A familiar feeling washed over me.
It embraced my body, giving rise to a familiar feeling.
The world around me changed, and I suddenly felt detached from reality.
‘Where am I…?’
I looked around me. I appeared to be inside a small office. Resting on the desk was a familiar figure.
‘Karl.’
The Post-Leader of the Black Hound Guild.
He was much younger than when I met him.
Scratch~ Scratch~
He was currently filling out papers.
“….”
In the silence that took over the small space, the only sound that could be heard was the scribbling sound of his pen as it traced over the dozen of papers resting by his deskside.
Such action continued until it was exactly 5 p.m.
That was when he stopped.
“….”
Turning to look at the clock, he went on to grab the leather coat resting on the chair before leaving.
Clank—
The scene shifted.
It was a small apartment. A fairly decorated apartment with a few pieces of furniture and pictures.
Tzzz~
The hot pan sizzled as Karl started to cook.
I stood quietly, waiting for something to happen.
Anything.
And yet,
‘Nothing.’
Nothing happened.
For the entire day, nothing happened.
Triiing—
At exactly, 7 a.m, he woke up, changed, and went to work.
‘What exactly is going on…?’
I couldn’t understand.
Staring at the unfolding life before me, I didn’t understand what was going on.
‘Where is the tree?’
What was this boring life?
I thought I’d eventually see something, but nothing.
The cycle repeated.
Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, come back, cook, read a book, repeat.
A never-ending cycle started to gnaw at my mind the more I saw it.
Such life…
It was boring.
….And it wasn’t just me that felt that way.
Karl also appeared to feel the same.
He was starting to age.
The cycle never ceased from waking up early, to going to work and filling paper works, to coming back home and reading books.
Until his looks started to match the ones that I was familiar with, his life was monotonous and predictable.
….and it remained to be like that.
Even as he was promoted, he continued to lead a similar life.
But it didn’t make sense.
‘There’s no way this is the life of a post-leader.’
Especially his looks.
From the way he carried himself, and the look in his eyes.
He…. Just seemed to be living for the sake of living.
It became more glaring with time.
He was just… living through the motions.
Waking up, working, eating…
It was just…
just…
Life.
There was no purpose behind such action.
It was just how his life was.
It went on like this until I noticed something.
My eyes briefly paused on one of the papers he was filling before my body froze entirely.
‘Ah.’
I hadn’t paid much attention to what he had been filling the paperwork with, but the moment I laid my eyes on it, I knew that something was wrong.
‘I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to di…’
Scribbled over and over again were the same three words.
‘I want to die.’
I felt strange chills creep up the deepest parts of my mind, crawling and digging their way into my brain.
Bzzt—
The vision grew static.
‘What’s going on!?’
My head flicked up to look around.
This was the first time that something like this had happened before.
Btzzz—
The world continued to buzz, and I looked around me startled.
It almost felt like I was staring at the static of an old television.
That was how the world felt.
Btzzz—
The buzzing grew more pronounced.
The vision started to darken, and then,
‘….!’
It repeated.
I felt my throat clamp up.
Staring at the young man sitting in his seat, monotonously filling the papers in front of him, I suddenly started to understand what was going on.
‘These memories…’
They were fake.
They were the memories that the tree had implanted into Karl.
Squelch. Squelch.
The fact that I could see roots dig their way into the room, from all sorts of areas served to further validate my point.
‘This…’
Now what…?
I looked around me. The cycle repeated just like last time. Karl continued to fill out his papers and live his mundane life.
The only difference was that this time, roots were present in his life.
They grew more and more apparent with time, crawling from every corner of his office room, and house.
‘This is…’
I closed my eyes and fell deeply into my thoughts.
‘…..The tree is capable of altering memories. What I’m currently seeing is the fake memories that it had implanted within Karl.’
Most likely, the real memories of Karl had been sealed by the tree.
I wasn’t sure when it had done that, but it probably explained why Karl was helping it.
‘It’s likely that the tree has already turned him into a puppet.’
…..And I was seeing exactly how it was happening.
I opened my eyes and looked around me.
Karl was sitting on the chair, monotonously completing the paperwork that was piled up before him.
Taking a step towards him, I brought my hand forward and tried to touch him.
Unfortunately, my hand passed right through him.
Not like I didn’t expect it.
‘I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die…’
I watched as he continuously wrote the same words over and over again. It didn’t seem like he was aware of what he was writing as the moment the clock hit 5 p.m., he’d stop and proceed with his other routine.
Btzzz—
The world buzzed once more.
The cycle repeated.
Roots appeared yet again, and much to my surprise, the entire place had been covered in roots.
I had been conscious while it was happening, but absorbed in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed the massive change around me.
I stood quietly, observing the roots as they stretched throughout.
Bending down, I could touch them, but as I tried to exert force against them, they didn’t budge from the spot.
‘What am I supposed to do…?’
This was the very first time that something like this had happened to me, and I wasn’t exactly sure on how to react.
The only thing I could do was watch as the cycle repeated.
Btzz—
The buzz.
Squelch. Squelch.
The roots.
Repeat.
.
.
Btzz—
The buzz.
Squelch. Squelch.
The roots.
Repeat.
.
.
Btzz—
The buzz.
Squelch. Squelch.
The roots.
Repeat.
.
.
Btzz—
The buzz.
Squelch. Squelch.
The roots.
Repeat.
.
Gradually, I too started to fall into a state of monousity. The more I stood to observe, the more lethargic and out of touch I started to feel.
That was when I understood.
My feelings…
Emotions.
They were starting to match that of Karl who continuously repeated the same pattern.
Btzz—
Btzz—
Repeat.
It was hell.
That was the only way I could describe the current situation. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.
It could’ve been seconds, or it could’ve been years.
I wasn’t sure.
I wasnt…
I…
Squelch. Squelch.
Before I knew it, the office space was covered in roots.
Karl was still seated in his seat, scribbling on the papers.
Scratch~ Scratch~
I stood behind him, observing him.
My thoughts were empty.
I didn’t think.
I just looked.
….I was just living through the motions.
Just as he was.
‘What am I even doing…?’
I was questioning my goals, and yet, found myself unable to find an answer for it.
Despite knowing that something was wrong, I continued to sink in this feeling.
It pulled me down, not letting me get back up.
Just…
Tak—
Karl stopped, and the pen in his hand dropped on the wooden table.
For the first time since entering the vision, a chance occurred as he turned around, his piercing red eyes staring straight into me.
Behind him, the entire room was covered in roots.
“….”
He didn’t say anything and just started at me.
It took a moment for me to understand what was going on before regaining some clarity and staring back at him properly.
‘….’
“….”
It was silent.
Neither two of us were speaking.
…At the same time, despite seeing him stare at me, I wasn’t sure if he could see me.
The entire situation was out of the norm for me to properly understand.
He was the one to break the silence for me.
“Who am I…?”
It was a simple question.
A question that was so simple that I struggled to understand the reasoning behind it.
Shouldn’t he know?
He continued,
“What do I live for…?”
‘….’
I stood in silence, trying to understand the reasoning behind his questions.
“And why do I not feel a thing?”
That appeared to be his last question as he looked at me deeply.
I opened my mouth, and for the first time since the start of the vision, I found myself able to speak again.
“You’re name is Karl.”
“Karl…?”
“Yes.”
I nodded slightly before elaborating.
“You’re the post-leader of a very large guild. The Black Hound Guild.”
“The Black Hound Guild? Post-Leader? Uh…”
He nodded in understanding.
Despite that, his gaze continued to remain hollow.
“…..What do I live for?”
He asked quietly.
It was the second question.
I pursed my lips before shaking my head.
“That’s not up for me to know.”
That wasn’t something that I was supposed to answer.
To that, he tilted his head.
“I’m trying to remember the things that make me feel something. But slowly, my brain began to erase every little thing that made me feel something. I know that my life shouldn’t be like this, that there’s something wrong, and yet… I can’t stop it from getting worse. My life… Has it always been like this?”
I shook my head.
“No, that’s not the case.”
His life.
I was sure it was different.
All of this was an illusion created by the tree in order to weaken his mind.
“Is it not?”
Karl asked, his head tilted slightly.
“Why is it not the case?”
“Because—”
“And how do you know?”
He cut me off directly, his piercing red eyes staring directly into me.
“How do you know that my life has never been like this…?”
“…..”
I pursed my lips and stayed quiet then. I… didn’t know. Looking around, all these memories were fake. The entire scenario was fake, and yet…
How much of it was truly fake?
I opened my mouth to say something when he cut me off again.
“…..Am I even real?”