Chapter 4: Drear
[9:39 AM; Saturday, 29th of April, 2023]
"I'm going to die…" I whispered, biting my nails while tucked away in the corner of my room. Those words just wouldn't stop echoing in my head. My skin felt all tingly and my heart was racing faster than a cheetah. It was like I was going nuts, just sitting there for what felt like ages.
"We're all going to die…"
Despair wrapped its icy fingers around my heart, and I was held tight in the clutches of terror. I was sweating like I'd run a marathon in the rain, and the room slled like… well, you don't wanna know.
Even with all that craziness, I couldn't make myself move an inch.
"A-all… all of us… are dead…"
Ever since I rembered that creepy dream I'd had, the one I ignored but then ended up dying in a really painful way, my head felt like it was in a blender. There was a disconnect between my thoughts and my body, and I felt frozen, unable to move or do anything.
Was this what they called despondency?
The realization that those nightly terrors weren't re fignts of my imagination but rather glimpses into a terrible future gradually dawned on .
Or maybe not.
It was more like I had lived through those horrors, fully aware of the agony until my life was cruelly snuffed out. It then beca a dream when I died.
Not a re dream, but a relentless NIGHTMARE!
"Am I dreaming now? Is this… is this just a nightmare?"
In the past, I'd look in the mirror to make sure I wasn't losing it. But now, even the mirror seed unreliable. By all ans, I was supposed to be completely awake—fully in touch with reality.
Yet… yet…
'Am I going crazy? I'm crazy, right?' My grip on reality was like trying to hold onto a slippery fish, and I felt like I was standing on the edge of going completely bonkers.
*****
[10:03 AM]
'My head… It hurts. The pain is getting worse.' I muttered, wincing at the growing discomfort.
My gaze fixed on the clock before , still hunched over in my seat.
"Almost ti," I breathed out, my voice a soft murmur.
I couldn't pinpoint the exact mont the world had ended, but I knew it hadn't clocked noon when my life ended both tis. It was perhaps a little past 11 AM.
'D-does that an I can make a quick dash to the pharmacy to get my ds?' If I hurried, I could relieve this pain that constantly made miserable.
"But..." The mory of what happened in the pharmacy flooded back, and I gasped, my eyes wide with horror. A shiver ran through , my body's way of reliving the fear.
"No, I can't go out. Not now." My voice trembled as I grappled with fear, the pain in my head flaring up, as if my mind was coming apart.
"Wait... I can order the ds online, right?" A small laugh escaped , a mix of relief and self-mocking. Why hadn't I thought of that before?
Yeah, that's it. If I did that, I wouldn't have to step outside.
A flicker of hope rose as I noticed my laptop across the room – my way out in this storm of agony.
'Haa… haha… hahahaha…'
A dry, almost desperate chuckle broke free. No need to complicate things. Just needed to quiet the pain in my head, to find so peace in the chaos.
"I can buy it onli—"
>ZZZZTTZZZZ<
Right when my laptop blinked on, filling the room with its glow, everything plunged into darkness.
"Eeeeek!" I scread, curling into a ball as my brain threatened to explode due to the pain.
I waited for a few seconds, hoping for a quick fix or for soone to show up. But nothing changed. No one ca.
"A-ah..." Blinking my eyes open and looking around, it hit .
This was just a power outage. A common occurrence in my apartnt complex, thanks to our cheapskate landlord who refused to fix the faulty wiring of the building.
"Haha... haha..." A sigh of relief slipped out, a weak chuckle in the dark. But that feeling faded fast.
After all, this blackout presented another major challenge.
"No internet…"
The Apartnt Complex's Wifi, and even my personal router, required electricity to function. No power ant no internet.
'No internet ans...' I glanced at my laptop, its cracked screen barely visible. The hope it had sparked was now smothered by despair.
"Ahhh..." Frustration bubbled up, my headache turning into a full-blown migraine.
Stress, pain – they all crashed together, weighing down. It felt like I was falling apart, and the thought of not making it was creeping in.
At this rate, I was sure I'd die."
How much longer could I last?
*****
[10: 37 AM]
"Haa… haa…"
I was currently on the road, running as fast as my legs could carry .
My breaths escaped in ragged gasps, trembling lips parting as I fought to catch my breath. My gaze darted frantically, but I forced my focus on the path ahead.
'There's ti. There's still ti!'
The drugstore was just around the corner. I had to hurry.
*****
[10:43 AM]
"Mikey, you look like a sight for sore eyes. You really need to—"
I cut off the lanky pharmacist mid-sentence. My voice quivered as I blurted out, "H-here! I want this!" I dumped as many painkillers as the law would allow onto the counter, my breath coming out in ragged gasps.
There was no room for chitchat, no ti for even a chuckle at his jokes. My mind was miles away, and my patience had run thin.
At this point, my brain felt ready to pop like a balloon, strings pulled tight.
"Jeez… so sweaty. I got it. I got it. Sheesh. Maybe lay off the workout a bit?" He said, scanning the items at a pace that tested my last nerve.
'Hurry up! Hurry up!' My internal chant matched the tap of my impatient fingers as I slid the cash toward him.
"Alright. Here's the receipt. Your change is—"
"Keep the change!"
Running off, I could feel an odd sensation and the mont I looked back, I realized… the pharmacist had vanished.
"Ahhh… no, no, no, no, no, no!"
Picking up my pace, despite my tired and aching body, I rushed towards my ho.
'Please. PLEASE LET MAKE IT BACK!'
I looked left, then right, and the realization hit square in the gut—I was the only person on the road. Deserted streets stretched before , hollow and lifeless.
Silence.
Emptiness.
And then… Danger.
I could feel it close in on as I got to my street.
>DING!<
I could feel it all over my skin as I got to my apartnt complex.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
{The realm of the gods, Paradise, will be revealed to the chosen humans. Overco the 99 Floors and get to the Final Realm.}
{Your mission is to survive the Tutorial so you can be qualified to enter Paradise. Ti Left until the end of the Tutorial: 168 hrs: 00 mins: 00 secs}
As I reached my doorstep, I sensed it gripping my throat, a suffocating presence. I fought to open the door to my sanctuary, desperate to seal the outside world away from for good.
[SYSTEM WARNING]
I could…
>SQUELCH!<
'Haa… what did I expect?'
[SYSTEM WARNING]
The claws of the grotesque beings had already dug into my body, and the sound of painkillers dropping into my pool of blood reached my ears.
Amidst these sensations, that familiar feeling returned. A strange calmness washed over , erasing the pounding headache and subrging in tranquility.
Once again, it felt as though I was in a dream.
{You will soon die…}
I closed my eyes, embracing the pain, and letting the darkness swallow whole. It was at this point that I realized that I never existed, to begin with.
This was simply a dream…
[You Have Died]
{Based On Exclusive Skill: The Dream, your recent experiences have been dissolved into a dream}
[You Will Now Wake Up]
… And I was the Drear.
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[A/N]
Will Mikey find a way out of this maddening loop? Or will he continue to suffer like this forever?
Find out in the next chapter!
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