A white orb floated in the middle of the darkness.
The orb appeared bright, pushing away at the darkness.
It levitated in silence.
There was a strange sense of peace that emanated from that single orb. One that made Kyle feel very relaxed as he basked in the strange warmth and glow of it.
But that strange sense of peace didn’t last for long.
Cra Crack—!
Cracks began to form on the very same white orb.
The space fluctuated, and the surroundings turned incredibly cold.
Cra Crack! Cra Crack! Cra Crack!
More cracks spread across the surface of the orb, multiplying rapidly. With each new fracture, the light within it dimmed further, thinning and weakening, and the darkness began to seep in and slowly take over.
The process was quick, and before Kyle could even realize it, the orb was swallowed up by the darkness.
The process was swift, and before Kyle could even register what was happening, the orb had become just a mere speck within the darkness, its light just barely reaching Kyle within the darkness.
Along with the coldness was a strange heaviness that pressed heavily against his chest, making it harder and harder for him to breathe.
And soon—
Swooosh!
Even the last bits of the light were swallowed.
In its place was an endless and dreadful darkness that threatened to swallow him from all directions.
One that felt vaguely familiar.
"Haa——!"
A scream ripped out of Kyle’s throat as his eyes flared open and he sat up on the bed.
"Haa! Haaa...! Haa!"
Clutching his chest, Kyle sucked in a series of rushed breaths as his body curled forward. His forehead pressed against the bed, sweat dripping down onto the sheets beneath him.
"I-its... Haaa... It-s that... dream again."
Kyle wasn’t unfamiliar with the vision.
Ever since the incident with the Gate, his nights had been plagued by the same dream.
No, they weren’t quite the same.
With each dream, he’d feel more and more from that one single event. The darkness grew more profound, and the sense of coldness that clung to his body grew even icier. He felt suffocated.
It felt as though with every dream, he was being pushed deeper and deeper into the depths of some unknown waters.
It... really felt suffocating.
"Haaa..."
Calming himself down, Kyle sat up and leaned his head against the back of the wall as he closed his eyes and took some time to properly recover.
’Just what in the world is that dream? Why does it keep showing in my mind over and over again? And...’
Kyle held onto the side of his head.
’Why does my node hurt?’
For a moment, he started to question the doctors who had checked up on him. It had already been a couple of weeks since he had been discharged from the hospital, and while they all told him that there was nothing wrong with his body, Kyle didn’t feel the same.
"Is it possible that I’m still... possessed?"
The thought made Kyle shiver, but he quickly shook the thought away. Although he wasn’t certain, he didn’t think it was the case.
Then...?
"I don’t know. I really don’t know."
Grabbing onto both sides of his head, Kyle shook his head. The more he thought about the situation, the more lost he felt.
In the end, he took a few extra moments to steady himself before getting out of bed and changing. It was still early, around 5:30 a.m., but there was no point in staying there any longer. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, even if he tried.
’I guess I’ll head back into the Guild.’
Putting on a coat, Kyle walked out of his apartment and headed down.
Because it was so early, his usual coffee shop was closed.
’Not that it would be open, anyway.’
Despite a couple of weeks having passed since the Gate incident, the island was still in a state of closure. The citizens had yet to immigrate back into the island, with the BUA and several other Guilds investigating the main location of the Gate to better understand what had happened.
Not only that, but the island itself had sustained some damage to its core. In order for it to be safe again, there needed to be a lot of repairs.
With no people around, all the shops were closed.
The only things that were functional within the island were the Guilds.
Ding!
Stepping into the elevator, Kyle pressed the [-5] button and turned to face the mirror at the back. He stared at his reflection for a moment before lifting a hand and touching just beneath his eyes.
The couple of weeks had taken a toll on him. Dark circles had long formed due to his lack of sleep.
"...I’m starting to look like Seth."
A small smile spread across his lips as the thought entered his mind.
However, it was only for a moment as his smile faded a moment after that. Thinking about Seth, Kyle’s chest grew heavier.
In the past two weeks, he had yet to hear a single thing about Seth.
The only thing he knew was that the BUA had him in custody somewhere on the main island. Whenever he tried asking the Section Chief, he’d just shrug his shoulders, telling him that he also didn’t know and that the Guild Master was also on the main island.
"Haa."
Kyle let out another sigh.
’I hope he’s fine.’
Ding—!
With the elevator coming to a stop, Kyle stepped out and walked towards the main area of the Containment Department. As he walked in, he expected the place to be empty, but contrary to his expectations, there was one person before him.
"Kyle...?"
"Section Chief?"
Kyle paused, staring at the Section Chief in front of him. His haggard look was the same as always, although the dark circles beneath his eyes appeared even more glaring.
’Another one...’
It looked like everyone was starting to look like Seth.
"Trouble sleeping?"
"You can say that."
Kyle half-heartedly replied, moving towards his cubicle before dropping his stuff.
"...It’s getting a little bit better, but I’ll need more time to adjust before I can have some proper sleep."
"That’s reasonable."
The Section Chief nodded, leaning against the cubicle wall.
Turning his head to look at him, Kyle cocked his head.
"What about you, Section Chief? You look even more tired than usual. Are you also—"
"No, it’s not that."
The Section Chief waved his hand.
"I’m just being overworked."
"....?"
"The Guild Master is gone, so someone has to take the brunt of his work, no?"
"Ah."
"The same goes for the other Section Chiefs. We’re all being overworked right now, especially with the fallout from the entire situation to deal with. We’re still in the process of re-containing all the anomalies that escaped our facilities. Thankfully, with the BUA’s assistance and the reduced population on the island, it’s been manageable, but it’s still proving to be quite a lot of work."
"...Right."
Kyle lowered his head. He felt quite bad about the situation. Because of his situation, he hadn’t been able to help at all. It was probably because of this that he had forgotten about the situation.
"Don’t worry."
Patting him on the shoulder, the Section Chief comforted him.
"Just keep resting for now. You can join once you get better."
"Yes."
Kyle nodded, doing his best to stay positive. Even so, despite his efforts, a trace of disappointment slipped through, clear in the way his expression fell for just a moment.
The Section Chief took notice of this, but didn’t say anything.
Instead, he brought something else up.
"Oh, right. I’ve got some news for you."
"....?"
"We’re going to be heading to the main island in a couple of days.
"The main island?"
"Yup."
The Section Chief pulled his hand away from his shoulder.
"From the new ranking announcement to the World Congress, we’ll be away for quite some time. In the meantime, I also have some good news for you..."
"Good news?"
"Yup."
The Section Chief cracked a smile.
"...Seth is going to be released soon. You’ll be able to see him then."