Hoarse echoes were the first thing that registered in SV's senses before he could even recover from his daze. He blinked, trying to recover from the vertigo.
Recovering a bit, he found himself in a long alleyway with no end in sight. The walls on both sides had no visible tops, separated from each other by only about two meters. While the glittering of a star-spangled dome might have indicated that the top was open, there was no way to confirm that for the moment.
He looked at both sides when suddenly a harsh laughter seemed to echo in the alleyway, causing him to flinch. He couldn't see anyone around, and neither could he determine whether it was from the back or front.
SV frowned and called the system. Seeing no response, he wasn't too surprised. It was obviously within his expectations to be thrown into the situation unprepared. If anything, he hadn't expected the opening scene to be peaceful.
SV looked at the back, the front, and then above before narrowing his eyes.
He didn't know what the objective of the trial was, but it was safe to assume that he was required to escape this alleyway.
Anyway, it obviously wasn't a sound strategy to remain in place.
He thought for a moment before dismissing the option to climb up. The walls were two meters apart, and his height was 1.91 meters, and while he could use his hands to support his body and bridge the gap, he didn't feel he could hold himself in a slanted plank position long enough to reach the top, if there was any top to be reached.
The other option was to jump between the two walls, but that also required immense physical exertion.
In all honesty, the real reason he gave up was that this was an impossible challenge. There was no way an impossible challenge would be so easily resolved, right?
Another shriek came from the alleyway as if to confirm his thoughts before gradually dying down to make the ever-present hoarse echoes noticeable once again.
SV thought for a moment and pressed his middle and ring fingers against his palm, then proceeded to touch the floor, the walls, and wave his hands randomly.
A harsh laugh echoed as if to laugh at his attempts.
SV shook his head and punched the wall, but it left no marks. He proceeded to punch several times but only managed to numb his fists. He shook them slightly and tried punching the floor instead, to similar ends.
SV sighed and picked randomly between what he supposed was the back and front based on the way he was facing when he opened his eyes.
He chose to walk forward, thinking that it might be a clue from the trial.
As he walked, SV still had no clue what was special about this impossible trial. Unless, of course, the alleyway had no end. But then, why would it be called a trial? So naturally, there must be a way to beat it in theory.
As he walked, he glanced at the walls on both sides to see if he'd spot anything special.
His companions in this alley where the hoarse echoes, the harsh laughter, shrieks, and cries. No intelligible noises. No people. Not a single soul.
SV wondered more than once where the noise was coming from; more than once did he shout, "Shut up!" only to receive his own "Shut up!" back at him.
He had no clue.
He only walked and occasionally touched the walls to see if they were any different.
He would frown at times and mutter curses at other times.
This shitty game truly had no normal quests.
For a moment, he wanted to just bang his head against the wall and be done with it.
No matter.
He ignored the eerie laughter and continued on his way.
He didn't know how long he had been walking. His throat started to feel a bit dry.
SV frowned and looked behind him, but he only saw the same scene as the one before him. Had he gone the wrong way? Would he have reached the end if he had gone the other way by now?
SV shook his head and kept walking.
He had walked so far on this path already, so he might as well keep walking.
SV felt his gaze was starting to trick him. No matter where he looked, he could see a vertical dark line sundering his vision.
It didn't matter whether he looked at the walls, his palms, or the actual way forward that did have the sundering line; he felt a permanent fixture in his vision had formed from gazing too long at the exact frickin' scene.
He even had the same sundering line when his eyes were closed.
SV hurriedly shook his head and closed his eyes, not wanting to take another look at this shit again.
The laughter seemed to deepen slightly.
SV walked blindly for a bit, and only after he felt his vision recovered did he open his eyes again. From then on, he would steer his vision to the left and right occasionally to refresh his view.
SV felt ridiculous.
He didn't remember why he was stuck in this place. Oh, this was a trial.
Why did he choose to do an impossible trial?
SV frowned and cursed his past self for being ignorant.
He simply walked forward.
His legs started to feel numb, his back slightly aching, his throat drier than ever, and his breathing slightly uneven.
But he persisted.
To pass the time, SV started mentally counting his steps.
'One.'
'Two.'
...
'One thousand three hundred and thirty-four?'
He paused for a moment before shaking his head.
'Whatever, one thousand three hundred and thirty-five.'
...
'Ten thousand!'
'Ten thousand and one... no. One.'
'Two.'
...
After an unknown amount of time, he frowned as he looked ahead, losing his count. He seemed to have discovered something there. He narrowed his eyes and immediately rushed forward.
As he approached, he saw that it was a person lying down. Overjoyed, he hurried up his pace. He didn't know what he was expecting, nor what the implication of another person being here meant for him.
But it was a change. A change in this ever-constant atmosphere. And his soul couldn't hope for anything more at the moment.
As he approached, he saw that the other party didn't seem to notice him and shouted, "hey!"
The other party remained unresponsive. Undeterred, SV simply ran forward and kept calling, "Hey pal! Are you here on a mission too? How long have you been walming? Any clues how to escape this place?"
The other party still ignored SV, but SV seemed to have found his soulmate and kept calling out, "Why so cold pal? Aren't we all stuck here? We are stuckmates!"
"Hahaha," SV laughed at his own terrible joke, the alleyway laughing along with him. Only when he was close enough did his laughter subside.
His face frowned and his pace slowed down.
He looked at the skeleton donned in simple attire, a long black robe and a wide-brimmed black wizardry hat, and remained silent.
He saw a red mark on the wall behind him. The words looked jarring, written with immense grief and hatred. Unfortunately, he couldn't recognize the writing.
Suddenly, the hoarse echoes seemed to whisper to him.
"Three hundred... three hundred... twenty-seven... years... far longer... than I would like to remember... far longer... than I have ever lived..."
"I've forgotten... how the sun looks like... I've forgotten how to smile..."
"But I do not want to be forgotten..."
"Please... whoever sees this... please..."
"I was here... I am..."
The voice then returned to whispers, denying the figure its name; in a moment of final cruelty, a harsh, raucous laugh seemed to echo.
SV remained silent, the laughter becoming harsher.
"You think this is funny?" SV shouted, the laughter only becoming harsher.
"Do you think I don't know that this is you?" SV shouted. He sneered, "the whole flesh is gone, but the blood remains? Where is the rest of the blood? Just this tiny bit? Can you use your brain a bit?"
The laughter ignored him and kept on laughing.
SV sneered and tried to possess the skeleton but failed. Undeterred, he simply resumed moving forward.
'One.'
'Two.'
...
Occasionally, he would stare up at the star-spangled dome.
A thought flashed in his mind: what did the sun look like?
He remembered it was bright; he remembered it was warm. A picture formed in his head. Oh, so that was the sun.
He frowned and shook away the random thoughts.
How long had he been walking anyway, and he was already starting to have doubts?
He slapped his cheeks to remain awake and continued his journey.
A thought flashed in his mind: was he near the end, so the alleyway was trying to make him stop?
No matter.
As he journeyed, his body was gradually getting heavier and heavier, his thirst becoming hard to ignore, and his count had long been forgotten by him, being reduced to a mere one, two, three to keep himself entertained.
SV frowned, and a thought flashed in his mind: should he rest?
Immediately, jeering laughter came from the alleyway.
SV sneered and pushed his body forward, "fine, you want to play? I'll play with you."
SV walked. He walked until his legs couldn't hold him anymore. His wobbly legs gave way every now and then, dropping him to his knees.
As he fell to the floor once more, the jeering laughter echoed in the alleyway once more.
"Fuck you!" SV shouted, "If you're so tough, come out and fight me you piece of shit! Cowardly fuck!"
The laughter only deepened as a result.
SV gritted his teeth and pounded his fists on the ground. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"
He then simply turned around and lay on his back.
"Laugh all you want, I just need a breather. I'll be back up in no time."
The laughter continued for some time before turning back to the familiar hoarse echoes.
SV had grown accustomed to this background noise by now. He did not know how long he'd been walking, but he knew for certain that it was more than a few hours. Had it been a full day? Maybe more?
No matter.
SV felt all the pent-up exhaustion creeping up on him. His eyelids grew heavy as he stared at the stars.
It was fine to sleep for a bit, right?
—
SV suddenly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar wall. He frowned and took in his surroundings before remembering where he was.
He sat up, ignoring the stiffness he felt in his lower half, and took a deep breath. He got up with difficulty and started his march.
His steps were excruciatingly slow; a sudden movement was utterly impossible. His legs felt like they were filled with lead, weighing something close to a ton.
But no matter. To SV, it was fine as long as they could move. And they could, so it was all fine.
'One.'
'Two.'
The familiar counting returned.
The same counting.
The same hoarse echoes.
The same laughter.
The same alleyway.
Only SV himself wasn't the same. His throat was drier than ever. His steps lacked their previous grace. But, perhaps, only his will had remained unchanged.
He shall walk this path to the end.
"But why?" A voice suddenly whispered in his ears.
"What are you walking for?"