Apocalypse: The echoes of Madness

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-The Mountain of Eternal Secrifice-

-Chuncheon -

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Rose's heartbeat quickened, a rapid thudding against her chest. They stood before Goryeong Village in the eerie quiet of Chuncheon.

Without warning, the door creaked open, its hinges groaning as though they hadn't been disturbed in years.

Two women emerged, draped in traditional hanbok, their movements slow and deliberate. Their smiles, too perfect, too wide, didn't reach their eyes as they spoke in unison, "Welcome to our Goryeong Village."

Yuri turned to Lily, her voice a low whisper, "Did we knock?"

Lily nodded, her face unreadable, as cold as stone. "No."

[Mission Start]

[Complete mission in 3 days]

"What an arrogant prick," Rose thought. "They're giving me a mission without even telling me what kind of mission it is."

The women beckoned them forward, their hands raised in invitation. "Come inside. You are welcomed by the mountain god," one said, her voice thick with a sweetness that felt suffocating.

Rose's gaze drifted to Zane, a question burning in her chest. "Didn't you say it would be hard to get in?" she asked, her words barely a murmur.

Zane's silence answered her more clearly than any words could. The tension in the air thickened, the unspoken truth settling between them. Rose understood. The warmth of their welcome was a facade, and behind it, something darker stirred.

The more faces you see in this shattered world, wearing kindness like a mask, the more you should fear what lies beneath.

They crossed the threshold into the village, and the world seemed to warp around them. It was as if they had stepped into a twisted dream. Houses lined the streets in perfect rows, too orderly, too still. No signs of decay. The smell of fresh earth and crops filled the air, mingling with an unnatural sweetness. In the distance, children's laughter echoed across the playground, their voices bright, too innocent.

It was a scene so out of place in a world ravaged by death and despair, it made Rose's skin crawl.

The village was too perfect, too alive, and yet something about it felt... wrong. The air was heavy with a silence that pressed against their chests, as though the world outside this place no longer mattered.

As they moved deeper into the village, the atmosphere shifted, the ground beneath their feet sinking into a strange weight.

Something was waiting in the shadows. Watching.

One of the women stepped forward, her voice soft, almost hypnotic. "We will show you the room where you'll stay."

Cale's voice broke the tense silence, sharp with unease. "Did you know we were coming?"

The women smiled, their lips stretching into unsettling curves, too wide, too unnatural. Their eyes gleamed like polished glass, void of warmth. "The god let us know the fated ones who would stay in this village," they answered, their words eerily synchronized.

An uneasy feeling crawled through her, like icy fingers wrapping around her spine. She looked at everyone with cold, unblinking eyes, and they stared back at her, their expressions hollow and tense. A single, chilling thought echoed in their minds, as if whispered by something unseen: "It's exactly what we thought".

As they glanced around, the villagers' stares bore into them, unblinking and unnervingly still. The children, who had been laughing and playing moments ago, stood frozen now—small, rigid figures with vacant eyes that gleamed faintly in the dim light. Their gazes locked onto Rose and her companions like predators spotting prey.

The silence was suffocating, thick as fog, broken only by the eerie rustle of the night wind scraping through the trees.

And yet… it was night.

Rose's stomach twisted, nausea rising. How could they have been playing so late?

Emily's voice cut through the thick stillness, a shaky murmur barely above a whisper. "I feel like something's about to happen… now."

Yuri let out a brittle laugh, the sound cracking like glass, her voice a feeble attempt at normalcy. "I feel like a superstar with everyone staring."

No one joined in.

The children didn't move. The villagers didn't blink.

And the wind whispered something faint, like a breath against their ears—low, unintelligible, and wrong.

[Warning. Warning. Warning.]

The mechanical words pulsed on the screen, each repetition more urgent, more jarring. Rose's breath hitched as her eyes locked onto the trembling display.

[Your power has been taken away by the Mountain God.]

The words flickered, glitching as though they were alive—warped, chaotic symbols bleeding into one another before snapping back into place. A chill spread through her limbs, icy and unrelenting.

The air around her grew heavier, pressing on her chest like a hand slowly squeezing the life from her. Shadows seemed to crawl across the walls, writhing in time with the flickering light of the screen.

Rose's hands trembled, and an awkward, hollow smile tugged at her lips. "This mission… it's going to be much harder than the first," she whispered, her voice brittle and strained, barely audible over the relentless thudding of her heart.

Everyone felt it—their powers had been ripped away. The air was thick with a sense of helplessness, the loss of their abilities gnawing at their very souls. Cale's rage erupted, an uncontrollable storm. His face twisted with fury as he grabbed his sniper rifle and swung it violently at a woman. The blow sent her crashing to the ground, her body crumpling like a ragdoll.

Another woman, her face an empty mask of emotion, stepped forward. Her voice was calm, chillingly so. "To maintain peace in the village, the Mountain God has taken your superpowers."

James glanced at Zane, a forced smile crossing his lips. He grabbed Cale's hand, attempting to defuse the tension. "We're sorry. Our friend has... anger issues."

The woman said nothing in return. Her cold eyes simply pointed to a house in the distance. "That is where you will stay."

Without another word, she turned and left, her footsteps echoing through the silent village like a death knell.

Cale seethed, his voice low and furious. "Why did you let them go?"

Zane's eyes darkened with cold detachment. "Stupid."

Without saying another word, Zane walked away, his steps heavy and deliberate, as the village around them seemed to close in tighter, the shadows growing longer and more sinister with every passing moment.

Rose thought, her heart aching, If only I could control my psychic power…

Things would have been different.

They stepped inside the house, the air cold and heavy. There were two bedrooms, and in the front room, food was eerily arranged on the table, untouched, waiting.

Arthur's eyes flicked over the scene, his voice strained. "Look… they even served food."

Yuri's voice was uneasy, as if the walls themselves were listening. "Are we really that special?"

james gaze hardened, the words slipping from his lips like ice. "What if one of us is chosen... for sacrifice?"

Yuri's laugh came out shaky, too high-pitched to be convincing. "Don't say such... unlucky words."

Zane's voice cut through the air, colder than the night itself. "Don't you feel it?"

They stood by the window, staring out into the darkness, as the chill in Zane's words settled into their bones. His eyes remained locked on the figures below, his expression unreadable, but his voice—so cold, so devoid of warmth—sent a shiver through the room.

"Look outside," he said, his tone flat, almost detached. "Those people... they're not dancing. They're part of something ancient, something that's been waiting for this moment. It's a ritual—a sacrifice—happening right in front of where we're staying."

His words hung in the air like a death sentence. "Tomorrow is the full moon. The god will demand its offering. We're here just one day before the blood will spill."

Zane turned to face them, his face pale, his eyes distant as if the darkness had already claimed part of him. "Can't you hear it? The chanting... It's coming from the temple. They call it the Temple of Eternal Will."

The name of the temple felt like a poison as it left his lips, the very syllables dragging something heavy and oppressive into the air.

Outside, the villagers' movements were no longer human. They twisted and jerked in unnatural patterns, their limbs pulling at impossible angles, their faces blank and lifeless. The drums pounded in the distance, each beat sinking deep into their chests, a steady rhythm that felt like the countdown to their doom. It wasn't music—it was the sound of something far older, far darker, stirring in the earth beneath their feet.

Zane's gaze hardened, and his voice dropped to a whisper, as cold as the grave. "One of us have been chosen by the mountain god". The ritual has already begun."

"And we don't have our powers," Zane's voice was low and cold,"We must be ready to fight."

The night seemed to press in around them, alive with an evil that grew stronger with each passing second.

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(To be continued)

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