The deer stared directly into my eyes.
The aura emanating from it was so powerful that I was unable to move even a single toe, or even blink.
The deer slowly began walking toward me. The sound of its hooves against the stone floor echoed throughout the entire stadium, which was as silent as a cathedral.
The pressure of its aura grew exponentially as it drew closer.
I could feel my body becoming heavier. The only reason I was still standing was because space and time itself seemed to be influenced by the ether emanating from the deer's body.
As it approached me, its antlers began to turn red, and its body changed. Its antlers stretched into large crests, and soon a giant red owl was walking toward me.
Then the owl became a monkey.
Then a lion.
Finally, the changing silhouette took the form of a man.
Judging by his appearance, this man couldn't have been more than twenty-five years old.
His hair was a milky white that contrasted with his turquoise-blue eyes.
His stature was imposing despite his slender frame.
His long eyelashes and broad shoulders gave his silhouette an immediately recognizable appearance.
He continued walking slowly until he was about a meter away from me, then stopped.
"Hello, Gu Luo."
My heart skipped a beat.
How...
I looked behind me and to either side, but everything seemed normal.
My palms were sweaty, and I was sweating profusely.
Was this one of those programs that searched for information about you in order to break the fourth wall?
His gaze twitched as if he had noticed my disturbance, which did nothing to improve my state.
"Well, Luo... Can I call you Luo?"
He stopped for a moment, seemingly waiting for an answer.
"Good grief, that's right, you can't answer me. Where is my head..."
He extended one hand to the side, and it disappeared into the surrounding space as if it were passing through reality itself.
"All these zeros and ones... it's a rather peculiar way of seeing the world, don't you think?"
Mathematical symbols and English words I didn't recognize seemed to spill out from the breach he had just opened.
"There, that should do the trick." He pulled his hand back.
"Well, I can call you Luo, right? I have a hard time with formal speech."
"How do you know my name?"
He looked embarrassed and sighed.
"Don't tell me you don't remember anymore?" He put a hand to his chin and stared into empty space, pretending to think. "I've always had trouble with dates..."
His gaze returned to mine.
"If you don't know me, I don't think I can answer your question."
"..."
A brief silence followed before the man began speaking rapidly once again.
"You know, I really have a hard time with formal speech, so I'll tell you my name. That way we'll be even, alright?"
I wasn't really in a position to negotiate, and this man seemed incredibly unstable.
"That works."
"Perfect! Haha!" The man smiled from ear to ear. "My name is Merlin Emrys, nice to meet you!" He extended his hand toward me.
Merlin! The legendary character? A character from children's stories? That Merlin?
Seeing that I wasn't moving, he approached me by a few steps and took my right hand with his right hand, placed it in his left hand, then shook it vigorously, moving it up and down.
"There, it's official."
He released my hand and stepped back slightly before placing his hands on his hips and letting out a loud sigh.
"Ahhhhh! You have no idea how relieved I am, Luo. It's much nicer this way, right?"
This character was certainly insane.
"..."
His expression suddenly became serious.
"You see, I really thought you'd lose before reaching the tournament final, but I underestimated you. I have to admit, you surprised me. No, you impressed me! If I weren't supposed to kill you, I would certainly have begged you to become my student. I mean, mastering your ether in such a short amount of time is nothing short of a prodigy."
I dreaded what he was about to say.
"Die?"
His smile disappeared.
"Didn't I tell you? My job is to kill you. It's a shame, we were getting along so well and then..."
"I don't want to die!"
"..."
I shook my head from side to side.
"No, no, no, no, no. I still have so many things to do. I can't die now!"
Merlin's face lit up with surprise.
"Well, would you look at that, you can move? You're really something. You're the first person to resist my Aeon."
I felt an intense pain, and my vision blurred.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
I began coughing up blood, staining the ground a vivid red.
"Whoa, are you alright, kid?" Merlin rushed toward me and took me by the shoulder to help me stand.
"Well, you can move, but don't push yourself. You might die."
He seemed to think for a moment.
"Actually, that would make my job easier, but well, I was asked to kill you in a specific way, so..."
He extended one of his hands in front of him, and a whitish sphere as luminous as the sun appeared in his palm.
Even from where I was, I could feel that if I got any closer to this sphere, it would disintegrate me.
Merlin brought the hand holding the sphere closer to my chest.
"This is only going to sting a little. You won't feel almost anything."
An intense fear overwhelmed me.
"No, please, anything but that. I'll do anything! Tell me what you want me to do for you and I'll do it!"
He let go of me. I fell heavily to my knees on the ground.
I raised my eyes.
Merlin was looking at me with a faint smile.
"Why do you care so much? It's not like it's reality anyway."
He crouched down and placed his hand on my chest, the ball of light passing through my flesh.
I felt a slight tingling sensation, and as I felt all life leaving my body, I heard Merlin whisper in the distance.
"You'll be fine, kiddo."
The death screen flickered slightly before my eyes on the laptop screen.
With a wave of exhaustion, I closed the window of the software titled 'demonic monarch.exe'.
I let out a long sigh, closed the laptop, then went to bed.