Insanity and Test

The door opened with a bang, and before the thing bit me, a blue light shone over me, blinding like a flash of broken memory.

“Grab her, let's run to the tower.” A man in a green tunic shouted, his voice hoarse with urgency.

“We still need to rescue more civilians.”

The person who replied was someone I knew well, Lucas. Not that well actually, but I knew him—or thought I knew him, before the loops messed everything up.

I looked at my mutilated body on the floor. My stomach churned, but no vomit came. Just a cold emptiness, as if my heart had been ripped out along with those pieces of flesh.

I don't know if it was because of the various experiences or because I was seeing several versions of myself in the hallway after the door. But I felt nothing. Nothing but a distant tingling, as if my soul was dissolving.

I was probably infected with the thing. The smell of rot invaded my nostrils, mixed with the iron of dried blood.

I looked at the mes with broken and twisted necks, the mes without heads, the meat pastes. It seemed like they were all clustered just in the doorway, more than a hundred versions of me, piled up like discarded trash in a collective nightmare. My chest tightened, an internal whisper: 'Why me? Why so many times?'

“Forget it Lucas, they're all crazy already, let's get out with who we have, the car might not hold more than that.”

“Ugh! Fine!”

Lucas seemed to want to save more people, but... ‘Why didn't he come earlier and save me? Save my mom?’ The thought came like a blade, cutting deep. My body trembled slightly, my hands sweaty. It was this kind of thought that caused more harm to a person. And they weren't mine, they were implanted—I was sure of that. I'm already crazy, so why would I care about such pettiness? But the tightness in my chest didn't lie; it hurt as if it were real, as if mom was still screaming in the loops.

As if the world wanted to prove I was lying.

My leg buckled. Nothing was okay. Nothing was okay. The ground seemed to tilt, my balance unraveling like sand.

I knelt beside the corpse of the thing. Black orbs came out of its back and dripped with pus, the acidic stench burning my nostrils.

“Why? What crime did I commit to be so cursed?” My voice came out hoarse, broken by sobs that tore at my chest like claws. Hot tears streamed down my face, salty and relentless, mixing with the black pus that still stank. I hadn't cried like this since... since I saw mom being dragged into those infernal loops. Why didn't he come earlier? Why didn't he save us? The thoughts swirled like a vortex, not mine, but implanted—I knew, but it hurt as if they were.

“Come on, we have to take refuge.”

The hunter in the green hood picked me up in his arms, his touch firm but gentle, contrasting with the chaos around.

The building's windows were destroyed, he jumped through one to another building. The wind whipped my face, my stomach churning with the void.

Another light shone over me.

“Are you crazy? She's not a hunter, her body will shatter with the impact like that?”

“Sorry, I rushed and didn't check that, but her body doesn't seem ordinary.”

“Fine, but be more careful, even though I know she won't die now.”

‘How could you know I won't die now? Are you a seer or something?’ I stayed silent, my heart pounding hard against my ribs, a mix of anger and curiosity burning inside.

In the end, my mind was still messed up from the loops. I only remembered some, but I knew there were hundreds or more. Besides, the loops were different, it wasn't a time loop, it was like reality was rebuilding itself in another way. Each version a stab, each death an echo that still resounded in my skull.

The hunter in the green hood jumped from the other building to a military car in front, where another hunter was waiting. Minos. He appeared a lot in videos on the internet, someone who transformed into a giant monster with a bull's head. My body ached from the impact, but I ignored it—the silence between us was heavier.

Maybe being silent caused strangeness. When we got to the car, Lucas came to talk to me.

“Are you okay?”

‘Could I be? He must be joking.’ My chest rose with a bitter laugh that didn't come out. “Not as much as a certain seer, but I'll live.”

It wasn't hate or anything, I just didn't want to talk. The words seemed stuck in my throat, like thorns.

“Right, sorry for arriving late, you simply disappeared and only returned a short time ago.”

He said while grabbing some bags and putting them in the car. Minos was bringing items too, the guy in the hood was at the wheel, he was probably just waiting for the others to finish so he could leave.

“What do you mean disappeared?” I asked, because I didn't understand what he meant. My voice trembled slightly, confusion mixing with tiredness.

“Ah, well, my abilities, I can mark a person I touch, so I can see where they are.”

“Stalker!”

“No, it's not like that, that's just part of the ability, the real thing is that I can see people's death dates.”

“So you saw my death and marked me?”

“It wasn't just you, I marked several other people, the only problem is that depending on what they die from, I can't do anything, if it's something physical, I take the damage instead of the person.”

He pulled up his shirt a bit. Bruises all over, purple and swollen, like marks from an invisible war.

“Doesn't it hurt?”

“It hurts a lot actually, but since I'm a hunter, my body can withstand most things that lead ordinary people to death, still I could end up dying, this was the result of just 900 people.”

“So that means I won't die anymore?”

Lucas hesitated, his breathing became more contained. His eyes shifted away, and my stomach sank like a stone.

“This can't be serious?”

“Hum, look on the bright side.”

“WHAT'S THE BRIGHT SIDE IN DYING?” My voice like a primal scream, making several heads turn, eyes full of pity or fear. I didn't care anymore—the world was already crumbling, why would I care about looks? My chest rose and fell in gasps, my hands trembling so much I could barely close them into fists.

“Tell me, come on.”

“Calm down.”

“Calm down my ASS! How do I stay calm knowing I'm going to die? Tell me now—when?”

“In 5 hours, but it's okay, because basically everyone here is going to die together and everyone in the tower too, I don't know about the rest of humanity, but we can say at least we won't die alone, right?”

‘This son of a bitch.’ The distorted Brazilian sense gave me nausea, a bitter bile rising in my throat, but what to expect from a bunch of barbarians who constantly fight against madness? My whole body tingled with rage mixed with a cold terror.

I breathed deeply, the air burning in my lungs.

“Anything else you know about this?”

“Of course, do you think I'd tell something to a civilian if it wasn't almost public knowledge? The State Without Ties has already started trying to find a solution, the first thought was to leave and stay outside the tower of imagination, but the time was shortened by a few days.”

“Days?”

“Yes, it's not from today, we've been doing this for a while, but we still haven't found the solution.”

“Finished.” Minos said while finishing lifting the last strange object.

“We're all ready,” Lucas completed. “Step on it, Arthur.”

The man in the green hood shifted gears and took off. We were at least 300 per hour. It was really fast, but strangely slow. I felt like the world seemed slower, as if time was dragging to torture me.

!

“Wake up, wake up Shim Bora.”

Huh!

Agh!

“My, my leg.”

I felt a lancinating pain, some bones in my left leg were exposed in the flesh. The hot blood flowed, the metallic smell mixing with the chaos.

Ahhhh!

“Damn, damn, grab her Minos, we'll catch up to you later.”

“What, Ahhh, is happening?”

I didn't remember anything. My brain throbbed, fragments of loops flashing like bad flashes.

Lucas pointed up, a black curtain enveloped the world, but there were still four white suns visible, cold and indifferent.

Arthur slapped the back of Lucas's neck.

“You talked about me, but how can you show this to a civilian, aren't you afraid she'll go crazy too? Don't become irresponsible, Minos take the girl quickly.”

I didn't even have the strength to retort that I'm not a girl, I'm already a woman. My screams loud, but even worse was the slaughter scene, other civilians mutilated, the car door split one in half from the head to the lower half. Brain and guts out, the stench of fresh death invading everything.

Still, no reaction from my body, actually if it weren't for that unbearable pain, I might find the scene beautiful? A shiver ran up my spine—there was no way I wasn't infected with some degree of insanity, but I felt like I could control my mind and instincts very well. Still, there was no way not to be careless. The pain clung to me like thorns of a rose, every movement an agony.

Minos grabbed me and ran knocking everything down in the way. He used his body and closed me in his hands. Minos took the impact of the crashes and crossed the whole place until where the tower entrance was.

I left Busan for Busan. The inside of the tower was almost identical to Busan, it had some characteristics of Seoul, it seemed like a junction of the two.

“Let me see her.”

Celine the restorer. I also knew that hunter. She was a rank A healer.

Celine placed her hand on my leg. Her brown eyes met mine, conveying a calm that I envied.

“You'll need to enable yourself after my healing, your walking will be impaired for some time, so I hope you don't move much.”

The energy penetrated my skin and readjusted the bone, the pain had diminished until it stopped. Minos put me on the ground.

I staggered, I couldn't walk right, but that was enough. Not having pain was already enough, since we're all going to die. The thought came like a punch, leaving an emptiness in the chest.

I sat down, resignation was the only thing left. A crushing weight on my shoulders, as if the whole world was falling on me. Korea was lost, no, maybe all of humanity was. Sigh! The air came out heavy, loaded with defeat.

“And then what will we do?”

“?”

“I mean, you already know about our current situation, right? Being a rank A hunter you must already be preparing some kind of escape.”

The woman's eyes widened, surprise mixed with alarm.

“Who told you?”

“?”

“I'm asking, this was supposed to be a secret from the civilians.”

Huh! ‘Damn Lucas, it wasn't for everyone to know already.’

“I heard them commenting, I thought everyone here was aware.”

Celine held my arms, her fingers squeezing with urgency.

“They're not aware, so please, to avoid chaos don't tell anyone, besides there's a plan being set up.”

“What plan?”

“A Brazilian hunter, I don't know if you know him, Lucas, had the idea of all the humans here imagining a tower test, maybe that will create a chance for the humans.”

“Why are you still here then?”

“Because we don't know if that's what causes the death of the humans here, as you can see, the tower is separated from reality and implants a new one, the Busan here was imagined, and because we have many people from Seoul, there's a part of Seoul that mixed in.”

“So you're saying you're going to leave it for the last minute?”

“That's the best choice, if we try something now, we'll just put everyone here at risk.”

“Now I have to go, I've already said too much, so please cooperate.”

“Right.”

Ah! ‘So they plan to try to do the test in an intact tower, what would be the consequences of that?’ My heart raced, a spark of hope mixed with terror—what if this just made everything worse?

I obviously didn't know much about the towers, but I knew they needed to be destroyed to influence the world and pull people into the tests, but what if we imagined a tower destroying itself inside the real tower?

I looked at the giant monument in the distance. ‘This is ridiculous.’ But the thought persisted, like an insane whisper.

!

Four hours had already passed, if we count the minutes it took until I arrived at the tower, it was almost five hours. ‘Where are they?’ My stomach churned with anxiety, my nails dug into my palms.

Lucas and Arthur still hadn't returned, it was minutes until chaos. ‘Imagine, what happens if I imagine my mother?’ Nothing, makes sense. She said they were going to imagine, which means a certain amount needs to imagine. So is it possible to create anything if all humans imagine together? Again I caught myself studying something that didn't make sense. Trying to understand the towers is the same as trying to learn another language from scratch without a teacher, without books and without content. Maybe you invent a new one, but you'll be unable to understand the language you tried to learn.

I didn't know how much time was left. So I jumped when I heard a thud. An enraged boom breaking the ground. The tower was shaking and destabilizing, the ground vibrating under my feet like a living earthquake.

Arthur and Lucas launched themselves through the tower entrance and reached the crowd in a second.

“Come on, we don't have time, it has to be now.”

The other hunters looked at Arthur.

“We have to go, it doesn't make sense to wait anymore, that thing that's trying to enter the tower, can no longer be considered just a monster.”

“Get ready, and warn the people.”

“We only have one chance and I don't know if it will work, so we have to hurry—”

Another dull thud shook the ground, like the heart of an enraged giant. The tower trembled, cracks snaking through the walls like black veins.

“Everyone, listen!”

A woman started flying, her voice throughout the place like an amplified lament.

“I ask that you don't despair. This situation is still not really dangerous.”

I knew she was lying—the air smelled of panic, sweat and something rotten, like imminent death.

“I want you to imagine that tower”, she pointed to the tower in the middle of the city. “Exploding.”

‘Will this work? They didn't even explain properly—what if people imagine the worst? What if I imagine mom back, just to lose her again?’ My chest tightened, tears threatening to fall again.

Her voice didn't calm the crowd, there were already desperate people. Some started dying suddenly, bodies falling like cut puppets—hearts stopping from pure terror.

“Don't despair, if many imagine that we're dead, we'll all die for real.”

“Just do what I said, let's start a test in this tower.”

A colossal head burst through the entrance, red eyes sparkling in the dark, but there was no time to see more. Reality tore like old fabric, the tower in the center exploding in a blinding flash. Lancinating pain in my chest, as if my body was rebuilding itself—again.

[Welcome, Challenger Shim Bora.]

‘No... not another loop. Please, no...’