The forest air was crisp, laced with beams of golden sunlight breaking through the canopy above. Noah walked with steady steps, dragging Cael’s limp body by a thick rope tied around his ankles. The uneven ground made the body bump against roots and stones, but Noah didn’t glance back even once. His gaze was sharp, fixed ahead, his thoughts storming inside like a brewing tempest.
Once he reached a small clearing, he let Cael’s body fall with a dull thud at the base of a large tree. He paused, taking a deep breath. Then, from the inside pocket of his coat, he pulled out an old bronze pocket watch, its cover scratched and slightly cracked at the glass.
He clicked it open. The hands showed 7:47 p.m.
"One hour," he muttered. "One hour to go buy at. And I’ve already kidnapped a bastard."
He shut the watch with a soft snap and tucked it back inside his coat. Then, quickly and efficiently, he tied Cael to the tree. Wrists, ankles, torso—nothing was left loose. Once done, Noah took a step back and observed him with a mix of contempt and bitter anticipation.
He crouched in front of Cael’s unconscious face and slapped him.
No reaction.
He slapped him again, harder this ti. Then again.
"Co on, wake up..." he hissed. "Don’t play dead now."
One more slap, with the back of his hand.
"WAKE. UP."
Still nothing.
Noah sighed and dragged both hands down his face, then let out a short, dry laugh.
"So much has happened today..." he whispered, eyes drifting toward the slow-swaying leaves above. "If I’m a little late, they won’t scold , right?"
He looked back down at Cael’s face. Peaceful. Almost human.
But Noah knew what lurked beneath.
’You have no idea what’s coming. This ti, you’re the pawn.’
The first thing Cael felt was the sting—sharp and echoing—left by Noah’s last slap. Then ca the pressure in his arms, the strain of his muscles trying to move but unable to. His eyes blinked open slowly, only to be greeted by sunlight and the silhouette of a figure kneeling before him.
"Good morning, sunshine," Noah said softly, almost kindly.
Cael’s blurry vision settled on the face of a boy—no, a young man—with a dark hood and a shadowed mask obscuring all but a pair of burning crimson eyes.
"What the hell—?" Cael croaked, groggy, tugging at the ropes instinctively. "What is this...?"
Noah didn’t answer right away. Instead, he tilted his head, examining him like a scientist observing a specin. Then, he leaned in, just enough for his voice to cut clearly:
"Do you feel that?" he asked. "That tightness in your arms? That pressure in your head? That’s the aftertaste of being paralyzed. It’s wearing off now, slowly. You’ll be able to scream soon. But not just yet."
Cael’s confusion shifted into panic. He struggled, testing his bindings, his breath growing faster.
"You kidnapped ? Are you insane?! Do you know who I am?!"
Noah’s voice dropped an octave.
"Oh, I know exactly who you are."
He stood up and began pacing slowly in front of the tree. Cael’s eyes followed him like a trapped animal.
"And let tell you sothing," Noah continued, his tone smooth but cold. "You don’t get to act like the victim here. You should be thanking . You’re still breathing."
Cael’s lips twisted in fury. "Let go! I’ll have your family executed for this!"
Noah stopped. Turned. His gaze sharpened into blades.
"Say that again."
Cael hesitated. "You heard , freak."
Noah crouched again. And in the stillness, he whispered:
"Cael, Cael, when you will learn."
Then, without another word, he jamd one of the used paralysis darts deep into Cael’s thigh.
Cael scread, teeth clenched.
"That’s for insurance," Noah said calmly. "You don’t get to sleep through this."
Cael’s breathing had turned ragged. The veins in his neck bulged with strain, and his wrists fought desperately against the ropes, but it was no use—he was firmly tied to the trunk, his body still weak from the drug coursing through him.
"Why are you doing this?!" he spat, voice cracking. "I don’t even know you!"
Noah said nothing for a mont. He stared at Cael as if trying to see through him, beyond his skin and words, straight into the part of him that didn’t belong in this world.
Then, slowly, he removed his hood and mask.
Cael’s breath hitched as he saw the face. A young man with black, slightly tousled hair, skin pale from the shadows, and a pair of glowing crimson eyes that looked like they burned straight through ti.
"You don’t know ?" Noah asked, almost gently.
Cael furrowed his brow. "Should I? I... I’ve never seen you before."
Noah’s expression twisted into sothing bitter. Not rage—sothing worse. Disappointnt.
"I rember everything," Noah said.
He took a step closer.
"I rember the five years we fought side by side. I rember your speeches about justice, your plans, your promises. I rember every mission. Every friend. Every ti I doubted myself and you told to keep going."
Cael’s face began to pale.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
Noah’s voice dropped.
"I rember everyone. I rember the days they died. I rember the way you let them die. And I rember—" He clenched his fists. "—the way you smiled when you ran through."
Cael’s eyes widened in genuine confusion and fear. "You’re insane. I don’t know any of these people. I don’t even know you. I— I was just dropped into this world a few weeks ago. I don’t rember anything before that."
Noah froze.
He stared at Cael in silence.
Cael didn’t look like he was lying. His confusion, his terror... it wasn’t the act of soone trying to manipulate.
Noah’s thoughts raced.
’He doesn’t rember. So... it is just . He’s from Earth too. But he... never regained his mories?’
Noah’s eyes narrowed.
"Of course you don’t rember. How convenient," he whispered.
He turned around slowly, walking a few paces away.
"I should kill you now. Burn you and scatter the ashes."
Then he looked back.
"But that would be too easy."
Cael coughed, blood mixing with saliva as it dripped down his chin. His wrists had turned red from struggling, and his chest heaved with each breath.
He tried to laugh, but it ca out broken.
"You’re ssed up, man... You think you’re so kind of vigilante? Torturing people out in the woods? You don’t even know who I am!"
Noah turned his head slowly, eyes shadowed by his bangs.
"No," he said. "You don’t know who I am."
He took a deep breath. Then his voice rose, calm, steady—and deadly.
"I am not soone you can threaten. I am not lost, or broken, or confused."
He leaned in, just enough for Cael to see the fire behind those red eyes.
"I am the danger, Cael."
Cael froze.
"I’m the one who knocks," Noah continued with a cold grin, referencing the old line from Earth with venom. "And when I do... people like you don’t get second chances."
Cael blinked. "Wait... that... I’ve heard that before. That’s... from—"
Realization flickered behind his eyes.
Noah straightened up and stepped back.
"Yeah. Took you long enough."
Cael’s voice dropped to a whisper. "You’re... from Earth."
"Bingo."
Noah’s voice cracked like frost. "But unlike you, I rember everything. You were a hero there too, weren’t you? Or at least you played the hero."
Cael’s jaw tightened.
"I don’t... I don’t rember playing anything. I just woke up here and—"
"Save it," Noah snapped. "You don’t get to play innocent. Not this ti."
He turned again, pacing, the old bronze pocket watch in his hand ticking faintly.
He checked the ti.
"I’ve got about thirty-five minutes left before I’m late getting back ho," he muttered.
Then he looked over his shoulder.
"So let’s make this quick."
The forest was quiet, the sa kind of silence that ca after a storm. Noah stood still for a long mont, staring at Cael—who, despite everything, was just a boy.
A boy tied to a tree, shivering in fear, not understanding a damn thing.
Noah’s breathing slowed. His fists relaxed slightly. The rage had started to settle... and with its absence ca sothing colder. Sothing heavier.
’He doesn’t rember,’ Noah thought. ’He has no idea what he did. What he beca.’
Noah clenched his jaw, his voice now only a whisper in his own head.
’And I rember everything. Everyone. Every ti I cried myself to sleep because I couldn’t save them... because of you.’
He raised his fist again.
Stopped halfway.
His stomach turned.
It wasn’t satisfying. Not like he expected. There was no sense of justice or peace in hurting soone who looked so lost. So clueless.
’I swore I wouldn’t kill soone innocent. I swore it back then. Even when I had the chance, I never did it...’
But was Cael really innocent?
He rembered Alie tied up. Her tears. Her muffled screams. That wasn’t innocent. That was the beginning of what Cael would beco.
Still... seeing him like this...
Noah exhaled shakily. "Damn it," he muttered.
He turned away for a mont, the bronze watch warm in his hand. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
"I didn’t want this to be who I am."
He looked back at Cael.
"But if I have to beco a monster to stop a bigger one... then so be it."
Noah stood in front of Cael, holding the bronze pocket watch in one hand, the other trembling slightly.
The wind whispered through the trees. The sky had dimd—just enough for the fla in his hand to be the only thing that moved.
A small wooden match, burning steady.
Cael’s voice ca out hoarse, weak. "Y-You’re insane..."
Noah didn’t reply imdiately. He watched the fla dance. srized.
Then, in a voice that chilled the air:
"See you, Cael."
He dropped the match.
The dry leaves and bark at Cael’s feet caught instantly. Flas spread fast, fueled by the oils and kindling Noah had gathered beforehand.
Cael began screaming—thrashing against the ropes, panic in his eyes.
"STOP! PLEASE! I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!"
Noah didn’t move.
He didn’t blink.
He just stood there, red eyes glowing like embers.
And then, for the first ti in two lives... he heard it.
[PLAYER 2 HAS BEEN ELIMINATED.]
[REMAINING: PLAYER 1, PLAYER 3.]
[REASSIGNING ROLES.]
[NEW PROTAGONISTS ASSIGNED.]
A chanical, disembodied voice.
Noah’s heart dropped.
’What...?’
His head snapped up, eyes scanning the trees like the sky would give him an answer.
[YOU HAVE BECO A PROTAGONIST.]
"What... was that?" he whispered. "That was the system. That was the system."
A thousand thoughts collided at once.
’That never happened before.’
He froze.
[Remaining: Player 1, Player 3]
’THREE PLAYERS?’
Reviews
All reviews (0)