Test Subject

This madman has been torturing me. Blood covered me all over, I can't feel my face, and the floor below me is flooded with my dark blood. I want to scream my agony but could only do it in my head! Earlier, I wanted to make him suffer the same but now I just want to die. No more of this! I'm begging you!

"Why don't you move a little bit?" he asks whilst removing his bloody gloves. "It would save me a lot of time. Well, until our next session!" He turns around and walks away. "Keeping the Rave running is a daunting task, after all."

Why won't I die? I lost count of how many times he came into this room to torture me, waiting for me to move on my own. Why does he have to do this? What's the point? I wouldn't know. He's a psychopath. I will never understand what's going on in his mind. But I know for certain that he likes seeing me bleed. By now, I should be dead. I lost all of my blood. My veins are dry and my heart is pumping nothing but air. Yet I still live. . . and feel.

Maybe I'm already dead. Maybe I can log out now. But I can't. The UI doesn't show up. I don't even know the time I've been here. Being trapped here is nothing short of eternal agony. This "Underworld" as they might call it is not hell at all. The real hell is what I'm suffering.

If I never took this quest in the first place, I wouldn't— No, if I never went to this cursed world. . .

<>

"W. . . what you playin', Momma?"

She gets off of the pod and says, "Shannia, my dear." After picking me up, I get a closer look at her tired face. She's forcing herself to smile. "It is a wonderful world with so many things to discover and do. I wish I could play it with you but you're still young."

"I'm big now, see?" I flex my chubby arms.

"Oh, right! How could I?" She tickles my armpit and I couldn't stop giggling. "One day, I will make it safe enough for us to play together. You're gonna love it, Kai." I can't see her face but her kind smile.

<>

I don't know where that came from. Perhaps it was buried deep inside my mind and decided to resurface just now—just now that I'm about to die. It was clear as glass, felt like I was really there. This must be what they say that your life flashes before your eyes. But that wasn't everything in my life. It was only a fraction. It makes no sense for me to say this but that only means I'm still alive. I'm not yet at Death's door.

"Miss me?" the Phantom grins as he enters once more, here to make me suffer again. I wish I have control of my lungs so I could at least take a deep breath.

He carries on with his torture, scraping my wounds, putting his finger in them, and even putting anything that would make it so painful. Last time it was salt—this is his favorite.

Then I wonder. . . Why am I not freaked out by the pain this time? I feel that it hurts so bad but it's somehow a familiar feeling. I'm getting numb for real like I'm ready to die. Should I give in to this feeling? What will I even gain if I stay? I'm suffering here and still suffering in the real world. I got nowhere else to go. In the past, I thought about killing myself, ending my agony. Now, it has come.

"Why won't you move!!!" he roars in botheration. "Show me that again and I'll give you an easy death!" He punches my face repeatedly. "Move for me!" He gives up, breathing hard. "I'll end you now. You're nothing but a waste of time."

Down comes the tip of the knife towards my head. My hand just naturally moves on its own and stops him by the wrist. I'm confused. Is the parasite trying to protect me? I think it's not. Instead, it's fighting to loosen my grip.

Is this my own will? My will to live.

"That's right," the Phantom chuckles. "This is what I've been waiting for."

For some reason, I'm the master of my body now. The parasite's effort is futile. I realize I can now glare and beat this guy up. I knee him in the stomach, sending him crashing and demolishing the wall in the hall outside. My knee takes some serious damage. My blood pours out of my wounds and cuts.

I take a step and the parasite is ruining my balance. On all fours, I collapse to the ground. It's bothering me. So, I open my mouth, my cheeks tearing open so I could fit my whole arm down to my throat. I feel its soft body with my palm. I crush it and pull it out. It has gotten bigger but look how pathetic it is. It is crushed and still throbbing—trying to live.

Nuh-uh, you're not gonna be controlling me anymore. After slamming it on the ground, I step on it like dogshit. Hmm. . . what was I doing again? Oh, right. I was fighting that guy—the Phantom of the Rave.

"That's what I'm begging for!" he roars in celebration as he gets himself out of the rubble. I bet he's stronger than this. I'll need help. "Come here!"

Catching him off-guard, I kick his face and make a run for it. The plan is to find the room where I changed my clothes. I hope it's still there—the candy that Zaori gave me.