1 Desolation

Masses of people could be seen walking down a street in the center of an urban metropolis on a hot summer afternoon.

The sidewalks, as wide as they were, struggled to support the massive number of people.

Some of them headed to work, some of them to school, and some of them just strolled about without any goals to speak of.

The vehicles, both large and small, overflowed on the road, akin to grains of sand on a beach; the drivers rushed to get to their destinations.

Some of the more impatient drivers kept honking and yelling at the other drivers, as if hoping to force some kind of miracle to occur that would allow them to get through the rush hour traffic even a second faster.

And, among the large number of people walking about, were two young men.

Both of them wore formal-looking suits, complete with a red tie and a white shirt.

They seemed to be in a rush as they walked through the crowd.

A handsome blonde man was taking the lead, and another man followed behind him.

But even though the two of them didn't have much time to waste, they could still talk and walk.

"Luke, it's my fault... Sorry," the blonde man said as he glanced at the man behind him.

The man receiving the apology, Luke, ignored it just like the two previous ones.

He had a very average appearance, with silky-smooth chestnut-brown hair adorning his head and his eyes shining in a slightly darker shade of brown when compared to it; his straight nose and a slightly round chin didn't help either.

He didn't have many skills he could boast about, but his intelligence and wit definitely gave him an edge when resolving the many challenges he had faced in the past.

The place they were rushing to was a mid-sized local IT company, where they'd recently gotten employed.

"Luke, I am-" the blonde man said, but Luke interrupted him by finally speaking up.

"Alex, you oversleeping on the day of an important event is nothing new. I get it already, so just hurry up."

Hearing that, Alex sighed in relief and started walking slightly faster.

The two young men had known each other since their junior high days, and by a stroke of luck, they ended up at the same college and wound up as dorm roommates.

It wouldn't be an understatement to say that they'd stay friends for life with the amount of mutual trust between the two of them.

Turning his head around to look at Luke, Alex's lips curled into a grin.

"They call summer the season of love, so y'know what? Let's go find you a girl after our shift's over!"

'His mood swings get worse and worse as he grows older... Wait, what'd he just say?!'

Luke got visibly flustered, and not because of the heat.

'It's rich, coming from him... He looks like a supermodel! Every time we went out to find some girls to hook up with, he'd be the center of attention.'

Sighing internally at his own thoughts, Luke lowered his head as he reminisced.

'Alex used to score with different girls nearly every weekend, while I barely had a few proper dates during college... Not that I mind, as I've never had much experience with dating anyway.'

"I appreciate your concern, but I'll pass."

Alex sighed as a sad expression surfaced on his face.

"Aw man, I'm just trying to look out for you..."

Wearing a smile, Luke patted Alex on the shoulder.

"Thank you, but really, I'm fine."

After Luke reassured him, Alex's expression softened.

But seconds later, his expression hardened yet again.

He stopped walking, prompting Luke to stop as well.

Peeking at Alex's face, Luke couldn't help but be surprised.

His cheeks drained of any color, the pair of blue pupils trembling in terror.

Slowly turning his head at Luke, he spoke without even blinking.

"I-It's an emergency!"

'...!'

Sweat started forming on the back of Luke's neck as he looked around to see if anything was wrong.

Suddenly, Alex's hands latched onto Luke's shoulders with great force.

His lips trembled as he tried to say something.

„I... I-I... n-need..."

Luke's senses heightened as he worriedly listened to the fidgeting Alex, whose eyes grew bloodshot during whatever struggle he was facing.

„You need…?"

„I NEED TO TAKE A PISS!!!!!!"

The yell resounded so loudly that even the nearby drivers who constantly cussed at each other stopped talking for a moment.

"..."

The heavy silence spread throughout the busy sidewalk like a contagion as everyone stopped walking and stared at the two young men, their gazes filled with pity and second-hand embarrassment.

Luke's mouth hung half-opened as his eyebrow started twitching.

'Please, someone shoot me right now… I don't want to bear this anymore...'

Ignoring the people's gazes, Alex winked at Luke and rushed off to a nearby cafe in search of a toilet, as if nothing had happened.

Now that the non-existent danger had disappeared, Luke's shoulders slumped down.

'That guy seriously has no manners...'

Luke glanced around before noticing an empty bench in the shade of a tree.

Finding such a spot was truly unbelievable, with so many people up and about.

Luke hastily made his way over to the bench and sat down, taking off his red tie and suit jacket and placing them right next to him, trying to stave off the summer heat while he waited for Alex.

'I can easily redo my tie as soon as Alex comes back. It feels much cozier while not wearing it...'

Luke casually leaned on the bench and looked at the passing traffic with distant eyes.

His eyelids slowly closed without Luke even realizing it.

And in less than a minute, Luke's body slumped down on the bench, his mind asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A shrill noise rang out, akin to a pig screeching while getting butchered.

Alarmed by this, Luke jolted awake and examined his surroundings in a slight panic.

"What the hell was that?!" he raised his voice almost instinctively.

A dense forest full of dead, dry trees surrounded him on all sides. A grayish hue painted the canvas that was the calm sky above him.

Sitting down on the ground and leaning against a tree, Luke couldn't help but be confused.

"Where am I? Where's Alex?"

Quickly realizing that he was no longer in his hometown, a sense of dread overcame him as he kept looking around.

No life existed here. No plants, no insects, no animals, no humans.

The ground Luke was sitting on looked as dead as the forest surrounding him. It was very dry and had cracks spreading all over it, looking as if it would crumble apart as soon as someone stepped on it.

A shrill noise akin to the previous one resounded throughout the forest.

"So, it wasn't my imagination..."

Thinking that this may just be a dream, Luke pinched himself.

"Ouch! Okay, I'm probably not dreaming..."

Not knowing what to do or where to go, Luke took a bit of a gamble.

"HELLO!!! IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE??!! I'M LOST AND NEED HELP!!" Luke shouted at the top of his lungs.

Luke felt anxious because of the weird noises he heard earlier, but he decided to risk asking for help nonetheless.

'I believe that there is a good chance that the shrill noise I've heard earlier could've come from cattle being slaughtered...'

Unbeknownst to Luke, this was the worst possible thing he could've done in this situation.

The sound of twigs and branches breaking one after another at a steady pace could be heard amongst the eerie silence.

With his anxiety at its peak, Luke forced himself to stand up.

"...What the actual fuck is this?!" he cried out, terror apparent in his eyes.

Not one, but three strange creatures were menacingly walking towards him.

Luke perceived them as bird-like creatures with large, razor-sharp beaks, short but thick legs, and tiny wings that looked almost funny compared to the overall size of the creature, one of which was easily bigger and taller than an adult human.

One of the bird-like creatures opened its beak and let out a shrill noise. The very same noise Luke heard earlier.

At this distance, the creature's screech made Luke feel like his head was about to explode as the unpleasant sound assaulted his eardrums.

With a dumbfounded expression, he covered his ears until the screech was over.

'So it wasn't cattle.'

And before Luke's cold sweat could even start flowing down his forehead, he broke out into a sprint.

He ran away as fast as his legs would allow him to.

The bird-like creatures started chasing him, and as if enraged, they screeched louder and louder. Their short legs made Luke think that they wouldn't be that fast. He was wrong.

After managing to outrun the creatures for nearly 10 minutes, Luke's stamina was completely drained, along with any reserves of energy that he had started with.

He couldn't have lasted that long with his meager stamina. Navigating between the trees to slow the creatures down and barely managing to take a few short breathers along the way was the strategy he came up with. But even with that, the creatures eventually forced him into a corner and slowly caught up.

Panting heavily, he could see the bird-like creatures charging at him as he wiped the sweat off his eyes.

'What should I even do?! Goddamnit!'

A thick branch he spotted on the ground next to him reminded him of a baseball bat.

'If only Alex were here with me...'

Alex used to be the captain of the college baseball team, wielding his bat as if it were an extra limb that he was born with.

Luke hurriedly grabbed the branch and took up a batting posture, seemingly imitating Alex's stance that he had seen so many times.

Gritting his teeth, his eyes nearly bulged out.

Adrenaline took hold of Luke's actions.

"Come at me! I'll take down at least one of you!"

Saliva flew out along with his desperate shout that was, more than anything, supposed to hype him up.

Luke swung the stick with all his might, closing his eyes in the process.

Feeling the sensation of hitting air, he cussed inwardly.

'Ah, crap.'

Remaining still with his eyes still shut, he expected to be met with death any second now.

One minute, two minutes. Three minutes passed by.

Luke couldn't gather the strength to open his eyes.

Surprisingly, an elderly voice resounded through the lifeless forest.

"Hey, kid."

As if a bolt of lightning had struck him, Luke jolted his eyes open. What he saw in front of him made his insides churn.

The three bird-like creatures—no, monsters—were still there. More accurately, their remains.

Their innards were strewn all over the ground, and their heads were chopped clean off.

"What's wrong with you, kid? Don't tell me it's your first time facing some puny Gleems?"

'Gleem? What the hell is a Gleem?'

Luke turned around in the direction of the voice.

He saw an old man standing tall atop a dried-up tree, as if the whole world were beneath him. The old man had a headful of pure white hair and wore a silver robe with detailed embroidery, giving off the feeling of an old monk. His eyes, even with his age, remained sharp.

Narrowing his eyes, Luke started probing the old man for answers.

"Excuse me, but where am I? What are these creatures, and most important of all... who are you?"

Simply grinning, the old man exaggeratedly clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, tsk, so many questions, yet you haven't even thanked me for saving your life."

'Saved my life?'

Still in a bit of an adrenaline rush, Luke glanced at the disemboweled monsters' remains.

'Ah, of course.'

Heaving a breath of relief, he opened his mouth.

"Thank you for saving my life."

A silver robe fluttered through the air as the old man descended from the tree.

Landing next to Luke, he smirked and nodded as he peeked at Luke through his half-closed eye.

"So you do have some manners, kid."

Getting slightly irritated by the old man's antics, Luke once again questioned him.

"Would you stop calling me a kid? I'll have you know that I'm 24 years old."

Luke's question was ignored as the old man walked past him.

He glanced at the butchered Gleems and then back at Luke.

"I'll answer your questions, kid, but I have a request of my own to make first."

'This old man…'

Staying calm, Luke answered.

"Alright, go ahead, old man."

Visibly annoyed at being called an old man, the elderly gentleman in the silver robe turned around and walked toward Luke, his gaze threatening to penetrate through Luke's.

"Kid."

The old man's expression turned deadly serious.

"Would you take my life?"