Chapter 4: A New Meaning To Digging Your Own Hole

"It is your fault! And you know what… I think you're the one that should have died!"

And all of a sudden, everyone and everything turned quiet. Even the guards that were pinning Rhys down could not help but instinctively let go of Rhys, just looking at each other in shock. The people that were watching the scenario, whispering and letting out gasps of bewilderment.

Even Emilia gasped, not believing the words that came out of her mouth.

"You… think I should die?" Rhys very weakly stood up, almost falling on his knees again as his eyes which were hidden by his hair started to falter while looking at Emilia,

"...Why? Was it really my fault?"

"Brother…" Emilia's head started to tremble as she backed away; she saw a glimpse of her brother's eyes—completely still… and almost lifeless, "Brother, I'm s—"

But before she finished words, Emilia suddenly turned around and ran away.

"Emi!?" One of Emilia's friends, a girl with long blonde hair, could not help but stare at Rhys for a few seconds, before rushing to follow her, "Why would you say that to your brother!?"

"..." Rhys was at a loss as to what to do. He found himself just standing there as this piercing whistle started to drown his ears.

"You…" The guards that were previously trying to throw him out of the dorm carefully approached him, "...You're the boy in the video."

"!!!" And as soon as those words entered Rhys's ears, the sharp whistle growing in his mind started to ring. He looked at the crowd that gathered due to the commotion, only to see them staring at him.

"No…no," And as the deafening whistle grew louder and louder, Rhys started shaking his head. He tightened his hood as he rushed out of the building.

He couldn't hear anything anymore. His body just moved on its own, completely out of his control—he walked without purpose, he ran, he stopped… and he laughed. He doesn't know where he is anymore, the only thing he could do was laugh at himself, causing the people around him to move and avoid him.

Rhys was completely unaware of this, however, his body just moved on its own without purpose.

"Choose… I should have just died. There was a choice, it should have been me," Rhys kept repeating to himself as the memory of the incident resurfaced in his mind, like a chainsaw that keeps on shredding his sanity,

"It… should have been me." And completely unbeknownst to Rhys, he was now back in front of his dorm room; his feet, completely weak from the unexpected trek they were forced to endure.

And then, as the ringing finally began to quiet down, Rhys found himself completely drowned in his own sweat. His mind, very slowly clearing with now only a single thought in his mind—but before this thought could materialize…

…a fist was already on its way to his face.

"Happy birthday, fuckface."

***

"!!!"

Rhys let out a sharp and loud gasp. His body which was previously completely out of his control, now showered by a chilling cold that almost seared his skin. The ringing, however, that he thought was already gone was still ever present.

He could see several silhouettes moving in front of him as his vision started to clear. And if he wasn't currently deaf from the weight of his thoughts, then he would have definitely recognized the hazy voices.

"..."

Rhys started looking around, and soon recognized the place he was in—he was on the roof of his dorm. And with his vision now completely clear, he saw Lex and his group of thugs that he calls friends. Lex seemed to be screaming something at him, but all Rhys could really hear was a whistle.

Even as Lex grabbed him by the neck and dragged him to the edge of the roof, Rhys's mind was completely afloat; very slowly, however, he could hear the drops of water falling on his shoulders.

"You fucking piece of shit. You are an eyesore."

"..." Rhys could finally understand Lex's words as he whispered loudly right beside his ear.

"Lowborns like you should have been aborted as a baby," Lex sucked in a breath as he tightened the grip on Rhys's neck, "They should have eradicated your kind in the concentration camps 80 years ago."

"Hm," Rhys only let out a muffled hum as he heard Lex's words. He had lost count of how many times he had heard those same exact words—they were white noise at this point. And so, instead of putting effort into listening to whatever Lex was saying, Rhys just turned his head down; his eyes… completely focused on the cold, hard asphalt at the bottom of the building.

"Pft," and this time, Rhys made a conscious effort to laugh. And with Lex gripping his neck, the burst of laughter that escaped his mouth cracked in the air—visceral…insane.

"What the fuck? I think he lost it, Lex!"

"I knew it, the guy's a pervert!"

"I think he likes you choking him!"

Lex's friends also started laughing—their laughter did not last long in the air, however, as Rhys suddenly hugged Lex.

"Wh—Let me go! Are you gay…eh?"

And before Lex could finish his words, he felt his vision shift. The floor that carried his weight, no longer touching his feet as Rhys suddenly, and unexpectedly leaned off the ledge.

"Don't worry, Lex," Rhys's laughter continued to fester the air even as the wind threatened to blow his face.

"I'm sure… you'll survive this," Rhys then calmly said as the both of them continued to fall toward the hard asphalt, "But I hope you'll be in prison."

"Are you crazy!?" Lex could really only scream as he looked at the approaching ground.

"Justice… this is justice," Rhys continued to laugh; his eyes that were now completely exposed, looking straight down to the ground. But then suddenly, out of nowhere…

…the ground opened up.

Oh—was the only word that Rhys could utter as they were swallowed by this dark, and malevolent pit.

A thousand years ago, Holes appeared on the ground—thousands of them summoning creatures that appeared and emerged from the Underworld, almost wiping out mankind. And now, a thousand years later…

…Rhys enters his first Hole…

…accidentally.