Prologue: The night isn’t young, it’s something to fear

"The sun has run away,

Light has forgotten to shine through the day;

Time is of essence,

In the game of existences;

The truth is apparent but goes unspoken,

The end is near, the Dice has awoken."

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'My head....'

My head hurts.

A throbbing headache that seems to tear my brain into two and grind it into mincemeat.

Then, there comes the fever.

Even without any tools or help, I can feel myself heating up like a veggie being cooked in hot water.

As if to say that this is not enough, I'm also soon welcomed by an intense pain in my chest that immediately starts to run rampant inside my body.

'It hurts...' – My mind doesn't work properly and as a result, I can't even think of priorities or any proper thoughts right now.

Just going with the flow, would be the best way to describe me right now.

'Ah...' – I feel my mouth opening while I dumbly let out a soundless groan.

Memories.

Some sort of film starts to play right in front of me, however, there is something amiss.

Or rather, a few things.

The film has several cuts that seem to be missing parts of the film. One time it is on a street, in the next moment it is somehow on an airplane.

As I kept watching the film in a daze with an empty mind, I soon find that the film is cut short by the abrupt ending.

One that sucked me into the "screen".

*Thud*

"Ah." – A small groan escape my lips as I felt like I just fell from the rooftop of a building.

The headache starts to fade away, leaving only a hot feeling inside my head as proof that this thing even happened.

The pain in my chest recedes but doesn't vanish completely as I can still feel a small tinge of it.

*Cough*

*Cough*

My chest suddenly felt strange, like small needles were prickling my lungs and something pressing my chest as if contracting air.

My arms immediately flail around and land on the ground, or in whatever I'm laying on before I roll myself just enough to be in a sideway position.

*Cough*

*Cough*

*Cough*

Coughing uncontrollably, I soon find myself pushing my body to sit up before I fully concentrate on coughing my lungs out of my chest.

The feeling I had earlier returns in full bloom and something starts to slither its way up my esophagus.

*Gag*

The air that I was spewing out of my mouth abruptly stops and like a vacuum, I involuntarily suck it before coughing even more violently.

*COUGH*

I feel like something just escaped my body, or rather, my mouth. It was relatively long, I think around the length from the tip of my fingers to my elbow.

The strangest thing is that I felt that this thing was formless, like a puff of concentrated air or gas.

However, be it as it may, it wasn't a pleasant sensation.

I spend a few minutes or what feels like it stabilizing myself.

Raising my hand to my forehead, I touch it there and freeze.

Now that the most pressing matter has been dealt with, I finally start to take in things.

First, my surroundings.

Or rather, the lack of one.

Darkness. A pitch-black void with no forms or shapes, colors, or even a tiny optical detail.

The only reason that I don't assume that I died or am in the void or something like that is that besides feeling pain just a few seconds prior, I can hear the sounds of small bugs in the distance, and…

'I am blind.' – This is a natural conclusion that comes to mind. It's with such naturalness that it feels as if I'm just remembering an old fact.

And it might be that, actually.

Although I'm currently blind, my other senses seem to be working properly or better than they should be.

My nose catches a mix of several scents around me.

Herbs, spoiled food, dust mixed with wood, the scent of humid grass, and the most concerning one…

The scent of death.

Not in the metaphorical sense, but literally. There is something around here that is deeply interlinked with death and it's by no small amount.

However, this isn't the worst I have been through, or that I have been shown through the pieces of what appears to be my memories.

Then, the sounds of small bugs, gusts of wind, and the creaking of some doors or windows enter my ears making them perk up.

'Wait, what?' – Just now I felt a small foreign yet familiar sensation.

Raising one of my hands, I reach for the crown of my head and before touching my hair, I feel my fingers touching something.

And I didn't feel only through my fingers.

I felt something scratching my ears.

'What?' – My mind spins quickly and I arrive at the conclusion about what I just felt.

My ears.

Lupine-like ears.

'I have wolf ears…' – This realization throws me into a strange state of discomfort because I feel that this is unnatural, but also feel as if I always had those things all my life.

It was like having delusions due to fever and then trying to discern if they are real or not.

Not minding my confusion in the slightest, my senses once again take me off guard as I feel something moving behind me.

Aware of what is on my head, I slowly move my hand back and grab the thing behind me.

A small shiver runs up my spine

"A f*cking tail…" – A whisper escapes my lips as I'm once again assaulted by that sense of strangeness.

*Ring*

My attention is immediately caught by a sudden sound of a telephone ringing.

*Ring*

'It's close.' – The sound is coming from somewhere close to me. Maybe 5 or so meters away.

*Ring*

Noticing no signs of someone coming to pick it up and having no clue as to what is going on, where I am, how I ended up here, and who I truly am, I decide to go pick it up, maybe I will have a clue to something.

Moving my hand to the side, I notice that I actually am not on the ground, but on top of something.

'It's a bed.' – Noticing the slight sense of softness underneath me, this is most likely a hard bed or a cushion.

Moving my hands to determine the width and length of the bed, I then shift my position to sit with my legs falling from the bed.

*Tack*

*Ring*

As the telephone shows no sign of stopping, my attention is grabbed by the weird sensation on my legs.

'What is this?' – I can't feel my feet and chins.

Moving downward, I use my hands to feel my legs and my suspicion is confirmed.

First, I at least have some clothes on, though they seem to be somewhat worn out.

Second and foremost, I don't have legs.

Rather, I have them until my knees, but from then and below is what I can understand as wooden prostheses, pirate-like ones.

On both of my legs.

*Ring*

"…"

*Ring*

"…"

*Ring*

'Screw this.' – I decide to not think about it.

Raising from my(?) bed(?), I put both of my prostheses on the ground and try to stand up.

And immediately I feel my balance going out of control.

First, my legs feel strange, due to the prostheses I have the sensation of something unexpectedly soft always pressing against my knees, but this coupled with the lack of the feeling of touching the ground with my feet throws me out of my comfort zone. It's like I know I can stand up and walk, but the feeling is so alien to me that it feels like I'm doing something for the first time.

Second, my tail, for whatever reason, has around 1/3 or ¼ of my body's center of gravity. I feel that its movement can slightly shift where my weight is leaning to.

Third, my senses went from simply being sharp to the point where I can feel some kind of aura or presence around me.

I can roughly make out where the bed and what appear to be the walls are.

*Ring*

With another ringing, my focus shifts again to pick up the incoming call.

Awkwardly moving my feet with slow steps to avoid falling, the ringing starts to get louder and louder the closer I go to the source of the sound.

*Ring*

Finally arriving close enough for me to feel an "aura" around where the sound comes from, I move my hands to where I feel that is close to the telephone.

I feel what appears to be wood through my hands.

'Furniture?' – I move my hands sideways, downward, and then upward, where I feel a plain space, around the highest height I can go.

'Am I shorty or is this thing that tall?' – I ask myself while using my hand to search this plain space before my fingers touch a cold metallic thing.

*Ring*

'This must be it.' – Touching it again, I move my hand and confirm that this is indeed something resembling a telephone with an old design.

After a bit more searching, I finally grab the hook with my hand.

Bringing it to my ears, I notice that I don't have them at the side of my head, so I shift to my upper ones.

"Tu….tu….tu…" – An empty call welcomes me.

I slightly wince at the loudness and distance it a bit more from my ears.

"Eh… Hello?" – Not knowing what to make out of the call, I end up giving a simple greeting.

"Tu…tu…tu….tu….tu...*Click*" – A sudden clicking sound at the end of the call got my attention.

"194(AEHPGJ_+#QWT8"!$;RHTJ;#WAAG;"!#(@)AGHRJY7£9P9K}€{®=]{¢}£})" – Strange words and sounds suddenly echoed from the telephone. Sounds like something splashing, claws being dragged on a blackboard and other eerie sounds keep echoing through the telephone.

'Wha-'

"Tu…tu…tu… *Pick up*"

"…" – I fell silent when I heard the sound of the call getting through.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Klaux." – A genderless and eerie voice greets me.

'Klaux? Is that my name?' – I push such doubts back and focus on the situation. – "Good afternoon, Mr… Mrs?" – I don't know what they are.

"You can call me Guide. It's how the people around here usually call me." – The more I hear its voice, the eerier I felt. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like something is going to happen to me, like someone is gripping my heart or that there is someone here with me. It's discomforting, to say the least, and sadly, I can only keep going since this is the only lead I have in this situation.

"Now, now, to what matters, welcome to hell." – It said in mock cheerfulness.

"…" – I feel my mind blanking and the information simply enters one ear and exits from the other.

'Is this dude serious?' – This thought quickly pop up in my mind.

Not minding my confusion, the Guide started to speak again; a slight feeling of dread starts to bloom inside my heart this time, something akin to a bad omen.

"Before you panic or shrug it off, I will say that this is not literally hell, but a place that can be considered one." – It explained before giving me a few seconds to digest this new information.

"Ok, so this isn't hell but is like one. Now what?" – I asked while not even trying to refute those absurd words, I don't think it would serve any purpose to do so.

I'm beyond surprised about all of this, of course, flabbergasted, if I may. However, I don't understand a single thing to even try to refute, I'm as lost as I can. Hence, I can only force some calmness and try to make heads or tails out of everything that is being thrown at me.

"Hum… You're quite calm for a Shattered." – It mused for a bit before diverting the topic. – "Let's put this aside, you have little time before the night arrives, and I will advise you that staying out of a "safe zone" at night isn't the smartest of the ideas."

"…" – Would it be too much to ask this dude to actually explain something that makes sense?

However, as if sensing my question, the Guide beat me by speaking first.

"Right now you must be confused since your memories should be cracked, missing, shattered, or completely wiped out, isn't that right?" – Its question sounded more like a rhetorical one, as if it was already used to dealing with or hearing of such cases.

"Yes." – My memories right now are scattered and some even missing. I have some, but even the ones I have aren't of much help in having something that I could use to help me remember who I am. And if that wasn't enough, I can barely relate to them, it's like I'm just seeing someone's else memories or life.

However, the strangest thing isn't that I have memory problems.

But the fact that I'm not eager to recover my memories. I don't know why, but I don't feel any will or an appeal to recover them.

Neither I feel like they are "precious" to me.

Maybe it's because I'm still confused or maybe it's even something else, but be it as it may, I will solve this later.

"Guessed so. Now, I will give you a basic rundown of how things work here. First, you can always talk with me if you use a telephone. You just need to pick it up, wait a few seconds, and then greet me, this will connect you with me." – Ok, this is very suspicious. – "Now, think the word "profile" in your mind."

As I already learned to not try to use logic with the Guide, I just did as instructed and something appeared in the void I call vision.

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Name: Klaux Williams (von Kryzchk)

Gender: Male Age: 28 years (mentally)

Height: 1,57 m Weight: 45 kg

Race: Lycanthrope Existential Level: 1

Titles: Shattered; ???; Dice's Darling; Sleepy-head.

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[Strength]: 1

[Dexterity]: 1

[Constitution]: 1

[Wisdom]: 1

[Agility]: 1

[Luck]: ?

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[Talents]: Lazy Mind / Polar Star / Internal Clock / Instinct

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[Blessings]: Dice / The Three Things to Enjoy Life [Singularity-derived]

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[Mystical Arts]:

Clothes – Fashion

Healing – Rest

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[Singularity]: The Three Things to Enjoy Life – Lvl 0

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[Techniques]: CQC (Lvl 1) / Track (Lvl 1) / Acrobatics (Lvl 2)

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'What is this?' – I can't help but question myself upon "seeing" this… sheet?

I know that it is related to me and appears to describe me objectively, but this is still strange to see.

"What you are seeing now is a mental projection of what is called "profile", a useful feature of the Akasha System, something we use here." – The Guide quickly explained the outline before following on. – "This "profile" serves to show you your statuses in a more palpable way, however, it is just this, it just shows them and nothing else, keep that in mind."

Ok, so this thing is for informational purposes only. Duly noted.

As I was musing in my thoughts, a wave of sleepiness, or rather, lethargy washed over my body.

My body felt like a huge block of lead when I tried to move and hunger started to settle in.

I was starting to feel hungry, starving, as if I hadn't had a single meal in my whole life, it was starting to hurt my stomach, that was the magnitude of this hunger, it was clearly an abnormal thing.

"It seems like you are starting to feel its effect. Well, don't worry, it wouldn't kill you, though it wouldn't be exactly pleasant either." – The Guide's ominous words brought my attention back to the call.

"Before you ask, I have nothing to do with it and neither can explain it to you, you have to discover what it is on your own." – It quickly struck the hint of doubt that was starting to rise inside me. – "You don't have much time, Mr. Klaux. Right now, you're in an old clinic in the outer area, I will pass on some instructions so you can survive the first night and hopefully make it to "tomorrow" in one piece." – The stretch in "tomorrow" for some reason increased the feeling of dread inside me.

"Ok, I'll put aside my questions for now, but can I trust that they will be answered tomorrow or later today?" – Truthfully, I have only gone with the flow to see where it will take me because I didn't want to think about myself. I don't know who I'm; I don't know what I want to do with my life; I don't know what this "Night" is; I know nothing, and this is starting to create a sense of anxiety inside me that I've been constantly pushing back because of more "urgent matters".

"…" – This time, the Guide went silent and I felt a sense of uneasiness along with my heart slightly clenching.

"I will open an exception for you." – The voice came from the telephone, however, I could feel something behind me, something that blared alarms in my head. "However, you will owe me one, Mr. Klaux." – Something slightly pressed against my nape and traced down my spine, evoking a shiver along with goosebumps.

I felt my hair stand on end, my tail goes stiff, my ears twitch utterly stopping moving, and my body stiffen.

"That was a greeting. I hope we have a long cooperation, Mr. Klaux." – The presence vanished as if a lie, and only then I noticed that my clothes had clung to my body due to my cold sweat.

"Y-Yeah." – I managed to get those words out.

"You're lucky that the clinic you're in is quite hidden, so it will be easier to make the adjustments." – The Guide commented before I heard a low sound near me.

It sounded like the wind caressing a piece of paper. Something barely audible but my ears managed to pick it up nevertheless.

"In the left inner pocket of your jacket, you'll find a piece of paper that will help you in doing the little things necessary for you to pass the night inside one of the houses in the "scenario"." – Again, the slight stretch in the last word gave me a weird feeling. - "And don't worry, I will answer some of your questions if you survive until tomorrow. Well, as far as "tomorrow" goes here. Anyway, it was a pleasure to chat with you, even if briefly, Mr. Klaux. I wish you luck in your endeavors." – I don't know how, but I felt that it just grinned.

"May your night be one with a beautiful moon. *Hangs up* Tu…tu…tu…tu…"

I stood there, still not moving, with the phone's hook in my hands while I try to understand and piece the tidbits of useful information I got.

First, the night is dangerous, for whatever reason. This is the most obvious one due to the Guide repeatedly advising me about it.

Second, it looks like I need to do a few things to prepare for the night.

'My left inner pocket, huh.' – I finally put the hook back in its place and use my hands to feel my clothes, trying to find the area of my inner pockets.

It didn't take much time as this is quite a simple task, even if I don't see anything.

However, midway through my little search, I found out that strangely enough, I know what I'm wearing and exactly where I'm touching my clothes.

I'm wearing a green jacket with white details, black shorts, and my underwear.

It's like a mental image where I can perfectly see the clothes, their colors, and how they look.

'Another strange thing to the list.' – I noted inwardly before pulling up what I feel that is an old piece of paper from my inner pocket.

The thing has a crisp texture, a slight scent of mint, and an odd feeling to it. I can't explain what it is but it surely rubs me in the wrong way for some reason.

As soon as I took the thing out of my pocket, I feel it start to vibrate.

Before I could even think of anything, the piece of paper flew out of my hand.

And as if that wasn't weird enough, I already could feel some sort of "aura" on it, something like an atmosphere or a "mood", thus I could more or less feel where it went.

And this is where my mild surprise came from as I feel the paper floating in front of me.

'This thing can fly?' – I dumbfounded faced it.

However, the paper paid no attention to my surprise and I felt its aura getting weaker and weaker.

'Wait, is it going away?' – I can feel the slight scent of mint on the paper going further and further away from me.

'The Guide said that it would help me in doing things. Is it perhaps trying to guide me somewhere?' – This might be the case, but I'll follow it first.

*Tack*

*Tack*

With the sound of my wooden prostheses produced when touching the ground, I found a wall to lean on and with my hand on it, followed where the scent of mint went, since the aura had gotten too weak for me to feel it.

Barely a few steps following the scent, I notice a door in front of me and the faint aura of the paper in the room behind said door.

Raising one hand, I notice that the door is creaked open already, so I only push it a bit and enter the room.

As soon as I enter the room, my nose wrinkles as new odors assault me.

'Blood, old furniture, and…' – My thoughts are cut short as I focus all my attention on where the paper is.

Or rather, to something close to the paper.

I don't know what it is, but I can feel a small chill traveling my spine as I notice its aura.

It has a sinister aura, something that causes someone to be uncomfortable by simply being in the same room.

I can't exactly put it into words, but it is bad, really, really bad.

'I have to go there, right?' – I rhetorically asked myself before slowly making my way there.

*Tack*

After stopping in front of it, I notice the paper getting slightly warmer.

<Pick it up and turn it down, then put it back.>

I don't know how, but I heard a whisper in my ears making them twitch.

"…" – Why does everything have to be so suspicious?

Moving my hands toward it, I grab the object and notice that it has a rectangular shape and is relatively small.

This is…

'A picture?' – Its shape resembles one.

Not dwelling much on it, I turn it down to face the ground and then put it back in its place.

*Fush*

With the sound of a gust of wind passing through, I felt the sinister aura on the object get weaker and weaker until it completely vanished a few seconds later.

"…" – I won't even say anything anymore.

<Go back.>

I once again hear a whisper and when I turn to where the paper is, the wind starts blowing with fierceness.

A chill travels up my spine.

However, unlike before, this one is accompanied by a strangely familiar feeling.

The feeling of death.

<Hide.>

I didn't need it to tell me as I was already moving.

Using my senses to determine from where that feeling was coming, I went to the opposite side.

In a hurry, I worked my senses to the best I could and managed to pick the aura of something with a "shape" resembling a desk.

I didn't waste time and went behind the desk before diving down and using it as a cover.

And as soon as I dived down, the feeling of dread washed through the room.

*Badump*

My heart skipped a beat as I felt like I had a scythe on my neck.

*Sniff*

*Sniff*

I heard something sniffing.

Its sound was audible enough for me to notice that whatever it was, was huge and by a large margin.

With seconds that felt like an eternity passing by, the range in which I could perceive things gradually increased and I soon arrived at where I felt the feeling coming from.

Something huge, sinister, hostile, hungry, and… mad?

My nose picked up the strong scent of blood, filth, sweat, dead, and something I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

*Grunt*

A grunting caught my attention and I felt the presence trying to come close.

*Bam*

*Grunt*

*Bam*

'It looks like it can't come in.' – Is it too big?

As I was thinking of ways to get out of here, my senses suddenly went overdrive and the world seemed to slow down.

*Bell chime*

It was a graceful sound.

Something beautiful.

A sound pleasant to the ears.

However, I felt my whole body shudder in dread.

Something is coming.

And it's accompanied by death.

*Roar*

*Howl*

*Hiss*

*Shriek*

*Neigh*

*Horn*

A cacophony of sounds immediately started to spread outside and quite loudly at that.

The thing that was on the door also increased its pace and started to ram itself faster on what I presume to be the front of the clinic in an attempt to get in.

<Run back.>

<Now.>

When I came to myself, I noticed that I was already behind the door and closing it.

My body moved on its own.

*Grunt*

"Oawaaaahhh!!!" – The thing that was trying to get in let out a primal scream and intensified its efforts.

I also could feel an oppressive gaze on me as I closed the door.

*Roar*

*Howl*

"OOOOOOOOWAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!" – And the scream sounded again, this time, however, in pain.

*Shriek*

*Bam*

"OOOOwaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh…."

*Bam*

"Owaaaah…"

*Bam*

*Neigh*

*Thud*

I suddenly felt the faint traces of its aura get weaker and weaker.

However, my attention was on whatever happened to that thing.

*Shriek*

*Neigh*

*Bam*

I pressed my whole body on the door and leaned all my weight on it as something rammed on the door. Whatever that was outside, it wants in.

And then, I felt it.

This time, I could feel it clearly.

The floor;

The ceiling;

The windows;

The bed;

The desks;

The door;

The whole room;

The outside.

The aura of death…

It's everywhere.

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*Ding dong*

[The night has arrived. The Dice has awoken.]

[For those who are alive, prepare for tonight's play.]

[As for those who aren't, there is no need to cry, for they don't exist anymore.]

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A weak smile appeared on my face.

'So this is what they call "hell".'

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A/N: Hello there, I hope you're having a wonderful day!

So, for those who already knew me, I'm back with the rewritten version of Accursed Dices.

I appreciate any constructive criticism and welcome it since I'm still a newbie in writing novels, so any opinions and feedback are very much welcome (as long as it is with respect and not hate), even if it's a "thanks for the chapter", you all don't know how much this helps us authors in getting even more motivated to write.

Comment what you thought about this chapter. If you liked it or not, I want to read your opinions and interact more with you guys.

Especially, comment what you think about the POV. Do you all prefer a narrative in 3rd person or in 1st person like this chapter? By the way, comment your opinions on reading the POV of a blind character. This will help me in understanding if you like this kind of descriptive narrative or prefer one that only pick some details from the surroundings instead of the one I used.

Also, join our Discord community, there you can interact with other readers or with me in case you have questions or ideas about/ for the novel.

Discord server: https://discord.gg/NZV2EtdJY8

(The link is also on the novel's synopsis).

That is all for today, thank you all for reading! 🍷😎