I Got A Title: Lord Of The Time!
Chapter 90: Despair over Distortion

Chapter 90: Despair over Distortion

"Time to act!" Lin quickly reacted and approached the door of the small house he was inside.

With a swift motion, he slammed the door shut with a loud bang!

Bang!

With great speed, the door shut and shook slightly upon closing, emitting a long screech that echoed quickly throughout the area!

"Aaaaah!!" A loud scream came from the street, clearly heard by Lin. He frowned and looked again at the items inside the house, trying to find something he could use to fend off this man.

"Chair... Table... Bed... Fireplace... Firewood..." he said aloud the items he saw to more quickly figure out what he needed to face the man outside.

"Better to be somewhat prepared. Although that man seems a little unstable, he has an axe with which he could easily split my head..."

But unfortunately for Lin, there was nothing inside the house that could help him fight off the strange man with the axe.

Bang!! Bang!! Bang!!

Several strong blows struck the door, clearly showing that the man with the axe wasn’t planning to stop!

Lin sighed and thought:

"Looks like I can only rely on my hands... But that might be for the best," he smiled slightly and clenched his fists tighter, revealing his large and hardened bones that gave his skin a slight yellowish tint.

Just then, a loud knock came at the door, but this time not with a body — this time with the axe!

Bang!

The blade of the axe and Lin’s gaze met. The man holding the axe withdrew it and struck again with even greater force!

Bang!

Wooden pieces of the door flew everywhere, since the house’s door was in terrible condition. Breaking through it with a few heavy axe strikes wasn’t difficult at all!

A large hole formed in the door, through which the man’s face could be seen smiling at Lin!

He tilted his head slightly and looked straight at Lin, his smile widening like a madman, as he said:

"Human... There’s another human here... May Sisyphus bless me!! I’ve seen another person untouched by the problem! I’m not alone!! I’m not alone!!"

Lin frowned at the man’s strange words but still managed to approximately understand what he meant:

"Another person... Sisyphus... And the problem... So this place has been abandoned for a long time? And Sisyphus... That’s the God of Magic — the Magic World. That means this place is indeed connected to the Magic World, not just some small dimension."

Lin looked at the crazed man and tried to understand who he was:

"He’s clearly insane... Did total isolation completely break him? And the problem he’s referring to — isn’t that the Distortion? When the Magic World was hit by the Distortion, many people died, including Queen Salavis Shan... Maybe this place was also affected by the Distortion, which led many to commit suicide?" Lin felt enlightened, as if he had uncovered some secret.

"Then that explains everything..."

Bang!

The man with the axe completely knocked the door off and threw it aside, looking at Lin with a beastly gaze.

"Human! Human! Human!! Am I... Am I human too?! I’m not some horrible, stinking, filthy creature, am I?!!"

Lin calmly looked at the man without feeling any fear. He slowly smiled and replied:

"Of course not. You’re more alive than any living being. You’re a bright sun in the middle of a black abyss. You’re a golden fish surrounded by a raging sea. You are human, in an otherworldly realm... It didn’t get to you. You are free."

The man widened his eyes at Lin’s words. He slowly touched his face, then looked at his body, realizing that he really was an ordinary human.

"I... I..." Transparent tears ran down his cheeks as he looked at Lin and said: "Sam... Vanish... Fry... They were all human... But then they became grotesque, strange, horrifying beings that started killing everyone... I killed every one of them myself, but then, when I came home..."

With eyes full of regret, he muttered:

"They all chose to leave this world... They impaled themselves on the stakes I made to defend against wild animals... I lost everything: family, friends, relatives, even just regular people I knew..." After saying that, the man collapsed and continued to cry quietly.

Lin stood silently and went over all the man’s words, building a rough chain of events that had occurred here:

"That explains everything. Three people became Distorted and turned into Distorted creatures who started killing other locals. This man killed them, and then when he returned..." Lin’s face became tired and he continued: "He saw that everyone he knew had chosen suicide just to go to another world..."

"That’s pretty brutal. But it clearly shows that life in the Magic World, when the Distortion was present — was far from what you’d call "peaceful living."

Understanding the events that happened here, the place no longer seemed mysterious. Here, everyone had despaired and chose to kill themselves rather than turn into a Distorted creature.

Lin sighed and decided to ask the man:

"Are there still Distorted creatures in this place? And do you know if there are other places beyond the forest?"

But no answer followed.

Lin cautiously approached the man’s body on the floor and looked at his facial expression, realizing it had frozen in one emotion.

Emotion: peace.

The man had died with a smile on his face, realizing he had not become a Distorted creature and that he was still alive.

He had gone to join the others in another world.

The man was dead.

Lin stood silently in the house, unable to find words to comment on anything.

He sighed and slowly lifted the man’s body, then dragged it outside. When they were both outside, Lin gently sat the corpse next to the house so it faced the bright moon in the sky.

"True death only comes when you fully understand your life..."

He slowly took the axe and decided to continue his journey.

"Maybe... he’s the one who built that campfire? Although, if he had, he would’ve greeted me with an axe in hand... So it’s not him."

Lin shook his head and decided to quietly continue his path to find the blue door.

As Lin’s figure fully disappeared between the trees, inside the house he had been in — a thin black hand slowly began to creep out from under the bed.

And then the body of a strange creature appeared.

It had been under the bed this whole time.

It had been watching this whole time.