Final Flame

Proof of Concept - Chapter 1

The snow slowly falls from the white sky, calmly landing upon the world it has turned into ruin. Its embrace was akin to the reaper's and those who did not believe that statement paid the price.

With each footstep I took, I could feel my boots dig further down into the layer covering the world around me. Both the sky and the earth were forever trapped in an endless prison of snow that never seemed to end.

Yet, strangely, despite this constant snowstorm, the level of snow remained the same at all time. It was never too high nor too low. Digging the snow would cause the hole to be covered in a matter of hours and piling everything into one large pile would cause it to miraculously vanish.

I don't know this from experience but some people told me that their attempts to create pathways were answered with this horrifying discovery.

While those memories briefly emerged from the back of my head, my gaze remained fixated in front of me, desperately trying to locate any shapes into the storm gnawing at my clothes... with varying degrees of success.

One of the worst aspects of this shithole would definitely be the visibility reduction caused by the snow constantly falling down. In addition, if whatever god you pray to decides to be an asshole, you can find yourself in the middle of a blizzard, unable to see further than your own hands.

Those conditions are perfect for the beasts lurking in the storm to jump on you and tear you apart. So far, the creatures I've seen who fell into madness by this strange weather were majoritarily humanoid but the half buried remains I've met on my way indicate a much... fierce presence in this land.

...

If you want to know how this all happened then you're shit out of luck. I don't know the first thing about it. One day, I woke up in the middle of Summer and found snow everywhere right before I saw a man get attacked by a woman, who immediately tore his back open in order to feast on him.

Nobody knows how this happened. However, words began to spread that the origin of this disaster came from a crack between worlds, a world that they firmly believed to be real with "proofs", take that statement as you will.

I didn't personally believe in those claims at first until I decided to follow what they said was a "perfect" and "flawless" way to enter. All you had to do was step inside a ruined shrine and step out after closing your eyes.

At this point, if this was a normal world, the people being told this information would realistically tell themselves "I'm gonna get shanked in a dark corner, aren't I?" and just leave it at that but normality is now long gone.

The main reason I went along with this was because of a sad truth that nobody can escape from: I don't have the energy to survive in this harsh world. I know my time is limited and if I have to die then I prefer dying while thinking that I'm investigating a possible end to this nightmare!

So, I did what the priests said and closed my eyes. I placed my hands in front of my eyes and counted to 10... which led me to where I currently am.

It didn't take me long to realize that it worked. A single foot outside was all I needed in fact. Right near the entrance, the corpse of a small girl with bruised wings welcomed me into this unknown territory. Bite marks indicated that an animal got her, at least I hope.

Gensokyo, the land of fantasy and dreams, I remember the priests mumble this name as they told me the way to enter.

"Nightmares would be more accurate, this place is like a large graveyard."