Mondstadt Alter (Rewrite)

Special Chp 1.0: Decisive Contract

My vision is in a haze, and I'm breathing raggedly. My hearing is barely working, too. I heard a crackling noise combined with a blurry blaze in front of me. It's a faint noise, but I'm sure I heard footsteps. That person's coming closer with each step.

"Wow! I'm impressed that you are still alive after that. Your parents are long gone already. Why don't you join them?"

"Ompf!" I coughed.

I can feel something hot and sharp on my chest. Before I knew it, I felt another pain that exceeded the pain in my head. I can feel something hot and sharp on my chest.

I'm starting to feel my body getting cold, and my consciousness is fading. I can't think-

any-

more,

...

It's cold.

It's dark.

I can't see, feel, or hear anything.

Am I dead?

[Relax. You are not dead yet.]

I panicked when I heard a voice, making me frantically look around. However, I don't see anyone or anything. I thought god had spoken to me, or I'm just crazy? Don't tell me I'm going insane even after I'm dead.

"He- hello? Is anyone there?"

[Yes, yes. I'm here.]

"Whoa!"

[Will you chill out? I'm not going to devour you or anything.]

"Who's there?!"

[Good. You seem a little more composed now. How are you feeling?]

"I- I feel fine? But w- who are you?" I questioned.

[Who am I does not matter.]

Okay? I still have no idea what's happening, so I move on to the next question.

"What is this place?"

[Here? It's your own subconsciousness. Don't you recognize it?]

My subconsciousness? I find it hard to believe what he said. Why is it darkness all over? Is it because I've died? That makes sense. I know a little about deep consciousness because I've read about it before. I suppose dead men don't have control over their minds anymore.

[You seem perplexed. What's the matter?]

I sigh before opening my mouth, "Am I dead?"

[No, you're not.]

"But- I got stabbed! Right on my chest! How am I still alive?" I denied.

[I'm not lying when I said you're still alive. Although I'll be lying if I say your current live function isn't critical.]

"You mean-"

[Yes. Basically, you're on the verge of death.]

Now, it's all coming together. I finally understand why I can still be here and why I still can remember pretty much everything that happened, even though I'm not sure if I should be happy with that fact. This time, I let out a desperate sigh before speaking,

"Let's get this straight. The reason I'm still alive, or to be precise, dying right now, even with all the damage I suffered, is that I'm in my subconsciousness. I've read about this, but I don't understand how. The time flow in the deep consciousness is much slower than in real-time."

[Yeah, that's the gist of your current crisis.]

"But even if that's true, wouldn't I be dead if I stayed here long enough?"