Afraan's side—
The moment I arrived inside the gate, a wave of dizziness hit me. My vision blurred, my head spinning as if I had just been thrown out of reality itself.
After my awakening, my eyesight problem had completely disappeared—so this caught me off guard. It was obvious. This wasn't normal. This was the effect of entering the gate.
I clenched my jaw and forced myself to stay upright, breathing slowly—
in…
out…
Slowly, my vision began to stabilize. The dizziness faded, and my head cleared little by little.
When I finally came fully to my senses, I realized something unsettling.
There was no one here.
I was completely alone in this nightmare of a world.
I lifted my gaze.
Two massive moons loomed in the sky above—both crimson, both unnaturally large. Their light didn't shine. It bled, staining the land below in dull shades of red and black, as if the sky itself was wounded.
"…What the hell…" I muttered.
Small.
They were swallowed instantly by the silence.
All around me stood trees—if they could even be called that. Tall, skeletal shapes with twisted trunks and bare, claw-like branches reaching toward the sky. Not a single leaf clung to them. Not a single one moved.
There was no wind.
No rustling.
No life.
Even the air felt dead.
I turned slowly, scanning my surroundings, my heartbeat loud in my ears.
Yeah… I was really alone here.
There was no sign of any living being.
***
Afraan stood motionless beneath the crimson-lit sky.
Silence pressed in on him from all sides, thick enough to feel physical. Even his own breathing sounded foreign in this dead world—too loud, too alive.
He took a step forward.
The ground beneath his boots was dry and cracked, blackened as if it had been scorched long ago. No matter how carefully he moved, there was no sound—no crunch, no scrape. It was as if the land itself refused to acknowledge his presence.
He walked on.
Minutes passed. Maybe longer. Time felt vague here.
There was still no sign of any living being.
It was strange. Back in the real world, the gate had shown extremely high mana readings. Yet after entering, there was nothing—no creature, no presence, no trace of mana at all, aside from this horrific scenery itself.
Yeah… it was really strange.
And that strangeness only made the unease heavier.
When you know something is dangerous—and you know why it's dangerous—you can think of ways to deal with it. But when you don't even know the source of the danger, can't sense it, can't see it, and have no idea what you're facing… that becomes the worst and most terrifying scenario.
And that was exactly what was happening now.
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Then there was the feeling.
The unmistakable sensation of being watched.
Not from a single direction.
But from everywhere.
Afraan slowed, his gaze sweeping across the lifeless trees surrounding him.
Nothing moved.
Yet the feeling refused to fade.
And it wasn't just him.
Every single person who had entered the gate—all forty of them—felt the same way as they moved through the tree-filled forest.
***
After walking for some more time—
Afraan had already gone deep into the forest.
The skeletal trees grew denser here, their twisted branches overlapping like interlocked ribs. The crimson light from the twin moons barely reached the ground anymore, leaving the forest drowned in heavy shadows.
Then—
He stopped.
His body reacted before his mind did.
The feeling.
It surged.
Not subtle anymore.
Not distant.
It pressed against his back, crawled along his spine, coiled around his neck like cold fingers.
'This damn feeling… it's getting stronger.'
Yeah.
It was that sensation again—the unmistakable certainty of being watched.
Only now, it was close.
Too close.
Afraan spun around in a single, fluid motion, swinging his hand forward. A blade of compressed wind erupted from his palm.
Whoosh!
The air screamed.
Four trees were sliced apart cleanly, their trunks severed as if cut by an invisible sword.
THUMP!THUMP!THUMP!THUMP!
The massive bodies crashed to the ground, shaking the earth beneath his feet.
Dust rose.
Branches snapped.
The forest groaned—
And then fell silent.
There was nothing behind the fallen trees.
No shadow.
No movement.
No enemy.
Afraan froze.
His brows knit together.
"…What the hell is going on?"
Before the words fully left his mouth—
A chill crawled up his spine.
'Behind me.'
Afraan reacted instantly.
He twisted his body mid-turn, leaping backward as another blade of wind burst forward.
Whoosh!
Two more trees were cleaved apart.
THUMP!THUMP!
They collapsed just like the others.
And once again—
Nothing.
No blood.
No corpse.
No trace of whatever he had sensed.
Afraan landed lightly, boots scraping against the scorched ground.
A strained laugh escaped him.
"A-Are you kidding me?" he muttered, breath uneven. "There's no way I sensed it wrong this time. It was right behind me."
The forest did not answer.
Instead—
The air around him began to change.
Slowly at first.
Then rapidly.
Wind gathered.
Not in front of him.
Not behind him.
But everywhere.
It spiraled inward, wrapping around his body like a tightening vortex. The pressure climbed relentlessly, pushing against his skin, tugging at his clothes.
The sound grew sharper.
Fwooooo—
The swirling wind condensed further and further until the air itself began to glow—white, blinding, violent—tearing away the crimson gloom of the forest.
Afraan stood at the center of the storm, eyes narrowed.
Then—
He released it.
BOOM!
The explosion of wind roared forward at terrifying speed.
In an instant, everything within twenty to twenty-five meters in front of him was erased.
Trees were shredded.
The ground was torn apart.
The forest ahead vanished into a storm of debris and light.
***
The moment the path ahead was cleared—
Something stepped out of the darkness.
One by one.
Six figures emerged from between the broken trees, their movements slow and deliberate, as if they had been waiting all along.
Afraan's eyes narrowed slightly.
They were monsters.
Yet… something was wrong.
They weren't alive.
That much was obvious at a glance.
Their forms resembled wolves—massive ones—but calling them wolves felt incorrect. Their bodies were far too large, far too unnatural. There was no flesh, no muscle, no fur. They were composed entirely of condensed shadows, their outlines wavering like smoke struggling to hold shape.
Faint red light glowed where their eyes should have been.
And deep within their chests, something pulsed.
Dim.
Rhythmic.
Unsettling.
"Grrrrrrrr—"
Low growls rolled through the forest, vibrating through the cracked ground. The sound didn't come from throats—it echoed, hollow and distorted, like noise dragged through a void.
Afraan exhaled slowly.
"So you guys were the reason behind that feeling, huh?"
He lowered his stance, feet spreading slightly apart. The wind around him shifted in response, reacting to his intent. A faint smile tugged at his lips—sharp, without warmth.
"Let's check your power, then."
The monsters moved.
In an instant, their slow steps turned into a sudden burst of speed. Shadow tore across the ground as all six lunged forward at once.
Afraan thrust his hand out.
"Wind Blade!"
Whoooosh!
A massive arc of compressed air tore through the forest, screaming as it carved a straight path forward.
The shadows were struck head-on.
They shattered.
Their bodies dispersed violently, torn apart and erased as if wiped from existence.
Silence.
Afraan blinked.
"…Huh?"
His posture loosened just a little.
"Wasn't that too easy?" he muttered. "After all, they were—"
Something moved.
His pupils shrank.
From the scattered shadows on the ground, darkness began to gather again. Wisps rose, twisting, pulling themselves together.
Limbs of shadows took shape.
Eyes ignited red once more.
In the blink of an eye, all six monsters stood there again—whole, intact, as if they had never been destroyed.
Afraan stared.
Then—
A short, breathless laugh escaped him.
"Heh…"
Another followed.
"Hehe…"
His smile widened, but there was no amusement in his eyes.
"Are you kidding me?"
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