a single moment...
Time itself seemed to stop.
Every one of Chen Guang's senses froze.
Only after his mind finally caught up did words escape his lips.
"Your..."
His lips trembled.
"...wish?"