“Evan…”
Alister’s pale face appeared in his field of vision.
“Evan! Wake up…”
The red-haired apprentice mage shook Evan’s shoulders. He looked as if he were just a hair away from complete collapse.
Even after meeting Evan’s gaze, he still seemed a little dazed.
“Wake up,” he muttered mechanically.
Evan threw a punch at Alister.
He was not to blame here — after experiencing such a terrible nightmare, Alister’s face only brought him fear and aversion.
But fortunately, the current Alister was unable to resist Evan’s violence.
In fact, he looked no more normal than Evan.
Evan knocked him to the ground with barely any effort, and Alister fell heavily to the ground, letting out a pained groan.
His red hair became dry and dull, and spread out messily on his emaciated, pallid face.
For a moment, Evan almost thought he had killed Alister.
But then Alister’s body curled up. He clutched his abdomen, slowly turned his neck, and his eyes landed on Evan’s face.
“Evan?”
A hesitant question escaped from Alister’s throat.
Evan had to admit that even after all the time that had passed after he’d woken up from the nightmare, Alister’s voice still made Evan tremble.
He thought he would never be able to truly forget everything that happened to him in that dream.
“It’s me.”
Evan suppressed the abrupt onslaught of disgust and fear welling up within him. A cold chill snaked down his back.
He staggered back a step before noticing that the place where he and Alister were now was a very small room.
“Oh my God, Evan, you really woke up… this isn’t a dream…”
Alister didn’t seem to notice Evan’s abnormal mood.
He sat up from the ground, staring at Evan with piercing eyes, his face full of ecstasy.
“I thought, I thought… oh my god… I thought you might never wake up…”
Alister looked like he would soon weep in joy, but Evan frowned imperceptibly.
“After you saw that monster on the table, it was like your soul was ensnared by a water demon. No matter what I said to you, you couldn’t wake up at all…”
In Evan’s dream, the person who was bewitched by the monster was Alister (and he had a truly miserable and terrifying end), but according to Alister, the person who was really bewitched was Evan himself.
Supposedly, after seeing the monster, Evan unconsciously tried to enter the terrifying embrace of that indescribable monster, and he had extreme strength in his maddened state.
In desperation, Alister could only forcefully drag Evan away from Mage Miriam’s laboratory.
“…Though, you kept screaming just like back when you were unconscious before, making that horrible sound.”
Alister’s expression became worse, likely due to his recollection of that particular scene.
“All those monsters in the cocoons rushed out. By the Goddess of Magic, Evan, I don’t know what happened to you, but I swear those monsters were reacting to you,” Alister said bleakly.
“I just… had a nightmare…”
Evan responded dryly and did not provide any further explanation, but his expression darkened after hearing Alister’s words.
Was that really a nightmare? Evan was not actually sure.
Compared to a dream, everything Evan experienced was so real. He felt as if he had truly experienced the pain. Rather than a dream, it seemed more similar to… the “room”.
When this word came to mind, Evan couldn’t help but shudder.
The urge to vomit welled up.
Yes, he was sure now that he had been dragged into the “room” once again earlier.
It was just that on the other side of the starry sky, the “room” built on his imagination was no longer owned by Evan, but another more powerful and terrifying existence.
Evan’s soul was held in the palm of that entity’s hand, being played with at will, and tortured in every possible way.
“Evan—”
Evan heard Alister’s voice again.
He felt himself jump a little in fright.
Slight unease once again crept into Alister’s eyes, which were focused on him.
“Are you… okay now?”
The red-haired young man probably didn’t realize how frightened he sounded.
Evan rubbed his temples and forced himself to calm down, although he knew that the cold sweat on his back was almost soaking through his robe, his heart was beating away at a terrifying pace, and he was overcome with chills.
“Sorry, I’m having… a little trouble concentrating.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
After a pause, Evan continued, “What happened after?”
Alister looked Evan up and down in suspicion, then slowly spoke, “All I could do was run with you in tow… it was more terrifying than anything I have ever experienced. You weren’t able to wake up from that state even after we reached a safe place.”
“A safe place? You mean here?”
Now, Evan finally had the time to observe where he and Alister were.
It was an ordinary-looking room, dimly lit and spacious, though it looked tiny and dark as clutter filled the place from floor to ceiling.
Evan instinctively felt that this was just a common storage room, but he soon realized what was special about it.
Near the door and window, several magic lamps emitted a faint blue light.
Next to those lamps, Evan could see the faint light emitted by a working magic circle, causing tears to nearly well up in his eyes.
“Magic’s been restored?” Evan asked shakingly.
“…I tried all kinds of methods… no, rather, I tried everything, but nothing worked. You remained in that crazy state… Oh, no, the magic definitely hasn’t been restored yet.”
Alister’s chattering lasted for a while before he finally answered Evan’s question.
“That’s not magic. Those little cuties are running on the magic in magic storage scrolls.”
Evan’s eyes widened in shock, and he abruptly turned to look at Alister, wondering if the latter was delusional after being beaten up.
“Magic storage scrolls? How is that possible? Those aren’t things that us apprentice mages are qualified to…”
Evan’s words stopped abruptly, and he suddenly looked back at the things he had previously regarded as clutter.
He guessed right. Even though the ink looked a little dim, upon closer inspection, the piles of clutter were all newly inked magic storage scrolls.
“We are very lucky.” Alister murmured, “This is the temporary warehouse where the Mage Tower and the Chamber of Commerce exchange goods — when the incident happened, no one had time to react. These magic storage scrolls should have been enough to supply the entire continent for half a year.”
“But now…”
“Those Calming scrolls, Shadowless scrolls and the protective magic arrays will probably be enough for us to stay here for a month or two,” Alister said.
Without the supplement of external magic essence, the magic storage scroll could only burn and transform its own stored magic.
Evan had never expected that he would one day use them in such a wasteful manner.
“Goddess of Magic above,” Evan murmured.
In any case, the return of magic (he disregarded the method in which it returned for the time being), finally made Evan feel at ease.
He couldn’t help but take another two steps towards the door, wanting to take another look at the operating magic array.
But as soon as he moved, there was a cacophony of wet rustling sounds from the other end of the door. Separated by the magic array and the stone door, the sound was muffled and soft, but it caused Evan to become rooted in place like a stone statue, on the brink of losing control over his emotions.
“Be careful, they’ve been looking desperately for you.”
Alister tumbled over and dragged Evan away from the door.
“The magic array can only cover our traces to a certain extent, but as I said before, those monsters… those monsters react to you, and they’ve nearly gone into a frenzy looking for you.”
Alister lowered his voice and said in a terrified tone.
Thud, thud, thud…
The sound of friction resounded again.
Evan and Alister went silent at the same time. Their bodies stiffened.
After the sound finally disappeared, the two people in the room relaxed.
“You’re shaking,” Evan informed Alister.
Alister gave Evan a strange look.
Before he could speak, Evan realized that the one trembling was himself.
Evan found a corner away from the door and sat down slowly.
He wrapped his arms around his knees, curling his body up tightly like a baby and did not say a word.
Evan maintained this posture for a long time before finally accumulating the courage to face the world again. He was grateful that Alister didn’t say anything or make any unnecessary moves during this period — Evan had no doubt that if Alister had done so, he might have broken down on the spot.
When Evan raised his head again, he saw Alister sitting not far from him.
The red-haired mage apprentice was once a tall and handsome young man, but at this moment he looked like a mummified corpse soldier that the mages failed to successfully create.
He even looked a little scary, but Evan still felt the concern from the other party.
“They have sharp senses,” Evan stared at Alister, and said slowly.
“I told you before, they’re not… not normal,” Alister muttered while chewing his knuckles unconsciously.
Probably because the topic returned to the monsters wandering outside the door, Alister looked a little anxious. But his neurotic and childish behavior allowed Evan to separate him from the monster Evan had seen in the “room”.
Alister felt sorry for Alister because of the hostility that pervaded his heart (although he believed that Alister did not notice this).
“So why did you bring me along… I mean, you could’ve left me behind,” Evan asked suddenly.
He still clearly remembered that before… no… when he was trapped in the illusion, he did not hesitate to abandon Alister and run for his life when faced with danger.
Alister was stunned for a moment, and he looked at Evan deeply.
The look in his eyes made Evan’s next words get stuck in his throat.
“Alister…”
“Because you’re very important,” Alister said quietly.
“To me, you’re more important than this world… this universe.”
When the red-haired young man added the next sentence, his eyes were so hot that Evan felt a little uneasy.
Alister looked calm, but that was only his outward appearance suggested.
Evan could see Alister’s nervousness from his cheeks, which had finally turned a little red, and his eyes which were gradually becoming moist.
Oh, for magic’s sake.
Evan’s heart skipped a beat.
He didn’t know how to deal with the current situation. The emotions flowing through his body were so complicated that even he himself couldn’t identify what they meant.
“You’re a good companion,” Evan responded softly.
Then, his eyes which were looking in Alister’s direction darkened.
Evan didn’t know why, but he abruptly felt the fire in his soul leap. Something closely connected to his heart and soul was tugged tight, and a burning emotion, like melted hot wax, gradually flowed out.
This wonderful feeling made Evan react as if he was being controlled by something, and made him react in an inexplicable way.
He felt himself probing in Alister’s direction, and then he stretched out his hand and gently pressed on the latter’s eyes.
“And you have a pair of good eyes.”
Was it because it was too hoarse? Evan felt that his voice sounded so unfamiliar.
Alister’s whole body seemed to be on fire.
He grabbed Evan’s wrist tightly.
That night, when Evan was about to fall asleep, a pair of hands slowly reached out from behind him. Evan did not refuse him.
He just asked Alister to extinguish the magic lamps.
He didn’t want Alister to know that…
Even now, he still didn’t dare to really look at his face.
Because it would make him think of—
Think of the appearance that god had borrowed when they were in the “room”.
Thud, thud… Evan… thud…
Evan and Alister stayed in this warehouse for a moderate amount of time.
Yes, he was using the word “moderate”. Evan hated this vague narrative. At the beginning, he had tried to record the passage of time, but his efforts soon failed.
In this small room where the sun would never rise or set, illuminated only by magic lamps, the passage of time would become erratic. How long was a day? How long was a month? How long would a year be? Evan couldn’t give an answer.
Sometimes Evan felt that he’d only been trapped for a month or two, but sometimes… when he entwined his body with Alister’s and had worn himself out, he would stare at the ceiling shrouded in darkness, suspecting that he had been trapped in this place for many years.
Of course, even Evan, who was becoming increasingly grumpy, had to admit that he and Alister were leading a pretty decent life. In fact, their lives were very good.
After all, in addition to the large magic storage scrolls, there were also some spices, experimental materials, cloth, and other sundries used by human chambers of commerce as a means of payment.
There were even some exquisite items in there, such as the magic bag with a plush black cat printed on it and the soft, plush, snow-white blankets which only high-level mages in the mage tower could enjoy.
Evan and Alister tried to use magic to induce some plants to bear fruit — some of them were inevitably distorted, but the remaining ones managed to barely retain their original appearance.
They used those undeformed fruits as their food. Evan was worried for a while, but under the care of the goddess of magic (if she still existed), he and Alister did not show any strange symptoms.
With basic food, sleep, and safety being guaranteed, life inside the warehouse seemed to be condensed in amber.
Evan got used to this almost imprisoned life at a speed that surprised himself.
When he was awake, he would organize the warehouse with Alister, grow magic food, and repair the damaged protective magic array and the consumed magic storage scrolls.
He rarely talked to Alister, but they would converse with each other through more intimate means. Such behavior was becoming more and more common — and sometimes, it was Evan himself who would request it.
As for Alister, the red-haired mage apprentice was increasingly obsessed with Evan’s body. His love and desire for Evan had only intensified. To some extent, it could be described as an unhealthy obsession.
In this regard, Evan didn’t say anything superfluous.
In such an environment, who could really guarantee that he would not go crazy?
Even Evan was like that. He was drawn to Alister simply because he wanted to immerse himself in physical exhaustion, for it was the only way he could escape from…
From that horrible voice.
Thud… thud thud… Evan… my love…
Evan shuddered and abruptly turned his head to look at the door.
The magic arrays were all operating normally.
Noticing his movement, Alister stood up beside him and gave him a questioning look.
He didn’t make any sound, but Evan knew that Alister was asking a question.
“It’s nothing,” Evan muttered softly.
“Is it still that… hallucination?”
Alister walked over, hugged Evan, and asked.
Evan had once mentioned to him the problems that were bothering him…
Those hallucinations.
Distant and colossal stars, an indescribable, repulsive, and malevolent god, and that lingering call.
“I always feel that maybe one day, it will forcefully take me back to that ‘room’.”
Evan sighed, and said in a fleeting tone, as if talking to himself, “Who knows…?”
Alister seemed to mutter something, and then he bit Evan’s earlobe. A burst of severe pain hit, and Evan couldn’t help trembling.
Immediately afterward, Evan noticed that Alister was sucking the blood gushing from the wound. In the past, Alister’s behavior would have earned him a dozen deadly attack spells, but now, what he got was Evan’s low gasp.
“Put out…the magic lamp…” Evan said with difficulty.
Alister smiled hoarsely, and extinguished the lamps.
The warehouse became dark.
In such an environment, perhaps madness was the only escape…
As he immersed himself in the warmth of human companionship, such a sentence surfaced in Evan’s mind.
Alister couldn’t understand his fear, and Evan knew it.
Similarly, that red-haired young man would not know that Evan still could not bring himself to look at the other’s face up close, even now.
Alister’s face always reminded Evan of that long corridor, and that horrible and distorted projected creature.
Was he afraid? Of course he was… But what truly made Evan have lingering fears about what had happened in the “room” until now was not the pure terror, but the vague, yet fierce yearning hidden in his heart.
That’s right — Evan could never forget that moment. At the other end of that abnormally dense, distorted darkness, he had tasted a thicker, sweeter, and crazier ecstasy.
Those monsters were still wandering outside the storage room, still frantically searching for traces of Evan even after all this time.
The wet cacophony of rustling sounds and low whispers perpetually portrayed the horror of the things outside the door, but sometimes Evan would unconsciously stare deeply at the space beyond that door.
Perhaps the changes had occurred gradually amidst this day-to-day struggle between reason and desire.
That feeling — that illusory, dreamlike trance — invaded Evan’s soul bit by bit.
Thud thud… thud… Evan… thud… Evan… thud thud…
The god’s voice became clearer and clearer.
Under such circumstances, one day, as Evan woke up from his deep sleep, he saw Alister beside him in the darkness.
No, that was not Alister.
It was just an illusory and ethereal shadow. Even an invisible ghost was more real than it.
It was just the materialization of a nightmare. The messy tentacles were entangled like a group of snakes in the breeding season. Countless insect appendages or animal claws grew out of the pale skin. When the creature breathed, the alternating spots of red and yellow light glowed rhythmically.
It was humongous and took up all the space in the warehouse. Only then did Evan realize that the mountains of magic storage scrolls and various sundries he had seen before were nothing but clumps of tangled limbs and internal organs housed within its body.
“NOOO—” Evan screamed.
Then, his brain became blank and his soul was swept up in turmoil.
“Evan, Evan…”
The monster suddenly opened its eyes. Its red and yellow pupils fixedly stared at Evan, and Evan’s name fell from the gigantic maw filled with eyeballs.
As it spoke, its grotesque visage dissipated like a cloud of smoke before reappearing, turning into that of a handsome young human male with long red hair.
Evan finally woke up — this time, he’d truly woken up.
He saw Alister kneeling beside him. Alister had a death grip on Evan’s wrist, and there was a long, bloody gash on his body.
“Alister?” Evan asked in a daze.
“It’s me,” Alister said, looking relieved.
“Am I… dreaming again?”
“Yes, you’re dreaming again. Looks like it was a nightmare,” Alister said with a smile.
When he let go of Evan, Evan realized that he was holding a rather exquisite dagger in his hand. Its handle was made of agate, and the blade was still stained with blood. There is no doubt that the wounds on Alister’s body came from Evan.
“What have I… what have I done?” Evan asked in a trance.
He seemed to realize that he seemed to have had a dream within a dream, but even after waking up, his thoughts were still chaotic, and he was still dazed.
The terrifying monster he saw in his dream still made Evan shudder.
“You got a dagger from somewhere and almost slit my throat.” The sweetness in Alister’s smile did not diminish at all.
“I… I dreamed that you were a monster,” Evan murmured softly.
“Oh. It’s pretty obvious that you hated me in the dream,” Alister gently remarked.
Evan couldn’t help but look up at Alister again.
An unfamiliar chill filled the air.
Something’s wrong… Evan thought.
Something must have gone wrong.
Yes, something must’ve… gone wrong.
this is…. like disgustingly gorey….
Woah i wonder if this is another illusion or a trick?