Having built up speed, the oversized teen had balled his bare hands into fists and wanted to bring them down on the head of the old, tramp-looking man who called out to him. A few people who saw him immediately followed suit. The three geezers standing together were highly alluring targets; you didn't need to be a psychic to figure out they'd drop with one hit.
These had to be the Fallen mentioned on the obelisk. With ten steps left to go, my excitement hit the roof, and I kept my eyes peeled to watch the clash between the two groups. When it caught my eye that one of the three geezers, who had remained silent until then, raised his head, the attacking group was within the final five steps.
"You, you did me wrong!"
A very brief sentence came out of his mouth. It was a classic saying you could hear walking past any tavern or a group sipping their drinks in a corner. At the exact same time, the crowd led by the oversized teen stopped before they could take another step; their gazes were filled with astonishment, as if they wanted to move forward but couldn't manage it.
"You, you did me wrong!"
"You, you did me wrong!"
"You, you did me wrong!"
As the three geezers slowly stood up and walked toward the people who had turned to stone, the exact same words were in their mouths. For this reason, the people who tried to make a last-second move to jump back couldn't save their skins either.
I was watching them with rapt attention. Those who had shamelessly swarmed the three geezers with ambition and cruelty, seeing them as their only chance for salvation, were caught in some kind of trap. I could vaguely make out the image of a gut-rot wine bottle hovering over their heads. Meanwhile, the trio was wandering among them, constantly repeating the same words without ever stopping.
About half an hour had passed like this. The faces of the group—whose mobility I was now certain was restricted under some kind of effect—had turned red, and rivers of cold sweat were streaming down their heads. Exactly one hour later, the moment of truth was approaching. Someone who couldn't endure this torment dropped to the ground like an empty sack, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
This was like the first drop of a heavy rain hitting the ground. Immediately after, the other members of the attacking group dropped down from their branches like overripe loquats.
Everyone in the large group was on the ground except for one person. It didn't just end there; some of them vanished as if they had never existed. The oversized teen, who had unintentionally ended up as the leader of the people behind him, was resisting the mobs named Tipsy, despite breathing heavily.
"You did me wrong!"
"You did me wrong!"
"You did me wrong!"
The three geezers had gathered together. Standing over the kid who was shivering violently, they were subjecting him to a feast of torment with a full-blown drunkard's conversation. The poor guy couldn't hold out much longer; he face-planted into the ground, about to share the same fate as those who had charged behind him.
"Young friend, wouldn't you like to join us? We have a piece of bread and a bottle of wine that we would take pleasure in sharing with everyone!"
Not even ten seconds had passed since everything ended when I witnessed one of the geezers turn and call out to me. At that moment, I could feel my guts tangling up in fear. I immediately looked around. I didn't want to believe that I was the target, because I was still inside the protective shield.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
When had I stepped out of the ice-blue curtain? When I quickly spun around, I saw that I was already about three steps outside the safe zone. Somehow, I had gotten so caught up in the events I was watching that I had made a fatal mistake without even realizing it.
"You, you did me wrong!"
"You, you did me wrong!"
"You, you did me wrong!"
This couldn't be happening. Just as I took my first step back, the trio whose offer had been rejected moved on to the second phase of their attack. With crazy questions in my head, I tried to lift my foot to take my second step. I had to run; otherwise, my end would be just like the dozens of people who had just vanished as a result of a soul-crushing torment.
I closed my eyes, focused all my strength on my feet, and tried to run. I didn't want to experience the eight-hour torment before I could even do enough investigating. I had to run; that was the only command my brain sent to my body. I had to do this not to the death, but to live.
"Slow down, buddy!"
"What's your rush!"
"Watch where you're going, you fucking bear!"
After losing consciousness in the clutches of fear, I crashed into a hard object and stopped. As a result of this, when I fell to the ground, I gathered some courage to open my eyes again and see what was going on. I was surrounded by people, and without exception, they were all cursing me out. The weird part was, most of them had fallen to the ground just like me.
I jumped to my feet in a panic and spun around in a full circle like a madman to figure out where I was. Upon seeing what was behind me, I felt as if a truckload of weight had been lifted off my back.
I was so scared shitless that with that speed, I had crashed into the people standing at the very outer edge of the obelisk area, waiting in line to go further in.
"I'm sorry!"
"I am so sorry to all of you!"
I quickly asked the people I had hurt to forgive me and bailed from the scene. I had saved my own skin this time; how could I possibly care about such a minor accident?
Ignoring the grumbles rising behind me, I changed my route toward the place where I first woke up. The safe zone was separated from the Fallen by a shield with four colors, which meant there could be completely different mobs in the areas with different colors.
At my first destination on my route, I was met by a shield rising from the ground like yellow tulle and merging with the other color on the ceiling. This was located right next to the area with the alcohol-based Fallen; in fact, if you stood right where they touched, you could comfortably watch both sides.
I came across the sight that would leave me astonished right in one of the places I just mentioned. The two areas bordered each other; the mobs even got as close as a few hand-spans, but they absolutely never crossed into each other's territory.
I had learned an unwritten rule: the Fallen had their own lands, and they strictly refrained from interfering in another's area.
If it were otherwise, all hell would break loose right now, because the Fallen in the yellow zone were the types likely to be a nuisance to everyone—not just here, but on Earth too.
"Glue Sniffer lvl 1!"
"Thinner Sniffer lvl 1!"
"Lighter Gas Sniffer lvl 1!"
You probably understand why I used that expression now. Next to the lands ruled by alcohol lived mobs enslaved by synthetic substances. They had an aura that gave a person goosebumps even from behind the shield. With the screaming people running around them adding to the picture, they were like the very image of madness blended with terror.
I hadn't witnessed how the chaos started in this zone, but looking at the scene in front of me, I could tell that the people caught in their traps were in a state of fear that had seeped into their bones.
Hovering above their heads was a black visage, and the most prominent feature of this indistinct face was its mouth, open wide as if wanting to scream. The people here were also caught under some kind of effect like the ones in the ice-blue zone and had lost control over their bodies.
Before an hour had passed, I started reliving the events I had witnessed earlier; the people who dropped to the ground like marionettes with cut strings vanished shortly after.
I was very cautious this time. To ensure I managed to keep myself inside the shield, I didn't neglect to look around every thirty seconds. I'd already pushed my luck once; even though the proverb says I have another chance, I had no intention of using it right now.
With my morale ruined, I turned around. I didn't know whether to check the shops near the obelisk or take a look at the remaining two areas. Only two hours had passed, but if my eyes weren't deceiving me, the crowd inside the shield had been reduced to barely half of what it was at the start.