Chapter 0 : My dream ,Your dream
Episode 1 : Nightmare
In the deep winter, where temperatures plunged below freezing, plant life withered and most creatures either went into hibernation, partial hibernation, or migrated. The forest during this season was more silent than any other... and it should have remained so. Yet, there was a sound.
"Hah... Hah... Hah..."
The tired, gasping breaths of a man echoed through the massive pine forest. His body immediately collapsed onto the ground after a final stumbling step forward.
He wore two thick jackets, yet they were not enough to shield him from the cruelty of nature. His lips, fingertips, and toes began to turn an ashen color.
The pain, both internal and external, was excruciating. His lungs felt scorched, his breathing erratic. Worst of all, his leg ached intensely, as if it had just been struck squarely by an arrow.
Despite this, he had chosen to keep running. But every stride he took was agonizing, like being stabbed with every forward step. Finally, his endurance broke, and he crashed hard onto the snowy ground.
He tried to move, but his body betrayed him. He could feel nothing in his limbs, not even the faint rhythm of his heartbeat. He knew the cold would claim him soon. His eyelids grew heavy, but he fought with every fiber of his being to stay awake. Until...
Snap!
The sound of a breaking twig echoed nearby, followed shortly by muffled voices. Though he couldn't make out the words, he instantly knew—these were the hunters.
"Hey! Where's the Healer? Get over here and patch this idiot up now!" A bellowing voice tore through the woods. The hulking man who spoke wore several layers of heavy coat. His shoulder was adorned with the skull of some creature, and a thick fur scarf was wrapped around his neck. He turned his disappointed gaze toward the man lying flat on the ground.
Soon after, a long-eared woman approached the collapsed man. She chanted an incantation, and a white light emanated from her palms, bathing his entire body.
The agony vanished completely, as if it had never been. But before he could react, the large man grabbed his collar, staring into his eyes like a starving bear.
"Viper! You know that doing this gets you killed by us instantly," the bear-like man growled fiercely. His grip on Viper's collar was tight, making it impossible to struggle free.
"And what if I do, LURO? Did you think I hadn't prepared for this? Even the names you and I use are just aliases." Viper retorted with a scornful tone, instantly fueling LURO's rage.
"Is that so..." LURO's eyes briefly clouded with sadness. "I didn't want to lose someone as capable as you... but since you chose this path, I can't let it pass!!" LURO roared in fury. He flung Viper violently, slamming him into one pine tree and sending him hurtling through several others, thirty meters away.
"Tch. That brute's ox-strength hasn't changed." Viper muttered, rising to a ready stance. He knew he couldn't defeat LURO now, but he had to try and drain the other man's strength as much as possible.
The sound of cracking bones reverberated through his body. Wounds covered him entirely, yet instead of blood, a black liquid oozed from his cuts.
Despite this bizarre occurrence, he had to keep fighting. He knew he couldn't defeat LURO... but he had to try and drain the other man's strength as much as possible.
Seeing the man take his stance, LURO lunged forward with superhuman speed. He seized Viper's head firmly and began to slowly squeeze. No matter how much Viper struggled, there was no escaping an attack like this.
The pressure intensified. Pain shot through Viper's body. LURO stared down at him with the chilling eyes of an Apex Predator looking at its small prey. Until—
CRUNCH!
Viper's head exploded under the immense pressure. Blood, eyes, and matter splattered everywhere. The sight sickened LURO's men. LURO looked on with a vacant, disappointed expression. He couldn't believe the man who had just stood toe-to-toe with him would fall to such a simple attack.
"What a disappoi—" Before LURO could finish his thought, everything around him distorted violently.
— — —
"Beep... Beep... Beep..."
The digital alarm clock blared out, sudden and irritating. It instantly yanked the young man out of his deep slumber. He reached out to slap the snooze button. His entire body was drenched in sweat; his expression was one of intense confusion.
He raised a hand to check his head... It was still intact, with no sign of being crushed. But the abnormality was the sensation: he felt an agonizing throbbing in his head, as if the event in the dream had actually happened. He couldn't comprehend how this physical pain could manifest.
"That dream was too real... It felt like I was actually there," he mumbled, his voice shaky and filled with bewilderment.
He got out of bed and walked to flip the light switch.
Flicker... Hum... Hum...
The sound of the light bulb, old and unstable, further emphasized the surrounding environment. The room he was in was filled with the civilization of junk—water bottles, snack wrappers, parcel boxes, and broken items mixed in with functional ones.
"Hah..." He sighed heavily, speaking with exhaustion. "In the end, my nightmare is probably just waking up to this shitty reality."
He leaned down to pick up his mobile phone, but his eyes caught sight of something strange...
He was certain he had only worn an ordinary sleeping shirt before drifting off... But now, he was wearing two layers of thick jackets. A piece of tattered fur, and dark stains still smeared on the sleeve.
Wasn't this just like Viper in his dream?
The entire room fell silent, the only sound being his own breathing. Slowly, he looked up at the mirror across the room.
In the reflection... someone was standing in the darkness behind him.
It was not his reflection, but the figure of a man in a thick jacket, his eyes vacant, like a corpse that refused to decay.
"Welcome back... Viper."
A cold whisper hissed right next to his ear.
Before everything suddenly went dark, along with the sound of his heart pounding rapidly, threatening to burst from his chest.