𝘢 chance to live, again

𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗽

The Sound of dripping water?  

I felt warmness, and my entire body felt better. 𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦? 

To know the answer—I opened my eyes. 

I found myself in a room made entirely of stone — lying on a soft, warm surface, illuminated by bright crystals on the ceiling — It was light, IT'S LIGHT!

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮 𝘐? 𝘐𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯.

I slowly sit up—I wasn't quite sure of what I was sitting on, but it seemed to be a makeshift bed. I don’t see my belongings, all that’s left are 

the clothes I’m wearing now.

𝗧𝗮𝗽 𝘁𝗮𝗽 𝘁𝗮𝗽

Those footsteps again, the footsteps that I heard before I fainted. 

A strangely dressed man — wearing a strange helmet made of a odd skull, tattered pants, no shirt, and his body covered in scars — approached me without saying a thing. 

He simply held out a wooden bowl containing something—it looked like a soup. He gestured for me to eat it. 

I hesitated but couldn’t refuse, as I was extremely starving. 

I ate it slowly.

It had an odd taste — bland — just like sort of plain boiled water and some meat—which I didn’t even recognize.

I finished the food, then the man left the room with the empty wooden bowl.

I looked around the room. 

A bright crystal served as a lamp, a bookshelf made from a hollowed-out stone wall, a rough stone table, and a bed made of fur and strange hides. 

𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙙𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧. 

𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯? 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵? 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦. 

𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳—𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 

𝗧𝗮𝗽 𝘁𝗮𝗽 𝘁𝗮𝗽 

He came back again, this time carrying the same bowl but filled with water. He held it out to me, so I drank it. The water was sweet—cold and refreshing.

I couldn’t resist my curiosity and asked,

“𝘜𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘰—” As soon as I opened my mouth, the man immediately gestures for me to be quiet. I just nod. I don’t know why he’s signaling me to be quiet. 

But, from what I’ve observed so far, he’s been very careful for not to make any noise—doing everything slowly. Something’s off, and this is making me even more uneasy.  

Then, he sat on a stone stool, taking a book, and writing something—I didn’t know what he was writing, but for some reason, this 

situation felt very familiar. 𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳?

𝗗𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝗽 

Only the sound of dripping water could be heard—as if highlighting the eerieness.  I just watched him write. This sense of comfort and boredom made me drowsy, but I 

couldn’t lower my guard. 

𝙔𝙖𝙬𝙣

Unfortunately, I was truly exhausted, so I fell asleep.  

. . . 

I don't know how long I slept.  

He's not here anymore, this is my chance. My body is completely healed, my legs can move again. It's like a miracle—I don't know 

how he did it. 

I got out from bed and walked toward the tunnel, which is the only place to go. There's a hole where water drips into a hollow filled 

with water. That's where he gets the water. 

This place is completely filled with the light of the crystals. I wonder where he got them. 

I reached the end of the tunnel, and there were two tunnels there. One of them was 

the way out—probably the one on the right. 

I continued walking.

The tunnel here are perfectly smooth—this can’t be natural. He must've made them—he’s incredibly skilled, or maybe he wasn’t alone? A place this large wouldn’t be possible to build alone. I need to be wary of the possibility of another person other than him.

I reached the end of the tunnel, where there was only a room with a stone floor littered with traces of blood mingled with water, along with a rag and a wooden bucket filled with water — it seemed like a bathroom or something similar — maybe he cleaned my 

wounds here.  

Now I know if the right path wasn't right, it was just a bathroom. So I returned to the intersection and headed toward the left 

path. 

. . . 

I arrived at a room filled with neatly arranged crystals, and I couldn't help but marvel at them like a child.

"𝘞𝘰𝘢𝘩!" I was amazed by the sight before me. It was truly beautiful.  

Besides the crystals, there were also wooden tools: like wooden bowls, or materials like wood, bones? And also hides. It seemed like a warehouse. Then, at the corner of the room, I saw my pickaxe and tools. 

Finally, on the side of the room, there was a 

wooden door—that must be the exit.  

𝗧𝗮𝗽 𝗧𝗮𝗽 𝗧𝗮𝗽

Before I could reach for the door handle, I heard footsteps again—𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.