The Scarlet Sea

*Splash*

*Splash*

I can't hear anything except for the sound of my footsteps. No matter where I look, there's only red. Even the "ground" I'm stepping on is a scarlet-red sea of blood.

It was a bit weird to step on. My feet sink a few centimeters onto the sea, making noise whenever I walk. But that's it.

Everything here was red. Even the sky itself had a disgusting red tint to it. This place is weird, but I'm not creeped out by it.

I'm just bored.

I don't know how long I have been walking, since the "sun" is completely still, not moving even a tiny bit. But, I'm sure, it has at least been a week or two.

Not really sure how I got here. My first memory of this place was just me walking. Perhaps I was born here, and I just couldn't remember?

I couldn't tell you.

It's quite uneventful, really. While someone will be mesmerized, or perhaps horrified, when they first witness this place, it gets rather boring when you have nothing else to do but "walk" across this sea.

How do I know it's a sea of blood? Well, it's simple, really. The smell is disgusting, reminiscent of a metallic smell. And second, I occasionally see bodies a few meters deep into the ocean.

They were dead, I'm sure of it. Their gazes were hollow, and although a bit hard to inspect due to being a few meters deep into the water, I could see bones sticking out of them.

There was a solemn depth in their eyes, eyes full of true horror and shock. I don't know what happened to them, but I could tell, It wasn't pleasant. I thought it was because of the fish roaming this sea, but from the lingering fear in their gaze, It seemed to be something far worse.

*Splash!*

Ah, speak of the devil.

I turned my head towards the blood underneath me, and from a small distance underwater, I could see a fish coming towards me at a frightening speed.

They were rather large, probably at least a meter or so in terms of length alone, and they were wide. They had razor-sharp teeth, similar to sharks.

Sharks? Huh, It's odd, I feel like I have a memory of what a shark is, but I can't really recall what it was.

Weird.

Anyways, I just kept staring at the fish, before slightly moving a foot and tilting my body just when it was about to launch at me.

*SPLASH*

A few of the blood water splashed on my face when the fish appeared out of the sea, but It didn't bother me. I already knew it's trajectory beforehand, which is why I tilted my body and moved a feet or so to dodge it.

This fish monster let out a freakish sound as it tried to bite me, but alas,

*Slice*

I already predicted all of this. With a single slash, my sword cut through its body like melted butter. I used the fish's own momentum, and with the strength of my slash, I easily cut it into two pieces.

Due to the still running momentum in its body, or, well, two halves, they passed by me and landed on the sea before immediately disappearing and turning into particles.

A shame, really. I always wanted to taste them, but everytime I kill one, they just disappear. It's not like I'm hungry, but I just wanted to taste something.

I once tried to grab one and take a bite out of it while it was alive, but the moment I tried to bite it, it seemed to teleport back into the sea. These fish things were really my only source of entertainment in this place. But killing them got boring after the first few tens of kills.

[You have successfully killed &#ge$34! You gained 14 experience points!]

A transparent window with a violet hue appeared in front of me, floating. I don't know what it was, but it first appeared when I killed the very first fish. It told me when I killed a fish, so there's that, but alas, that's its only use.

It doesn't have anything else, and when I tried to use it, all it showed me was a blank window.

Though, this "experience point" thing was rather nice to see. It seems to accumulate it, which makes me feel like I'm doing progress for something. Perhaps if I kill a hundred or a thousand, it will let me out?

Though, I don't know what "Experience Points" means, although I feel like I have heard of it before.

'Close.'

With a thought, the window ceased to exist. I can't do anything with it, anyways.

I turned my gaze towards the sword in my hand, and lifted it, examining its glory. There were many bloodstains on it, most of it was brown except for the blood of the fish I just killed.

I gently touched the blade, and felt its cold touch. This sword was in my hand for as long as I can remember in this place. I don't know where I got it, but it doesn't matter. It proved a huge help for me.

And, I feel... relaxed with it. It's as if it was a part of my own body, another limb.

I sheathed the sword, and looked ahead.

With nothing else to do, I continued to walk forward. I don't know where, but that's the only thing I can do right now.

Step, step, step, I see nothing in sight, as expected. How boring.

Well, at least I can practice making jokes. Since I usually had nothing else to do, I started to try to make jokes and puns.

"Seven days without a pun," I said out loud to no one in particular, "makes one weak."

I snickered. It was a horrible pun, but I'm proud of it. It lessens the boredom a bit.

Wanna hear a good pizza joke?

Nevermind, It's too cheesy.

Hehe, man I'm turning insane. I don't even exactly know what a pizza is, but I can vaguely recall in my memories that it's a food with a lot of cheese on it.

"I don't trust people who do acupuncture. Wanna know why? Because they're backstabbers."

Ah, I'm great at this. I'm not sure what the exact definition of acupuncture is, but I recall that they are people who put needles onto your back.

But, I could be wrong. I could very well just be speaking gibberish right now without me knowing.

Still, if it's funny to me, that's all that matters.

"What did one ocean say to the other ocean?" I said, "Nothing. They just waved."

"To the person who invented the number zero, thanks for nothing."

"What did one plate say to another plate? Tonight, dinner's on me."

...

...

...

Eventually, I came across a corpse a few meters deep into the ocean. I stopped making puns, and tried to examine it. It was a bit blurry due to being deep underwater- or blood- but I can still see a few things.

The person seemed to be a man, probably in his thirties. He had short, brown hair, and tattered clothes similar to that of beggars. He had a horrified look on his face, similar to the other corpses I've seen. His eyes were wide open, and there was a distinct, sincere fear in them.

I still wonder who did that to them. Are they that strong?

I don't know why, but I'm not afraid. Rather, I'm a bit excited to see it. I feel like my arm is itching, and as if my sword is calling to me, wanting to kill something with it. The fish things just weren't doing it, they were too weak, too easy to kill.

After examining the corpse for a few more moments, I turned my attention forward. I need to continue walking.

Wait...

...!

I can see something in the distance.

It wasn't moving. No- It wasn't a person or a monster.

It had pointed heads, and was a tall, rectangular structure.

A building!

I could've sworn that wasn't there before. Was I just not paying attention?

Ah, it doesn't matter. This is good news! I'll do anything at this point to just experience a change of scenery.

With hastened steps, I walked towards the building, which was rather a huge distance away from me.