Having successfully escaped the scarecrow monster and jumped off the branch, Somnu was currently on his way down to that man-made structure he had spotted.
He just needed to somehow land without breaking any bones.
Think! Didn’t I read or watch something that helps with moments like this?! Why can’t you remember those when you need them?!
He racked his brain, but only one thing came to mind just in time for him to land. Somnu braced for impact and tried to bend his knees at a ninety degree angle.
THUD!
Shit! That… doesn’t hurt? He questioned while inspecting his body upon landing.
Thankfully, it seemed he had landed on wet ground just near the bog. Although, what seemed to be the most contributing aspect to his safe landing was definitely the current state of his body.
“This… Grudgekeeper, was it? It’s really something…” He muttered out loud, finally being able to take a moment to inspect his new outfit, or as the pop-up referred to it, a Dream Catcher.
From what Somnu knew, Dream Catchers were man-made charms that certain tribes use to protect them from bad dreams, or nightmares. He had actually seen one just recently, before he found himself in this horrific swamp.
“Wasn’t Mr Emberlyn always wearing a Dream Catcher necklace?” He tried to remember. “Hey, weird pop-up, can you finally tell me some useful information here?”
[Negative.]
[Unable to load that information at this time due to an error in the System.]
“Figures.” Somnu took a quick look around, but beside the structure he spotted from across the bog, there was nothing but murky waters and withering trees under an emerald moon.
He could hear some unfamiliar sounds in the distance, overwhelming the bubbles rising and popping from the waters. He wasn’t too eager to stick around and meet anything else from this place. His last meeting hadn’t been so fun.
“Let’s go wait this countdown out. Hopefully it can help me figure some stuff out.” He made his way to the structure still hiding behind a slight fog.
[Expected time till initiation: 01 Hours 55 Minutes 45 Seconds.]
“Let’s just hope nothing else happens in those two hours…”
***
Just as Somnu got far enough in the distance, the rising bubbles in the bog suddenly stopped.
SPLASH!
A moment later, a long arm extended from below and grabbed onto a giant tree root sticking out of the ground nearby.
Another grudge had sprouted, and was growing.
***
Finally getting closer to his destination, Somnu could finally make out the thing he spotted.
It looked like some kind of small crypt that led underground. The entrance itself was a few meters high, an ancient ruin that seemed to have been swallowed by tangles of thick, withered roots clawing on it as if in protest of its very existence. In the middle, there was only darkness, there was no door or gate. At least, if there once had been one, it must have been completely torn away with the hinges.
It was clearly made of some kind of glassy black stone or metal, Somnu guessed maybe obsidian. How that could have been possible in a swamp was an utter mystery. One to add to the collection. His list was growing with them.
“Should I really be going in there?” Somnu looked around for any possible alternatives that would be preferable to this, but no luck.
The stench of the damp earth and rotting vegetation was thick. The air was heavy and it was quickly growing colder by the minute. Although the emerald moon shone through the misty sky, it still seemed as though it was still daytime in this place, assuming there was such a thing in the swamp.
And Somnu did not want to stay outside if there was a night coming in this hell. He consumed enough horror stories to know what that meant.
Looking up at the two unlit torches on each side of the dark doorway, Somnu couldn’t help but feel as if the place was hiding some deep forgotten curses, or an ancient evil that was locked in the middle of a rotting swamp, the home to monsters.
Nevertheless, Somnu swallowed his worries and took a step closer.
“This better be worth it.”
After a few steps, he began to make out the rest of the stairs leading down. It didn’t seem too deep, but it was eerily quiet.
There was only a faint light leading him towards the last step.
He put his hand on the wall next to him just to be safe, but all he felt was moss and grime clinging to his hand. He hurriedly tried to wipe it off.
Making it to the last step, he found himself in a small dim-lit room with two doors, one on each side of him. Beside the doors, there were only torches on the wall opposite to the entrance, nothing between them. In fact, there wasn’t anything else in the room at all.
He patted his side and chest, checking for the recent injuries he had received. Choosing not to unequip his outfit, he hoped it would continue to mask any pain.
“Should I just wait out the countdown here?” He wondered. “It would be the smart thing to do, but there is at least another hour and a half…”
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While debating with himself, he paced across the room, looking around and studying every wall carefully for any potential hints.
After some time of that and nothing to show for it, he came to a decision.
“It wouldn’t hurt to just open one door and take a little peek, right?”
He approached the right door from the entrance. It seemed to be made of some sturdy wood, but signs of erosion and crumbling were starting to show at the edges. The iron bars running across the top and bottom were likely to hold it all together, despite the sneaking rust on them.
“Just one quick peek…” He mumbled as he reached for the knob. “Just one…”
CREEK…
The sound of the rusted hinges echoed throughout the room as Somnu tried to sneak a peek through a small crack.
He could only make out a reflection of light on the wall, so he tried opening the door a little more, then slightly more after that. A few seconds later, the door was completely open after he got annoyed.
However…
“W-what is that…?”
Behind the door was a small room, smaller than even his bathroom at home. In front of him was a small altar of some kind of faceless deity, and on it, was something he never expected to see here.
“A turtle…?”
[Affirmative.]
Indeed, there was a turtle on the small altar. The second it noticed Somnu, its head quickly popped out and it looked directly at him, staring deep into his purple eyes.
“!”
THUD!
A second later, Somnu had already shut the door tight and stepped away from it.
Without realizing it, his breath had grown heavy, heavier than after an hour of running. Sweat was beginning to trail down his face.
“W-what… What is that?! What kind of turtle is that?!” He mumbled again and again to himself.
The prestigious turtle, apparently a symbol of someone’s faith, or perhaps even the target of their prayers, scared Somnu. To the point of panicking, just like when he first came across that scarecrow monster.
He had never had issues with turtles before. Yet again, he had never met one with glowing red eyes.
“Is it some kind of monster too? Or an actual deity?!”
[Affirmative.]
“Aha!” He let out, then realized. “Wait, which one?”
[Unable to load that information at this time.]
“Damn you! How much longer of this do I have to deal with?!”
[Expected time till initiation: 01 Hours 08 Minutes 23 Seconds.]
“Ugh… Fine.” He slowly calmed his breathing, muttering to himself all the while. “It’s just a turtle… It’s just a turtle… I’m not scared of some turtle. Nothing can scare a scarecrow… I don’t feel fear…”
Waiting another hour would have been no problem, but for some reason, Somnu kept feeling a sense of urgency. He really wanted to explore this crypt. Whether out of curiosity or a need to ensure it was safe, he couldn’t sit still.
And to start, he would need to open that door again and face the monstrous turtle, or deity. He couldn’t know which.
CREEK!
“!”
The second he dared to open the door again, a small figure jumped at his face and blocked his view.
“Aghh!! Get off me! Aww!!”
A moment later, he was on his back, wrestling to remove whatever was clinging to his face. A sharp pain at the tip of his ear jolted him out of his panic.
“Screw you!”
He got up and threw the thing back where it came from, finally realizing that it was the turtle after all.
CRACK!!
“Freaking jumping turtle?! Seriously?!”
He watched it hit the deity’s idol and slide down motionlessly, the carapace on its back had apparently cracked from the impact. The statue crumbled to pieces soon after.
“Crow-shit! Am I cursed now?”
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
“A what, now?!” Somnu blurted, his heart still beating fast. “Wait, you’re finally giving me information?!”
[Nightmare Creature of the lowest rank: Lurker.]
[One Terror Core obtained.]
“Um… elaborate please?” He asked nicely. “I thought I couldn’t get any rewards yet?”
[Receiving new information…]
[Processing…]
“No, no! Don’t do that again!”
[New System creation in progress…]
[Expected time till initiation: 01 Hours 05 Minutes 47 Seconds.]
[Please hold.]
“Crow-shit! What are you, the insurance company?!” he blurted out. “Fine, I’ll wait.”
And so, he waited for an hour while going over his situation.
No matter what, he needed to find a way back home, to his job as a scarecrow, to protect the crop.
By no means was he planning to stay in a rotting swamp housing weird monsters.
***
[Loading necessary instructions…]
[You are a new Sleeper.]
[Welcome to the Dreamscape.]
“Finally! Give me some answers! Where am I? What is this Dreamscape? I don’t sleep, I’ve never slept! What am I doing here?”
Somnu fired off his questions without taking a breath.
[You are currently in a forced, persistent vegetative state until the completion of the first quest.]
“I’m in a coma?! Last I remember…” Somnu closed his eyes for a second, then the last flashes of consciousness came back to him. “I got hit on the back of the head… I was dying, but ended up in a coma… Is this… a dream?”
[Negative.]
[Upon quest completion or an unfortunate end, the mental and physical aspects are synced together.]
“You’re saying everything I do still has consequences on my physical body?” Somnu sought clarification.
[Affirmative.]
“... Why did I end up here?”
[You and your world have been chosen to join the mission.]
“Mission? What mission?!”
[To eradicate all Nightmare Creatures born from fear.]
[Every Sleeper must face the multiple fears that ail them and overcome their nightmares.]
[If unsuccessful, your word will be invaded and lost to the Nightmare Creatures, lost to fear.]
“Seriously…?”
However, the next few pop-up screens sent a shock through Somnu’s entire body.
[Due to unforeseen circumstances, you have skipped initiation and been sent directly to the First Layer of the Nightmare Realm.]
[Current Active Fears on this layer: {Fear of Everything - Omniphobia}]
“E-everything…?” He blurted out. “You can’t be serious…”
[Affirmative.]
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