The chirping of birds slowly echoed in the sky beneath the blazing sun — on the grass lay three figures, seemingly dead. They didn’t move, didn’t react to any sound, not even the bright sun above seed to bother them.
If a random person were to see them, they would surely think they were corpses — until they checked their pulse and realized they were alive.
Lin slowly opened his violet eyes and looked up at the blue sky, trying to understand what was going on.
Royal and Aran also began to wake up, looking at the sky in confusion, unable to comprehend where they were or what had happened.
"So, we’re alive?.." Royal opened his mouth and slowly sat up on the green grass.
Aran nodded and also sat down, glancing around. He realized they were in the sa place where the tentacles had taken them.
He frowned and said:
"This place... This is where that strange house stood, but... where are the tentacles? And... where’s the house itself?"
Lin slowly clutched his head and also sat on the grass.
He felt a sharp, piercing pain in his head that irritated him in places. But resigning himself to it, he looked around and indeed didn’t see the house with the well and stable that had stood just a few dozen ters away.
Royal stood up, stretched quickly, then looked at everyone and sighed.
"Let’s not forget, we’re sowhere in the depths of the Dead Lands. Encountering an unknown entity called "Beginning of the Abyss" was already fantastical — but the fact that we sohow made it out... is even more amazing."
Aran stood up and scoffed.
"There’s no guarantee we escaped it. I’m sure you saw how many abilities it had — ones we couldn’t even scan. We might be sowhere else entirely, but definitely not in the real world."
"Don’t be so pessimistic about everything," Royal, who saw the situation with more optimism than pessimism, continued:
"You’ve got to have at least a little optimism. We’re in the sa place where the tentacles caught us, but the house is gone. Maybe it was all a hallucination — those are pretty common in these areas," he shrugged.
"But we didn’t eat any mushrooms or berries," Aran countered.
Standing apart from the conversation, Lin said:
"The hallucinations could’ve been caused by sothing else — it doesn’t have to be mushrooms or berries. After all, we are in the Dead Lands," he looked into Aran’s eyes and continued:
"And you know how strange things can get here."
Aran nodded and didn’t argue with Lin, though he still shrugged and offered:
"Either way, — we’re alive. I think we need to get out of here as soon as possible, before we run into sothing else or get caught in another hallucination."
Aran and Lin nodded right away. They, too, wanted to get out of there quickly, feeling that the place was extrely unsafe.
The trio made a decision and briskly walked toward the forest they had co from — the one they had run into when those countless tentacles appeared.
Fortunately, they didn’t encounter anything strange along the way, allowing them to safely enter the forest and disappear into the shadows of the countless trees.
For a mont, a purple light flared in the grassy clearing — and just as quickly vanished.
Everything returned to how it was.
...
That sa night, a group of three sat by a large campfire, roasting several rabbits.
"No matter how much I think about it, I’m still amazed that we managed to encounter such a Distorted creature," said Royal, taking a bite of freshly cooked rabbit at.
Aran laughed and nodded in agreent.
"Of course. To co across a Distorted creature that even the Title System won’t tell us anything about — that’s truly incredible, especially in the Magic World, where such creatures can be counted on one hand."
"And what level do you think it was? A Devil, a Titan, a King, or... an Emperor?" asked Lin, drinking so water from a flask.
Royal thought for a mont and guessed:
"Maybe Devil or Titan level — that’s the maximum. The Magic World is a Low Dead World, and mostly Distorted creatures of lower level reside here. Sure, there are Demons too, but they’re extrely rare. And any appearance of one is a major event for everyone."
"But judging by its abilities, it might’ve been a Distorted creature of Titan level. For a Devil, it was too strong — but not strong enough to be compared to a King... So yeah. Titan level."
"Interesting analysis," Aran nodded and asked:
"Titans are very powerful. They say one can destroy an entire city alone, so why did this one seem so ordinary? And why was that place so strange?"
After eating a few bites, Lin proposed a few hypotheses:
"Based on its na: "Beginning of the Abyss," it suggests it’s sothing powerful and significant — maybe sothing that affects the caves beneath the Magic World? Judging by its displayed powers, it seems extrely strong underground, and most of its strength lies there. So the fact that we didn’t see its full power — that’s a blessing."
"And about that strange house..." Lin rembered the house with the stable and well that stood in the grassy clearing. Suddenly, he felt that the combination was quite eerie...
"Looking at it that way... the house and the area were strange from the very start..." Lin looked at Aran and continued:
"The house was strange from the beginning. And we were pretty careless, considering we knew that Distorted creature made of people — the one we killed — ca from there. But even so — the landscape, the odd atmosphere, the unknown girl inside the well, a house in the middle of a clearing... All of it felt like... it was set up for sothing?"
Lin sat more comfortably and rested his hand on his chin, reflecting on what they had encountered just a few hours earlier.
Suddenly, realizing sothing, he asked:
"Hey... How long were we lying on the grass?"
Royal and Aran, who had neutral expressions before, suddenly frowned.
"Yeah... How long were we asleep?"
"My body feels normal... And our Distortions should be in excellent condition... I think we lay there for a few hours at most. If it had been longer, we probably would’ve been eaten by Distorted creatures," answered Aran, not particularly concerned about how long he’d been lying on the grass.
Lin nodded and agreed:
"Maybe. In any case — it doesn’t change much. Since we got out and kept all our stuff, we can leave the past behind and move toward a new future."
Aran laughed.
"That’s rare, hearing words like that from you, Lin."
"You just don’t know well enough," Lin scoffed and ntally added: "No one knows well — because I don’t tell anyone anything..."
He looked up at the sky and thought:
"I wonder where Egro is?"
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