“Ha…”

It’s the worst feeling.

Awful.

Never again.

Can’t escape.

Always again.

Someone help me! Please…just make it end for real! I’ll do anything!

I wake up again in the darkness, my heart cold and empty. I’m not trying to count how many times the Hunter has killed me. But it’s hard not to keep track anyways.

Why…why is this happening? My sins…were they so heavy that I deserved this? Isn’t this how they punished evildoers in the myths? The Underworld…that’s what this is. I’m just like the old Titans, stripped bare and laid here to be eaten alive. He always calls me a rat, but rats die when you step on them.

No…I’m not even a rat.

The System God was right.

I’m a worm.

That’s really all I am.

Cold, blind, wet, and when you step on me, I don’t die. I’ll just break in two.

One half always survives to die again.

But every time I come back…there’s a little less.

What will be left after another hundred deaths?

“Hei! Hei! Wake up! You need to move!”

Huh? Am I losing it? That sounds like…

“It’s Rita! Thank the System we found you! I need you to wake up!”

“G-Guys?” My disbelieving voice cracks as I hear their voices. I must be going insane. Unless…unless the loop changed? I try to turn my head towards them. My sightless eyes hungrily search for salvation. “You have to get out of here! He’s coming! The Hunter!”

“I know! Listen to me, Hei! You need to get up! We can guide you away!” She sounds desperate and afraid. I don’t blame her.

“Are you guys really here? Can you help me up? I think my collarbone’s broken.” My voice fills with hope. A terrible feeling of relief eagerly blooms in my chest. This nightmare…is there a way out? “I…I’m blind.”

“It’s okay! You can do it! I’m sorry, Hei, but I…I’m not doing so hot either. I’m sorry…I can’t help you. But the others are waiting for us! Just listen to my voice and I’ll get you out of here!” Rita sounds exhausted. I don’t know if I can keep up and I don’t now why the loop has changed, but the chance to change this nightmarish loop gets me on my feet. For the first time in who knows how long, I manage to start running. Fire burns in my chest, both pain from the broken collarbone, and hope. “That’s it, Hei! Just keep going straight!”

“I…I’ll try.” I huff, focusing on breathing. Rita warns me of incoming obstacles.

“Root! Lift your right foot higher! Come on! Keep up!” I can’t tell where her voice is coming from, but I’ll follow her directions if it means I can get out of here.

“WAIT RIGHT THERE, RAT! YOU’RE DEAD!”

The Hunter says his line but I’m already on my way. Rita seems to be directing me to the strange hanging roots over the river’s edge.

“Are you sure this is the right way!” I yell out, ignoring the raspy pain in my throat. “I’ll fall in! I can’t see!”

“You’re not alone, Hei! I have you. Just keep going…always…you can’t stop or he’ll catch you!” Rita yells out as I get to it. “There! Get on your hands and knees! Go straight! When you get to the end, turn left!”

“I can’t do this!” My despairing hands try to feel for when the root ends. But the mounting pressure as I hear footsteps on the soft dirt is making it difficult to move. I take short, panicky, hops forward, one foot a time. “Please, just give me a hand, anything! I can’t see anything!”

“Walk, damnit! I swear to the System I won’t forgive you if you give up!” The little girl’s insistent urging pushes me to take that final step. I feel the bend in the root with a hand. “Good! That’s it! Turn left and walk a few steps! Then turn right again! You’re doing it! Keep it up!” Rita becomes my greatest cheerleader. Screaming out instructions like an overzealous fan, her voice is the only light in my night. Behind me, I can just barely hear the Hunter trying to follow me onto the hanging roots, over the sound of the rushing water below. One wrong step from either of us and we’ll tumble down into the falls below. Yet surely, a blind man cannot beat one with eyes…right?

“You madman! How the hell are you doing that?!” The high-level’s usually sardonic voice is filled with awe. “What the hell are you standing on!”

Huh? What is he talking about?

“Goddamit! There really was something here! How did you know? You think just because I can’t see it, I can’t keep up! Freaking Rat!” He’s fuming now. But evidently on the move. I’m confused how it is that he hasn’t caught me yet. My progress is anything but swift. Even with Rita’s directions, I can only go so fast. The broken bone in my collar stabs into my skin and I grunt.

“Eurg…” Gagging, I take another turn.

“Just hold on, Hei! A little faster! Don’t give up!” She keeps cheering me on. “Climb up! We’re going to the top!”

Up?

My hands follow the root as it begins to slant towards the sky of the Underworld. Blindly, I hunch over and do my best to balance, putting one foot in front of another as I ascend.

“To the left! Don’t fall!”

“E-Easy…for…you…to…say!” I snap as my foot almost slips on the slippery bark. Somewhere behind me, the Hunter is grunting, confusedly yelling profanities-

“How do you know where to go! I can’t see anything! What the hell is this horse-crap!” He swears repeatedly and I think I’ve gained a little distance. However, when I slow down, Rita quickly admonishes me.

“No! Don’t slow down! There’s a section with less curves coming up! Once he gets to that part, he’ll climb quicker than you!” She tells me. I nod to show I heard and suck in a deep breath as my head bumps into what feels like a tree branch. “Jump on!”

“What?” I feel around. The branch tip is slender, though it rapidly widens. When I test whether it will support my weight, it doesn’t bend in the slightest. Like it’s made not of wood but instead steel. “The hell is this tree?”

“Don’t ask questions! It doesn’t matter! Just keep going!”

I clamber onto the branch, praying that I don’t fall in the darkness. Even under my full weight it remains firm and stable. I feel like I’m standing on a metal beam rather than a tree branch.

The only good thing about this damn tree is that it doesn’t have any leaves.

Climbing higher, I let my hands poke and prod into secure handholds. From below, I might be mistaken for a blind monkey of some sort. My chest and shoulder burn whenever I have to pull myself up, but the sharp pain helps me stay awake. Believe it or not…I’m so tired I might just drift away and fall off this tree. Exhaustion finds a way to take hold even in the most-dire of situations. If you’re tired enough…you can just conk out at any time.

The flow of my thoughts is becoming lazy, haggard, and slow. Only Rita’s voice keeps me focused on the goal.

I just climb.

Up

Up

And Up.

Are we going to climb all the way out of the Underworld?

Thinking silly things like that make everything seem unreal. I’m lost in a daydream. All I can see is my imagination, and it’s going places. The Hunter behind me has swollen in my wild fantasy to become a giant monster, rushing up from underneath the water to drag me into the deep…

“Hei! HEI! Wake up! Stay with me?!” Rita begs and I put another hand in front of the other unconsciously. “That’s it! Keep going!”

“I…can’t…” My sightless eyes won’t open. Oh…that’s because I’m blind. Are they open?

*Tap*

Sleepily, I miss the next branch-

*Whoosh*

I wake up entirely as I begin to fall.

Where am I…

“GRAB SOMETHING! QUICK!”

Huh? What’s happening?

When I hit the branch below, it shatters a lot more than you’d think. This tree is like a granite rock. Pain is everywhere. Nothing is whole anymore. Who knows what I broke…all I know is that it was a lot. My screams echo throughout the Underworld until I pass out.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“AHHHHHHHHHH!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

#

“What in the hell…you were infected…Rat?” The Hunter’s voice is disgusted, but also morbidly curious. “Damn, when did that happen? What are you?”

My body rises, searching for the source of the sound. Though every torn ligament and ripped nerve still sends white hot fire through me, the Gray cares not for mortal electricity. It wants only to feed. Unfortunately, the Hunter in front of me has other plans.

“Jesus, you can still move? After all that? Goddamn. Hey! Stop! I mean it!” The Hunter sounds like he’s backing up. The Gray takes another lurching step with my body. “Okay, that’s it! Get the hell away from me, you blind Rat!”

*Shing*

OWWWWWWWWWWW

His sword slices right through my legs as if the bones aren’t there. When the snarling Gray roars back at him, we’re already falling off the tree into the waters below. I scream my head off inside my chained-up thoughts. Bloody stumps flail desperately as we go over the falls.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

At the bottom, it’s all over in a second. The fresh meat in the water does not go unnoticed for long.

*Suuurrrrr*

I’m drawn and quartered by jaws which open me up like a can of cat food. If I could pass out, I would have a million times by now. But that luxury is not mine to have until true death claims my soul.

*Riiiip*

#

“H-AHHHH!”

It’s all so much more vivid when you’re paying attention, when you think you have a chance to live. It hurts so bad to wake up again in this eternal night. I want to give up again. But now that I know there’s hope…even the slightest bit…I think I can keep going.

This time, I have to stay awake!

“Hei! Hei! Wake up! You need to move!”

I’m getting up.

“It’s Rita! Thank the System we found you! I need you to wake up!”

“Okay…okay…” I force myself to rise a split second earlier than the last loop. Maybe that extra time will be the difference, who knows. Ignoring the pain, I hobble forwards before breaking into a sprint again. “Guide me to the tree!”

“Hei? Um…okay! Let’s do this!” Rita seems surprise by my sudden change of attitude, but doesn’t question a good thing. “There’s a root just up ahead! Don’t trip when you get on it!”

“I know.” I bend down pre-emptively. After so many times, I can practically find the root in the dark. Well…I am I guess. Clambering on, I briskly make my way across.

“WAIT RIGHT THERE, RAT! YOU’RE DEAD!”

He’s farther this time. I’m gaining time!

“Just keep going, Hei! You can make it! Turn left up ahead!” Vaguely remembering Rita’s directions from last time, I make my way across the ginormous network of roots and onto the steel branches of the tree. Even with the roaring of the water underneath, I can still hear Rita distinctly.

Where is she…how is it that I don’t sense her anywhere?

A strange thought occurs to me, but then I’m taken in by the Hunter screaming profanities again. For whatever reason, he seems to be having a lot of trouble figuring out where to go even though I’m the blind one.

Is it possible…he can’t see the tree?

What’s going on here?

With mounting confidence, I make it past the spot I was at before. However, Rita’s prediction turns true as the Hunter begins to get closer. He found the straight stretch! Damnit, his agility is too much higher than mine! Gotta move fast!

Abandoning caution to the wind, I concentrate fully on following Rita’s hurried instructions. Working hard, she helps me push through the exhaustion and I make sure to bite my tongue whenever I feel the urge to fall asleep. Blood fills my mouth but it’s preferable to being ripped apart again. Small victories.

“Stop running, Rat! You can’t climb forever!” The Hunter’s frustration could break bricks right now. But he’s not gaining ground anymore.

“Don’t listen to him! You’re almost there!” Rita’s voice lights the fire of hope in me. Something begins to blink the corner of my darkness. The System again? What is it this time?

[System Call: World Tree Secret Quest –

Fruit Of Wisdom:

Climb The World Tree And Pluck A Fruit From Yggdrasil To Claim A System Reward!

Only Those Who Are Willing To Forsake Part Of Themselves Can Ascend!

The Unworthy Will Fall And Be Judged By The Midgard Serpent Jormungandr!]