(Viewpoint: Ki-Moon)
The door opened with a low rumble.
For a few seconds, a thick cloud of dust rose, covering our entire vision.
The air escaping from the opening was different from that of the first area. Colder. Drier. It carried a smell of old dust and something indefinable, almost metallic.
I could only see darkness behind the door.
Surprisingly, it was Carina who pulled me inside while I was trying to see clearly.
Obviously that was impossible.
I didn't ask her to stay behind. She probably wouldn't have listened.
The survivors were gathered before us.
But I didn't even have time to recover before I was struck by a stifling heat, a scorching sun.
All that remained was a team, or rather pieces that formed a group.
I looked behind me for the last time.
The corridor of the first zone slowly disappeared into darkness.
The hunter's body had already been removed by the system.
No trace of the fight.
Only the marks on the walls.
And the sword in my hand.
I lowered my eyes towards her.
The King Without a Crown.
I didn't know what kind of weapons they were, but nothing in this game shocked me anymore.
Even less so why this little girl was so rich and lived outside the game.
I looked up at her.
She avoided my gaze.
Who knows what's going through his head?
But then a notification appeared.
Zone 2: THE DESSERT PARCHARDS.
OBJECTIVE: STAY IN THE CITY OF GOLD
RULE: NO RESURRECTION IN THIS AREA.
Silence fell immediately.
We were dehydrated instantly, I didn't even have enough saliva to click my tongue.
But a voice rose up behind me.
– That's impossible; before we find that city, we'll already be...
No one finished the sentence.
It wasn't necessary.
I put away my watch and whispered to Carina.
– We're making progress.
She nodded and followed me without concern.
Yet another of their brutal ordeals.
I wonder if this game is meant to be won.
I stopped abruptly.
Carina almost ran into me.
– What is it?
I did not reply.
I picked up my watch and went back to reading the instructions.
Then a line caught my eye:
I ran my fingers across the screen.
I think I almost made a mistake.
– we must stay, not search.
But something about their organization bothered me.
This dungeon no longer resembled a simple test.
– the parchments?
Am I trying too hard to understand?
I resumed my walk.
Carina followed me again without asking any further questions.
Perhaps I overthought it; if she knows, she must know the right way.
But after a few meters, she asked:
Are you looking for something?
- Yes.
- What ?
I think for a few seconds.
– A place to die.
She didn't respond and even seemed calm; I think we were on the right track.
So I continued onward.
At the beginning of the game, I just thought it would be okay.
I simply wanted to get my old life back.
Or rather, what I called my life.
An empty existence.
Days that are all the same.
Endless nights.
I got up because I had to get up.
I ate because I had to eat.
I was sleeping because the next day had to come.
And for a long time, I wondered if disappearing wouldn't be simpler.
I didn't have any grand dreams.
But I valued life too much to die, I was rather afraid of dying, I wasn't going to give them the pleasure of forgetting me, it was my only way to annoy them.
No particular conviction.
I had accepted that nothing was going to change.
Then the game arrived.
And he gave me something even worse, exactly what I had never asked for.
Fear.
Violence.
The loss.
I hated humans even more.
Why had my mother never come back?
This question had become more important than anything else, but I knew I would never listen to the answer.
I didn't know if she was alive.
But now I had a reason to continue.
I want to find her and get my answer.
A metallic sound resonated in front of us.
I stopped.
A door had just opened in front of us.
I looked at Carina, then at the door.
– Do you see the same thing as me?
Carina paled slightly.
- What ?
I barely smile.
Not because I was happy.
I took a step towards the door.
Carina followed me, pulling at my feet.
His steps quickened, but the door continued to recede; it seemed close but always at the same distance.
– I'm thirsty
I managed to say before collapsing into the burning sand, this brings back memories, it's probably the second time I've been roasted in the heat.
It's still just as painful.
And somewhere, in this labyrinth built to mislead men, there might have been a trace of my mother.
I no longer wanted to live.
I would at least like to know all these secrets that torment me so that I can at least be reincarnated, but I don't want to die, I don't want to die.