Without realizing it, something wet and cold had already grabbed my left forearm, wrapping it in dark matter of foul ichor.
I felt like it had already embedded itself deep beyond the skin, to the muscle tissue and the bone of my arm—corrupting it, stealing it from my very own vessel.
It was extremely malicious and foreboding in just that one second, enabling my instinct to make my body act as fast as humanly possible—my right hand immediately on the cleaver, slamming down the sharp edge at my own limb with disgusted gusto.
That act fully separated that horror's influence alongside half of my arm from my body. The ceramic basin exploded thanks to that aftermath of an impact, scattering about sharp pieces within this haunted bathroom.
As I tried to make sense of what was going on, my detached left hand was already smothered by numerous dark tendrils that spawned from the black-pitch mirror in front of me.
"What the hell!??"
Panicked, I scurried away from this part of the abandoned house as I sensed something crawling out from the very vanity mirror I gazed at.
Still tightly holding the cleaver in my right hand, I went back to the room where I left the bodysack and all of my stuff, only to encounter a horrifying entity right beside it.
"Why are you running away, handsome?"
An eldritch man-like entity, playfully caressing the heavy bodysack that I left there.
And then that thing somehow stood up straight like a bipedal individual—a spindly figure of desiccated skin stretched over an impossibly tall humanoid frame with its rib-cage visible, hitting the ceiling while maintaining a straight gaze at me.
I remained frozen, analyzing the current phenomenon.
Despite its horrifying appearance, its existence was strangely biological.
A cold rhythm of breathing was rowed back and forth.
Muscles attaching all sorts of eldritch organs into itself.
To top it all, a horrifying face that possessed the same asymmetrical imperfection like any human would.
A hopeful conclusion appeared at the back of my head.
This being might be entirely supernatural, but it was currently inhabiting a physical vessel so that it could interact with this world.
Knowing this, I dashed forward without any hesitation.
Tendrils sprawled about as it tried to get hands on me, I slashed them apart with my cleaver.
Desperate and confused hands of that spindly body reaching out to me, I maintain a haste and steady footwork to kite it, before managing to land a disastrous strike with the blunt back of my cleaver, somehow breaking the bone of this abnormal creature of horror.
And while it was staggered, I procured my knife and sprayer for my cleaning chemical.
I only had one functional arm left, so changing between my options for weapons was much harder than usual.
In this case, I used my teeth and armpits to cover my lack of gripping body parts.
"Be purified! Dumbass!" I instinctively shouted with teeth still clenching my knife, as I unleashed a dangerous liquid like an endangered skunk.
"Gyah! How could you do this to me! You're ruining my pretty face!!"
I could still feel that this entity still had a focus on my whole action and position despite its staggered stance. With this in mind, I cautiously threaded forward posthaste.
With my eyes on that imperfect face—
I used both of my knife and cleaver to mutilate the 'mask' from its truthful vessel, before dealing a repeated piercing aggression on every visible organ that it possessed.
Again, and again.
Until it awakens never again.
"Hah… hahahah…"
What in the actual god-forsaken world did I just stumbled into??
"The fact that it can be killed… baffled me… Shouldn't supernatural things like this be unkillable or some sort?"
Its entire existence exude immaculate fear and unjustified sentience, something that should only exist in folklore and fictional media.
"... Now I got double the mess, and I just wasted a huge chunk of my chemicals to down this thing."
Adrenaline might have just given me tunnel vision back then, but the moment I realized that I might have gotten molested by this terrifying being if I failed to suppress or get away from it, sent an extreme chill down my spine.
"Urgh, imagining it makes me want to puke."
However, to conclude that this monster was utterly defeated would be blissful thinking.
This thing appeared out of nowhere, probably teleported, and also out of the mirror! That wasn't normal, and applying human's common sense shouldn't be the end-all be-all.
The thing I killed might not be its real body, with the real one still inside the bathroom, or it could be hiding somewhere outside of this physical plane, observing, analyzing, and strategizing on how to take me down.
"Should I be paranoid in this situation? I think I should be…"
"Not once, hadve a human survived a fathometry from ☐☐☐☐."
"Yeah, probably, since I doubt that ☐☐☐☐ can even be killed that easily. Wait, what-"
A calamitous yet familiar voice invaded the seams of my mind, a whole different entity than the one I faced in this room.
It started to disassemble my consciousness, inhabiting it, and filling it with something pure yet blemished within the confines of causality.
"You chronologged your own kind too cherisffectionate this time around, ☐☐☐☐☐. You're too close to unveil the enigmystery."
"Who the hell is ☐☐☐☐☐?? What is it supposed to have to do with me!??"
My senses were scrambled, and I could notice a tinge of my existence slowly scraped away.
"You might have forgotten about me, ☐☐☐☐☐. But I know every clockanisms about you."
My bone marrow tried to dig their way out of my tissues, as my spine tried to break out from its fleshy cocoon.
"You might feel an enhidden amount of puzzulary on why you receive an apocaclysm—you might have wondered why you are cursed with such a cacophocordant~!"
Enlightenment started to conceal my wail and inabilities.
It seeped deep.
It seeped forcefully.
"As such, allow me to enlighten you with gladoration~"
We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.
The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but today the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad or—
To hell with this bullshittery!
"What!?"
I refused anyone or anything to invade my mind and soul! My life is mine alone! I gave not a single permission to you, and thus I wouldn't succumb!
"... What in the Elderspell-"
I gave zero shit about unfathomable knowledge and wisdom, all I wanted in life was to purge these eyes of mine so that I could see any imperfection no more!
Even if I was too afraid of doing it, afraid of the darkness that might enrapture me for the rest of my life…
I should be the one who enact upon it, not anyone else.
"To hell with you, ☐☐☐☐☐!"
For some reason, I felt like I had just given a giant middle finger to someone with a name that I couldn't even process in my mind.
It might be more on the 'feeling' than a factual, undeniable real thing, but the fervent emotion and hatred was greatly rooted deep as I feel infinitely into the chasm of darkness.
Actually, that middle finger wasn't even pointed to that eldritch voice that was trying to corrupt my mind.
Something important appeared to be exiting the circumference of my consciousness, and I failed to notice what it was…
Everything was fleeting away.
Like bits of crashing airplane that was scrapped by the sky.
Falling down, and down, and down—
"Blurhp!?"
No! I'm bloody drowning!
"Gaah!!"
I pulled out my face from the shallow body of water that was cascading my breath with liquid. Even with my eyes closed, I could notice the numerous strange and foreign sensation riddling my surroundings, including my very own body.
I coughed terribly like someone with influenza, trying to clear the pathway between my lungs and respiratory.
Bright shines tried to seep through the tissues of my closed eyelids, barging like an annoying salesman in order for me to open the door.
And thus slowly, I opened the door of my eyes.
"... Where???"
A morning-glory-shaped sky eluded above, with its center lay a pitch-black sun surrounded by radiant accretion disk that illuminate the sky.
This black-sun firmly stood at the highest angle above as if the time had only chirped at 12 o'clock, yet the hue of the sky came out more yellowish and jaded, as if an apocalypse had passed by.
I looked around the lush yet foreign green trees in my surroundings, gaping the outside of the water path that I currently sat in.
"Did I just get thrown into this shallow river? And a whole different world as an extension? Wait, something is wrong with my voice…"
The pitch was higher, a bit too feminine yet mature, like the voice of raspy adult women who smoked a little bit too much.
My head also felt a little bit heavier.
"This is not my hair… mine wasn't long and sparkly golden…"
I was covered in some sort white clothing, and there seemed to be a rather visible bump on my chest that wasn't supposed to be there…
And then I looked at the shallow running water beneath. It was but a faint reflection, yet clear enough to take a good look at my own facial complexion.
"Who??"
It was the face of a troubled yet adorable youth. The coloration of the lips, the thick golden eyelashes and the sharp ruby-like gaze piercing back through the wuthering reflection of the river—I could only say the word 'cute' as my first impression, since I don't really get what makes someone's face charming or beautiful in modern standard.
However, there was something I noticed when I looked closer.
"This face…"
My heartrate rose faster than the munching speed of a starving squirrel.
I couldn't let go of my gaze, as I was deeply entranced by every face that was showcased by the running river.
"... I think I have fallen in love."
There wasn't a single imperfection found upon this face, not even a faint smear of impurity and 'ugliness' that I always found in a lot of people.
Even those so-called people or images with facial symmetry perfection always had some sort of impurity that gave an eerie, uncanny feeling to them, resulting in the same urges of my compulsive behavior to rise.
But this face possessed none of those! It was without imperfection while also giving zero uncanniness, something that shouldn't be able to exist!
"Urgh…"
A great amount of forced information rushed into my mind like an unskippable info-dump.
The more information unzipped, the more confusion grasping into my throat. Everything in this flow of knowledge, all of them were trying to break my perception and reality.
After a whole solid minute, I was born anew, alongside the caravan of wisdom that camped at the stop of my cranium.
"Detail screen?"
And just as I tried to put my knowledge into action, a set of floating holographic screens emerged in front of my eyes.
—
[Narcissus]
[Unknown, Female, Age 20(???), Unaffiliated]
—Abilities—
[???? ?????????: ???? ?????? ?? ??????? ?? ????????? ??? ????????? ???? ?? ??? ??????? ?????, ???????? ? ??? ???? ??????????? ??????? ??? ???????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ??? ????????? ????????]
—Highlighted Traits—
[Psychopath: This individual exhibits a profound lack of empathy and remorse, coupled with an innate ability to manipulate and deceive others. Their calculated and ruthless behavior allows them to achieve their goals without regard for the well-being of others]
[Impossibly Dexterous Fingers: This individual possesses an extraordinary level of skill and precision in using their fingers and hands, enabling them to perform delicate and intricate tasks with unparalleled proficiency]
[Mysterious Past: This individual has a history shrouded in secrecy and enigma, with unknown origins and untold experiences that often intrigue and unsettle those around them. Their past may hold hidden skills, powerful connections, or dark secrets that influence their present actions and decisions]
[Angelic Charisma: This individual possesses an ethereal and captivating appearance that exudes a sense of purity and grace, often inspiring awe and admiration in those who behold them. Their otherworldly charm and radiance can influence others, making them seem almost divine or celestial]
—
[<{Biography}> {Inventory} {Health} {Needs} {Social} {Log} {Info}]
—
Everything felt so sudden, so overwhelming.
Because if every information that was bestowed to me happened to be true, then I had somehow become one of these so-called Non-Playable Characters in a massive digital world of a Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Game.
"What in the god-forsaken tarnation…"
However, aside from all of these mind-bending realization, there was one thing that severely bothered me.
This Biography section of the screen in front of me…
There's so many things about it that felt very insulting to me.
"Isn't Narcissus that dude in Greek mythology who fell in love with his own reflection…?"
Not only did it insinuate that I'm narcissistic, it also blatantly deem me as a psychopath in one of my highlighted traits!
Though, if I ran down the chronicle of what just happened, I did, to a great extent, fell in love with my own reflection…
"I guess the only real allegation is whether or not I'm a psychopath…"
I, for one, believed that other than my issue with wanting to strip people's faces, I'm a fairly normal human being inside.
Of course, one couldn't fully judge themselves, since the brain would more-often-than-not attempts to skew-in a positive self-perception toward a much more selfish note depending the person's own belief.
"Regardless, I shouldn't be sitting in this river like a crazy homeless person any longer."
There was so much information that just got irresponsibly dumped into my head like a toxic wastepack, it would take a good while to analyze and cover them all.
Firstly, I need to confirm this place, and secure myself a foothold to survive a day in this world.
"Because the 'night' might be the actual end of me."
[The Ordeal of the Dusk will be approaching in 12 hours_]
[However, due to the absence of the Storytellers in this world, the Random Events will be regulated to spawning a regular amount of Calamity Objects]
[This message will appear invisible to every instances of entities in this world, if you received this sequence of notification, please notify any of the Arbiters to prevent further complications in your immersive playing experience]
"... What?"