"Sush...Suoo...Suush"
The sound of chains cutting through the wind as they fell, every passing moment there were a few more new chains falling from the sky.
No matter how I looked at the ground, The ground looked the same no matter how close to the ground I thought I was getting.
The view, the ground didn't get clearer or closer, it was as if I were looking at the ground from the same place the entire time as if I was suspended in the same place but clearly I was not, the mountain was not there in front of me moments ago and I was clearly going down by the looks at the mountain, looking at how things on it went upwards as I went down, so I was clearly going downwards.
"It was, it was, it should not be like this. Although there is a mountain in front of me, the distance to the ground, the view of the place faraway does not change."
"What is this place?"
I looked around me, to check if the chains were actually moving. Only to see they were. There was no mistake in it.
"The chains are moving, then why am I? Why Can't I reach the ground?"
"What is this?"
"What is this place"
"Is this an illusion?"
Shaking
The chains shook violently followed by the sounds of something. I turned toward where the sound came from, it was the sound of chains colliding into each other.
More Shaking,
I lost my balance and fell, This time unable to hold on.
As I fell towards the ground I turned around my head then twisting my body to turn towards a different direction, I looked everywhere.
The wind was so deafening as I fell, I couldn't hear anything else other than the sound of the wind.
In the corner of my eye, something moved. I turned that way only to see the two chains that had collided moments ago were now tangled together and were spiraling everywhere and that was only the upper part of the chain that was hanging from the sky, it moved everywhere colliding with other chains tearing them apart and what even more interesting was even though the chains were ripped apart and that part on the ground either should be sucked in into those dark holes or fall on the ground it did not the part from the ground was still floating in the air stretching towards the sky trying to go towards the sky only unable to do so.
And when the other part that was falling from the air spiraling reached the ground again, it formed another of those holes it went into and it sobered up again this time 2 chains were going into the same hole together. None other chains did that.
"What is happening?"
I just kept falling without hitting the ground. I was not getting closer at all to the ground. I was just floating mid-air but I was certainly falling, it was just that the ground went further and further away as I got closer to it.
Those chains floating upwards maniacally kept hitting other chains repeatedly before those other chains started to shake and broke off too,
"This is getting closer and closer towards me" but I couldn't do anything about it nor I could move away from them. I was helpless.
I continued falling, rather floating mid-air since there was no end to it. Just before one of those broken chains hit another chain, a chain that was much closer to me than the others before ripped it apart and that chain also started to spiral violently and broke other chains close to itself as those also started to spiral, before it hit those chains and tangled itself and changed its direction towards me and came spiraling towards me hitting me. I was knocked unconscious or so I thought I died.
When I opened my eyes I was in a damp cave, a cave it was well illuminated
"Natural light, water" there was water before my eyes, I put my hand in it immediately trying to drink it but I couldn't. I was surrounded by the water. It was crystal clear and glowing in the light and front of me but it couldn't pick it up in my hands, I couldn't touch it.
Although I couldn't touch the water or pick it up on my hands or use anything else to do so, it yet was unsettled by my actions, after getting a hold on myself and coming to my senses.
In that unsettled water, I saw a reflection.
"What's that?" I thought
I looked upwards before my eyes was a giant figure,
"An idol? What's that?"
It had eroded with water over time, unrecognizable as to whose figure it was. I had no idea what it was, I didn't know at the time. If I did, I could have ended everything right there at that time then. Nothing like that would have happened then.
The place I had been laying on was like an island of sorts. If I say so, it was a giant stone surrounded by water when I looked at it.
I thought how would I cross it since I can't touch it, therefore, I won't be able to swim in it, but it was not deep at all, it was only knee-deep.
And it was not the only place flooded, The cave was filled with knee-deep water at places and huge puddles and drops of water fell from the ceilings, where you could see the erosion on the stone,
The cave was huge like a hall. As I got closer I saw a woman clad in a white dress lying in front of the statue, I ran to check on her.
When I got closer, to my shock it was none other than An Chaeyoung.
I immediately tried to wake her up but to a futile effort, she did respond.
"Is she breathing?"
I checked if she was breathing with a finger on her nose,
"NO" she was not.
Does she have a heartbeat?
I laid my head on her chest with the [Bug] I should have been able to listen to her heartbeat, I listened but she did not have one.
I tried CPR. Chest compression, artificial breathing and everything I could do, frantically I tried everything but to my unavail I could not do anything, I had failed her, I got tired soon unable to carry on and besides nothing worked, Her body was already cold and limp.
Lifeless.
Tears rolled down my face as I wailed and screamed.
"What is this?" a female voice.
"Chae's voice"
I looked around everywhere inside the cave wiping my tears, looking for her holding her body in my arms.
"Where are you? Come out, did you do it?"
"COME OUT" I screamed
In a blink of an eye, someone was in front of me.
I saw the person's leg at first but as I went up she was wearing a black dress similar to the one Chae has on but when I saw her face, it was Chae.
I was taken aback, shock
"Chae?"
I looked down at the body I was holding in my arms. There were no mistakes, the body in my arm was Chae.
I kept looking at the body and her.
"Chae?"
She elegantly took steps. Going around me in a circle. she said
"Hey, do you love me?"
She stopped and kept looking at me eagerly waiting for an answer.
Someone who looked exactly like Chae had appeared in front of me.
"DO YOU LOVE ME?" she asked again.
"I remained silent"
"DO YOU LOVE HER?" she asked
I looked at her body, again tears started to roll down my face looking at her lifeless body.
She sat there, kept staring at my face before touching my face with her hand and asking
"Does it hurt?"
"She is dead, I will help you forget everything"
"Everything will go back to normal"
And it was just not me who was crying, as she said that she had tears too and she looked really pitiful and in pain.
"It hurt, it hurt somewhere in my chest deep down in a bottomless pit," i thought
I thought "So, deep down even I did not know the depth of it, I did not know why I feel so bad for her at the time"
She wiped my tears before covering my eyes.
"At least, Let me help you this time, once," she said in a very sad tone.
I removed her hand, she stepped backward and sat facing me, crying silently looking at me.
Tears kept rolling down her face.
"Let me help you" she kept crying.
"Let me help you"
Before she broke into hysterical laughter and got up, the sound of her laughter echoed throughout the cave.
"That silly kid," she laughed looking at Chae's body, I could see the sorrow in her eyes at the moment.
"It's what happens when we fall in love"
"It's always what happens we fall in love, always"
"EVERYTIME" she screamed.
She looked towards me,
"Don't you remember?" she asked
"What?" I said
"Don't you remember what happened on that day? That day you were returning from work? You were approached by a man"
"Huh" I said
"You really don't remember"
"That silly girl" she smiled and laughed again.
She touched my forehead with her finger.
"It hurts"
that pain again my head feels like it is going to burst.
Flashes of memories, her voice rang through my head she kept on saying
"Don't you remember?"
"Don't you remember seeing her?"
"Don't you remember the person that turned you into a monster?
"Don't you remember the person who kissed you and gave you the system fragment?"
"Don't you remember the person who stabbed you?"
"You saw it the moments before you blacked out, Remember"
"Remember Kim Meonjeo, you must remember"
"You must remember to live"
"I will ask you once again Kim Meonjeo, Are you living to survive? Or surviving to live?"
"That old man"
"That old man had turned into Chae, Moments before I blacked out"
"But why couldn't I remember it?"
"Why did I not remember it?"
"Why did I not remember you?"
I snapped out of the memories, panting heavily.
Opening my eyes, something green glowed inside the cave.
"crystals?" I asked, Looking at them.
"It's about time she is coming," she said
Who are you? I asked her.
"Chae's sister?"
As she took Chae's body from my arms and placed it on the floor.
She laughed and said
"No"
I kept looking at her.
She said
"Who am I?"
"I am her, yet not her"
"Part of her? Perhaps I am her"
Giggling, she got close inches away from my face and looked me in the eyes
smiling.
before, holding onto me and kissing me once again.
The place started shaking.
"Earthquake?" I thought
it started to form cracks like a mirror and started to fall apart, through the crack An Chaeyoung walked in.
The cave started to fall apart like shattered glass.
She stopped kissing me and whispered in my ear
"I am your well-wisher"
She got up wiping the tears from her face.
[System Fragment received]
An Chaeyoung came over to me
"Are you okay?"
She took a close look at me to check if I was harmed.
She took a breath of relief seeing I was fine.
Before turning towards her and angrily staring at her, before asking
"What are you doing?"
Everything, the cave completely shattered around us,
Bright Light
as she smiled and disappeared into the wind, shattering away, without answering her.
We were back in the room
I turned towards, An Chaeyoung
"I think you have a lot to answer" I said