["Hide is back, finally. this weak ass kid won't appear for his own story" says the one who's writing this lmao. (i'm joking ;-;) hide is back.]
I stirred up, and founded myself ended up in my room again. i looked around, to confirm if i'm not in a dream again. And no, i'm not, i think so. i sat in a moment of silence as i recollect myself, then took the phone which was near me and checked the date. "29 february....2020?" i read out, in confusion of course. i got up from the bed i was laying on. The atmosphere of the room was dusty and closed for a long time, i could feel it. there was barely any light. i turned on the flashlight in my phone, and looked around, and damn, it was in a bad shape. i opened the door, and outside was a normal, bright hallway light in the ceiling that made the room partially see through. i went outside and took the stairs down. i never thought i would see this, but i looked at kiyoshi in the main room, alive and healthy. My mum was there, and dad too. i was in a positive shock, and walked slowly towards them.
Something was definitely off here. They weren't looking at me. i waved a hand and called out, "mom?...dad?" there was no response. i became a little worried. "k-kiyoshi? i-it's me, y-your airheaded brother..." i spoke out in a audible voice. There was no response either. i watched them helping out each other, like a normal family, or i think way too normal to have just one child. i glanced around again, taking in my old memories when i was actually in here. i walked around, feeling a heavy heart that i wasn't even noticed. There was a smell of incense sticks, which they would usually burn in a funeral.
'A funeral? did someone die here?' i thought. i averted my gaze to look at a picture frame, which had a photo of...me?! i froze. i couldn't think of anything else but that. "Am i...dead now?" i asked myself. i took the phone and turned on my camera. i tried to take a picture, but it showed something else that a normal camera app would never show. A message appeared, "we're sorry, the camera can't take any photos or record in this space." How was it real?
i rummaged my hand in empty space, for a constant amount of time. i had a slight hope i would find something. i'll be honest, i don't know why i decided to look for that specific something in the air. i grazed through the walls, the table and a few furniture. nothing was found. then i grazed my hand through a picture of myself, and i felt like i clicked on something. it looked like a system panel.
"wait, a system panel? is this some sort of game?" i said to myself. i clicked on it again, and it actually reacted to my touch. at some point, i felt excited because i usually liked video games, but here, i was feeling...scared. it felt like i was given a position where i could die any moment. as the system panel reacted, it displayed a message.
"You are currently in one of the realms of dimensional gates, where you are tasked with different challenges, to return back without harm. The realms won't be easy. if you die, you lose your progress. if you have five consecutive deaths in a row, you lose your incarnation index in this realm and in the real world as well. "
"incarnation what?! i'm a player now?" i thought. i exited the panel, and went through the menu panel. it didn't have much that i needed now, so i closed it and looked again. i fell silent as i kept watching the house, and a family of my own where i don't exist anymore. now that i remember, i was told that i would be given tasks, right? i went to the system, and looked for any tasks. as i clicked it, it just showed this, "scenario tasks will be initiated shortly."
i closed the tab, and rubbed the back of my head, knowing this is my fate. i sighed and sat in a chair, looking at my "real" family, enjoying life like nothing has ever happened. i sat while leaning my face on my hand, unsure of what else to do. is this what they call dream-core? maybe reality-core? it just feels so real, at the same time, nothing like this might happen if it were real-life.
i wondered how kiyoshi is doing, since we were separated, again. after a while in thought, i gazed at my parents. it seemed they were geting ready for somehting. i saw them walking outside, maybe they're off to a shopping mall? kiyoshi was with them too. i got up and decided to follow them, as i got in the car without any hardships, since i won't be seen by anyone. My dad started the car, and drove. everything seemed normal, as the three of them kept chatting in a happy manner.
we reached a certain distance, at a bridge. the car was in a normal speed, then my mom spoke up, "let's pull over for a moment. i wanna take in this great view." dad nodded, and kiyoshi accepted as well. when he stomped on the brakes, it suddenly jammed. He panicked for a moment, and kept his hands on the wheel. "The brakes are jammed!" he exclaimed out. this terrified both mom and kiyoshi. since dad looked back while talking to them, the wheel turned to an edge and crashed the bridge. the car kept moving on it's wheels, which seemed worse since it was on the edge of the bridge. My dad tried to open the door, and somewhat it opened, but there was no means of escape since they must keep balance.
The car fell off the bridge and i closed my eyes. I expected of hearing a loud bang, but it remained silent. Then, i opened my eyes and kiyoshi was near me. i was welcomed back with a bewildered expression from this guy, later a relieved face.
"hide! you're okay??!!" he exclaimed. i nodded and questioned him. "i'm fine. please remind me this all isn't a simulation."
"simulation? i'm damned about what i'm experiencing and you are dropping random conclusions." i went down for a moment. i was fully convinced i'm now stuck in a simulation. i'm present in a place which looks like an asylum. i glanced at kiyoshi, who seemed to be in mode of silence.
he kept looking at a screen which seemed similar to a system panel. 'wait, he could see one too?' i thought. he kept a slightly bewildered expression on his face, as he gazed at the panel which seemed to have an unfamiliar text on it.
+
[ quest gl!tched ]
[ task completed!]
[ rewards are submitted to -incarnation index- ]
[ your reward ■■■■■■■■■ has already been given. ]
+
"Task completed? i havn't even done anything." kiyoshi said to himself. i went curious regarding the task given to him. kiyoshi opened his panel and went through his storage, present in his incarnation index. i looked through the visible back of the panel, and saw the items in a reversed manner. each item was kept in specific boxes. there were mostly miscellaneous, like temporary potions, drop items, or currency, considering we just started interacting with the system.
"what's this 'task' you were even given out?" i asked. kiyoshi briefed me, telling that he landed into an aisle-based realm-structured place, where he later was given his first task, saying to find an exit. he died once, and wasted his first life. he felt stupid for being excited in an unknown place like this. he even explained how there was a censored reward which appeared in his rewards list.
that saying, i wondered something. what if there was some feature to open a personal info of other people besides ourselves? i opened the system, and went through a list of functions. i saw something called 'character info' and clicked on it. i was displayed with the basic information of my current status, that is an 'incarnation' or 'character'. it showed my age, gender, and all that personal information. i averted my eyes on that 'level' status, and i was given 'novice'. i won't expect much, i just started.
then i moved the panel towards kiyoshi and made an examination. the system made its progress and displayed the information about the person beside me. i perked up, and pointed, "kiyoshi, it seems we can look at other's profiles, just like in a game!" "come on, hide. it's bad manners to look at others personal info, idiot." he started scolding. i grinned, clearly i won't listen to someone a minute younger than me.
"you can look at mine, deal?" i answered. He responded with a fake fed-up tone, "fine." he used the same steps and began moving the panel towards me. It took it's time, and displayed the results. Kiyoshi ran his eyes in every word he read in the panel, with a grinned expression. But he froze after he looked at the name.
"y-your name isn't displaying..." he mumbled and pointed that same, censored text which he mentioned when he was scanning his rewards. I was confused, and looked through my own personal info again. I realized I haven't checked the name, and he was actually saying the truth. The name was censored deliberately. why is the system doing this?