Free Web NovelChapter 40: The Great Change
During another night, the nightmares returned with full force. The world crumbled around him in fragments of black stone, crystals falling from the sky, and mutating flesh.
Giant statues opened bloody eyes while rusted chains dragged him toward a bottomless abyss. He tried to run, but his legs were magnetically pulled toward a deep ocean of blue blood.
The chained old man’s laughter echoed in the background, whispering: "In the brain too..."
He woke up abruptly, sitting up in bed with his heart pounding at a thousand beats per minute. He was covered in cold sweat, the sheets soaked and stuck to his skin.
Dawn filtered weakly through the cracked window.
Gabriel got up heavily, practically dragging his feet. It wasn’t his favorite way to start the day.
He approached the small sink and washed his face with cold water, trying to erase the images that still lingered in his sleepy state.
He tried to have breakfast — just a packet of synthetic protein and some lab-grown vegetables. He ate with difficulty, without real hunger, only out of obligation.
Now that he had the resources, he needed to nourish himself.
He prepared a generous amount of coffee with the rest of the box he had bought. The bitter aroma filled the apartment and he savored it slowly, letting the heat burn his tongue. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
It was the only thing that seemed to anchor him to reality.
He went out for a run. He felt his body needed that physical stimulus, that untamed release.
He ran through the streets of Lower Neo-Atlas, dodging puddles of dirty water and dark corners where crimes multiplied regularly. He knew the safe and dangerous places.
But he was still careful; the city didn’t forgive distractions. His muscles protested, but the pain was welcome... It helped silence his intrusive thoughts.
When he returned, drenched in sweat, there were still two hours until visiting hours at the clinic.
He showered in the shared bathroom, letting the cold water hit his back. It was satisfying for his mental state.
When he came out, he looked at himself in the mirror. Not much had changed.
But those silver streaks were still there, more noticeable now, shining like threads of wool among his black hair.
He ran his fingers through them, feeling their texture again. He still wasn’t fully used to it, wondering what the reality was.
He dressed in his best set of clothes. Although that definitely wasn’t his biggest concern.
He left the building with the weight of worry on his shoulders. There was only one hour left until the clinic opened the visiting system.
When he arrived, many people were already waiting in the reception area. Families with haggard faces, old people coughing, and young people with empty gazes.
No one liked the clinic.
He registered with the automatic system and sat on one of the metal benches, constantly tapping his knee with his fingers.
When his name was called by a cold, mechanical voice, he stood up. He followed the directions, took the elevator, and ended up in the hallway of Noel’s room.
But something was wrong. Strangely, a robust individual was waiting outside the door.
The man didn’t look like medical staff.
Nor did he look like private security. He remained motionless next to the door, like a statue clad in black marble.
Constantly watching him, without speaking.
Until he spoke in a grave and professional voice:
"You must be the visitor... Gabriel. You’re the only one who has arrived here so far. You have only 15 minutes."
Gabriel didn’t protest. That man gave him a bad feeling.
He didn’t want to get involved with him. He simply nodded and entered.
The room was austere, illuminated by cold white lights. Noel was on a stretcher, connected to monitors that beeped softly.
Gabriel felt his stomach clench.
"Noel, what happened?!" he shouted, moving forward without stopping.
His friend raised a weak hand, gesturing for silence.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes, hesitating, but complied and approached in silence. Noel grabbed his wrists with surprising strength for his condition.
His eyes were red and swollen.
The room filled with a heavy silence. Noel avoided looking at him, his hands trembling, until he finally said:
"Gabi... everything has gone to shit... Everything."
Gabriel heard him sob silently. Noel cried uncontrollably, showing an extreme weakness he had never seen in his friend.
Tears ran down his cheeks as he squeezed Gabriel’s wrists.
All of it transmitted a funereal sensation in his chest. In the short exchange, he had noticed many details.
He waited until he finally asked with a worried expression:
"Noel, you have to tell me now... What happened? Where is Kael?"
Noel smiled sadly, with tears shining at the corners of his eyes.
"He... is gone, Gabi. He protected me, his older brother, and he is gone... forever."
Gabriel felt the world freeze at the revelation. He had never expected an answer like that.
He lost strength in his legs and had to lean on the stretcher. The space spun out of control.
Noel’s words simply didn’t make sense in his ears. One of his best friends, Kael, had apparently died.
It wasn’t long ago when they were still planning his birthday. When he was still present, with his classic smile and humor.
Kael couldn’t be dead.
When he regained some sanity, Noel was looking at the wall and said in a low voice:
"I wish I were lying... But the world, the world is falling apart... Gabriel."
He was interrupted when the agent burst into the room abruptly. He shouted hurriedly:
"Time’s up, you must leave!"
Gabriel, who still hadn’t recovered, left without saying much.
His strength still hadn’t returned. He managed to say a brief goodbye to Noel with his gaze.
When he was finally outside the clinic, observing the gray sky, he understood all of his friend’s words.
Kael had died protecting Noel.
He didn’t want to accept it. It was absolutely impossible.
He returned to his apartment with a numb posture, as if walking inside a dream.
He needed to wash his face with water repeatedly.
Deaths, at some point, had become common in Lower Neo-Atlas... But now he felt strangely lost.
He punched the wall hard, bringing him back to reality. He needed to know what was happening.
But at that moment something shot out from his sleeve and fell to the floor. It was an old, practically unusable finger prosthesis.
But it had been the prosthesis Noel could afford after an accident.
He had passed it discreetly while grabbing his wrists, an old trick from when they were younger. He immediately realized it had been a clever and measured move.
Trying to act normal, he closed everything until no source of light entered his home.
Only then did he dare to examine the electronic device hidden inside the prosthesis. It was an outdated mini data center. He extracted all its data.
There was only one folder with a file, containing only a video.
He immediately played it.
The scene moved to a shopping center. People screamed and ran in panic, while an irregular breathing could be heard.
Kael was there.
He shouted at the camera to run, not to worry about anything else. Suddenly, a grotesque creature intercepted them. It jumped and growled like a predator.
At that moment Kael stepped forward, pushed the one recording through a glass until he fell from three floors. The recording cut off at that moment.
But another recording, superimposed, began.
It was Noel, in the hospital, with weak breathing:
"I don’t know what the hell happened... I don’t know where it came from, or what it was... But that wasn’t from this world. Gabriel, be careful..."
"DELETE IT."
He watched the video several times. Every frame, every detail.
The creature looked mysteriously familiar.
Pausing the video, his hands trembled. He wanted to deny what he saw, but it was a fact.
A fact that destroyed his reality.
Gabriel observed the frozen frame once more.
The claws, size, jaw, and deformed muscles.
It was impossible and absurd.
It was exactly like a Pseudo-Tyrant.
Deleting the video evidence, he wondered...
What were the limits of the video game?
He hid the electronic device in his secret hiding place.
He sat on the floor, with his back against the wall, looking at the ceiling.
The real world and the game world no longer seemed so separate.
Gabriel closed his eyes. The tears didn’t come. Only a cold and deep void.
