[Volume 1 - Macabre ]
...…
"I'm going to say it."
A squeamish voice whispered to the young boy. His sunken eyes darted around in annoyance, seemingly out of sorts. He took one look at his immediate surroundings, let out a long sigh, and asked the universe a very reasonable question.
How does one spend their perfectly normal day?
Sure, he wasn't the best person to give an opinion. But he could have sworn it had something to do with drinking coffee. Playing games. Watching murder mysteries, or perhaps, the classic "flicking the beans".
Simple stuff, right?
'Right?' Raven contemplated.
Mundane activities were proof of normality. Normality meant healthy living. And wasn't "healthy living" what living beings usually aim for?
'So, what in the fuckery is this?' Raven's eyes widened at everything standing before him.
He finally really looked. His breath caught in his throat as he desperately scanned around to grasp the fabled sense of normality.
There was nothing.
Nothing made sense right now.
No dots to connect, like a puzzle with a mediocre framework and half the pieces missing. All garbled nonsense thrown together to imitate normality. Fuckeries upon fuckeries upon fuckeries, all the way to the bottom.
Meanwhile, the persistent voice rang again.
"I'm just saying. I mean— well, it couldn't be more obvious," the young girl murmured in a growing excited tone. "Like really damn obvious. It's staring us right in the face!"
Raven nudged his head at his uninvited companion, finally taking his time to observe her.
She certainly had an unusual bearing. Eyes the color of yellow caught between winter and summer, unruly amber hair sticking out in every direction like it was trying— and failing— to be discreet, and a sharp gaze that matched well those eyes of hers.
He found himself staring a bit too long.
She noticed. "What?"
"Uh—sorry. I—uh—I wasn't thinking about anything rude."
"It's fine. You would be surprised by how often I get that look." She eyed him, then shrugged with a cynical smile. "Am I really that weird-looking?"
"No. No. It's just, uhh.." Raven lowered his voice. "-you have an unusual pair of eyes. I can't get a feel of it. And your height caught me by surprise. N-not that it's bad! Or that you are, like, super short. In fact, for a girl, I think your height is fine. Totally fine. As tall can be, really."
He was digging a hole, and he just kept shoveling.
"Your build, though. Uhh, I think it's… okay? I know a lot of ladies who are in a much worse situation. Not that I'm a total player who knows a lot of ladies. I'm really not. Far from it. Not that I'm hopeless, either. It's just.. Uhh—"
He stopped. Hard. It was better to quit while ahead.
"..."
"..."
The girl blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"Yeah… yeah." she said slowly, brows knitting together. "Right."
She shook her head, then waved a hand. "Anyway. I'm not really crazy, am I? I mean—unless this is some massive government conspiracy, there is only one explanation. This can't be fake. And no way in hell am I dreaming, because–"
She raised her brows at Raven. "No offence, but I don't usually dream about guys like you."
"None taken."
'"Right. Back to the topic. So, since I'm clearly not dreaming, it leaves us without only one option. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Instead of answering, Raven looked around again.
In the enclosed chamber, there were a bunch of students loitering around excitedly, already forming cliques and all that. Some were familiar— upperclassmen from his school. Others he didn't recognize, but had definitely seen them in History Class. They looked the same age as the other students. So, he was guessing they were in the same set.
'So, what is this?'
'Let's backtrack and maybe… hopefully, I'm not going insane.'
A few minutes ago, he had been running an errand for a teacher, much to his silent dissent . It was a simple task— deliver a stack of papers to students in History Class. Easy.
Yet, here they were, soaked in a glowing oozy substance. Practically drenched.
"You are seeing it, aren't you? Finally, we are on the same page," the girl said. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"I remember getting to class. Then realizing the teacher hadn't given me all the papers. So, I… went back to get them? No–wait."
His eyes widened as buried memories surfaced.
A chill crawled up his spine. "I was about to. But I never made it out of the class because I felt… something. Something wrong. Like—sudden nausea. It crawled under my skin and then into my head. And then… that's it. I think I fainted?"
"Oh yeah, you definitely did." The girl chuckled, "You screamed like a girl and flopped over like a fish. It was gold. Comedy gold. But hey, if it's any consolation, the rest of the class followed right after you. And that led to this, it seems."
Raven wiped his face, clearing away a trail of ooze that had just slipped down his hair.
When he'd woken up, he'd been stuck in some sort of cocoon, filled with tight, wet ooze. Being the claustrophobic type that he was, he had torn himself free without thinking, and hit the floor hard.
So, that led to the obvious question.
Where was he?
The chamber was plain, devoid of any garnishment. No window. No decor, nothing. Just rows of cocoons lining the ceiling and the sharp edge of the tiled walls. The dark tiles, however, echoed a story of loneliness, and the only source of light came from the glowing ooze they had ripped apart to escape the cocoon.
At the far end of the narrow chamber stood a metal door; pale, gaunt, and watching them back, as if daring anyone to approach it.
None of the students, though, seemed interested in it. Or perhaps they were doing a really good job of pretending the door didn't exist.
Raven asked, "So, what are you trying to say?"
"I've been saying it for a while. Seems it just went through your head," smiled the girl.
Raven shook his head. "Impossible."
"Otherwise? What do you think this is? Tell me, I'm curious."
"It could be a prank, but then–" his voice faltered, echoing his realization. "It would be quite an expensive prank. And a pointless one at that."
In truth, he had already felt the sign from the moment he awoke in the cocoon.
Something was clearly wrong.
But that couldn't be the truth, could it?
"I know, right! And get this," she said. "Some guys said they saw flickering constructs–like glitches in the air—right before they fainted. S0…"
"We have either been teleported or abducted. Either way, we might not be in familiar territories." Raven finished for her.
The girl clapped her hands together, her face beaming with excitement. "Bingo! And there is only one way to confirm where 'here' actually is."
"The door."
"Yep! But it seems the majority already figured that out too. So we wait. We wait for the rest to wake up 0r—"
"Or for someone to walk through it." Raven scrunched his face. "A guinea pig."
"Or a leader. Who knows? Either way, we have all reached an unspoken agreement. So… abide, we shall," she chuckled.
Raven nodded. His predicament suddenly seemed clearer.
No one was willing to venture past that door. No one wanted to be first.
But the moment one person summons the courage, the floodgates will open— and the rest will follow.
A waiting game.
Like the girl said, they were all biding their time, waiting for the others to awake first. But once the two conditions were settled, they would all venture. That was inevitable.
"Thank you for explaining so much."
"Oh, it's nothing. To be honest, I'm not quite sure yet. Maybe I'm wrong and we are all in our heads."
"Still, thanks. You.. uhh… you saved me from spiraling."
Raven reached for the wall and slid down into a sitting position.
The girl joined him, choosing a spot right next to him. "Hey, I probably should have asked earlier, but what's your name?"
"Raven."
"Cool, I'm Mist."
"Oh."
His brows lifted for a bit, slightly amused by the name, but he knew better than to show it. After all, he wasn't exactly in a position to judge names.
So, he kept quiet, not knowing what to say next.
Mist just chuckled in response. She leaned closer to the cold wall and shut her eyes, calmly taking in the peaceful silence.
…..
Minutes slipped by. Then hours. Then hours that felt longer still.
Between the two of them, the silence settled— not oppressive, but strangely gentle. It drifted around them like a comforting mother, embracing their anxiety towards the unforeseeable future. Moments like this were rare in both their lives, so they treasured the quiet. In return, the quiet seemed to treasure them back.
An hour later, two more students broke through their cocoons.
By the five-hour mark, only three cocoons remained.
The chamber fell into a trance, every eye fixed on the solemn cocoons, as if their collective stares could force the cocoon to break. Thoughts stirred and flickered, unspoken and inexplicable.
In the next hour, amongst the three, one student awoke.
The second took even longer, but he broke through towards nighttime, if there was even a nighttime in this place. The chamber lay devoid of natural light, so naturally, no pun intended, the students' sense of timing was unreliable at best.
Finally, only one cocoon remained.
And so they waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Then, after what seemed like the dawn of a new day, a splinter ruptured through the cocoon.
It was happening.
The students grimaced with inexplicable thoughts.
It was finally happening.
Out of the rupture came thick, red ooze, gushing slowly and viscously like the blood of a dying beast. A hand thrust through it, slick and stained with its lustrousness like they had all been.
Another hand tore savagely at the cocoon until a head drenched in crimson emerged.
A primal howl erupted across the chamber. The walls trembled and its cold tiles sang eerily as the cold wind welcomed the final one.
The Last Severant.
.....
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[A/N:
Well, after taking a year-long break, I decided it was time to reintroduce the story to the world. And what better way than submitting for WSA26.
Anyway, let's get to the point. What to expect:
Lore. Massive Lore. Like holy-moly kinda lore.
- I am a huge lore lover, so you will come across wonderful tales as you read. As a matter of fact, I am prepared to be kept on my toes(feel free to pose questions). Challenge my story, as you wish.
Emotions and Conflicts
- Yeah. Sure. Conflicts don't do well in Webnovel. I, personally, believe that every great story should and will have one. And following the massive success of SS in that aspect, I have been motivated to string along my dear readers in a cesspool of "fuckery".
- However, this is primarily an adventure story, so do not expect pure drama. This is not a telenovela. As a reader, I always love stories that found the right balance. Once again, SS is both my motivation and inspiration. But I was majorly influenced by other media. Think The Originals, GOT, AOT, Naruto, etc
Misc
- I rarely enjoy Lit-rpgs. My favorites are Primal Hunter, Slime tensei, etc.
- However, I have realized that it is more convenient to follow along in that format. Beyond Wonderland WILL not be a system novel. Yet, there will be minor implements, nothing too fancy or exhausting.
- Lastly, this is a "discovery and research" story. Through the eyes of our protagonist, we will encounter wonderful things. I am a die-hard lover of magic, so I have taken my dear time to craft beautiful magic systems for this world.
-Some chapters will majorly focus on this.
Prepare to be astonished(Am i shooting myself in the foot?)
(Oh, also, every interaction helps a lot. Feel free to leave a comment. Share your thoughts.)
]