A new day begins. Not because I want it to—it just does. It feels boring. Like I’m slowly dying from the monotony. The nightmares haven’t returned in the past few days, though, so that’s something. But boredom… it’s becoming unbearable.


    This boredom is now my main problem. After what happened at the river, Poma told me not to wander too far. I don’t want trouble, so I listen. But with no sudden fainting or nightmares lately. I feel restless. I need to do something.


    This forest felt amazing when I first arrived. I want to visit the flower fields again. Maybe see those strange animals. At least it’d be something to break the monotony. Instead, I’m stuck sitting at the temple entrance, staring at the same trees and bushes over and over.


    My only “friend” here is Enyeka but she can’t talk. And Poma? She can’t always stay in her physical form. We rarely speak, and when we do, it’s mostly about plants or animals in the forest. She’s been stuck in this temple for so long she doesn’t know much about the world outside.


    Now, I’m just waiting for the people who might come today. They’ll bring offerings for Poma. The fruits on the altar are almost gone after I’ve been eating them for days. Luckily, Enyeka can still find food in the forest—she brings enough for both of us. My food supply is safe for now, but it’s getting thin.


    So, what now? Count the leaves again? Try something else? Maybe take another walk? But walking around the temple is getting old. Yesterday, I picked up a stone and carved some writing onto a ruined wall. Yeah, I tried writing again. It felt… wrong. I stopped writing, didn’t I? But here I am, carving words into a wall. Is this instinct? Ancient people did it. Carving symbols in caves, leaving their mark. Or is it just a habit?


    I used to write a lot. Story ideas, random thoughts, things I thought would make good plots. But that’s over now. I have to forget about being a writer. Start fresh. Still, the guilt creeps back in when I think about it.


    Like a ghost. Always there, haunting me. Stuck in my head. Or maybe even my soul.


    Maybe I should run again. Run harder. Run farther... and I might be free.


    Yeah, it’s probably fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve thought about it. And it won’t be the last.


    I stood up from where I was sitting and walked out of the temple. This boredom is suffocating. I need to move. Waste some time. It’s not like this time matters anyway.


    Ruins to ruins. One after another. I’m starting to memorize this place—the details, the positions of each ruin, the path back to the temple. I think I’ve got it down pretty well. Should I go further? Maybe I’ll try to find that flower field again. it''s not that far, right?


    But should I tell Poma first? I don’t want to cause trouble. Still, I’ve been holding back for days now. All I feel is boredom. Endless boredom. Maybe I can just try it? If I get lost, I’ll just walk back here. Yeah, as long as it’s not too far, I should be able to return easily, right? Interesting…


    Should I go? There shouldn’t be any problems, right? As long as I know my limits.


    And so, my first adventure began. Not the grand kind—no treasure to find, no world to save. Just a walk to kill boredom. If this were a story, the title might be something like "A Journey Against Boredom." Lame, right? Fits my writing skills perfectly.


    First, I tried to figure out the direction I came from. If I looked at the sun’s position, it should be east… right? But which way was east? And where was north? Wait... this is not earth. Does the sun even rise in the east here? I felt stupid for not thinking about it earlier. Then again, most stories I’ve read never bothered with details like the direction of the sunrise.


    Oh well. Maybe I should just trust my gut. This seemed like the way I came from. My plan was simple: walk straight for about ten minutes. If I didn’t find anything, I’d turn back.


    “This plan is foolproof,” I muttered to myself.


    I picked what I thought was the right direction. Or at least, what my gut said so and started walking. Slowly, I scanned the trees and grass around me, choosing paths with fewer obstacles. For the first three minutes, nothing unusual. I could still see the ruins and temple behind me. After five minutes, I felt like I hadn’t gone far enough, so I sped up a little.


    By ten minutes, I found… nothing. Just the same forest. A few birds flew over my head, but that was it. No flower fields. No surprises. Disappointed.


    “Yep, time to go back,” I said. I turned around and started walking straight, retracing my steps. Easy enough. No problems so far.


    Then I heard something from the bushes. A sound like an animal that angry, restless. From the silhouette in the distance, it looked big. Like a tiger? Or maybe a wolf?


    Poma did mention that there are predators in the Rossa Forest, like the Arik. A type of wolf. But she also said they’re rare, nomadic, and hardly ever stay in one place. So, theoretically, there shouldn’t be any animals here that could threaten me.


    Still, fear crept in. What if it’s aggressive? What if it’s an Arik? Did I make a mistake coming out here? Maybe I should’ve just stayed in the temple. As the saying goes, regret always comes at the end. How stupid I am.


    Then, slowly, the animal emerged... It looked like a dog, with thin, brown fur. But its head was oversized, and it had... a trunk? An elephant-dog? Or maybe a tapir-dog? To top it off, there was a small horn on its forehead. What was this thing? It felt like I’d stumbled into a creature straight out of Spore.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The animal grunted. It sounded angry. At me? Why?


    And just like that, it charged. No time to think. I turned around and bolted, sticking to the plan—only this time, I had to run. Fast. Because the beast chasing me looked... furious.


    Run and keep running. Time seemed to race alongside me. From tree to tree, bush to bush, grass to grass. But for some reason, it felt like I was going in circles. Was it me, or did this forest just look the same everywhere?


    Slowly, I realized the strange animal wasn’t chasing me anymore. Now… where was I?


    I ran in a straight line. Or at least I thought I did. This should lead me back to the ruins and the temple. Don’t tell me I’m terrible at directions? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me? Okay… calm down. No need to panic. Since nothing’s chasing me now, I might as well slow down and think.


    I kept walking, but it felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere. Like being stuck on a treadmill. Something about this felt… off. An anomaly, just like what happened at the river. But this time, my shadow was still there. When I moved my hands or shifted my body, the shadow followed normally. I grabbed at the grass and bushes—they felt real enough. This wasn’t a dream. Which meant I hadn’t passed out and slipped into another nightmare.


    “Thank goodness this isn’t a nightmare,” I said, feeling relieved.


    But suddenly, a strange voice echoed from nowhere:


    “Who says it’s not?”


    I looked around. Nothing. I was alone. Where did that voice come from? Was someone... or something here? A ghost, maybe? My heart started racing, faster and faster. The same feeling. The same situation. That familiar strangeness.


    “Who’s there?” I asked, scanning my surroundings for the source of the voice.


    At least I have to make sure. This feeling might be wrong. There could be people nearby—I just didn’t see them. That had to be it. Right, that HAS to be the reason.


    “Look down.” The strange voice was heard again. But this time it felt closer. As if it was beside me. Or even behind me.


    Then I looked down. And there... I didn''t see my shadow anymore. It disappeared.


    My fears came true. Came alive. And maybe... It came to devour me.


    Right. That means… the nightmare was back.


    “Why are you afraid? Haven''t you always been alone? What does a mere shadow mean to you? Loner.” The strange voice asked or rather. Make fun of me.


    “Who are you?” I asked.


    I needed to confirm something. If this is really my dream. Or was there another entity involved? Because the world I am in now. Set in Lovecraftian horror. That''s something I have to take into consideration. Or maybe it even has something to do with that mysterious card?


    “Does it matter who I am? That’s not important. What about you? Who are you? Do you even have an answer for that?” the voice shot back.


    Why am I the one being questioned? Shouldn’t I be the one asking?


    I began to doubt. If what I thought was a nightmare… wasn’t just a dream. There was something hidden. Behind all of this. It ties into the status of the chosen one. And the mysterious card. The dream card. It’s no coincidence that what haunts me is a nightmare. Because the card I’m holding is a dream card. Makes sense, right? I started to see where this was going.


    “Is this related to the dream card thing?” I asked in a provocative tone.


    There was no response. Everything became silent for a moment. Then the voice appeared again.


    “Does your dream have any meaning to you??”


    Huh... I saw something. Far away, behind a tree. A black shadow. Standing there. Staring at me. Its eyes glowed red. It felt familiar. Like I’d seen it before. And its mouth… long, forked tongue. Like branching tentacles.


    “Does our dream mean anything to you?”


    ...


    “Does my dream mean anything to you?”


    ...


    My body seemed to freeze for a moment...


    My head hurts too at the same time...


    My heart is also beating faster...


    ...


    “Don''t run away from me. Don''t leave me. Alone.”


    Of course, I wasn’t stupid enough to listen to him. I ran as hard as I could. Didn’t care which way. The most important thing was to run. As fast as possible. As strong as I could.


    Breaking through trees. Then bushes. I passed them all. But then…


    “AHHHH... AHHHH AHHHH... AHHHH AHHHH... AHHHH AHHHH... AHHHH...”


    A loud scream echoed from behind. I didn’t turn my head. Didn’t look back. Just ran. And ran. But where? Where should I go? I didn’t know. Just moved without direction. Without a clue.


    “DO NOT LEAVE ME ALONE...”


    The screams came again. Loud. Piercing. My ears.


    Unfortunately, my bad luck kicked in. I tripped. Fell hard onto the ground. My head throbbed. My feet ached. Especially my knees. They were bleeding.


    “Damn why.” I screamed.


    Where is my armor plot? Is this because my bad luck is stronger? This is not the treatment of a main character. But more like a disposable side character.


    As I tried to get up and steady my legs, I noticed something. The screams were gone. I didn’t hear them anymore. Was he not chasing me? Didn’t want to think too long about it. I just focused on standing up slowly. Then started walking away. My legs hurt from running. So, I walked slowly. With a limp. Using the trees around me to help balance myself.


    A few moments later, I had walked quite far. Even with a limp, I forced myself to move fast. As fast as I could. While enduring the pain. Especially in my knees. It felt like they were going to fall off. But when I felt safe enough. I stopped for a moment. Leaned against a large tree. Cleaned my dirty, dusty wound.


    I just sat down and then...


    “HELLO.”


    The voice came again. Then I saw it...


    The shadow was beneath me. Clinging back to me. Like a parasite.


    I changed my mind and ran again. Although limping. But I ignored my pain. And ran as hard as I could. It felt like time had stopped. And I was trapped in it. Trapped in hell.


    “DON''T LEAVE ME ALONE.”


    The screams echoed again.


    I kept running. Didn’t look back. But I was out of breath. My legs grew weak. Blood dripped from my knees, staining the ground. I felt like I was about to collapse. Then something grabbed my hand. Pulling me back. It felt wet, sticky, like slime. But soon, a burning sensation spread through my skin. I forced myself to look back.


    There it was. That horrifying shadow.


    Pitch black. Small tentacles wriggled all over its body. Its mouth was wide open, torn and gaping, like it could swallow me whole.


    “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS RUN AWAY? DO YOU WANT TO DIE?”


    The shadow screamed in front of me. Death felt close. Too close. Like it was about to devour me.


    “IT LOOKS LIKE YOU REALLY WANT TO DIE.”


    Suddenly, it let go of my hand. I fell. But strangely, I didn’t hit the ground. Instead, I floated for a moment, then began to fall slowly. In an instant, I realized I was free-falling. And then I saw it—I was on the edge of a cliff. So the shadow had been holding me this whole time.


    Why? Shouldn’t it be a monster? Shouldn’t it want to devour me?


    Why was I suddenly on the edge of a cliff? Why didn’t I see it before?


    Someone… please tell me…


    Am I going to die? The cliff looked high. Time seemed to slow down. Is this what it feels like to die slowly? At least I wanted it to end quickly. Painless. I closed my eyes.


    But the shadow… It seemed to keep watching me. Did it have something to say? Why was it chasing me? What did I do wrong? Why was it haunting me?


    Then everything went black. And empty. Again.