Echoes of Hollow

Amid the countless shelves, the surroundings shine with the sudden appearance of an intense black glow...

Smiling, a boy in a white uniform runs down an empty corridor. Stretching out his arms, he wraps them around the necks of his two friends.

"Hey, how about a movie?"

"Movie?"

Clicking his tongue, the boy on the left sighed.

"My grades are terrible, my parents won’t let me out again anytime soon."

"Seriously?"

The boy shook his head in disapproval.

"Oh man, I told you to study more. I knew this would happen..."

He turned to the right, hoping his last remaining friend might agree. But before the boy on the right could even open his mouth, he too sighed.

"Don’t even ask. I practically bombed the last test."

"You two have got to be kidding me, right?! It’s like I didn’t warn you. At least tell me you got the item you wanted after farming for days?"

Rolling his eyes, the boy avoided eye contact.

"...Well, yeah, but... only for a limited time..."

"Are you serious? What a waste."

Removing his arms from their shoulders, the boy glanced around.

"Let’s hit the court for a bit before we leave. You guys are done checking the rooms, right?"

"Not quite, there’s one left."

One of the boys slid open the door beside them.

"This is the last one."

The three peeked their heads into the room, not even bothering to switch on the lights. They quickly scanned the area, but with so much stuff blocking their view and only the faint line of light coming from the door, it was impossible to say they saw anything at all.

Straightening up as he pulled his head back, the boy grinned.

"If you guys checked all the rooms like that, we’re doomed. What if there’s a hidden dungeon?"

"Hidden where? Under the floor?"

"Alright, if you say so. But you’re done now, right? Let’s go."

"Why play if you already know you’ll lose?"

"Yeah, yeah, keep dreaming."

"Honestly, I can’t imagine how painful it must be when you come crashing back to reality. How can you dream so high while awake?"

Laughing, the boys walked together toward the exit, passing several doors along the way, most of them leading to classrooms. Among them, however, was the entrance to a small storage room like the one they just checked—a place where all the school materials were stored.

...The black cloud slowly expands, reaching a size large enough to completely swallow two shelves.

---

[Warning!]

[Daily missions have not been completed]

[Punishment will be initiated]

[Warning!]

[User is unable to perform punishment]

[Punishment will be canceled]

[Warning!]

[Daily missions have not been completed]

[Punishment...]

.

.

.

[Warning!]

[As punishment for not completing daily missions for two consecutive days, all remaining points will be deleted]

.

.

.

[00:00:05... 00:02... 00:01...]

[00:00]

[Warning!]

[All points have been successfully absorbed]

[Hibernation time has been completed]

Before even blinking for the first time, a familiar sensation envelops him. Every part of his body can feel his surroundings with perfect clarity. Each thread of the thin blanket covering him, especially the ones that are frayed, is so clear in his mind that he could almost see how they were woven together.

The wind blows through the open window beside him, and as it touches his face, he feels each gust like an abnormal, piercing cold, thanks to his heightened senses. High in the sky, some birds flap their wings in perfect synchrony, up and down, while a plane flies nearby... or at least, that’s how it seemed.

Squinting his eyes, the sound of car horns has never been so deafening as it is now. The footsteps have never been so loud, and the voices... the voices?

"That voice is..."

Suddenly sitting up, Hye opens his eyes in shock, letting the bright light of the white lamp burn his vision.

"Argh...!"

Rubbing his eyes for a moment and focusing, the pain gradually fades, the sounds normalize, and, slowly lifting his head, he begins to see.

The light dims as a new weight presses down on the blanket near his legs. Colors blur and shift, and finally, things start to take shape. The bare white walls, the chair in the right corner, the metal stand holding an IV bag and a heart rate monitor, the small sofa next to the door, and a face... a face he had wanted to see again for some time, a desire that had grown ever since completing level four of the Tower’s second floor.

"Seeing the real one is so much better..."

His mind calms just by her presence, and his heart races the moment he sees her smile.

"The real one...? Are you sure you’re okay?"

Touching his face with her soft, warm hands, Alyia made an indescribable feeling of comfort wash over him. However, as her mouth drew closer to his forehead, despite not wanting to do so, he said, “Wait,” pulling his face away.

'Oh, so that’s why the bearer of the Father’s Eyes has come here so many times in recent days, you know each other…'

His heart raced as his eyes met Alyia’s incredulous expression. The shock was so great that, for a few moments, she even remained paralyzed.

“N-No, wait…! I can explain!”

Raising his arm, Hye was able to create a light breeze, something strong enough to sway Alyia’s golden hair… although he didn’t even care about that at first.

“Explain…?”

Wasting so much time searching around the world for an unknown dungeon that was basically impossible to find was foolish. However, that was just one of the reasons behind the shock caused by such a simple rejection. Her being his first, that was the real problem.

“How?”

“Well…”

Her eyes widen while her mouth remains slightly open. Such an absurd situation that, despite already knowing that something was definitely different, a situation of such astronomical proportion had never crossed her mind, after all, it is absolutely ridiculous to even consider.

“What?!”

Alyia returns to the bed, but upon hearing the approaching footsteps, her eyebrows rise, her teeth clench, and she quickly heads towards the wall.

“Oh, damn…! I still haven’t forgiven you," she murmured, "but I will want a detailed explanation about this the next time I come back, understood?”

The white oscillates along with the entire wall, changing from something solid to a kind of seemingly gelatinous structure that allowed her entire body to pass through.

With the rapid restructuring of the solid state of the surface in front of her, shortly after, the bedroom door opened, allowing Samantha and another person to enter.

“Hye, are you already awake? Whose voice was that?”