A Wanderer Enters Another Maze

Steam gushes down from the roof, gradually spreading and filling the entire anteroom. Ale sits cross-legged on the floor, his eyes hazily fixed on the bubbles rising from the ground. They flicker in the mist, changing colors, like neon worms in a lake, painting dreamlike patterns in this mysterious space. His thoughts drift away, as if he has transformed into a black goldfish, following these drifting bubbles, swirling and meandering.

The steam swirls around him, becoming a dense fog that envelopes everything in a dreamy haze. The bubbles continue to rise and pop, their brief lives adding to the ethereal beauty of the scene. Ale's mind feels increasingly blank, as if he's becoming one with this surreal landscape, a black fish chasing after the whimsical lights in the water.

Gradually, he feels his body's outline becoming blurry, losing its shape. A sense of invisible pressure surges, making his breathing heavy and labored, almost suffocating. He tries to take a deep breath but instead inhales a rotten plant smell that fills his lungs, causing pain and bringing his once blurry vision back into sharp focus.

A blue snowflake falls, followed by countless more, showering his world.

He looks up in a daze, and from the tree trunks above, countless blue snow cotton grasses dangle. Their cotton-like seeds drift down like snowflakes, gently landing on the dry ground. His gaze wanders across the ground, noticing several charred marks on the grass and tree trunks.

Attempting to retreat, he struggles to stand up but finds his body unresponsive.

He tastes a mixture of sweet and sour in his mouth, a sensation that seems to stem from missing teeth and injured internal organs. Looking down at his body, he sees his slender limbs twisted and deformed, some areas of skin writhing with visible parasites, some half-buried in the skin, oozing black fluid.

Ale watches them move slowly, feeling everything around him to be surreal.

In this confusion and fear, he finds himself involuntarily bending down, his head lowered to the ground, gnawing on a wind-dried skeleton covered with rotting moss. The sharp edges of the bones pierce his mouth, causing a tearing pain.

At that moment, Ale realizes this weak, twisted body is not his own. His consciousness struggles frantically, falling, falling, trying to break free from this terrifying nightmare, but each time he awakens, he's still there, ineffective.

A low, despairing moan echoes in his ears, a sound that seems to have been drained of all life. What's more unsettling is that this sound comes from within his own body.

Forced to follow this body, he wanders in a cold, damp forest. Mist surrounds the towering trees and lush vegetation, and in the dark corners, the bones of unfamiliar creatures occasionally reveal themselves. Apart from him, there seems to be no other sign of life, wandering in this silent land of death.

His breath turns into white mist, weighing him down like a heavy burden. Each step causes his body to shake uncontrollably, a trembling not born of cold.

Suddenly, a severe abdominal pain struck. His heavy belly was filled with grass mud, tree bark, broken stones, and some sticky insect corpses. The torment of hunger was gradually pushing him to the brink of collapse.

In the midst of the faint murmurings emanating from his body, an almost imperceptible slight movement suddenly alerted him.

He cautiously looked around, restless, trying to pinpoint the origin of the faint sound. Everything was eerily quiet, with only his weak breath echoing in the stillness. He felt bewildered and uneasy, unsure whether the sound was real or just an illusion.

Finally, a soft rustling sound gradually amplified in the silence. He lowered his body and crawled forward, using the underbrush to conceal his form. Following the subtle sound, he stealthily approached a clearing. There, a group of peculiar two-headed bluebirds hopped among the grass. Their gaunt figures flickered in the shadows of the trees, spreading a scent of meat in the air.

Suddenly, a small fledgling hopped out, clumsily pecking at the dew near his hiding spot. Despite its frail appearance, the wild scent of meat became stronger and more enticing as it approached.

Ale felt his stomach involuntarily twitching, followed by a deep, rumbling growl.

In an instant, the entire grassland fell silent, all birds stopping their movements, their gaze collectively turning toward his hiding spot. Lying flat on the ground, he dared not move, his heart filled with confusion and fear. The scent of red mushrooms and decaying leaves around him stung his lungs, and the contact with his skin burned like fire, making his head dizzy. Then, his stomach uncontrollably emitted a more intense and prolonged growl.

A larger two-headed bluebird suddenly took flight with a loud cry, stirring the entire flock into commotion. They fluttered their wings, soaring into the sky, and in a blink, the once lively grassland became deserted.

Helplessly watching the fleeing birds, Ale let out a feeble moan. In his deep despair, the last bit of strength in his body surged into his limbs. With all his might, he lunged at the last remaining prey.

In the grassland, the small fledgling had just spread its wings, its four eyes turning in terror toward the oncoming figure.

"Wu ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!" Ale's throat emitted a sharp and hoarse scream.

"Chirp!" "Chatter!" The fledgling's two heads emitted discordant cries, both filled with fear. Its beaks opened and closed frantically, wings flapping vigorously, trying to break free from the ground and fly into the sky.

In that moment, he leaped forward, pouncing on the helpless fledgling.

Ale gripped it tightly, feeling the small life trembling in his palms, a nameless fear welling up inside him.

As he swallowed the entire body of the fledgling, Ale's consciousness desperately fled within this foreign body, trying to escape the grating sound of fragile bones breaking in his mouth, the gushing warm and bloody aftertaste, and even more so, the intense pleasure accompanying the feeding.

A wave of intense nausea surged, and amidst this extreme mix of disgust and pleasure, his consciousness violently shook as if standing on the edge of a collapsing cliff. Finally, losing all strength to resist, he was enveloped in darkness, falling into a brief unconsciousness.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself still trapped in this body, stumbling through the forest, his steps occasionally pausing as if trying to recognize the surrounding environment, searching for something. Gradually, the sound of flowing water reached his ears. He was led to a tranquil lagoon, its clear waters reflecting his current form—

"Eh?" Ale looked on in surprise.

But almost simultaneously, he felt his body losing balance, tumbling into the lake. As the cold water soaked his entire body, his vision blurred, sounds faded, and everything turned blank. Bubbles ascended along his body, the shimmering light on the lake surface danced before his eyes, gradually receding as he felt himself continually sinking, the air in his body rapidly depleting. In a daze, an orange-pink shadow appeared, swimming up to his nose and forcefully pricking it.

"Hiss—"

With a painful groan, he disappeared into the endless darkness of the lake.

Ale took some time to slowly regain consciousness.

His surroundings still appeared blurry. He blinked his heavy eyelids, striving to focus his vision—

The double snake emblem on the wall gradually became clearer, a vague idea forming in his mind... Was this... a temporary medical room in a sealed cabin?

His skin was as pale as floating ice, a sensation of cold dampness spreading slowly from his lungs to his fingertips. He felt as if every inch of his muscle had lost sensation. He tried to speak, his mouth opening slightly, but his voice remained locked in his throat, unable to produce any sound, only tasting a faint sweetness and floral scent melting in his mouth.

Through his blurred vision, he saw a line of text flickering:

"Warning: Possible side effects include motor dysfunction, insomnia, heightened emotional sensitivity, transient euphoric hallucinations..."

His vision blurred again, barely making out a yellow robot inserting a needle into his left arm, then connecting it to a bulging bag of red liquid, similar to what was on his right arm. Behind the robot, in a containment box, two orange-pink creatures were slowly crawling.

Ale blinked, trying to discern them, but his memory was like shattered pieces of a mirror, unable to form a complete picture.

"Awake? Don't rush over, you need to rest first." A familiar voice came from the communicator in his helmet.

Ale's lips tried to move, but no sound came out except for the dry friction of his lips. He felt as if his chest was pressed down by a lead weight, every slight movement extremely difficult and heavy. Now, he just wanted to let himself sink slowly into the hard, cold yellow seat behind him.

"No... no... don't..." a slightly distorted tone echoed in the communicator.

Ale seemed to recognize the voice. He hesitated for a moment...

And then, he passed out again.