CH 5

Evan’s memory of fleeing from the entrance of Doug's laboratory and returning to his new dormitory was hazy. 

All he knew was that when he regained consciousness, he found himself lying on his stomach in front of the sink in the bathroom, vomiting continuously. 

He hadn't eaten anything (his appetite had diminished in recent days), and all he expelled was sour beer mixed with streaks of blood.

As he stared at his vomit, the image that kept replaying in his mind was the last glimpse of the place he’d caught before Doug's lab door closed.

It was that shadow. 

Its shape changed constantly, and it seeped out through a gap in the wall. Was it just caused by the flickering of the electric lamp, or a figment of his imagination? Or was it...

Evan refused to dwell on it any longer.

From that day forward, he never opened the book again, let alone glance at the star map or enter that absurd room he had visualized in his mind.

Evan had no way of knowing if his "visitor" had departed, but he found it too absurd to believe that the shadow had transcended the distant stars and invaded his reality. 

Instead, Evan preferred to chalk it up to hallucinations caused by nervousness.

Delusions were not uncommon among mages, whose thoughts were delicate and sensitive. 

Evan desperately tried to convince himself.

He staggered to his feet and inspected the arrays and runes he had hung on the walls and doors. The statues of the Goddess of Magic, the God of Order, and the Nightmare Snake who devoured nightmares were neatly arranged in a corner of the room. 

When Evan chanted, these expensive statues emitted a faint halo, indicating that the tight protective array within the room was functioning.

Evan had spent almost all his savings on setting up the things in his room. He’d even pilfered some experimental materials left by his former instructor. Of course, that old man could no longer demand an explanation for the missing items.

It was an excessive and somewhat risky move, but seeing the glow of magic flowing through the room, Evan felt it was all worth it.

"Things will improve," Evan whispered to himself repeatedly, his voice low. 

However, despite his efforts, he found himself unable to resist the urge to wrap his arms around his knees and curl into the corner of the room. He shivered involuntarily, and cold sweat drenched his clothes.

Gradually, exhaustion seeped into Evan's overtaxed body. Despite his fear and resistance, he unwittingly fell into a deep slumber.

"You shouldn't leave a room vacant for too long." 

In his dreams, Evan heard a voice that was both familiar and not.

Eyes snapping open, he found himself back in his original damp and dark dormitory. A faint mist lingered in the narrow space, emitting that unbearable metallic scent.

His former roommate, the sea dwarf who had mysteriously vanished, was curled up in the hammock, muttering in a low voice.

The light was so dim that the sea dwarf looked like a lump of black shadow to Evan.

Tick, tock... tick, tock...

A viscous sound reverberated through the air, as if liquid was dripping from some corner of the room. 

Evan had never felt such terror.

He wanted to scream, but his throat felt constricted. Not a single sound could escape.

Every inch of his body, from his hair to his toenails, seemed frozen. 

"He wants you to stay there with him. There's no escaping His grasp," the sea dwarf said. His voice contained an inexplicable frenzy, and every word he spoke made Evan's temples throb. 

There was something Evan could not withstand in his voice.

It stemmed from the deepest recesses of the soul; humanity’s subconscious repulsion and resistance.

But Evan couldn't curse or scream; he could only move stiffly toward the room permeated by that metallic scent, helplessly watching as the light gray mist seeped through the crack in the dormitory door and into the room.

The figure of the sea dwarf became increasingly blurred in the thickening fog. 

"He likes you. He is an exceptionally great being; greater than greatness, and more evil than evil. He is the vast darkness, more permanent than eternity, and he embodies the gigantic abyss of despair. He has taken an interest in you — and he is offering you a response. You must return, or things will worsen. He will seek you out, breaching rules and planes, dimensions and time, and you shall bask in eternal glory with Him."

When the sea dwarf’s words ended, Evan felt that excruciatingly screeching voice resound in reality, his imagination, and within his mind. The deafening sound made Evan fear that his brain would turn to mush and flow out of his ears.

The unbearable pain made it difficult for Evan to breathe. 

The mist on the ground gradually transformed under Evan’s frightened gaze. Swirling, it morphed into countless slender and supple tentacles. 

They pounced towards Evan's body. Within the mist, murky red and yellow lights flickered dimly in a turmoil.

Through that light, Evan finally caught a clear glimpse of his former roommate's current appearance. 

Evan regretted glancing at the other immediately after.

The abnormally repulsive and grotesque sight shattered Evan's composure and resolve in an instant.

"Ahhhhhh!!!" 

Evan let out a terrified scream.

Bang—

In the next moment, he collapsed heavily onto the ground, his body convulsing and twitching uncontrollably.

The hellish torment only subsided after a quarter of an hour, though it took Evan much longer to regain his composure. 

The physical pain gradually faded, but the deep wound his psyche received continued to bleed and fester.

As Evan lay on the ground with his face pressed against the damp bricks, unable to move, the scenes from his dream lingered in his mind. 

He was certain that what he had seen was not his sea dwarf roommate at all, but some other entity that had travelled through space and time to infiltrate reality and the dream world , using his unfortunate roommate's soul as a gateway.

That entity was now pursuing Evan.

"What have I done...?" Evan murmured softly, his voice filled with pain and despair.

The taste of blood lingered in Evan's mouth, and his tongue throbbed. He’d probably bitten it during his earlier convulsions.

When Evan finally managed to get to his feet and regain basic motor control, a significant amount of time had elapsed. 

However, he failed to realize that his troubles were not limited to his abnormally weak body and fragile mental state.

The magic arrays, rune disks, and the defensive measures Evan had constructed with the magical statues — everything Evan could construct as a mage lay in ruins. 

He stared incredulously at the remnants of the things he’d spent all his money and energy on procuring, his mind drawing a blank.

"Oh, Goddess of Magic..." 

Evan staggered toward the wall and removed an expensive rune plate, gently running his fingers over its now uneven surface. 

The mithril had begun to melt, and all the reserved magic circuits were completely blocked. The magic array, which had always remained glowing and pristine, was now dim and lifeless. 

The rune components that made up the array had lost their gentle and bright colors, turning a dull, lifeless gray. A layer of thin dust coated the array, carrying a faint metallic odor.

As for the magic statues... Evan thought that it would be best not to examine them too closely. 

The statues seemed to have weathered ten thousand years in a dark, humid environment. The faces of the Goddess of Magic and the God of Order were misshapen and blurry. Only sunken black holes remained where their eyes should be. 

A white, slimy worm poked its head out from one of them before retracting its body slowly. The body of the Nightmare Snake lay shattered into pieces, yet a layer of grayish-white mucus kept them all together. Its huge head, which once bore a ferocious expression thanks to exquisite carving, now seemed to be howling in agony.

A pang of pain surged from Evan's heart. It was not caused by the loss of his property, but rather a deeper fear. 

Evan could hardly bear to look at the contorted expression on the statue of the Goddess of Magic, as an overwhelming sense of foreboding washed over him.