My mind is an abyss, drowned in darkness… a deep, endless darkness.
I don't know where I am. All I see is an infinite night stretching in every direction.
— "AHHHHH!"
I woke up screaming.
— "What the hell happened last night?"
As the words left my mouth, the smell of dried blood filled my nose. Slowly, I stood up and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
I was covered in it.
— "So it wasn't a dream… but… where are my friends?"
I looked around and found them—Wonho, Minho, Airi, and Kim—lying on the ground in a strange formation. A symbol… a rune, perhaps.
Four bodies. Two and two.
Airi and Kim. Minho and Wonho.
Each pair formed the same symbol:
"𖦉"
But someone was missing.
Xia.
— "I need to figure out what happened here…"
I shook them, trying to wake them up.
— "Guys, wake up. Xia is gone."
No response.
Then I noticed something else.
— "Wait… was that there before?"
On the wall, written in blood:
"Find the white eye."
I left the house, closing the door behind me, and began walking toward the city.
— "I hope they wake up… they'll have to protect themselves. I'll find Xia alone."
As I walked, I began hearing whispers… in Luminari.
I couldn't fully understand them—but I knew that language.
— "If that language is present… something very, very bad is about to happen."
I took a deep breath.
Something was watching me.
I knew it.
But I wouldn't play along.
— "I need to find Xia. Now."
I started running.
Along the way, I saw it—
Animals. Torn apart.
The further I went, the worse it became. Blood everywhere. Bodies shredded.
— "That's not Xia… that's something else."
My heart tightened.
— "This is my fault… I'm useless. I should've never gotten involved in this. It should've been me… not her…"
I tripped and rolled down a hill, scraping my entire body. When I finally stopped, I just lay there, staring at nothing.
— "I'm useless… I couldn't save her… and maybe I never will… I ruin everything…"
Tears streamed down my face.
— "I'm so tired… I'm tired of fighting…"
Then—
A sudden slammed into my back.
— "AGHHH!"
— "So weak… and you're supposed to be the one who closes the gates?"
I turned.
Xia was standing over me… her knee pressing into my back.
No.
That wasn't her.
— "You're pathetic. Weak. Useless."
A punch crashed into my face. Blood burst from my nose instantly.
— "Who… are you?"
She smiled.
— "I am an entity drawn by a ritual… the Night of the Blood Bath."
Everything came back.
— "They used my friends… and distracted me…"
— "I really am useless…"
She threw me through the air.
— "Come on, kid. I know you can do better. Get up."
I forced myself to stand—not to fight, but to distract her… to find help.
Because I wasn't enough.
— "Let her go, you piece of trash!"
I grabbed a rock and threw it.
She crushed it midair like paper.
— "Using rocks in a fight? That's rude."
She raised her hand—
A blast of wind slammed into me, sending me flying.
A punch to the stomach.
Another.
And another.
Each forced blood out of my mouth.
— "You're just a child. Weak. Worthless. A coward."
Pain exploded inside me.
— "AAAAHHHHHH!"
I screamed as more blood poured out.
— "Pathetic… trapped in a fate worse than death… in the hands of the Witch of Greed."
I looked up.
— "Witch… of Greed?"
Another punch.
— "We're forbidden from saying her true name. But you know her. She told you herself."
I forced myself up.
— "Professor Eclipse isn't like that… maybe she was joking… but she's not evil."
The entity smiled wider.
— "She's already deceived you. No one can save you now."
She leaned closer.
— "But I'll have some fun before you die."
She drove a knife into my right leg, carving the same rune.
— "AAAAHHH!"
— "Don't scream… this will be fun."
She inhaled near my neck.
— "Your blood… it's special. Now I understand why she's obsessed."
She bit into my neck.
Blood spilled.
— "The blood of the chosen… makes me stronger."
She raised her hand and launched a massive wind current toward the house.
— "I have to do something… anything…"
I staggered forward, raising my hand.
— "How was it…? Damn it… I forgot…"
The wind hit me instead.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
I dropped to my knees, choking.
I could feel it leaving my body.
Slowly… I was fading.
— "You can't even save them… even with all that power. You're pitiful."
I glared at her… and punched her.
— "You want to die, don't you?"
She launched me into a tree.
Then another.
And another.
For what felt like an eternity, she beat me—trees, rocks, ground—everything stained with my blood.
Finally, she grabbed me by the hair.
— "I'll end your suffering."
With my last strength, I raised my hand.
— "Qel'vethra!"
Xia's body trembled violently.
The entity smiled.
— "Even she uses you."
Then—
She vanished.
Gone.
Xia collapsed.
— "I… did it… I saved you… I'm sorry…"
I hugged her weakly before falling.
Blood filled my throat.
— "I don't care if I die… at least I saved her…"
Darkness closed in.
But before I lost consciousness—
Someone was watching from the shadows.
— "Dear Dark… you saved them. But not for long."
Professor Eclipse stepped forward.
She wiped the runes from my body with a handkerchief, leaving trails of black blood.
She smiled.
Then vanished into the darkness.
— "Where… am I?"
Everything was white.
A hospital.
— "DARK!"
Kim hugged me, crying.
— "Ah—wait—it hurts!"
She pulled away quickly.
— "I thought you died…"
— "So did I…"
Minho stepped forward, gripping my hand.
— "I thought I lost you."
— "Not that easy to get rid of me."
Wonho hugged me from the side.
— "Good… we can keep protecting you."
— "Yeah, right… like he didn't get beaten half to death…"
— "Protect me? You four were unconscious."
Wonho looked down.
— "Yeah… sorry…"
Airi hugged me.
— "You almost died because of us…"
— "I'm fine… but Xia?"
They looked at each other.
Wonho answered:
— "She was unconscious for five days. We were out for one… except Minho—two. And now he can speak Luminari."
— "Not perfectly… but yeah."
I blinked.
— "Wait… Xia was out five days… how long was I out?"
— "Eight."
Silence.
— "You lost too much blood. If the ambulance had taken longer, you'd be dead. Alya said so… we don't know who called it."
— "So someone didn't want me to die… how annoying…"
Suddenly—
— "DARK!"
Xia burst in, crying, hugging me tightly.
— "It hurts!"
— "Thank you… but don't ever do that again… I thought I lost you… I love you, Dark. And I'll free you from Alya!"
The others gestured frantically.
— "Stop! I'm serious!"
A hand touched her shoulder.
— "Wait—"
— "Xia… behind you."
She turned slowly.
Froze.
— "A-A-Alya…?"
Alya stood there… smiling.
Cold.
— "Did I hear that right? You want to steal my boyfriend?"
— "N-no, it was a joke!"
— "It better be."
She turned to me, softening instantly.
— "Dark… you're awake."
She hugged me gently.
— "Thanks for saving me."
— "It's nothing… I just used my powers. You're not allowed to die until we have kids."
— "Alya…"
— "Shut up, Kim."
Everyone laughed.
I smiled.
— "Maybe… living isn't so bad after all."
— "Not when I'm with them."
— "I'll protect them… no matter what."