Online In Another World

Ethan accepted the man's hand before looking at him, "Tell me—what's really going on around here? It's completely different from outside—I mean the sky, and well…everything."

"You mean…the Foundation didn't tell you?" Joel asked.

As he shook his head in response, he answered with a simple "No." This seemed to frustrate Joel, who was a hot-headed fellow by the looks of things. It was difficult to tell how reliable of a fighter Joel was, but from his age and demeanor, he didn't feel like 'Vandread' at all. He could see his adventurer badge; the dragon crest that bore a silver gem in the middle.

So he's a B-rank adventurer?...That's not reassuring, he thought.

"How could they…? Blindly sending people into this?…Urgh. Anyway, you're right. This city is completely different," Joel told him.

"It is?"

"Everything inside the city walls is a separated space controlled by 'it'—and escaping seems impossible," Joel explained.

"'It'? Are you talking about the entity responsible for this?" He asked.

The chipper attitude of the friendly, local adventurer seemed to dim with the topic of the unknown entity as Joel slowly nodded, sitting down on an old crate.

"It's an entity known as the 'Unending Nightmare': a Cataclysm-class threat that, well, has power fitting for its name," Joel said, "—It seems to be able to manifest the inner fears and nightmares of everybody within the walls…And I'm not talking illusions; the real smackin' deal here, my friend."

"Something like that…? Is that even possible?" He said in quiet disbelief.

Though he asked that, he knew it was likely the truth from what he'd encountered thus far. There was simply no reason to doubt the words from the silver-jeweled adventurer.

Joel nodded, "Unfortunately, it's the truth. I've just been ducking around and trying to do what I can–all I can manage are the small fry; the Unending Nightmare is way out of my paygrade."

"So we're really stuck in here?" He leaned against the wall.

"I'm sorry, man," Joel said with a look of guilt on his expression, "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I've seen…terrible things happen here. It's not a stretch to say we're in some sort of hell."

"I can see that…" He said.

As he looked up, the crimson sky swirled in its malignant design; the man-faced clouds, nebulous in their existence, stared back down at him, their groans making up the howls of the wind.

"...This is something else, isn't it?" He muttered.

Joel looked up with him, "You can say that again. That sky is driving me insane."

The emerald-eyed adventurer, though a seemingly optimistic and energetic man normally, looked tired; dark bags hung under his eyes and his emerald irises yearned for the nightmare to be over.

There was a lot on his mind, but he hardly felt capable of managing all of his thoughts; too much was revealed to him at once, and too much was now worried about.

"I'm assuming the only way to escape this is to find the 'Unending Nightmare' itself and kill it, right?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, but it's easier said than done," Joel responded, sighing softly, "It changes its form each time you see it. Honestly, it's hard to even know if what you're looking at is the Unending Nightmare or another fiend it manifested."

As expected, it wasn't a simple endeavor at all. Especially seeing the wear on Joel's expression, he knew that a strenuous time was ahead of him.

In the dark alleyway, grimy and cluttered with abandoned crates and tossed-away goods, it was a paradise from the bloody streets.

"Still, I'm glad I found you!" Joel said, wearing a smile again.

"Yeah? Well, from the sounds of things, I'm glad, too," he replied, "Anyway…I've been meaning to ask: is there anybody else left?"

The question seemed to not be an easy one for the silver-haired adventurer, who looked down for a moment before answering.

I'm guessing not?...He thought.

"There are," Joel told him.

"Oh? Really? That's good, then," he said, letting out a sigh of relief.

Joel slowly nodded, "Well, I was with them, but…I've been stuck on this side of Larundog the past day."

Before he could respond, he saw the anguished expression present on the young adventurer's face, who held his own stomach as if sickened by a thought.

"...Does this have to do with what you said you were keeping me from running into?" He asked, looking at the green-eyed adventurer.

"It's…something the Unending Nightmare manifested from me," Joel said, "...One of my fears, I guess. It's pretty troublesome. Lame, right?"

Trying to brush off his gloomy outlook, Joel laughed, but there was no looking past how worried he seemed about the entity lurking the nearest street.

"I'll help you take care of it," Ethan told him.

"Yeah? That'd be a big help," Joel looked up at him, "...Well, not to be rude, you don't look like much. Are you sick or something, man?"

Of course, he couldn't blame the man for such an astute observation: he looked like nothing more than skin and bones himself.

"Sorry, I didn't mean that in a rude way–" Joel explained himself.

"No, it's fine, I get it," he assured him, "--This…is the work of the Unending Nightmare thing, I think."

"Huh? Really?" Joel looked at him.

"I guess my body being sickly like this is one of my fears. Kind of a pain, but I can handle it," he said.

It was a half-lie for sure, or only a half-truth, but the full truth wasn't necessary. At least, Joel seemed thankful for the presence of another adventurer–though that was only another half-truth he had given.

"Well, if you're up for it…let's do this," Joel said.

Just as Joel sat up, stretching his arms to ready himself for the encounter to come, the sound of a bell ringing echoed throughout the city.

"Huh?" Ethan looked around.

It was an ominous sound; metal letting out a bellowing echo that reached throughout the hellish city. Though he had little clue what it meant, as he looked at Joel's complexion pale at the dong of the bell, he began to realize it wasn't a relieving noise.

"...It's starting!" Joel said.

"What's starting…?"

"'The Dread Period'!" Joel told him.

There wasn't any time for a discussion as the walls of wood and stone that neighbored the alleyway began to shift; the pale wood dampened, dripping with a crimson liquid that engulfed it.

It wasn't any different for the sky; the groaning clouds began to shift in expression, wailing out as blood-red rain began to pour down.

"We have to move…!" Joel said.

"Why?!"

"Just do it–!" Joel told him.

Without wasting a further moment, they rushed out of the alleyway as sounds of the blood rain falling to the ground resounded; the walls around them shifted to crimson, shifting in a horrific sight.

As they were running, Joel explained, "--The 'Dread Period' is what we named it! It happens every so often throughout the day! For a few minutes, all kinds of creatures start popping out!"

Hearing this, he glanced back to see the words of the silver-haired companion of his to be true; abhorrent fiends crawled out of the walls, manifesting from pools of crimson.

Human-skinned spiders with arms made of intertwined limbs chased them, bearing mandibles made out of bones. Alongside the grotesque arachnids were lanky, stitched-together humanoids that had torsos multiple times the length of the rest of their bodies.

"What the–?!" Ethan let out while looking back.

"I wouldn't stare too much if I were you–unless you want to take a hit to your sanity!" Joel warned.

They raced around the corner, cutting through another alleyway as the shrieks and growls of hellish creatures echoed alongside the bell's ring.

…Sanity?! I can see that! He thought.

"Where are we going?!" Ethan asked.

The entire time, he was simply following behind Joel, who he knew had much more experience and knowledge when it came to the layout of Larundog, but it seemed as though they were running away without aim.

"--Err this way!" Joel answered.

The green-eyed adventurer took a sharp turn to the left out of the cramped alley, forcing Ethan to follow suit but not before raising his catalyst and summoning a stone wall to block off the area they just came from.

Though it blocked the grotesque, nightmarish creatures out, it clearly wasn't going to hold for long as he glanced back to see the flesh-made arachnids crawling over it, and something else slamming the wall from the other side.

"C'mon! Let's get inside a building!" Joel yelled to him.

"Lead the way–!"

It was pure chaos; the city turned to a hellscape of contorted monsters weaved from the darkest nightmares: centipedes made of human arms and torsos, knife-wielding puppets that moved on their own, and even faceless behemoths, wielding claymores.

There was simply no end to it, helping him to realize the meaning of the 'Dread Period' and the bleak reality of the Unending Nightmare.

As a blade-carrying doll with ginger hair intercepted their path, Joel quickly drew his blade, cutting it in half before pushing forward towards a nearby building.

"In here–!" Joel called out, kicking the door open.

Looking back as he neared the door, which Joel held open for him, gesturing for him to quickly get in, he launched bullets of stone towards the nightmarish creatures, repelling them before arriving inside the building.

The moment he crossed the threshold, Joel slammed the door shut, pushing a bookshelf over in front of it.

"...Phew…" Joel breathed out.

"Are we good?" Ethan asked, catching his breath as he looked around the room.

It was an abandoned home, though it wasn't as in poor shape as the shop he'd been in prior; the furniture was in order, except for a dark-wood table that had been toppled over.

Joel scratched his head, "Err, for the minute, yes…but, there's a reason I wasn't inside of a building when we met."