Talent Awakening: I Awakened With The Rewind System

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Gasp!

Just like I expected, I woke up submerged in endless darkness. The world around me blurred, flickering between a distorted gaze and an oppressive, chilling reality.

My hands clutched my head, desperate to shield myself from the formless wave of energy battering the walls of my mind.

The pain.

It was relentless-

Fast, brutal, and unforgiving.

But then,

Like a cruel mercy, it subsided.

Gazing ahead.

The darkness stretched infinitely before me, swallowing everything whole.

I stumbled to my feet, my legs trembling as I staggered toward.

It took a few attempts, but I steadied myself.

My eyes darted around, taking in my surroundings.

Nothing had changed.

The same abyss stretched on, shadows flickering at the edges of my vision, weaving patterns that didn't make sense. The cobblestones beneath my feet felt rough- hard, and cold.

But something about them felt wrong.

Deeply wrong.

"Am I already losing it?"

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, hollow and sharp, echoing back at me like a cruel taunt.

It was the facade I wore- a thin, fragile mask to mask the slipping away of my sanity.

I sighed,

The sound heavy and resigned, as a wry smile tugged at the corner of my lips. The chilling air gnawed at my skin, sinking deep into my bones.

Whoosh!

Even so,

A flicker of determination sparkled in my chest.

Clenching my fist, I took my first hesitant step into the endless void.

And the world twisted around me.

The darkness warped, folding in on itself as if the very fabric of reality was being torn apart. The ground beneath me disappeared, and I found myself standing in the middle of nowhere- a place that shouldn't exist.

"Where am I?"

A landscape of blinding white stretched before me, tinged with faint shadows that danced at the periphery of my vision. My chest tightened as unease settled within me- a cold, creeping sensation slithering down my spine.

This had never appeared.

Ba-dump!

The oppressive atmosphere grew heavier, suffocating in its intensity.

"Huff-Huff."

I found it hard to breath.

Almost as though some unseen hands were clenched tightly around my neck.

"Huff-Hah."

My heart hammered in my chest,

Ba-dump!

Ba-dump!

Each beat pounding against my ribcage as dread seeped into me.

"Huff-Hah."

Ba-dump!

Became the rythm my body adapted to.

***

I dared a glance over my shoulder.

And my heart almost leapt out of my chest, cold currents coursing through my body.

My fingers trembled lightly as i struggled to make sense of the supernatural creature reflected within my eyes.

It was as tall as the big bad wolf-, and looked almost similar, save for the fact that it was more grotesque, and perhaps even more abnormal.

It had eerie glowing dark hands jutting out of its ribs, marshes of blood and organs twisting around its face, and masks of faces that screamed in agony and pain.

On its four, it stood like a gargantuan monster crafted out of one's worst nightmare!

Fear gripped me, paralyzing every muscle in my body. My breath caught in my throat, my chest tightening as despair clawed at the edges of my mind.

And yet...

The creature didn't move.

"What's it waiting for?"

The question echoed in the stifling silence.

Then,

Without warning, the air above me shifted.

The sound was sharp, and grating- a death knell that sent chills racing down my spine.

Rocks- jagged, sharp and teeming with snapping maws- descended from above.

Instinct kicked in.

I rolled to the side just as one of the monstrous rocks slammed into the ground where I had been standing moments prior. Its maw snapped shut with a sickening crunch, narrowly missing me.

Bastard!

My heart raced as the oppressive air around me grew heavier.

Ba-dump!

The creature was moving now, its eyes gleaming with murderous intent.

And it was fast:

I turned and ran, my legs pumping as adrenaline surged through my veins. The ground shook beneath me as the monstrous rocks continued to fall, each impact reverberating through my body.

Fuck!

I realized I was surrounded from all sides.

And worse, I couldn't see a way out of this one.

No...there's always a way out.

They always is.

From the resets I had gone through.

I had learnt a lot of things about this cursed land and if there was anything that stood paramount and unchangeable.

That would be the fact that there's always a way out.

No matter how inescapable the situation might seem to be. There's always that slight tinge of hope beyond the endless darkness.

And…I was right.

Hope.

A door appeared in the distance.

I latched onto it, focusing all my energy on reaching that door.

"Fifteen seconds."

That's all I had.

Tok-

Dodging and twisting, I sprinted forward. Rocks rained down, smashing into the ground around me, but I didn't stop.

I couldn't.

Tok-

Taking another step.

The creature's oppressive presence loomed behind me, its claws swiping through the air with horrifying precision.

Tok-

I pushed myself harder, ignoring the burning in my lungs and the searing pain in my legs.

The door was close now- so close I could almost touch it.

But the creature leapt.

Its claws grazed me, pain exploding in my side as I was flung forward. I slammed into the door with bone-jarring force, gasping for breath as stars danced before my eyes.

The door shut behind me with a defeaning slam, locking the creature in the darkness.

For a moment, there was silence.

***

And then,

Agony rippled through me, a searing pain that left me gasping.

"Ukh-Ah."

My body felt broken, each breath a struggle.

"Huh-Hah-."

But, I was alive.

I forced myself to my feet, the ache in my bones a cruel reminder of how close I'd come to death. The darkness stretched before me, unending and unrelenting.

But, I wasn't done yet.

I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth against the pain as I stepped forward,

Into the darkness.

My eyes soon opened to the

light, and based on my surrounding, I knew I was out of the haunted house.

In fact, I was far away from it.

Judging by the map I had in my head, I am close to it.

Where the reset had previously ended.

I just have to avoid a few supernatural forces and I would be there in no time.

Forcing myself to my feet, a loud grunt escaped my lips.

"Euk-Akh!"

The air itself felt like ice, each breath slicing through my lungs with a cold so sharp it left me trembling.

A shiver ran down my spine, unbidden and unstoppable as dread coiled tighter. Its grip was relentless, a cold reminder of how fragile I was.

Fear sank into me.

But fear.

Fear wouldn't save me.

To survive.

To keep moving forward.

I have to bury it deep and hold on to the faintest spark of hope, no matter how fleeting...

With clenched fists and a heart pounding louder than the stifling silence surrounding me.

Ba-dump!

Ba-dump!

I pushed myself into the darkness.

***

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Time blurred.

Seconds dragged into minutes, minutes stretches into hours- or so it seemed. I'd long since lost track, my focus consumed by the task at hand.

Crash!

My body collided with a wooden door, splinters scattering from the force. I barely avoided one jagged shard that had, in another cycle, driven me to death's cold embrace.

Staring at the supernatural creature before me.

A strained grip tugged at my lips as i gasped for breath,

"Huff-Hah."

Every inhale laced with searing pain. My lungs burned, and my chest heaved, but I refused to falter.

Ba-dump!

It stared at me with an inhuman intensity, its gaze like razors slicing through my composure. The stifling silence clawed at my mind, but I forced myself to shove it aside.

I had won.

Not at its game, perhaps. But I had survived.

And that's all that matters.

A faint smile lingered as I moved to close the door.

The presence of the creature disturbing me in ways i couldn't really place my hands on.

The creature's oppressive aura gnawed at me even as i closed the door with a loud, shuddering creak.

Creak!

Leaning heavily against the door, I allowed myself a moment to breathe. The silent felt stifling, as if the darkness itself might shatter at any moment.

Forcing down the unease gnawing at me.

I slowly approached the box that laid in the room's center.

A weird darkness surrounded the box, just like the previous ones.

I wondered which code was binding it as i took deep, heavy steps towards it.

As I approached, my steps felt heavier, the weight of my journey pressing down on me.

Tok-

This was the moment of truth.

Tok-

I took another step forward.

What i had fought so desperately for.

Tok-

This was it right before my very own eyes.

Every one of this boxes always told me more.They warned me, albeit in ways i couldn't understand.

Tok-

But I knew they would eventually prove their worth.

It might not be now, but they eventually will.

Arriving before the box.

My fingers brushed the edges of the box, and I realized the method to unlock it- a Polybius square method.

A 5 * 5 grid whereby each letter is represented by its coordinates in the grid. With the letter D being represented by the pair { 3, 4}.

I frowned as my first attempt failed.

But then it struck me: the keyword.

There was only one possibility.

"Dean."

The click of the mechanism unlocking was almost defeaning in the stifling silence. Relief fleeting but soothing, washing over me.

Ba-dump!

My heartbeat accelerated.

Ba-dump!

I worked so hard for this damn box.

It had better be worth it.

My hands slowly moved towards the note.

Ba-dump!

My chest heaved up and down.

My fingers hovered over the note inside, but before I could reach for it, the air shifted.

A chill unlike any I'd felt before, swept through the room, and the oppressive silence thickened.

The door behind me exploded outward with a defeaning crash.

I ducked just in time, the shattered wood narrowly missing me before embedding itself into the wall with a sickening thud.

I spun around, eyes wide open in shock, heart hammering against my ribs.

Ba-dump!

Ba-dump!

The creature was here. In a blue zone.

That should've been impossible.

Confusion and disbelief warred within me, but survival instincts honed through countless resets kicked in. There was no time to wonder how it had broken the rule.

Snatching the note,

I turned and bolted, the sound of its pursuit reverberating through the space.

Tok-

Tok-

Its fury was palpable, each of its step shaking the ground beneath it, the vibrations rippling through me. I could feel the air growing heavier with every moment- every second,

Tok-

As if the darkness itself sought to drag me down.

Tok-

But, I didn't stop.

Tok-

I couldn't.

The creature closed the distance with terrifying speed, its inhuman movements a blur. My lungs screamed for air, my muscles protesting against the force they were subjected to, but I pushed harder.

Then,

It leapt.

I didn't need to look back to know- It was going for the kill.

A laugh, wild and unhinged, burst from my lips as I lunged towards the window ahead. Glass crumbled beneath the weight of my fragile body as I plummeted into the void below.

Above,

The creature's form loomed at the edges of the broken frame. B-ut,

It didn't follow.

It couldn't.

A faint, weary smile crossed my face as the world rushed past me, gravity pulling me towards whatever awaited below.