The Author's Playground

C H A P T E R 2 . 1

Chapter Name: Nightmare (1)

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'drip-drop'

The morning sky turned ominous dark red, casting a bloody hue over the open field of the academy's ground.

There was rain falling down in the form of blood, painting every student there bathed in red.

Thunder roared in the heavens, accompanied by the deafening clash of swords and spells.

This is no doubt...

'The Nightmare Outbreak.'

Among the chaos, Victoria stood alongside. Her blonde hair that was streaked by blood and mud.

Her green eyes scanned the battlefield as she let loose arrows, finding its mark amidst the swarming nightmares in form of large black snakes.

"Form up!" she yelled. "We just need to survive until professors and instructors arrive!"

The students behind her scrambled to form defensive lines.

Flames erupted on one side, while arcs of lightning danced on the other. This was, of course, created by mages in their class.

Victoria nocked an arrow, coating it with a wind-like spell, as she gazed at a shadow entity, in the form of a jagged snake. She let loose of that arrow as it simply pierced its neck, letting it fall with a guttural cry.

But her frustration was evident, as she muttered under her breath.

"Tsk, the backup is way too late."

But at that moment where her focus momentarily waved, a shadow loomed over her.

"Watch out!"

Victoria's heart skipped a beat as she immediately turned her head from behind.

There her eyes saw a massive serpent having its maw wide enough to swallow her whole.

Before the serpent was able to lunge from above, Victoria immediately jumped from the side.

Having her body slightly crouched from the ground, with one hand touched the floor, supporting her weight.

"Fire!"

Rain of fire clashes down, burning the serpent nightmare whole, having its smoke gathered around.

It wasn't coming from any student, after all, that was a Rank A spell, something that B-rank students are incapable of doing.

Their eyes turned to the source, it was coming from the group of professors and instructors who were running their way all down to their position.

"Students evacuate!" One of the instructors called. "Leave the rest to us"

Upon their appearance, everyone's mood lighten up.

Except for one person.

Victoria.

Victoria immediately stood and approached one of the professors, and asked.

"Where is Professor Macthan?"

"Professor Macthan is aiding the injured students," the professor replied. "Everyone except Class B has already been evacuated. You should leave as well."

"T-then... the student in the nurse's office was evacuated too, right?"

At that moment, the professor she was talking to was visibly confused.

"There were no students in the nurse's office."

"Eh? Professor Macthan wasn't with another student?"

"Hmm... if I remember correctly, she was alone when she went there."

Victoria's expression paled as her foot immediately ran away.

"Hey!" The professor tried to call upon her but she didn't look back.

Instead, she only screamed back something.

"I'll go take a look!"

****

Somewhere in the academy's dormitory, Elijah stood by a tall window, his fingers lightly touched the glass.

His gaze remained fixed on the scene below, watching from above as the morning sky bled into a deep, ominous red and the rain of blood streaked across the windowpane.

After a few minutes of silence, a faint blue glow emanated from his right earring, followed by the calm voice of a woman.

"Everything is under control," the voice echoed with a little bit of distortion.

"Alright," in which Elijah replied immediately.

He turned his back from the window, stepping away from the grisly scene as he walked down the corridor.

The silence was obvious, where only the faint creak of his footsteps could be heard breaking the stillness of the scene.

Everything seems empty. Doors hung ajar, carpets lay disheveled, and belongings were scattered haphazardly.

The earring glowed again as the voice began to ask.

"Where are you?"

A faint smile crossed Elijah's lips.

"Where am I? Isn't it obvious? I need to watch everything."

"It's dangerous, wait for me."

"I don't need your protection all the time, Dull."

Without another word, he plucked the earring from his ear and discarded it, letting it fall to the floor with a soft clink.

[ This isn't my world. ]

That thought always lingered in his mind.

The world he once knew was far from this. It was just a recluse confined to a small room, where the only light came from the glow of his PC monitor.

His body back then was fat and clumsy, together with blurred vision without glasses. Not this lean, unfamiliar teenager body.

Even the sky outside the window felt alien. Instead of the familiar blue sky with a blinding sun, now all he could see was a strange black sun.

[ I'll never get used to this... ]

Elijah descended the spiral staircase until he reached the basement.

He pushed the old wooden door open slowly, where the hinges creaked loudly.

Inside, a pale-haired figure trembled.

White hair stuck to the figure's sweat-drenched forehead, and its light blue eyes showed fear.

Elijah's gaze locked onto him immediately. He recognized him at once.

Dohwun Winterhold.

In front of Dohwun stood a shadow-like figure—mirroring someone who looked like an image of himself.

Dohwun's lips quivered as he spoke.

"Hey... Dae-hyun... let's go home?"