Aleks would be lying if he said he understood what was happening to him, or even tell why him out of everyone. Already, he'd had a very bad, crappy day, and it didn't seem like it had any intention of getting better. Instead, it had gotten worse, and this time around, there was a possibility that it might lead to death, and he wasn't going to survive this time.
All that he could remember was just the bathroom floor ripping open apart – something that had never happened before to him or anyone that he knew of. And though it was no secret the place and apartment that he stayed in was pretty shitty, the rent was as high as one could say – it was higher than a MF. And the landlord didn't care about fixing the busted, rusted pipes; whenever he'd get his rent money, he'd not pay for anything. Sometimes he'd even disappear for a month and only appear when the rent was due. And the undeniable fact was, even the government didn't care about whether some people were paying and keeping up with their taxes. After what the world had been facing for the last decade or so, there were really more important things than keeping track of people who didn't want to pay up their taxes.
The world was at war; money was the last thing on the government's mind. They needed soldiers more than ever now, because even though the ongoing war with the Awakened and the demons was kinda in a stable and stale form, there were rumours that there were new kinds of demons appearing. And since then, there were also new information cases about these mysterious Awakening powers; most of them now were starting to seem more useless than those who were not Awakened. And Aleks was one of those unlucky ones who were part of the 1.5 per cent of those who can't have an Awakening.
But none of this was what was really on his mind. No one would actually believe what had happened to Aleks if he were to try to explain, cause he remembered very well that when he was being pulled down, he saw the floor seal itself back to normal like nothing happened. All that were being heard were nothing but his out-of-body screams. He really took time to reach whatever was there, but calling it the ground would be a simple, nice way to put it.
Bang!
That was the sound he made the second his body made contact with what seemed to be a pile of skeletons that seemed to have been here longer than time itself began. Surviving that fall was just pure dumb luck, cause as he fell onto those skeletons, instead of them aiding him into breaking his back, he actually plowed through them. Though he didn't exactly hit the unfamiliar and strange ground directly, he still came out with a few bruises.
This time around, he didn't get the chance to make out a cry. All that Aleks did was just gasp, as if he was having his lungs pressed onto him. He wasn't that badly wounded, if you didn't include the bruises and beating from Dan and him flying through his wall. When he fell, he created dust – and not just any dust; this dust felt like ash dust rather than your ordinary day dust. He took time to process, or maybe it was just his body trying to synchronise with his brain to move at the same time. So he just laid there, not sure if he was awake or asleep, because he made nothing out of whatever sight he saw. All this really felt like one of those lucid dreams; they didn't appear real, but for some unexplainable reason, they had one hell of a way of feeling so real.
After a couple of minutes – not even past five minutes – Aleks knew that he had to get out of there and stand up. So he just forced himself to crawl out of what was then a pile of skeletons, which was now ashes and dust of skeletons. While he was crawling out from those ashes, Aleks had totally forgotten about the very same thing that had sent him here; it was floating on top of his head, as if it was waiting for him to actually look at it.
As he was struggling to crawl, something was very strange and off about the ground that he was crawling on with his stomach. It felt pointy and a little bit hot, as it would poke or burn holes on his body, since it happened that he actually forgot his t-shirt at his house when he was washing his eyes. It was unclear how long he was crawling, because the place he was in didn't really give anything to clear itself. But one thing that it definitely felt like was burning hot to unmeasured degrees.
Feeling the burns and the pain all over his body, none of that seemed like it would stop him. One thing about Aleks is that even if he wasn't an Awakened, he had more will than anyone who was an Awakened. Determined to crawl to wherever he would find an exit, nothing was going to break his focus, and nothing was going to stop him from getting through with this. You could hear his struggling as he grunted and grunted, not planning to look back nor even see how much distance he had covered.
Feeling that emotion and feeling of being victorious, something he'd totally forgot about managed to get his attention.
[Ding]
[Time Remaining: 00:01:15]
When he heard that ding sound that felt like it rang in his head, Aleks assumed that maybe something was ringing his door. So without realizing it, he actually stopped, faced up, and to his surprise, it was his new system friend.
Already, the time remaining countdown was close to hitting zero. Aleks couldn't quite make out what the notification was now telling him.
[Penalty Quest: Survive 03:00:00]
He really tried to squint his eyes and actually see what message was being displayed, but he couldn't quite make it out. He was lying down facing up. Though it seemed like, for some reason, all this wasn't really giving him the creeps. Aleks was just calm, cool, and collected.
[Time Remaining: 00:00:01]
Just as the countdown hit zero, Aleks felt something a bit odd and unfamiliar. All the rocks, stones, and the dry ground began to shake.
He thought that maybe it was all in his head. So to be certain and make sure, Aleks felt the ground – and indeed, he felt the exact same thing that he'd probably assumed was just in his head. The ground was rumbling, and the rocks and stones felt like they were floating. This was no ordinary rumble; it felt like a stampede of all different kinds of animals that usually walk in herds.
Aleks, like anyone sane in his position, felt his first instinct was to actually get up and prepare to run for his dear life. Because in a situation like this, he really didn't need to be a rocket scientist to actually know or see that something was coming for him.
He was still in unimaginable pain, but he had no choice; he had to push past beyond his limits and just get the hell up. And he managed to get up, regardless of his grunts and struggles.
As soon as he got up, he could now read the message clearly:
[Penalty Quest: Survive for: 03:00:00]
[Countdown: 02:59:55]
[Warning: Run]
The system seemed like it liked to play riddles with Aleks. Not that he'd managed to catch up on what was going on or what the hell this thing even was.
He had a moment to decide: Was he going to listen and follow the orders given to him by the same thing that sent him here, or was he going to do what he thought was best for his own self? He was undecided. And whatever was causing the ground, along with the rocks and stones, to be like this, seemed to be getting closer by each second.
Still deciding, Aleks then heard a sound that he'd never heard before – a sound that gave him shivers and made him feel like his body had just gone through a shock. It was a roar. A roar that erupted every single thing found in that strange place – a place which Aleks still couldn't see clearly because of the hot, reddish steam mist all over him.
[Countdown: 02:50:59]
The worst part about all of this was that time didn't seem to even pass. Though it was down a couple of minutes, for someone who was just told that this was a surviving quest, to him it seemed like it was at a standstill.
The roar suddenly got louder. That's when Aleks heard what sounded like not one, but multiple footsteps.
Closing in.