Alaric began to flutter his eyelids, slowly regaining consciousness. It felt like he had woken up from hibernation, like a bear that had been asleep for months. His mind felt scrambled, mushy—like it had been reprogrammed into something else.
His head throbbed painfully, as if drums were being beaten right next to his ears.
He found himself lying on the floor beside his bed.
"What… happened to me?" Alaric groaned, clutching his head and touching his body as if to check if he was still himself.
He tried to remember, but his memory was fuzzy. Either he had truly forgotten, or he was simply refusing to recall what had happened.
His ears rang. His eyes were blurry, misty—like they were covered in a layer of fog. He blinked several times until tears slipped down his cheeks. After wiping his eyes dry, his vision slowly began to return.
But without his glasses, he still couldn't see properly. With poor vision, he fumbled around until his fingers brushed against them near his feet. He picked them up and slid them on.
Only, something felt wrong.
"Oh my god, the lenses are so bad… I can barely see anything," Alaric muttered, taking them off to wipe them.
He put them on again. This time they worked—sort of. His vision was sharper than before, but it kept shifting, clear one second and blurry the next.
"Come on… I don't even have the money to afford new lenses," Alaric groaned, rubbing them roughly with his shirt.
The truth was the glasses were fine, apart from the cracks all over the lenses. Instead of putting them back on, he decided to get up and wash his face.
As soon as he stood, dizziness hit him hard.
"Whoa…" he staggered, gripping the wall for support.
He shook it off and stumbled into the small bathroom. Splashing cold water on his face several times, he finally felt a little better. He grabbed a towel, wiping himself dry while staring at the mirror. His glasses rested on the edge of the sink.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, something shifted—something inside his reflection.
He froze.
"What the…?" Alaric leaned closer, staring at the mirror. For a split second, it looked like something moved beneath his skin. Then it was gone. He checked himself, but found nothing. With a nervous laugh, he dismissed it. "Probably just a vein…"
Opening the bathroom cabinet, he dug out an older spare pair of lenses. These were cleaner, less cracked than the ones he had been using. He swapped them out carefully, wiping them until they shone.
"Please work. I can't afford new ones… heck, I can't even afford candy," he muttered, almost praying.
Slipping them on, his vision cleared instantly. He sighed in relief—until, seconds later, everything blurred again, as if fog rolled across his eyes.
"Oh, come on… really?!" he shouted, yanking them off in frustration.
He blew on them, wiped them clean again, and tried once more. This time, not only did they blur, but his eyes stung—burning, like he was wearing the wrong prescription.
"Damn it!" Alaric slammed them onto the sink. Splashing more water into his eyes, he rubbed them furiously. When he looked back up, he froze.
His vision… was perfect.
No glasses. No blur. Nothing. His eyesight was sharper than it had ever been.
"Huh?" He blinked several times, covering one eye, then the other, checking carefully. Everything was crystal clear.
"This… this isn't possible…" he whispered.
Worried it was temporary, he tested himself again and again, but his sight remained flawless. Uneasy, he returned to his bed. Pulling out an old alphabet chart a doctor had once given him, he taped it to the wall. He covered one eye, then the other—each time, every letter was sharp and defined.
It freaked him out.
"What's happening to me?" Alaric whispered, pressing his fingers against his hazel eyes. They looked the same as always, unchanged. No explanation came to him.
He sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, clutching his head. His thoughts felt scrambled, like puzzle pieces he couldn't put together.
"What happened to me? Why can't I remember clearly? And why… why can't I explain this?"
His gaze drifted to the brown box near his roommate's bed. The small key that had cut him earlier glinted in the dim light. Slowly, he walked over and picked it up.
Then his eyes fell on the cube—still lying by the sink, cracked open, now empty. The frozen mist was gone.
Suddenly, his head was assaulted by flashes of memory. His body trembled as everything came rushing back.
The beating. Harry's laughter. The humiliation. Waking up in his apartment. The mysterious package. The chest. The frozen cube.
And finally—the parasite.
Alaric's stomach churned violently. His throat tightened as he gagged at the memory of it forcing its way inside him. He stumbled to the sink, turning the tap full blast, gulping water and trying desperately to vomit it out.
Nothing.
His body shuddered with disgust, bile rising as he gagged again and again. He could still feel it, crawling down his throat, like it was still there. He retched, but nothing came out.
Finally, exhausted, he collapsed back onto his bed, burying his face in his hands.
"What… what is happening to me?" he whispered, trembling.
Then his eyes caught the torn red envelope lying on the floor—the one Harry had opened before him.
Alaric froze, staring at it. He hesitated, then picked it up. His hands shook as he unfolded the paper. He knew what to expect. He dreaded it—but he couldn't avoid it.
His eyes fell on the results.
Minus Negative.
Alaric's heart sank. His chest felt hollow. He crushed the paper in his fist and hurled it aside. Falling back onto the bed, he stared at the ceiling, forcing himself not to cry. But the pain was too much. Slowly, tears slid down his face.
As he cried, something strange appeared before his eyes.
A glowing notification.
[ Daily Quest: Consume food ]
Alaric gasped and sat up, blinking.
"What… am I seeing?"
The message hovered in the air like a computer screen. Confused and shaken, he ignored it. But then—
[ Daily Quest: Host must consume food before it's too late ]
[ Countdown: 00:02:00 ]
A timer began ticking down.
Alaric didn't move. He didn't care. He lay there silently as the numbers fell.
[ Countdown: 00:00:00 ]
[ Result: Daily Quest failed. Host failed to complete. ]
[ Hunger: 100% ]
Pain exploded in his stomach.
Alaric doubled over, screaming. It felt like something was devouring him from the inside, gnawing at every organ. His body grew weaker, thinner, his energy draining rapidly.
[ Host Life Force: 18% ]
"N-No…" Alaric groaned, dragging himself across the floor. His strength was fading fast. He clawed at the fridge door and yanked it open.
[ Host Life Force: 5% ]
With trembling hands, he grabbed a sandwich and shoved it into his mouth, chewing desperately. He devoured it in seconds, then tore through the rest of the food—everything inside, even the uncooked leftovers.
Slowly, strength began to return to his body.
[ Host Life Force: Normal ]
[ Hunger: 0% ]
[ Status: Healthy ]
[ Daily Quest: Completed ]
Alaric collapsed against the fridge, panting, utterly drained. His eyes fluttered, and he began to doze off.
Then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Someone was at the door.