player POV-Chapter 71: The meeting once again 1

The place was dark... a dense darkness, to the point that I could no longer feel anything at all.

It was as if I were floating in an endless black void.

At that moment, a heavy question crept into my mind:

Is this what happens to a person when they die?

What a lonely feeling...

Will I remain like this forever?

Does everyone who dies end up here, trapped in this eternal darkness?

If that is the case... then it is truly a cruel fate.

Hmm... but wait.

Doesn’t this place feel familiar somehow?

Suddenly, as if a distant memory forced its way through the darkness, I remembered.

Yes... when I lost consciousness for the first time, when I entered the battlefield... I was here. In this very place, or at least somewhere very similar to it.

So... does that mean I haven’t died yet?

That must be it, right?

A weak thread of hope slipped into my chest. It was small, but it was enough for me to cling to with everything I had.

I don’t want to die yet...

Not now.

Not before I return to my brother.

And as I drifted through this void, I heard a faint voice. At first, I thought it was merely an illusion; a trick of my exhausted mind. Loneliness is cruel... and humans cannot endure it for long without the mind beginning to create things that do not exist.

I ignored the voice at first.

But it did not stop.

Then I began to think in irritation:

What the hell is this sound?

You damned mind, stop creating pointless illusions. You won’t fool me.

But... when I heard the voice again, it was clearer this time.

At that moment, I felt a sharp tightening in my chest... a strange sensation, as if my heart were being squeezed tightly. I felt as though tears were about to fall, even though I could not feel a body here, I could no longer endure it.

Is what I’m hearing real?

Or am I hallucinating?

Please... stop making me feel this.

Stop creating unnecessary illusions.

Then the voice called out to me again.

I froze.

But...

when I heard the voice for the third time, it was clearer than ever. Clear to the point that my heart recognized it before my mind could comprehend it.

It’s... his voice.

He is calling me.

I whispered to myself in a trembling voice:

"It’s him... he’s calling me. I have to go to him." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He is calling me... and I cannot ignore that.

I gathered every remaining bit of willpower I had, every single fragment, and forced myself to move.

I pushed myself toward the source of the voice...

But I... couldn’t move.

No matter how hard I tried, I remained stuck in place, as if something was holding me from the inside.

Emotions flooded my chest all at once, tangled and confusing to a painful degree.

For hell’s sake... move!

What are you doing, frozen like this?

You fool, move! Move, move, move!

The words kept repeating in my head nonstop, like a hammer striking my mind madly, and with each repetition, my suffocation grew stronger. And suddenly... light crept into my vision. It wasn’t strong at first, just a faint flash slicing through the darkness, but it was enough. I didn’t understand what was happening. Before I could, a tremendous force pulled me away from that void.

Ah—

Where am I?

I couldn’t even finish the thought in my head, nor comprehend what was happening, before I heard a clear voice, very close:

"My brother, wake up... what have you been doing sleeping all this time? Aren’t you going to work today?"

When I heard that voice... I opened my eyes quickly.

The room was familiar. Natural light quietly seeped in. Above me, there was a boy looking at me with clear brown eyes, full of worry. I didn’t need a single second to realize who he was.

My brother.

The moment I saw him, I couldn’t control myself.

I stretched out my arms and hugged him immediately, tightly, as if I feared he would disappear if I let go. I felt tears gather in my eyes, then pour down uncontrollably, while repeating in my mind:

It was just a dream... only a dream.

I started crying without stopping. My chest heaved violently, as if my heart was trying to escape my body. My whole body was trembling, and I hugged him even tighter, paying no attention to anything else, while tears flowed mercilessly.

I hadn’t gone...

I hadn’t died...

I was only dreaming... After all that, it was just a damn dream...

My emotions at that moment were too complex to describe; deep sorrow for what I had felt there, and overwhelming joy that I was still here. Two conflicting feelings battling inside me at the same time.

Then I heard his voice again, this time in a confused tone mixed with worry:

"My brother... what’s wrong with you? Why are you crying like this? Did something bad happen to you? And also... you’re hurting me."

When I heard him say that I was hurting him, I let go of him immediately, as if I had suddenly snapped out of a daze. I grabbed his hand quickly and began looking at his body with obvious concern, examining him with trembling eyes:

"Does it hurt here? Or here?"

He looked at me in surprise, then lowered his voice after noticing my reaction, especially since my tears had not yet stopped. He breathed slowly, then said in a shy tone:

"Sorry... I was just joking. You really didn’t hurt me."

Then he paused for a moment before adding with genuine concern:

"But, my brother... why are you crying like this? Did something happen to you recently? Or did that fat manager say something that upset you this much?"

His words, despite their simplicity, pierced my heart. I couldn’t control myself, so I hugged him again, this time with less force but with even stronger emotions. My chest tightened, and my voice came out broken as I said:

"No... it’s not that. I just... had a bad nightmare. That’s all."

A short silence prevailed, before he replied in a calm voice:

"What kind of nightmares put you in this state? Did... did you dream about what happened to our parents? Didn’t I tell you to forget it? It’s not your fault, after all."

I shook my head slightly, then said quietly:

"No... it’s not that."

A full minute passed, or maybe longer, before I could finally control my emotions. My breathing began to return to normal, and the trembling of my body gradually eased. Then I lifted my gaze to my gentle brother’s face, and unconsciously, a small smile appeared on my lips.

He noticed, and he smiled in turn, speaking in a lighter tone:

"Alright, my brother... now that you’ve calmed down, can you tell me about the nightmare you had? Honestly, I feel a bit angry at whatever made you end up in this state."

I hesitated slightly. I lowered my head, then shook it lightly as I said:

"When I tell you... you probably won’t believe me."

He raised his eyebrows slightly, then shook his head confidently and said:

"I will definitely believe you. You would never lie to me, right?"

Then I shook my head gently and said in a soft voice:

"Forget it... it was just a nightmare after all. I don’t want to remember it."

Ryan felt a little troubled, and perhaps a bit disappointed, because I didn’t tell him what had happened to me. But he didn’t insist; after a short moment, he shook his head lightly and smiled, a small light dawning on his face, before putting his hand in his pocket and saying in a playful tone:

"Look, my brother... I brought you a gift. Isn’t that great?"

I lifted my gaze toward his hand, to see the gift he had brought me. And the moment I saw it, I froze in place. I couldn’t catch a single thought from my mind, while all my focus was on the bracelet Ryan was holding.

Isn’t this r—

I couldn’t finish the thought before I felt cracks beginning to spread around the place, as if everything was collapsing before my eyes. My heart leaped violently, and I quickly looked at Ryan. He was standing there calmly, looking directly at me. I felt as if my chest was being squeezed. I stretched my hand toward Ryan quickly,

"No... no... no..."

But before I could touch him, the place shook violently, and exploded as if everything around me was breaking, and suddenly I fell to the ground helplessly. I felt a mixture of emotions... fear, astonishment, pain... and a deep confusion that could not be described.

I quickly lifted my gaze to look for Ryan, but all I saw was gray mist surrounding me from every direction.

Then... I heard a calm, familiar voice piercing through the mist:

"We meet again..."