Note: This novel is NOT horror, it is fantasy which is soon to become. The horror is for character development.
Also sorry for the a bit shallow thoughts and monlogue and such, this is my first novel, so i'll improve them in future chapters.
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Hello everyone! *Waves hand*
How's everything been? As you can see, I am as fine as always! Like everyday, but today even more. I'm in such a good mood~ *Whistles happily*
Eeeeh? What's that? Your asking what I'm doing? As you can see, I'm trying to reach for a book in a book shelf!
Hm? What happened to the computer?
Meh, that old shit almost kicked the bucket. Tch, tch.
You're asking what book I'm trying to reach? Hey, hey, are you making fun of me because of how short I am? Hmph!
But as the generous individual I am, I'll tell you anyways. The book is called-
██████████
What? You want me to say it again? Fine...
The book is called-
██████████
My words aren't reaching you? Then its.... not meant to be.
Let us look at the daily log:
--- BEGIN CORRUPTION LOG ---
Name: It looks funny.txt
Size: 5,679 bytes
Date: 1991‑05‑20 02:16:47
CONTENT START >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Thís ís a NOT a rеport file. Somε of the cħars look ok, but
somè inyent sεçtions ære(n't) glitčhẽd:
Line 24: Q≈µnrants: 100
Line 12: ?@?Syntax___Line34#?@?#?@?%?%?%
Binary [hex]:
00 00 00 00 13 13F 13F 13 FF AA 13 C169 00 00 54 65
78 74 20 19 45 75 6E EA E1 E8
I hear weird sounds. They sound really close by. Like whales. But the whale sound-s-s-s a bit funny(?). I don't think its a whale. Whale's don't look like that.
What is tha-
Haha, it heard me. Its coming. Closer. And closer. What is this funny feeling?
Where did it go? Was it my imagina-
▒▓█▓▒▒▒▓█▒▒▓▒█▓▒▒▓▒▓█▒▒▓▓▒█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒
▓▒█▓▒▒▓█▒▒▒▓▒█▓▒▓▒▒█▓▒▒▓▓▒▒█▓▒▒▓█▒▒▒▓█▓▒▒▒▓█▓
▒▓█▓▒▒▒▓█▒▒▓▒█▓▒▒▓▒▓█▒▒▓▓▒█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒
…END OF CORRUPTION—FILE TRUNCATED—
--- END LOG ---
🌼
Xin slowly closed the door behind him carefully, unaware of what had occurred the moment he left, before directing his gaze to his current situation.
Currently, he had a few things in mind that he could summarize his situation with:
For starters, he had finally concluded that he was not on earth; the paranoia activity around him was too unusual for something like that to occur on earth, unnoticed.
Second, he had died, no doubt. Although this location did not appear to be heaven or hell, he couldn't be entirely sure. After all, it wasn't like humans had seen heaven and hell first handedly, and knew what it looked like.
There was a major chance they had been delusional in their thoughts.
However, if this location is neither heaven or hell, then... Xin still needed some time to figure out where he was, and his purpose of coming here.
No wonder how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with an inkling of an idea. The location was just too random to show up. Did everyone who died end up here?
Third, of all, he seems to hold a significant value, else the skull-like creature wouldn't have looked at him in something akin to disapproval.
If his hunch is correct, he seems to have a profound purpose coming here, not just to become a clown to entertain a bunch of guests.
Multiple thoughts ran through Xin's mind, as he slowly tilted his head, rubbing his chin in contemplation with a cold, unwavering gaze.
If someone had seen him a few moments ago, it would have been impossible to connect him with the guy who threw up on the ground upon recalling his memories.
Scanning the hallway, Xin walked through the empty school corridor with the yellow-whitish lighting, that screamed nostolgia.
Xin's footsteps echoed softly, swallowed quickly by the strange, padded stillness of the hallway around him.
The yellow-white light from above pulsed faintly with a low, electric hum, casting long shadows that bled together across the floor like old bruises.
There was just something off that he couldn't wrap his head around.
A faint buzzing sound.
There was nothing else to focus on but the details.
The walls were lined with cork boards and faded posters, some curling at the edges, others held flat by too many pins in the same hole.
They were mostly cheerful things at first, with a few having messages like "Don't forget to smile!" printed in crayon fonts alongside drawings clearly made by children.
They looked quite comforting or normal at the start.
He slowed as he passed one—a picture of a teacher holding hands with five students beneath a beaming yellow sun.
The figures were wonky, sure, but they radiated an innocence he hadn't seen in years. It made something inside him ache, just a little. With a sigh, he continued walking down the corridors.
Xin rubbed his chin, his mind pulling in every possibility, spinning theories that felt both ridiculous and terrifying.
Was this place some kind of trial? A test? Or a punishment wrapped in mystery?
None of it added up, but the silence around him demanded answers he didn't have.
He wasn't here by accident. That much was certain. But if he had a purpose, it was buried too deep for him to grasp.
Then came the next poster.
"...Mm?" His voice filled with intrigue echoed through the empty corridor.
The same sun, but it had turned gray, its rays drooping downward like tears.
The children's faces were still smiling, but something was off about the picture.
Their teacher now loomed a little larger than he should've, and his smile stretched unnaturally far across his face.
Xin's brow furrowed as he stepped closer, scanning the signature. Drawn by: Maelis.
Further down, the drawings became more frantic. Less structured.
One image particularly made him shiver, his firm mind shivering for a moment.
It was an simple childish drawing of a smile boy with glasses, along with a female and male drawing of adults, most likely his parents.
However what made him widen his eyes was that there was a fourth 'adult' that was completely black holding a knife with drops of blood falling down.
The image was labeled 'Me, daddy, mommy, and my friend!'
His gaze wavered, looking to the rest of the images in the eternal hallway.
Crayons turned to deep pencil scratches and ink splatters.
Figures started appearing in the corners, tall ones, all scribbled in black with no faces, just the faint suggestion of heads turned sideways, watching.
One drawing depicted a classroom, but all the children were facing the wall, hands raised as if in punishment, while something with many arms leaned over them, smiling wide and toothless.
The names under the drawings made him pause more than once. Grilis. Poern. Nuvéi. Mr. Fernsy. Ermi.
"Grilis? Poern? What kind of fucking names are these?"
A frown adorned creased his forehead, as he felt something was extremely off.
None of them sounded real—at least, not from any country or culture he knew.
He'd traveled a lot often in his arms dealing business, yet these were a first for him.
He turned away from the last drawing with a quiet exhale, a subtle tightness pulling in his chest, then caught sight of the line of backpacks sitting under the drawings like forgotten offerings.
There were four of them. Each one bright, garish, almost painfully colorful against the sterile, yellow-hued backdrop.
The closest was pink, with glittering patches of flowers and stars.
He crouched down slowly, as if approaching a sleeping animal, and unzipped it.
Empty.
The next was shaped like a cartoon frog, one button eye missing. Also empty.
The third was a navy-blue one, well-worn—rattled slightly as he moved it, but when he opened it, there was nothing inside.
There wasn't even dust inside.
With his brows furrowed, he stood, slowly.
"The backpacks are empty, just as expected, no surprises there. Whoever set this place up isn't interested in leaving me any tools or weapons. It's either a test or a trap, so I need to proceed carefully."
Something about this place was all wrong in a way that couldn't be reasoned with.
BRIIINNNNG!
Just as he was considering what to do, he jumped in fright as a school bell rang through the entire school, the lights turning white all of a sudden.
Xin looked behind him in alert, as he prepared himself for anything, making him start running to his front, as if feeling that something was tracking him.
His thoughts spiraled messily.
There was no decay, no age, but everything felt old.
Almost like a stage set long after the play ended, still standing for no one in particular.
That's when he saw the red.
At first, it was just an arrow. A single stroke of crimson on the floor, painted—or maybe smeared—with thick, trembling lines.
Then another arrow, a few feet ahead.
Beside it, was written in equally crude letters:
"TEACHER—THIS WAY :)"
His eyes twitched curled slightly at the term.
"What exactly is this Teacher business?" he murmured aloud as he fell into deep thought.
He wasn't a teacher as far as he could remember, and never had been. Nor has he ever entertained the thought.
More arrows followed.
Some of the letters were shaky, uneven.
A few seemed to have been dragged downward, streaking across the tile like someone's hand trembled midway.
Eventually, the arrows led him to a classroom door.
It was a standard classroom door, the kind he'd passed thousands of times in his school days.
Wooden, chipped slightly at the edges, with a narrow rectangular window fogged by years of grime. There was no knob, no lock. Just the door standing firmly, different from the rest of the doors in the hallway.
He closed his eyes for a moment, preparing himself to take a defensive stance in case anything came out, and with caution, he steadied his breath, gently pushing it.
The door swung open, breaking before falling down something, making Xin jump back in fear and switch to an offensive stance with his eyes narrowed. He had just pushed the door lightly, yet the whole thing had collapsed.
However, he soon realized that behind the door was a red plastic tube slide coiled up from the floor like a tumor, like a birth canal waiting to be used.
It glistened wetly despite no moisture in the air. Its mouth gaped wide and dark, almost pulsing.
Xin stared.
Then stared longer.
His eyes looked down to where the door had fell.
No bottom.
No ladder.
Just the endless-looking hole.
"A slide, huh. How childish. No ladder, no bottom—it's clearly designed to force me downwards. There's no way around it, so I just have to accept the risk and move forward
He took a step back, to take a better look at the slide, before the corner of his eye caught a odd color, making him look down to the floor under his feet.
"Teacher must lead by example."
"Teacher must lead, huh? You sons of bitches are really going overboard"
He sighed in tiredness. Its been less than... what? A few hours since he woke up?
"If people followed my lead, it'd be the end of the world"
Yet he had seen so much that would have made his hair whiten in surprise.
What was the point?
He waited, hoping the moment would resolve itself. That the path would change.
But the silence around him tightened instead, the room leaning into itself, as though listening for his decision.
Eventually, he moved.
He stepped toward the slide.
Then into it.
And let himself fall.
The descent was too long, his heart beating in his ribcage as he accidently scraped his elbow, making him bite his lips.
Too slow at first, then suddenly too fast.
The walls rushed by, too close and then impossibly wide.
Gravity twisted. His breath caught, heart stuttering in rhythms that made no sense.
The slide pulsed with light for a second—brief and terrible—and then the world below swallowed him.
He fell from the ceiling without warning, straight down into cold water.
The impact wasn't harsh, but the chill cut through him like a whisper dragged across bare skin.
He gasped—not from pain, but from the suddenness of the cold feeling that enveloped him, as if swallowing him whole.
Wherever the hell he was.
His shirt stuck to his body, as he slowly tried to get up, ignoring the weight of his pants that multiplied due to water absorption.
"Where... am I?"
The first thing he noticed was the lack of the red messages, as if the tutorial was cut after he had reached this point.
The air was warm, damp, and still, clinging to his skin like a second layer. It was the kind of heat one would feel in indoor pools long after everyone's gone, when the silence starts to feel alive.
The scent of chlorine hung thickly, sharp in your nostrils, but underneath it was something faint and metallic — like rust, or old blood dried into tile grout long ago.
His footsteps made no sound as he walked in the magnificent colosseum location, just the occasional 'glugs' of his footsteps in the shallow water.
The floor beneath him was a path of light turquoise tiles, the color faded and weathered like an abandoned spa.
The water was barely ankle-deep, perfectly still, glass-like — but he didn't trust it too much.
Deep inside him, there was a sense, deep in his gut, that stepping off the path wouldn't just end up with his feet getting wet.
The walls rose up high around him, tiled entirely in glossy, hospital-white ceramic that reflects the ceiling lights in warped, wet gleams.
They towered far above — eight stories high, maybe more — narrowing at the top into an angular vault like some post-modern cathedral, or a tomb built for a forgotten god.
The tiles were flawless. Almost too flawless, as if they've never known dirt, or time, or human hands.
Embedded in the ceiling are rows of long fluorescent lights, humming faintly.
They buzzed with that mechanical whine that's always just on the edge of hearing.
The light they cast was cold, clinical, and unwavering.
Shadows don't form naturally here; they're sculpted deliberately by the geometry of the place.
To there left and right, midway up the walls, are narrow, pitch-black doorways. No doors.
Just holes.
Rectangular voids in the white, like slots carved into a mausoleum.
They seem too small for anyone to walk through comfortably, yet wide enough that someone could stand there and watch you.
And maybe they are.
In the water, eerily motionless, float a few rubber balls — green, pink, and one with faint, childlike patterns on it. They're bright, clean, and impossibly out of place. No ripples around them. No movement. Just... floating, as if held in place by invisible strings.
Ahead of Xin, suspended directly over the path, hovered a perfect sphere.
It's levitating without sound or support.
A large transparent orb that was impossibly dense in presence.
Xin closed his eyes for a moment
Its surface caught the fluorescent light in sharp glints that stab his eyes as he stared too long.
It's not blocking the path.
But it's there. Waiting. Watching.
Behind it — at what seems to be the very end of this long, water-lined corridor — is a black gate.
Iron bars, thick and tall, forming a wall that stretches from the water all the way to the ceiling. Beyond them: nothing. Just darkness.
A pure, lightless black that seems to drink in even the sterile glow of the overhead lights. You can't tell if there's a hallway, a room, or an abyss behind it. Just... black.
Like a mouth, or a void.
The whole space hums with a mechanical presence, but no machines are visible.
No vents. No fans. Just the faint buzz of artificial light, and your own breath, shallow and slow.
Ripples in the water ran, as Xin who had spaced out for a moment, snapped back to reality.
He could not believe that such a beautiful, yet eerie location could ever exist. He took a few steps forward, his legs pushing the water aside in the process.
He gently caressed the ball as if he was enchanted by it.
"What... is this?" His index finger slowly traced along the floating ball, before he crouched in the water, ignoring the wet feeling on his bottom, and looked to see if anything was carrying it.
Upon seeing nothing to prove his theory, he tried to stand up, but tripped and fell backwards in the shallow water.
His nostrils inhaling a mouthful of water, he tried to get up, but found his left foot stuck to something, the burning sensation enveloping his nostrils as he coughed the water violently, his body trembling for a moment.
Gradually calming himself down, he tried to see where his foot had gotten stuck to before he realized his foot was not stuck to anything.
Something had caught i-
"Wha-"
He didn't have time to react before he was violently dragged into the depth of the clear water.