Chapter 2. The Window in the Corner of My Vision
The first viewer has entered.
The moment that sentence appeared, I froze in place, holding my breath.
The cave lizard's screech felt more unreal than anything.
"What... the hell."
No, seriously, what the hell is this?
A translucent blue window hovered right in front of my eyes, like a thin sheet of glass suspended in the damp cave air, shimmering faintly.
I swung my hand at it instinctively.
It sliced through empty air.
"Get... lost."
My voice came out hoarse and cracked. Blood trickled from my chin into my mouth, filling my tongue with the taste of iron.
That was when it happened.
Screeeeech!
The cave lizard kicked off the wall and twisted its body toward me again. Its gray scales glistened under the wet light, and its forked tongue flicked straight at me.
I stumbled back without even screaming.
My heel dug into the mud.
And the window followed.
Right in front of my eyes.
As I took one step back, the blue panel slid sideways with me, sticking firmly to the right edge of my vision, refusing to leave.
"Why won't you disappear, you piece of...!"
I couldn't even finish the curse.
The lizard's head lunged right up to my nose.
I twisted my body, nearly collapsing. My gear bag yanked at my shoulder, and the weight pulled me sideways.
Thud!
Its front claw slammed down exactly where my head had been a second ago. The stone floor shattered, shards grazing my cheek.
"Hngh...!"
Breath caught in my throat.
It was pure luck.
Complete coincidence.
I hadn't dodged skillfully. I'd just tripped over my own bag.
But from the outside, it might've looked different.
The problem was, there was no one here to see it.
Yet the window stayed.
That creeped me out more than anything.
The cave lizard hesitated, tucking its neck briefly. Its yellow eyes flickered, then bulged with fresh rage.
I had no idea why it flinched like that.
My legs were just shaking too hard to care.
My calves burned and tingled, muscles on the verge of cramping up with a scream.
'Save me.'
The pathetic thought cleared my head a bit, making me feel even worse.
Just run for now.
That was all the plan I needed.
I grabbed the wall and hauled myself up. Damp moss squished under my palm.
The smells hit me—wet earth, rotting water, and the lizard's foul breath.
I felt like puking.
The lizard crouched low again.
This time, I could tell.
It's coming.
"N-no..."
The instant I tried to brace my legs, a blue flash flickered at the edge of my vision.
The window's border.
Something like an arrow—or maybe text—streaked across the bottom right corner. Fragments of light, impossible to make out as lines or letters.
I didn't understand it, but I instinctively pulled back in that direction.
A split second later, the lizard sprang.
Wind tore at my ear.
Its jaws grazed my shoulder so close I swear I heard its scales scrape.
Crash!
The lizard smashed into the wall again.
This time, it thrashed wildly in frustration, its tail whipping the stone and sending wet droplets spraying like rain.
Cold water trickled down my neck and soaked my back.
I staggered back a few more steps.
The window followed, perfectly positioned—not too far to ignore, always snagging the corner of my eye no matter where I looked.
I squeezed my eyes shut tight.
It was still there.
"I'm losing it..."
My whisper was so faint, I couldn't tell if I'd spoken or just exhaled.
I opened my eyes.
The window hadn't budged.
I wiped my chin with the back of my hand.
Red.
Blood.
The pain was real.
The stone floor, the weight of the bag crushing my shoulder— all real.
That made it worse. Everything but that damn window was real.
Maybe I hit my head too hard and was hallucinating. I'd seen stars once as a kid falling off the playground bars. But stars didn't cling like this.
I gritted my teeth and blinked hard, over and over.
No dice.
If anything, the border sharpened with each blink, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
"Hah, shit..."
A short groan escaped me.
Distant water droplets echoed.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The simple sound boomed unnaturally loud. The quieter the dungeon got, the more those tiny noises cornered me—my ragged breaths, the lizard's claws scraping stone, my pounding heart all tangled in my ears.
And amid it all, that blue window was eerily silent.
No sound, no smell, no weight.
Yet it bugged me the most.
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I stared at that line for a long time.
Covered one eye.
Still there.
The other eye.
Still there.
Pressed my palm hard over both.
Blue light seeped through my fingers like it was real.
That's when real fear hit me.
This was wrong.
More terrifying than the monster.
Dying bitten by a dungeon beast sucked, but surviving with a broken mind was nightmare fuel.
I sucked in a breath.
Damp earth smell flooded my nose.
Too vivid, making the confusion worse. My nose worked fine, but my eyes were betraying me.
Suddenly, hospital corridors flashed in my mind.
Disinfectant stench, harsh fluorescent lights, cold tile floors.
Even there, I'd always checked the numbers first—consult fees, hospital bills, meds. Counting cash next to the living? Soul-crushing.
Now here I was, tallying viewers in the middle of a dungeon.
Part of me hoped it was fake.
But the blood on my tongue was too real.
Viewers?
What viewers?
Who?
This is a dungeon.
"Cut the crap."
My lips trembled.
I said it, but deep down, I wished it was a prank.
If someone was hiding, messing with me, at least I could yell at them.
But there was no one to yell at.
It just floated there, untouchable, the number staring me down.
The lizard raised its front claw again.
I backpedaled on reflex.
That's when broken letters scrolled across the bottom of the window.
[Vie...wer... en...try...]
Shattered characters flowed by.
Almost readable, then crumbling away.
I froze, eyes tracking them.
The lizard charged but tilted its head oddly, pausing.
Just for a split second.
But it bought me time to breathe.
I slid sideways along the wall.
Its claws raked empty air.
Missed again.
I had no clue why it kept whiffing.
I wasn't dodging well, and it wasn't incompetent.
Something was off.
My toes.
Its fangs.
And that window.
I clenched my jaw and clapped my hands over my ears.
Maybe blocking sound would keep me sane.
Useless.
The lizard's breaths came through clear, my heartbeat louder, and the window unmoving in my sight.
Every dash, that blue glow clung to my peripheral vision.
My knees buckled.
My ankle throbbed from the earlier twist.
But I couldn't stop.
Stopping meant ending up under its jaws.
I bolted down the slick passage, left hand scraping the wall, right flailing.
If it's real, just vanish.
If fake, please disappear.
Meanwhile, more broken text piled up.
[Wat...]
[chin...]
[Vie...wers...]
Almost legible, then fading.
Like a mouth opening and closing—gave me chills.
The lizard kicked off the wall behind me.
I twisted without looking.
My toe snagged a rock protrusion.
I started to fall.
Hands out first this time.
Palm scraped raw across the floor.
Skin tore vividly.
But it spun me sideways—the lizard's jaws snapped at empty air where my shoulder had been.
Clack.
Teeth crashed together right beside me.
I scrambled up in terror.
Now I was sure.
Too many close calls for "good luck."
And that certainty terrified me more than relief.
Something I couldn't see was moving first, ahead of me.
I sprinted deeper into the passage without looking back.
Air ran short.
Yet weirdly, the pursuing beast felt blurrier than the window upfront.
Even on death's door, my gaze dragged there—pure horror.
The lizard's screech chased me.
The window's broken text shook along with it.
[Con...nec...tion...]
[Sig...nal...]
[Vie...]
Breath jammed in my throat.
Then suddenly, the letters snapped into a neat line.
Dead center in my vision.
So crisp, I could finally read it.
I stopped dead without meaning to.
I knew I shouldn't, but my eyes wouldn't budge.
The lizard scraped the stone floor behind me.
Getting closer.
Leaping distance.
Yet my body wouldn't move an inch.
Instinct screamed to run, yanking at my nape.
But the blue glow bound my sight like invisible rope.
Legs locked.
And the next instant—
The window's border flashed red.
A screeching mechanical tone pierced my ears.
A single sharp line burned into the center of my vision.
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The lizard's shadow engulfed my back.