-"Ah, thanks," I replied softly.
Before me stood the Demon Gate - massive and silent, like a slumbering giant. It would surely open soon. I stepped closer, peering around curiously, but immediately felt a shiver run down my spine. The air emanating from the cracks of the gate carried a chilling cold that felt eerie to the core.
Qing Yashu stepped up beside me. She gazed deep into the void ahead and reminded me:
-"It's almost time. As soon as it opens, get inside immediately."
-"Is everyone here going into the same mission?" I wondered aloud.
-"No," Yashu shook her head. "Each mission has a limit on the number of participants. The Demon Gate will split us into different Portals."
I felt a secret pang of disappointment. So, there was a high chance I wouldn't be on the same team as her. That was pretty bad news. Aside from Yashu, I didn't know anyone else here.
Crr-ack!
The giant gate stirred slightly, a dry, grating sound that startled me. The doors slowly creaked open, swallowing the silence. The surrounding crowd, which had been whispering moments ago, fell deathly quiet before suddenly surging forward.
The mass of people rushing in made me feel suffocated. Amidst the jostling shoulders, I caught every shade of despair: pale, ghastly faces, trembling hands, and those so paralyzed by fear they couldn't stand straight, clinging to one another for support.
In truth, my heart was pounding as if it wanted to jump out of my chest, but I forced myself to stay calm. Being reincarnated into this world was absurd enough, but facing demonic entities that directly threatened my life was a far more brutal reality.
The Gate widened, revealing a deep red void that looked like thick blood. A pungent, harsh light struck my eyes, forcing me to shield my face. I still tried to squint through the gaps between my fingers, holding my breath, waiting for some magic to pull me away or for a dark tentacle to lash out from the shadows.
Behind me, several blood-curdling screams began to ring out.
Suddenly, a small, soft hand lightly touched my sleeve. It was Qing Yashu.
"Stay calm." - Her voice was as light as a breeze, yet it had the power to soothe the chaos within me. It turned out she had noticed my tension all along.
The crimson light suddenly flared up, consuming my body and those around me. My consciousness grew hazy, floating in a limitless void - a feeling identical to when I first reincarnated here. There it was again, the state of nothingness. In that moment of losing all sense of reality, a thought flashed through my mind: Can I survive this? What horrific thing is waiting ahead?
Fear mingled with an indescribable excitement. Was this the feeling of uncertainty? It was actually quite interesting.
First came a searing heat, as if I were being melted down, followed immediately by a bone-chilling cold as all sense of gravity vanished. I could no longer feel my feet touching the ground, nor could I feel Yashu's soft hand anymore. Everything became a void - dark and bottomless. In the dim shadows of my subconscious, I felt like a piece of driftwood caught in a whirlpool of time. The screams of the others faded, replaced by a low humming in my ears, like wind howling through a narrow crack. My consciousness began to fragment, becoming as fragile as a silk thread in the wind.
This hovering sensation, the inability to cling to anything, was enough to drive one mad. Yet, amidst the mental chaos, a strange spark of excitement kindled in my heart. A crazy anticipation for the horrors about to unfold. My consciousness drifted into that perfect emptiness until a violent force yanked me back toward the light.
-"Ugh..."
I heavily opened my eyes, feeling like I had just woken up from a long, exhausting sleep. That same blinding radiance hit me again, piercing through the gaps of my fingers.
As my vision cleared, the first thing I did was hurriedly scan my surroundings. This place was still quite crowded, but compared to the sea of people outside the Gate, the numbers had dwindled significantly. Perhaps the Demon Gate had finished screening the players. I glanced over every face-the anxious ones, the trembling ones - trying to find the girl with the sky-blue hair. But it was in vain. Yashu wasn't here. We had truly been separated. A sense of emptiness welled up; this was certainly not a smooth start.
The scenery before me left me stunned. There were houses, people bustling about, and the blaring of car horns echoing in my eardrums. If it weren't for "that thing" high above, I would have believed I had just returned to the real world. In the sky, instead of a warm sun, a colossal eye reigned supreme. It was overwhelmingly large, looking down at us with a cold, ruthless pupil. The feeling of being watched by such an entity made my hair stand on end. The moment I squinted to look directly at that eye, it seemed to stare right back at me. My heart skipped a beat, and I hurriedly looked away.
"A... A Demon!" - A girl beside me shrieked, pointing straight at the sky. She collapsed to the ground, her face ghostly pale, her hands flailing in the air as if trying to push back the fear. That scream was like a spark, igniting total chaos. The newcomers began to panic, their wailing echoing incessantly. This grotesque sight seemed to have shattered their every limit of endurance.
Amidst the frantic crowd, the veteran players struggled to stabilize the situation. Some people nearly fainted, their breath hitching in shock.
Not far away, a young man was casually leaning against a utility pole, a contemptuous smirk on his face:
-"Tch, a bunch of cowards. Fainting just from seeing this... they'll probably forget how to run when they meet a real demon later."
Immediately, a girl with strange heterochromatic eyes rushed to cover his mouth:
-"Shh! Shut it, Chen Feng. Don't go making enemies at a time like this."