James... James... James!
He woke up abruptly. It was a nightmare. His subconscious was reminding him how he had been captured by that damned organization. For months, without fail, he had been seeing this same nightmare. Nothing had changed in this cabin whose location in the world he didn't even know.
He slowly got up and examined his body. Strangely, his wounds had healed.
Was he going crazy?
"What kind of dream is this?" He thought that if he slept in a comfortable place, he would truly escape this nightmare.
"Phew, I guess dying really makes people experience something like this in their final moments. I read about it in a magazine once."
James believed he was in a traumatic dream caused by pre-death fear, so he remained calm.
This was a dream. The thousands-of-meters-tall trees around him, the wandering spirits, the strange red bats, human bones, and all sorts of weird things—sure, they could exist.
The mind was infinite.
"Still, I never imagined my subconscious was *this* infinite. I didn't even like watching movies or reading books."
Of course, like every kid, he had watched Spider-Man. Hehe.
"When I was a kid, finding a TV was a luxury. If I wanted to watch something, I had to go to a cafe with a TV and pay an expensive price for coffee."
The prerequisite was the government supplying electricity.
"Anyway, let's explore the surroundings a bit."
The cabin consisted of a living room and a bedroom. The toilet was probably outside—if there even was one.
There was a stove in the living room. A copper pot sat on top; wood could easily be fed from below to use it.
A table and two chairs. Nearby were plates, cups, and other items. In the corner stood a bed. The bedsheet was patched up. The bedsheet stank horribly. When was the last time it had been washed?
Not just the bedsheet—the entire house, James himself, the air, and everything perceptible was filled with filth and gloom.
"God, I wish I had read some romance magazines." Hahahah.
He let out an involuntary laugh. If someone saw him from outside, they would think he was insane.
"I'm starving like a wolf. Let's see what's here."
He searched the room thoroughly and found only a piece of moldy bread.
There were bloodstains on the table. Even the bones looked gnawed. Next to the plate lay a short, rubbery thing a few centimeters long.
"Why does it look like a rat's tail?"
"Oh my God, when will I wake up? Hmmph."
His grumbling continued. The hunger was terrible. Though he was used to being hungry, it felt as if he hadn't eaten anything for a week. As if he would die if he didn't eat in a few more days.
"Let's go outside and find something to eat."
He stepped into the garden. He was no longer trembling while walking. The blood from his wrists seemed to have regenerated. Moreover, the wounds had healed without leaving a trace. Whatever. Things like this happened in dreams.
He couldn't see any toilet around.
"I wish my brain had designed the environment a bit more detailed." Hahahah.
He continued walking along the path.
The surroundings were still fascinating. Spirits roamed everywhere. Most were grotesque. Some had taken the form of beautiful women.
The spirits were divided into red, black, and white.
Black spirits fought white ones. Interestingly, beautiful spirits usually won, while ugly ones became prey for the black spirits. After devouring three beautiful white spirits, a tiger-shaped spirit began turning red.
"Hmm, I guess white spirits are ordinary ones—they're the prey. Black spirits are predatory and malevolent—they're the hunters. Red spirits are the ranked ones; everyone fears them."
"Class disparity is extremely uneven, huh?"
With a faint smile, he continued on his way. The spirits didn't bother him, and he didn't bother them.
While walking, he spotted a puddle of water.
"Why does this puddle reflect me perfectly like a mirror?"
In the real world, only mirrors could do that. Here, that rule didn't seem to apply.
James looked at himself. He had quite a handsome face. There was a cut on his cheek, but whatever. It looked cool.
His hair was white and reached his shoulders. He wore a white robe. His hair blended perfectly with it.
"My skin is even whiter. Could this be related to my wounds healing so quickly?"
His pupils emitted a faint, eerie red glow. Like a white wolf thirsty for blood...
"How terrifying…" He shuddered while looking at himself.
Even though they glowed, it was clear his pupils were black. They formed a stark contrast to the rest of his body.
The tall and attractive young man continued walking.
"Hmm, what's this?" A layer of yellow light stood before him. It seemed to warn him not to proceed along the path.
"Hmph, what's the worst that could happen?"
Let's keep going.
He stepped into the beam of light. A strange feeling came over him; his blood seemed to freeze.
He was on a hill. Looking down from the hill, he was stunned. Thousands of black goats with two-meter-long, spiraled horns were grazing below. He found it strange at first, then his mouth began to water.
"If I eat one of them… or even drink their blood…"
He suddenly froze.
Drink blood?
Why did he have such a desire?
Whatever.
He gripped the knife he had hidden in his robe. Silently, like a predator, he approached the herd.
The herd began to flee, as if sensing the hunter's killing intent.
He was disappointed. How could such massive animals run so fast?
At that moment, two men started running toward him—one middle-aged, the other in his seventies.
The middle-aged man shouted:
"You scoundrel! You dare try to steal an animal from the Bigcow family again! You've finally reached the age to pay for your crimes. Hehehe."
He slowed down with an eerie smile.
James was shocked. He was finally having human interaction.
The old man said:
"Weldan Bloodbreaker! The village court decided you were not to pass the yellow light. Why did you come here?"
James was shocked again. Not because of the punishment or the village court nonsense.
He couldn't understand them!
Yes, he couldn't understand a single word they said.
If he couldn't understand, how could he communicate?
How was he supposed to explain himself?