Chapter 8
Aarav continued trembling beneath the blanket while desperately reciting prayers under his breath.
"God please save me…"
"I swear I'll never hurt anyone again…"
"Please save me from this curse…"
Meanwhile
inside the ring
Vyom Dravik was equally confused.
"WHY ON EARTH AM I HERE?!"
"SHOULDN'T I HAVE DIED LAST NIGHT?!"
"WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING?!"
His voice echoed loudly inside Aarav's head, nearly making him cry again.
"Aaaaaaaaa…"
Aarav immediately wrapped the blanket tighter around himself.
After several moments of panicking, Vyom slowly forced himself to calm down.
"…Okay."
"…Calm down first."
A brief silence followed.
Then Vyom cautiously muttered,
"So… where exactly am I right now?"
Aarav hesitated for several seconds before finally gathering enough courage to respond.
"W-Who… who are you…?"
Vyom immediately sounded offended.
"What do you mean 'who are you'?!"
"I should be asking YOU that question!"
For a brief moment, Vyom tried looking around through the ring's vision.
Then suddenly
he paused.
"…Why do you look so big?"
Aarav blinked in confusion.
"…Big?"
Vyom ignored the question completely.
"…Wait…"
For a moment
he carefully stared at Aarav's face.
Something about him felt strangely familiar.
Aarav, still terrified, hurriedly answered before the voice could curse him again.
"I-I'm Aarav Valden…"
"…and this is my room."
The moment Vyom heard the name
he went completely silent.
Aarav slowly became nervous again.
"…H-Hello?"
"Are you still there?"
Then Aarav quickly continued asking questions.
"Why are you inside my ring?!"
"And how did you even possess it?!"
But Vyom completely ignored him.
Instead
his voice suddenly became serious.
"Kid."
"What's today's date?"
Aarav blinked.
"…Huh?"
"The date."
Vyom's tone became impatient.
"What's today's date right now?"
Aarav hesitated slightly before answering.
"…16th June, 890."
"…Why are you asking?"
The room suddenly became silent again.
Then Aarav heard faint mumbling coming from the ring.
"Wait…"
"So yesterday was the academy opening ceremony…"
Vyom suddenly stopped speaking.
Then without warning ,he bluntly asked,
"…Shouldn't you have committed suicide yesterday by jumping off the cliff?"
The room froze instantly.
A vein slowly bulged on Aarav's forehead.
Fear,shock,and anger.,all mixed together at once.
"W-What…?"
Aarav's breathing became uneven.
"How do you know about that…?"
Vyom sounded equally disturbed.
"…No."
"That's impossible."
"You were supposed to die yesterday."
Aarav immediately exploded.
"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID CURSED RING!"
"How do you know all this?!"
"You creepy ghost!"
Just as Vyom was about to continue .Aarav suddenly grabbed the ring tightly.
"Get out, you damaged curse!"
Aarav immediately started trying to pull the ring off his finger.
Seeing this Vyom panicked slightly too.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT!"
"DON'T JUST RANDOMLY PULL ME!"
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU REMOVE IT!"
But because of Aarav's chubby fingers,the ring was completely stuck.
Aarav pulled harder.
Nothing happened.
He pulled again with all his strength.
Still nothing.
Watching the desperate struggle
Vyom suddenly burst out laughing.
"PFFT—"
"Hahahahaha!"
"You can't even take the ring off!"
Aarav's face immediately turned red from embarrassment.
"Sh-Shut up!"
"Shut up, you stupid ring!"
"Shut up shut up shut up!"
After struggling for another full minute, Aarav finally gave up and collapsed backward onto the bed while breathing heavily.
Meanwhile Vyom slowly calmed down again.
"…Sorry, kid."
His tone became quieter this time.
"My name is Vyom Dravik."
"…Leader of Dravik guild."
Aarav's eyes widened instantly.
"W-Wait…"
"The Vyom Dravik?!"
"My father and brother went to your funeral this morning!"
A brief silence followed.
Then Vyom quietly answered,
"…Maybe."
For a moment his voice sounded strangely distant. Then he quietly muttered to himself,
"So I really did die, huh…"
The room became silent again.
This time even Aarav didn't know what to say.
Eventually, Aarav hesitantly spoke again.
"Wait…"
"How do you know I was going to commit suicide?"
"I-I mean…"
"I only went there on impulse…"
Vyom let out a long exhausted sigh.
Then quietly replied,
"Well, kid…"
"Looks like I'll have to depend on you from now on."
A brief silence filled the room.
Then Vyom slowly spoke again.
"…So I guess I should reveal my secret."
Aarav nervously swallowed.
"Boy…"
Vyom's voice became unusually serious.
"I want you to carefully listen to whatever I say next."
"This might be a little too much for your brain to handle."
Aarav's expression slowly stiffened.
"…What?"
Vyom paused briefly before continuing.
"What if I told you…"
"…that the world you live in isn't actually real?"
Aarav blinked.
"The hell does that even mean?"
Vyom's tone remained calm.
"This entire world…"
"…is part of a novel."
"The people."
"The wars."
"The kingdoms."
"All of it follows something called the plot."
Vyom continued speaking seriously.
"According to that plot, within the next five years this kingdom will be consumed by civil war."
"After that, the Empire invades."
"And later comes the Demon Lord crisis."
"The only person capable of saving—"
Suddenly—
Aarav burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
He held his stomach while laughing uncontrollably.
"Demon Lord?!"
"What is this stupid nonsense?!"
Aarav wiped tears from his eyes while struggling to breathe.
"Looks like your brain got buried along with your corpse!"
Vyom remained completely serious.
"Kid."
"I'm not joking."
Aarav continued laughing.
Then Vyom quietly spoke again.
"Fine."
"If you don't believe me…"
"…does the name Lucian ring a bell?"
Aarav's laughter immediately weakened.
Vyom continued calmly.
"The guy your fiancée secretly has feelings for."
Silence.
Aarav's smile slowly disappeared.
His jaw tightened slightly.
Vyom's voice became colder.
"Or should I mention the men you secretly hired to attack Lucian?"
Aarav froze completely.
His mouth opened slightly then closed again.
Sweat slowly formed across his forehead.
Vyom continued mercilessly.
"Or maybe I should talk about the real reason you wanted to jump off that cliff yesterday."
"The entire academy isolated you after the attack."
"You became a joke."
"A burden."
"A disappointment."
Aarav's hands slowly trembled.
Then Vyom delivered the final blow.
"Or should I recite your suicide note too?"
Aarav's pupils shook violently.
Vyom's voice echoed quietly inside his head.
'Thank you for everything you've done for me.'
'I'm sorry I couldn't make you proud, Mother and Father.'
"You scribbled over the bottom three times before finally signing your name."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Aarav's breathing became uneven.
Fear slowly replaced every trace of mockery on his face.
Then suddenly Vyom finally snapped.
"IS THIS ENOUGH PROOF FOR YOU, AARAV?!"
The shout echoed violently through Aarav's mind.
For the first time since hearing the voice Aarav truly became afraid.