Nightmare of the Past

At this moment, at what seemed to be an underground facility…

A man who seemed to be in his 40s was looking inside a large device that looked like a capsule.

He sported a white doctor's coat and glasses as he revealed a crazed smile.

"I succeeded…!"

Inside the large capsule was a young girl with white hair that had her eyes closed.

However, even in her unconscious state, it could be seen that she had a pained expression on her face.

Like she was having a nightmare of some sorts.

"Fever, visible veins, skin that bleeds upon the slightest touch… she also seemed to be experiencing thirst and headache right at this moment… Haha! HAHAHA!"

A nurse suddenly walked into the facility and said to the man, "Dr. Lazarus, the President is requesting for a video conference."

"I see." 

The man, Dr. Lazarus, answered with composure as he followed the nurse to a room with a large screen.

After a few seconds, the screen lit up as the face of the President could be seen.

"Dr. Lazarus! Haha, is it true? Were you really able to bring that back?"

Dr. Lazarus smiled in return, "Yes, Mr. President. I did bring a type of cancer back to life. However, can you tell me now?"

"Tell you what?" 

The President maintained a passive smile.

Dr. Lazarus sighed, "Do you really want me to spell it out for you? I mean why do you, the President, want me to bring back the diseases that have gone extinct?"

"Haha! Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you a little bit. It's because of that game. We believe that there's more to it than what meets the eye."

"But what does bringing back the diseases have to do with that?"

However, seeing that the President remained silent, Dr. Lazarus nodded in understanding.

After a pause, he asked, "But about the program for the children with diseases. You told the public that it was in order to heal them, right? But in realit–"

"What you're thinking is right, Doctor. I will be sure to reward you for your accomplishments this time. So please continue to do your best."

"Wait, I still have one last question." 

Dr. Lazarus raised his hand when he saw that the President would end the call.

"What is it?" 

"About that treasure. Do you have any news about him?"

"By treasure you mean- Ah! My apologies but I believe that he had been reduced to smithereens along with his family."

"Is that so?" 

For the first time, Dr. Lazarus's expression changed.

He looked really disappointed.

"Well, I guess that's it then."

The President smiled, "Don't worry about it, I'll make sure to send you more specimens you can experiment on."

"Anyways, I still have some matters to attend to so I'll be going now. Farewell."

Bzzzt—

The screen briefly became static before promptly shutting down.

Still sitting at his chair, unmoving, Dr. Lazarus loosened his tie, "What sort of game would have some connection to diseases?"

The President's goal was a mystery to him.

"Why would he want to worsen the diseases of the children? Or rather, why would he want to spread diseases to the children… Well, it's not like I care."

It was then that a vivid image appeared in his mind, making him lose his composure.

It was the image of a boy with black hair and red eyes who had all kinds of apparatuses embedded on his body.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! My treasure! Did he really just die!?"

Dr. Lazarus began to mutter crazily.

"If only it weren't for his monster of a mother and demon of a father… then I could have had my hands on him!"

"Such an excellent specimen like him… A pity! A pity! A pity!"

He threw a tantrum like a child.

Fortunately, he was alone inside the room as he crazily shouted. Though it didn't look like he would care otherwise.

Unbeknownst to Zen and the others, there was a nightmare of the past that had been waiting for them.

***

Meanwhile, on the other side…

Zen and Sera were still happily playing a game of tag.

They truly enjoyed it.

However, just as Sera was laughing, she saw that her brother suddenly stopped chasing after her.

A serious expression also appeared on his face as he clutched his heart.

"Brother? What happened?"

She asked with a worried expression.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

However, Zen could only hear the beating of his heart at this moment.

'What is this…!'

A bad premonition that sent chills down his spine.

He could feel it— as if something very bad was about to happen.

"Sister, let's go to the conference room."

"Right now? Have you finished creating the map?" Sera asked curiously.

Zen nodded affirmatively, "Yes."

"What!? How!? We've only been playing for the last hour!"

Sera didn't know whether he was joking or not. Though, he didn't seem like he was joking at all.

'Did he really create a map while we were playing!?'

She couldn't help but look at her brother and feel that there was some kind of mysterious fog covering him up.

"Let's just go now, please." Zen almost seemed to be begging her.

Their parents said to them earlier that they should meet at the conference room after Zen had prepared the map.

Seeing how strange her brother was acting, Sera stopped her antics.

She sighed and said, "Alright, let's go. But you owe me some play time, okay!?"

"Of course! Pinky promise!"

Zen heaved a sigh of relief. Looking at his sister, he felt as if the bad premonition in his heart disappeared in an instant.

The two of them soon cleaned the room before leaving.

"By the way, Sister. When I saw your map earlier, I thought the area we spawned is close to each other."

Hearing him, Sera's eyes lit up, "Really, Brother!?"

"Yes. Can you tell me where you are so I can go to you the next time we play the game?"

"Sure!"

The two of them conversed as they leisurely walked through the hallway.