Chapter (35):??????
In ??????? at ??? o'clock.....in Emma's room
Emma was asleep in her bed, sleeping deeply for a while until her phone alarm rang.
**Riiiiing....**
"Huh.....where?"
**Riiing**
"I stayed up all night....Uuugh"
**Riiiiing!**
"Just what. Is hour now??" Emma lazily opens her eyes and looks at her phone, turning it off.
"It's nine! I'm late for school!" (gets up from bed)
Wait! It's a holiday (goes back to sleep)...I'll just sleep a little more. It's not like a disaster will happen if I sleep just a bit longer."
**Riiiiing!**
"Ugh!"
"Annoying, did I set it twice?" *click*
**Riiiiiiiiing!!!**
"Ugh, didn't I already turn you off?!"
Wait, what the—?
Emma saw that her phone was off, but she could still hear ringing from another alarm. A moment later, she heard multiple sounds and saw other phones ringing with the same tone as hers.
"Waaah! What is all this? Where did these phones come from?!"
As Emma got out of bed in her pajamas, the phones also rose and moved as if walking toward her, emitting ringing sounds.
**Ring ring! Ring ring!**
"I don't know what nonsense is happening, but I think I need to get out of here and—"
When Emma opened the door, she saw a shocking sight.
She saw her room floating in the air near the clouds, with many buildings—or what remained of them—in front of her. Pieces of streets and sidewalks floated in the air as if gravity didn't exist. There was a working traffic light emitting green and yellow lights despite floating mid-air, and cars drifting in circular motions.
When Emma saw all this, her expression shifted from shock to disbelief, and she screamed at the top of her lungs:
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE CREATOR OF EARTH IS THIS?!"
"Where's my house?! Wait, how did I even get here??!!"
"What kind of supernatural nonsense just happened?!"
**Ring ring! Ring ring!**
"Ugh! Have mercy on me, please! You're the last ones I—"
When Emma turned around, she saw that the phones had multiplied several times out of nowhere and were now jumping toward her, pushing her directly.
"Ah, shit shit! Not again!"
Emma was falling through the air, feeling the wind rush past her. This sensation wasn't unfamiliar—she had experienced it before. Her eyes darted around quickly, searching for an escape.
As she fell, she spotted a rope floating near a building and grabbed it swiftly, sliding down the wall of a structure. She landed safely and saw the ringing phones falling through the air.
"Hahhh! Hahhh!... Whoooooah!"
"Just what the hell is going on here?!"
"I don't remember doing anything crazy enough for my room to end up in the middle of the stratosphere!"
"Did the world go insane while I was sleeping, or what?"
"And what about my family? Are they okay?"
"Ughhh, where do I even start looking?!"
**Whooosh**
"Hmmm?"
While Emma was thinking, she saw in the distance a massive tower—a jumbled mix of buildings, cars, and streets fused together haphazardly. It looked as if someone had hastily glued them together. There was a path leading upward via floating objects.
"I don't know what nonsense is happening, but I'm sure if I go up that tower, I'll find the answers I'm looking for."
Emma stepped forward on the building's rooftop and reached the edge, where a car was floating nearby—just a bit too far. She could reach it if she jumped high enough.
But when Emma looked down, she saw the town—or what remained of it—far below. If she fell, she would surely die.
"You can do this! You've fought Sarah and Jessica, faced monsters and survived twice, and most importantly, this is nothing compared to Smiley's trust game!"
Emma took a few steps back, then ran and leaped with all her strength toward the car.
"Ahhh! (lands on the car)"
"I did it! Whoooaah! (loses balance momentarily while standing up) Whoa! I made it!"
"Phew! Not bad for a first try! Now, let's keep going."
Emma continued jumping from car to car. Sometimes she nearly slipped but caught herself just in time. After a few jumps, she finally reached a floating street and let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew! That was terrifying."
"Looks like I'm getting closer, I think?"
"And what happened to the people? They definitely didn't just fall to the ground, right?"
"Never mind, I need to keep going up and end all this."
Emma walked nervously along the street, glancing at the horizon. When she reached the end, there was a supermarket in the middle.
"Strange… why does this store feel oddly familiar? Whatever, let's go in."
*(Ding-dong)*
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
When Emma entered, she saw the store was completely clean, with no signs of chaos—which was extremely eerie.
"It's way too quiet in here… like I'm in a horror movie. Hmm? What's this?"
The scene before her was bizarre. She saw statues wearing ordinary clothes, with incredibly detailed features. What caught her attention most was their poses.
One statue was kneeling on the ground, hiding behind a table.
"Where have I seen them before? They're so familiar, especially their clothes. Were they in ads?"
"No… and more importantly, who would put statues here? This is so weird."
"Let me see if there are more—maybe I'll remember something."
The further Emma went, the more statues she saw in different positions, but they all shared one thing: they looked terrified.
"These statues look like they're hiding from something… but what?"
"And that one over there… is it dead?"
The farthest statue was lying on the ground with a hole in its head. Two others were also collapsed, with wounds on their bodies.
"(ಠಿ_ಠ) Weird, why do these statues look so… ('◉⌓◉')"
"No… no no no… this isn't real… this can't be real."
Emma started running forward. The more she ran, the more "dead" statues she saw, and her memories began reconstructing the scene as if watching a movie.
And in the end, when she reached an open area, she saw a different scene where many statues had gathered. Most of the statues were terrified, kneeling on the ground with their hands on their heads, and there were a few standing statues holding real weapons in various positions.
And among those statues, she saw a statue... a statue that had the exact same face as hers, wearing the same clothes, kneeling with a terrified expression and crying. Its hand was positioned as if it had just dropped a gun, like the gun lying on the floor. There was also a statue that looked very much like her brother, Andrew.
When Emma saw all these things, flashes of her past memories returned to her. It was the exact same scene from back then—the beginning of her hell. Suddenly, Emma collapsed to her knees and began to cry, shattering the cold expression on her face.
"Just... why... why is this nightmare happening again?"
"What did I do... Is this revenge against me... World, do you hate me this much?"
"Answer me!"
"Just answer me, you sick world! What was I supposed to do then?!"
"Die?!"
"Kill myself and everyone here?!"
"Is that what you want!!!!"
"Hahhh... hahhh... I have no one left, no brother, no friends... I have no one at all..."
At that moment... for some reason, she remembered Smiley's face and his mocking grin directed at her.
"No... that's wrong... I did have... I had Smiley."
"I had... a friend..."
Emma stood up, wiped her tears, and moved forward through the supermarket until she reached the edge of the store, where there was no longer a door but a large crack. Beyond it, she could see cars and scattered objects leading toward the tower.
"I'll go to the tower, and once I find out who's responsible for this, I'll kill them."
Emma climbed over the cars. This time was different—there was no fear, only determination and rage. She didn't look down, only forward.
After a few jumps, crossing floating buildings, cars, and furniture in the air, Emma finally reached the tower. She looked up and saw numerous vehicles and inverted stairs. She climbed the tower.
The experience of climbing the tower was unusual for anyone attempting it. The tower shook and tilted with every move Emma made. Sometimes, bricks from nearby houses fell close to her, but she paid no attention and kept climbing, even though she couldn't see the top due to the clouds. She kept climbing, moving upward.
And in the end, she managed to do it. She reached the top of the tower, but the sight was different from what she had expected.
What she saw was a vast empty space, and in the middle of it... a school. The exact same school she attended. The strange thing was that it was completely intact, unlike the other buildings.
"My school? Why is it... I understand now."
Emma walked forward on her feet toward the school and entered it. Inside, there were statues in various poses—some looked like they were talking to each other near their lockers. Emma walked down the hallway and finally reached the cafeteria, where she saw a different scene.
She saw a large number of statues pointing their fingers at one particular statue, which looked anxious and was crying. None of them showed any sympathy—instead, they glared at it with hatred.
Emma ignored the statues completely and focused on what was in front of her.
There was something completely contradictory—an anomaly. A purple, wavy, sea-like mass in the shape of a person... Its size kept changing, but it maintained a vaguely humanoid form. She was looking at its back.
"Let me ask you just one question... Is it you?"
"Are you the one responsible for all of this?"
The figure remained silent and did not turn around. This made Emma even angrier, and she moved toward it.
"Just tell me, what's your problem with me?! I've never seen you whatever you're in my life before!"
"Why did you try to kill me?!"
"Why did you make me remember those things I wanted to forget?!"
"Why... did you make me...remember my foolish self..."
"Just tell me, what are you?!"
Emma forcefully grabbed the creature's shoulder, hard enough to make it turn toward her. She finally saw its face.
It was a featureless face, as if covered by a strange skin-like mask. Purple symbols were etched onto its black surface, darker than the night. The creature uttered its last words:
"Wake up."
"What?"
Suddenly, without any warning, it pressed its finger against Emma's forehead. In the next moment, everything around her collapsed, and then a blinding light consumed her vision.
"Ghhhk!"
*Riiiiing!*
"Huh?..."
When Emma opened her eyes and sat up, she found herself back in her room. Her phone was ringing with the same alarm tone.
"What just happened...?"
"Did I go back to the same place?"
"...I need to go out and see..."
Emma moved toward the door and hesitated before opening it. After a few seconds, she gathered her courage and flung it open forcefully.
"Huh?"
This time, when she opened the door, nothing strange was there. Everything was as it should be, as if everything had returned to normal.
But Emma was still suspicious. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and when she turned, she saw her mother.
"Oh, good morning, Emma. I made breakfast."
Emma looked at her mother with disbelief in her eyes, which made her mother feel a little uneasy.
"What's wrong, Emma? Is everything okay? You look shocked..."
"Yeah, Mom, everything's fine... Don't worry about me..."
"I was about to wake you up earlier, but you were sleeping so deeply I decided to let you rest a little longer. There's no school today, after all."
"Today?"
"Yeah, it's a holiday. Did you forget?" Mrs. Blackwood asked worriedly.
"Ah, I forgot. Thanks for reminding me."
"Come join us for breakfast when you're ready."
"Thank you."
Emma closed the door behind her, then dropped to her knees and clutched her head, remembering the horror she had experienced.
"All of that... all of that was just a dream?"
"Hah... hahahahaha... What...A...madness"