As I flicked my fingers, the moss of flesh disintegrated into nothingness—everything that crawled out from the monster of the abyss, gone. The Renewal.
Yet it kept coming back, no matter how many times I destroyed it—multiplying, expanding, spreading across the plane like an infection that refused to die.
"So this is one of his avatars, huh?... And I have to beat all of them?" I muttered, staring into the mass that writhed beneath the ground. "I can't even do anything with this flesh that keeps coming back…"
"That's it. Rehan—can you just passively destroy these things?"
[Roger]
I sighed in bright relief. "Thanks..."Looking above, the clouds were darkening, swelling with weight—too ominous for this time of cycle. I flicked my finger again, replacing the horizon with a wintering climate. The air fell heavy and cold. Snow began to descend from the ceiling of the sky.
"I'll just find Manori in this scape," I whispered.
The world hushed. White dots drifted downward, soft as thought. It felt different when you could literally do anything—when you could bend a landscape just by willing it. Flying through Dowell, I blinked once, and already there was a fortress being built below.The walls glimmered faintly, pushing away the moss and the creatures that clawed at its borders.
"How long was I in that place?"I rubbed my eyes.
[Pretty long time]
"Huh? Wasn't it just a week?"
Rehan hovered beside me, her holographic form staring blankly. A gray suit hung on her body, light flickering through her shoulders as if she were kneeling in the air itself.
"Time passes differently here," she said.
"And how do you know that?"
She smirked faintly. "I've been integrated. I'm the literal log and settings now. Time shifts depending on the location, the climate, the plane. Want me to show you?"
Adam thought for a moment. "Sure, why not."
[00:00] Simulation initialized.[00:00] Location: Continental Zone B-43Altitude: 312m | Temperature: 5°C | Humidity: 52%Biome: Dark Forest Grassland
[00:01] Atmospheric drift detected. Wind speed rising to 14.2 km/h (NE)
[00:03] Cloud density: 27% | Light level: 32%
[00:04] Settlement: "Dowell Fortress" (Population: 267)
[00:05] Flesh corruption expands by 3.2 km
[00:06] Flesh corruption destroyed.
[00:07] Seismic fluctuation registered (Magnitude 2.3) beneath Sector E-19
[00:08] Local flora diversity increased: +2 new monster species recorded[00:10] Winter begins. Temperature dropping below 5°C
[00:13] Lightning strike recorded near settlement "Garden of Flowers." (Damage: minimal)
[00:14] Civilization Progress +0.3% | Current Era: Early Industrial
[00:17] Atmospheric saturation: 63%. Evaporation rates falling.
[00:23] Magnetic field instability detected. Polar drift: 0.004°/min.
[00:25] Volcanic smoke visible on the far eastern horizon.
[00:26] Restarting simulation in Celestial Plateau.
[00:28] Night cycle begins. Temperature dropping.
[00:29] Luminescent flora activity detected in the southeast (bioluminescence: 34%)
[00:30] Autosave complete. Simulation continues.
"Can you shut up?" Adam muttered, holding his temples. His head throbbed. Rehan just kept quantating, her voice a storm of mechanical precision.
[Roger]
He stood quietly. Remembering that not every monster was evil—some were merely created with purpose. And not every person was good.
Landing without a sound, I moved through the streets before anyone could notice I'd come from nowhere. I passed the crowd, their steps heavy with exhaustion, and was about to enter the convenience store when a rhythmic clanging echoed through the air. A hammer striking metal. I turned toward the sound—a blacksmith's house.
Workers carried crates of iron, steel, and metalloids inside. Wooden beams, concrete, and heavy tools were piled up, voices shouting over one another. As I walked closer, I heard another sound—a voice, faint, within a church nearby.
Something in me stirred. I turned and walked toward it.
People stared as I entered—faces pale, blemished, covered in sores. One man rose from his seat, tall and masked, his white eyes staring straight through me.
"Sir, please... stay quiet," he said, voice trembling.
"I heard a child's voice," I replied.
The masked man tilted his head. "I've never heard of a child here. You heard wrong... There aren't any children in this place."
Their eyes pressed down on me like gravity—seeing me as something alien, unwanted. An anomaly.
"Let me enter that place," I said, pointing to the locked door behind them, smiling faintly.They hesitated, bodies large and grotesque, malformed as if carved from corrupted clay.
Outside, crows cried sharply into the wind.They tried to grab me—failed. My steps echoed as I walked further down the hallway.A clock rang once. The air turned heavy.
A massive humanoid creature, colossal in scale, tore a chair from the floor and hurled it at me—Time froze.The chair hung midair. The one wearing the hat spoke at last.
"Why are you here...? Are you that damned one? The outcast?"
"What is he talking about, Rehan?"
[Searching through history logs...][Oh. It's about Minori. He was trapped—encircled by the heroes in this scape.]
"Well, I don't care about that."
"Why are you so meddling?" the voice said. "Just let us do what we want…"
I walked on. Ghosts, faces twisted in silent screams, emerged from the walls of the church—passing through stone like fog. Their cries filled the hall until I silenced them, pressing my hand outward and burying their echoes beneath the ground.
I raised my palm. The planks shattered. The door opened.
A staircase spiraled beneath the veil—like an open throat leading down to catacombs.
"No... please," someone begged behind me.
"Worry about something else," I murmured. "That I might destroy this place... if I see something I don't like."
Descending, the air turned cold.Stone blocks supported the narrow corridor; my feet were bare—somehow, my shoes were gone.I looked down. A small heart-shaped locket hung from my chest.
Vines and red moss grew along the walls, the ceiling slick with fungi. Disgust filled me. I floated downward until the hall widened into a chamber. A large stone door stood there. I pressed it open.
Inside was a girl—sobbing.She clutched a large plush dog against her chest. Around her were cats, birds, and mannequins of people standing silently—guarding her, comforting her.
She looked up, her eyes swollen. "Are you... real?"
"...Yeah," I said.
She stood slowly. I caught her hand before she stumbled. Her body was bruised, her clothes torn, her frame frail. Something in me—cold and sharp—twisted with anger and confusion.
"Can you save my family?" she whispered.
I looked at her, puzzled.She stood beside me. The air was silent.My glow dimmed to a soft yellow.
"My family's been disappearing one by one," she said weakly. "The only things left of them are... objects. I want to see them again."
I scratched my hand. "Where are they?"
"They're gone..." she shook her head, tears dripping onto her arm. "I was weak... I hoped... and they still died... and my hope is gone."
My hand trembled slightly. The faint yellow light flickered out.
"Can you... please save them?" she asked again.
I stared blankly. "…I don't know them. I can't."
Then I placed my hand on her head."But I can save the ones you'll meet—and remember—from now on. I won't let them go. I promise."
She blankly stared at me... "How can i trust you?" her arms were tired and her eyes were sorrowfull and sagging behind like a skull that's barely been made of flesh and skin... "But still... Atleast I hear you..." Smiling...
"You were the first person who answered me... and the only person also who can do it..."
Her eyes widened, glowing faintly from within. "Promise?"
"Promise," I said, and smiled.
Music began to play—a faint lullaby from a music box.The damp catacombs dissolved. The world shifted.
She appeared again—Manori—lying on her bed, sobbing, praying quietly.Dogs beside her, dying one after another.
Then cats.
Then birds.
Her mother giving her another pet a chicken... that disappeared too.
She stopped bringing animals home.
Then came the silence.Her great-grandfather's death. His eyes hollow and still her family was sobbing as she sobs as mumurs of many people.
Then her grandmother.
Then her grandfather...There family did great things but was forgotten like it always did with the dead.
Her home emptied with every year that passed.
Time moved without mercy.
Manori sat before her phone, blankly watching the news—a family of three died in a car accident.She fell to her knees. Disbelief. Tired. Crying...
As it always lost its purpose...
Day's passed as her mental health was suffering and the bills of water and electricity were destroyed, her blood relatives taken all the money and left her all on her own...
Walking on the flat ground and taking a look at the refrigerator, the electricity died... As she eat's the only food that was left.Beans and noodles. The eggs were rotting...
Everything was silent...
She lost everything.