章節 4: Ch.3: Where the story begins

I sat on the floor limply, racking my pea-sized brain on whether to be fooled by the words of the strange creatures inside the clothed tablet, or disregard them. I can't believe it. I refused to believe that the world is a book that will soon be destroyed.

A world inside a novel? A protagonist that will save the world? What bullshit! Utter nonsense! Is it a prank?

No one in their right mind will easily accept that truth as if they were simply telling someone – you have a booger in your cheeks, and that someone will just immediately wipe it away without a second thought.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

I blinked and cleared my thoughts after hearing that strange sound.

"What is that?"

It sounded like a gong you hear from funerals. I turned my head frantically, looking for the source. The sound was getting louder and louder, and it sounded ominous in my ears.

"The alarm has set off."

The one who looked like a mammoth spoke, its head looking out in a direction the camera didn't show.

The bird boss followed, "Your story has begun. The pendulum will continue to strike until the story is still alive. From now on, we won't be able to communicate with you like this again. Now, the decisions are yours. Make the right choices, Atlas."

"Good luck, Atlas Sterne," the tentacled creature said and winked at me. I shivered.

It was because of the wink and the information that the three creatures claiming themselves as gods would no longer help me. What should I do from this point on? Without anything in my name except the stupid role – wait…if I'm the hero, then that means I have something extraordinary! Like a powerful magic or weapon! Am I perhaps destined to become an omnipotent main character?

Whoooo!! This is getting exciting!

"Wait a minute, I—

The screen died before I could finish my sentence.

"NO!"

I stood and grabbed the tablet by its collar. I shook the poor old thing while yelling to switch it on again. But the tablet remained black and dead, its screen only reflecting my desperate face on its saliva-stained surface.

Unwilling to accept my fate, I pressed the button, but the tablet began convulsing and electricity covered it like an animated robot malfunctioning before it finally exploded. A tiny bit of the screen even flew and cut the edge of my cheeks.

"Argh!"

Luckily, I managed to dodge before the rest hit my face. How can the main character be so unlucky?

"FUCK!"

The ground I stood on shook harshly like an earthquake of magnitude 9.5 visited the earth. I stumbled on the floor again, beside the exploded tablet whose body vanished, now it was only a bunch of clothes lying underneath the jagged pieces of the screen.

My studio was located in the basement of the apartment building I was living in. The shaking was so immense that all the things inside the room fell and got trashed around. I covered my head with my arms while I tried to crawl to the exit.

Reaching the door, I quickly opened it and threw myself out.

I hadn't steadied myself yet when my attention was already caught by the shrilling noises that almost shattered my eardrums. I instinctively covered my ears; the noise already damaged my brain for choosing to protect my hearing organ instead of my head.

I staggered. The seven steps that lead to the front yard of the building seemed like a stairway to heaven, it appeared narrow in my blurry eyes and I couldn't find any railings. It was quite a difficult feat for a sinner like me.

In the end, I just crawled again. My knees and elbows hurt, but the earthquake hadn't stopped and the building walls started to crack.

At last! Atlas!

The great painter reached the peak of the stairway.

My eyes bathed in light as if a spotlight was pointed at me, congratulating me for reaching the top. Only the light wasn't coming from a track light at all, it came from a very huge door floating in the sky.

From where I am, the image of the huge door felt so near, yet it was simply because the size was taller than a skyscraper and wider than the River Plate it almost occupied the heavens!

The gigantic door was releasing red smoke, and its two doors were carved with intricate letters no one could recognize. The door appeared like a cuneiform, a tablet carved with unrecognized writing and drawings, the reason I saw it as a door was the two spheres at the center, chained and padlocked.

"What in the world…"

The earthquake stopped and what followed was noise pollution.

"AHHHH!"

"RUN THIS WAY!!"

"SAVE YOURSELVES!"

"MOMMY!! WAH!! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

The crowd shouted hysterically as they all fell on their knees, their hands on their head, wailing like they lost their sanity. They look up at the door and look down at the ground like some buyers double-checking the price of the products on the market, then they cry after realizing that the money they have is insufficient.

"WAH!"

"THE WORLD IS ENDING! WE MUST REPENT!!"

Some people cried in terror and grief, while some who still has their screws attached crawled underneath the bushes or wherever they could hide, away from the enormous door that appeared in the sky.

The surrounding was an entire pandemonium.

Buildings were destroyed; roads were cracked; electric poles were broken and some even obstructed the street. The cries of those who were left behind by the victims of the sudden earthquake reverberated in the entire neighborhood.

My eyes filled with terror and disbelief at the sight before me. I couldn't even joke around now. My defense mechanism for taking everything stressful into flippancy shut off. Now the burdens of that meeting gnawed in my head.

Another thing that struck me unbelievably, was the fact that the only building that remained standing upright and steady after the intense earthquake was the one, I was living in!

The walls and the floors only obtained cracks! I suddenly felt guilty for haggling over the price of the rent to the owners after finally witnessing the building's majesty. It can withstand even the highest magnitude an earthquake can achieve!

I slowly stood. My eyes were still focused on the door, but my mind was recalling the words of the three zoo escapees I talked with. The world will be invaded by monsters humanity can't even think of.

The earth will meet its impending doom.

I already accepted that fate when the door in the sky slowly opened, it created a creaking sound that sent shivers down my spine. Red smoke emerged from behind the slowly opening door, and the sky was painted red because of it. When the door finally opened wide, the pool of smoke clouded what was inside.

But the sight itself was foreboding, and the ominous color of red shouts danger and death.

I couldn't see properly because of the sweat that trickled down my forehead and hindered my eyes, but as soon as I recognized something that moved above, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"RUN!"

Hundreds of winged creatures dove down, attacking everyone on the land. Their appearances were off like a dragon, with scales as black as coal, and four wings that looked raggedy but flapped with so much force, that the wind it gathers sending waves of red smoke down the surface of the ground, making it harder for the fleeing humans to see their path.

Their fangs bared from any moving creature they deemed not of their own, and their webbed claws gripped everything they landed before they flew and destroyed their spot. Their slick and long tails kept slapping and hitting objects and humans. They were like savage animals that finally attained freedom after centuries of being locked up.

And that creature wasn't the only kind!

Another heap of monsters emerged from the door. They have sharp and pointed horns at their head, antennas that could rival the length of a medium-rise building beside the horns, and a body that resembles a snake. They descended on the ground and started slithering everywhere, sweeping off any remains of humanity.

It was chaotic and terrifying!

As humans crawled, cried, ran, hid, and got killed, the door above created a creaking sound again. But this time, I felt a bit of relief as I saw the door slowly shut itself at the corner of my eye. I ran back to my studio and locked the door, praying that the monsters to not pay attention to the building.

Behind the long and narrow window just before the ceiling, the red smoke blurred the clear glass of the window pane, but the shouts and wails were still heard inside.

I trembled in fear. My head was muddled with the sight I witnessed, and I kept telling myself one thing.

"…t-there's no way I can defeat those…"

Burdened by the words – 'you're the hero that can save the world from its impending doom!', I had decided.

If the world was to meet its doom, then so be it!

I didn't know how to save humanity when I, myself, was cowering in fear! I was just a young ordinary man who only knew how to wield a brush! And if the world will perish, I don't want to witness it.

I'd rather die than live in a horrifying and tragic story!

I was helpless and felt sorry because I couldn't be the hero the world needed, but if those guardians could pick anyone to be a replacement, they could pick again after I died.

Just as I was about to grab my painting knife, the long and narrow window of the room burst into tiny pieces. The shards flew everywhere and I ducked behind my desk. My eyes widened as I realized what I had done.

I had already decided to abandon this world and serve my life at the foot of the heavens even if I wouldn't be accepted! Why did I even duck?! I know. Deep inside me, I don't want to die. I'm conflicted. If only I could do something.

But my shallow resolve was thrashed with fear when a slithering creature with horns and antennas crawled from the broken window, half of its body was dangling in the air, swaying around as if it was looking for something.

The monster's shadow glides above me. I squeezed myself under the desk, holding my breath and careful with my every movement. However, my effort was in vain when the head of the monster twisted backward and faced me.

The slanted pupil of the creature bore into me, and its mouth curled up as if it was smirking. I froze. The monster wasted no time and attacked me, moving as fast as lightning.

Ah. I'm going to die for real.

Just when I already accepted my fate, the disgusting face of the monster stopped a few inches from me, like it was caught in a time freeze.

[WARNING!]

A red screen flashed before my eyes.

[IMMINENT RISK OF DEATH!]

[INITIALIZING ESCAPE SYSTEM…]

[SYSTEM ROUTES >>>> Default Escape

>>>Teleportation = consumes 1000 stars (Stars Available: 1000)

>>Are you sure you want to use it?

>YES

>NO

*System Use includes Penalty

*System will shut down after 10 seconds.

*Remaining time: 9]

I was in no position to question the screen that appeared before me. I wanted to survive.

I pressed the button 'YES' without hesitation. If this thing could save me, then I don't care what it is.

My body gets violently thrashed somewhere. My head became dizzy as my vision spun like I got sucked in by a tornado. When the shrilling noises subsided, my environment became steady and quiet.

I opened my eyes and saw a familiar room.

It was my old room - when I was still much younger. The entire room was the same as in my memory, and the only thing I found out of place was the red note on top of my bed. It was a red paper with black writings.

It read – 'FIND THE DOOR THAT WILL LEAD YOU THE REAL WORLD'.