Something isn’t right (4)

[It was an ordinary morning. Well, afternoon, but Cale had woken up not long ago. As usual, Cale had left the orphanage to catch a few researched criminals and was setting up traps.

Suddenly, his ears caught the sound of footsteps.

Cale frowned and heard the person stop.

While paying attention to his surroundings, he touched the revolver in his pocket and slowly approached the source of the sound, then Cale turned around the corner and pointed his weapon at the other person.

There, a familiar face greeted him. Xin Jian smiled and playfully raised up her arms.

"So, are we flirting right now?"

Cale raised an eyebrow.

"I nearly KILLED you."

"That doesn't answer my question."

The crimson-haired man sighed in exasperation.

"Where did you read this?"

"Aw, I was caught."

'No, I just know you too well.'

These words were left unsaid as the crimson-haired man went back to his task, consciously ignoring his friend looking over his shoulder.]

Cale stopped reminiscing as the face of the man named 'Kim Dokja' entered his view.

"What are you thinking about?"

The teenager frowned in distaste but still answered him.

"I'm thinking about my friend."

The other man tilted his head.

"Your friend?"

Cale hummed.

"Yes, I didn't say goodbye when I left."

He could remember the last words she had told him. Thinking about it, her words were quite strange.

Lost in thought, he said them aloud.

"'Outer Gods are entities located before the confines of Earth and the Solar System, exerting their influence from deep space or from beyond our dimension. However, some Outer Gods have taken up residence on Earth. They may be distinguished from Great Old Ones, although the distinction isn't universally acknowledged.'"

The man's eyes widened, but Cale didn't notice it and continued.

"'The Great Old Ones are ancient, powerful creatures whose origins lie in the distant past of the cosmos, no two Great Old Ones are exactly alike, although they tend to share similar traits. Most are colossal monstrosities formed from the very fabric of the universe and virtually impossible to destroy, have minds whose thought processes are incomprehensible to humans, show little to no regard for the consequences their actions may have on lesser beings, and drive to insanity any who look upon their true form. In addition, the majority of them are able to influence the minds of sentient creatures even when sleeping or dormant. Initially believed to have been merely indifferent to the fates of those unfortunate enough to be around them, recent writings have shown the majority of them to be actively hostile to the mortal population of the cosmos.'"

The man who called himself 'Kim Dokja' completely stopped walking.

"'So imagine that there is a story. If the real villain was a Great Old One but the Great Old Ones are outside the story, doesn't it mean that the real villain isn't featured in the story? In that case, only the author of that story is the closest person to knowing the identity of the villain, and you would have to go to the author to find and kill the villain...'"

Cale shook his head.

"'What if this world was in fact a dream? You can think of all this as a dream. And since this is a dream, when you leave, I will go on a quest to search for outer gods and find the final boss.'"

He sighed.

" …Those are the last words she told me before I left the orphanage and the scenarios started."

He vividly recalled Xin Jian's playful face as she grinned at him and left these strange words.

Then, Cale finally noticed that the man had stopped and looked back.

"Is there something wrong?"

He turned to the frozen man who had an amused smile on his face as he murmured some inaudible words.

"A dream, huh…"

Right, this world was all a dream.

The man heard Cale's question and quickly caught up with him, grinning.

"I am very interested in meeting your friend now. What is that person's name?"

Since it wasn't a secret, Cale stoically answered him.

"Xin Jian."

Cale ignored his bad feeling as he continued to walk.

Somehow, the man's expression with his eyes widened that he had seen when he turned back was… creepy.

No, it must be his imagination.

Cale shook his head and checked the distance left until they arrived at the orphanage.

In the train, Xin Jian nodded to herself.

"Look, at least I said goodbye before leaving. I am not a scumbag."

The Oldest Dream held back his anger and tried to remain calm.

"That's not the problem here."

"Why?"

She raised a finger.

"I said it was all a dream, and that I'll go find an outer god. No problem."

The Oldest Dream closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"No, how the hell is your friend supposed to understand what this means? And how do you even know this?"

Xin Jian put an index on her lips.

"Secret; and Cale is smart, he'll figure it out."

The Oldest Dream gave up trying to reason with her.

Meanwhile, Cale and 'Kim Dokja' finally reached the door of the orphanage.

[You have cleared the bounty scenario.]

[Ellain Monkey's Lungs have been acquired as a basic clearance reward.]

[100 coins have been reduced for the channel usage fee.]

[300 coins have been sponsored.]

Creeeak.

Cale pushed it open without hesitation and familiarly walked through the corridor.

Even though it was dark, he had spent 10 years there and knew the place by heart. He would be able to find Xin Jian's room with his eyes closed.

He was also sure she was the one who hid the cookies that were in his room each time, only to make him come to her room where she had specially added a very comfortable couch for him—so comfortable that he didn't want to get up from it—along with the cookies she had stolen from him every time.

Xin Jian was just that type of person. She was someone who always had nothing to do and either read books or stuck to him when she was bored….

"Cale?"

The hooded teenager glanced at the man.

"What is it?"

'Kim Dokja' was looking around as he followed Cale.

"You were hungry earlier, shouldn't there be a cafeteria here? Besides, I also want to eat."

Cale clicked his tongue and changed his path, holding back his impatience.

Who knows? She could very well be in the cafeteria.

Cale walked through the corridors until he arrived at the cafeteria. However, a faint smell of blood was coming out of the room.

The crimson-haired teenager scrunched up his nose and decisively opened the door, discovering the scene inside.

He stilled for a moment.

Behind him, 'Kim Dokja' asked:

"Cale, is everything fine?"

Cale took a deep breath and stepped forward, answering in a low voice:

"It's fine…"

He took one step, two steps, three steps… and dazedly approached the decapitated corpses on the ground, ignoring the blood on the floor that stuck to his shoes.

Tak, tak, tak…

Cale stopped and bent down to check each and every one of the corpses, recognizing people that were still smiling while talking to others before the scenarios began, while the man behind him stayed silent.

Honestly, it all seemed like a dream.

Cale couldn't realize that everyone was dead; it all felt unreal to him.

However, this was not the first time he had felt this feeling. It had already been far too many times that this situation happened.

People died while he survived. He knew very that others deserved to live more than him. Cale shouldn't be alive.

When he had checked that she wasn't among the corpses on the floor, Cale moved on to the kitchen.

Anyway, they had originally come to the cafeteria to get food.

The man tried to break the silence and commented:

"It's amazing how this area is still untouched. Even the convenience store didn't have any food left."

Tired, Cale kept a stoic face and explained it to him.

"A lot of people must be underground by now, and food isn't the first thing you think about when you see an orphanage. Even if they came aboveground, people would target supermarkets first."

'Kim Dokja' nodded while looking around the food available. Then, his gaze stopped on a carton of tomato juice.

He reached out his right hand and playfully took it before beginning to drink it.

Some messages that were only visible to the constellations appeared.

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' confirms that this man is impersonating Kim Dokja.]

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' says that her boss agrees.]

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' wonders who your boss is.]

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' …]

Xin Jian, who had tried to say sensitive information, was unexpectedly stopped.

"Hmm?"

Her words were censured.

She tried to answer him again but failed.

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' …]

Xin Jian stared at the message, lost in thought.

[The constellation 'Believer in Mysteries' is unable to say it.]

It seemed that there was something preventing her from divulging important information here.

Cale, who couldn't see the messages, ate a cookie and packed up some food just in case.

Then, he absentmindedly left the cafeteria, followed by the other man, and headed to the dormitory.

The orphanage was financed by wealthy people and could thus afford to give a room to everyone.

Since everyone lived in separate rooms, they didn't bother to put the boys and girls in different places. Coincidentally, Cale was living right next to Xin Jian.

As he reached the familiar door, memories associated with the place came back to his mind.

[As he was lying on Xin Jian's couch as usual, Xin Jian had hurriedly come in. For once, she appeared abnormally panicked.

"What did you do?"

Xin Jian dramatically raised her hands as a proof of innocence as she caught her breath.

"Nobody died."

Cale took a while to process her reply until he reacted.

"…What kind of answer is that?"]

He wanted to laugh at the thought but couldn't even bring himself to smile because of the fear of what could lie beyond that door.

In truth, he was more scared that her body would be there than the possibility that she had already left this place.

Cale hadn't come to check that Xin Jian was there, but that Xin Jian wasn't there; because at least that would mean that she was alive.

"…It's here."

However, there was no usual reply coming from behind him.

It was at this moment that Cale noticed how the corridor had been eerily quiet since earlier.

As memories of the last 30 seconds came back to him, the teenager frowned.

…It was even so quiet that there hadn't been any footsteps.

He turned back and looked behind him. However, 'Kim Dokja' was nowhere to be seen.

"Kim Dokja?"

At some point, the man had disappeared.