An Absurd Situation

Darkness.

It was not the kind of darkness that came with sleep or the flick of a light switch. It was a vast, empty, infinite space—more of a feeling than a sight.

Hyde drifted in it.

He wasn't sure if he was falling or floating, but the sensation was not unfamiliar.

It reminded him of a dream where the ground suddenly vanished, leaving his body weightless like a feather.

A strange calm washed over him, even as the void expanded in every direction.

Then, the fall ended.

The cold air hit his skin. His back struck something solid—cracked pavement rough with debris. The impact jolted him, but the pain barely registered. A scent of dust and metal filled his nose.

After some time, Hyde finally opened his eyes.

A sky of deep violet stretched overhead. Stars that flickered too slowly dotted the space like dying embers in an endless void.

Immediately, questions began appearing in Hyde's mind.

Why am I outside? Is it already nighttime? Why is the sky that color?

Hyde could not find answers to all his questions. Quickly, he pushed them aside for the time being, just as he always did.

Hyde had never been one to dwell on a single thing. If he couldn't find the answer immediately, he believed it was better to focus on something else.

The answer would eventually reveal itself.

Indeed.

As Hyde sat up, he finally got the answers to his questions.

Towering structures loomed above him, their skeletal frames piercing the violet-tinged sky. Broken windows stared down like hollow eyes. The streets were desolate and silent, except for the occasional whisper of wind sweeping across the ruined city.

Hyde exhaled slowly and pinched his skin until it bled.

"...This feels different.

His voice felt small. He wasn't panicking. But a quiet weight settled in his chest.

He didn't feel fear or excitement; he was just aware.

Aware that he was no longer in his world.

But how? Did he die and reincarnate? Or did he experience those events trending in comics and novels, where the protagonist transmigrated and possessed someone else in the fictional world?

Whatever it was, Hyde cared little for the reason.

He pushed himself up, brushing dust off his jeans. His phone was still in his pocket, but the screen remained black when he tried to turn it on.

At least Hyde knew that he was neither dead and then reincarnated nor transmigrated and possessed a character from the fictional story. If that were the case, he would not have his phone.

He was still himself, as seen from the reflection on the phone screen. Hidden between dark strands, two gleaming orbs shone blue like the ocean.

Shoving his phone into his pocket, Hyde examined his surroundings. His eyes scanned the area slowly, hoping to extract more information about that place.

Hyde felt familiar with the city's structures as if he had been there before. He had walked these very streets in his previous life. No, precisely, through a virtual world.

Then, a memory surfaced, seared into his mind from countless hours of gameplay. This area had once been a thriving metropolis, but after a particular event, it transformed into a dangerous location.

It was not only the hostile creatures that roamed the ruined city that made it dangerous but also the unpredictable forces of nature that plagued the area.

"The border."

A high-level danger zone in one of the games Hyde had played, "Return of Nightingale."

It was an RPG with a story that took place in the post-apocalyptic world, telling about how humanity progressed and rebuilt their lost civilization after a catastrophic event.

At its core, Return of Nightingale was a hardcore game where achieving a good ending was nearly impossible. There had been no record of someone finishing the game with 100% completion, to the point that the quote "Good ending is just a myth" was born from the community.

Regardless of the difficulty of achieving a good ending, it was a game that Hyde enjoyed.

Hyde exhaled slowly, his gaze shifting across the lifeless skyline.

A normal person would be overwhelmed knowing that they had to live in a hardcore game where a good ending was a myth, meaning they were doomed from the start. Not to mention if they were to spawn in that place called the border.

Never mind reaching the late stage of the game, they would vanish without a trace the moment they arrived there.

However, Hyde seemed indifferent. The look on his face was deadpan and uninterested. No, it was not that he had given up on life, but he just did not care.

He appeared to have accepted the situation and moved on. Rather than dwelling on why it happened, he focused on how to proceed and what to do next.

Yes, Hyde was afraid. But that did not stop him from moving forward. He used that fear as fuel to motivate himself. He could not afford to die immediately, supposed this was his second life.

"First, I should find out which borders I am at right now."

He dusted off his jacket.

"...Should have to make sure I don't encounter the Phantasm, too."

And with increasing thumps in his chest, Hyde started walking.

His footsteps echoed against the cracked pavement. But they were quickly suppressed by the silence as though there was no sound in the first place.

"..."

Realizing he was in the middle of the street, Hyde strode toward the sidewalk and stuck close to the buildings, continuing his pace cautiously until he reached a crossroad.

"It's too quiet for a border."

Hyde had been walking for minutes, yet he hadn't encountered a Phantasm, a monster creature that was supposed to roam in that place.

He turned his gaze skyward, finding the sky was still tinged with violet color.

That was how the sky looked like if the area was under the Phantasm's influence. In Return of Nightingale, each of the border locations was swarmed with them. Yet, Hyde hadn't found any of them.

Not finding any of them allowed the uneasiness to mess with his thoughts. Hyde began to profusely sweat when he remembered a particular game's mechanic.

When swarms of Phantasms were absent upon entering the border location, it only meant one thing.

The emergence of a hidden boss that was as strong, if not more powerful, than the area boss.

Although discovering that information was bad news, thanks to that, Hyde could roughly guess which border he was located.

"Of all places, it just has to be the central border in the northern region..."

Recalling the times he had spent just to defeat that hidden boss in the game, even with late-game builds, Hyde shook his head and turned his gaze at a particular building across the street.

A tall building with a perfect vantage point to observe the area. Not only that, but it was also an ideal shelter to avoid encountering the hidden Phantasm.

Although his face did not show much, Hyde was actually afraid of confronting death. He had arrived without anything but his body. Unlike the game's character, who had the skill to take down Phantasms, Hyde was only an ordinary human being.

Hiding was the only option Hyde could afford.

But if the situation forced him to fight against such a creature...

A gust of wind swept through the broken streets, kicking up dust and rattling loose metal. The crossing in front of Hyde seemed to stretch. It seemed wider than a football court.

Hyde clenched his fists and then relaxed them.

Breathing slowly, he steadied himself. Panicking would not help. Hyde quickly regained his composure as soon as the fear crept in, and the crossing immediately returned to its original width.

"I'll survive."

Hyde reassured himself and began heading toward the tall building across the street. Despite the anxiety, he did not rush to cross the road. He maintained his pace. Calmly and slowly. Each step he took matched the rhythm of his slow heartbeat.

Halfway to the other side, Hyde felt it again—the sensation of drifting away as if he were a feather in infinite space. This feeling was shorter and fainter than before, but nonetheless, Hyde felt as if he were sliding rather than walking for the remainder of his crossing until he arrived inside the building.

The feeling dissipated, and Hyde examined the room that seemed like a lobby. 

The air inside was dried with dust. Broken furniture and shattered glass scattered across the floor. Hyde's ears pricked up to hear any sound other than the wind outside. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dim interior, he immediately looked for something—a path to ascend to heaven.

A staircase.