Chapter 43: Did I See the Way I Die?

Lynn stopped his movements and stared blankly at the mural.

Cold sweat instantly drenched his clothes.

The story depicted in this mural… wasn’t it the background story of this game, *Genesis of Gods and Demons*?

This was the mythical era of the game, the War of Creation where the gods defeated the Old Ones.

“So, this place was…”

A Forbidden Land that sealed the final boss of the game?

An absurd thought grew wildly in his mind.

‘Is the game world I transmigrated into really the one I played?’

‘The dating sim I downloaded to pass the time and modded all the female characters’ data for…?’

‘Why would a dating sim have a hidden map with such epic lore?’

Just then.

A voice abruptly echoed in his mind.

“Outsider…”

The voice belonged to neither man nor woman, young nor old.

It was hollow, ancient, and seemed to come from the very end of time.

Lynn trembled violently, nearly falling off the chains.

“Who? Who’s speaking?”

He looked around in panic, but there was nothing around him except the deathly silence of the ruins.

“…It’s been a long time…”

“It’s been so long… since I smelled… the scent of a ‘living thing’…”

The voice, carrying a trace of a dreamlike murmur, sounded again.

This time, Lynn was certain.

The voice came from directly below, from the deepest depths of these ruins.

The strongest of the Old Ones who had been sealed, as shown on the mural!

“Who… who are you?”

Lynn’s voice was shaking.

“Me?”

The voice paused for a moment, as if contemplating that ancient question.

“They… call me…”

“The ‘World-Devouring Serpent’.”

“The ‘Lord of a Thousand Dreams’.”

“The ‘Original Chaos’.”

“However, I prefer another title…”

In the thickest darkness at the deepest part of the ruins, two crimson points of light slowly ignited.

They were not lamps.

They were a pair of eyes.

A pair of eyes larger than mountains slowly opened.

The moment their gazes met, Lynn felt as if his brain was being torn apart.

Countless chaotic, maddening streams of information were forced into his consciousness.

There were scenes from the birth of the universe, the wails of all things withering, and incomprehensible knowledge that transcended the dimensions of time and space.

[**Warning! Warning! Mental Pollution Degree is rising sharply!**]

[**50%… 70%… 99%…**]

[**Emergency protection protocol activated! Cutting off sensory link!**]

The System’s notification became his final life-saving straw.

The illusions before his eyes vanished, and Lynn collapsed onto the chains, clutching his head and groaning in pain.

“…An interesting little thing.”

The voice carried a hint of curiosity.

“Your soul… does not belong to this world.”

“You carry the traces of a ‘Modifier’…”

“Tell me, child, who sent you here?”

“Is it that fellow… who calls itself the ‘System’?”

Lynn’s pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks.

“It…”

It knew about the System!

It knew he was a transmigrator!

This was no longer a game.

This was a real world hiding terrifying secrets!

“It seems my ‘key’ has finally arrived.”

The giant crimson eyes revealed a trace of satisfaction.

“Come. Come to me.”

“As a reward for awakening me…”

“I will tell you everything you wish to know.”

“The truth about this world, why you came here…”

“And…”

“How… to go home.”

“Home.”

Those words were like a poisoned hook, firmly snagging Lynn’s soul.

The monster calling itself the “Original Chaos” used the gentlest tone to utter the most cruel temptation.

Lynn knelt on the cold Runic Chains, his muscles still twitching from the mental shock.

He looked up, meeting those abyss-like crimson eyes.

The fear remained.

But another, stronger emotion — the desire to survive — overwhelmed everything else.

“Home.”

No matter if the other party was a god or a demon, no matter what its intentions were, as long as it gave him a way back, he would do anything.

“Come to me.”

The voice sounded again, carrying an unquestionable authority.

Lynn had no choice.

He stood up from the chains, looked down at the inverted ruins that resembled the skeleton of a giant beast, and took a deep breath of the dust-filled air.

Then, he began to climb down.

The edge of the giant web formed by the chains connected to a broken stone bridge.

He followed the bridge’s surface and stepped onto this forgotten land.

The sensation under his feet was firm, yet it exuded an aura of death.

Every stone here was older than the years he had lived.

He walked along a massive flagstone path toward the heart of the ruins.

The source of the voice was in that direction.

High stone walls towered into the clouds on both sides of the road, covered in murals.

He saw the War of Creation again.

The slaughter between the gods and the Old Ones, the falling of stars, and the wailing of the world.

These images were magnificent, grand, and filled with an epic sense of scale.

Lynn forced himself not to look too much.

He knew these things were too far removed from him.

He was just an unlucky guy who wanted to live.

After passing through a long corridor, a relatively intact circular Shrine appeared ahead.

The voice was coming from the center of the Shrine.

The Shrine had no door, only a massive arched entrance.

Lynn hesitated for a moment before walking inside.

The interior of the Shrine was terrifyingly empty.

The floor was a massive circular platform surrounded by twelve towering stone pillars.

Other than that, there was nothing.

And at the very center of the platform was that deepest darkness.

The pair of crimson eyes were within that darkness, quietly gazing at him.

“You have come.”

“Tell me, what do you wish to know?” the voice asked.

Lynn swallowed hard, his voice dry.

“How can I go home?”

“Home?”

The voice seemed to chuckle.

“A good question. But before answering, aren’t you curious as to why you came here?”

“I…”

Lynn was naturally curious.

He wanted to know why he was so unlucky even in his dreams.

“Look around you.”

“Here, you will find part of the answer you seek.”

Hearing this, Lynn subconsciously looked around.

Only then did he notice that the inner walls of the Shrine were also covered in murals.

Unlike the epic scenes of the war between gods and demons outside, the style of the murals here was completely different.

The lines were more delicate, and the content was more… domestic.

He walked toward the wall closest to him.

The carvings on the wall were somewhat blurred by the passage of time, but with the faint light from the runes, he could still make out the general idea.

The first picture.

A man stood in a field of flowers.

He was surrounded by several women.

They were laughing happily.

Lynn’s heart skipped a beat.

“That man…”

Although he wore classical clothing Lynn didn’t recognize, that face, those features, that hairstyle…

“It was identical to him.’