David and his family headed to the cinema as the final part of celebrating their wedding anniversary. They looked through the kinds of movies that were showing that day.
"Darling, what do you want to watch?"
David pointed at one of them. "This one..."
Dianne saw that the movie seemed to be a family drama and smiled. She had thought that her husband would want to watch an action movie.
"That movie looks exciting, mommy, daddy!" Darla said happily as well.
Dianne bought the tickets, headed into the theater, and they sat in a row with Darla in the middle. Throughout the movie, the three of them were immersed in the story and atmosphere presented by the movie. Dianne and Darla laughed and shed tears during certain emotional scenes. David remained silent, watching it attentively. When the story reached its climax, a short brown-haired male character could be seen being surrounded by several bad people. David immediately stood upright.
"I have to save him...!!!" his breathing becoming heavy and his eyes widening.
Darla and Dianne were startled by David's behavior. The other audience also glanced toward him. David fell silent and swallowed.
"Dad, they're only on the screen..." his daughter said softly.
Dianne immediately held his hand while smiling at him. David calmed down again and continued watching until it finished. The three of them returned home in the evening. Darla was very happy and wanted to do activities like this again every weekend. That night, David lay in bed together with Dianne, facing each other.
"Darling, did you enjoy this today?"
"Yes, Dianne. Let's do it again like Darla said."
His wife smiled and kissed him again. They slept with Dianne in her husband's embrace.
The next day and the days afterward, David lived his days normally as the head of the family. He also planned to continue serving in the Space Force. Dianne happily welcomed her husband's decision. On his first day back on duty, David was warmly welcomed by his unit. Murphy looked very excited because the superior he admired had returned.
David lived his life as usual and did not experience anything strange anymore several months later. He eventually became worried because lately Dianne had often been suffering from dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. After being examined, his wife was declared pregnant with their second child. Dianne cried with happiness while hugging him, and David simply smiled. Darla was also very happy because she would finally have a younger sibling. From that moment onward, David became even more attentive to his wife and decided to hire a housemaid.
One day, while David was on a day off, Dianne approached and showed him an object.
"Darling, while I was tidying up the bed, I found this tucked beside the mattress. It seems to be yours that was accidentally brought from your own room..."
Even though she was pregnant, Dianne still did light household chores. David saw that the object in his wife's hand was a military compass.
"I don't think I've ever brought that here, Dianne. I'll return it to my room."
The moment David grasped the compass, his whole body suddenly felt as if it had been struck by electricity and his vision turned white.
***
As he regained consciousness, his view changed into a vast lava lake on top of a cliff. His right hand was choking a fair-skinned man with short brown hair and bangs. David saw himself throwing the man into the lava lake.
His vision turned white again, and now he was in a place like an underground prison. David was imprisoned behind iron bars, and outside there were many people resembling soldiers wearing blue armor similar to Roman military while carrying rifles. In the middle of them stood that same man again. David immediately lunged at the iron bars, trying to reach the man while saying ragingly that he wanted to kill him.
His vision turned white again, and now David was in the middle of an arena. Someone approached him—a tall, large-built man with dark skin and white hair—but instead the man knelt down and extended his hand. David immediately slapped the hand away. The man smiled and glanced toward one of the arena platforms. David's head also turned in that direction, and he saw that same man there.
His vision turned white again, and David was gripping the collar of that same man's shirt, lifting him off the ground in an area near a forest. The man said that David came from the game The Mayhem, and that he had been named Hellraider because he was feared by every entity in Hell.
His vision turned white again, and David was standing face to face with that same man. The man explained Hellraider's origin from the game, and David rejected everything the man told him.
His vision turned white again, and David was kneeling. Before him lay the corpse of an enormous monster with its entrails spilling out. He was carrying a blood-covered young man while trying to wake him up.
His vision turned white again, and David was now standing in front of a monument shaped like a sword and spear, but in the center was a cat-shaped necklace. He glanced to his side and saw a man saying his family was resting in peace.
His vision turned white again, and David was in a place resembling a throne room. Standing before him was that same man, who looked both angry and tearful. He demanded that David stated his feelings regarding him. David remained silent, and the man became extremely upset before turning around and leaving. When David tried to chase after him, his vision turned white again.
Now David was in the same arena as before. The man was sitting before him, injured. David knelt down, raised one hand, and said that they had to save the emperor.
His vision turned white, and now he was inside a large room that appeared to possess advanced technology. The man was engaged in a heated argument with an angel-like entity. David summoned his magnum pistol and immediately fired it into the angel's chest.
His vision turned white again, and now he saw a completely gray landscape, everything was glitching. Before him, the man walked toward an entity that was glitching more violently. David's hand, which was also glitching, reached toward the man while shouting for him to stop. But as he approached the entity, the man turned around and said something with a smile.
"Thank you, David Hellraider, for our journey... You deserve a better ending..."
"Jooohaaaannnn...!!!"
As David shouted that name, Johann turned around once more, and his vision turned white again.
***
"Daaaarliiing...!!! Daaaarliiing...!!! Wake uuuppp...!!! You were convulsing and kept shouting the name 'Johann' over and over...!!!"
David immediately opened his eyes, breathing heavily. Dianne held both of her husband's cheeks with deep concern.
"It's alright, my darling... Maybe your sadness and longing suddenly came back again... Was he your close friend back then?"
"I-I'm going out for a while to get some fresh air, D-Dianne..." he gently lowered his wife's hand.
David took the car keys and drove away from the house. Dianne remained confused and worried about her husband's condition.
David arrived at the city park and sat on a bench facing a large fountain. He stared at the military compass for quite a long time. David remembered once again all of his journey in the previous world together with someone whose name was Johann. He lowered his head as tears began to flow and cried in sobs.
"Why... Why were you willing to sacrifice yourself there just for my life now, Johann???"
Not long afterward, his lament was interrupted when he heard a group of men passing by while saying something that sounded familiar to him.
"Come on, let's go over there! They're about to announce the final installment of The Mayhem that we've all been waiting for!"
David stood up and followed them from some distance away. It turned out that across the city park stood the convention building where he had once gone to watch Larry's concert. David entered the building, and the event was attended by a great number of people, most of whom were fans of The Mayhem. He approached one of the booths that was handing out promotional brochures for the game. Once again, because of his imposing physique, David became the center of attention, but he did not care.
One of the staff members seemed interested in his presence. He picked up something resembling a magazine and handed it to David. When the staff member told him to accept it and David grasped it, he suddenly froze.
"Y-You... You look so much like him!!!" the staff stared closely to him.
David immediately pulled the magazine away with an annoyed expression and left the booth. Another staff member nudged and told him not to stand there blankly while the place was so crowded. As David was about to look through the magazine, loud cheers suddenly erupted from the north side in front of a giant screen. David walked over, and the screen displayed a promotional video for The Mayhem.
This time David was the one left speechless because he clearly saw the main protagonist named Hellraider displayed on the screen. Instantly he remembered that Johann before had always called him "Sir Hellraider". He watched The Mayhem and the character Hellraider, who had originally come from an arcade game before continuing onto consoles. He watched himself brutally slaughter monsters and demons of Hell with his weapons. The sea of devoted fans immediately cheered and chanted his famous title.
"HELLRAIDERRR...! HELLRAIDERRR...! HELLRAIDERRR...!"
David's eyes widened and his breathing became irregular. He immediately left the crowd and the convention hall, heading back to his car. Inside the car, David was still in shock over what he had just witnessed. He then raised both of his trembling hands. The memory of Hellraider firing his shotgun at a demon in the promotional video flashed through his mind, and the very same shotgun materialized in a flash of light in his palms.
Startled, David threw it onto the seat beside. He stared at the weapon. It was truly real and belonged to him. David clutched his head, lowered it, and cried out in anguish. The surroundings were quiet, so no one suddenly approached him.
David returned home and was greeted by Dianne, who stroked his cheek and embraced him. He embraced his wife in return, with eyes dull in sorrow.
That night, David stood beside the bed in his private room while looking at the compass once again. Johann's image flowed back into his memory, and his eyes gradually became watery. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and his daughter entered.
"Dad... there's a beautiful aurora outside. Come and see it together with us!"
David walked out into the backyard with Darla, and Dianne was already standing there. She invited her husband to watch the most beautiful aurora stretching across the star-filled night sky. David observed that the aurora was white mixed with golden yellow. Suddenly, he stepped forward while staring intently at the sky. Dianne and Darla simply remained silent on him.
"You think... you can place me here whatever you want? I'll be coming to you soon, Johann..." David murmured firmly.