Returning Once More to the Real World

  Still Inside That Room

  Within the Normal Flow of Time

  Salin observed intently while choking Hark, abruptly releasing his neck and causing him to immediately collapse, leaning back against the wall.

  Hark was visibly trembling and completely incredulous—not only from the physical pressure, but also from the mental pressure he had felt in that environment, inside that room.

  [Salin — Calm & Serious Voice] You are a very fortunate man, mister Hark. Because besides daring to open your mouth to pronounce the name of my beloved daughter, Emi... [soft, deep breath] —

  [Hark — Dry Cough & Gasping]

  [Salin — Calm & Serious Voice] You even tried to use your so-called "privileged" information about her and her location to shatter my wife's mind... Mia. But I can assure you, mister Hark... [soft, deep breath] —

  [Hark — Dry Cough, Breath Faltering]

  After speaking those words, Salin calmly walked toward the bed, sitting directly in front of Hark. Even though Hark wished to counterattack Salin while he turned his back for a moment, he could not do so, remaining seated on the bed.

  [Salin — Calm & Serious Voice] Since your psychological games did not work this time as they once worked on Mia, should you dare to use your "privileged information" against me in an even more pathetic way... [soft, deep breath] —

  Hark understood that this would be his death sentence, because his organic body was close to structural collapse.

  And his essence and existence were far too weakened for another confrontation—not after Salin not only strangled him, but also struck his essence and existence simultaneously with a single blow.

  [Hark — Dry Cough, Gasping & Faltering]

  Then Hark realized that Salin's strike had been so precise and intense on his body that it left him paralyzed, unable to react beyond speaking normally. He stared forward, having control only over his head and neck at that moment.

  [Salin — Calm & Empty Voice] Because I wish to inform you that, right now, there are only two reasons why you are still breathing, and not lying here with your head separated from the rest of your filthy body, scattered into thousands of pieces across this luxurious and disgusting room where you enjoy staying so much. [soft, deep breath] —

  [Hark — Painful Dry Cough, Breath Failing]

  Hark stared ahead, unresponsive, while black blood continued to drip lightly from his mouth, and also from his nose and eyes, forming subtle tear-like streaks.

  [Salin — Calm & Empty Voice] One of those reasons you are still alive after such audacity toward my beloved family... is that you know things I will not be able to obtain from anyone else, and... [soft, deep breath] —

  [Hark — Dry Cough, Trembling Breath, Failing]

  Salin sat on the bed with a completely serious gaze—no longer smiling as before—which clearly indicated that, at that moment, he was being rational, and no longer emotional or sentimental regarding what he was about to say.

  [Salin — Calm & Empty Voice] The second reason is that Kalik does not believe it is right to kill you for your insolence, but... Kalik did not forbid me from gradually "breaking" your body and mind in the slowest way possible, without killing you in the process, if you do not speak what I want to hear... [soft, deep breath] —

  [Hark — Painful Cough, Trembling & Desperate Breathing]

  When Salin spoke those words, it caused Hark to feel an unreal chill crawl down his spine, while his wounds— which should have been releasing a faint, dense black smoke due to his body naturally trying to regenerate itself— suddenly began to react differently.

  [Salin — Serene & Hollow Voice] If you have even a flicker of love for your own life, do not dare try to act "clever" again, because... [deeply soft breath] —

  [(Hark — Frightened & Trembling Thought) Wait, please... I... (unsteady, trembling breath)]

  But Hark then notices that his open wounds are simply no longer emitting any smoke from his body, making it clear that at that moment, even though he is an Oculi, he has become so weakened that he is nothing more than a human in Salin's eyes.

  [Salin — Serene & Hollow Voice] I will grant you the greatest fear of all Oculi: to live in existential paralysis, while the world around you flows normally, and you specifically... [deeply soft breath] —

  [(Hark — Terrified & Trembling Thought) I don't want to spend the rest of my existence paralyzed, please... (unstable, panting breath)]

  [Salin — Serene & Calm Voice] You will not be able to do anything other than observe, without interacting with even a single atom around you. So, after this brief conversation and prior warnings... Mister Hark... [deeply hollow breath] —

  And as these words settle, the overwhelming fear against his existence and essence makes Hark feel a mental sensation as though his head is being slightly forced backward, causing a psychological pain so surreal, so vivid, that it feels physically real.

  [Salin — Serene & Calm Voice] What do you think about starting again... from the beginning? [deeply hollow breath] —

  [(Hark — Deeply Frightened & Faltering Thought) Damn it, I... (trembling, gasping breath)]

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  That sensation— not real, but a projection of Hark's mind consumed by fear— merges with the chill in his spine as Salin looks directly at him from a few meters away, seated on the bed, staring deeply into his eyes.

  [(Hark — Frightened & Faltering Thought) I'm really screwed... (trembling, gasping breath)]

  Bleeding a black fluid from several shallow open wounds scattered across his body, Hark sees nothing but that blurred, trembling vision of Salin staring into his eyes.

  [(Hark — Frightened & Faltering Thought) This guy is terrifying, just like that young girl and her brother Begeneri... (shaking, unsteady breath)]

  Which leads him to realize that Salin— such an unusual human— is radiating in that moment a murderous presence so potent that it mirrors the Begeneri twins themselves, the very ones Hark fears desperately to ever encounter again.

  It forces Hark to mentally revisit the farthest point of his past, remembering when the Begeneri twins, who freed several Oculi, used him— when he was still too young— as an example to other potential "revolutionaries."

  In a Very Distant Past

  Location: Unknown

  After the elder members of Hark's family attempted to create a small revolution among certain Oculi against the Begeneri siblings themselves.

  And after those siblings carried out hundreds of actions that directly violated the commandments given by the queen to the Oculi in the past—

  [Voice of Hark's Mother] — ...PLEASE, LET MY SON LIVE, I BEG YOU!!!!!! [Harsh, desperate coughing] —

  She became the first person, after the Great Oculi War, who—because of her intellect and her motives born out of the countless deaths of innocent people.

  Managed to unite both branches of the Oculi into a single blade, forged by the desire for definitive harmony among all of them.

  [Voice of Hark's Mother] LET THE CHILDREN LIVE, PLEASE!!! [Strong, tearful coughing] —

  After countless attempts to sabotage the plans of the Begeneri twins and their studies concerning the "Eve" theory in humans, the branch of Hark's family led by the elder members was finally discovered as one of the leadership groups behind the revolutionary attempt.

  [Voice of Hark's Mother] THE YOUNGER ONES ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR THE CHOICES OF ADULTS, PLEASE, LORDS BEGENERIII!!! [Dry, harsh, tearful coughing] —

  Together with other Oculi families, they sought the downfall of the Begeneri twins' command over all Oculi and the restoration of the true heiress among the queen's three daughters.

  The one who would possibly sit on the throne in her beloved mother's place—she who had become the symbol of unity among the Oculi.

  [ECHO OF MULTIPLE CRACKING SOUNDS FOLLOWED BY PANICKED SCREAMS]

  Hark returned to the most traumatic day of his entire life, for it was the day when the elder members of his family were exposed as leading figures in the revolutionary group.

  They had to pay with nothing less than their lives, side by side with those they loved most, with no mercy shown toward age or gender.

  [Hark (Child) — Dull, Broken Voice] Why are they all one over the other, why... [Trembling, gasping breath] —

  Because the elders of Hark's family dared to go against the Begeneri twins' plans involving humans, who had dared to kill their queen in such an inhuman way—and then used her body for their own research for the sake of their race.

  [Hark (Child) — Dull, Broken Voice] No, please... [Trembling, gasping breath] —

  The greatest punishment delivered by the Begeneri twins, personally and directly before Hark's entire family.

  Who were kneeling and pleading for their lives, came precisely when they begged for mercy because there were innocent children among them.

  [Hark (Child) — Trembling, Broken Breath, Disbelief]

  [Hark (Child) — Trembling, Failing Voice] Mom... Dad... why are you crying...? [Horrified, gasping breath] —

  And so one of the Begeneri siblings seized that unique moment—having in their grasp the leaders of the largest uprising against their plans.

  Long with the entire family of each high-ranking member, who also happened to be the most active within the rebellion: Hark's own parents.

  [Young Boy — Calm, Serene Voice] My little sister thought about blowing each one of you up, one by one, but... in the future, that would certainly be used against us... turning the surviving heirs of the revolutionary leaders' deaths—

  [Young Girl — Joyfully Empty, Playful Voice] —into a sort of "gasoline" to fuel the flame that seeks to stop us from doing what is right: avenging our beloved queen. —

  As a practical warning to anyone who dared to challenge the Begeneri twins' plans ever again, it became clear that such punishment would not consist only in extinguishing the life of every member—from the oldest to the youngest—

  But also in allowing a single heir—little Hark, still a child—to witness, with his own eyes, a brutal scene branded into his mind for the rest of his life.

  Given that Hark was so young, nothing more than a defenseless child at that time, he watched from just a few meters away as every single one of his relatives—

  From uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters... to his very own parents—were piled over one another like a great heap of bodies, immobilized and unable to flee or resist what was about to unfold.

  [Young Boy — Serene And Empty Voice] Begin the "warning" to all those who may defy us in the future, sister... —

  [Young Girl of the Past — Soft, Playful Laugh]

  A single sound echoed—the snap of a finger—which ignited all of those still-living bodies stacked over each other.

  Flames burst outward from within them, as though someone had induced spontaneous combustion simultaneously in every single one of them.

  [Hark (Child) — Unresponsive, Tearful Voice] ...Why? [Trembling, gasping breath] —

  While the Hark of the present was reliving that moment before his eyes, he was standing beside his past self—still a child—crying desperately amid overwhelming pain.

  He witnessed the expression of complete psychological collapse, remembering the loss of everything he had loved most.

  [Hark (Child) — Unresponsive, Tearful Voice] WHY?? WHY IS MY WHOLE FAMILY BURNING IN FLAMES?? [Trembling, gasping breath] —

  The scene revealed young Hark being forced by an invisible force to cover his body, preventing him from looking away from his family in flames.

  Even while screaming in agony and pain, his eyes were forced to witness the worst: his mother burning, smiling happily for having chosen him to live, while she herself was consumed by the fire within seconds.

  [Young Girl – Deep And Calm Breathing]

  [Young Girl – Cheerfully Hollow & Playfully Spoken Voice] As a punishment worthy of the actions of the older members of your family, young Hark. [Deep sigh] —

  The reveal of who was behind that invisible force came in the form of a young girl with an innocent and beautiful appearance.

  One of her arms was stretched forward, her hand open toward Hark, who screamed, consumed by hatred, refusing to look at his family burning.

  [Young Girl – Cheerfully Hollow & Playfully Spoken Voice] You, being the youngest remaining heir of those hypocritical "revolutionaries" against the Inanis faction. [Deep sigh] —

  Beside this young girl, her twin brother performed the same gesture, making it clear that they were the Begeneri twins themselves, only a few meters away, wearing white garments—her dress long and flowing, his attire shorter-haired and formal in posture.

  [Hark (Child) – Crying, Desperate & Furious Scream]

  The young girl kept an innocent smile that held no trace of pity on her lips, contrasting with the shine of the black flames reflecting across the bodies during that deeply traumatizing moment of Hark's childhood.

  [Young Girl – Cheerfully Hollow & Playfully Spoken Voice] Look at them, Hark... LOOK!! See how traitors and their heirs are cast into the fire of their own audacity against our actions for the sake of the Oculi's future. [Playful & Emotionless breath] —

  Hark was forced to witness every person he loved burn before his eyes. It was not only the oldest among them who sought a revolution against the questionable actions of the Oculi at that point in the past.

  [Young Boy – Serene & Empty Voice] From this moment forward, you will carry the blessing brought upon you by your very own "revolutionary" family. You will bear the weight of their actions against us. [Deep & Satisfied sigh] —

  This resulted in a shift of perspective that left Hark paralyzed, on the verge of screaming in complete hatred toward the Begeneri twins who stood only a few meters away.

  The young Begeneri girl smiled while her beautiful white dress swayed softly under the passing breeze.

  [Begeneri Twins – Serene & Calm Voice] Such is what remains of you, young Hark. After this beautiful day of learning for anyone who dares to go against what is best for the Oculi... [Confident & Serene sigh] —

  Beside her, the elder twin—despite his youthful appearance, dressed in a white suit—displayed an expression devoid of any emotion or sentiment.

  Hark collapsed mentally, losing consciousness under the weight of his psychological pain and his hatred toward each of them, while simultaneously echoing the final words spoken by the Begeneri twins in that place.

  [Begeneri Twins – Serene & Calm Voice] The living example that not only the older ones will suffer and feel the weight of rebellion against us, but also all the younger heirs. [Playful & Emotionless breath] —