At the dead of night, in dead silence, moonlight pierces through the grey fog.
In each second, it slowly parts, revealing a three-edged structure, jutting out at the endless shallow waters—endless as the sea.
It lay within, breathing in the dark, trapped in an eternal sleep.
Shrouded in the mist, dewdrops form. Above, it runs, seeping through its concrete seams, trickling down as it splashes at the dwelling husk.
Plop…
It's cold—cold enough to shiver him awake, like a spark igniting dormant senses, feeling his gravitate at his feet.
He breaths.
Pain as it breaths, a coarse feeling at his throat. As he exhales, warm air bounces back, warming his cold, exhausted body.
There, he opens his eyes, blinking as he sees nothing—only darkness, the same colors he sees when he closes his eyes.
As from every side it closes in, boxing him in with tight walls.
A room for his size.
'Where… Am I?'
It felt too real a dream, yet too surreal to be a reality. He blinks again, but nothing has changed.
It's so dark and quiet.
There, he alone could not move, could not breathe, could not see, and yet his sense of touch remained.
Splish-Splash!
It rained.
Dropping like thunder, water enters through the crevices. Each drop reverberates through his entire being, ringing his skull.
A long-forgotten sensation.
He clenches his teeth, teetering as a loud hiss rings, blaring him into numbness, whilst water flows down at his feet.
There he stood in strange comfort, as water quickly fills the coffin-like room, but in an abrupt something move—Behind, below, he felt it scaly and heavy, like a limb.
It twists, as if a part of his own.
*Gasp!*
A one last breath as the cold water fills, submerging him completely.
But again, it shifted, pulling him down.
With its sudden movement, he flails around, scattering his breath—the last of it—hollow sphere spreads, bursting. There, he opened his eyes, squinting in agony.
'I can't… Breath…'
He opened his mouth, gasping for air, but was greeted in blues, filling him full, quenching his thirst, inviting him into eternal slumber.
An easy escape, yet he refuses: Alone chooses to suffer, not to die—Not Again.
Thud!
In one motion, he hurled himself up, banging his head against a solid surface. It moved, a lid of some kind, briefly opened up.
A beam of light briefly enters, shining across his face as he moves something above him.
With such a sight, sudden strength washes over him, invigorating him, quickly making him restless.
Just a chance to survive, he again pushes, pumelling it open with all his might, repeating as it moves. Whirling the water up and down whilst red colors spread like smoke.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Again and again—
Clunk!
It opens whilst he springs himself out, hanging at the edge of the structure, like a jack-in-the-box. A structure so thin yet so durable.
Head against the ground, he coughed and gasped for air, and raindrops fell as he blinked both of his eyes open.
Outside, it was dark, as below, shallow water stretched out forever.
'The… light?'
Where is the light that he glimpses inside?
Thunk!
Behind him, the massive lid suddenly slammed down, trapping his lower half. He clenches his fist whilst he bites his lip as his eyes widen.
He pulls himself out with his hands on the ledge. With each move, it scrapes and peels his skin as the weight presses mercilessly.
Gritting his teeth as he pulled, with his last ounce of strength, a miracle— the lid lock in place.
He escaped as it closed shut.
Dropping down flat on the ground, his left cheek pressed to the damp ground. There, he lay on his back and let out a relieved sigh, gazing at the sky—total darkness.
The rain stopped, light slicing through to reveal a crescent moon.
Awe struck his heart, the light that gave him hope, it hovered above him, moonlight piercing through.
No dark clouds to explain the downpour, only the endless black skies and the crescent moon.
As if the moon itself had brought the rain.
'What am I... Doing?'
He felt empty as he couldn't remember anything. His very identity was a mystery, a puzzle with missing pieces.
Only the word he kept hearing and repeating: Not again, I won't die again.
With no answers, he stood, looking down at his flimsy legs, and in the corner of his eye, caught a fleeting glimpse of—
A woman.
Soaked in blood, skin as pale as canvas, smooth as porcelain, hair flowing like rivers of ink, below her waist, a tail.
It moves.
She looks at him from the corner of her eye, innocence blairs as she stares.
Puff… Huff…
Sprinting, arms flailing—slender as twigs, with each step, waves of water rippled at the endless shallows spread.
He feels an inexplicable weight tugging at him—a heavy appendage, like a limb attached to him.
In curiosity, He looked back.
"A tail," he shouted, eyes wide in horror.
Suddenly, waves gathered below, forming a pillar. Shaking the ground, in constant motion, he dodged left.
The pillar mirrored his gaze, following wherever he looked.
Whenever he looked, the pillar moved, sliding as tall as him; there he kept seeing her.
Their eyes met. Whenever he moved, she mirrored him, each move he took.
'Is this me?'
Upon a closer look, as above as below, it is him. He realized the ghostly woman he'd feared was actually himself. Xin understood what he needed to do, then glanced down.
'This isn't me.'
Below his waist, it wasn't his body. Too big to be him. Biding his time, the pillar suddenly rose into the sky, then fell.
Splat!
There, he deliberately stopped and stood, shielding his head with both of his arms as it exploded, thinking he was in pieces. He peeked through his arms. Before him it stood, a pillar of water as tall as he.
White letters are inscribed upon it.
'Welcome, Ye Xin,' He reads in doubt out loud in his instinct. Frowning in confusion as he could read the words.
'Ye Xin?'
It felt like it was referring to him, Ye Xin.
Is this his name? Is it even a name?
A name he has no such recollection. With everything he thought, it was pointless. It felt like his head wasn't his or that something was at the back of his head—Blocking him.
Before him, words within it then rippled.
Ye Xin /█/ Lvl. I
HP: 10/10 Stats: Normal
Mind: 22/30 Stamina: 09/15 RP: 10
STR: 10 AGI: 5 DEF: 3 INT: 12
◙|Survivor|5| Inventory: [][][][][][][][][][]
↓Maximize↓
Strangely, he felt the need to press the arrows below. With his finger, he pressed through it.
But nothing happened.
"Maximize?"
At his word, the panel shrank into a ball of water. It grew, this time larger. As it surged, fatigue suddenly overwhelmed him. Xin crossed his arms, bracing himself.
*Splash.*
The transparent panel revealed more, within it reads.
Health points: 10/10, Mana points: 06/10
Ye Xin /█/ Level. I
Status: Wet, Cold
Mind: 21/30 Stamina: 09/15 Raising Points: 10
Strength: 10, Agility: 5, Defense: 3, Intelligence: 12
Skill: Aqua Ball |Mastery. Basic|
◙|Survivor| |5|
Inventory: [][][][][][][][][][]
↑Minimize↑
'Minimize,' Xin said with an embarrassed look.
The panel then shrank and sprinkled water down. He felt tired all of a sudden. Suddenly, he felt a warm wind brush his neck, followed by a sultry liquid pouring over his shoulder, drooping down at his feet.
Xin slowly turned away, as behind—
A monster.
Its bulging eyes stared at him, dilating its pupil like orbs. Its face resembled that of a wolf, neck long as a giraffe's, peacock-like feathered plumage, wings twice the size of its body…
Howl!
The cry reverberated through Xin's entire being. He frowned as he shivered, sweat poured from his palms as he shivered.
What can he do?
'Aqua ball!'
A watery sphere floated toward the beast. It stared at it warily. Sniffed, as it then spread its wings with ferocity and malice.
A chance!
Ye Xin then sprinted away.
Was it all for naught? All he knows now what is right in this situation is to run.
He doesn't know where he is going, he doesn't know what he is doing, and everything just feels wrong.
Meanwhile, the aqua ball meandered, colliding with the beast as it flapped, seeping into the thick feathers.
*Huff.*
Panting, as he ran, it was quiet all of a sudden. Eerie silence, so unlike the chaos he'd just escaped. Xin glanced over his shoulder. But instead of danger, he saw the creature floundering far in the distance, struggling awkwardly.
He smirks.
But suddenly, intense fatigue set in, shaking him whole, like needles puncturing his head; he collapsed, face-first, into the shallow water.
Ye Xin blacked out once more…
Lying left at the shallow waters, slumbering. Above him, a creature in the dark starts flapping its wings, parting the thick fog, and its wings shine like moonlight upon his eyes.
His fingers moved, rippling a wave in the endless shallow waters.
*Gasp!*
In heavy breaths, Xin wakes up, opening his eyes as he then stares blankly.
A nightmare.
It was something that he was sure he felt, yet nothing he could recall to ponder.
As if something in his mind is blocking him.
For his own thought, he brushed it aside and stood up, but as soon as he stood up, he saw something afar and beyond.
A structure.
A giant structure towering through the skies. Its sheer size looms in darkness, covering the crescent moon. At it, he saw the moon, casting pellets of shadow from the sky.
He stared for a long time, unsure if something about the phenomenon was abnormal. But his focus was disturbed as suddenly, he heard, faint, stony clapping echoed through the waters.
Closing in, as gentle voices drifted through the surroundings.
"The moon's really making it rain," Said awkwardly in an old man's voice.
Xin surprisingly understands what it said.
It felt weird as he understood them, filling his heart with suspicion.
*Slam!*
'???'
Xin was confused as suddenly a large rod appeared in front of him, sending him sprawling to the ground. As it drops, it sends tremors around, rippling the shallow waters.
He looks around for something, something that he can do about this peculiar situation. Beside him, a structure stuck out, and he quickly hid behind it.
It's the same kind of structure he was trapped in.
Afar, he took a peek and glimpsed three men darker than black and with indiscernible expressions.
As if they wore a mask.
Walking to the spear that flew towards him. Each step rippled through the waters, which Xin felt slashing into him. Suddenly, someone from the three deliberately stops. Xin then ducks flat to the ground, conventionally eavesdrops on their conversation.
"There, I saw it there," said the one who threw his spear whilst he looked at the other two.
"Are you sure you saw and heard the Simurgh here?"
"Yeah, it was here. walking like a chicken!"
The two men with spears looked at each other as they then looked towards him.
"Are you sure, Lim'ur?"
"You're not tired and just saw something—" In a brief second, his eye locks at Xin's direction, though he continued. "Something like that."
"I saw it clearly—not a chicken, it's the simurgh, the winged wolf."
The two men bickered like couples, though they looked like three black men.
Like a rat, Xin opened the lid, but found the interior far too deep. Doubt gnawed at him, as in his mind.
How could he escape if he hid inside here?
"Kras! Trust me, I really—"
*Clunk*.
-His hand bled, fingers purple and useless, pain radiating from his limp arm joints. He felt his vision swim and was hungry.
Tears were slipping down his cheeks. Questions raced through his mind—who to blame, did he deserve this, was this really it?
The thought of dying again broke him. As he closed his eyes, someone whispered. +[1]
[1] You must be asking, "What is this?" Well, dear reader, this paragraph is from the future. Think of it as what comes next.