Chapter 0: Alice:
I don't think I've ever wondered about life and death, and questioned the world around me, as much as I did that day.
I was never a curious person. Always a bit too normal and a bit too boring, and very misunderstood by everyone around me. I lived a relatively normal life. At least until I met her.
April 8th 2025,
That was the day my life changed.
My name is Altair, and my life changed the moment I met that girl. A new joinee to Tsukishima Private School.
We rarely got new joinees, considering our town was small, with barely any scope for expansion. And people kept moving out but never moving in.
I still think about the time the teacher introduced her to the class,
"Everyone, please welcome our transferee, Miss Alice Newark. Ms Newark, please introduce yourself."
I kind of missed her entire self-introduction, as I was enchanted by her beauty. I kept staring at her till she sat down.
This was the point in the story where the handsome, comedic, best friend character would tease me.
Sadly, that didn't happen, I had no friends.
"Altair", I thought, as her blonde hair reminded me of what happened back in 19'. Those were my sister's last words, "Altair".
I didn't talk to her much, nor did she notice me. The whole school was abuzz, and as always, I was reading about the world.
Oh yeah, I do have a quirky habit. To read about the world, politics and wars. There was something so intriguing about the nuance that always got me hooked.
These stories of men, diplomats, terrorists, freedom fighters, leaders and war mongers ignited something in me I never knew I had.
The day passed. So did the day after that, and the day after. And just like that, we were nearing our semester examinations.
And our teacher, Ms Brook, had the genius ideas of splitting us into study groups.
We all drew straws, and you'd think I'd be matched with her at this point, but no. I was with a group of 3 other guys.
I had never heard of the first dude-I didn't even know he was in this school. The second was Jose, an outgoing guy who didn't necessarily specialise in anything—he was not a bookworm or an athlete. But somehow, everyone knew him, and most of them liked him.
And the third was someone I had known since my first year in Tsukishima, Bethel Swan. He was a superathlete (in lacrosse), but no one ever teased him about that. He had gone on to win multiple national level trophies for the academy and even got featured on national television. He was someone I'd always been envious of.
We all introduced ourselves,
"Hey, I'm Bethel. I hope we all work hard"
Said the person with the bright face,
"Hello, pleasure to meet you all. I'm Jose"
Exclaimed the one with fish eyes,
"Uhh, I'm Steph-Stephan, and I hope we all do well", stuttered the one with the dark circles,
And lastly, it was my turn.
"Hey, I'm Altair. I hope we get our work done"
I exclaimed. I prayed to every god I knew not to make me stutter like Steph.
______
Being a part of the study group helped me pass the time, although I barely understood whatever they were going through. Linear Algebra. Something reserved for Final years, yet it was being taught to us juniors.
"Determine the magnitude of the vector", said Jose, looking diligently at my sunken eyes.
"I....Its-"
"RING-RING-RING"
As I was going to admit to not knowing, but the bell rang. And we were all heading home. The harsh pattering of raindrops with gravel could be heard. Luckily, I had brought an umbrella with me.
I walked down, alone, towards the entrance.
She was there. Alice, the one person who made me get up every day and come to school.
I glanced at her and saw that she didn't have an umbrella. And I did. You might think this was finally the time. The time where I'd bravely go up to her and ask,
"Do you wanna share an umbrella?"
Unfortunately, I wasn't that brave a person. And I just walked past. I felt her eyes on me and turned back. She wasn't there anymore.
I thought about the possibility of what could have happened. She could've said yes, and we could've walked home together. I would've dropped her off, and that would blossom into a friendship. Maybe someday, something more. Then I thought about what else could've happened. She could've rejected me, laughed in my face, and spread the story to the entire school. And my reputation would go farther down the drain than ever before.
I walked forward, thinking, through the second cross street, thinking, towards the mini-bridge, thinking, and past it, thinking, up the hill, and onwards, thinking.
And somehow, I saw her again. She was there, walking, alone. Her blonde hair was drenched. She was walking towards the yellow cones. The ones that signal that there was a steep fall. And she was walking straight ahead.
The water fell and dripped down her and her uniform and merged with the layer of water on the road.
I ran. I don't know how I got myself into this situation, and I didn't think for a second about any consequences, nor about if she would spread rumours about me. I couldn't let her fall. Not like I did her. I ran faster than I knew I could run, and I tackled her.
We both fell into the mud as she pushed me away.
"What're you doing?"
"There's a steep fall that way. you may be new here, but that isn't a place where you can hang out."
I said, once again praying to every god not to make me stutter and ruin this moment that made me feel cool.
"Didn't you hear me? That side is dangerous. You can cut through the riverside, and you'll get past the pit..."
"I heard you. And I know about the fall. And I know why you tackled me. I'm not the one you tried to save, am I? You tackling me won't bring your sister back."
I.... I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to say. I had no idea she had already found out about my sister. And about that incident. Was this all a practical joke? Did she know I would pass through here and do this just to trigger me? I felt my blood boil as she smiled.
"I know. I wasn't the person you were trying to save. Yet, you didsave me. I have to thank you for that, don't I?"
As her sentence had barely finished. A bright white light enveloped me.
____
I opened my eyes, and I was there. The same place where I was knocked out. However, I couldn't seem to find Alice anywhere. What the hell happened? Did she flash bang me, somehow? As these thoughts raced through my mind. I saw something.
Something that made me realise. Maybe this wasn't the same place I was knocked out in.
A creature stood around 500 feet from me; it was grotesque, with three arms and holes all across its face. A warped version of a mouth was found on its Trypophobia triggering face. Was it smiling? I couldn't tell.
And then it opened that grotesque mouth.
"Altair, save me"
____
Chapter 1: Zenith (1):
I stared at the grotesque creature. And it stared back at me. I wanted to run, I wanted to run so badly, and I hadn't wanted for something with such yearning since birth.
But my body just wouldn't move.
Then a screen appeared in front of me,
Main Scenario #1: A New World
Difficulty:
[F grade]
Win criteria:
[Defeat the unknown creature]
Rewards:
• 1 D grade skill (Dash)
• 500 Geld
Time limit:
[None]
Failure condition:
1. Your physical body's death
2. Leaving the scenario area {Runesca}
[No deities are watching this scenario.]
All the information on this screen immediately entered my mind, and that's when it hit me. This wasn't my world.
A sudden movement from the monster was the jolt of lightning I needed to move.
I ran. I ran up the hill and beyond it, past the mini-bridge, and through the second cross street. And as I ran, I saw changes, very slight changes. But changes, nonetheless. The sign that was supposed to say, "Keith and Co Butchers" wasn't there, a couple streetlights were missing, and there were holes everywhere. Large holes in the walls, the roads, and the houses. I could see the inside of every other house that I passed on Cross Street.
As I ran, I realised how lucky I was that I walked 8 miles every day to school and another 8 back home. That had considerably built up my stamina and I was able to run without much effort.
Soon after that, I reached my school, a building built by the government, back when it still cared about its people. Strong pillars, monotone colours, and grim architecture lead to everyone calling it the grey palace.
I looked back for the first time since I started to run. The monster was nowhere to be seen. I went up to the terrace of the school building, what was left of it, and sat down. I could see buildings filled with craters, as I peered down at the familiar, yet so unfamiliar streets.
I looked up to see the moon, blood red. I had seen such a blood moon just around a year ago. But I never comprehended just how scary it was, especially in such a desolate setting.
I should've run home. I should've seen whether my mom or my grandfather were fine. But that way was blocked off by that creature.
I slowly thought about everything. What was that monster? Where am I? If I am home, then why is everything so broken down? What is Runesca? Was this a dream? And what was that game-esque screen with the rewards and the failure condition?
Was this a place where I could die?
As all these thoughts rushed into my mind, it hit me that I didn't have as much stamina as I'd hoped. And it was mostly adrenaline that helped me run. A wave of pain, cramps and sheer terror washed over my body. I immediately saw only darkness.
___
I slowly opened my eyes, my joints felt even worse than before I had slept. I looked around and realised the moon was still up. I don't think I'd slept past that night. Not like I could grow accustomed to this eerie atmosphere.
[GrrrrrGlubGlubGlub]
My stomach growled. I was hungry. And my throat was drier than the Sahara. What was I going to do? I managed to lock the door from the outside here. But no one could say what kind of dangers waited for me downstairs.
What if I searched through the classrooms? Hopefully, there was someone's leftover lunch. I held on to this dream that I knew was fruitless, but I marched on nevertheless.
With that newfound hope, or delusion, I opened the terrace door and went down the stairs into the final year classes on the fourth floor.
As I walked through the classes, I began to remember that the sign that said, [12-A], was so worn down that the sign only managed to say, [1 -/\].
I went in and looked around. It was weird looking at a class that was usually full to be so lonesome. There weren't any bags or bottles here. The tables and chairs were thrown around, and the blackboard was cracked diagonally, with zigzags resembling a lightning bolt. I walked across the room, looking out for any sign of a bottle of water, or even better, some food.
There was nothing.
A screen suddenly popped up,
[Your health is deteriorating. You need food and water.]
I saw that and slowly felt alone. What the hell am I doing? If I stay here, I'm gonna die anyway. I'd rather take my chances outside than die alone in this place. It's not like everyone could've disappeared.... Could they?
I walked past all the classes, glancing in occasionally, hoping for any sustenance. Unfortunately, that hope never came to fruition.
I went down the stairs and managed to get out the gate. I took a deep breath as I took in the world in front of me. This wasn't my world. And if it was my world, it wasn't my time.
I decided against going near the hill again, I didn't want to risk that monster finding me just to find my desolate house. I walked east, deciding to walk in one direction till I couldn't anymore.
The wind blew past me, attempting to push my back, perhaps. My uniform was uncomfortable; were there always so many crinkles? Was the fabric always so rough? My shoes, thankfully, were intact. Our town didn't have proper roads yet, at least not smooth ones. Jagged rocks permeated and grew past the baseline of the road.
My feet ached as I walked, and walked, and walked past the innumerable houses. I must've gone at least 10 miles. I didn't know what to do.
I decided to rest in someplace for a while. I looked east, and there was a cornfield that stretched beyond my sight, twisting and turning past every landmark that I could see.
Looking west, seven houses looked identical to each other, their only distinguishing factor being the various holes at different places.
That's when I first saw it. I thought my eyes were fooling me, but they weren't. I rubbed my eyes and stared at the light past the window again. I saw a small amount of smoke coming out of the window and merging with the smog-filled air outside.
I knew this could be risky. This could cause my death. But I knew if I didn't get something to drink or eat. I would faint soon.
It took everything I had to push myself towards that house. I prepared myself to knock the door down, but it was left unlocked. I pushed the handle, as slow as I could, and walked, with cat's feet, as far as I could. As I entered the second floor, I looked at the door farthest from the stairs, to the right. It was left slightly open. I walked in hushed steps towards it.
I was finally in front of the door, I tried to peep through the gap in the door. The room was empty, I couldn't see the source of the smoke. I opened the door and walked in.
The room was untidy, almost as much as mine back home. The bed was torn, as if a griffin had scratched it apart. Cigarette buds lay in a small pile near the window. This was what had caused the mild smoke. I saw a couple of burnt sticks, which seemed to have been extinguished just now.
I realised what had happened and tried to turn around.
I felt a sharp object poking my spine.
"Don't make any sudden moves". Boomed a voice that was a child's attempt at making a grown-up voice. The voice altering might've made me laugh; unfortunately, the blade pointed to my back, ruined all possibilities of me taking this with a side of humour.
"Hey, who are you? I'm turning around very slowly now. I'll keep my hands up and won't make any sudden moves."
I turned around slowly and looked at the child in front of me. Emerald eyes and platinum hair. Her eyes were sunk deep in beyond her age, and she looked 12 at best. Her clothes looked tailored, like an aristocrat's attempt at looking poor, yet their allure seemed to have been ruined by Father Time. loose threads sat at the seams, with tears and patches scattered across her clothes, like uneven pock marks.
And her blade, it wasn't a blade. It seemed to be a small stick, which had a piece of sharp iron stuck to its end. A makeshift weapon for such a dangerous world. It hit me that she might've also been transported here like me.
"Hey, what's this place? Do you know where we are? What year is it? I saw a monster, it had three hands, and holes all over its face... What was that?... Please stop glaring at me..."
Her eyes continued to pierce me.
"Go to the far end of the room, keep your hands up, and don't move ur arms or look away from me"
I followed her command. Moved and sat on the ruined bed.
"Are you going to answer my questions?"
"I have a few questions for you first. When did you first enter this world? How did you enter this world, and what the hell did you do to escape the Zenith?"
I assumed she called the creature that I saw the Zenith.
I did my best to explain everything about Alice, my attempt to save her. The light and me fainting. The screen I saw and the monster. Me running to school and coming here.
Her eyes seemed to waver at multiple parts of the story. Alice's appearance, the monster, and my escape all seemed to mean something to her.
"So, will you answer my questions now?"
"Hmmn, I guess I have to start with the basics. This is the Dark Dimension. And the fact that you survived that Zenith is a gift from heaven. And according to that scenario, unless you kill it. You'll never be able to get out of here."