"Where am I?" Liam murmured, staring at the vast field before him.
Just moments ago, he had been in his apartment, lying down and trying to reach his phone to call the hospital. Now, he stood in an endless field.
"I really am dead, aren't I?" Liam muttered.
The view of the afterlife Liam had always imagined was like the ones portrayed in the shows he had watched as a kid—white, glorious, and peaceful. But this…this was not it.
Walking around felt nostalgic, even for Liam. As he continued down the sloping road, everything felt peaceful—too peaceful.
An ache coursed through his body as he walked, intensifying into something sharp and unbearable.
"Damn it, I haven't fully healed, have I?" he groaned, clutching his chest.
It was strange. The once soft hands Liam had from doing nothing but writing now felt harder—rough, even—as if he had been training intensely.
"…I feel a little shorter."
Everything felt strange to Liam. Inspecting his body, he ran his hands over himself, but there were no marks, no blood—just plain, clean skin, as if the wounds had never been there.
Lost in thought, something above cast a shadow over him. Looking up, Liam saw a Leviathan, a colossal, serpent-like dragon whose scales shimmered like liquid sapphire. Its vast, fin-like wings rippled through the air, scattering droplets of light as it glided effortlessly across the sky.
"What the hell is a Leviathan doing here?"
Liam only understood what a Leviathan was from the book he had written, and the manga he devoured while dreaming of becoming an author.. What he didn't understand was what a monster like that was doing here. He did not understand what a monster- in fact everything felt strange to Liam from the ground to the sky to the air; It was all strange almost as if they have always been there.
Liam heartbeat quickly escalated as confusion crept in his heart. Every thought felt heavy as he thoughts race in both fear and confusion.
"What is going on? Someone please explain!"
Liam began to panic. Pain surged through his entire body like an electric bolt. Suddenly, a burning imprint appeared on his skull.
"AGH!!"
Clutching his head, Liam rolled on the ground. It felt like thousands of needles were piercing into his brain as the indescribable pain continued second by second.
Memories flooded in.
But they weren't his.
A beautiful woman with silky black hair and jade-green eyes comforted him as he ran from a storm. Another memory—him training alone in a vast field under the bright sun while a girl his age, with ocean-blue hair and deep blue eyes, watched and praised him.
Another scene—a man with blond hair and silver eyes teaching him how to lead the family, both at home and outside. A girl running toward him as he lifted her up and spun her around.
The scenes were vivid, clear, and almost soothing.
Strangers felt like family, and foreign experiences became memories to Liam.
The pain began to fade.
Silence.
Then came the final memory—
A boy being bullied and treated as garbage by his peers for daring to dream. He stood in a vast area, clutching a big stone in his hand, crying as he whispered, "I'm sorry, family," before smashing his head repeatedly.
Liam snapped back to reality, tears streaming down his face as if he had lived those memories himself.
Wiping his tears, he stood up—only for a blue screen to appear before him.
[Welcome, Elior Vayne, to The Path of the Heroes]
[Soul-Sync Protocol: Success]
[Arcana Rank: F (Apprentice)]
[Quest: Save the World and Its Characters]
Liam blinked.
Stared.
Then let out a small chuckle.
"Haha, what a funny joke… but it's nothing."
Silence.
The quiet expression that had formed on Liam's face darkened.
"Don't fricking bullshit me."
He looked up, expecting a divine being to answer—but nothing. Just silence.
Then the blue screen appeared again.
[QUEST: SAVE THE WORLD AND ITS CHARACTERS]
Liam sighed. "Why should I save my own book when it tore my family apart?"
Two years ago
"Liam, you can't drop out of school just because you want to become a writer. Get a better-paying job," said Joseph, his father.
"No, Dad. This is my passion—my dream! I won't sell it short just because you don't think it is enough!" shouted Liam.
"Calm down, son. Listen to your father," urged Janice, his mother.
"No, Mom! Dad is asking for the impossible. He's saying I should sell my dream short because of money. I'm not him!"
SLAP.
"Never talk about me like that again, Liam!" Joseph shouted.
Clutching his cheek, Liam yelled, "I hate you, Dad! Mom! I'm out of here!"
That night, Liam left home. His family went out searching for him—and never came back. The car accident took them all out.
Snapping back to reality, Liam opened his eyes, hoping everything had just been his imagination—but it wasn't.
In front of him:
[QUEST: SAVE THE WORLD AND ITS CHARACTERS]
Determined to ignore it, a sudden sharp pain coursed through his body making Liam kneel down as the blue screen appeared again.
[QUEST: SAVE THE WORLD AND ITS CHARACTERS]
[FAILURE: INSTANT DEATH AND DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD]
"I should've known it wouldn't make things easy for me," Liam grumbled.
The screen wouldn't disappear. It hovered before him—cold, eerie, and, to Liam, almost mocking.
Exhaling slowly, his shoulders slumped like those of a warrior who had lost a battle, even while living in denial. The sunlight shone down on him.
"...Shit."