Author's Note (Published under Cloak Pop Fiction)

Kabanata 3

ADAMAS pulled the swivel chair while not removing his eyes to the two humans who dared calling him a pretender. The moment he heard those words, he couldn't think of anything else but to punish the two.

Such insolence.

If only they weren't his readers, he had already slashed them in pieces.

Crossing his legs, he sat. "Why aren't you two saying anything? Are you still not going to believe me?"

He clenched his fist, making the thread tighten on their body. Napasigaw ang dalawa sa sakit.

"N-naniniwala na ako!" saad ng babae. "Naniniwala na kami kaya puwede pakitanggal ito? Ayoko pa mamatay!"

"Hmm. Good." Kaagad niyang inalis ang kaniyang black thread sa kanilang katawan. He whispered something under his breath and without a second, the threads perished.

Hinintay niya ang dalawa na makatayo bago ituro ang kama. "Sit."

Sumunod naman ang dalawa pero may narinig siyang mga pagbulong.

"Makautos 'to. Hindi naman sa kaniya ang kuwarto."

Hindi niya ito pinansin at tinignan ang libro ni Noa. Kaagad na sumilay ang kaniyang ngiti habang hinahaplos ang pamalat. Ito ang unang pagkakataon na nakita at nahawakan niya ang libro ng kaniyang manunulat.

Muli niya itong niyakap nang mahigpit.

"Ah. My wordy Noa, the pages smell good." Binuklat niya libro at inamoy. Lumukso sa tuwa ang puso niya nang maamoy at maramdaman ang emosyong binuhos ng kaniyang manunulat sa bawat pahina.

Pinikit niya ang mga mata habang iinisip na nasa kaniyang harapan si Noa.

"Ang weird talaga niya."

"Oo nga, Gon. What to do?"

Napatigil siya sa ginagawa. Sinuot na niya ulit ang kaniyang black veil bago inikot ang swivel chair upang tignan ang dalawa.

"You two. Answer me." He paused for a moment and crossed his arms. "How did I get here?"

"Huh?!" Kaagad na napasigaw ang dalawa sa kaniyang tanong. Tinuro siya ng babae. "Kami dapat ang nagtatanong sa 'yo niyan. Paano ka nakarating dito?!"

Napaisip naman siya. If he could remember correctly, the system restarted to fix the damage done by the quest. Hindi niya pa naranasang mag-restart ang system kaya hindi siya sigurado kung ganito ba dapat ang mangyayari sa kanila.

The Fictosa and the real dimension, Earth, had a clear-cut boundary. Humans and fictional characters shouldn't meet, and it was the system's job to prevent the two from crossing each other.

Him showing up here could only mean one thing. The system malfunctioned.

He tried calling the system earlier too, but it wasn't showing up. The more reason for him to believe about his guess.

The system was damaged more than he could imagine. But oh well, he wasn't feeling worried at all.

He felt happy instead.

He let out a chuckle as he thought of something. "I am not sure how I got here, too. Maybe it's the system's fault."

"The system?" the guy asked.

Tumango naman siya bilang tugon. Pinasadahan ng tingin ni Adamas ang dalawa. Isang maliit na ngiti ang gumuhit sa kaniyang mga labi nang hindi na niya makita ang kulay ng takot sa dalawa.

Good.

Muli niyang inikot ang tingin sa buong kuwarto. Hindi ito masiyadong kalakihan. Nagkalat ang kurtina, libro at mga basag na salamin dahil sa lakas ng presyon ng kapangyarihan niya kanina.