The scenery shifted again.
I returned to the void, holding [The Fallen Worlds] book close to my chest.
A sigh of relief escaped me, heavy, exhausted.
[Haaa…]
The book's weight in my hands was a comfort, an anchor.
If it had stayed any longer—the vision—I would've lost what little sanity I had left.
I took a slow, shaky breath, letting myself relax, just for a moment.
But then, something struck me.
I couldn't see my body in reality anymore.
My connection to it had been blocked, as if severed.
And this void—it was colder than before, an unnatural chill seeping into me.
-Tremble… Tremble…
Even without a physical body, I could feel myself shivering.
I felt exposed, vulnerable, in a way I'd never felt before.
The cold was seeping into me, through me, hollowing me out.
Then, abruptly, warmth spread from my arms, radiating outward from the book.
The warmth didn't come from a light; the book was dim, ordinary.
But still, it filled me with a strange, steady comfort.
What… what is even happening to me?
I sighed, resigned, knowing I was helpless here.
With nothing else to focus on, I stared at [The Fallen Worlds] in my hands, drawn in.
I opened to the first page, feeling a strange eagerness, a pull.
---
1. Child of Prophecy [1]
Fate.
A word we throw around, yet rarely understand.
Some say it's written in the stars, others that it's woven by our choices, by chance.
But for some of us, fate takes a heavier hand…
---
The words flowed, drawing me in, and time slipped away.
I kept reading, completely absorbed, the words on the page my only shelter in this freezing void.
Page after page, I read on, lost, suspended.
This book—it was my safe haven.
In the cold, empty dark, I clung to its story, its characters, as if they were pieces of myself.
Hours passed, days maybe—I had no sense of time anymore.
The pages blurred together until I neared the end of the third volume.
-[End of Fallen One Volume]-
I sighed, feeling an odd mix of satisfaction and regret.
So that was the end, then.
Would I be able to read the rest of it someday?
Stretching out my arms, stiff from the hours—days?—spent holding the book, I glanced around.
Nothing had changed; the void remained cold, empty.
Just me, and this book, my only sanctuary.
As I shifted, something else took over.
Darkness fell, swallowing me whole, as I let go of the book for just a moment.
And then, out of the black, a vision emerged.
A man lay before me, his body riddled with holes, blood pooling beneath him.
There was a helpless smile on his lips, resigned, almost peaceful.
I didn't know who he was, but something about him felt… familiar.
A shiver ran through me, my stomach twisting at the sight.
It was disturbing—horrible—but I couldn't look away.
Even as nausea rose, as the image burned into my mind, I stayed.
It's… it's just a vision. Just an illusion in this void.
I told myself this, over and over, gripping the thought like a lifeline.
It isn't real. It can't be real.
Or… maybe it is.
My breath hitched, my chest tightening.
My body trembled, each shudder tearing through me.
I wanted to escape, to wake up from this nightmare.
But I couldn't move.
I couldn't fall back.
Not when I still lacked the power to leave.
[Haaa… haaa…]
The vision shifted, fading to black.
Then, another scene emerged.
I found myself staring at a world distorted by ruin.
Shattered buildings, remnants of what once stood strong, lay scattered in heaps of debris.
It felt strangely familiar, as if I had seen this place before.
I glanced around, taking in the shattered structures, the fragmented landscape.
But it was the architecture that struck me, triggering something buried deep in my mind.
This place—it felt like the world from [The Fallen Worlds.]
The scene cleared, sharpening, as if I were seeing it through someone else's eyes.
And then, horror.
My stomach churned, my mind recoiling as I took in the massacre before me.
Rotting bodies lay strewn across the ground, limbs torn and twisted.
I couldn't hold it in any longer.
Blargh—!
My body lurched as I doubled over, vomiting.
The sight before me—this level of carnage—it was beyond anything I could imagine.
My voice, barely a whisper, trembled in the cold void.
[What… what is this…]
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew this was wrong, that this shouldn't exist.
This… this horror should have been buried, forgotten deep into the passage of time.
Yet here it was, laid bare before me.
A body, barely recognizable, lay broken in the rubble.
I couldn't even tell if it had been a man or a woman.
Blargh—!
The sight was overwhelming, nausea tearing through me in waves.
My stomach heaved again, though there was nothing left to purge.
Rotting organs, their color faded to a sickly brown, littered the ground, the stench practically tangible.
Blargh—!
Each glimpse only worsened the sickness clawing through me.
Some of the bodies—if they could even be called bodies—were little more than pools of decay.
I gasped, clutching my chest, desperate for air.
How many bodies?
Hundreds? Thousands?
No…
[Millions....]
I don't even know how I was able to come up with that number... But I was almost sure of it.
The emptiness in my stomach churned once more, though there was nothing left to give.
Is this… is this the world of [The Fallen Worlds]?
The thought flickered, fragile, absurd.
I took a step forward, drawn despite myself.
The landscape was unchanging, each step bringing only more horror.
Broken bodies, a wasteland of rot and ruin.
The smell, though I couldn't even truly smell it, was vivid in my mind.
A thick, cloying stench that twisted my stomach in knots.
Sometimes, the bodies were little more than sludge, a hideous spill of organs and decay.
Blargh—!
Empty air escaped me, my stomach a hollow pit.
I wondered if I would eventually vomit up my own organs, with nothing else left.
Was I even sane anymore?
Had I ever been?
It was a miracle I was still able to think, to reason, with this nightmare around me.
Any other person would've lost consciousness by now, overcome by this madness.
But I held on.
Because somewhere, deep down, I'd been through worse.
I knew suffering in a way no one else could.
This… this wasn't the worst.
No.
This was just a nightmare.
That's all it was.
If I just endured a little longer, I'd wake up.
It had to be that.
Because anything else would be…
[Haha…]
My laugh echoed, empty, hollow.
Who was I fooling?
My body trembled, the truth slipping further from my grasp.
[Haha…]
Fuck.
It's enough.
I could no longer hold on. My consciousness was getting blurry.
But even then, my gaze was still lingering around the vision before me.
And then, I saw him.