Capítulo 895: Records Of A Never Ending Storm

Despite venturing deeper into the storm, the destination never seemed to arrive.

Always out of view, always beyond the fog.

Alice sat by the branch, a new checkpoint that she had unlocked having ventured through the blizzard.

Though unlike the first camp, there wasn’t any survivors here.

Instead, Alice found what seemed to be a diary of sorts.

A record of survival. Fragmented and the writing was done using the ash from what remains of a fire pit.

Record 1:

Another storm.

Another bark soup.

Can’t sleep, monsters outside.

Too many to kill at once. Maybe we can find a straggler.

If we do.

We have food.

Alice flipped the page. Some of the entries were damaged and couldn’t be read properly.

The next entry she could read seemed to be several days later.

Record 4:

Food ran out today.

Though in reality it was two days ago but no one admitted it.

We couldn’t find any stragglers again. The beasts walk in packs, they are afraid of the storm like us.

We’re surviving on water but.

We need to eat something.

Alice tapped her finger.

There were several moments when the author’s pen seemed to stop.

Like he was contemplating what to add into this diary. What should he add that people don’t know about already?

The hunger? The lack of food? Warmth?

It’s clear that the situation was terrible and the chances of survival seemed bleak.

And even that in itself was wishful thinking. They knew deep down that they were going to die hungry and weak.

Record 10:

People aren’t talking anymore.

Don’t know if it’s because there’s nothing to be said.

To sad to say anything.

Or simply conserving energy I suppose.

Caught myself staring at a crack in the ground. Hardly blinked.

Just kept staring for maybe an hour.

I’m hungry. Maybe I should keep staring.

Distracts me from these thoughts.

Record 13:

Managed to hold on. Some of us decided to recycle a little.

Those that couldn’t go on.

Found a hobby in staring at the crack in the ground.

Better than sitting in this silence.

It’s not like the crack was very interesting.

Record 15:

I started to forget the names of my neighbours today.

We lived next to each other for ten years. Before this winter storm.

I stared at his face.

If I stared long enough, maybe I’ll remember the name.

Nothing.

He stared back and neither of us said anything.

Perhaps he’s forgotten my name too.

Record 18:

I passed out today.

Woke up to someone trying to cut me up thinking I kicked the bucket.

He apologised.

I didn’t get mad.

He went back to his spot and we sat in silence.

Record 20:

The storm lifted slightly today and we found a group of people.

They couldn’t survive.

We got rations for a few more days. Happy times.

I’ll keep writing in this note pad. Makes me feel human still.

Like I’m doing something meaningful.

Someone suggested that we should go out. Search for a better place, near a forest maybe.

No one agreed, no one rejected.

Walking out? In that storm…

I don’t want to become someone else’s rations.

Record 23:

I’m hungry.

Record 24:

I’m hungry.

Record 25:

I’m hungry.

. . .

. . .

Record 26:

There’s only 3 of us left. A woman kicked the bucket. Said she smelled soup.

There was no soup but she smiled like there way.

She gone crazy.

But maybe we all did.

I’m not feeling the hunger anymore.

Not really.

I’m not feeling anything.

This storm will never end.

What’s the point of this.

Even if the storm ended tomorrow.

What then?

I stared at the crack in the floor again. I wonder what kind of death I would prefer.

A quiet one. In my sleep.

That way I don’t feel pain.

Just drifting off to endless sleep.

No dread. No fear.

How wonderful.

…

As Alice turned to the next page, her fingers froze for a moment before resting on the words printed onto the sheet.

Words that were a mix of ash and blood.

Record 27:

It’s just me left.

I sent the others ahead of me.

They don’t need to worry.

They don’t need to stay hungry.

They don’t need to fear.

They don’t need to feel cold.

They don’t feel any of this.

They get to sleep.

How blissful.

Maybe this is what the woman felt. She smelled soup and drank it with a wonderful smile.

I wonder what kind of face I’ll make when I forget all of this pain.

…

There were no more words, but nothing else needed to be written.

Alice could figure out what had happened to the author of these notes.

That lies at the end of his journey. When he’s given up all hope and forgot the hunger that drives him to survive.

He had accepted the end.

There was no name written down for the author.

He was simply one of many.

One man who’s part of the countless who died during this period of time.

Looking at the cover of this book, Alice couldn’t help but wonder.

About the mentality of those stuck in these harsh times.

Even though she felt her fair share of pain during the 10 years of imprisonment, it was never to the extent of famine.

She was never left hungry, she simply refused to eat.

But these people? The people who suffered the famine of the North? They were forced to eat tree bark and… even resorting to each other when there was no other option.

This kind of desperation… Alice can’t say she has felt it before.

It was easy to judge this man for killing the other survivors then himself.

But could she really blame him?

She couldn’t.

Not when she didn’t feel the despair he has.

Not when she hasn’t felt hunger so strong that she had to resort to eating bark.

Shaking her head, Alice stored the notepad away for now.

Based on her estimations, the night should be ending soon.

Last time she was in the nightmare, it was roughly around this time, hence why Alice was resting by the branch.

And as expected, a wave of drowsiness soon hit her as she slumped over in her seat.

She felt her soul being dragged away from this body and in the darkness, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Urg…” Clutching her head, Alice couldn’t get used to the transfer at all.

The wave of dizziness that followed after was enough to make her want to throw up.

Looking around, she could see Suyin’s contraptions still humming while recording the data.

The latest values showing a clear spike as they were brought back into their bodies.

Looking to her side, she could see Elias waking up as well.

“How was it? Was the training helpful?” Alice asked with light chuckle.

She leaned against the wall, slowly recovering from the transfer.

“Pretty useful. Though… I still died once.” Elias seemed a little dejected.

“Hey, are least it’s much better than before. Good job.” Alice praised. Being able to reduce the number of deaths to just one was a huge improvement.

At least they don’t have to worry about him racking up a huge amount of deaths.

Closing her eyes, Alice turned to Cayla and Alyss.

‘No deaths here. My zone seems to be just full of monsters. I think I’m about halfway done with the new tier two Embryo.’ Alyss made herself a seat and leaned back.

‘What the f*ck. Halfway done already?’ Alice blinked her eyes.

Her new zone hardly had any monsters around. With what she has killed thus far, she was only able to raise her stats by a little bit.

‘Seems like you didn’t have much luck.’ Alyss chuckled seeing Alice’s surprise.

Shrugging her shoulders with a slightly bitter smile, Alice nodded.

‘Yeah, my second zone is nothing but snow and ice. I… Saw a bunch of shadows of the past. The north wasn’t a friendly place in the past, nothing but famine and hunger.’ Alice glanced at the ground.

Even though she didn’t go into detail, Alyss could tell Alice was clearly affected by whatever she saw.

Standing up, Alyss walked over and gave Alice a hug, surprising her.

‘Eh?’

‘Don’t worry about it, just felt like doing it.’ Alyss smiled.

Patting Alice’s head, she eventually let go, leaving behind a confused Alice who turned to Cayla.

‘How was your zone?’

[Hm? Oh it was fine. None of the beasts were really an issue. If anything, now that I have some stats, they were easier. I didn’t die at all.] Cayla shook her head.

Before Alice could praise her, Cayla took a deep breath.

[And I was dragged away from the zone after a while. Nyer came to see me.]

The moment Nyer’s name was brought up, both Alice and Alyss fell silent.

They both had a serious expression on their face and listened carefully.

[He asked some weird questions. Like what I hope for this world. A world filled with all its troubles and imperfections.]

Hesitating for a moment, she continued.

[He spoke about not wanting any of us from Ayr to die. He even spoke about the future. How there were only two paths for us. One where we fail and Velouria is resurrected and one where Alice continues.

[And… That Alice’s death was required for Velouria’s resurrection.]

Alyss frowned.

If Alice needed to die, why didn’t he make a move? Or was it because there were specific conditions that need to be met before she is allowed to die?

With the information that Nyer met Cayla, the trio fell into the deep silence.

Cayla was still thinking about Nyer’s actions. Why he spurred her on despite being on opposite sides. Why he told her to stand her ground.

Alyss wanted to figure out when exactly Nyer needed Alice to die so she could prevent it.

While Alice…

Alice couldn’t help but wonder about the possibility.

Once again, she was faced with the decision she had to make back in the Inverted World.

In that moment, she turned the fake heart into real and ‘killed’ Velouria.

Before she could think deeper, Suyin’s puppet stood on the table.

She lacked her usual friendly tone and with a serious expression, delivered the news of the strange feeling she got when observing their condition when the Nightmare occurred.

That invisible presence.