To some extent, a coffee machine capable of producing various liquids is nothing short of an artifact. The conceptual water it produced threw Brit into a bizarre and surreal state. In this strange condition, Brit could no longer see anything; only endless darkness surrounded him.
Yet, even in this absolute void, he could still faintly hear the sounds of his surroundings. The voices were thin and fragile, as if filtered through layers of fog. Other than those faint sounds, Brit couldn't feel anything. The ground beneath his feet was the only real sensation anchoring him; everything else felt hollow, silent, and infinite. Darkness engulfed every inch of space.
Of course, this was merely Brit's perception. Whether the surrounding space was truly empty, what kind of state he was in, or whether danger still lurked nearby, none of it could be known. Time crawled forward at an agonizing pace. Seconds stretched into eternities, giving him the illusion that a single minute could last an entire day. Anxious tension and quiet fear pressed on Brit's chest. Though he could see nothing, beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead, betraying his unease.
Meanwhile, the viewers in the stream could clearly see his condition. They stared at the pitch-black screen and heard faint, eerie howls echoing from the darkness. Even though they weren't physically there, the creeping dread made their hearts pound.
"Goddamn! This is getting way too intense!"
"Note to self: drinking that water equals instant blindness!"
"I swear, if a monster jumps out right now…"
"It's pitch black, man. This is killing me."
The flood of chatter from the viewers didn't reach Brit. He stood motionless, waiting nervously for something, anything, to happen.
Seconds bled into minutes. The surrounding noises grew weaker and weaker, fading until it felt like the old, terrifying man and his horrors had vanished. The easing of sound lightened the crushing tension on Brit's heart.
Moments later, even the faintest sounds disappeared entirely, and the world fell into an abyss of silence.
"Is it… over?" he murmured. "What do I do next?"
He widened his eyes instinctively, as if sheer will could pierce through the darkness, but his efforts were futile. The darkness was thick and sticky, like black ink soaking into his eyes, making it impossible to see anything at all.
Then, without warning, something shifted. A small glimmer, a single droplet of light, appeared in his blackened field of vision. It shone like a bead of milk-white liquid falling into the deepest ink, spreading ripples of radiance through the void.
Brit froze, startled by the sudden change. His heartbeat quickened.
"Everyone, there's a transfer!" he whispered excitedly.
The droplet of light expanded at once, flooding his entire vision until all he could see was brilliant white. And then, he was back. Brit blinked rapidly, finding himself standing exactly where he had been before.
"They're gone…" he breathed.
He glanced around cautiously. Aside from a bloodied corpse sprawled on the ground, the other entities were nowhere in sight. A wave of relief washed over him.
"This is fine. At least it wasn't a failure," he said to the viewers watching the stream.
They no longer joked or teased; most simply exhaled in relief, grateful that Brit had survived. With safety somewhat confirmed, Brit finally had time to study his surroundings. The destruction was extensive. Whatever battle had taken place here had clearly been brutal.
Broken equipment and twisted metal littered the area, and the corpse on the ground was a gruesome reminder of the chaos that had unfolded.
When Brit stepped closer to examine it, he nearly threw up. That was a mistake! The corpse belonged to Plumbella. Her body had been gnawed apart by zombified RT, yet her human form remained grotesquely intact.
If it had been a random NPC, Brit could've brushed it off. But seeing his teammate, the same cheerful girl who'd been talking to him moments ago, reduced to this mangled husk struck him hard.
Not just Brit; the viewers watching from the stream were equally horrified. Even separated by screens, the sight twisted their stomachs.
"She's gone already?"
"That's too cruel."
"Damn, poor girl."
"Thankfully, players can exit early, or this would be unbearable."
"I think I'm gonna puke, everyone…"
Brit fought down the nausea rising in his throat. He inhaled deeply, forcing himself to focus. His eyes swept across the area again until they landed on a metal door nearby, its frame bent, its surface scarred. The door was ajar, revealing a dimly lit passageway beyond. The faint light made the corridor look deep, secretive, and dangerous.
"Everyone, we're moving out," Brit said softly. Just as he was about to proceed, something crossed his mind: "Kiwo should still be hiding in another world, right? What about Vale?"
He had no way of knowing his teammates' current situations, but the viewers in the stream could observe all perspectives. Soon, messages began flooding the chat; both Kiwo and Vale were still alive. Kiwo was safely hidden in another dimension. Vale, however, had been taken by the strange orange monster and was now trapped somewhere else.
"That guy…" Brit muttered, eyes narrowing. His gaze drifted toward the depth of the passage ahead, though the shadows swallowed everything beyond a few meters.
"Damn. I really don't know if this game can even be beaten…" he thought bitterly.
Just then, a faint distortion shimmered in the air nearby. A figure materialized, wearing a gas mask. It was Kiwo!
"Ah, Brit! You're alive? Hahaha!" she exclaimed with relief. She'd learned of his survival through the chat and immediately rejoined him from her alternate dimension.
"Vale's situation is unclear," Kiwo continued, "but the chat says that orange monster is… weird, it makes people laugh uncontrollably?"
Brit's expression softened as he saw his teammate again. He nodded. "We'll need to be careful. That monster's true nature is still unknown, but it's definitely part of the Foundation's containment here…"
His words trailed off abruptly. Brit's eyes widened. He turned toward the dark corridor. From the depths of the passage, the orange monster appeared once more, its eerie grin glowing faintly in the dim light.
"What the hell is that…" he whispered.