you can't leave

"Evan, do you enjoy looking at the stars?" 

"H-huh?" The boy, no older than fifteen, was startled by the voice. He turned away from the window, from the sky filled with stars, to see his mother standing in the doorway. 

She was smiling—a genuine smile that lit up her face. It wasn't a polite or a fake one. No, this was different. This was a happy smile. 

It was the happiest he'd ever seen her. 

"I-I don't know…" Evan stammered, his voice barely above a whisper. "I just… like looking at them." His words felt clumsy, awkward, like a child who started to speak for the first time. 

 "They're beautiful, aren't they?" she said, her voice soft and pleasant. 

Evan nodded, unsure of what to say. He had spent countless nights by this window, staring up at the stars in quiet solitude. No one had ever asked him why—not his trash of a father who only ever talked to him when drunk and certainly not her. His mother always ignored him, treating him like he didn't exist so the sudden affection caught the boy off guard.

Why was she here, smiling at him as if he mattered? 

"Can I watch the stars with you?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. 

Evan blinked, the question also catching him off guard. He searched her face for some hidden motive, some reason for this sudden kindness, but all he saw was that smile—so bright and warm it almost hurt to look at. 

"S-sure," he finally managed, the words tumbling out before he could think. His heart raced, not from fear or confusion, but from something else. Something he hadn't felt in years. 

Hope. 

She moved quietly, pulling up a chair beside him. For a moment, neither of them spoke. They just sat there, gazing at the stars. The silence between them was heavy, but not uncomfortable. It was the kind of silence that felt warm and comforting. 

Evan glanced at her. She was looking up at the sky, her eyes sparkling like a child filled with wonder. He realized he had never seen her like this before—so happy, so alive. 

"They're very pretty," she whispered, breaking the silence. 

"Yeah…" Evan replied, his voice soft. He hesitated before adding, "I like how they're always there, you know? Even when everything else changes, they stay the same." 

His mother looked at him then, really looked at him, as if seeing him for the first time. "That's a beautiful way to think about it," she said, her smile growing. 

They talked more that night than they had in years. It wasn't about anything important—just the stars, the shapes they thought they saw in the constellations, and little things they remembered from the past. But to him, it felt like magic. 

For the first time in his life, his mother wasn't ignoring him. She was here, with him, sharing a moment he had always thought he'd spend alone for the rest of his life. 

Hours later, Evan's eyelids grew heavy, his words slurring as sleep began to take hold. He didn't fight it. For once, he felt safe, happy, like nothing in the world could touch him. 

When he finally drifted off, there was a smile on his face—a real, genuine smile that his mother couldn't help but notice. 

She stayed a while longer, watching him sleep. Her own smile softened as she reached out to brush a strand of hair from his face. 

"Goodnight" she whispered, leaning down to kiss his forehead. 

Then she stood up, pulled a blanket over him, and walked away. 

Evan didn't wake up to see her leave. He didn't know that this would be the last time he'd ever see her. 

The stars continued to shine in the night sky, unaware of the fleeting moment they had just witnessed. 

***

"What… was that?" I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

in my vision I saw a village nestled at the bottom of the valley, surrounded by green, thick trees.

The sun rose—not from the east, but the west. It streaked across the sky and disappeared in the east. 

That's when I realized: Time is moving in reverse. 

I was utterly confused. Too much had happened too fast, where even was I?

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial.] 

The words echoed in my mind. 

The Nightmare Spell? I questioned. You mean that Nightmare Spell? The one from Shadow Slave? 

Shadow Slave was a web novel I had been reading before I…died? 'no wait I need to focus' I reminded myself and tried to remember what the nightmare spell was.

to put it simply, the Nightmare Spell was something akin to a system that made you stronger by infecting you and sending you into nightmares to survive and pass trials. 

That's when the realization hit me. I had died. Somehow, I'd possessed someone body in the Shadow Slave world. But I'd also inherited fragments of their memories—and the process had been anything but gentle. The pain must have knocked me out, landing me in the first nightmare. 

Which meant I have been infected the moment I transmigrated. 

Fragments of memories clawed their way into my consciousness—pieces of a life that wasn't mine. Pain, loneliness, and a love for the stars so deep it was almost obsessive. The memories felt like they had been forcibly shoved into my head, leaving behind a throbbing ache but they also confirmed my suspicions.

'this is insane, why am I in shadow slave?' I questioned, there were definitely better options than a world on the brink of destruction. Panic clawed at the edges of my mind, but I shoved it down. 'Panicking won't help. Stay calm.'

The Nightmare Spell also had a function of a status window. using it, I could learn about my attributes and, most importantly, my aspect. Focusing, I thought, 'Status.'

Shimmering runes appeared in the air before me. Though I couldn't read the words, their meaning was clear: 

*** 

[Name]: Evan 

[True Name]: --- 

[Rank]: Aspirant 

[Soul Core]: Dormant 

[Memories]: --- 

[Echoes]: --- 

[Attributes]: [Spirit Vision], [Child of Stars], [Spiritual Intuition] 

[Aspect]: [Astronomer] 

[Aspect Description]: "Astronomers have the ability to use divination through astrology and crystal balls." 

*** 

"Evan?" I muttered. The spell had mistaken me for the body's original owner. then the aspect made sense—this boy had a strange obsession with stars.

But I wasn't Evan.

If this nightmare was for him, how was I supposed to survive? Unlike Evan, I had no passion for or knowledge about stars. If the trial required stargazing or astrology, I was screwed. And where would I even find a crystal ball for his aspect?!

I barely had time to dwell on it before a cheerful voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hello there, traveler!" 

I turned to see a man in a baker's apron holding bread. His grin stretched unnaturally wide, as though it physically hurt. That's when I noticed I'd been standing in the middle of the street like an idiot. 

"You look like you've been traveling. Come, have some bread!" 

I blinked at the bread, then at the man, then back at the bread. "Uh… sure. Thanks?" 

My stomach growled as I took the bread and cautiously took a bite. The act of eating helped me calm down. 

"This place is lovely," I said, glancing around the village. "Where exactly am I?" 

The baker's grin didn't falter, but his eyes flickered briefly. "Why, you're in our village, of course!" 

I raised an eyebrow but decided not to press him. My focus was on figuring out what the objective was to escape this nightmare. 

"Would you like me to show you around our little village?" the baker offered, his grin still a bit creepy.

I hesitated but realized a guide would make things much faster and easier than wandering alone. "Sure," I said, forcing a smile.

As I wandered deeper into the village, more people greeted me with kindness. An old lady gave me flowers, Children played together in the square, their laughter echoing between the buildings, Vendors at the market offered me free samples of fruit and pastries, their smiles wide on the verge of looking creepy, I didn't pay much attention to it at that time. 

As the sky darkened, I sat alone on a bench, staring at the unfamiliar constellations. Something about them tugged at my thoughts, a nagging sense that they were wrong.

that's when I got an idea, when I was wandering around the village I found a small scroll in my bag (I had it when I spawned in) with bunch of dots that looked strangely organised, comparing it to the stars above I found some similarities but they were vastly different. 

"My aspect… stars… this strange scroll" I murmured, piecing together the clues. "This can't be a coincidence."

chewing on the bread, I stared at the unfamiliar constellations. 'This nightmare must have something to do with the stars. There are too many strange coincidences. But what am I supposed to do? I've explored most of the village and haven't found anything unusual. I even asked the baker if something strange like monsters and such were seen, and he said no.'

I summoned the spell runes again and focused on my attributes: 

[Attributes]: [Spirit Vision], [Child of Stars], [Spiritual Intuition] 

[Spirit Vision] Description: "Once activated, you can see non-physical entities, such as ghosts and specters." 

"Interesting," I said. 'How do I activate it, though?' 

The moment I thought of activating it, the attribute kicked in. My surroundings shifted slightly, though nothing immediately jumped out at me. 

As I tried to make sense of the change, a villager who looked to be in his 50s appeared, smiling widely. 

"Enjoying your stay?" he asked, sitting far too close for comfort. 

"It's… nice," I replied, trying to keep my expression under control. "Great people, but I should probably head home now." 

The villager tilted his head, his grin faltering slightly. "Home?" 

"Yeah, you know… where I actually live?" I forced a nervous laugh. "It's been fun, but I've got things to do." 

The villager's smile snapped back into place unnaturally fast. "Oh, you can't leave." 

I blinked. "What?" 

"You can't leave. You belong here now." 

The bread in my hand suddenly felt heavier. 

I stood up, forcing a smile. "Riiight. Thanks for the hospitality, but I've really gotta go." 

Turning off [Spirit Vision] didn't help. What I had seen disturbed me to my very core. The villager's body had been a rotting corpse, with only chunks of flesh remaining—and worse, illusory strings drilled into his decayed frame. The entire village was the same: rotting people, all connected by those strings. 

As I walked away, I felt eyes on my back. Villagers stood in their doorways, their smiles gone. 

The farther I went, the more the village decayed. Cobblestones cracked under my feet. Flowers withered, their petals falling like ash. 

When I reached the edge of the village, a group of villagers blocked the path. Their faces were pale, their eyes hollow. 

"You can't leave," they said in unison, their voices cold and lifeless. 

"creepy," I muttered, stepping back, preparing to run. 

and run I did, but they moved faster than I expected. Their jerky, unnatural movements reminded me of puppets on strings—which, technically, they were. 

I ducked into an alley, heart pounding. Grabbing a lantern hanging nearby, I swung it at a villager who lunged at me. The glass shattered, and instead of blood, the villager withered, decaying as though time had sped up.

I had no time to process what had just happened. More villagers rushed toward me, their faces decayed, their eyes hollow. 

The village I marveled at hours ago was gone—consumed by rot and death. 

And I was trapped in it.