My breaths were unsteady. 

I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.

Test subjects. Sacrifices. Kidnapped prisoners. All of them had come to mind. But, a hero? Now that, I didn’t think of.

“A hero. Me?” I said, blinking. Andrew nodded, as if the ludicrous idea was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You are a hero that will save this world.”

“This world?” I repeated, emphasizing the word. “T-this isn’t Earth?”

He nodded again. The sinking feeling in my stomach grew.

The abnormal mushrooms. Those sickening monsters. My accelerated physical abilities. It all made sense now. To think, all along, I’d thought it was merely being kidnapped, lost in some forest far away from home. South America? It wasn’t even close. 

No, it wasn’t even on the same planet.

My stomach became a bottomless pit. A pit of despair. The voice in my head cried out weakly. For a second, my mind was filled with unfamiliar words. Words I’d read somewhere from long ago.

Through adversity, one can change. When faced with an insurmountable obstacle, one can grow and adapt, surpassing their previous limits. But, they must be careful. For too much change in too little time can break even the strongest of minds.

And the words, along with the small voice, disappeared, drowned by a tidal wave of some dark, negative energy.

A twisted laughter emerged from my throat.

“And you expect me to save it? This world?” My voice dripped with sarcasm.

Another nod.

“Wow. That—”

He looked at me with a warm expression, full of sympathy. Something I had no need for.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but—”

But how could he ever understand? In a mere day, I'd disappeared from my home, waking up in the middle of nowhere. I’d been forced to run for my life. Lost consciousness from my own hacking breaths. Fought with monsters. And I encountered it. 

Death. 

I’d breathed it in, felt it embrace me in its inescapable clutches. 

How could he ever understand what I’d gone through?

“That sounds like a great story. One I wouldn’t mind reading. But, you’ve got the wrong person.” My voice grew low, almost a growl.

“Because I’m not hero material. Far from it. And I didn’t sign up for any of this.” I snarled, looking straight into his eyes. Into his bronze pupils. 

When they caught my desperate gaze, he’d flinched. His mouth moved to speak. But I was faster.

“So, take me back home. Take me back to Earth. Now.”

He looked away, avoiding my eyes. But I wasn’t going to let him go. I wasn’t willing to stay here for another fucking second.

The minor success I had earlier? Thinking I could fight against the monsters, against my fate? Such a thought was eradicated from my mind.

Because I'd remembered it fully now. In fact, all I could think of was it. Death. It filled every crevice in my head, calling out to me, whispering for me to return. It was a place that no one should have ever come back from.

But I did.

And something in me, something deep in my soul, knew that staying here, in this world that was more a nightmare than a reality, meant I’d go there again. It was inevitable.

But I never wanted to go back to that place. And I wouldn’t take any chances.

“Take me home.”

I demanded him again and again, my cries rising in volume each time. At some point, they’d started sounding like demonic moans.

“Take. Me. Home. Take me home! ”

“PLEASE,” I roared. “TAKE ME HOME!”

His lips moved to speak, then stopped midway. And he looked straight at me, with those lonely, lonely eyes. That was when I knew. I knew he couldn’t.

“I-I’m sorry. You can’t.”

I refused to believe him.

“S-Say that again. Say it again!” My voice shook with anger, denial. I’d heard him wrong. I had just heard him wrong.

But I hadn’t.

“You can’t.” He repeated, shattering my last hope.

“You can’t go back to your world—”

And something cracked in me.

“You’re lying. You’re lying!”

“YOU’RE LYING!”

He faltered.

I felt my cheeks widen, stretching into a grin. A wretched, twisted grin.

Even the strongest of minds—

I giggled, throwing the words away into oblivion. He started to back away.

“Fooled ya! Thought I’d believed in your foolish story? HAH! Not for a second!” My eyes went bloodshot.

“Only a child would believe in the fairytale garbage someone like you could come up with.” My head tilted, and with a disgusting smile, I charged at him.

“Tell me the truth!” I screamed, grabbing his collar.

My hands gestured at the surroundings. At the world. This fake world.

“Won’t you tell me?” I pouted, sniffling.

He gulped and tried to speak. I put a finger to his lip.

“You’ll tell me, won’t you? You’ll tell me who brought me here?” I smiled sweetly. A sick kind of sweet.

“Was it a gang? Black market sellers? A government agency?” My voice grew shriller with every question.

“...Or was it my mother? Yes, it must’ve been her!” A maniacal laugh burst from my lips. I turned to look at his face—

I froze.

“W-why are you looking at me like that?!”

Those eyes. He was looking at me with those eyes!

“W-who do you think you are?”

They were eyes filled with pity. A pitiful gaze that scorched me as it stared.

It burned.

“Stop!” I screamed.

And he stopped. But what he did next confused my delirious self even more.

He turned around and walked away.

“W-Where are you going?!”

He continued to walk.

“Stop. Stop!”

He walked further.

“STOP! Stop ignoring me!” I screeched, rushing at him.

And again, he stopped.

Then, I fell. No, I’d been pushed to the ground.

“GET OFF ME!” I roared, my hands futilely going through his body. I struggled to escape his grasp, screaming, scratching, spitting. I even tried to bite him.

Realizing that my actions were ineffective, I stopped flailing and gave him a murderous glare.

“I-I’ll kill you!”

He stared back, ignoring me and continuing to hold my body down.

“Just take a deep breath.”

“F-Fuck you!” I tried again to push him away. It was useless.

“Relax, ki—”

I screamed.

“AH! Just kill me! I know you’ll do it eventually! What hero? I’m no hero!” The tears began to fall. “I’m just your plaything, aren’t I? Something you’ll feed lies to do your bidding. Then you’ll get rid of me! Kick me to the side and forget about me, just like everyone else! So, do it!” I gnashed my teeth.

“Maybe if I die again, I’ll—”

My stomach cramped, like my intestines had erupted. Like all the blood in my body had flowed backwards.

Pain. Unimaginable pain.

I screamed, collapsing onto him.

A dark, deadly hand grasped my heart, clutching my soul in its merciless grip.

The broken shell of myself had forgotten. It had forgotten the invisible eye watching my every action, my every word. Forgotten the thing that controlled my puppet strings.

I spasmed on the forest floor, foaming at my mouth.

It hurt. Almost as bad as dying. Or was it worse? I didn’t know. I didn’t care. I just begged for it to go away.

My screams were endless, throat growing hoarser with each passing one. But the pain was bringing something back. Fear. The fear I’d lost. It was returning, my despair succumbing to it.

And my sanity returned.

. . .

Tears dripped down my cheeks.

I was lost in an endless darkness, holding a teddy bear. Where was Mom? A scream. No, w-was he back? Was he hurting mommy?

I curled up into a ball and closed my eyes.

“Someone. Please.”

“Please make it go away.”

A rough voice responded.

“Kid, are you okay? Buddy, talk to me, please.”

I stirred at the words filled with concern. Through the corner of my eyes, a trail of light had appeared in the endless void. The voice called out again and the light grew brighter.

And I followed it. Followed it until the darkness was behind me. Then I felt its hungry gaze on my back, whispering.

Whispering that it would never give up. That someday, I’d return. I didn't look back.

My eyes opened.

“Mmh?” I groaned. It was so bright.

I looked up and was met with . . . bronze-colored eyes?

“A-Andrew?” His brows raised at the mention of his name.

Huh. Why’d he look so worried?

Wait.

If he was up there, then where was I—

My body jerked away the second I’d realized I was on his lap, but the man above me kept his firm grip on my waist.

I felt like a damsel in distress. No, right now, I was one.

“L-let me go!” I yelled, my face flushed.

He refused firmly.

“No. Not until I know it’s you.”

“What? What do you mean if it’s me? Ah! Stop! You’re squeezing too tight, my stomach is about to break!”

“Don’t worry, it won’t—” His eyes grew wide.

“Yohan? I-It’s you?”

“…” I looked at him like I was staring at an idiot.

“What do you mean, of course I’m me. Who else could I be?” I rolled my eyes.

His face was filled with surprise.

“Impossible! I haven’t seen anyone return so quickly. At least not before M-training.”

“Training? Return? W-what the heck are you talking about?”

He gave me a hard look.

…Why was he staring at me like that? I had to admit though, his eyes were really nice to look at, sort of like chocolate almonds. I was actually craving some right now.

But the almonds I was looking at seemed anxious. Troubled. And a bit … lonely?

His lonely eyes.

A shiver traveled through me and everything I’d done just moments ago flooded back into my brain.

“Oh god.” I looked away, burying my head in his shirt.

“I didn’t do what I think I did, did I?” I asked, my words muffled by the cloth. 

“Er,” He coughed slightly. “Do you want me to tell you the truth or what you want to hear? Because last time … the truth didn’t go so well.”

“…” I pulled away from his shirt and looked up.

“So, it was real.”

He nodded.

“All of it?”

Another nod. I winced.

“H-How could I have done that?” My voice shook. I’d said horrible things. Okay, everybody did that at some point. But I had even tried to bite him, for god’s sake! Like some rabid animal!

“It’s not your fault. You haven’t adapted yet. Our world, it’s . . .” he paused, looking for a word. “It’s different from most.”

“Different?”

“It’s . . . It’s hard to explain.” He put a hand on his brow, clearly not wanting me to press on.

“What do you mean-”

He looked at me, eyes shifting over the grass. After mulling on his thoughts for a few seconds, he let out a sigh. 

“Alright. I’ll tell you what you want to know. But first, are you feeling well enough to stand on your own?”

I tilted my head quizzically. Then, I realized that I was still lying on his lap. I jolted away, my face beet-red.

“I’m s-sorry! It must have been so uncomfortable—”

He laughed, standing up.

“Well, that answers that. But don’t worry. You’re very frail compared to others.” Ouch. I knew his words were laced with kind intentions but they still stung.

“Come, we’re almost there.” He waved his hand, gesturing for me to follow.

Hmm? Almost where?

“My home.” He said out of nowhere, as if he’d heard my thoughts.

. . .

As we walked along the forest, I'd thought about everything that had happened. Waking up in some random place, in unfamiliar clothing. Meeting Andrew, though I'd no idea who he was at the time. I'd thought he was a crazy murderer. But a minute ago he'd asked if I liked rabbit meat. He'd just hunted a small rabbit—a bunny, he specified—and was going to make a stew out of it.

I'd realized then who the unfortunate victim was in my dream. 

I looked down sheepishly.

“T-Thank you for doing all of this for me…”

“No problem, kid. I’m just glad there’s one of you I can talk to normally.” He gave me a smile.

I felt even more guilty. Here he was, smiling at me, unaware that the last time I'd met him, I'd thought he was some nutjob, some crazy lunatic. The guy who had saved me not just once, but twice, and there I'd been, calling him in my head a wilderness hippie.

I remained silent as I followed him further ahead.

. . .

He was right. It was close. After walking for about five minutes, he had sped up ahead, leaving me behind. I hadn’t noticed, my attention fixated on the forest animals that I'd never seen before. At least, not so close-up.  

It was only when he cleared his throat and spoke did I realize that he wasn’t next to me.

“Alright. Come inside and I’ll. . . I'll explain everything. To my best ability, of course.”

Inside? Where was—

“Oh.”

The wooden shack stood a few meters in front of me. I froze, recognizing the wooden door he was standing in front of.

My eyes widened.

“It-it was real?”

“Hmm?” Andrew raised a brow. I pointed at the place I’d woken up in my “dream.” At the door I’d opened and walked out before meeting him and . . . I turned around, looking for it. 

There it was.

The same path I’d taken into the forest. And that place would be just slightly up ahead. The place where I’d died.

. . .First, the bunny he'd hunted. Then the house. And I assumed that the other monster was there too. 

It wasn’t a dream. But what was it then?

Andrew’s stutters brought me out of my trance.

“I-I know it’s not much, but it’s… it’s home.” He looked away, a slight flush on his cheeks.

I shook my head.

“Oh. No, no, it’s fine. I-I was just thinking about something else.”

Thinking about the last time I’d been here, that is. Not that I could tell him. I could feel it clearly now. The hand that had wrapped around my throat when I’d spoken out of place from last time was now eagerly throbbing. It vowed to break me again if I wasn’t careful with my words.

. . . It was suffocating. But I gave him a smile, hiding my dilemma behind a happy façade. Something I was used to doing. 

“Y-your home looks nice.” I said, staring at the wooden building that looked just like a brown box. A brown box with a glass window. And a door, I supposed.

“...You don’t have to lie to me, you know.” He looked down, continuing to blush. “We natives weren’t meant to build our own houses anyway. This was the best I could do.”

“What?” My brows raised. Don’t tell me architecture didn’t exist here. Because if they couldn’t build homes, then who did they expect to build it for them—

“Only heroes can fully harness the building force of this world.” And there he went again, reading my mind.

I had absolutely no idea what “building force” even meant, or why only heroes were able to use it, but I just nodded my head, like how I did at everything he said. Maybe it was common sense, after all. In this world, at least.

He chuckled at my skeptical face.

“Alright, alright, come inside. You'll get your answers. I promise.”

He opened the door and I followed.

And that was when I found out what exactly I'd gotten myself into.