The wind blew softly when I looked toward the horizon, as if the world were exhaling after a stifled scream. In the distance, a city of spiraled towers and high walls rose at the foot of a jagged mountain range, as if it had been shaped by dwarven hands in some delirium of grandeur. These were mountains that did not follow geological logic, with twisted angles, concave peaks, and bluish surfaces that reflected the reddish sun as if it were a cracked mirror of the sky.
The path there seemed long — weeks of travel, maybe more. The trail winding through the hills led to a dark forest, dense, with interwoven canopies like hands praying in silence. Beyond it, a river cut the land like a silver scar, and on its banks, there was a village. Not very big. Crooked huts, gray smoke rising from the chimneys, the imagined smell of old bread and rust in the air.
I looked forward again, and a lump formed in my throat. It was all beautiful — too much, even. As if the beauty of the scenery was a veil covering something monstrous. The areas without deformed creatures and gleaming black claws shone like oil paintings, but I no longer trusted the aesthetics of that world. Beauty was a lie. A lure.
The sun, that diluted blood tone, fell in the sky. The mountains returned the light in shades of blue, contradicting everything I knew about color and physics. A subtle strangeness, as if the world were slightly… out of focus.
I descended the small plain with slow steps. The ground was firm, the tall grass brushed my ankles. Each step left a trail of silence, as if the world were watching me.
After leaving that labyrinth, my body collapsed right there, and I decided to rest. Only now did I realize how much my bones ached. Adrenaline had kept me standing. Now, there was only exhaustion and a latent emptiness.
“Ah... I forgot.”
My hands searched my pockets urgently. I wanted to find that leaf. The only handwritten thing that connected me to this new world.
“Nothing? But I was sure it was here…”
I turned my body. Looked back. No sign of the leaf.
It must have fallen during the fight with that creature — the amalgam of bones and eyes that had chased me for hours in that labyrinth. The memory made my stomach churn.
“Damn…”
It was ironic. Now that I could finally read the words of that world, I had nothing to read. Just an old, bloody bone in my hands, dirty and warm, as if it were still alive. A symbol of loss.
A metallic taste rose in my mouth, and with it, a bitter thought.
My friends.
I dragged them with me to this place. What if they didn’t survive?
A part of me whispered: What if they’re dead because of you?
“Calm down, Ethan… calm down…” I whispered, as if my voice were a charm against despair.
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But loneliness was beginning to surround me.
I entered the forest. There was a faint trail winding among the trees, leading toward the village. It was almost invisible, as if it didn’t want to be found.
Along the path, stuck in the ground, there were black stakes. Thin, sharp, and they seemed rooted in the soil. They weren’t wood. They weren’t iron. They were something that should never have form. There was a smell of burning, or maybe old flesh, clinging to them.
I frowned. Something inside me said to retreat. That was an omen. A warning.
But I continued. Not out of courage. Out of necessity. With luck, I’d reach the village before nightfall.
In another part of that distorted world, Selena opened her eyes.
They were glassy, clouded. But behind the veil, there was something. A void — deep and painful.
She brought her hand to her head and let out a trembling sigh.
“What…?”
Disconnected fragments surfaced in her mind. Memories stained with fog and blood. Something had possessed her. Or guided her. She wasn’t in control. Not entirely.
She remembered the moment she was impaled. And then… only darkness.
Her skin shivered. Breathing grew ragged. Her lips, cracked, trembled.
Panic.
Death and rebirth now coexisted within her, like two souls fighting for space. Before, a trance had taken over — as if she were sleeping with her eyes open. But now… now she was awake.
Before her eyes, a translucent screen blinked.
[World Savior]
Selena Beaufay
Role: Mistress of Pain
Traits: Obsession
Madness: 0/100
Pain: 67
Will: 5
Power: 10
Vigor: 3
Physical: 4
Fortitude: 6
Abilities: Babel Tongue; Painful Manifestation
“W… what?”
Selena reached out, but before she could touch the screen, she heard a bouncing voice.
“You can see it too, huh? Huh?!”
Mira appeared from the side, her steps echoing like children’s music on the wooden floor. Her shoes made strange sounds, almost too cheerful for that world.
“Yes.”
“Good, good! That, it’s something only we can see. I think it’s because we’re from another world, you know? Jonas said it feels like a game!”
Selena only nodded, her eyes returning to the screen.
Obsession: you went mad after seeing entities, and your mind developed an escape. You become obsessed with the first person you see. It can be treated.
Her heart froze.
The first person she saw… was Jonas.
She swallowed dry. That couldn’t be real. But if it was…
[Painful Manifestation]
Manifest your accumulated pain in both mental and physical attacks. Can be used alongside magic and catalysts. Your imagination is the limit.
“This is… pure masochism.”
Selena’s change in expression made Mira tilt her head with an innocent pout.
“What’s wrong???”
Selena looked at her. Before, she might have tried to find it cute. Now… she didn’t even try.
“N… nothing.”
But her mind returned to that damned trait. Maybe, if it was real, she could still feel. Emotions. Or something like them.
Selena stood with difficulty.
“Is there… anything to eat?”
Mira blinked and gave a bright smile.
“Yes! I’ll be right back. I’ll bring food… and a dress! I had a strange inspiration, you know? A piece just for you!”
She skipped out like a child in a park, and for a moment Selena wondered if Mira had always been like this… or if the world had already broken her.
The door creaked. She expected Mira.
But it was Jonas.
A tall man, with a cigarette between his fingers and a burning match in the other hand.
“Ah… sorry. Didn’t think you were here, Selena. Mira doesn’t like me smoking in her shop.”
Selena stared at Jonas. Her eyes glinted, dangerous. Like a territorial animal.
“Okay… Mira will be back soon. So go smoke somewhere else. Maybe… take a little walk through the city.”
“Thanks.”
Jonas left. And inside her, something lit up. Something warm, visceral. She didn’t know what it was. Only that she liked it.
Selena didn’t notice she murmured softly, almost like a whispered prayer.
“Mine… only mine.”
While Jonas walked the cobbled streets carved like the finest stone, he looked at the mountains that served as the city’s base. It was simply strange.
Letting out a puff of smoke, he entered a corner store with a black sign that read Generics.
Taking five Desars from his pocket, he placed them on the counter and said:
“Two packs of cigarettes… I’ll try the Lenar one today.”
The bald man with a big beard smiled gently before starting to fiddle with the shelves full of common products.
“Did you see the church collapse, kid?”
The man asked as he pulled some products from the shelf.
“I did, really tragic.”
“Yeah, the Empire already sent a fifth-rate team to investigate what happened. I heard from one of the street bums that something inside was supernatural.”
Jonas frowned. How would a bum know that?
“Really?”
“Yes, but it’s very hard to get into Verdant.” The old man said before grabbing two red boxes and placing them on the counter. “And also, I don’t know what something that big would be doing here. We don’t even have artifacts. Our church was pretty small.”
Taking the packs, Jonas said goodbye to the old man and sighed as he stepped out of the decrepit shop.
“I need to talk to Mira and Selena.”
