"Mom, when will Dad come back?" asked the little boy, clinging closely to the woman.
The woman smiled gently and replied:
"Very soon. You just need to close your eyes for a few seconds, and then morning will come. At that moment, your father will finally return from his work," she said softly to the little boy.
The boy showed some doubt, but still obeyed his mother and slowly closed his eyes, hoping that tomorrow he would finally be able to tell his father about his decision — if he received the Title.
Once the boy had fallen asleep, the woman's once kind expression turned into one of worry. She picked up the sleeping boy and walked away from the house.
Later that night, the boy opened his violet eyes and looked around. Not seeing his parents, he began to cry, repeatedly saying:
"Mom, where are you? Dad! Where did you go?! Mom, you said if I opened my eyes, I would see Dad!"
After several hours of futile searching, the boy stood still with empty eyes and said in a slow voice:
"Mom… you lied to me… Dad's nowhere to be found…"
...
Lin suddenly opened his eyes to see a completely black sky. His memory slowly began to return — he had helped Egro and traveled to the Dead World.
"That nightmare again... I thought it disappeared years ago, but I was wrong," he muttered, closing his eyes and sighing.
The nightmare of his parents had haunted him for years but had finally stopped a few years ago, which brought Lin relief. Yet now it had returned — only in another world.
Trying not to dwell on it, Lin gathered his remaining strength and sat up. Once successful, he looked around and saw the nightscape of a different world.
He was in a flat meadow with not a single tree or bush. The sky was dark with even darker clouds, and through them, faint rays of moonlight barely lit the ground.
It was clear: Lin had truly entered another world — at night, no less.
He sighed and noticed, some dozens of meters behind him, a small Red Gate — the one he had come through.
"There's the Red Gate... It's close enough that I could escape back to Earth, but... it's just bait."
Lin's eyes turned cold — filled with killing intent. He scanned his surroundings, searching for the Distorted creatures that must have been hiding nearby.
"Rrrr!" Countless red eyes appeared in Lin's field of vision, and the air filled with the growls of wolves, eager to tear apart anything in their path for pleasure.
"There they are..." Lin rose to his feet and looked around. The red eyes surrounded not only him but also his classmates, who were just beginning to regain consciousness.
There were around a hundred red eyes, but Lin didn't trust that number. According to what he knew, the minimum number of Distorted creatures that could come from a Red Gate was in the hundreds — possibly even thousands. So about fifty more were likely hiding. And if the number exceeded a hundred, he was as good as dead.
"Thankfully, it was the Red Gate that opened at school — not a Black or White one. At least I have a chance to survive the Red Gate invasion. With the other two, I'd already be dead without even realizing it." Lin silently thanked his luck and remembered something:
"Looks like I won't be going home any time soon, so there's no point saving the Awakened Chest. I should open it now and try to get a power Lord of the Time." Lin quickly made a mental command for the status window to appear, focusing on the "Distorted Items" tab.
[Distorted Items:
— Awakened Chest (White).]
Lin willed the chest to open.
[Lin Matrix wishes to open "Awakened Chest"?]
—[Yes]—[No]—
"Yes. Open the Awakening Chest — hurry!" After his command, the blue screen began to glow and soon changed. A circle appeared with countless sections, and at the top, a pointer constantly pointing downward. It reminded Lin of casino games he had seen before.
The circle began to spin rapidly, and the pointer jittered without locking on any section. After a short while, the spinning slowed until it stopped on one section.
Lin quickly glanced to see the result — but before he could read it, a sudden scream tore through the air:
"Aaaaah!! Help!"
Lin whipped his head toward the scream and saw one of his classmates being attacked by several black-furred wolves. They tore into her from all sides. Her guts, flesh, brain… her vital organs were violently devoured. The wolves then began defecating on what remained of her.
The scene was utterly revolting. Many who saw this "feast" screamed or vomited. Lin, however, only closed his eyes briefly before regaining his composure. He had seen scenes like this before — but this was the most horrific.
Realizing he could be next, Lin looked at the ability he had received:
[Success! Lin Matrix has acquired the skill: "Slow Motion Perception"!]
[Skill Name: Slow Motion Perception (Lv. 1).]
[Skill Type: Active]
[Description: This skill slows down time in the surrounding environment. For the user, time appears slowed down; for others, it remains normal. The user generates a 5x5 meter circle of slowed time around them. Inside the circle, the user moves at natural speed, while others are slowed. The effect lasts for 10 seconds only!]
After reading the description, Lin was thrilled and smiled with joy.
"I really got lucky. A skill that slows time in a localized area!"
He quickly thought:
"So I create a 5x5 meter circle where time appears slowed to me, and I can move freely. But to others, the circle doesn't exist. They think they're moving at normal speed — unaware they're slowed."
"It's very versatile. Whether inside or outside the circle, everyone experiences time the same — except me. I'll seem incredibly fast, beyond anyone's ability to react. Too bad it only lasts ten seconds." Lin sighed and smiled faintly, realizing his luck hadn't fully abandoned him yet.
He looked at the surrounding chaos, where his classmates were being killed, and smiled:
"Wolves, get ready. A new challenger has entered the arena!"