The huge room gave off the same eerie vibe as the one Eren and Jack had entered before—the one with the crimson orb and the statue holding a stone tablet. Dark and silent, it felt like the kind of place that could crawl into your dreams and turn them into nightmares.
Eren : This room's kinda empty as well... or maybe not...
Just when he thought the room was empty, his eyes caught sight of another stone tablet, half-shrouded in shadow. He approached it cautiously, and carved into its surface were the words...
"Power is not given. It is taken, burdened, and paid for. Behind you stands the price. Will you accept the hand of the damned?"
Eren : Hand of the damned? What does this mean?
And who even is behind me?
Eren looked back, checking if the stone tablet's words were true—but nothing appeared. He turned to the tablet again, only to see some of its carved words glowing faint red.
Eren : Well... that's strange. This thing's glowing now as well.
The huge room was obviously empty. The only thing visible was the stone tablet with some carved words on it. Whatever it had written didn't seem to have anything to do with things right now.
Eren then turned his head to the right.
A strange thing… no—
Not strange.
Back when he was falling into the darkness that led him here, he had lost his backpack.
That meant he had nothing.
But then, something strange stirred in his pocket.
A vibration…?
Eren : What the heck?
Eren reached into his pocket and grabbed the item. To his surprise, he still had his smartphone.
Eren : I thought I had lost this thing...
Good grief...
Eren turned on his smartphone.
It had been shut down, so it took some time to boot up.
The mobile rebooted, and finally, it was done.
But a strange notification appeared...
Obviously, there was no internet since he was in a strange dimension.
But why was there a notification that wasn't from anyone—rather, from...?
Eren : What's this notification about?
Eren clicked the notification. It was asking him to install an application.
The app's name was "???".
Eren : This is so strange... this app doesn't even have a name?
The notification intrigued him.
It compelled him to download the application.
1%... 4%...
21%... 69%...
99%...
Eren's eyes widened, desperate to see what the application was about.
100%...
It was done.
Eren clicked the "Open" button.
The app, with no name—or rather, a name that wasn't composed of letters or numbers—was simply a symbol.
A symbol of three question marks: "???"
Once Eren opened the app, the screen glowed faintly, the background pitch black. It asked only one thing—his name.
Eren typed Eren Fritzwerld, clicked Done, and the app began buffering.
Eren : For some reason... this app wants something from me.
A message appeared on the screen:
"Take the SIM card from the stone tablet and insert it into your mobile."
Eren's eyes widened. How the hell did a SIM card appear on the stone tablet? The tablet had been clearly visible to him, but when did that thing show up?
A modern mobile always had a dual SIM feature, but this was something else.
Moreover, the words carved into the tablet began to glow brighter than before.
Eren : Jus... wh— at the heck is happening?
He took the SIM card and followed the command on his mobile screen. He inserted it into the second slot where the SIM cards are placed. And then...
Eren : HUH!?
Eren's eyes widened, his heart pounding with terror. The stone tablet glowed brighter, then slowly faded, as if dirt particles were being swept away by the wind.
A notification appeared on his mobile screen.
It was from the app...
It said:
"LoOk BeHiNd YoU"
Eren froze, terror gripping him as the message appeared.
He followed the command, turning his head slowly.
Eren : Huh....
Nothing... absolutely nothing was behind him.
But why did it feel so strange?
Eren : THIS IS SO ODD!?
Eren realized at that moment—the door he came through had vanished.
But how?
No wonder that app had been so strange and terrifying.
Eren : THE DOOR DISAPPEARED!?
Eren turned his head.
What the heck?!
At that moment, Eren was staring. Staring at a skull-like head with hollow, glowing eyes. It was so close to his face... Like a jumpscare!?
"AAAHHHHHHH"
The bastard reacted immediately, jumping back in terror from the sudden scare.
Before him stood a towering figure—its skull-like face illuminated by glowing eyes. Cloaked in dark, tattered robes, it exuded an ominous aura, holding a staff adorned with eerie symbols. The air around it seemed to distort, as if reality itself bent under its presence.
Eren : WHAT THE FUCK!?
Vo###or# L##h"###ht##" : "Sʊʀⱱɪvɘ Ϯhʀɘɘ §ħɵts ϝʀɵʍ ʍ¥ §τȺϝϝ τɵ ɓɘ §ρȺʀɘɗ..."
Eren : What!? What is he saying?
What that terrifying figure said was not understandable.
It sounded like pure gibberish—maybe the language of creatures from this twisted dimension.
Voi##orn Li#h "####ht#n" : S##vi##... thr## sh###... fr## my st##f... t## be sp###ed...
Eren : Just what the hell is he saying!?
That creature's staff was now pointed directly at Eren.
The orb embedded in it began to glow—ominously, intensely—
A clear sign that a shot was about to be unleashed.
Eren : Is it trying to attack me?
Eren realized it in a flash and reacted immediately. He dashed to the side, knowing a shot was about to be fired.
A purple beam burst forth from the staff—it wasn't fast, but it demanded a reaction within two seconds.
Eren, who had already honed his reflexes while evading strikes from that big wolf-like creature in the tunnels, was no stranger to danger.
This time, it was a weapon—not claws, but an arsenal that fired.
And he dodged. Clean.
Void#orn Li#h "###sht#n" : T#o mor# shots ## go.
Eren : Shots!? Go!?
That figure who was shooting those beams at him—still speaking gibberish—had some of the words now becoming understandable.
Words that felt like they belonged to arsenal commands...
A beam shot from the staff, faster than before.
Eren reacted instantly as it came faster. Lucky for him, he dodged—well, 98% of it. The shot grazed his hoodie, tearing the shoulder as the terrifying figure shot the beam.
Voidborn Lich "Harshton" : Just one more shot... then your life is sparred.
Eren : IT TALKED AND NOW HE'S MORE UNDERSTANDABLE!?
The terrifying figure raised his staff, the embedded orb glowing as if charging up—maybe for a shot even stronger than the last two.
Eren watched, realizing the incoming shot would be deadlier than the last two. He sprinted farther, putting as much distance as possible between him and the figure, hoping for enough time to react and evade.
Eren : HERE IT COMES...
The staff gleamed brighter, charged and ready—a pulse attack aimed straight at Eren.
It fired.
The pulse shot, faster than the earlier shots, hurtled toward him—big as a bowling ball.
It closed in fast.
Eren dodged, but—
BOOM.
This time, it wasn't just a shot—it blasted, and Eren was caught in the impact.
CRASH!
He slammed into the wall with a thunderous crack, the force so great it shattered the stone around him.
The pulse had hurled him like a ragdoll, leaving cracks spidering from where he hit.
"ACCCKKK"
The impact was so brutal, blood burst from his mouth on collision.
The terrifying creature watched him get ragdolled, yet, to its surprise, Eren was still breathing.
Voidborn Lich "Harshton" : This human isn't regular one like others...
They got killed in first shot or the second shot.
I don't expect this weak humans to even survive this pulse attack of mine yet this mere human survived... for how long tho?
The VoidBorn Lich floated toward Eren, silent and weightless, closing the distance to see if this fragile human still clung to life.
It made no move to harm him further—after all, the task was simple: survive three shots, nothing more.
Drifting closer, the lich loomed over Eren, who lay battered, breathing heavily, blood spilling from his mouth and forehead.
"Haaah... haaah..."
Each ragged breath tore from his chest, blood dripping from his mouth and forehead.
Eren : So this is where I get killed...
Harshton : Hmmm?
Eren : You know... I've been evaa...ading death for quite some ti...me.
As he was speaking, his words stuttered, a result of the injuries that had been inflicted on him.
Eren : Fr...om gob...lins almost killin...g me, to alm...most dying from wolf... I thou...ght I would die from f...alling but survived. Got ch....ased by bunch of monkeys an...nd now it's you at the end giving me my death.
I am ready to die even if I don't want.
The Lich stared at Eren with cold, empty eyes, showing no reaction to his words. It believed the human was merely attempting to save himself, trying to mask his fear with defiance. There was no trace of pity, only a detached observation, as if Eren's struggles were nothing more than an amusement to the VoidBorn.
That Lich replied back...
Harshton : Do you think I'll kill you now?
Eren : Huh?
Harshton : I've killed seven mere humans. All those seven made it to these room. They were given a final objective that was to survive my three shots from my staff. From what I have counted, only one person was able to survive the first shot but then she died from the second shot. Other six were killed by the first shot.
Harshton : You should stand proud mere human. You were the only one to complete this objective.
The Lich's words left Eren confused, a cold weight settling in his chest.
The portal he and Jack had stumbled into wasn't the only one—there had been others.
Unseen by him, seven more had been pulled into this grim trial.
The objective was brutally simple: survive three shots from the VoidBorn Lich.
Eight entered.
Only one survived.
Eren Fritzwerld.
Eren : Seriously...
Harshton : Don't think I'll heal you. From now on, you'll get some tasks from that app you downloaded on your mobile and you have to complete it if you don't want death to follow you.
Eren : Tasks?? What tasks...
Harshton : Good luck fellow human.
Eren : WAIT!!
As Eren shouted, the orb embedded in the staff pulsed with a yellow glow.
His eyelids grew heavy, slowly drifting shut—sleep was claiming him.
The VoidBorn Lich snapped its bony fingers.
In an instant, Eren vanished, teleported away from the vast, empty room.