"Too hot!"
A pained, wrinkled expression appeared on the young boy's face as a large flame briefly licked his fragile, naive body. His eyes shot open, revealing a blur of blue.
Struggling to his feet, he looked around, his surroundings becoming clearer as sweat dripped down his forehead because of the high heat.
"?"
A whirlwind of questions flooded his mind. According to his memory, His legs were cramped so he couldn't swim out of the river.
The cold, long river had swallowed him whole, nobody couldn't recuse him at a fucking place like that. It was impossible that he could survive. Unless... this was all just a dream? Even so, he quickly dismissed the thought. The searing pain in his hands from the fire was far too real to be an illusion.
Not yet, something weird happened to him, his body became so hard to move like this body didn't of him.
But, At this point, It didn't matter to him.
"I'll figure it out later," he muttered, focusing on the path ahead.
In his eyes, dead bodies littered the ground everywhere, from the young to the elderly. The one thing they all shared was the same trait: they had died only moments ago.
These corpses were still very fresh.
Around here, the massive firewall was burning all over the place.
With a small fire beside him serving as a clear example of its destructive power.
A few minutes later.
Quickly, he moved his frail legs, glancing around in fatigue to find an exit. Despite the countless questions swirling in his mind, demanding answers, his life had to take top priority.
Creak.
Creak.
Creak.
The sounds of fire echoed everywhere, consuming everything in its path, leaving no corpses unburnt. This place felt like a floor far beneath hell itself—a realm of death and pain.
"Where is the exit?" he wondered, frantically scanning his surroundings.
Seconds passed, and panic started to grip him. It all seemed hopeless. But just as he was about to give up, his persistence bore fruit.
"Thank you, God," he whispered, his face lighting up with sudden relief.
Before him, about 100 meters away, lay a path—a blackened patch that promised a way out. Though the distance wasn't far, it seemed like an insurmountable challenge for someone as weak as he was.
Step.
Step.
Step.
At last, he broke through the massive wall of fire. But even as he emerged from the blazing inferno, relief was short-lived. He knew he wasn't truly safe yet.
"I need to go somewhere," he muttered, glancing around for the next step in his escape. But all he saw were piles of dead bodies, stacked everywhere in his sight.
It was rather a horror.
By now, he truly believed that he was in hell, although his partially functioning brain told him that this wasn't true.
Probably, his remaining brain was right. He could still see the dark sky, but it was a bit different.
Although the sky was filled with endless darkness, it didn't matter to him; he could see everything, from the smallest star to the furthest one.
"It might be my eyes, or maybe not," he muttered, stopping to look up at the sky before quickly running again.
Before long, he still couldn't find an exit, and that thought made him increasingly worried until some sounds echoed in an unknown space.
"Finally!" The young boy smiled in satisfaction, but it didn't last more than half a second before his expression began to change.
"Damn! Who knows who they are? What if they're the ones who handle dead bodies?"
The thoughts he had were completely grounded. If anyone were in his situation, they would probably think the same.
Looking around at the piles of dead bodies, he realized that if he had a weak heart, he would have passed out immediately from fear.
But he was different. He was a doctor, someone who had seen countless dead bodies before.
"I need somewhere to hide!" he muttered, quickly glancing around in worry.
However, time wasn't on his side.
"Dammit!" he cursed.
Suddenly, two figures emerged from the corpse-filled wall just a short distance away.
"I want to sleep!" one of them groaned, yawning widely. He looked utterly exhausted.
Beside him stood a large goblin, who glanced at the man with a tired but slightly annoyed expression.
"Don't talk so much. How many times have you said that already? You should focus on gathering Keith before it dies, or the master will kill us," the goblin said firmly.
The man nodded, yawning again. "Don't worry. We have plenty of corpses. That kind of grass will grow abundantly for us."
The large goblin sighed. "You don't understand. The master knows every corpse here, so don't do anything stupid."
"Now move quickly! If you don't, I'll report your thoughts to the master!"
Hearing that, the man sighed, showing no emotion.
"Fine"
A few seconds later, the sounds of the two figures gradually faded into the distance.
From the nearby corpses, something began to stir.
"The grass is called Keith? What the hell? Wait, that man is with a goblin," the young boy grimaced as countless pieces of new information swirled in his mind.
"I need to check this," he muttered, struggling to get up from beneath the burned corpse he had been hiding under.
He had partially guessed what was happening around him, but there were still things he needed to confirm.
With his past knowledge and studies, he refused to let something absurd trick him.
He carefully shifted his small legs, ensuring they didn't make a single sound.
As time passed, he finally reached the area he had been observing. It wasn't much different from what he had initially seen.
"So, everything is true," he whispered with a sigh, his gaze fixed on the two figures plucking grass.
The grass in question, called Keith, was a rare ingredient for healing potions. However, it only grew in the ashes of dead bodies.
Now, everything was clear.
This place was a factory—a grotesque production site for potions.
By now, he was certain: he had been reborn in the deranged world of a lunatic patient's novel.
"Damn it… not even my death was normal."
Then, after a pause, he added, "No… I think I should thank that ghost. Because of it, I've been given a second chance."
A slow smile spread across his face. Perhaps it was the first smile he had worn in 15 years.
Countless thoughts began to sprout in his mind, ranging from stealing everything from the main character to marrying a beautiful wife. Yet, none of that mattered until he got out of there.
Creak.
"Huh? What was that sound?" the man plucking grass froze and glanced around, searching for the source.
The young boy grimaced, silently cursing his own carelessness. His movements had accidentally caused a noise when he brushed against a nearby corpse.
For now, he remained perfectly still, pretending once again to be just another lifeless body.
***
"Hmm... Was that probably just a rat?" The man touched his chin slowly, lost in thought. Then he glanced at the large goblin and said, "Hey! Did you hear that?"
The large goblin had heard what the man said, but he only shook his head and lowered his back to continue stuffing grass into his pack.
"Get on with your job. It's probably just a rat."
The man shrugged while speaking, his smooth-talking tone making light of the situation.
"No. You're being careless. If it's a robber, our master will kill both of us. He's already furious about someone stealing grass from the factory."
The man glanced at the large goblin again, smiling slyly.
"Right?"
The large goblin sighed deeply and nodded.
"You're right!"
The man didn't say anything more and only smiled.
Yet, this situation was far from ideal for the young boy. Now, regret overwhelmed him.
"Damn it! Why did you trust that stupid goblin?" the young boy cursed angrily.
"Should I run, or should I keep hiding like this?"
"No, I should have run away from here in the first place. Why am I even thinking about following these two idiots? No, I'm going to die again!"
Once more, countless futile thoughts raced through his mind. Of course, overthinking was yet another one of his flaws.
***
If he moved, certainly he would be seen. But he didn't move; he went to his fate for luck.
Regardless of the choice he made, there was always risk.
Finally, he chose to send his fate for luck. Anyway, his body was too weak to flee from both guys.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The large goblin slowly stepped to the sound of origin, while that man also did, but he was behind the large goblin.
The large goblin took his hand to the corpses, flipping it over.
"Nothing!"
Yet, he didn't stop but checked other corpses.
"Haha! The fucking robber!" The sound of laughing echoed loudly. Then the man shouted at the large goblin in fun.
"Hey! Come here! I found the robber!"
The large goblin heard that, but there was a bit of doubt.
He stepped slowly to the man and said.
"Why didn't the robber shout or do anything?"
"Haha! Are you doubtful of your best friend? Don't worry! I cut his neck before he could do anything." The man laughed loudly, forcefully shooting at the corpse's abdomen.
Despite, the man saying that, the large goblin still doubted it. He arrived near the corpse beside the man and flipped it over.
"Hmm!"
Unlike what he thought, the corpse in front of his eyes was only an old corpse; it had died at least 20 days ago.
He grimaced in anger, turning his face back to the man.
"Fool! It only…"
Instantly, the slight light quickly slid into the air.
"Aah...aa...a."
The large goblin fell to his knees on the ground and slowly looked up at the man with a distorted expression of terrible pain.
"W-why?" He tried to say something, but his neck was cut partly.
The man only smiled. He said while slowly licking the knife filled with the blood of the large goblin.
"Simply, I like blood!"
"Now, die!" The man gripped his knife, cutting with all his power at the large goblin's neck.
Stap.
The blood from the stumpy neck shot out so much, everywhere around this arena and both guys.
And the large goblin's head fell to the ground, rolling in front of the young boy's face. The man looked at the large goblin, just dead, spitting at him.
"Stupid! This place only has rats!"
The man glanced around again. After he left the area, there was a lot of fresh grass.