Although Perse didn't know how things were going for other people in the world, he knew it wasn't the same as what he was going through right now. He always got the short end of the stick.
"Can things get weirder?"
What kind of crazy idiot would make fun of fate like that? He immediately regretted saying his thoughts out loud and decided never to do it again.
Even so, he couldn't deny the situation was making adrenaline shots throughout his body. Living in a world full of death and sadness, a part of him had always dreamed of an adventure.
A childhood dream he could never voice to anyone, but a fantasy nonetheless.
Just by looking at it, he could tell the red screen was different from the white ones outside and the one before.
It seemed as if this one was made of dry blood, yet it somehow resembled a lava lamp.
[@!##&&& ANNOUNCEMENT:
YOU POSSESS THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR A [[C H A N C E]]
DO YOU WISH TO ENTER THE FEAST?
YES/NO]
Subconsciously, Perse took a step away from the screen and got closer to an open window. He didn't know why, but the floating notification had a faint smell that resembled putrefaction and fungus. He covered his mouth with his arm and looked away.
'With that smell? Nope. No way. I'm not going.'
And then he saw it, a menacing beam of white light approaching his location, as did the smell of burned human skin and debris coming from outside the window. He could see the laser-like thing making its way through a shopping mall and the smoke thickening.
In the closest screen outside the building, the mutant insects were scattering in fear away from the laser. And when most of them had cleared it, he read:
[NEO SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT:
CALIBRATING THE NUMBER OF SURVIVORS...
16:00:00]
'What is that supp- Huh?'
At that moment, Perse saw the guy from before.
He was crouched over someone else's body. By the movements of his hands, Perse knew what the guy was doing. He had seen orphans doing that to survive years before.
Even though life sometimes felt like hell, he never got used to... that. The only thing he hated and feared. Something that made his always positive spirit die immediately.
Deep down, Perse wanted to believe in humans. Even if it wasn't something he had the luxury of doing.
Looking at the red sky split to allow entry for the heavenly light to burn the corpses, memories of his early childhood played before his eyes. For a second, he thought blood began to rain.
The man was eating someone.
Perse realized, to his horror, that his previous impressions of him had been wrong. It wasn't that the man was being cautious or stupid. He just had no interest in him.
Without meaning to, Perse gulped down. His own hand was over his mouth, stopping him from vomiting again.
The wolf-like person was concentrating solely on eating and he paid no attention to his surroundings.
Perse watched the laser get closer to the man and finally... eat him. There was no other way to describe it.
For a moment, he thought he saw the light opening its mouth and the body of the man falling into a pool of white flames and bubbles.
He saw the white light get closer to the building where he was. The confusion and disgust made him make an instant decision without thinking about the consequences.
"Okay then."
Perse rapidly stepped away from the window, looking at the red screen announcement again. Without a second thought, he pressed 'yes'.
He didn't know why the white screens outside were so different from the one in front of him but at least the bloody notification was asking for his permission.
-Gulp!
"Huh? Hey! What? I-"
The screen didn't waste a single second, and the moment Perse put his finger on the "yes" button, his whole hand sank into the lava-like background of the screen.
Soon after, his whole body disappeared in it. The screen had made a sound that was as if a person was eating something.
…
Seconds later, the screens outside still showed the same message as before Perse got eaten by the notification. They twinkled when the beam passed near them.
Although Perse couldn't have known exactly what the laser was doing, his guess was pretty spot on.
After all, the human bodies that decorated the streets disappeared the moment the beam lit on them. Leaving behind an ash mark.
When it got closer to the building Perse had been in, the watch that was still embracing the slug's body began to shake, making the slug convulse once again. The remnants of the dark substance vibrated with it.
The beam stood above the building for a second and then continued with its course. It had burned the wristwatch, leaving only the cinder and the insect's body.
-Bubu?
And just like that, the little slug moved once again, clean and confused.
…
When Perse opened his eyes, trembling, his gaze met the dark purple facade of a colosseum in the middle of a desert, with nothing else around it and a violet sky above it. The doors to the stadium opened as soon as he put his eyes on them, followed by the same kind of notification as before.
[@!##&&& ANNOUNCEMENT:
YOU POSSESS THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR A [[C H A N C E]].
SELECT A MASTER TO SERVE DURING THE FEAST]
'A master? Is it something like a god?' He said to himself, approaching the colosseum. There were no guards at the entrance. 'To "serve" a master probably means something like a slave.'
He couldn't see anything beyond the entrance, as if a wall of darkness was covering anything else.
The lava-like notification twinkled again.
Perse held back a tremor.
[@!##&&& ANNOUNCEMENT:
YOU POSSESS THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR A [[C H A N C E]].
SELECT A MASTER TO SERVE DURING THE FEAST]
Now that he was closer, Perse looked around again. He sighed and took a moment to recover before looking straight ahead. "The only choice is to go in, huh?"
He heard someone whisper behind him. "It seems like it."
Perse immediately turned around. Without realizing it, two boys had approached him. They both had red eyes and white skin. They appeared undernourished, although they were quite tall.
He had a bad feeling about the twins. Especially, because he didn't know how the whisper could've felt so close yet they were standing two meters away from him, with their mouths closed.
"We're going first." Informed the one closer to Perse. He had white hair and seemed to be the younger one of the two. Although Perse didn't know how he was speaking, his tone made him know that they were not going to allow him to refuse.
He wanted to sigh again. Everyone and everything was just tossing him around like a volleyball. He wouldn't be surprised if someone came out of nowhere and yelled "free ball!" before slapping him.
Perse wondered where the two pairs of scissors had gone when the screen ate him. Feeling vulnerable, he glanced at the entrance and tried to keep the shake out of his voice.
"Do you know what's waiting for us there?" He said.
The younger guy ignored him completely. This time, it was the older, black-haired one who spoke to him.
"The tomb of Nazarick". He said, his hands closing into a fist. "A clash of the titans."
Perse didn't know if the older twin was trying to make a reference for something. He didn't want to ask either. Perse hadn't noticed it earlier because of the darkness brought by the purple sky, but now that his eyes had gotten used to it, he could see that the twins looked… hungry.
"You mean gods?" Perse asked again, only to be ignored. He decided to let it go for now.
None of the trio took a step forward even after five, ten, fifteen minutes had passed. Perse was waiting patiently, both because he was unsure of what was happening and because the white-haired guy had warned him earlier not to go first. Even so, the sky was already changing into a deeper tone of purple and blue, but the pair didn't move.
The way they stood still made Perse restless.
'Didn't you bravely announce that you were going in first just a second ago? You!' He thought. A sudden movement cut the trail his imagination was heading to.
After what seemed like an hour, Perse heard a voice come from beside him once again, but he didn't recognize which one.
"Set." Said the younger twin.
"Yes." Answered the older one.
In reality, only a short time had passed since the last time they replied to his question, but he felt like it was the first time he was hearing their voices. Their mouths were still closed.
He didn't see it but the brothers took a step forward at the same time. And at some time that Perse's brain didn't quite catch, they had already approached the door and were standing still, once again.
"We could die," Perse said and waited for an answer. Hoping for the one he wanted to hear.
Unfortunately, both of them remained silent for a long time, before confirming what he was already guessing. Once again, without moving their mouths, Perse felt their breaths on his neck as they spoke.
"What could you possibly mean?" Said Set, the black-haired one. Perse could feel nervousness in his voice. "We're already dead."
And with that, both of them disappeared in the darkness beyond the threshold.