When I opened my eyes, I wasn't in my room anymore.
I was standing in the middle of a city.
It looked old-fashioned not ancient, just... outdated. Like something straight out of the 90s. Small fruit stalls lined the streets. Shopkeepers shouted prices. Children ran past me laughing. A couple walked by holding hands. The air felt warm, alive.
For a moment, I just stood there, taking it in.
"It's kind of nice," I muttered.
I started walking down the street, glancing at the colourful stacks of oranges and vegetables. Everything felt normal. Peaceful.
Then someone screamed.
The sound cut through the air so sharply that my body froze before my mind caught up.
A man flew across the street and crashed into a cart, knocking it over. People turned. Some stared. Some laughed nervously, thinking it was a joke.
Then the monster stepped out.
It was tall... too tall. Its limbs bent in ways they shouldn't. Its face looked twisted, deformed, like someone had tried to sculpt a human and failed. Its mouth stretched unnaturally wide as it grabbed the nearest person.
And killed them.
Just like that.
The peaceful street turned into chaos in seconds. Blood splattered across the pavement. People ran in every direction, screaming. Some tripped. Some didn't get back up.
"What the hell is happening...?" I whispered.
My legs finally responded. I ran toward the corner of a building and crouched behind a large wooden box near a closed shop. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst through my ribs.
This had to be a dream.
There was no way this was real.
I peeked around the edge of the box.
The monster was tearing through people like they were nothing. No hesitation. No emotion. Just destruction.
"This isn't a beautiful city if this is what happens on my first day..." I muttered under my breath.
The next second, the box I was hiding behind was ripped away.
I fell backward onto the pavement.
The monster stood in front of me now, staring down.
"You are DEAD" it said.
Before I could react, its fist slammed into me.
Everything went white.
I was sent flying across the street and crashed into a wall so hard I felt something crack. Pain exploded through my body. I coughed violently and blood spilled from my mouth.
"Is this how I die...?" I thought, panic flooding my chest.
I grabbed broken pieces of the wall beside me and threw them at it.
"GET AWAY!" I screamed, even as more blood dripped down my chin.
The monster didn't even flinch.
Then something hit me.
Wait.
I went to sleep.
This is a dream.
If this is a dream...
"I won't die," I muttered, forcing myself to stand even though my legs shook. "Even if I die here... I won't actually die."
The fear faded just a little. A reckless kind of confidence replaced it.
The monster tilted its head.
"You can still stand?"
"Of course," I replied, trying to smile through the pain. "This is nothing."
It stared at me for a moment.
"What is your name, punk?"
"...Kein," I said.
The monster lunged.
There was no second chance. No hidden power awakening.
It crushed me.
And everything went black.
"Ahh... that was a nice dream, wasn't it?"
I opened my eyes again.
But there was no city this time.
No street. No wall. No monster.
Just darkness.
Endless blackness in every direction.
I wasn't standing. I wasn't lying down.
I was floating.
My stomach dropped.
"That wasn't me who said that..." I muttered.
"Who are you? Where am I?" I shouted into the void.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then a voice echoed around me... calm, deep, almost amused.
"Welcome home."
My chest tightened.
"WHO ARE YOU!?"
"You don't need to shout, mere human."
The darkness felt heavier somehow.
"Or should I say..."
The voice paused.
"...mqr123."