"What the hell does that even mea—?"
Before Erwin could finish, the ground beneath him trembled violently, as though the earth itself had turned against him.
A deafening rumble followed, shaking him to his core. He stumbled, the vibrations surging up his legs, forcing him to his knees. His hands scraped against the coarse pavement as he caught himself, a sharp sting running through his palms.
"What's going on?" he gasped, his words almost swallowed by the chaos around him.
The ground in front of him began to twist unnaturally, as though reality itself had grown unstable. The once-solid terrain rippled and contorted, cracks racing across its surface like veins of a fractured mirror. Small chunks of earth broke loose, falling into an abyss that seemed to have no bottom.
Erwin stared in disbelief, his breath catching as the cracks widened. The ground buckled inward, twisting into a vortex that churned with dark, shimmering light.
"What... what is this?" Erwin muttered. His voice trembled, barely audible over the low hum emanating from the swirling anomaly.
The vortex expanded, the dark core at its center stretching wider. It was not just a hole in the ground—it was something alive. The edges of the vortex shimmered, reflecting an eerie iridescence that reminded him of oil on water. The air around it felt wrong, heavy and suffocating, pressing against him like an invisible weight.
His pulse quickened, and his instincts screamed at him to run. Yet his feet remained rooted to the ground, paralyzed by a mix of fear and fascination.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?" he whispered. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, trembling.
Against his better judgment, Erwin stepped closer. The pull of the vortex was almost magnetic, its unnatural energy tugging at him both physically and mentally. He reached out hesitantly, his fingertips hovering mere inches from the shimmering edge.
The air near the vortex was icy cold, but it burned at the same time, a paradox of sensations that sent shivers up his spine. A faint, static-like buzz crawled across his skin, making his hair stand on end.
"Wh… what the hell am I doing?" Erwin muttered, yanking his hand back. He stumbled a step away, his breath coming in shallow gasps.
"This isn't my problem," he said aloud, his voice shaky but firm. "I'm just a regular guy. Let someone else deal with this."
He turned to leave, forcing his legs to move. But before he could take more than a few steps, a shadow fell over him.
Erwin froze.
Something—or someone—was behind him.
Slowly, he turned, his heart pounding.
A figure cloaked in black stood silently a few feet away. The person's hood was pulled low, shrouding their face in complete darkness. There were no eyes, no features—just an empty void where a face should have been.
"Who are you?" Erwin demanded, his voice cracking despite his attempt to sound brave.
The figure said nothing, unmoving and unyielding.
A sense of dread washed over Erwin, heavier than anything he'd felt before. The figure's presence wasn't just physical—it pressed against his mind, filling him with an overwhelming urge to flee.
"Answer me!" Erwin shouted, desperation creeping into his voice.
The figure moved. In one fluid motion, they reached out and grabbed the front of Erwin's shirt. Their grip was impossibly strong, pulling him off balance and dragging him closer to the vortex.
"Let go!" Erwin yelled, thrashing against the figure's hold. He clawed at their arm, but their grip didn't falter.
The figure leaned in, their shadowy face mere inches from Erwin's. From the darkness of the hood came a voice—deep and resonant, as though it echoed from the depths of the abyss itself.
"I am your will to live."
The words struck Erwin like a physical blow, knocking the air from his lungs. Before he could process them, the figure shoved him forward with terrifying force.
"No! Stop!" Erwin screamed, his voice raw with panic. He flailed his arms, trying to grab onto something—anything—but there was nothing to hold onto.
The world tilted violently as he fell toward the vortex.
Time seemed to slow, the chaos around him fading into an eerie stillness.
This can't be real. This isn't happening.
The thoughts raced through Erwin's mind, but they did nothing to stop his descent.
The moment he touched the swirling energy of the vortex, the world around him shattered.
An intense cold enveloped him, sharp and biting, like being plunged into freezing water. It clawed at his skin, threatening to tear him apart. At the same time, a suffocating heat rose from within the vortex, searing him from the inside out.
The darkness swallowed him whole, stretching endlessly in every direction. It was a void unlike anything he'd ever imagined—complete and all-encompassing, filled with an otherworldly hum that resonated in his very bones.
Shapes and patterns danced in the darkness, alien and incomprehensible. They shifted and twisted, defying logic, as though the fabric of reality had been unraveled and rewritten.
Erwin's mind reeled, struggling to make sense of what was happening. Memories flashed before his eyes—moments from his childhood, his teenage years, his mundane adult life. But they were fragmented and distorted, blending together into a chaotic montage.
"I don't want this," he whispered, his voice lost in the void.
The darkness seemed to press closer, suffocating him.
But then, through the chaos, a voice emerged.
"You are an anomaly," it said, calm and commanding.
The words echoed in his mind, cutting through the noise.
"What does that mean?" Erwin shouted into the void. "Why is this happening to me?"
The voice didn't answer.
Instead, the darkness shifted again, pulling him deeper.
The cold intensified, and Erwin's vision blurred. His body felt weightless, as though he were floating in a vast, endless ocean.
"I hate the rain. I hate the rain. I hate the rain..."
The words repeated in his mind, growing louder and louder, until they drowned out everything else.
And then, silence.
Complete, utter silence.
Erwin opened his eyes—or at least, he thought he did. He was lying on solid ground, staring up at a sky that wasn't his own. It was dark and swirling, filled with hues of violet and crimson that pulsed like a living thing.
The world around him was unfamiliar, alien. Towering structures rose in the distance, their jagged forms glowing faintly with an otherworldly light. The air was heavy with the same strange energy he'd felt near the vortex.
Erwin sat up slowly, his body aching. He looked down at his hands—they were trembling, but he couldn't tell if it was from fear or the cold.
"What is this place?" he muttered, his voice barely audible.
For the first time in his life, Erwin felt truly, utterly alone.