After dragging himself through the tunnel for quite a while, Zane could finally see a faint light. 'Did I finally reach the end of the tunnel?' Excited, he quickened up his pace and the light became brighter. After some time, he finally reached the end of the tunnel where he found a room exhibiting light. He stopped in front of the entrance and tried to listen if anyone was inside. He inserted his head through the entrance and peeked into the room. After finding out there was no one inside the room, he walked in.
The room was lit brightly by a torch on the wall with blue flames. It was a moderately sized room with a bed, table and a chair on one corner. On the other corner, there were two wooden racks filled with glass jars and two adjoining table with many research equipment on them. There were cabinets and small racks hanging on the wall above the tables. Zane headed towards the table and looked at the contents. Aside from the research equipment, there were different items like flasks and thick stacks of papers with the results of the research. 'Hmm.. Did a researcher use this as his secret base?'
Zane picked up a stack of papers and glanced at the content. There were all sorts of calculations written on the paper. 'Wow.... I've never seen complex mathematics in this world haha...' With a dumb expression, he put the stack back down. Then he turned his head towards the racks on the side.
Looking closer, Zane could see the contents inside the jars. They were filled with eyes, tongues, ears, and what seemed like parts from different animals. 'Crazy!' Zane quickly looked away from the racks and headed towards the corner with the bed and a table.
He approached the table and moved the chair to the side. The table had a stack of books, and fountain pens scattered on it. In the middle of the table, there was a book with a worn out black leather cover with wrinkles. 'Was this his diary? *Cough*' Coughing up a mouthful of blood on his hands, he deduced the book was the researcher's diary as it was on the table next to the bed. Zane picked up the book and tried to open it, but he couldn't open it. He was confused and tried harder to open the book. 'Is it stuck because it has been a long time?' Even though he used force, he wasn't able to open the book. As he was trying to open the book, he felt something on his hand which was holding the front cover of the book.
'Huh?' Zane turned the book. He saw the wrinkle on the cover of the book had opened into an eye and below that, a mouth was sticking out it's tongue and licking the blood on his hand. Zane took a step back and dropped the book with shock. "Aah!" The eye looked towards Zane and the mouth licked it's lips. Zane froze looking at the absurd object. Then the eye and mouth closed and Zane heard a sound. *Click* 'What the hell was that!?' Zane nervously picked up the book again and tried to open it. This time, it opened easily. 'It opened!'
---
[Hello! Did you open my diary? Congratulations! You are quite a lucky one to be able to read the diary of this genius, Szal! Hahahahaha!]
Zane's expression turned to that of disgust. 'What... it was just a crazy person's diary...' Despite that, he kept reading.
[Now then, Who am I? Well, I'm sure you have heard of me, the best researcher ever to be born, the genius Szal! Hahahaha. Remember, you are reading the words of the greatest researcher ever! Wow! Lucky for you~]
Zane's face contorted and he nearly threw the book. "Huuuuu... Calm down, there must be something special in this book. It was licking my blood after all."
[If you found this diary where I left it, you must be wondering, why is the greatest researcher's diary in this shabby room? Hahahaha.... Don't worry about that! Let me tell you something else!"]
There was a nerve already visible on Zane's face. It looked like it was about to pop.
[I created this book in the year 60 G.D, After the events we call "God's Descent" 60 years ago, which brought about many changes in this world. The most notable changes that occurred are the religions that formed around the different Gods, and the advent of people who could use the powers of these Gods.]
Zane raised his eyebrow. "60 years after "God's Descent".... This diary was written a millennia ago in the Era of Gods!" Zane was currently living in 1356 G.D. He was born in this world 16 years ago. When he was a child, his parents would tell him stories about how the Era of Gods birthed humans who could wield the powers of Gods. But as they lived in a small town, it was only stories for them. The only ones they could compare to the powerful humans of the stories were the priests of the Goddess of Night's Church in the city, who they heard could perform miracles.
[I remember the "God's Descent" clearly. A storm that swept the earth, A night that blinded everyone, the sun which scorched everything to ashes.... The entrance of the Gods were flashy to say the least. After suffering for some time, people began offering themselves to the Gods, devoted themselves to them. Maybe it was because they wanted to appease their anger. Or maybe it was for their own interests. Their efforts were not wasted though, the Gods took interest in their devotees and sent gifts to the fools. By consuming these gifts, the first batch of people who could use God's powers were born. We call them "Godseekers".]
"Godseekers..." Zane murmured. "Are they called that because they sought to gain strength from the gifts of God? *Cough Cough Cough*" Zane spat out a mouthful of blood. "Damn...It hurts..." He sat on the chair and started reading the diary again.
[People believe that the Godseekers appeared only after the "God's Descent", but the truth is far from that. In reality, there existed Godseekers who could use unnatural abilites even before the "God's Descent".]
"What... So how did they gain the abilities? Must one not follow a god to gain power?*Cough Cough Cough*" Zane started coughing violently and put his hand on his mouth. This time, he coughed up a chunk of flesh mixed with the blood. "Damn... I need to get treated quickly. I need to return to the town..." Zane was about to get up from the chair, but his eyes went on the diary. "Maybe I'll finish this page first..." Embarrassed by his own true emotions, Zane rubbed his nose. He then focused on the diary excitedly.
[Now, why am I talking about Godseekers and the truth so suddenly? This is all because of the condition that the new owner of this book is in. Your internal organs are severely damaged and if they are not treated in time, you'll will die within a week, or less. Maybe you're not so lucky after all huh! Hahahahah]
Zane's eyes widened. "Is this diary talking about me? How is this possible? And I'll die within a week? What bullshit is this book spouting..." He quickly read the next line.
[It's not important right now what is possible and what is not. The only question is, does the owner want to live? If so, turn the page~]
Zane was perplexed by the sentence. 'How was the answer already written when I asked the question just now?' He opened his mouth nervously, "...Hello?"