《Into the Darkness》 An unexpected surprise -Friday October 12th 2028- Walking down the bustling streets of Tokyo, Jin See and her group head towards the Main Street. Since it is Friday they have decided to do some Karaoke with drinks celebrating their youth but also their long awaited reunion. They had all dispersed for the summer holidays and now are in their last year of College, the seniors. Above them on the fluorescent billboards are a range of advertisements on the most mundane things such as soap to the action packed recorded legendary fights that took place in the well known VRMMO, Faery Tales Online. Most of the billboards are based around FTO as it has the highest number of players and viewers in the country, bordering 2 million. FTO is the major VRMMO from Jackal (the company), which blew its competition out of the water due to its 3 key selling points. Firstly is its extensive AI which is able to control the world and grow it as it pleases. Secondly is the 2:1 time ratio which drew many gamers in (as before it was only 1.5:1) because they could play more in less time. And lastly is the ability to fly as the players are faery races, most with wings or magical powers enabling flight. This ability in itself made because it allowed a larger number of players to enjoy the wind rushing by their face, not only high level wizards. Jin See and co. stop at one of the gargantuan billboards stuck on a skyscraper and look at the battle in a daze. The battle depicted 9 of Faery¡¯s races buzzing around a large black dragon in dark skies. The red-winged fairy, Czera, unleashed a barrage of fireballs which crashed into the dragons left flank, meanwhile the twin golden Elves, Ellaria and Lothor, whom rode on the back of a large Gryphon shot arrows with pinpoint accuracy at the tendons in the dragons¡¯ wings causing it to roar in anger. Crawling his way up the dragons back is the stout Brown and bearded Dwarf, Cholk, with a murderous grin on his face. The dragon too busy with the others doesn¡¯t notice his struggle. The mighty Orc paladin, Kvark, rides on his own gryphon and is slicing away at the dragon¡¯s tail with righteous fury. The blue and green Fairies, Lana and Solina, criss-cross under the dragon¡¯s abdomen leaving thin red trails with their swords and daggers. The Purple Fairy, Kord, spews black tentacles from his hand and has them constrict the dragons mouth to which it fiercely shakes its bloody head in frustration. The group of 8 keep chipping away at the dragons health, cutting and slicing and barraging it with spells of all sorts, until the dragon with its last vestige of health tries to fly higher, away from the party. But the dragon does not get far as a dark figure appears above it dropping down at an immense speed. The dragon roars at it and the figure barrages into the mouth and within seconds the dragon stops flying up and drops down, lifeless, for a few seconds till it explodes colorfully into japtem(loot). Amidst the colourful explosion is the figure which is now revealed to be the famous party leader: Night (Night432 is his official username though). Night is the newly acquired black skinned fairy with red veins protruding from his skin and fiery red hair too. On his back are black wings, not insect-like as is with the other fairies but more like a bat¡¯s; leathery and sharp. With him raising his sword into the air the party cheers and the video switches to announcing the new release of the Demonic Fairy. With the end of the video See¡¯s group applauds quietly at the video that they¡¯ve watched multiple times already as it is still quite amazing to see players do such a feat. Those players are the rumored ¡®best¡¯ of the game due to their multiple adventures and mishaps throughout the game. Also many media companies broadcast videos of them and the hall of fame in Jackal is littered with their videos. They continue moving and soon See splits from the group as they head into the Karaoke while she heads home giving the excuse that her brother called her back. With a chuckle they wave her off, the guys look painfully sad but the girls look much relieved. See waves them off with a smile but once their sight she lets out a relaxed sigh. ¡°Now that they¡¯re out of the way¡­¡± See strolls down the main street for a short while before stopping at a small store in an alleyway. She heads inside nodding at the clerk and browses as the goods in the store for a little while. With glee she spots what she is looking for and without hesitation steals it away from its rack before anyone else gets their hands on it. Heading to the counter she pays for it and with a bright smile hides it in the depths of her handbag. Strolling out of the store she hugs her handbag in glee "Finally i have everything I need" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -Saturday October 13th 2028- ¡°GOOD morning everyone!¡± exclaims the joyful Jin Sook ¡°Ay Onee-san stop being so cheerful in the morning¡± Whines the yawing Jin See ¡°Tshu Kiddo let the poor man be happy, it¡¯s the weekend after all¡± Chuckles their Uncle, Jin Hong. See pouts as she sits on the floor by their little wooden table. ¡°Oy Gramps don¡¯t call me kiddo, I¡¯m almost 18 you know¡± ¡°Now now child don¡¯t get flustered, ah wait who you calling Gramps?!¡± Almost dropping the egg he was frying he points his spatula accusingly at See who sticks out her tongue at him ¡°Now come on both of you¡± Sook takes his seat opposite his little sister and rubs his stomach with an evil grin ¡°So how¡¯s breakfast coming¡­Gramps¡± ¡°Oh Clara why do my children hate me so much calling me Gramps, I¡¯m not old am I, just 42, I¡¯m not a sack of bones am I?¡± Tearing up, ¡®Gramps¡¯ continues to cook with his crocodile tears ¡°Well Uncle, being 42 and all you¡¯re losing your youth and chance to get a partner. No one¡¯s going to want an old geezer above 50 you know¡± Suggests Sook pensively ¡°Onee-chan how can you be so mean, I¡¯m sure some older lady will still go for him¡± With a hopeful grin Uncle Hong starts imagining the mature beauties he could meet. ¡°Hey Uncle I think I know a mature beauty. The one down by the veggie stall¡± Exclaims Sook evilly Uncle¡¯s face becomes visibly crestfallen at the mention of the more plump than pleasant woman with a turkey¡¯s neck (wobbly bits). ¡°Oh yes that¡¯s a good one but how about the woman at the butcher in the supermarket, oh or the cat lady two floors up from us? They¡¯re all good choices, take your pick¡± ¡°Uahhh¡± Seasoning the eggs with his tears Uncle finishes frying them. The three of them live in a small flat with only a living room/kitchen and two bedrooms (as well as one toilet). Each of the young people take a bedroom while Uncle has a mat for the living room. All of them sit down at the table and start munching on the well prepared breakfast of egg on rice porridge. 5 bowls are set out, 2 left alone. Although they all were joking around a few seconds ago the atmosphere remains abnormally tense. See sidles over to Sook and rests her head on his shoulder. Sook and See are siblings, Sook being the elder while See the younger. Both have black hair, short and spiky, whereas long and slick for each. Their faces are similar enough to be called twins; however there are obvious differences between them. Firstly Sook is a head taller than her and his face more angular and bony, his jawline well visible. Due to his harsh looks he appears quite old, although being 22 he seems in his early 30¡¯s. His brown eyes are not typical Japanese and have more of an American look than Japanese. His father was an American while his mother Japanese. See on the other hand has a more soft and rounded face, quite alluring to many who prefer those with younger looks. She may be 17 but her face has the Moe appearance of 14. Many had mistaken her and Sook for father and child due to their height and look difference. Finally breaking the tense atmosphere Hong claps his hands once ¡°So Sook, do you remember what day it is today?¡± ¡°How could I forget¡± with a grim expression he glances at the uneaten bowls Stumbling his mistake and pushing away the returning atmosphere he gives pleading eyes to See screaming for help. Looking up at Sook and flicking his forehead she grins lightly ¡°You silly boy, it¡¯s your birthday!¡± ¡°Oh¡­what? Really, I completely forgot!!¡± ¡°HAPPY 23rd my little boy/Onee-chan¡± the two shout in unison and then begin to sing their horrendous family song denoting his most embarrassing moment each year of his life till 23. Tackling his Uncle when he started the lyrics of his 15th year: ¡°And when he was 15 he actually wet his Ooomph¡± ¡°Bed! And when we all gathered round, no words could be said¡± Continues on See while trying hold in her laughter and Sooks reddening face. Uncle wriggling out of Sooks grasp makes his way to the small fridge and procures a small strawberry cheesecake (like the mini-ones you get size of your hand) with sparkling eyes. See also has the same sparkling eyes when she spots the cake and wipes off the drool escaping her mouth. Sook given up on trying to stop them had sat down covering his face as if it were to make him disappear but still looks up at the delicious red cake. The song ends as Uncle places the cake in front of Sook he gives him a wink telling him ¡°It¡¯s all yours¡± Sook grabs his fork and slices the cake into thirds giving the bigger piece to See as her eyes have become as red as the strawberries with devilish intent to eat. Patting her head she ¡°hrumphs(blows air out nose unhappily sound)¡± at him before gorging on the cake. Hong takes the smallest piece slapping Sook when he tries to go for it. Reluctantly Sook takes the middle sized piece and starts of gorge gratefully with as much gusto as his sister. After finishing every last piece of cake (yes there was plate licking) Sook plants a kiss of See¡¯s forehead ¡°Aaagh no Onee-san!¡± before heading off to work. He jogs lightly to the convenience store he works in and arrives there a minute before 8 Dressing into his work clothes he attends the cash register. The store is as empty as usual with only a couple of people passing by for this and that. Some schoolgirls from the nearby college grab some melon-bread as well as try to collect Sook¡¯s number. With a winning smile he gives them a number and lets them leave happily. Little did they know he has no phone. Continuing through his 4 hour shift from 8 till 12 he practices his winning smile with his fellow cashier; an aging man of around 40, as well as trying it out with the customers. Nearing the end of his shift, the cat lady two floors up from where they live buys quite a bit of milk. Upon paying she tells Sook: ¡°Try smiling with your eyes not just your mouth¡± She leaves soon after giving the advice and Sook''s shift ends there. Picking up his daily salary he jogs to the burger joint where he works: Chongs Chops. The place is as usual and Sook rotates from the till to frying the burgers to checking on the chips. His 4 hour shift ends pretty quickly and without much hassle as the place is not packed with school children as is on the weekdays. Collecting his meager pay as well as a free lunch he jogs for a good 30 minutes past the many bus stops and finally arrives at his third shift of the day. He goes inside the restaurant and puts on a white t-shirt and black pants given to him for waitering. He works another 4 hours taking orders and giving incessant smiles at the brats who toy with their food and husbands who complain about the quality of their meals and slow service. After the grueling hours he and the rest of the restaurant crew gather in their staff room getting ready to go home. Or that is what Sook thought they ought to be doing. He walked in after attending the last customer (thus being the last off the job) to get blasted with a loud shout of ¡°HAPPY BIRTHDAY¡± and a chorus of a birthday song (thankfully normal). There is a small chocolate cake (the ones they usually give when someone wants a free desert and says it¡¯s their birthday) on the staff table which they point towards with grins. Sook with an equal grin cuts up the cake into slices and they all eat their slice happily. Jeng takes out a bottle of red wine, which a picky customer asked for and then rejected once it was opened, and starts pouring it into glasses for everyone. Sipping their wine merrily everyone starts to chat animatedly asking Sook various questions which get surprisingly interesting as more alcohol is brought in by someone who had been unlucky enough to draw the short straw. The 3 girls especially were having more than their fill and their blushing faces showed their intoxication. While trying to answer the questions thrown at him honestly Sook tries to avoid the more colourful ones that pop up from the ladies such as ¡°what¡¯s your size¡±: ¡°46 is my shoe size¡± and ¡°Want to get in your birthday suit? Here let me help you¡± (Thankfully Aron, one of his male co-workers took her away before she could get a good enough grip on Sook¡¯s belt). One of the girls, the usually quiet Tsuki opens up her blouse a couple of buttons, fanning her well developed cleavage while winking at Sook. *Gulp* All the men upon seeing Tsuki, the assistant manager, like this, gulp. However Sook gulps in mild fear because he feels her intentions clutching at him. Luckily/Unluckily the manager himself enters the room at this moment, after about 2 hours from the beginning of the ¡®birthday party¡¯. He is a balding man in his late 40¡¯s and takes one look at the partygoers before shaking his head and leaving the room. Re-entering a second later, he asks Sook to come with him as he remembers his purpose. The girls look at bit unhappy as Sook leaves them for the manager. The party continues in the background but with a little less fervor. The manager sits down on his leather chair behind his desk and while rubbing his knuckles pensively he asks Sook to sit. Doing so Sook looks at the manager with clear eyes, he has no doubts. As he suspected the manager takes an envelope from his drawer and slides it to Sook exclaiming quietly ¡°We need to cut on staff, sorry¡± With a deep nod he tells the manager to not worry about it and re-enters the party. The crew looks excited about seeing him again and the girls cling onto him with glee. Wiping his nose Sook pushes them away gently (wipes his nose once more) and heads to his locker grabbing his things. The girls intoxicated as they are continue to chatter and laugh along with the rest of the crew but Aron and Jeng both lose a bit of light in their smiles. Jeng quickly announces that the party is ending because the store is closing and that they could go to a bar in town. The girls look at Sook but he shakes his head explaining that his sister is missing him. ¡°Oooh didn¡¯t know you had that sort of relationship¡± says the ladies as they giggle and wink at him ¡°How about you start that kind relationship with me?¡± Asks Tsuki as she pops off another button making her threat more reliable. Sook with the help of Aron and Jeng gets away from the red-faced women and escapes to the outside. They shake hands with Sook and give him a pat on the back. Giving their last goodbyes they watch Sook jog off into the night before they shake their heads in annoyance in losing such a person. Sook jogs all the way back home and arrives there at 11:48. Slightly damp with his own sweat Sook loosens his shirt and walks up the cold stairs of the block he lives in. He reaches his flat on the 3rd floor and opens the door with his key. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.Heading inside he sees Uncle chatting with See about her day and other trivial things. Upon Sook entering See bounds up and hugs his abdomen. Patting her head he blushes slightly as she rises with her slightly drooping eyes and asks him why ¡°Onee-chan smells like woman¡± Uncle in the background devilishly grins ¡°Oho, my young boy is no longer a boy then?¡± Sook shakes his head at the barrage of winks from Uncle. He pats See once again and starts to re-tell her about his shift at the restaurant. He reassures her there was no women business, his co-workers just got a bit intoxicated. He talks about all the customers embellishing the boring orders and re-enacting the grumpy husbands with funny faces and voices. Needless to say, he does not mention his early retirement from work, nor does he mention the more vivid details of the night which now linger in his brain (oh Tsuki). Throughout the story they had moved to the little table and had sat down, See still clingling innocently to Sook. They changed the conversation to the rest of the family''s day and about various random topics and new news. After a short while See began to get a bit drows and thus tried to get a lap pillow from Sook. She gives him her best puppy eyes but Sook lifts her and pops her into his room, she grins happily as he tucks her in. Saying goodnight Sook returns back to the living room and sits down with Uncle to talk about finances. The minute See was out of sight they both transformed somewhat, losing a certain light in their eyes. They looked more haggard, more worn out from the long shifts of endless work and smiles. Sook tells him about the change in how much he¡¯s bringing in and they adjust their spending accordingly. To their calculations they will live steadily until Christmas where they¡¯ll need to splurge a bit for See¡¯s sake. After that they may have quite a few dangerous months. After sorting their estimations Uncle leaves for his night shift while Sook heads to his room. After hearing the click of his closed door Sook¡¯s image transforms wildly: His face wipes itself into a deadpan (emotionless) visage. The tension from forced smiles is finally released and he softly rubs the side of his jaw to relieve that slight pain. His aura, before filled with fake warmth now permeates certain coldness. Dropping the women-smelling shirt uncaringly on the floor he heads over to the bed only to find a large blue machine residing in his room. Raising an eyebrow he walks towards the machine and picks up the letter that was placed on top of it. The letter in See¡¯s handwriting explains it as a capsule for VR games and that the chip for Faery Tales Online has been put in there by See. She wrote as if she were quite angry here because the writing gets thicker due to the force. She explains that one can buy chips for games in stores and thus the capsule instead of being purposed for one game is able to be used for any VR games that have a chip. Uncle had added a line at the bottom of the explanation saying that Sook needs something to do rather than just work. Furthermore See also added on the back of the letter that within the game Painter is an available profession. Sook folds the letter neatly and places it on his dusty desk where many old books, filled with doodles and things he drew and painted as a young child, reside. After folding the letter he heads towards his bed and grabs a large bin bag from underneath. Taking the bin bag with him he opens his window and stealthily moves down the rickety iron stairs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A man dressed in black walks down a deserted alleyway his boots clicking on the stone floor sending a quiet echo down the street. A soft chink of metal accompanies the man. The midnight moon shines above but is repelled by the dark coat and hat he wears. A cat hisses as he walks past it but it stops midway for some reason and flees from sight. He walks for a few more minutes till he sees two burly men loitering by a flickering lamplight. The two have numerous tattoos spread on their thick arms along with a scar or two. Further added with their black unkempt hair they appear thuggish. They both wear black clothing and glinting with the moonlight are their metal knives which one twiddles in his fingers while the other cleans his nails with it. Upon seeing the man in the distance and hearing the chinking metal, the twiddler pushes lightly off the wall with a nasty grin ¡°Well looky here, seems we got a nice pile o¡¯ cash walking in on us¡± His eyes stuck on the mat-black suitcase. The nail picker looks up seemingly uninterested but his mouth twitches slightly in delight at some prey. ¡°Now now brother, let him beg for his life at least¡± ¡°Oho you are right brother; I should let him beg me to end his life¡± ¡°...Just kill him and be done with it¡± With a cackling laugh, Twilddler steps forward menacingly towards the man who keeps on walking towards him without a drop in speed, it is as if Twiddler did not exist. The soft chinking of metal gets louder to Twiddler''s ears Upon seeing this and hearing the ominous sound Twiddle feels a cold sweat running and he pours his killing intent properly towards the strange black man. At this point the man is barely few metres away from the duo but his face is hidden behind his hat. He stops suddenly after Twiddler pours his killing intent and Twiddle looks happy at seeing the man stop in fear. But the man does not go down to his knees and beg nor does he try to flee. He stands there still as stone leaving the alleyway quiet as a graveyard, creating an ominous atmosphere between the trio. The nail picker moved off the wall and prepares to join in at the upcoming fight. Twiddler strengthens his grip on his razor sharp dagger. The man¡­does nothing. *Bang* Jumping a little Twiddler curses under his breath as the man had dropped his suitcase suddenly. Although the duo believed the man had silently given up they did not seem as sure of that when the man slowly brought his hands to the front of his long black coat. Slowly opening his coat the soft chinking sound echoed in the alley and the duo stood aghast at the man. Nail picker dropped to the floor kneeling so quickly that his forehead slammed into the stone floor but he remained in a begging position barking at Twiddler to do the same. Once both prostrated themselves they whimpered ¡°Forgive us¡± and ¡°Don¡¯t kill us please¡± to the strange man. Wordlessly the man picks up his suitcase and walks past the groveling men. Reaching the border of the darkness, where the light of the flickering lamppost began he stopped. Nail picker rushed up to the lamppost and turned it off completely by opening the fuse-box and fiddling quickly with the wires. 1¡­2¡­3¡­4¡­5 seconds passed in complete silence and darkness before a thick iron door, painted as the wall swung open to welcome the outsiders. The man walked past the whimpering Nail picker and went through the door. The door slammed shut behind him, another iron door opened up in front of him. Light flooded the man¡¯s vision and he walked through into a well lit room holding a few people. Most prominently is a blonde bleached man in a flowery shirt who puts his arm around the silent man. ¡°Ah you finally made it. Now we can actually get something done¡± With that sentence he glances angrily at a man in a black suit smoking his cigarette in the corner. In his hands is a pair of tongs holding a yellowing tooth. Rolling his eyes, the suit man points towards the door next to him. Moving through the door is the silent man while the flowery shirt opens the door and follows from behind. Inside this dim lit room is a single wooden chair the colour of dark red. Tied on the chair is a man with a laurel of wispy black hair and broken spectacles. His business suit is torn and blood has made a line down his white shirt from his mouth where a toothless hole resides. Due to his quite expensive clothes and protruding stomach one could presume the man is of some importance, a CEO of a company or less. The man was slumped on the chair sobbing quietly at his misfortune while wincing at the aching pain of his gums and his bound wrists. Upon seeing the silent man he does not react as he has already given into his fate. However his eyes grew winder when the silent man put the suitcase on the floor and opened it: Rows of equipment lay neatly in rows, all cleaned till they shined in the dim light. He felt dread clutch at him and shake him to his core. The rows upon rows, layers upon layers of knives, saws, screws, spikes and various other devices which the man had no idea what they were. However he knew they all shared a single terrifying purpose: Causing the utmost pain. However he knew that pain was not just from the equipment but also from the individual using them and the individual in question let off the cold air of a killer. The silent man slowly opened his coat revealing with a soft chink more knives and devices, however these seemed different. They seemed sharper, more brutal than the others. The rows upon rows of things in the suitcase were just toys compared to what resided inside that mans cloak. The silent man removed the cloak and handed it to the flowery shirt man and the one who was tied up almost laughed in agony as he knew that only toys would be used on him; he wasn¡¯t worth the real thing. ¡°Please spare me, I¡¯ll tell you everything¡± Seeing no hope, no escape he claws at his final resort. With a grin the flowery shirt man shakes his head ¡°I believe you but juust in case you¡¯re lying we need to loosen you up a bit, so hang in there¡± With that he left the room leaving just the two of them and a heavy atmosphere. Tears started flowing silently from his eyes and he looked up at the silent man who wore all black, expressionless before tears of terror. ¡°No, please, no. Please I don¡¯t want to die. I have a wife, I have kids. A little girl and a little boy. I have to say good night to them and sing them to sleep. I still have to give them hugs now and then whenever they¡¯re sad and make them smile and laugh. Please my family, my children they need me.¡± Taking out a small bag of white powder the man kneels down by his left foot and removes his soft leather shoe. Removing his socks the man sucks up the white powder with a thin pipette and slowly but surely fills up the space between the toenails and skin. He continued to wail incessantly about his family¡¯s generations and delved into his most heartwarming moments with his family, his most tear jerking moments with his children, but his words fell on deaf ears. Sticking a match between each toenail he strikes a single one and lights the other 5 in quick succession. Standing up, the silent man returns to the suitcase and takes out a wicked serrated blade. The silent man looked at the tied up man whose face was red and puffed from crying with snot running down his nose mingling with blood from the freshly opened gum wound. Moving his lips and uttering quietly but with the weight of a thundering roar a single sentence came from the once silent man¡¯s mouth ¡°When you want me to remove your toes, tell me so¡± The fire reached the end of the match and set alight the crushed firelighter. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH¡± --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The door opened slowly and the smell of burnt flesh wafted outwards along with the silent man carrying his suitcase. From the viewing room 3 of the 5 onlookers were bent double retching and wiping their mouths clean with their sleeves. The Flowery shirt man looked decently unfazed, only a few sweat droplets ran down his head. Seeing the silent man he laughs darkly ¡°Well that was quite a show you put on there, never though matches and firelighter could be so¡­effective. Well now that the fun is over we should get to work¡± He points at some guards, who did not come to watch but still had a light sweat over the screams and the burning smell, and has them go into the room for cleaning and then interrogation. The flowery shirt man turned back to the silent man and put on a concerned face ¡°I¡¯m sorry about his babbling, stupid man really must¡¯ve gotten on your nerves¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it had no effect¡± ¡°Oho so then we¡¯r¡­¡± He was stopped suddenly by the silent man raising 3 fingers in his direction ¡°Ah that is more like you, but 3 million? 2 should, no 2.5 should be enough right?¡± With 2.5 million the silent man nodded, retrieved his cloak and left the suitcase with the flowery shirt man. ¡°Have a nice walk home; I¡¯ll get in contact with you the usual way when the next job comes up. Until then be as free as a bee¡± nodding towards the silent man he got the 2.5 million sorted and then walked into the interrogation room closing the door behind him. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Splash* Rising to the surface of a dark river is a man dressed all in black, dripping wet; his clothes now cleansed of the smell of burning flesh. Putting his cloak back on he starts to sprint alongside the riverbank, his clothes whipping in the wind their moisture being ripped away. The man ran on the grass and then on the dark moonlit streets in the dark alleyways away from the lights. He jumped on a fence and vaulted over rolling on the lawn of a house and quickly sprinted across the land and made his way over the fence on the other side within seconds. He dashed up stairs 3 at a time with ease and jumped down a flight of them before rolling on the concrete. Making his way to his destination took him close to an hour due to his roundabout way to dry his clothes. His clothes now smelled somewhat dirty, as if he had rolled around in the grass and put his back on a stone wall for some time. It smelled normal like clothes should smell. Finally making it to the back of a large block of a building he climbed stealthily up 3 flights of rickety stairs and slid open a window of a dark room. Tiptoeing into his room he took out the bin bag from a pocket in his coat and removed his trousers from it, placing them on his bed. Taking off his black clothes he put them in the bag and hid the bag back underneath his bed. Standing in his room in only his underwear he glanced at his wall clock stating it was around 3:10 am. Suppressing a yawn, he peeked at the large blue capsule taking a large chunk of his room he decided to open it up and check it out. Inside was a chair-like shape along with some sort of helmet that was attached to the ceiling. Sitting inside the capsule he closed it and placed the helmet on. Immediately dim blue light appeared around him and grew in brightness along with a soft whirring noise. ?Please give Username? A system message appeared in front of him floating in the air. ¡°Sook¡± ?Enter the world?? ¡°Yes¡± ?Welcome to the world of Fae- ? His world went black Into the Darkness Opening his eyes Sook quickly decided it wasn''t worth the bother: before him was nothing but darkness. Not the darkness you find in one''s non-light bedroom at night but the thick black darkthat is found in the depths of caves and in the deepest depths of the ocean. Sook could see nothing, not even his hand which he held an inch from his eyes. The world was a void and he would think he was floating if not for the cold feeling seeping into his bare feet. Feeling himself he figured he wore a shirt of some kind as well as baggy trousers. Apart from that he had almost nothing else; his pockets were empty, devoid of everything but a rusty old key. Concentrating on the surrounding darkness once more he had more senses than he believed. The virtual reality industry had boasted about its ability to recreate all 5 senses within the game, although Sook did not know this information beforehand he was figuring it out at his own leisure. He could smell a thick mustiness from the air as well as a thin layer of rot. He guessed he was somewhere underground. This was also because he felt the dense hot air around him furthering his suspicions. However this information was not important to Sook as something else had his mind occupied: There was no sound, not asignle drip of water or moan of wind. It was almost unnatural as if the darkness had swallowed the sound giving that feeling of emptiness, like a vaccum. This state of nothingness lasted for only a minute at most and suddenly a dim crimson light shone, no, it pulsated slowly a few feet away from Sook. The odd light gave Sook the chance to see the outline of his body and also a small part of a moss covered stone wall. The light''s origin was a row of words, although too small to see from where he was, they were words of some kind. Taking a step towards the light he raised an eyebrow at the familiarity, the natural feeling he had of the body, as if it were his own and not a game body. Making his way over to the words quickly he made the place he was in echo continuously with his resounding slap of his feet on cold stone. The floor felt smooth and well carved without juts and broken stones thus making his fumbling journey easier. Reaching the words with ease he notices the reason the glow was red; the words were written with blood, or at least that was what it seemed like. However unlike the ominous visual of the words suggests the information was not some murderer''s name or curse. it read as such; [I cannot remember anything, not why I am here nor where ''here is. I cannot remember where i lost my shoes or when I ate my last food. All I can remember my name but the memory is slowly fading. So before i lose it for good I''ll record it on this paper, the only thing I seem to have.] At the end of the ''blood text'' there is a browning sheet of paper nailed to the wall. With mild curiosity Sook takes the paper, carefully removing it before checking both sides. There are words on the paper but Sook cannot read them properly so he hugs the dmily lit wall getting as much light on the paper as possible.With that the words become clear: {Sook} So it was him who wrote the message, and he cannot remember it. It seems quite game-like to him and he feels mildly impressed with the way he starts. However his attention is stolen as he eyed the wall to his right which is now faintly lit with another ''blood text''. Walking over ,once again sending slapping echoes, he reads the text as it pulsates crimson [I hear them, the wails the screams that fill this void of silence. They whisper dark thoughts to me or taunt me from the shadows. They gather in the darkness gathering around me clawing away at my mind. I cannot stand them in the darkness, Only in the light can I bear their evil intents and black thoughts that try their best to rip my sanity from me.] Another brown paper lies nailed to the wall. Taking it Sook sees {Sanity:???} written on it. Feeling goosebumps rise at seeing the ''sanity:???'' he wonders why it sounds ominous and also why there is a reason for that. He never played games when he was young, prefering sports of all kinds as it was what he excelled at due to his natural athleticism, However sanity in a game just doesn''t...fit in some way. But Sook attributes it to it being a game so he dismisses it without another thought. He spots another dim glow from the right side, opposite the two previous glows, forming a triangle of sorts. Moving away he feels another substance under his feet; soft and smooth but waxy. Stooping down he picks up the small cylindrical object and it turns out to be a candle, unused. Putting the candle in his trouser pocket he continues to the new ''blood text'' [Should I ever wake up again then I will want to leave this damned place. There is a door just to the left of this writing, what is behind it I cannot remember and the voices are thicker there. I hear them knocking on the door sometimes asking me to let them in, but I wont because those...things are not my allies. They are there to hurt me but I can do nothing to stop them, only the light and fire lessens their approach] Checking the floor by rubbing my hands blindly around I soon clutch at a small box; a matchbox. Inside are 3 matches. Pocketing the matches Sook sidles by the wall until the thick rusty bulb of an iron door handle reaches his fingers. He hesitates before opening it due to having a thought about these ''voices'', he wondered why he could hear nothing but silence whereas his ''previous self'' couldn''t stop hearing them. Maybe it had to so with the sanity? That seemed like the case to him and the light stopped or at least delayed the sanity level dropping is what he suspected. Although there was a slight mention of light also holding the voices back and that the voices attack. This made him question whether the voices were just a sanity thing or were physical. That they could be hurt and give pain as well. After making sure he analyzed the words propery he lit his candle illuminating the stone cube of a room with a soft glow. He could see a meter or two in front of him now. Opening the door with a rusty creak he finds a corridor. Walking down the corridor leisurely he notes that still no other sounds but from himself are present. Soon reaching the end of the corridor he finds another rusted iron door. Taking a few seconds to listen on the other side; nothing, he opens up the door. As he steps through he notices the new room is similar to the first one in its shape and size; about 10 steps to reach either side, most illuminated by his candle. However there is one slight difference in this room; in the far right corner is a man, well a corpse sitting back to the wall, along with some dimly pulsating ''blood text'' above his head. The man had light brown hair, scruffy looking as well as blue eyes but apart from that no other defining features. Moving towards the corpse the rank smell of death and rot invades his nostrils, but he doesn''t mind in the slightest. [I was not alone, I was with this man, whoever he may be, I think. I can''t quite remember who he is or why he was here with me. however I feel a bit wrong taking things from his corpse, so I decided to leave his belongings alone. As to why he died, seems like his heart was ripped out by...something] The man wore a dark vest of some sort and Sook opening the vest confirmed the missing heart as a gaping hole was there instead. The hole was not a perfect circle; it was more like a ripped chunk. Unlike his possible previous self, Sook had no qualms about looting the dead. He rummaged in the man''s vest pockets and trouser pockets. Finding another candle 2 more matchs and a mouldy piece of bread he believes he was quite lucky. But he wasn''t finished with the body just yet. Stripping the man of his clothes he checked the inner linings of everything and then the teeth. In the lining were a total of 3 jagged rusty coins. The teeth were all normal which was no surprise to Sook. Putting on the vest Sook felt a little more protected due to its bulkiness as well as it having multiple pockets. Turning away from the corpse he headed over to the door in the left side of the room. Back in another corridor he decided to extinguish his candle temporarily as the corridor didn''t seem to end soon. Walking slowly in the pitch black with his hands carressing the wall along the way, he was able to notice that it was just a corridor with no junctions. The silence came and left with the soft echoing sounds of feet on stone floor. However soon it was not the only noise. Just barely, a muffled sound floated in the air; the sound of someone talking but the words were lost. Sook frowned at the noise wondering what it was but did not turn the candle on because he was curious. The sound grew lounder as the minutes passed until its words could be heard "Come to me, come closer, no need to be afraid. I just want to see you in the Flesh" The voice was soft like a caring elder but the last word dripped with hunger. Taking out a candle slowly, Sook lit it and let the dim light invade the darkness. The voice continued its caring image but soon it started to sound disinterested and became quiteter and quieter till it disappeared completely.(I see so that is the use of light) Reaching the end of the corridor after another good while Sook opened the new rusty door. He was surprised at first, thinking he had returned back to the room he just left but immediately thought otherwise due to the corpse in the corner havings its clothes still on. This man was identical to the other to the clothes, as if they were both twins. (So it explains why i''d see the two of them but not why I would be here with them) Also just like before there was ''blood text'' above the corpse. [Not everything that dies is dead] Sook had about two seconds to think what it meant before it hit him, literally. Standing but inches away from the supposed corpse Sook had no time to react when it jumped from its position barreling into him thus knocking him onto the floor. The corpse, no, Zombie straddeled Sook trying to pin his arms down with his claws. His right clawed hand was red with drying blood and the dye was up to its elbow, as if it had run its arm through something. Locking fingers with the Zombie he stopped its movements with its razorlike fingers however that was not its only weapon. Its mouth opened wide revealing bloody and broken teeth with red meaty bits stuck between the gaps, its drool dripped splashing droplets on his forehead. Lunging at Sooks neck, Sook quickly bashed into the Zombie''s head with his own resulting in a sickening crunch as brain fluid splattered on his face. The impact caused the Zombie''s lower jaw to break and cause the Zombie to bite the floor an inch above Sook''s right shoulder. The sound of breaking teeth could be heard. Planting his teeth in the Zombie''s neck, he moved his neck above the Zombie''s and then proceeded to move his body above since he had a better positioning. The zombie tried to move its head back up but was stopped by Sook holding it in place with his jaw and upper-body weight. A lough crack sounded on the Zombie''s right arm as Sook finally broke its shoulder blade and thus caused the arm to fling on its back. With ease Sook slid above the Zombie and soon broke the Zombie''s other arm. Now sitting on the back of the Zombie whose head was locked on the floor along with two broken arms he quickly finished the job by repeatedly pummeling the back of its squishy head until it was flattened on the floor. The Zombie stopped moving but to make sure Sook completely ripped the arms off. After doing so he turned the now proper corpse and checked its body. Unlike the body before its clothes and lining had nothing, the lining looked like it was ripped as if someone else had already looked through. However there was one thing that remained on the body; a small knife, like one of those you use to spread butter. The knife was embedded into the chest of the zombie and it was stuck quite deep; only a small part of the handle showed. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Ripping out the knife a larsh gush of blackened blood spewed out wetting his chest. (Hmm seems it hit the Aorta) Also by checking the teeth of the Zombie he found the iconic heart strings and other tough bits of meat which he believed was parts of a heart. He knew on contact as it wasn''t the first time he felt a heart, although this one was severly minced up. By now the story was slowly making some sense to him: It seemed as though the man here became a zombie and they/we stabbed it with the knife, but they/we didn''t kill it as they/we might have thought, this must''ve been the point that previous Sook wrote the message. Therefore it must''ve come and killed the other man by ripping out and eating his heart, hence the bloody arm and heart bits in teeth. Sook decided that he was writing all the ''blood texts'' because the handwriting was the same as the ones he know ''he'' wrote and that was his best lead as to who wrote the rest. After taking his old vest off since it was covered in Zombie drool as well as its blood and brain juices, he put on the slightly cleaner Zombie''s vest. Taking off the Zombie''s trousers he wiped away at his face cleaning off the better part of whatever he got splashed with and feeling slightly less slimed up he decided to have a bite of the bread. The bread was as bitter and mouldy as suspected but at least he felt like it was filling him up somewhat. After his quick bite he saw his candle had reached about half its original size, when comparing it to the other one. It seemed like the candle should last another hour since it had been about an hour since he had lit it. Quickly finding the usual door he opened it and walked onwards through the new corridor. This corridor was not as long as the last one however Sook had slowed his pace dramatically till he was almost at crawling speed. Why? So that he did not make a large enough sound for it to be heard by the strange sobbing noise that came from the darkness in the corridor in front of him. The sobbing noise was light toned thinking it must be a girl of some sort crying. Sook thought it may be another person he travelled with but some animal instinct told him otherwise. He slowly moved through the corridor till he saw the dim pulsating ''blood text'' but he found it strange because it was on the door outside the room rather than inside like usual giving off this ominous warning feeling. Creeping up to the door he looked at the bloody writing [She sobs and she sobs. Her voice is constant filling these halls, but it doesn''t terrify me, no. What terrifies me is when she stops, when she goes silent. That is when I know that I am not safe, that is when I know I MUST run] (So she''s dangerous when she stops crying and running is the best option, how interesting) Curious about this sobbing thing he quietly opens the door. Luckily this door seems less rusted so there is only a small creak. He stops for a second in anticipation but the sobbing has not stopped. Peeking inside he sees two things; Firstly is a door to his left, the way out he assumes. To his right is a small child wearing luminescent white dress and flowing black hair. Her back is to him and she is curled up in a ball, sobbing. Something about her doesn''t seem human, she definitely isn''t. Its because of her luminescent clothes as he pale arms are of the same tint as well as being slightly see through. (A ghost? so thats why I must run) Thankfully there is no ''blood text'' in the similarly shaped stone cube room, so he sneaks through the room stopping and checking the ghosts reactions every step. Reaching the other side without problem he takes a last peek at the ghost, seeing her still sob and then ever so carefully opens the door with only a tiny creak. Taking two tiny steps through the doorway he is about to close the door when he stops ... .. . The place is quiet, too quiet. He knew he should heed the advice, he shouldn''t look back but his curiosity got the better of him. Turning round his vision is filled with the ghost standing arms length from him. She looks up at him with her bulbous blue eyes rimmed a puffy red. She is a child as he suspected only reaching up to his waist. Her flowing white dress seemed to flow unnaturally as if wind were blowing through it but her hair was sticking to her skin and clothes as if it wer glued. "I''m hungry..." She said with puppy-like eyes piercing his giving her a pleading look Although the child ghost was talking with her high innocent voice Sook could not help but feel the hair rise on his arms. Simply running may not help him. "I have some bread" Trying to appease the ghost may be his best way out he believes "I''m hungry..." Saying it with the same innocent tone as before.(Did she not hear me? no that cant be it...) "Well then what do you want" "Can I eat you?" her voice remained with the same innocent tone but her eyes flashed to black as she cocked her head questioningly. Lashing out with her left hand claws seemed to grow from her fingers. Jumping back, Sook avoided the claws gutting him but still recieved 5 thin red lines across his stomach. Turning round immediately he began running through the corridor not caring about the revertebrating echo of his footsteps. He quickly looked behind after a few seconds seeing the ghost teleport about 10 feet in his direction which was just enough to land a scratch on his back with her sharp claws. Feeling the scratch he continued running checking back every couple of seconds to see that instead of walking she stood still flashing around 10 feet every 4 or 5 seconds. Sook has a well trained body so once gaining some momentum he was able to outrun the teleporting ghost with ease but not before suffering another two rounds of scratching leaving his back with a dull feeling. Running through the corridor the candle blew out and Sook completely blinded continued running anyways. Although there was no light, due to the ghosts luminescent clothes and body she could still be seen in the distance behind him. Running for another few minutes he saw a dim red light in front of him. [ Doors do not stop here, however the light is one thing she cannot handle, I found that out when I entered this room,the light here is strong enough to keep her at bay, She doesn''t seem to want to touch the light, for some reason I don''t understand why] Opening the door with a great screech I am bathed in a new wave of darkness. Grabbing another match I relight the candle, slam the door behind me and survey the room: This room is different, it is small and narrow like an entrance of sorts. Actually it is an entrance he decides as he sees a set of curved stairs leading up. On both walls are torches in their brackets, unlit and cold. There are 4 torches on each side, symmetrical. Placing the fire of the candle on the wick of the torch he waits for a few seconds with no reaction. Touching the wick shows it is damp, possibly from the humid atmosphere. Jumping to the next torch he finds it to be damp and the next one and the next one. He continues checking them till he finds the last one to be dry to the touch. Setting his fire on it he watches the wick glow dimly with embers. Blowing softly on the growing embers light starts to spread into the room, but it is not the torch light. The soft luminescent glow of the ghost appears in the corner of his eyes as she teleports through the door. Continuing to blow gently on the torch he pays no heed to the ghost. "Can I eat now?" The glow gets brighter in his eyes as she teleports next to him and lifts her claw-hand to strike. Dodging away he feels her claws dig through his right side and pull out a chunk of his flesh below his ribs. Without wasting time he continues to blow on the growing torch fire. The ghost nibbles on his flesh licking away at two fist sized chunks with sounds of delight, as if it were as tasty as candy. "mmm that was good, can I have more?" Raising her arm once more she goes for another chunk. *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH* The torch bursts into flame visibly dissolving the ghost with its light. Retreating quickly with holes in her face and body she darts into the darkness huffing with eyes closed as she slowly regenerates. Sook putting his right arm under his now exposed right hand ribcage, holds it up while carrying the dismounted torch with his left. He darts towards the ghost girl opens her eyes only to have them filled with strong light thus causing her to dissolve. Screaming she teleports back but Sook follows her rushing at her with light. He figured out as he ran that she could only teleport every couple of seconds and only a certain distance. Since he was faster than her he was able to keep up constantly burning her with his light. After a minute of running and dissolving her the last part of her body, her two childlike feet kept going but with Sook smashing his torch on them he burnt them to oblivion. The feet vanish and all that''s left is Sook bleeding steadily, but a lot less than a minute ago, in complete silence. He stayed that way for a minute doing nothing but stuffing the hold in his side with ripped pieces of his shirt to try stop the blood flow some. He waited to see whether she would regenerate or whether she was well and truly gone. Luckily for him it seemed it was the latter as if by a way of proof he saw a small ghostly silver coin, the same crude shape as the rusted ones, lying on the floor emmitting a soft glow. Picking up the coin he added it to the others and started hobbling, putting most of his weight on his left side, towards the stairs. The stairs themselves looked quite sturdy. Going up the stairs dripping a small trail of blood from his back he made it to the top where he saw a thick iron door with a long wall of ''blood text'' covering it. [We found ourselves here after Lee died. We don''t know what happened but it seems like he was infected with something. He died as we were down there. Leaving his body we came back this way running from the girl and found ourselves at this door, that we must ahve come through but we can''t remember for some reason. The door was locked, we couldn''t get out, the only thing we could do now was delve deeper and find the key that fits into this hole. Dammit and we almost got out of here, Long and I] (So those were the names of the twins then. And with that the story seems complete in a way, it explains pretty much everything down here, even the key that I''m holding) Taking the key out of one of his numerous pockets he quickly found the keyhole and gently twisted the key hearing the click sound of an unlocking door. Opening the door he meets a small ray of dim light, natural light, the dawn light. Another corridor is infront of him but it is rock and dirt rather than cut stone, it is a tunnel. The light shines into the tunnel because the tunnel is quite short, a dozen metres at most. Stepping into the tunnel he notices more ''blood text'' on the wall to his left [We arrived at this cave, we do not remember why but according to Lee it seems this isn''t the first time we''ve encountered such a thing. We are all losing our memories, only our names and some basic knowledge remains. I can remember a few days before at most, the same with Long however Lee seems to remember about a week. So we rely on him for past information. None of us know why we come to this place or what this place is, however I have a feeling it has something to do with our memory loss. If things go badly we will try to escape and if,, in the worst case scenario, we lose our minds the text here that I write in my blood, since we lack ink, will allow us to remember or at least learn what our thoughts were and knowledge about this place. Good luck to whomever of the three reads this, We do not have any memories and you probably won''t either, so please with all your soul find them] "I have enough memories as it is, and believe me I''d like to forget them, all of them" Stepping out of the cave Sook basks in the morning light -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s notes: Ok so if you did not notice, anything in (...) is Sook''s thoughts. That should be it on notes for now, just wait for the next chapter