Chapter 96: Chapter96-Back to my world

"Allen, huh? I can't even speak? What is this shitty situation?"

I tried to talk to Allen, but no words came out. My mouth was open, but there was no sound.

I looked at Allen, who was in the same situation, his face showing the same confusion and alarm I was feeling.

What is happening?

Desperation surged through me as I struggled to break free from the invisible hold on me, but it was like trying to move through quicksand...

Damn it, it's not workingI can't break free...

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't budge.

What's happening to us?

I thought again, desperately searching for an answer.

Suddenly, I started to feel something familiar, something very familiar.

What is this sudden feeling?

I looked around at my surroundings.

It was the same quiet, blood-soaked hallway, but something felt different.

I couldn't understand what it was.

What's going on?

The surroundings are the same, it's all silent, so why am I feeling this familiar feeling?

I scanned my body, and to my shock, I found my legs and hands trembling like crazy.

Why am I trembling? What's going on?

Am I afraid?

Then, out of nowhere, a sudden fear and terror began to take over me.

This fear...

I've sensed this before, but where? Where?

I racked my brain, trying to remember where I'd felt this fear.

Then, it hit me.

Isn't this the same fear I felt when I encountered an elite rank monster for the first time?

Yes, it is, but where on earth is it coming from?

I searched for the source of the fear, and it didn't take long to realize where it was emanating from...

Realization dawned on me.

The fear I was experiencing was due to the aura emanating from Lia.

My eyes widened in horror as I finally understood.

Lia's aura was no longer that of a normal warrior.

It was overwhelmingly powerful, oppressive, and terrifying, just like the aura of an elite rank monster.

The same paralyzing fear that had gripped me back then was now coursing through me again, making it hard to think or move.

How can this be?

Lia is... she's like a monster.

I struggled to process what this meant, but there was no denying the reality.

Lia's aura was suffocating, a dark presence that filled the air and rooted us to the spot.

As I continued to stare at her back, she finally began to move.

Huh? She is moving...

Slowly, she turned around to face us. Her eyes were cold, devoid of the warmth I'd known.

They were the eyes of a predator, a monster.

What?

Before I could fully process the change in Lia, she moved with blinding speed...

Suddenly, her sword was in her hand, and in one swift motion, she drove it into Allen's stomach.

Allen's eyes widened in shock and pain.

His mouth opened in a silent scream, his body convulsing as blood poured from the wound.

He fell to his knees, clutching at the blade embedded in him.

The horror on his face mirrored my own as he struggled to understand what was happening.

"Lia... why?" he gasped, blood bubbling from his lips.

But Lia didn't respond...

While all this was happening, my mind was elsewhere...

She definitely isn't Lia...

There's no way the real Lia could do that...

I mean, how could she even do that?

Beating a Gold ranker while still being a Silver rank is just absurd...

That's just not possible unless she has skills like mine, which I doubt.

If she did, she would have fought for herself all this time instead of me having to protect her.

Suddenly, she turned her gaze to me, and in an instant, she was upon me.

I knew it...

She wasn't herself.

These movements weren't hers.

This had to be someone else.

The force of her aura pressed down even harder, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

Damn, I forgotI need to get out of here before she stabs me like she did to Allen...

I tried to move my legs, but...

They felt like lead and wouldn't budge.

I kept struggling, but time was running out as Lia continued to stare at me for the past few seconds...

'Fuck, nothing is working. Looks like I have to use that...'

'System, activate the dash skill.'

[Dash Level 3 has been successfully activated!]

I read in his criminal record that he hated the rebels intensely because they killed his family...

Most of his victims were criminals or rebels, though he also killed ordinary citizens for reasons still unknown...

So why did he joined them?

I opened my mouth and said, "You"

But before I could finish speaking or fully understand what was happening, she moved quickly.

With a smooth, practiced motion, she slashed her blade in a vertical arc.

I felt the cold steel bite into my neck, the pain exploding in a white-hot flash.

Blood gushed from the wound, and a strangled gasp escaped my lips.

My hands instinctively flew to my throat, but it was too late.

The world around me blurred, the colors fading into a dull gray.

My senses began to dull, and a cold numbness spread through my body...

I felt my head spinning for a moment until I saw my headless body and realized that my head was in the air...

Fuck, that's the most brutal way to die in human history...

...

"Noooo! "

I woke up and touched my neck only to see nothing.

I was in a completely different place.

Confusion enveloped me as I looked around the unfamiliar room, struggling to comprehend my surroundings.

I was no longer in that dark, twisted chamber where my life had met a violent end.

The room I found myself in was simple and devoid of the eerie atmosphere that had plagued me moments ago.

There were no signs of Lia, no wickedly sharp swords, and no bizarre distortions of reality.

It was just an ordinary room, with soft light filtering in through a curtained window.

'This room looks familiar...

I have seen this room...

After carefully thinking I finally concluded.

"Wait! Isn't this my room?"

As I continued to take in my surroundings, a dawning realization washed over me.

The room, with its familiar furnishings, the soft glow of my bedside lamp, and the well-worn books on my shelves, was indeed my room.

It had the same scent, the same ambiance that I had known for years.

I couldn't believe it.

How did I even get here?

Wasn't I on the 3rd floor of the university?

So what happened?

The vivid and terrifying experiences I had just gone through felt like a distant nightmare...

I touched my neck once more, expecting to find the phantom marks of Mia's grip, but there was nothing.

Huh? It's not there...

There's nothing here...

It was as though the entire ordeal had never happened.

Wait! Was that a dream?

But...

Am I not jumping to conclusions too quickly?

I should first-

Before, I could complete my words, I heard something...

Huh? That sound...

Isn't that...

In the eerie silence, I could hear faint sounds from outside, like rustling leaves and distant voices...

I got out of bed and went to my window. Sparrows were sitting on the tree branches, chirping away...

Man, this is confusing. This place looks exactly like my world...

No modern buildings, no tall skyscrapers, nothing...

Did I really come back, or was it all just a dream?

After some thought, I decided to investigate further to see if I had truly come back.

I went to my reading desk in the corner of my room and checked my university books to see if they were the same as I remembered.

I picked up one book and examined it for a minute, confirming it was just as I thought.

But I still wasn't satisfied...

One thing didn't really prove I was back in my world, so I kept going.

I checked other books, but the result was the same. Still not satisfied, I decided to check the date on my phone.

With trembling hands, I grabbed my phone from my reading desk and opened it...

Before I opened it, I kept saying things like...

"This can't be real; I must still be dreaming."

"Yeah, that has to be it. There's no way I'm back here."

My mind couldn't accept that I had actually returned...

When I finally opened it, the date and time were clear:

June 23, 2020

10:30 A.M.

Death always arrives when you least expect it...

"No way, no way, no way!"

"This can't be real, I'm actually back!"

The date and quote on my smartphone clearly showed I was back in my old world...

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, was all that sex, killing, and luxury just a dream?"

I was really frustrated by this... Even though I was a bit happy to be back because I missed my parents but, the time I spent there was incredible... Just amazing...

"But seriously, who dreams for this long?"