CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 37: REVELATION[2][GTG]

[How long are you going to keep staring down at it? Don’t you think it’s time you end this?] asked the system as I stood, staring down from the rooftop.

I have been here for the past...

... I have no idea anymore...

... I can’t even tell how long I have been here, but what’s more strange is how it’s been night all this time...

... since the day I left that hotel and found myself trapped in this empty world, the sun has never risen...

... it’s been night all this time.

Perhaps...

... that’s why I don’t feel hungry even with how many days have gone by.

It’s probably been a month now...

... and I was now at my breaking point.

It was as though the world itself was frozen in time, and not just that, it felt broken.

I was alone.

I was trapped.

There was no way out.

There never was from the start, and at this point...

... I have come to accept it.

I am a pawn.

I never will have freedom.

That will forever be a desire that will always be an arm’s length away.

*Sigh*

I sighed, then looked back at everything one more time.

What I was going to do now was probably inevitable...

... after all, there was never going to be a way out of this cursed place.

If I remain here, then I will only keep on with the realization of how powerless I am.

Yeah.

It’s better not to remember any of this.

From what it said, this was the furthest I have ever made it in every retry.

So... even if I may lose the memories of what happened and end up here once again with wiped memories and a lofty hope of perhaps having a peaceful life away from all this, it’s a lot better than realizing there really is no hope.

"I... really hate you... you and that witch of a goddess you serve," I said...

... and plummeted.

Damn.

I really hate this world so damn much.

*BAM!*

I slammed the ground.

I was...

... dead.

[Finally.]

[Well... he was a bit more entertaining this time than the last retry,]

[Hmm,]

[Let’s see what role I should give him next. Hehehehe... I can’t wait to see what he would do next,] said the voice, but suddenly...

[Interference detected]

[Unknown entity influencing system registry,]

[Captured soul... Detached]

[What?!]

[NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!]

...

...

...

"Haa!" Leo gasped, his eyes flying open to a large, furnished room.

"Huh?"

He frowned as he couldn’t recall what or where this was.

"What the?" he muttered, scrambling to sit up.

Where was he?

Was he dead...?

"I... should be," he thought, but it didn’t seem that way.

He swung his legs off the bed and stood, drawn to his mirror.

He walked towards it, but looking at it, he discovered something strange.

His reflection...

It was... missing.

Was this a dream?

Well, it probably was, considering he was quite sure he died... Or wait, did he?

Was that all just a dream?

"No." He frowned, as it still didn’t make sense. This room, this whole situation!

Just where in the world was he?!

He dashed to the door he spotted at the corner of the humongous room but getting to it, he discovered yet another strange occurrence...

There was no knob.

*Slams*

*Boom!*

The door blew open, and he stumbled out into a corridor carpeted in red all the way down.

He stood up and dashed towards the stairs, grabbing the railing as he rushed down, screaming and calling out every name he could remember: "HELLO! IS ANYONE HERE! HELLO!"

The frantic calls echoed through the empty halls, unanswered.

The silence after each shout hung heavy in the air, amplifying Leo’s growing unease. He reached the bottom of the stairs, his breath ragged.

Now he was in the living room of this... mansion. It felt sterile and cold under the harsh red light filtering through the windows.

He pushed open the door, a sickening scraping sound reaching his ears. Outside, buildings sprawled before him, but something was terribly wrong.

The streets bustled with no one, and it gave rise to a déjà vu he didn’t like one bit.

Houses stood empty, doors hanging ajar like gaping wounds. Panic clawed at Leo’s throat.

Why was the sky red?

How was he here?

And...

Where had everyone gone?

He walked towards one of the deserted buildings, a tremor running through his hand as he reached for the doorknob.

He had no idea why, but he felt the need to check inside.

*Squeak*

The door swung open with an unnatural silence.

He took a hesitant step inside, bracing himself.

However, instead of furnishings, a swirling vortex of shimmering light filled the room.

It pulsed with an otherworldly energy, drawing Leo’s gaze.

Tentatively, he extended a hand towards it, a prickling sensation traveling up his arm as his fingers brushed the light.

Suddenly, the world dissolved around him.

The red light, the empty streets, the very room itself – all vanished. Leo found himself tumbling through a void of swirling colors, the sensation of falling both exhilarating and terrifying. He squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for impact.

*Thud*

A jolt.

He landed hard on something solid, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and moss. He opened his eyes, blinking away the disorientation. He was in a forest, the towering trees casting long shadows in the fading afternoon light.

But this wasn’t the exam forest.

The air here held a different energy, a subtle hum that vibrated through his core.

He rose shakily, his hand instinctively going to his side, where a dull ache pulsed.

Where was he now?

He stood up and surveyed his current location.

There was a huge tree in front of him, and the tree had a door on it.

He then walked forward towards it; he kicked the door, and it swung open without any hindrance.

*Squeak*

"Huh?"

But inside was not what he expected at all; it was something that shouldn’t be possible, but then again, nothing here seemed right.

He took a step towards it, and for the first time, he saw something that gave him a reflection...

But, this was not a mirror.

"What?!"

No, this was not the him he remembered; this was not his reflection!

Where the heck was he?!