Death.
For many, just hearing its name seems meaningless—
but when confronted with it, it splits like a cocoon of fear,
and instead of a beautiful butterfly,
it reveals wings of sin
and turns a weak human body into dry, cracked clay.
Why should such a cursed fate befall him?
Had he committed a sin beyond sin, to deserve such torment?
The boy smiled at that fate—
Not a beautiful smile,
but one of mockery.
Because in the very moment he sank into darkness,
instead of peace and release from that haunted place,
pain welcomed him once more.
And it didn't only devour his body—
It began to gnaw at his soul.
It felt like lightning had struck him.
Each joint and limb of his being was being reconstructed.
As if the master of this plain had found a new toy,
and had no desire to let go—
wanting instead to play longer.
So the boy's body, shredded like a doll,
was reassembled and stitched together
with black threads spun from meaningless words.
The entity, hidden in a layer of dust and darkness,
radiated a vast aura of nothingness
that made every creature tremble
and turned it into ash for the sky.
After its arrival,
the scattered bodies slithered back underground.
The cracks closed.
The black hair faded.
And the plain once again became a dwelling of silence.
No wind blew.
No heat. No cold.
Only a depressed world,
where neither hope nor despair had a place.
A realm without meaning.
That being—something beyond death—
sat quietly in the sky above the plain,
staring at the small form of the boy below.
No one knew what thoughts ran through its mind.
Its purpose for reconstructing that fragile body and broken soul remained a mystery.
A faint mist wrapped around the boy
and pulled him closer to the darkness.
Then, a whisper echoed beside his ear—
Unfamiliar, yet thunderous.
Gentle, yet storm-like.
An unreadable murmur cast its shadow across the boy's entire being,
and the black threads that had stitched him together
faded and vanished—
as if they'd never existed.
Moments later, a part of the sky cracked—
forming a small hole like a black hole,
pulling everything into itself.
The being pushed the boy's body toward that void.
The energy emanating from it quietly consumed him.
Where he was going and what would happen—no one knew.
Then the being,
like a curtain of shadow draped over the plain,
vanished without a trace—
as if it had never been there.
And the place fell back into its box of silence—
waiting for another prey
to wind it up again.
---
Black City.
"Hey Aylin, how long are we going to wander around here?
Shouldn't we head back to the shelter?"
A tall man with midnight-blue hair asked the girl standing beside him.
He seemed exhausted from the long walk—
This search had lasted longer than they'd expected,
and they hadn't returned to the shelter in three days.
Aylin, a girl with braided golden hair
and dazzling sapphire eyes that amplified her beauty,
looked deeply into the man's eyes and replied:
"Today's our final sweep, so quit whining, Joshua.
You know how hard it is to find food around here.
And let's face it, what we found in the past few days isn't enough."
"If we find nothing today, we're heading back."
Joshua was mesmerized by her eyes—
deep as the ocean,
and he felt as if he were drowning in them.
That made him a bit nervous.
He began to pant—
and just then, a soft sound brushed against his ears, soothing him.
"Hey, Josh… You okay? Why'd you stop?"
Beside him stood a gentle-looking, plain-faced man named Billy.
Unlike Joshua, Billy had a calm demeanor.
Thanks to Billy's subtle nudge, Joshua snapped out of his daze.
They walked cautiously along a narrow, desolate street—
glancing at every corner and alleyway.
On both sides, dry bushes lined the road,
and around them stood abandoned buildings,
crumbled pillars,
and collapsed archways—
as if pulled from the depths of history,
each whispering a story of its own.
Everything seemed magical—
but cursed.
Black mold covered the walls.
And the lightless sky held no charm of a starry night—
only shadow and decay.
The entire place was wrapped in a veil of ambiguity.
Patrolling this zone was always a challenge—
they could only see clearly up to one kilometer,
beyond which everything faded into a soft blur of shadow.
The group continued forward—
until Aylin suddenly stopped.
Joshua, walking in the rear, stepped up.
"What is it? Why'd you stop?"
Aylin didn't respond—
She simply pointed forward.
Joshua moved ahead and spotted
a frail boy lying in a corner of the street.
Everyone was a bit shocked.
The area was nearly deserted,
and few groups dared patrol this stretch.
Joshua stepped closer, curiosity in his eyes.
He placed his hand beside the boy's nose—
Warm breath touched his fingers.
"Hey Aylin, he's alive. What should we do?"
Aylin and Billy both stepped closer to assess the situation.
The boy looked so weak and fragile
that he stirred sympathy in anyone who saw him.
Though Aylin hesitated for a moment,
she made a decision:
"We should take him with us.
Leaving him here…
He'd never survive in this condition."
Billy agreed.
But Joshua wasn't so sure.
"Are you certain?
You know if Zach finds out,
he'll be seriously against it."
Billy hesitated a bit after hearing that,
but Aylin stood firm.
"I'll speak with Zach myself.
This boy's in terrible shape,
and I refuse to ignore someone who's wounded."
After that, Joshua didn't argue.
He picked up the boy, slinging him over his back.
After all, Joshua was the group's strongest—
taller and more muscular than the others.
Everyone knew him as
the "Mountain of Muscle."
And so, the group decided to end their search for the day
and return to the shelter.
With an injured person now in their care,
continuing would be too risky.