Surviving These Unfair Scenarios [LITRPG - DIMENSION HOPPING]

Extra Chapter 12 - Adam's Inner Monologue (Not Really)

Adam didn't remember the exact moment it happened. One moment he was walking toward Konrad, the bitter taste of ash and blood still in his mouth, his body straining but victorious, his enemy defeated, and then the next moment everything shifted.

Without warning, without any sensation of movement or a skill activation, the entire world around him changed. The floor beneath his feet had vanished, and what replaced it felt nothing like solid ground. Adam stood still, his breathing quiet, his mind struggling to catch up with what his senses were telling him. A sky of endless grey loomed overhead, not with clouds, not with fog, but with something thicker and heavier, an oppressive emptiness that extended in every direction.

He looked up, but there was no sun, no moon, no light source at all. The light that existed came from nowhere and everywhere at once, casting a dim pale illumination that seemed to drain the color from everything it touched. He turned in place slowly and saw a broken city stretching beyond the horizon.

Skyscrapers that had once stood tall were now twisted, collapsed, or partially melted, as if a great firestorm had ravaged the area long ago. Some leaned at awkward angles, others had already fallen and split the cracked streets below. Entire blocks were submerged under layers of ash and blackened roots, buildings overtaken by dead vines and withered vegetation, their windows shattered and frames broken. Cars lay overturned or rusted in place, many fused with the terrain itself, as if the passage of time had warped the very structure of reality.

There were no birds, no wind, no insects… No voices or sound. Like something had deliberately carved all life out of the space and left only the hollow frame behind. Adam took a hesitant step forward. His boot met solid pavement, but the sound it made echoed far too long.

He tried to analyze his surroundings, to calculate what this place was, but no conclusion made sense. The last thing he remembered was feeling drained but in control, his thoughts still sharp, his connection to his skills unbroken. But now there was nothing, even the system was completely unresponsive.

He blinked and tried to open his status screen out of habit, but nothing responded. He tried again, more forcefully, and still the result was the same. Panic rose in his chest. He extended his hand, channeling cursed energy into his palm, but it refused to appear. Even the corrupted ki he had long since grown used to remained dormant. He pressed his palm to the side of his head and called out to Malzaphir, shouting mentally with increasing volume, but the entity did not answer. He reached out further, attempting to connect with the Overmind, even if only to provoke a reaction, but nothing came back. It was like calling into the void.

Adam frowned and kept walking, his eyes scanning every detail, committing the broken city to memory. He did not recognize any landmarks, but the atmosphere reminded him too much of the ghost world from his very first scenario. That place, too, had been lifeless and haunting, filled with spectral echoes and twisted reality, but this one was even more barren. That place had felt wrong, dangerous, and hostile to the living, but this one felt mournful, as if someone had abandoned it long ago.

He walked through a shattered marketplace, the remnants of metal stalls scattered across the floor, their rusted frames bent and broken. Signs hung loosely from their posts, their letters erased by time and corrosion. He paused at a shattered glass window and looked at his reflection. It was still him, or at least the version of himself he had grown used to seeing, pale skin, tired eyes, black hoodie torn at the edges. No visible injuries, no change in his appearance, but something inside felt off. He could feel a pressure in the back of his head, faint but steady, like an echo bouncing from inside his own skull.

After nearly what seemed like an hour of walking, he found nothing, just an endless labyrinth of collapsed buildings and empty streets. He tried climbing the remains of an office tower, hoping to get a better view, but the structure crumbled beneath his weight before he could reach the top. He moved through alleyways and courtyards, checked every corner, called out more than once, even knowing no one would answer, but still nothing came. Eventually, he stopped searching. His legs ached despite the lack of damage, and his mind throbbed from the strain of trying to understand the situation.

He found a spot near the edge of a broken road, where a massive slab of concrete had been overturned and now jutted out like a crooked table. He sat on it slowly, his hands clasped together, his eyes staring ahead without focus.

He considered possibilities. A hallucination seemed the most likely at first, perhaps induced by the residual effects of divine or cursed energy, but it made no sense since his mind was protected. As an undead, he had natural resistance to all mental interference, and that resistance had only been amplified by the parasite he had bonded with.

Whatever this was, it could not be an illusion. There was no dream logic either; everything felt real. Too real. He pressed his fingers to his wrist, checking his own pulse, but even that simple rhythm felt muted.

The only conclusion he could reach was that he was inside something. Whether it was a mindscape, an inner world, or something else entirely, he had somehow been pulled inside it and left to wander alone. The question was whether this was something external that had forced him in, or whether he had fallen into it himself.

He tried to remember if anything had happened right before the shift. Any fluctuation in his energy, any whisper in the back of his mind, but the moment between his last conscious step and his arrival in this dead city was a perfect blank.

It made no sense. He leaned forward, elbows on knees, face buried in his hands. He did not feel fear exactly, but the isolation was pressing in on him. He looked up at the sky again and wondered how long he could last in a place like this, one where time seemed meaningless and direction was an illusion.

The silence of the ruined world was broken not by wind or falling rubble, but by a voice—clear, casual, and unmistakably familiar. Adam froze the moment he heard it. It wasn't a hallucination… He knew that voice. Slowly, as if afraid to confirm something he couldn't understand, he turned his head toward the sound.

Standing not far behind him, arms crossed and an easy smile on his face, was a young man with sharp features, light brown hair, and a worn jacket that looked somehow untouched by the decay of the world around them. It was Nikolai. He looked exactly as Adam remembered him before he died, with that same relaxed confidence in his posture, as if nothing could shake him—not even death itself.

The long-haired guy raised a hand in a lazy wave and said.

"Hey there! Took you long enough to show up. I was starting to think you'd never get here."

Adam didn't respond at first. He stood motionless, his entire mind blanking out for several seconds before he took a slow step forward, then another. He stared at Nikolai as if waiting for the image to vanish, as if suspecting that this, too, might be part of some elaborate illusion. His voice came out strained, uncertain, and raw.

"You're... you're dead. I saw you die. You… there's no way… how are you even…"

His words faltered, lost between disbelief and confusion. Nikolai chuckled and let his arms drop to his sides, looking around as if the destroyed city behind them was nothing more than a mildly unpleasant backdrop.

"Yeah, I died. No question there."

He said, shrugging.

"Got torn up pretty bad, remember? But I guess death isn't exactly what we thought it was, or at least it is not when you have a freaking Lich as a colleague."

Adam took another step forward, his brows drawing in.

"This isn't possible."

He muttered, more to himself than to his deceased teammate.

"If you're here... what is this place? What the hell happened to you?"

Nikolai tilted his head slightly and scratched the back of his neck, speaking with a lightness that contrasted sharply with the weight of the moment.

"I don't have all the answers, man. All I know is that after I died, I didn't go anywhere. There was no bright light at the end of the tunnel, just... this. I woke up in this ruined city, alone, confused as hell. And after a while, I figured out I hadn't gone to some afterlife. I'd been pulled into you."

He tapped a finger against Adam's chest as if to emphasize the point, then took a step back and folded his arms again.

"Or, at least, into something inside you. Not exactly comforting, but better than being wiped out completely, I guess."

Adam didn't speak for a long moment. He just stared, his eyes scanning every part of Nikolai's face, his posture, and expression. He wasn't just seeing a memory, nor was it a figment of his imagination. The man standing in front of him reacted like a person, moved like a person, and spoke like a person. There was life—or something close to it—in his presence.

"You're serious… You've been here this whole time?"

Adam finally said, his voice low. Nikolai nodded and exhaled sharply, gesturing at the city around them with both hands.

"Yeah. This place? Real fixer-upper, huh? Been here for what feels like months. No idea how long it's actually been. Time's weird here. One minute it drags, the next it skips. But yeah. I've been here."

Adam looked away briefly, scanning the ruins again.

"But it's empty. There's nothing here. It's just—"

"Now it's empty."

Nikolai interrupted, walking slowly toward one of the nearby broken structures and resting a hand against a collapsed wall.

"Wasn't always like this. When I first got here, the place was full. Ghosts, spirits, ghouls, whatever you call those freaks you summon, and some others that I had never seen before. Screaming, moaning, whispering freaks from every corner of the city. You name it. It was like being stuck in a haunted theme park run by lunatics. They didn't really talk to me, not in any way that made sense, but they were here, and they didn't like being ignored."

He grinned faintly and looked back at Adam.

"Kept me company, though. More company than I wanted, to be honest. I would have preferred to have at least the company of that sexy Jiang-Shi that you got, but she wasn't here for some reason. However, recently? They all just vanished. Gone. Don't know where. Woke up one day and the whole place was dead quiet."

Adam narrowed his eyes.

"You're telling me you've been here... with all that... alone?"

Nikolai raised a brow and smirked.

"Hey, I'm not saying I handled it well. I've had better vacations. But yeah. Been here, waiting. Figured someone would show up eventually. Didn't think it'd be you, but I'm not complaining."

His tone remained light, but his eyes betrayed something deeper—fatigue, a lingering edge of pain masked behind his familiar charisma.

The weight of everything started settling into Adam's mind. He had expected isolation when he woke up in this place, had expected silence, confusion, and maybe madness, but not this. Not Nikolai. The man had died in his arms. The whole team had cried for him, grieved, and buried the guilt beneath layers of responsibility and regret. And yet here he was, alive in a way that defied everything Adam knew about the system, about death, about himself.

"I don't know what to say, I don't understand any of this."

The boy admitted, his voice quieter now. Nikolai smiled again, softer this time, and walked closer.

"You don't have to say anything. I'm just glad I'm not alone completely anymore. Even if this place sucks, even if I'm technically dead or whatever, it's better with you here. Hell, maybe we can figure something out together."

Adam looked down, his thoughts spinning. For all his intelligence, for all the knowledge he had absorbed, he couldn't piece together the logic of this. But the warmth in Nikolai's voice, the steadiness of his presence, it felt real in a way that logic couldn't erase.

Adam stared at him for several seconds. The idea of Nikolai being here was already difficult enough to accept. But then he finally managed to speak, his voice sharp and low.

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"Wait… are you saying I could also be dead?"

Nikolai raised both hands, palms up, as if to calm him.

"No, I didn't say that. I asked if you were. Big difference."

Adam shook his head slowly.

"I don't think so. I don't remember dying. I was fighting… I had the upper hand… or at least I thought I did."

"Then you're probably not dead."

Nikolai replied with a shrug.

"But you're definitely not the one walking around in that body right now. If you're in here, and Evelyn isn't… well, put two and two together."

Adam's eyebrows pulled together. The name hadn't clicked right away.

"Evelyn…?"

"Yeah."

Nikolai gave a sideways grin.

"The Undead Empress. That's her name."

The silence that followed was deafening. Adam's entire expression changed. His mouth opened, then closed. He blinked several times. For a moment, he looked like he couldn't decide whether to be angry, confused, or terrified. Finally, he muttered.

"You're telling me the Undead Empress has a name."

Nikolai nodded.

"She does. That one, at least. I'm sure she's got a last name as well."

Adam took a few steps back, rubbing his temples, pacing without realizing it. He wasn't just stunned—he was beginning to feel like the foundation beneath his mind had cracked.

"How could you possibly know her name?"

"Because she told me, duh."

Nikolai said simply.

"Like I said, I've been stuck here a while. We talked… Sort of."

Adam stopped pacing and turned to face him again.

"She was here, and you talked with her?!"

"Yeah. Weird, right?"

Nikolai said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's not like we had much choice. When I found her, she couldn't move and I couldn't leave, so… It was that or stare at crumbling buildings and rotting trees for months."

Adam's expression tightened.

"And you didn't think that was dangerous?! Speaking to something like her?!"

"She wasn't exactly in a position to do anything. She just… sat there. Or stood. Honestly, I'm still not sure she even had a body. It was more like a shadow. But she could talk. And yeah, it wasn't the friendliest back-and-forth. But after a while… I guess we settled into a rhythm."

Adam stared at him like he didn't recognize the man in front of him.

"You're telling me you had conversations with the Undead Empress... Evelyn. While you were stuck here. And you're still alive. In whatever way this counts as being alive."

"Don't sound so surprised. But yeah. We talked, I listened, and she mostly ranted. Didn't open up much, but I picked up a few things."

Nikolai said with a grin. Adam crossed his arms.

"Like what?"

Nikolai lowered his hands into his pockets and glanced at the sky for a moment.

"This place. All of it. It's not a random ruined city. It's not just your inner world either. It's her. This world is some kind of reflection of her thoughts, her mind, and her grief. It's shaped by her, whether she realizes it or not."

Adam's jaw tightened.

"You're sure?"

"As sure as I can be without a therapist's license, she couldn't move from her spot, but she was aware of everything here. Said she could feel when new ghosts showed up. She hated it, by the way. Said they were loud, annoying, and made too much noise. She's not really a fan of the company of the new guys."

Nikolai replied while Adam frowned.

"Of course she's not. She's a cursed soul obsessed with death and decay."

"She's something, alright, but not exactly what you think. I don't claim to know her well. I doubt anyone ever has. But I got the sense that she's more than just a walking curse. There's… a history in her. And a very painful one at that."

The long-haired guy replied. Adam looked away with his mind racing. The notion that the Undead Empress had a name, a personality, a history—it clashed violently with everything he had ever assumed about her. He had always treated her as a force to be feared, not understood. A problem, not a person.

And yet, there was Nikolai. Speaking about her like someone he'd actually come to know.

"She told you all this?"

Adam asked.

"Not directly. Like I said, she didn't really open up. But she talks when she's angry. She mutters when she thinks I'm not listening. She repeats names I don't recognize. Whole monologues about the living and the dead, about betrayal, about loneliness. You pick up patterns after a while."

Adam didn't speak for a long time. The wind stirred some ash at his feet. The silence dragged. Finally, he said.

"And I'm just learning about it now?"

"Well, this is literally the first time you and I have been in the same place since I died, so yeah. Just now."

Nikolai said, looking around at the gray expanse of broken streets and lifeless trees. Adam exhaled slowly, eyes closed, then opened them again and stared at the lifeless city around him.

"So if this place is her mind… what does that make me, being here now?"

Nikolai didn't answer right away. When he did, his tone was gentler.

"I don't know. But I think it means she's gone. Or at least, she's not here. And you are. Maybe that means something. Maybe it's your turn to listen to her."

Adam stared at him again. His pulse had slowed, but the confusion hadn't left his eyes. His thoughts shifted to his own experience—the torment of carrying Evelyn's mark, the relentless pressure in his soul, the feeling of being watched and controlled for days.

"You make it sound like she's a person."

He said bitterly.

"That thing hijacked my body. She made me a demi-lich against my will. She forced me to hear her voice every time I was near death and inflicted me with so much physical pain. She's not some prisoner here. She's the reason I had to get infected with that parasite to lock her away."

Nikolai didn't flinch. He just nodded slowly, acknowledging the anger.

"I remember. I was there, after all. I saw what happened to you. I'm not saying she's harmless, Adam. I'm saying you never talked to her."

Adam clenched his jaw.

"Why would I? What could I possibly gain from speaking to something like her?"

"I don't know, maybe nothing. Or maybe something. But if she's going to be stuck in your soul, it's kind of strange that you never tried. You've argued with system entities. You've negotiated with corrupted gods. You even made a deal with a devil, right? For crying out loud, that was hilarious. But you never said a word to the one spirit that's literally been inside you the longest."

Adam was quiet for a moment. Then he turned his gaze to the sky, still filled with clouds that refused to move.

"Because she was a threat to be dealt with. A ghost screaming for power… A monster."

His voice lowered. However, Nikolai tilted his head.

"Maybe she is. But you didn't know that for sure."

There was a beat of silence. Adam's hands were clenched at his sides, tension spreading across his shoulders and into his back.

"I didn't want to know… What if she wasn't just a monster? What if she was something worse? The mocks, the pain, I remember it, I didn't want to risk it."

The boy said at last. Nikolai offered a shrug.

"And yet here we are, didn't you also forgive that Abbess chick after what she did to you?"

Adam turned toward him again.

"You don't understand. It's not the same; she hurt people through me. She took over when I was at my weakest. She whispered things—things I didn't want to hear, things I couldn't understand. Every time I was close to dying, her voice would creep in and promise I'd never be free unless I surrendered. That's not a person you talk to."

Nikolai sighed slightly and said.

"Sure, but you didn't lock her away because she was loud. You locked her away because she scared you. And she scared you because she's not just a weapon or a curse. She's someone with thoughts. And that's what really freaked you out."

Adam didn't reply right away. He looked down at the cracked pavement beneath his feet, remembering the countless fights he'd gone through, the losses, the fear, the desperation. Nikolai walked forward slowly, his tone still light but his words more focused.

"Look, I'm not saying you should forgive her, or even trust her. I'm saying you should at least acknowledge that she exists as more than just your problem. You don't have to be her friend. But if she's the one driving your body right now, maybe understanding her wouldn't hurt."

Adam scoffed, though there wasn't much strength behind it.

"And how exactly do I do that? Walk into her room and ask her how her day's been? Maybe offer her tea?"

Nikolai chuckled.

"You're the thinker of the group, not me. I'm just saying… even the worst people sometimes just want to be heard. Evelyn didn't exactly pour her heart out, but I could tell. She wasn't just ranting for the sake of it. She's tired, angry, and hurt. Whatever happened to her, it changed her, and now she wants to change everything else."

Adam raised his eyes.

"How can you be so sure?"

Nikolai looked away, his expression growing distant.

"Because I've been there too. Maybe not as strong, maybe not as scary, but… I've been someone people didn't trust. Someone who'd sell out anyone just to survive. I was a coward and a liar. But even I could change a little… Heck, you guys make me change, so maybe she can too."

Adam didn't answer right away. He stood still in the silence of that ruined world, his thoughts clouded by confusion and the heavy weight of helplessness. For what felt like the hundredth time since entering the system, he found himself not in control, pushed into a role or situation he hadn't chosen. First it was the scenarios, then Thaddeus, then Lord Varek, and now the Empress... His hands curled into fists, and his gaze remained fixed on the ground, unmoving, as if the cracked asphalt held the answers he was desperate to find.

Nikolai waited a few steps away, his expression unreadable now, not mocking, not cheerful—just calm. He watched Adam quietly, without pushing. He seemed to understand that no words would help until the boy said something first. Eventually, Adam lifted his eyes, and his voice came out low and tense.

"It's always the same. No matter what I do, I always end up being used. By the system, by monsters, by whatever this place is. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of not being the one in control."

His voice cracked slightly at the end, and that slight tremor seemed to surprise even him. He turned away again, ashamed of the weakness, but unable to suppress it.

"I thought I was getting stronger. I worked for it. I made sacrifices. And still—she took over. Just like that."

Nikolai nodded once and said quietly.

"Yeah, that's how it feels. Like all your effort didn't matter."

Adam gritted his teeth.

"It's not just her. It's me. I let my guard down. I should have done more. I should have—"

"Stop."

Nikolai said.

"You did what you could. More than most would. You've fought harder than anyone I've met in this nightmare. But you're still human, Adam, technically speaking. And it's okay to feel like this."

Adam didn't respond. He kept his eyes on the horizon, where gray clouds churned and distant ruins rose like bones from the earth. His voice came again, quiet but steady.

"You said I might have more in common with her than I think. That's what this is about, right? Some connection I've been ignoring."

Nikolai nodded.

"Yeah. I didn't understand it right away either. But after spending time here, hearing her voice, seeing the way she thinks… I started to see something familiar. The way she pushes people away. The way she holds on to her pain so tightly she can't even imagine letting go. I know what that feels like."

Adam looked at him, uncertain.

"So what? You're saying I'm like her because I isolate myself?"

"I'm saying you both are afraid of the same thing. Losing control. Being vulnerable. Getting hurt again."

Adam scoffed.

"You make her sound like a tragic figure. Like she's just misunderstood."

"I didn't say she's innocent."

Nikolai replied calmly.

"I said she seems broken. And broken people can still change. You don't have to forgive her. But you should understand her. If not for her sake… then for yours."

There was a pause. The two men stood in the ruins, surrounded by the silence of a dead world, neither of them speaking. Then Adam asked, almost reluctantly.

"Do you really think someone like her can change?"

Nikolai gave a soft laugh.

"Even a selfish monster can change. You're looking at one. As I said… I lied, I cheated, I used everyone around me. I never cared about anything except surviving the next day. But in the end, I chose to do what seemed the right thing to me. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to. Because I realized… maybe I wasn't completely broken after all."

Adam watched him for a long moment, the weight of those words sinking in.

"You saved us… That final battle. You could have lived. But you used your Plot Device to bring us back instead."

He said slowly, remembering what happened in the last scenario's final battle.

"I didn't plan to at first, to be honest. But when I saw everyone else down… something just clicked. I didn't want it to end like that. I didn't want to die alone. So I chose differently. That's all it takes sometimes. One different choice."

Nikolai admitted with a smile. Adam turned his gaze forward again, lips pressed into a thin line.

"Then what am I supposed to do now? I'm stuck in here. She's got my body. For all I know, she's killing everyone while I talk to ghosts."

Nikolai stepped forward, placing a hand gently on Adam's shoulder.

"Trust your friends."

Adam blinked. He turned his head slowly to look at him. Then Nikolai continued.

"You're not alone, not anymore, at least. You've spent so long calculating, preparing, and sealing yourself off from the people around you, because I bet it made you feel safer. I get it. But they're still out there. Fighting for you, risking everything. You don't have to carry all this alone."

Adam's throat tightened, the words catching in his chest. He looked down.

"I don't know if I can trust anyone with that."

"You don't have to trust everyone, just the right ones. And you already know who they are, I know you have noticed by now."

Nikolai finally said. Silence fell again between them, but this time it felt different. Less hollow, more grounded. Adam's shoulders eased slightly, and for the first time since arriving in this place, he felt something close to clarity. There was still anger, doubt, and fear—but under it, a spark of determination began to return.

He didn't know what would come next. He didn't know how to escape or how to stop Evelyn. But maybe, just maybe, he didn't have to figure it all out alone.

He looked up at Nikolai, who gave him a small, steady nod.

"You'll figure it out… You always do."