The pain was incomprehensible. It hit like a freight truck slamming directly into his chest.
Sena gagged. His lungs felt like they were exploding as his body struck the ice-cold ground. His vision went white, and a deafening ring filled his ears until his head felt like it was about to split open.
He tried to draw a breath, but only a raspy, pathetic wheeze escaped. A warm, copper-smelling liquid sprayed from his mouth, soaking the reddish dirt filled with sharp iron filings.
Blood. That's my blood.
"Ugh... d-damn it..." Sena groaned. His voice was cracked and trembling.
He tried to stand, but his hands slipped on the layers of rust. In front of him, a tree towered high. There were no leaves. Its trunk wasn't wood, but a weave of rusted steel cables coiled around one another. This forest was dead. It was nothing but iron and silence.
"A dream... this is just a nightmare," Sena muttered. "I was just in Jakarta. In the alley... I must have been jumped."
He closed his eyes, counting to three, hoping the foul stench of Jakarta's trash would welcome him back. Sena opened his eyes. The iron tree was still there. The wind blew, creating a sharp screeech—the sound of metal grinding against metal that set his teeth on edge.
"No, this can't be! Maya! MAYA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
His shout was hoarse, swallowed by a deep red sky that looked like a massive bruise. Something buzzed near his ear. Sena swatted the air, thinking it was an insect, but his hand struck something hard. A mechanical sphere the size of a marble hovered silently, its red lens staring at Sena without emotion.
Click.
A blue holographic screen exploded in front of his face. It was too bright.
[Akasha Broadcast Protocol Activated.]
[Host Synchronization successful. Welcome to the Arkandiva Continent.]
"What is this?! Get it away!" Sena swiped his hand, trying to erase the screen, but his fingers simply passed through the light.
The text on the screen shifted to a pulsing blood-red.
[Critical Warning! Life Status is tethered to "Viewer Count".]
[Current Viewer Count: 0]
[Penalty activated: Heart rate decreasing by 10% per minute.]
[Estimated time to Total Heart Failure: 04 Minutes 59 Seconds.]
Sena froze. His brain stalled. Heart failure?
Suddenly, his chest felt as though it were being crushed by a giant hand.
Thump.
His heart gave one violent, heavy beat, and then the rhythm slowed drastically. A deadly chill began to crawl from his feet toward his chest.
"Ugh—" Sena collapsed. His face hit the sharp iron dirt.
I'm dying. I'm actually going to die here if I just lie still.
His mind shifted into survival mode. He stared at the mechanical ball following him. As a cell tower technician, he knew one thing: there was no point screaming in a dead zone. That camera was a transmitter. If no one was watching, it meant he had no "signal."
He had to get attention. He had to provide a "view" worth selling.
Sena stared at the steel cable tree. On the ground, he was invisible. He had to go up. He needed height so this transmitter could catch a wider range—or at least, so his broadcast wouldn't look like a man dying in a gutter.
"You want a show? Look at me, you bastards!"
With frantic, clumsy movements, Sena crawled toward the tree. He hugged the rough metal trunk that tore at his palms. The stinging pain actually helped him stay conscious. He climbed like a man possessed, using the tower-climbing techniques that were hardwired into his muscles.
He slipped several times. His boots struck iron branches with a loud clang. His breath hitched, his chest feeling incredibly heavy as if filled with molten lead.
[Estimated time to Total Heart Failure: 00 Minutes 45 Seconds.]
Sena reached a branch ten meters up. His hands were numb. He collapsed there, his head drooping limply to the side. Below him, the sea of red metal forest looked endless. It was aesthetic, yet horrifying.
His consciousness began to fade. His vision darkened.
DING!
The sound hit his brain like a thousand-volt electric shock.
[1 Viewer Joined.]
Instantly, heat surged through his heart. A sudden pump of blood slammed into his chest with force. Sena gasped for air, his body arching against the iron branch as blood flow returned to the nerve endings that had just been freezing.
"Hah... hah... hah..." Sena curled up, shaking violently. His chest heaved frantically. He was still alive.
In the corner of the screen, a chatbox appeared.
[@DeathCult_MC]:"Whoa, what short film is this? The CGI is insane, even got the blood-vomiting effects down. Your acting is wild, bro."
Sena stared at the message with bloodshot eyes. He wanted to scream, but his voice wouldn't come out yet. Someone thought this was entertainment, while he had just been yanked back from death's door.
"Acting..." Sena whispered with a cracked voice.
He wiped the blood from his lips with the back of a trembling hand. His eyes sharpened as he saw the next message.
[@DeathCult_MC]:"But bro, you might want to look up. There's a sick monster prop right above you."
Sena froze. The stench of fresh blood, much sharper than his own, suddenly hit his nostrils. Something thick and hot dripped onto his shoulder.
Sizzzz... His jacket began to melt.
Sena looked up stiffly. And there, directly above his head, a living nightmare with jaws dripping corrosive saliva stared back at him hungrily.
Sena's hand instinctively reached into his pocket, gripping a dull screwdriver until his knuckles turned white, even though he knew the tool wouldn't stand a chance against the steel hide in front of him.
On the screen, the chatbox chimed again.
[@DeathCult_MC]:"Holy shit! Is that a prop mantis or is it real?! RIP bro, I'll start the online funeral."