Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence, graphic content, and disturbing imagery, including intense horror elements. Some readers may find these scenes distressing. Reader discretion is advised.

[Close the door!]

Soren’s expression twisted as he tried every method, kicking and struggling with all his might, but nothing could make Albert let go. As for chanting spells, the burning pain in his soul made it impossible—concentrating his mind was already a torment. Gradually, he stopped struggling.

Albert thought he had given up, but the next moment, he sensed something was wrong.

The body in his arms started to shrink, as if the bones had been pulled out or melted away. Soren’s eyes lost their luster completely, and his face aged rapidly. His mouth opened wide, like a snake unhinging its jaw, and from his mouth emerged another body.

Everyone was stunned, including Albert. He held the withered, snake-like body in his arms, staring in bewilderment, while the being that crawled out from Soren’s mouth… no, it was unclear if it could even be called a person.

It was a humanoid shape made of semi-solid liquid, with shiny black skin emitting a putrid stench. Its back was arched, and the face—if it could be called that—was a series of old, decrepit features. There were no eyes, nose, lips, or ears, resembling a desiccated corpse.

At the moment they saw it, everyone felt a buzzing sound in their heads. The players collectively went through a sanity check, and Albert also clutched his head in pain.

The creature opened its mouth wide, with no tongue or vocal cords, but emitted silent speech. Everyone “heard” that voice because the language came directly from their minds.

However, no one could understand the meaning of that cryptic language.

Except for Ranen.

[Foolish humans, you think I did this to return to my homeland? How pathetic, so pitiful, a group of lambs who have forgotten their own origins.]

[Everyone is the same. Everyone will return. Only that world is our utopia. This world will eventually become a barren hell. When the stars return to their proper trajectory, the Day of Destruction will come. No one will be able to live in this world anymore. Returning to our homeland is the only hope.]

What is this?

Ranen frowned as he listened to the strange yet familiar language in his mind, pondering the meaning behind the words. The phrase about the stars returning to their proper trajectory was very Cthulhu-esque. In Cthulhu Mythos, it typically symbolizes the old ones, led by Cthulhu, breaking free from their seals, about to descend and destroy the world—this matched perfectly with that idea.

So…

“Are the evil gods about to descend, and the world will be destroyed?” Ranen couldn’t help but ask.

Soren looked at him. [That is inevitable. Fate has already given its answer.]

Without waiting for Ranen to ask again, Soren suddenly looked up, staring at the sky.

Ranen also looked up and saw the mist in the sky dissipate, revealing a complete lunar eclipse.

The time had come.

Soren spread his arms wide, chanting an obscure incantation. At this moment, Albert snapped back to his senses and rushed forward to grab Soren. However, Soren was already prepared. A thin defensive membrane appeared around his body, and no matter how the golden flames scorched him, the incantation from Soren’s mouth remained flawless, not a single word out of place.

*Boom, boom, boom.*

The sound of knocking, like someone knocking on a door, echoed in everyone’s hearts. The surviving players present let out howls of agony, including Archie, Edmund, and Albert. Everyone began to bleed from their orifices and collapsed to the ground.

Ranen was unharmed, but his heartbeat seemed to synchronize with the strange knocking sound, a peculiar sensation spreading throughout his body.

Amid the knocking, auroras appeared—bright and colorful, dazzling in a way that could only be seen in the polar night. Yet, against all reason, they appeared in the skies above Arkham City.

Most strangely, within the auroras, a large, illusory door slowly materialized.

The door was like a mirage, distant yet seemingly within reach. On the door’s surface were engravings resembling the Kabbalah ^[1]Kabbalah or Qabalah (/kəˈbɑːlə, ˈkæbələ/ kə-BAH-lə, KAB-ə-lə; Hebrew: קַבָּלָה, romanized: Qabbālā, lit. ’reception, tradition’) is an esoteric method, … Continue reading Tree of Life ^[2] https://cdn.vectorstock.com/i/1000v/58/66/kabbalah-symbol-isolated-sacred-geometry-vector-39345866.jpg , but unlike the traditional diagram with ten circles and twenty-two lines representing the structure of the tree, this one had only nine circles. The last circle seemed damaged, broken off as if shattered.

All the dreamers in Arkham City, all the unconscious citizens, saw this door in their dreams.

They were confused, at a loss, though some instinctively tried to approach.

Soren laughed, breaking free from Albert’s grasp. As the door appeared, and the moment everyone began to bleed from their orifices, Albert’s origin ability was forced to halt. Everyone, except Ranen and Soren, fell unconscious. No, it was more accurate to say they fell into a dream.

[Open the door, open it, the wanderers of the homeland are about to return.]

Soren’s eyes welled up with tears. Before him was the place he had longed for, his long-lost homeland.

It has been so long.

He had been in this world for so long that he had forgotten how he arrived here. All he recalled was awakening in a foreign land, surrounded by strangers.

What accompanied him was eternal loneliness and endless suffering.

As soon as he stepped onto this land, pain and illness would forever follow him. The most tormenting part was that Soren could never die.

He had been tortured by disease and pain for so long, yet could never die, enduring what felt like an endless suffering and isolation.

Because, although forgetting brought him peace, he always knew he was just a foreigner, a foreigner in this century, a foreigner among those who were still human.

Throughout these long years, the only thing that kept Soren going was the memory of his homeland.

There, milk and honey flowed from the ground. As soon as he stepped onto that land, boundless strength would surge through his body.

There, there was no illness or aging. Every thought and desire would resonate, and everyone would wear a smile of happiness.

Soren stretched out his hand toward the door and ran toward it, disregarding everything.

But when the monster ran toward the door without hesitation, a fatal flaw appeared behind it.

A silver dagger, radiating an unusual glow, pierced Soren’s back. Amos appeared there, the silent hunter finally delivering a fatal strike to the long-awaited prey.

This silver dagger was also a rare artifact, and the glow on it was the origin power that Amos had attached, capable of directly damaging the soul.

Soren let out a painful howl, his body at its most weakened state.

All the conditions were finally in place.

Amos’ origin ability was [Gardener], which allowed him to see the soul flowers deep within everyone’s heart through an ability called the Soul Eye. He could then “pluck” these flowers, and in doing so, gain the other person’s origin ability. However, since the host had already died, this origin ability could only be used once.

Moreover, there were many restrictions. First, as a gardener, Amos had the duty to tend to the flower until it fully bloomed, meaning Amos had to offer help to the host. Second, the gardener could only pluck the flowers once they had bloomed. The flower would only bloom when the host had achieved their life’s goal.

Third, once the flower bloomed, it represented the peak, and every moment thereafter led towards inevitable decay. The host had to be in an extremely weakened state for Amos to pluck the flower.

For this moment, Amos had been lurking in this Outsider for years, during which he wholeheartedly assisted the Ousider leader, working diligently. Finally, the moment to harvest had arrived.

Amos laughed wildly as he reached into Soren’s semi-solid body. His hand met no resistance, as though he wasn’t piercing a body but touching the soul inside.

In his eyes, the pale pink lilac flower was already his.

“Get away!” Soren roared, and despite his extreme weakness, an enormous strength erupted from him. Now, nothing would stop him from returning to his homeland.

Amos didn’t expect that Soren still had the strength to resist even at this moment. For a moment, Soren broke free, and Amos only managed to tear off a small petal. However, Soren didn’t fare much better. His body shrank to nearly half its size, but he cared for nothing now, ignored everything. All that mattered was the slowly opening door.

The door opened. Soren rushed toward it, overjoyed to return to his long-missed homeland.

But soon, Soren’s expression changed.

What… is this?

The world behind the door was not the golden, emerald green, blue skies and white clouds-filled black soil he remembered. Instead, it was deathly silent, with chaotic neon lights filling every corner, a giant blood-red moon blocking the sun in the sky, and in the mist, the sound of turning gears echoed.

What is this?

In the mist, a giant’s muscular, exposed arm reached out and grabbed Soren. As he screamed in terror, the hand slowly tightened.

*Crack.*

His semi-liquid, semi-solid body was crushed into an unknown mass. Oil-like blood spilled from the palm, and black, fleshy organ pieces fell with a sickening thud.

All the citizens of Arkham stared at this scene, dumbfounded.

“Am I dreaming?” someone murmured.

“Damn!” This was from a player.

At the moment the ‘door’ appeared, all the players were immobilized. Now everyone understood why—it was the main storyline!

The player channel was being flooded with messages.

[WTF, what is this?! What is this?]

[What’s going on, what is this? Boss?]

[Hiss—don’t tell me we’re supposed to fight this thing??]

[What are you going to fight with? Your head? Clearly, this is part of the storyline! Just watch and be done with it!]

The giant hand seemed to realize something, leaning toward the door. On the back of the hand, a single eye opened, the blood-red eyeball turning.

It was spying on the mortal world.

Once this realization hit, all the dreamers either collapsed or screamed in terror, some dropping to their knees in desperate prayer to the gods.

Just as despair spread across everyone’s faces, the voice appeared.

“Close the door.”

A voice echoed in everyone’s dream.

They saw a blurry figure, glowing with an ethereal light that covered it from head to toe, hiding it completely, leaving only a nearly human-shaped silhouette visible.

It appeared in front of the door, calmly declaring:

“Close the door.”

The giant hand reluctantly reached out from behind the door, but the door closed faster. In all their dreams, the door etched with the Kabbalah Tree of Life slammed shut, occasionally making sounds as something from behind the door slammed against it in defiance.

The two worlds separated again, dreams sinking below, the mortal world rising above.

The lunar eclipse had passed, and the mist dispersed.

Only a ravaged city, burning with fierce flames, remained.

Humanity slowly awoke from their dreams.

Crying, the laughter of those who survived, screams of terror, and frantic calls filled the city once more.

The silver moonlight gently bathed the scene, and the Moon Goddess quietly watched everything unfold and come to an end.

That phantom figure remained deeply etched in everyone’s minds.

—-

At the moment the door appeared, beings from various locations across the world looked up toward the city located in the southwest direction.

“Here it begins.”

“Here it begins.”

“Here it begins.”

They quietly waited for the situation to unfold, silently observing the city chosen by fate.

The door opened, the scene behind it, and the appearance of the giant hand made them either remain unmoved or show a change in expression.

[As expected, that world too…]

[How ironic.]

[Hmph hahahahahaha, I knew it! I knew it!]

[This world is beyond saving!]

And in the end, the figure completely shrouded in radiant light caused everyone to change their expression drastically.

Under its command,

The “door” closed.

The two worlds that should have gradually drawn closer were once again separated, the process of destruction forcibly halted, and the torrent of fate surged toward an unknown direction, racing ahead.

“Fate… has changed.”

Deep underground at the headquarters of the Inspection Bureau in a certain city, a silver-skinned figure opened their eyes from within a cultivation chamber.

Their eyes were quite unusual, with a face as beautiful as a deity, yet their eyes lacked focus as though blind. The pupils were also silver-white, and if it weren’t for the way they moved, one might mistake them for fake eyes. Dressed in a white robe, their skin was pale, so thin that the veins underneath were visible.

The person muttered in confusion:

“Who… is he?”

Not only this individual, but others observing Arkham City at this moment all simultaneously issued the same command to their respective organizations.

To find ‘him.’

To go to that place where fate was overturned, to find the one who closed the door.

—-

What happened outside, Ranen was completely unaware of.

Since the door appeared, he seemed to have fallen into a strange state.

He felt like he was rising up, floating, as if in a dream, neither fully awake nor fully asleep.

In his dream, he recalled many things. The incomplete memories were gradually filling in, and things the memory potion had not revealed were now appearing in his mind.

He remembered. He had not directly transmigrated into ‘Ranen.’

After dying in the fire in his past life, Ranen opened his eyes again to see a mesmerizing landscape. He was being held by someone, and as he looked up, he saw a perfectly curved chin. He instinctively wanted to raise his hand to touch it.

“Hmm? You’re awake?”

The person lowered their head. A strand of black, straight hair appeared in Ranen’s view. His ears tingled, and the voice was incredibly pleasant to hear.

A slender, white finger appeared in his vision, teasing him. Ranen instinctively tried to grab it.

“Can’t let that miser find out. You’re not supposed to wake up yet.”

What is she saying?

Ranen lifted his head, wanting to see the person’s face, but there was no impression of her appearance in his memories. One corner of the memory was missing, as if that piece had completely vanished.

“Everyone’s in a meeting. I need to give you a ‘true name binding.’ You can’t let those guys find out about you right now.”

The long black hair fell and gently brushed against his forehead, causing a tickling sensation. ‘Ranen’ grabbed a strand of hair and pulled it lightly, only to hear a dissatisfied meow.

The woman chuckled softly. “Let me think… How about ‘Little Lamb’? Our dear little lamb.”

She made a sound, and in human language, it translated to ‘Ranen.’

Yes, Ranen realized that the language she was speaking didn’t seem to be a human language, but he could understand it, as if it was instinct.

Ah, wait a second, he had heard this language before.

Ranen remembered. It was somewhat like the language Soren had spoken earlier, though the pronunciation was more obscure, and the tone was ethereal and divine.

Then the scene went dark again. When it lit up once more, Ranen found himself in a silent forest.

It felt like he had lived in this forest for a long time, but he wasn’t alone. A massive figure had always been by his side. It was lonely, but not alone. The giant companion indulged him in everything, except for leaving the forest.

But this part of the scene was blurry, like a malfunctioning old television. Occasionally, the image would turn into a white sand landscape. In the blink of an eye, a child gradually grew into a teenager, always running through the forest, until one day, he suddenly heard the forest calling him.

“Come here, this way…”

“Please, save us.”

“Please become our ruler.”

“Please become… Pan ^[3] Will explain this one later on .”

The boy followed the voice and found a ruined temple in the center of the forest. It seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, overrun with weeds, dead wood, and the heads of some strange animals.

In the heart of the temple was a broken statue, with a human face and a goat’s body. The face was ugly and distorted, yet it exuded a strange sense of divinity.

The statue was battered and scarred. Its head had fallen to the ground, but its body remained standing. Its surface was covered with marks of flogging, like a prisoner, yet it was placed on a high altar, being worshipped.

“We beg of you, become the new master of the forest and farming.”

Ranen watched this scene and only saw two words written across it.

[Conspiracy]

The boy in the scene seemed to think the same, slowly stepping back, but the forest blocked his way. Squirrels with two heads and rabbits with eight legs blocked Ranen’s feet, in a way that felt like a desperate, unyielding nuisance.

Boy: …

Then the scene faded again, and Ranen didn’t know what happened afterward. When the image shifted again, Ranen saw the door opening, but this time it seemed like he was inside the door.

He was inside the door, watching as the gothic campus outside was engulfed by a sea of fire. Countless bodies lay on the ground, and fanatics were laughing manically. A man with white hair excitedly stepped forward, seemingly wanting to get closer to the door.

He saw a red-haired boy with freckles kneeling on the ground, praying. His eyes were filled with determination, as though he had activated some forbidden technique.

“I am willing to trade everything I have—whether that deity or that evil god—please save us.”

“My memories, my existence, my body, my soul, everything can be used for exchange.”

After a long silence, no response came, and the boy lowered his head in despair.

[Granted.]

The prayer… was answered.

To the boy’s astonishment, a door opened in front of him. Ranen was inside the door, watching the boy outside. Without thinking, he placed his hand on the door.

The boy smiled, joyously, and without hesitation, raised his hand. The boy’s supple palm, through an invisible screen, touched Ranen’s hand.

“Everything I have, I entrust to you.”

The red-haired boy’s figure disappeared from outside the door, replaced by a platinum-haired figure—Ranen, whose beauty surpassed that of humans. After replacing the boy’s existence, everything about the boy disappeared from reality: his name, his experiences, his qualifications—everything that proved his existence in the human world was entirely replaced with Ranen’s form.

Ranen gained an identity, transforming from an nameless entity into a ‘human’ with real experiences.

*Thump, thump.*

At this moment, the scene suddenly cut off. Ranen, sensing something, looked up. In front of him was the ‘great door’ of the Dream World, wide open, with a giant hand stretching out tentatively from within.

Though he didn’t know what the giant hand was or what was happening in the Dream World, his instincts told him that he must not let this ‘big guy’ enter the human world.

This would be a devastating blow to the surface.

The door opened, and there were monsters outside, so naturally, the instinct was to ‘close the door.’

The next moment, to Ranen’s shock, as the words slipped from his mouth, the door of the Dream World actually began to slowly close.

He vaguely felt that he seemed to have the power to control that ‘door.’

The giant hand’s speed increased. Ranen gritted his teeth and fully focused on closing the door, while he again said in a deep voice, “Close the door.”

He declared this.

The door of the Dream World closed just before the giant hand could reach it, mercilessly separating the two worlds once again.

The door closed.

Ranen finally let out a breath of relief. As his nerves relaxed, an overwhelming wave of sleepiness and weakness suddenly swept over him, and his eyelids unconsciously drooped.

Wait, he seems to have just seen Arkham still burning. He still has to get the players to save people. He needs to leave the scene quickly, and there are Albert, Archie, and the others…

“Sleep.”

A voice spoke to him. It was deep and familiar, as though he had heard it every day.

In his drowsy state, Ranen seemed to vaguely see a familiar figure lifting him up from the ground and walking step by step toward home.

It was Ogre…

The scene overlapped again. It seemed to have happened similarly before.

Ogre had carried the newly arrived Ranen out of the sea of flames, and amidst the surrounding scorching temperatures, only Ogre’s back remained warm.

Who exactly is he?

The scene before him gradually turned black, and Ranen, too tired to think, finally fell into a deep, sweet sleep.

In the dream, he seemed to return to that black, lifeless forest. This place was nothing like a normal, vibrant forest. On the contrary, almost no life could be seen. The land and trees seemed to have lost all vitality. Here, only the Soul-Eating Butterflies, representing death, fluttered through the forest.

Since becoming conscious, He had always lived here.

With a gentle giant.

He often climbed on the giant’s broad back. The giant still let him play, as long as he didn’t leave the forest, all of his wishes were somehow fulfilled.

They had lived together for a long, long time.

So long that he thought this life would go on forever.

*Crack*

The scene before him vanished, and everything returned to the mist.