…It was quite dark in the crumbled ruin where a young man without a face or name was lying down unconscious.
Vines were on the walls and touching the ground.
It was lonely. Quiet. And the most terrifying… forgotten.
Eventually, the young man opened his eyes, and it felt like his eyes were burning because of the light, even though not a single sunray was in that ruin.
He was pale and skinny.
As he stood up, it was like he forgot how to walk and fell a couple of times. His limbs were hurting in addition to that.
There was no door in the room where the man was. Not a door.
And where was he?
And most important, who was he?
What was more troublesome was that even though he sat down to think, to get any kind of memory, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't form a single one.
'Should I scream for help?'
He wanted to get out, not only because he was hungry but because he needed to know where he was.
Still, he hesitated to make any kind of loud noise because the person or being who brought him here clearly had no good intentions.
Maybe he would get killed if they noticed.
Or maybe they would chain him up and do worse…
Across from him was a blanket.
It looked old and with a lot of dust. Lots of dust.
He walked there and touched it. RUSTLE.
It felt hard but also strange. Something blinked beneath the blanket.
Therefore, he knelt and picked something metallic up. CLINK.
He couldn't identify it completely and had to guess based on the shape since there was no light.
A key?
Due to frustration, he swung towards the blanket and then felt it. THUD.
The wall behind the blanket felt thin. If he had something to smash it, he could maybe escape.
CLANG. CRACK. THUD.
He began using the metallic object to break the wall open. After a few tries, a sunray began shining in—or another source of light…
But still, for the young man, the light was light. He didn't care if it came from a star or anything else.
After half an hour, the wall finally crumbled together. CRUMBLE.
His eyes weren't blinded by the sudden light but either didn't react at all.
What was more intriguing was what he saw.
He gulped and stood there for a few minutes to just regain his focus from what was in front of his eyes.
The red sky filled with grey-black clouds. Large clouds like the ones you see when a storm awaits you.
He didn't really know how to describe the land, but it was huge and seemingly never-ending.
He stepped outside and didn't see anyone or anything; he just focused on the touch of the dirt under his feet. CRUNCH.
Then, as he slowly began exploring his surroundings, he saw a lake.
A little but clear one in this land of red, where it looked like even the sky was bleeding.
Also, there was something strange in the sky.
A star-shaped thing was floating in the middle of the sky.
It was empty, and only the rusted outlines remained.
It looked really big like a planet was floating not so far in the sky.
'Hmm.'
Finally, he arrived at the lake and first drank without hesitating or thinking about dirt. SPLASH. GULP.
He was too thirsty to even think about that.
Just as he wiped the water from his mouth, he glanced at the reflection which formed on the lake's surface.
He was just as speechless as the moment he saw the outside…
He didn't have a face. It was blurred. Completely.
Only his body and hair weren't, but his facial features weren't recognizable.
His hair was short and brown. Nothing special.
He didn't know what to do with this information.
It wouldn't really affect him, would it?
Were there others like him? Was this maybe ordinary?
Or was he the only human…?
At least he doubted he wasn't.
'Would it make a difference though? Whether I'm human or not. I can't be a true human without my memories or a purpose. I'm just a corpse who happened to be living. Cruel life…'
Just as he was adjusting to this weird phenomenon and backing off, he heard heavy footsteps.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
One person… no, two most likely, since he heard four footsteps as he listened from a bush to not be seen.
He gulped two times as he saw this thing walk past him just a few steps away. GULP. GULP.
It looked rotten. Grey-blue skin and deep cuts in its skin.
Bleeding green blood from its limbs.
It had four frail-looking legs, two on each side, and walked like it was just a puppet being pulled by a puppetmaster.
Its torso looked relatively human compared to its head, which was just an empty mask with the human facials.
The mask was golden, and the eyes were a deep abyss, like a black hole.
Its mouth wrinkled at a slight smirk, like it had just slain its prey successfully and was returning back to its colleagues.
The young man was stunned not only because of fear but also because of uncertainty.
What should he do now?
Wait until that monster just walks away and hopes it doesn't ever come back?
But deep in his mind, he knew—that to adjust to his unknown environment, fighting an injured enemy would be the best option.
Waiting and stabbing its back with that metallic object, which was a sharp key, could deliver the last blow if hit correctly.
Still, he was nervous.
What if its comrades came here and searched for it since it didn't come back?
Or worse, what if he fails the ambush and just dies?
'Dying? Why should an empty corpse be afraid of dying though? What can I lose? A life without happiness and people I like… If I slay that thing, maybe I can find a purpose.'
The young man's mind was made up from his sad, lonely philosophy.
So he waited and waited.
Finally, that thing looked distracted because of its wounds, and that's when he launched directly at his enemy.
RUSH.
He plunged the key deep into that monstrosity's back where the heart should be, hoping it would pierce through it.
SHNK.
Before the young man could even react, it swung one of its two lengthy arms at his ribs, and he flew away into the lake.
CRACK. SPLASH.
He couldn't swim, but since the water was just at knee level, he stood up with pain on his left side.
Probably one of his ribs was broken if he had to guess, since many places were hurting at once.
Legs were bruised. His left shoulder hurt too and he was bleeding from the impact.
In the meantime, the monster was walking towards him, still with the key plunged in its back.
'Wasn't it deep enough?
Or does it not have a heart, since its anatomy doesn't really make sense either?'
Due to pain and fear, even as he screamed, forcing himself to move away, he couldn't step away. Only one step.
But the shadow was already leaning over him as the monster was looking at him.
Not moving. Just looking—before it collapsed on the lake in front of the man.
THUMP. SPLASH.
First, it was all quiet, but he couldn't hold his victory roar in.
He screamed with all his heart until it even echoed, even though the mountains weren't near.
RAAAAH! … ECHO… ECHO…
It pinged.
PING.
Mechanical. Out in the air as his scream ended.
He just heard a mechanical voice in his head.
"User has gained souls.
To find out more about the 'Soul System', find a fading star."
He wanted to jump out of reflex but was too exhausted.
It was suspicious. It was the first time something was talking to him, but it just felt like it was in his mind.
Also, he knew the language. From where though?
Also, what on earth were 'Fading Stars'?
Did the voice mean the star floating in the sky? Probably not, since it talked like multiple existed.
"Where do I find fading stars?"
The young man asked with hope that he could get a little cue for his journey.
"…You should be able to find it yourself.
If it were someone else, I would say fate would lead you to your destiny.
But you don't have a journey or a destiny.
Son of Fateless, if there is no fate for you, make your own one…"
The voice slowly completely vanished, and the young man collapsed on the corpse of the monster to rest, since he was too tired to even get out of the lake.
**
As he woke up, his pain was completely gone.
Not only the pain, but he could move regularly.
The broken rib is also—fine.
It's a good thing, but he began to question himself, especially after the voice called him 'Son of Fateless.'
He glanced at the corpse he slept on and slowly and hardly dragged it onto land.
It looked heavy and was indeed heavy.
First, he pulled out the sharp key and began thinking as he slowly ripped out the mask of its face…
CRACK. RIP.