The fish-head guy looked at him suspiciously, then shook his head, not really curious - in this world, curiosity could be deadly. This young guy seemed pretty fearless in comparison.
He said, "We'll 'kill' part of your memory."
"'Kill'? Can memories be killed?"
"Erase. If you prefer that term."
"Actually, I think I like 'kill' better. It's more poetic."
The fish-head guy thought, Who the hell cares about poetry?
But just as Dulmi was about to follow the fish-head guy into the Shenlo Association, a faint light stirred in the distant darkness. A flash of moonlight suddenly appeared, flying towards them, then pierced through Dulmi's heart.
Following it was a light voice: "Just in case."
...Uh oh.
Looks like his luck had run out for the day.
Dulmi blinked his deep green eyes, glanced down at the blood seeping through his shirt, and clicked his tongue. Well, at least I won't have to do laundry.
When he woke up in the morning, not only would his life and the world reset, but his clothes would go back to how they were before nightfall. Otherwise, the Outer Zone would've done more than just ruin his dinner!
His last memory was the fish-head guy's shocked and helpless mutter: "...How reckless! Oh well, he's just an ordinary person..."
He thought, these people with power really are-
Then his thoughts just... stopped.
He died.
Again.
Just before the pain hit, an even deeper darkness swallowed Dulmi's soul.
All images froze, then everything faded.
In an instant, Dulmi lost all sense of his body and the world, leaving only his soul floating silently.
He made his soul drift aimlessly for a bit, but soon got bored and stopped.
He thought about what just happened, felt a little annoyed, but that was it. Death wasn't anything special to him, dying was just dying - Benjamin and Amy had killed him many times, and he didn't hold grudges.
What really bugged him was their casual attitude.
Power, he thought.
In the Outer Zone, he'd seen plenty of people with it—like Nope and his daughter.
But these white-robed folks gave him a weirder vibe. It wasn't like they had power. It was more like power had them.
...If he could cause some trouble for the white-robed people, he'd be pretty happy to.
But that was for later.
Dulmi mulled it over for a bit but shrugged the thoughts off pretty quickly. He kept guiding his soul, drifting through the space.
Everything around him was just... empty.
In the Outer Zone, there was always something lurking—things moving, hissing in the dark. But here, while it was still pitch black, it was dead silent, totally peaceful.
So, yeah, Dulmi got bored fast and stopped. He thought about how by tomorrow, he'd be back at the Shenlo Association, alive and kicking... That thought made him chuckle for a second before he zoned out again, letting his mind go quiet.
He called this place where his soul floated "the Curtain," like the moment in a play when the curtain's drawn, hiding the stage from the audience.
The Curtain was like a bridge—connecting, or maybe separating—the real world and the Outer Zone.
Once he died in the Outer Zone, or if he stopped moving, he'd end up at the Curtain.
Only his soul could reach this place; everything else was kept out.For instance, the gift from his dream creature buddy? Nowhere to be found here. It'd show up again once he left the Curtain.
Everything here was still, quiet, and empty. Dulmi would hang out for a bit, waiting for the sunrise and a fresh start.
Honestly, it gave him time to rest and think.
Sometimes, the Outer Zone would mess with his head, bring out this wild, darker side of him. He'd wait behind the Curtain until that madness calmed down.
But most of the time, he was drowning in endless questions.
Who was actually crazy?
Was it him? Or was it the world?
And why the hell was the world like this, anyway?
Dulmi had asked himself these questions countless times. But he couldn't come up with an answer.
Now, in the eternal silence and darkness of the Curtain, he only felt those questions falling lightly, leaving behind just an intense curiosity and a slight smirk, born from long torture.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said silently.