Handling Fear

Every part of his body reacted differently than it did when he was in the game.

The cold air that hit his skin the first time he gained consciousness, the hallucination caused by his fears, the sound of his footsteps on the broken pavement, and the violet sky—along with the entirety of the ruined city—had engaged all five of his senses. Yet, these sensations were more vivid and intense, not just immersive.

That difference was enough for Hyde to realize this was not just a virtual world but an entirely different reality.

It might be because he assumed control of a character that it made a difference in how they felt about the world. But how could that explain the hallucination?

Even with humanity's technological advancements—colonizing the Moon and Mars and creating a hyper-realistic virtual world that simulated all five senses—such technology couldn't manifest something as abstract as a hallucination shaped by emotions.

Moreover, hallucination was not a stranger to Hyde. He frequently experienced the symptoms to the point where he could distinguish what was real and what was not.

Because such a thing was possible, Hyde realized that if he were hallucinating, it meant that he was in reality.

But that did not matter and was barely helpful for his current situation. As he had already figured out he might be transported into another world, what he needed now was something practical.

Not even curious why or who did this to him, Hyde crouched down, running his fingers along the broken furniture covered by dust. Upon sniffing it, he sneezed.

He slowly nodded as if he understood something.

After that, he started exploring the first floor of the building, looking for essential items. Acknowledging that this reality was not a game did not mean giving up valuable materials scattered around the place.

With his in-game knowledge, Hyde had a chance to survive and escape from that place. And if he did, he would start living in that world, mingling with other humans in the city.

But to survive in the city and society, he would need money. Not only that, he also needed a value for himself. In this world, someone with no value would be thrown away and forgotten as if they did not exist in the first place.

To avoid such a situation, Hyde was determined to loot every valuable item in this place. The only problem was how he could bring all of them.

Hyde frowned.

'Does inventory exist?'

As soon as the thought surfaced, Hyde tried any means possible to bring up the inventory window by internally shouting phrases like 'Open Inventory,' 'Open Sesame,' and 'Heed my command,' often while making exaggerated gestures.

It was futile... at least, he tried, and no one was watching him.

The game's story never mentioned anything about possessing an inventory interface. It was just an element of the game, so the result was expected. Still, Hyde couldn't help but feel disappointed, though his determination did not waver.

'It's making sense that in reality, the inventory won't exist.'

What if it existed? What if in order to use inventory, Hyde had to awaken first? Something like a privilege for those chosen and passed the trial. He wouldn't know until he saw it himself.

If that were the case, Hyde would leave it for his future self to judge.

As of right now, he had to adjust his plan slightly. Rather than taking everything he could find, Hyde would only loot for the most valuable item that could fit in his pocket.

Coincidentally, there were few items that fit in that category.

'In that case, I should head to the next floor.'

As far as his memory served him, the first floor of this abandoned corporate building had nothing valuable to loot except for recovery items.

Hyde turned around, heading toward the end of the left hallway with a purpose, where he found a broken elevator. But that was not his destination. Without electricity supplying the building, it was but a decoration.

His intention was to reach the stairway located next to the elevator.

When he arrived and examined the stairway before him, Hyde sighed relievedly. It was accessible.

Without a second thought, Hyde walked up the stairs but immediately stopped as soon as he stepped onto the second floor.

His gaze swept the entire floor from left to right, feeling something wasn't right. When he couldn't point it out with his sight, Hyde used another sense, his hearing.

Initially, he only heard the monotonous wind that seeped in through the broken windows. After focusing more, Hyde eventually found the source of his uneasiness as he carefully moved around.

Stopping moving, Hyde cast his gaze upward, finding himself reading the broken sign placed above the door that said 'Break Room.' His intuition kicked in, signaling that whatever was inside was bad news and that he should not try or even think about opening the door.

But, Hyde begged to differ.

It was because he knew and had calculated the risk that Hyde came up with a bold decision.

Extending his hand, Hyde reached for the doorknob. He inhaled deeply, his nostrils were assaulted by dirty air and the smell of a familiar odor but one Hyde couldn't name it.

However, based on his knowledge of the game, that specific smell was artificially created for immersive purposes and accidentally became a tool that a technically skilled player like Hyde utilized to detect enemies in the map-restricted area.

In short, it was the smell emitted by Phantasm.

Hyde shivered when he realized that only that unnamed smell was similar to how it was in the game.

Unlike others, it was not weaker nor stronger than the game version but maintained its true essence.

Suspicious, however...

Despite knowing the danger lay beyond the door, Hyde advanced through. After all, it was rather a fainter smell, meaning the Phantasm inside was of a lower level.

'Still, proceeding with extra caution is what I should do because I'm currently not playing as the main character.'

Exhaling, he gently pushed the door and was immediately attacked. Not physically. Rather, it was his senses.

The unnamed smell lingered still. The chilling and heavy air gnawed his skin, causing his whole body to tremble. His throat, after accidentally inhaling the air, felt dry.

A piercing shriek penetrated his ears, so loud it could turn him deaf. Drawn by the noise, his gaze instinctively shifted toward a tall figure near the dusty bar counter.

At least two meters tall, the figure stood with its back facing Hyde.

Staring at its muscle reminded him of a sculpture depicting Greek people. But it seemed bulkier, the anatomy was looking more like a character Hyde had seen in an anime.

Swallowing his saliva, Hyde carefully closed the door and then turned around.

'I—'

THRAK—!

Before his mind could say anything, something smashed the door behind him. Slowly glancing to his right, Hyde found a thick hand dangling in the air from the hole it created.

When it went inside and disappeared from his sight for a second, Hyde didn't immediately run.

Instead, he created a distance from the door and observed the situation after calming himself.

The silence returned, and so did the door that was supposed to have been smashed and broken.

Hyde was not surprised or confused. His expression was still straight and composed.

He knew.

He expected it.

What happened earlier was a hallucination.

The fear was toying with his mind, twisting his perception again.

However, Hyde easily subdued it. He knew how to handle it.

After experiencing it countless times in his previous life, Hyde had learned to treat the hallucination as a sort of premonition. Whenever something didn't align with reality, it was not just his mind playing tricks on him.

It meant something was wrong.

More often than not, fear was the cause.

Earlier, due to fear, Hyde saw something that had been projected by his mind rather than reality. He realized it because he knew what was supposed to be there.

'Based on the fainter odor and how it shrieked, it should have been something smaller, instead of a bulky, muscular, intimidating tall creature.'

Hyde looked around, searching for something he could use as a weapon.

'I need something blunt and made out of metal.'

After a while, Hyde found a metal bar near one of the office desks. He picked it up carefully so as not to make a sound and returned to the break room.

Slowly opening the door, he examined the room.

No sigh of the intimidating creature. Instead, in its place, a smaller one was shrieking and clawing something on the counter.

From behind, it resembled a goblin but was ash-skinned and had long claws protruding from its fists.

Hyde recognized it. The creature. It was a Phantasm. A low-level one. Something that wasn't supposed to be in the border... at least, in the game.

'A Phantasm, and...'

Hyde's attention was drawn to the object the Phantasm was clawing at. A cube but crystal.

'Resonance Crystal!'