My footsteps echoed too loud on the stone path. Each step announced my presence to everything in this dead world.
The dagger felt wrong in my hand. Too warm. The black blade pulsed with those crimson veins, glowing brighter with each beat of my heart.
*Thump-thump. Thump-thump.*
I kept scanning the ruins on both sides. Waiting. Listening.
Nothing moved. No sounds except my breathing and those damn echoing footsteps.
"Hello?" My voice came out small, swallowed by the vast red sky. "Is anyone there?"
Silence pressed down on me like a physical weight.
I laughed—short, bitter, a little too high-pitched. "Of course. Why would there be anyone? I'm probably the only idiot stuck here."
The dagger pulsed again. I looked down at it, at the way the red veins moved under the black surface like living blood.
"Can you just... disappear or something?" I muttered. "You're like a giant target. Every monster in this place is gonna—"
The blade flared bright.
Then vanished.
I stared at my empty hand, fingers still curved around nothing. "What the—okay. That's actually helpful."
I flexed my fingers. Still felt the phantom warmth where it had been.
The cathedral loomed closer with each step. The broken spires. The shattered windows. Stone walls covered in cracks that looked like spider webs.
Then I saw movement.
White fur. Between the debris ahead.
My heart stopped.
*No.*
The Ghost Rebound lifted its head. That eyeless face. Those too-long arms ending in yellow claws. The same nightmare that had shattered my ribs and left me choking on my own blood.
My throat closed. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.
*Move. Run. MOVE.*
But my legs had turned to stone.
A sound escaped my throat—half gasp, half whimper. Too loud in the dead silence.
The creature's head snapped toward me.
Its nose twitched. Sniffing. Left, right, left again—
It locked on.
We stared at each other. It had no eyes but I *felt* its attention fix on me like a blade pressing against my throat.
For one frozen second, nothing moved.
Then it *charged*.
Debris exploded everywhere. Its long arms swung wild, throwing collapsed stone walls aside like they weighed nothing. Each impact shook the ground beneath my feet.
*CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.*
It moved *fast*—so much faster than I remembered. Its mouth opened wide, showing rows of sharp teeth. Silver drool dripped from its jaws, sizzling when it hit the ground.
Twenty meters. Fifteen.
"Shit—SHIT—"
I needed the dagger. Needed it *now*.
"Come back!" I screamed at my empty hands. "COME BACK RIGHT NOW!"
Nothing.
Ten meters. I could see the individual claws. Could smell the rot coming off it.
"Please—" My voice cracked. "Please, I need you—my crimson dagger—PLEASE—"
Still nothing.
Five meters.
*Think. THINK.* How did it appear before? I was thinking about the pain. The fear. The—
I squeezed my eyes shut. Pictured the blade. Jet-black steel. Crimson veins pulsing. The warmth. The weight. *Mine.*
Something clicked in my head—like a lock turning.
Weight dropped into my hand.
My eyes snapped open. The dagger was there, humming, eager.
The Ghost Rebound was already swinging.
Its right arm came down like a hammer, claws aimed directly at my skull. It *knew* exactly where to strike.
I raised the dagger.
*CRACK.*
The impact drove me to my knees. Pain exploded through my arms—white-hot, blinding. My bones *screamed*. For a horrible second I thought both my arms had shattered.
The force didn't stop. It picked me up and *threw* me.
I flew backward. Ten feet. Fifteen. My body crashed through a collapsed wall. Stone cut into my back, my shoulders, my head.
*SLAM.*
I hit the ground hard enough to drive all the air from my lungs. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't see. Everything was dust and pain and—
*Move. Get up. MOVE.*
I gasped. Wheezed. Forced air back into my lungs even though each breath felt like swallowing broken glass.
My hands—still holding the dagger. Still intact.
I looked at my arms. No blood. No broken bones jutting through skin. Just pain. Deep, throbbing pain that made my vision swim.
"I blocked it." The words came out as a wheeze. "Holy shit, I actually blocked—"
The creature roared.
The sound rattled my skull, shook loose stones from nearby walls. I could *feel* it in my chest, vibrating through my ribs.
I scrambled to my feet. My legs shook so bad I almost fell. The dagger felt heavier now—or maybe my arms were just too weak to hold it properly.
The Ghost Rebound charged again.
No strategy. No hesitation. Just raw, animal hunger.
"Come on!" I screamed. Didn't mean to. The words just tore out of my throat, high and desperate. "COME ON THEN!"
It raised its right arm—same attack as before. Same angle. Same killing blow.
*Predictable. Stupid monster. Same move twice—*
I raised the dagger to block—
The creature stopped.
Mid-charge. Mid-swing. Its arm frozen in the air, claws inches from my face.
Its mouth opened and closed, trying to bite, but nothing happened. The whole body trembled violently.
"What—" I panted. "What's wrong with you?"
Then I saw it.
Silver blood. Dripping slow and thick from its right hand. From a cut I didn't remember making.
*The first block. When I barely got the dagger up in time—it must have cut through.*
The creature's eyeless face jerked left, then right. Frantic. Confused. Its breathing came in short, panicked gasps.
The panic effect. Three to five seconds. The dagger was *working*.
One second. Two. Three.
*Move. Now. DO IT NOW.*
My legs pushed forward before my brain caught up. The dagger felt light suddenly—like it wanted this. Like it was *pulling* me forward.
I swung with everything I had.
The blade cut through the creature's neck.
It didn't sever. Not right away. The head stayed attached. Perfect. Intact.
Then—
*SPRING.*
Silver blood erupted like a geyser. It sprayed across my face—hot, metallic, *wrong*. The taste hit my tongue and I gagged. Got in my eyes, burning. Soaked through my coat, my shirt, everything.
The creature's head didn't fall. It *dissolved*. Turned to silver mist, wisps of nothing, disappearing into the red air.
The body swayed. Collapsed forward.
I jumped back. It hit the ground with a wet *thud* that echoed too long.
I stood there. Dagger raised. Breathing so hard my vision pulsed with each gasp.
Silver blood dripped from the blade. From my face. From my hands.
"Was it..." My voice came out hoarse. "Was it really that easy?"
The words felt wrong in my mouth. Tasted like lies.
Last time this thing had nearly killed me. Broken my ribs. Left me bleeding and unconscious on a train floor.
Now I'd just... won. In less than two minutes.
"Is it the dagger?" I stared at the black blade. "Or am I—"
The Ghost Rebound's body started glowing. Bright red. Violent red that hurt to look at.
I stumbled backward, almost tripped. "What now—what's happening—"
The body *erased*. Not dissolved. Just... deleted from reality. Like it was never there.
All that remained was a pool of silver blood—already evaporating into mist—and a small red hexagon lying on the cracked ground.
I bent down slowly. My legs almost gave out. I caught myself, one hand on my knee, and picked up the essence.
Same size as before. Same warm pulse against my palm.
"So killing these gives me Ghost Essence." I turned it over. "Red essence. Tier 7."
My brain tried to make connections. Tried to understand the pattern.
Before, the red essence was consumed by the door and I was transported *here*. To this ruined world. Before that, the train. Now this.
I started walking toward the cathedral. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else.
"Does that mean I'll be transported again?" The words came out flat. "But how do I find the next door? Will it just appear? And then what—another world after that?"
My footsteps echoed.
"Fight the Ghost Rebound. Get the essence. Enter the door. Fight another Ghost Rebound. Get more essence. Enter another door." I laughed—no humor in it. "Fight. Get essence. Door. Fight. Get essence. Door. Fight. Get—"
I stopped walking.
"It's a loop." The words tasted like ash. "It's just a fucking endless loop. Fight. Die. Fight. Die. Forever. Until—"
Until what? Until I slip up? Until I face something stronger? Until the dagger stops working?
"This is insane." My voice cracked. "This is actually fucking insane."
But what choice did I have? Keep going or sit down and wait to die?
I looked up. The cathedral was right in front of me. Massive wooden doors covered in carved symbols I couldn't read.
I willed the dagger away. It vanished—easier this time, like it understood.
Then I pushed.
The door swung inward with a deep *creeeak* that echoed through the space inside. But it wasn't heavy. Moved like air. Like nothing.
The smell hit first.
Ash. Old blood. Stone dust. Something rotting underneath.
I stepped inside.
My eyes adjusted to the dim red light filtering through broken windows.
The cathedral was destroyed. Broken stone columns littered the floor. The roof had collapsed in sections—chunks of shattered stained glass scattered everywhere, reflecting the red sky in a thousand fractured pieces.
Walls cracked and crumbling. Ready to fall.
But none of that mattered because—
*People.*
Forty. Maybe fifty. All wearing the same thing I was—black coats, white shirts, red ties. Standing in small groups. Sitting on broken pews. Leaning against walls.
All of them looking lost. Scared. Confused.
All of them *real*.
My legs stopped working. I stood in the doorway, frozen.
"There's..." My voice came out broken. "There's people."
Someone looked at me. Then another. More heads turning. Conversations dying.
They stared. All of them staring at me.
At my blood-soaked coat. At my shaking hands. At whatever my face looked like right now.
Something hot pressed behind my eyes. My vision blurred.
*No. Don't cry. Don't—*
White drops fell from my eyes. Warm. I tried to blink them away but more came.
I pressed my palms against my face, trying to hide, trying to stop it—
But I couldn't.
A sob broke through. Then another. My shoulders shook.
I'd been so scared. So alone. Fighting monsters with no idea if anyone else was even alive. If this nightmare had an end. If I'd ever see another human being again.
And now—
*Now there were people.*
Real people. Not monsters. Not ghosts. Not hallucinations.
"Sorry—" My voice cracked. "I'm sorry, I just—"
I couldn't finish. Couldn't explain.
Another sob. My knees hit the floor. I didn't mean to kneel but my legs just gave out.
The tears wouldn't stop. My whole body shook with them.
Finally—
*Finally*—
I wasn't alone.