Dion took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and clear his mind. Ignoring the onslaught of pain, fear, anxiety, and desperation was challenging, but he managed to focus, albeit with a lingering sense of desperation. He needs to think of a solution.
'This thing must be caused by the black crystal accumulating in my body. So, will the red crystal counter it?' He immediately acted on his thoughts without any ounce of hesitation. Time was limited!
He grabbed a red crystal and fit it into the slot at the back of the chair. Then, he sat down.
As Dion reclined into the chair, a tingling sensation spread across his skin, prickling like a thousand tiny needles.
Immediately, Dion felt something flowing through his veins. It wasn't aggressive, volatile, or painful, but mild and gentle.
Dion watched as the fur began to shrink and his nails withdrew. But the substance flowing through his veins stopped and the transformation halted halfway.
'It finished quickly?'
Without wasting time, Dion bent, picked another red crystal, and inserted it into the empty slot.
Dion didn't know how long or how many crystals he had inserted before his arm returned to its normal complexion, tinted slightly red.
A deep exhale billowed from his lips.
His galloping heart returned to normal. Dion wiped the sweat off his face.
'That was close.' He stood up but when his eyes fell on the dead jailer, he remembered where he was.
'Shit! If he has other people, what if they get suspicious and rush in here?'
Dion immediately walked to the dead body and squatted. He swiftly undressed the man. Some parts of his clothes were soiled with blood from his destroyed face.
The clothes were made of leather with a long dark cloak.
Dion didn't think much of it. He quickly wiped his accumulated and new blood off his body with his previous ragged clothes and donned the man's attire.
Then he unlocked the chain still locked to his right wrist before he arranged the man's box. He dropped the chain into the box. Picking it up, he was ready to go.
'I guess it all depends on luck now. If I get caught... I will kill myself. Maybe I'll wake up and it will just be a dream. Or maybe... I'll never wake up. Here we go.'
Dion opened the door and walked out confidently to act like his jailer. Even though the height difference was a huge give away. However, he was surprised that nobody was guarding his door. Happiness surged in him.
'Lucky people have it easy.'
He was about to progress but he immediately halted and looked around. There were three fork-like tunnel roads in front of him.
One wrong choice and he's dead. Some roads might not lead him outside. He was unconscious when brought in, so he doesn't know the way. Waiting for another time to escape is not an option.
Before, Dion could still endure, but now he had tested freedom, his patience and endurance had hit the limit.
'Wait. This man had a bundle of keys that looked similar to my locks. There must be others.'
As Dion turned and surveyed his surroundings, he noticed rough rock surfaces marred by smooth, straight, and uniform cracks.
'Other prison cells. The metallic door was plated with rock to camouflage them. Maybe mine is new or still under construction.'
Dion stared at the doors while contemplating deeply. His eyes twinkled when he got an idea.
He walked to the door and found keyholes. After multiple trials, he unlocked the first.
When he entered, he saw a man strapped to a chair like him.
"What do you know about this place and I will release you," Dion said calmly and aptly with a deep voice while covering his head with the cloak. This made him look mature.
The man raised his head and stared at Dion with dull, lifeless eyes. Dion knows that look. The eyes of someone who couldn't wait to embrace death.
"I don't know anything," he said with a hoarse voice.
Dion followed up with another question calmly, "What can you do?"
"I'm just a normal, family man with two kids and a wife at home." the man sobbed silently.
Dion nodded. "Wait for me. I will release you. Let me check on others."
He went to the next cell and continued with the same question.
Now, he found three useful individuals: an elf who said she could heal with a special bloodline ability, a tall, muscular girl with wolf ears and claws who had super strength, and lastly, a man who said he knew the way around.
He was about to unlock the last cell. There were about thirty cells.
When he unlocked the door, ready to ask his regular question, his mouth opened but his voice got stuck in his throat.
His movement froze.
Even his breathing stopped for a moment. The person he was seeing shocked him more than when he killed his jailer.
"Karen Jas…per," Dion stuttered as he blurted in shock.
The girl's voice trembled as she asked, "Do you know me?"
She had blue eyes and blonde hair, still dressed cleanly in a strange black cloth and trousers that hugged her frame. Unlike others, she was pretty much clean and untouched.
As for whether he knows her, of course, he knows her. She is one of those popular girls in the college whom even nerds must know. For the record, he's not a nerd. She's also rich, pulling up in a pink Lamborghini and Ferraris to school. Who wouldn't know her?
Then her eyes suddenly widened.
"You're from the other side!" She yelled in shock.
"What other side?" Dion feigned ignorance, trying not to show anything.
"I have never used this name here for your information. The name I used here is Lorraine. From your momentary shock, that means you haven't met anybody from the other side. Except somebody told you about me and your acting deserves an Oscar award. But my intuition tells me you're from the other side," she explained calmly with her eyes narrowing. "So, who are you?"
"What do you know about this place and what can you do?" Dion asked calmly.
Although Dion doesn't know much about communicating with others being a shut-in, there is no way he's giving her the reign over the conversation.
"You don't know me?" She arched her eyebrow at Dion.
"I ask, you answer. Or I'm leaving," Dion said with a plain and neutral tone.
"Wait!" Karen called out anxiously when Dion turned to leave. "I have chosen a bloodline that grants me super strength and enhanced vision. It's called the Intent Awakening, the first level of the Body Realm."
Although Dion didn't understand some parts, he still nodded and began opening her lock. Time is running out and his paranoia is tingling and kicking.
"I guess you are a new, lone Realm Wanderer who knows nothing about this place. But the other side is also not normal and peaceful. We are hunted. This place is worse," she uttered deeply.
Dion finished opening her lock.
"Worse? It's just a realistic dream," Dion said casually.
Karen stood up and flexed her ankle but her eyes widened upon hearing Dion's words.
"You think it's a dream? If you die here, you die on the other side! This is as real as it can get. This is not a game. Not a dream. Not an illusion. This is your one life with a different setting."