A dark void stretched endlessly, yet a faint, blurry light floated before his eyes. Murmuring—indistinct, incomprehensible—echoed all around him. His vision slowly returned, though still hazy. The whispers grew clearer. Sensations that had vanished were now creeping back into his body.
Thành Dũng slowly regained consciousness, awakened by the noise of those around him. He felt something warm yet rough pressing against his forehead. It was Uncle Bách's hand—hovering anxiously as the man stared at him with worry and restlessness in his eyes.
Barely able to speak, Dũng whispered weakly:
"What… happened… Uncle Bách…?"
But Uncle Bách said nothing. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, trapped somewhere inside his rattled mind. Seeing the silence, Dũng assumed he was still delirious and simply couldn't hear clearly. He tried to sit up—but a sudden wave of pain shot through his body. His arms buckled, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Only then did Uncle Bách snap out of his daze. Shocked and irritated, he barked:
"Can't you just stay still, Dũng?! Look at you—don't you know you look like a damn rag right now?!"
Someone nearby approached them.
"Are you two okay? Don't worry, this place is the safest spot for now."
Uncle Bách immediately turned to speak with the stranger, while Dũng struggled back up after his embarrassing face-plant. As he finally looked around, he realized they were in a corner of a cave, sitting against a stone wall. A handful of survivors huddled around the cramped space. The cave wasn't big, but with so few people left, it felt relatively open.
What caught his attention most were the stones scattered in front of him. Large, small—yet oddly uniform in their shapes, as if something unnatural was at work.
The stranger then turned to him.
"Hmm… You're Thành Dũng, right? You look pretty decent… kinda handsome even."
She teased lightly as she spoke.
Dũng responded awkwardly:
"Yes… Uh… and you are…?"
"Oh my god, you already forgot?! If I hadn't warned you earlier, the anniversary of you and your uncle's death would've been today, you know!"
The girl replied in mock annoyance, as if Dũng were the most ungrateful person alive.
Startled, Dũng quickly defended himself:
"No, no!! I didn't forget! I was exhausted—my vision was blurry... I seriously thought my ancestors were waving me over!"
The girl burst into loud laughter, completely unrestrained.
"Haha! You're hilarious! If that's the case, I might as well be your grandma!"
Dũng laughed awkwardly along.
"Yes, yes… Then can Grandma please tell me her name?"
Hearing that, she dropped the joke and answered. Her name was Linh Nhi, and she was actually the same age as him. She said she only approached because he looked pitiful—and because the two of them were the youngest survivors here. She even shared her bread with Dũng and Uncle Bách, keeping only a small bit for herself.
Dũng forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain, and handed the food back to her.
"We still have some. You should keep yours. Food might be extremely important in a situation like this."
Linh Nhi covered her mouth playfully, teasing him:
"Oh my, look how shy you're pretending to be! But it's fine—take it all, cutie! *:3"
While the two were talking, a man in the cave walked over to one of the strange stones and began urinating on it. The stone emitted an odd noise—as if something alive was inside. Thinking he had misheard, the man turned around, checking behind him.
And in the blink of an eye—
He vanished.
Where he stood was now empty. But the stone beside him had a thin streak of blood seeping through its tiny cracks.
Then more people began disappearing—one after another—without anyone noticing at first. Only when the number of missing became too many did panic finally set in.
Moments later, someone screamed:
"THIS PLACE ISN'T SAFE!! STAY AWAY FROM THE STONES!!!"
The shout was the signal of yet another massacre.
All the strange stones began breaking open, cracking apart—revealing insect-like monsters inside. They tore apart anyone nearby and lunged at everyone else. People shoved and trampled each other in desperation as they surged out of the narrow cave entrance.
The scene could only be described as horrifying—
as if to say there was nowhere, nowhere at all, that could be considered safe.