Side Character's Curse

4|| Glitch

The human body is not designed to withstand a dragon's flames.

My throat burned. Red-hot bolts of electricity jolted through my body as every nerve was set on fire. Tears sprung to my eyes, but I clenched my fist and continued until I was sure I'd charbroiled the attacker.

Black soot tainted the previously grey walls. Heat pressed down upon me like an oppressive reminder of the summer's day. The ground sizzled and smoked, tainting the air with a smokey stench that even I could barely handle. Even if the fire didn't kill him, his lungs should have shrivelled up from the smoke.

And yet, the man didn't step away.

I don't think he even flinched.

"Whew!" He chuckled, a sound tinged with a certain madness that came from the damned. He ruffled his already messy, corpse-ash coloured hair, the edges of his lips curving up into a bright smile. "That was quite dramatic!"

"Who are you?" I demanded, my words sounding more hoarse than I would have liked. I cleared my throat, scales hardening around my fist. I was tired from releasing my powers in such a concentrated form, but I couldn't afford to relax. "I said, who are you?"

His slate-coloured eyes widened and he pressed a hand to his chest as if he'd committed a crime. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Rowan, a Dreamer. And your name is...?"

I sucked in a breath, frozen to the spot. A Dreamer? "I– I'm Jia, Story Traveller."

"No, I meant the name given to you before you entered this body."

I recoiled at his words; my chest twinged and I clenched my jaw in an attempt to ignore the pain. "Jia is fine. What did you mean earlier when you said you were waiting for me?"

"Well, dragon-shifter." Rowan plopped down and crossed his legs, acting as if this was a picnic. He rested his head on a closed fist. "When I said waiting for you, I meant someone like you– a Story Traveller."

I leaned back, drawing my knees up in preparation for a well-aimed kick if Rowan tried anything. "Why do you want to meet a Story Traveller?"

Something odd flashed across his face- nostalgia? Sadness?- but it was swiftly replaced by an impish grin. "Ooh, are we playing twenty questions? I think it's my turn to ask a question now. Do you remember–"

"I don't have time for this," I hissed, stumbling to my feet. A wave of dizziness crashed over me and my knees buckled. I shouldn't have pushed my limits earlier.

"Woah!" Faster than I could blink, Rowan was by my side, his arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me up. "Careful."

I tried to push him back, but there was no strength behind my action. My stomach flipped over and It was as if some cosmic being had pulled the world from beneath my feet and I was falling and falling–

"Hey, snap out of it!"

I gasped and lurched forward. I retched, but nothing bubbled up in my throat.

"There you go." Rowan patted my back as I leaned against him. "I've got you. Let it all out."

I exhaled shakily, wiping my mouth and took three deep breaths before speaking, "What do you want?"

His brows knitted together and he pressed a hand against my forehead. "You're burning up! How long have you been using your powers?"

I swatted him away and stumbled back, trying to put distance between us to clear my head. My mind was torn with the desire to know the intentions of this Dreamer, but I was painfully aware that time was running out. I couldn't afford to ignore the system's warnings. Not after what happened last time.

I closed my eyes and steeled my nerves. "Dreamer."

"Rowan. You can even call me Ro if you prefer–"

"Dreamer." I gritted my teeth and cut in, not liking how a grin remained plastered on his face. "I do not have the time to engage in your antics, so I shall be–"

"Aren't you wondering why the system hasn't bothered you yet?"

I stilled. The hairs on the back of my neck rose and a chill shot down my spine. Now that he'd pointed it out, I hadn't heard the irritating pings since he'd dragged me into this alley.

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his grimy trousers and crossed his right leg over his left one as he leaned against the wall with a nonchalant shrug. "Haven't you met a Dreamer before?"

"No," I forced out the word. I hadn't met anyone outside of the story's characters. "Are you stopping the system from communicating with me?"

He hummed and nodded. "Something like that. You can think of it like my presence is blocking the notifications from actually getting to you."

"Wait, wait." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "So, you're telling me that the story will progress and the system is still sending me the messages, but I just can't read it?"

Rowan nodded. "Precisely."

"What happens when you leave?"

"Then all the effects that were stopped will hit you with full force."

"What?" Bile rose to the back of my throat. "Why didn't you say this earlier?"

"You didn't ask."

The system is going to kill me. I raised my hand and pressed it against the wall.

As soon as my fingers made contact with a brick, they dissolved into a series of green ones and zeroes.

I leaped back, heart hammering in my chest. I looked down and blinked. The numbers disappeared, replaced with Jia's normal body.

It's just a hallucination from the stress. I thought. Just a hallucination. Just a hallucination. Just a—

"Holy shit your skin turned green!"

I closed my eyes. "No. I— no. It did not."

"Yes, it did! I saw it. Just now." Rowan pointed, ruffling his hair again with a slight laugh. "Man, you're really going to piss off the system."

"What are you talking about?" I snapped, scratching at a spot on the back of my hand.

"You're glitching. Somehow, the story is going off-track because of your actions, and the plot is trying to remove your existence as the identified anomaly."   

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Total word count: 5749 

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