Chapter 96: The Nightmare [BONUS]"This is just a nightmare. Just close your eyes, and it will all be over," a soft, gentle voice echoed in the child’s ears.

    It was kind, but beneath that kindness, something broken lay buried.

    The boy shifted, uneasy. He tried to open his eyes, only to realize something was holding them shut.

    Then came another voice. Cold. Hateful. Rusty. "Son, why don’t you help me while I prepare dinner?"

    He felt a cold hand stroke his head, and the pressure around his eyes released.

    He blinked, confused. His mind tried to catch up. Dinner. He was supposed to help with dinner. His eyes searched for the ingredients.

    The room was dim and smelled of mold. There were no windows to let in light, not that he knew whether it was day or night anymore. It had been days—maybe weeks—since he had last seen the sun.

    The walls were damp, stained. The air was thick and sour. He knew this place. It was the basement of his home.

    His thoughts drifted back to dinner. His task was clear. He had to help, or he would be hurt again. He didn’t want that.

    He looked at the counter. There were no ingredients.

    Only a woman, young and blonde, lay on the table, her hair spilling across the bloodstained wood. Her wrists and ankles were tied.

    "Mom..." the boy said, his voice small, trembling with disbelief.

    "Close your eyes. This is all a nightmare, nothing more." His mother looked at him and smiled, even as tears streamed down her face. Her voice was soothing, convincing.

    The boy hesitated, then nodded. If she said so, it must be true.

    He shut his eyes.

    A sharp slap forced them open again.

    "Son, you can’t help me if you can’t see, can you?" The man said, towering over him.

    He smiled, but something beneath that smile was wrong. Filthy. Rotten. It made the boy’s stomach twist worse than the sting on his cheek.

    Everyone was smiling, but not the way he remembered. Not the way they used to. He didn’t understand. And whenever he couldn’t understand why someone was smiling, it always ended the same way—with pain.

    Every time he tried to read the expression beneath those fake smiles, he failed—and all it ever brought was more pain.

    The man kept calling him "son."

    But the boy didn’t know him.

    No... he did.

    This was the man who had killed his father and taken his place. He just didn’t understand why.

    "Pay attention now. Time to learn some kitchen skills from your father," the man said as he lifted the cleaver and walked toward the bound woman.

    The boy tried to move, but his limbs didn’t respond. He was tied to the chair—hands, feet, chest. Panic surged in him, but his thin arms were useless. His legs were weak. Helpless, all he could do was tremble.

    A chill swept through his spine. Something bad was coming. Something that would hurt.

    "Adyr, please. Close your eyes," his mother begged again. This time, her voice shook with desperation.

    But the boy couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes. Something inside him told him that if he did, he would lose something important.

    What he didn’t know was... he would lose it either way.

    The man brought the cleaver down with a wet, brutal sound.

    It echoed in the room.

    It echoed in the boy’s mind.

    His mother’s face twisted in pain, but she didn’t scream. Her teeth clenched, her body shook, but she only whispered the same words over and over, pleading through tears.

    "Adyr, close your eyes."

    "This is just a nightmare."

    —

    Adyr opened his eyes.

    The room was dimly lit by candlelight. His face was calm, his eyes deep and empty. There was nothing inside but darkness.

    He sat up and looked toward Marielle, still asleep on the couch.

    Breathing rhythm normal. Face pale, but within range.

    No unusual redness. Temperature low.

    Brow tense. Lips drawn tight. Cheeks slightly swollen. Likely jaw tension.

    Nightmare or slight pain.

    Overall condition... stable.

    His eyes shifted to Niva.

    She had curled into a ball on the small chair, arms tucked in, knees pulled close. Somehow, she had made the hard surface look like a bed. Her expression mimicked her mother’s—creased brow, lips pulled inward. He could tell she was dreaming. Something unpleasant.

    That was normal. There was nothing to be done. A nightmare couldn’t be killed.

    Moving slowly and silently, Adyr stood and made his way up the stairs. He stepped into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, splashing cold water on his face. Then he looked up.

    In the mirror, a young man stared back. Messy black hair. A face slick with sweat and water, but unblemished. Eyes deep and dark. His expression is unreadable. Perfectly calm.

    The corners of his lips were slightly raised. He was smiling.

    One of those smiles he once failed to understand, but now knew all too well.

    "Cannibal, huh?" He muttered.

    They wanted to send a message. A show of strength. And they succeeded.

    The message was delivered. Loud and clear.

    To the right person.

    — sea??h thё NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    When morning came, Niva woke to the gentle sunlight warming her face through the window and the smell of toasted bread.

    The first thing she did was check on her mother. Marielle was still lying beside her in the same position. Relief washed over her, though her eyes welled up. The tears wanted to fall, but she didn’t let them.

    She got up and checked her mother’s temperature. Nothing seemed wrong. Hearing movement and smelling breakfast, she followed the sounds to the kitchen.

    "Breakfast will be ready. Go wake up Marielle," Adyr said, not turning around as he expertly flipped an omelet in the pan.

    "Okay," Niva mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she turned back. The table was already set, needing only a few final touches. The whole breakfast had been prepared while she slept. She wasn’t sure whether she had slept too deeply or Adyr had just moved that quietly.

    She gently and carefully woke her mother, helping her up and through her morning routine. When the two came downstairs, the table was not only ready—it was something more.

    "Is that a rose?" Marielle laughed, pointing to the flower-shaped arrangement of salami at the center of the table.

    "Yeah... and I think that one is a crocodile? It’s my first time seeing one in real life," Niva said, amused as she pointed to a cucumber-carved animal. After the nuclear war, most animals had gone extinct—she knew them only from old pictures.

    "Nope, it’s an alligator. Look, the head’s broader, U-shaped. And when the mouth is shut, only the upper teeth are visible," Adyr explained as he entered, carefully carrying breakfast plates.

    "Whoa, makes sense. Good thing I learned this," Niva said, mock-impressed, teasing him. As usual, her brother’s archive of random facts was fully stocked.

    "Son, where did you find all this?" Marielle asked, raising a brow with a sarcastic smile. It was as if they had been feasting like this every day while she was gone.

    "Selina stocked the fridge yesterday. I just used what she brought," Adyr replied as he set the last plate down and pulled out Marielle’s chair. "Come sit. Don’t let it get cold."

    "Thank you, gentlemen," Marielle said with a laugh as she took her seat.

    Once he made sure she was comfortable, Adyr ignored Niva, who remained standing, and took his own seat.

    "What have I ever done to you?" Niva grumbled, sitting down with a pout. She had clearly been expecting the same treatment.

    Adyr laughed at the look on her face.

    For the first time in days, they sat and ate together as a family. They talked. They joked. They forgot the bad memories.

    Adyr also spoke about his new job, sharing with Marielle everything he had already told Niva.

    Naturally, Marielle—being the more rational one—was stunned by the revelation of another world. But she handled it. Everything she had been through lately had brought her to a state where nothing could truly surprise her anymore.

    She had suffered a deep trauma. And Adyr could see it clearly. Her blue eyes no longer held the same light. Something was gone.

    Later, after they finished eating and Niva had cleared the table, Adyr brought over coffee—one sugar for Marielle, five for Niva, and a bitter one for himself—and they sat.

    Taking advantage of the quiet, Adyr spoke. "I’ll be busy for a few days at the player headquarters, so I’ll stay in my room there."

    Marielle and Niva paused.

    Niva, especially, looked uneasy. She didn’t want to go through that separation again.

    "Hey, hey, don’t look at me like that. The headquarters is just an hour away, and I’m not going anywhere dangerous," Adyr said, glancing at the eyes fixed on him.

    "Besides, don’t you both want status and clean genetic upgrades? That way we can even restore Marielle’s arm—and as a bonus, enjoy some flawless skin. I just need a hundred more merits for status. A couple of extra hours each day should be enough," he added quickly, stacking the points without leaving room for objections.

    Of course, everything he said was true—except for the last part. He had already purchased the status. But they didn’t need to know that.

    They didn’t need to know where he was really going or what he was about to do.

    ***

    A/N: Beginning of Volume II – The Cracking