Sigh.
Yoku's eyes were deep red, lifeless with exhaustion, standing there like some hollow figure. Fiver, on the other hand, just sat on the wall, his arms crossed, looking down at the situation as though he were untouched by it all, safe in his own little world.
Dammit, how can he be so calm? Doesn't he see there's some unknown person—someone weird, just idling around on the ground? I could feel my eyes growing heavy, threatening to close. My head was on fire—like a furnace, burning from the inside, and all I could feel was the thick fog in my brain.
I was so damn tired. But this guy was still sitting there, looking completely relaxed. I closed my eyes. Maybe if I rested for just a bit… I needed it.
Adam's POV
He stood there, the frustration bubbling up.
"Can you do something about the gate? Sigh... Just open it," he muttered, the words hanging in the stale air.
The girl, seated on the floor, stared at him blankly, her face a mask of indifference. "No. Why would I do that?" she replied, her voice hollow with apathy.
Adam's blood boiled. His veins throbbed. He clenched his fists, trying to hold back the tide of anger rising within. "Fine," he finally grumbled. "I'll do it myself."
He turned toward the control panel—multiple screens, flashing lights, buttons, systems… It was all a confusing blur. Maybe Rehan could help with this mess.
[Analyzing...]
Then, without warning, a laser shot through Adam's stomach, searing his flesh. He looked at the gaping hole, his mind blank, staring at it like it didn't even matter. What was this? Some sort of joke?
The girl, with a sudden burst of energy, aimed a laser pistol directly at his skull. But before she could pull the trigger, a drone emerged from the shadows, fired a shot, and in an instant, melted her skull. She collapsed to the ground, her body lifeless.
Ugh. How ignorant I am. How stupid. What am I even doing?
Adam staggered, his hand clutching at his stomach, but he couldn't stop the sense of dread that gnawed at him. The surroundings began to twist and distort, melting into a blinding white void. He saw hallways, rooms, beds, windows. Clothes scattered on the floor. Infinite stairways, liminal spaces, more rooms, more doors—identical. Everything was an endless cycle. A maze of meaningless repetitions.
As the world returned to its cruel clarity, Adam limped forward, each step like walking through sand, heavy and slow. He knew the fire had burned through everything inside him—killing the last remnants of whatever was left. The moss of his hope, gone.
His only focus was getting back to his friends. He hoped, just hoped, they were okay. But the sight before him... More automatons. More cold, mechanical monsters stood in his path.
Dammit. I really can't catch a break.
He ran. His sides screamed in agony, but he pushed himself forward, his insides aflame with every step. His legs shook, threatening to give out.
And then he saw it—the front of the facility. A vast, endless chasm loomed before him.
[It looks deep.]
[Do you want to jump?]
"Ugh, stop memeing me, Rehan. I'm about to die!" His voice cracked under the weight of his words. "Can't you do something? Anything? Help me!"
But the moment he realized the weight of her joke, he understood. There was nothing she could do. Nothing.
A drone fired hitting him square in the chest. His body flew back, flung into the abyss below.
He hit the ground with a sickening thud, his body gasping for breath, his lungs raw from the impact. Coughing. Limping. Everything felt over.
That's it. I'm dead.
I can't… do this. I just can't.
In his distress, his hope was a fading memory. It was gone. There was nothing left. Nothing to do but stare up, lifelessly, into the unknown.
What is my meaning?Why do I have to experience this?I don't want to die…
Even if this world is nothing but pain, suffering—just let me live—just for one more day.
Someone, please…
The silence that followed was suffocating, echoing in his mind. And in that silence, he was surrounded by garbage. Trash. Just... endless, unrelenting waste. He had nothing left to fight with. No escape.
He'd been running from the pain, the suffering, for so long... And now it had all caught up to him.
Lying amidst the trash, the room—his old room—swirled in his mind. Bottles. The fridge. His old dormitory from his original world. None of it mattered. It didn't matter anymore.
He couldn't find peace.
[I'm sorry, Adam. Life is suffering... There's a limit to what I can do. My energy has been spen-]
[Conserving energy mode.]
Adam's body felt weaker by the second. The pain was all-consuming. The dullness, the emptiness, was unbearable.
I don't want to be alone.
But he was...
Yuruki's POV
She coughed softly, the sound echoing through the still air. Her eyes scanned the ruins of the facility—now just a broken shell of what it used to be. The industrial zone was lifeless, no signs of human activity, only the remnants of destruction. It had been torn apart, too far gone to ever be rebuilt. She combed through every nook and cranny of the place, every corner that might hide a clue, but there was nothing. No people. Just the haunting silence of abandonment.
Except... something
If I were Adam... where would I go? she thought to herself, her gaze drifting over the wreckage. Her mind worked quickly, trying to piece together where he might have gone. Every instinct screamed at her, every part of her heart searching for answers in the desolate remains of the facility.
Her eyes shifted, focusing on the center of the stratum. A spot in the distance where the destruction seemed to converge. It felt... significant. Almost like a pull, like it was calling to her.
She pointed at it. "There," she murmured softly to herself, a small smile tugging at her lips.
Her instincts were right. It was the answer she had been searching for.