The Illusion Of Life

While Marlin was wandering through the village streets, he noticed a group of suspicious individuals moving stealthily through narrow alleys. They wore dark clothing, as though trying to conceal their identities. Although he felt uneasy, his curiosity drove him to follow them, sensing that something was off. He quietly trailed them, and they remained unaware of his presence.

Their steps led him to the edge of the village, where an old, dilapidated cabin stood, hidden behind dense trees. The place felt eerie, situated in a remote corner of the village, and a light mist surrounded it, adding to the sense of mystery. The cabin appeared abandoned, though it still seemed to harbor something unusual.

Marlin froze as he reached a large tree nearby and hid behind it. With quiet movements, he peered through the cracks in the cabin's walls. As he inched closer, a strange sensation filled the air, heightening his suspicions. And then, he froze completely.

Through the crack, he saw two eyes staring directly at him. They were the eyes of a corpse, unnaturally fixed, with half-closed eyelids and an unsettling stillness. The face was lifeless, with blood scattered around it, yet the eyes seemed to glimmer as if alive. Marlin's heart raced as his mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing. The body lay motionless on the ground, but those eyes... they were staring straight at him. A chilling sensation gripped his entire body, as if an icy cold had seeped into his very core. His limbs stiffened, and he could barely breathe.

It was the first time he had ever seen a corpse, and the sight was overwhelmingly terrifying. The stillness, the blood, the lifeless gaze—all of it was foreign to him, especially as someone from the modern world. This was beyond anything he had ever encountered. Despite the terror washing over him, Marlin managed to regain some control over his emotions. He almost ran, but he forced himself to remain still, trying to steady his breath.

Then, he overheard a conversation coming from inside the cabin. It was faint, but he could just make out the words:

"Have you completed the task assigned to you, Nine?" one of the voices asked.

Another voice responded, "Yes, the preparations are complete. I've planted bombs in over fifteen houses. It will be a perfect sacrifice for our god."

"Well done. If this operation succeeds, the Prophet himself will reward you. He will reward us all! Hahaha."

Marlin stayed hidden, trying to process the conversation. "Is this some kind of heretical group?" he wondered. "I need to report this to the police! But they seem dangerous... What if this is the start of something bigger?"

He hesitated. A part of him wanted to scream or draw attention to himself, but his fear overpowered him. He could not risk alerting them, and so, he quickly made up his mind to run toward the police station in the city center, his heart pounding in his chest as he fled from the dark cabin.

---

Inside the Cabin:

"There was a child listening, my lord. Why didn't you kill him?" one of them asked in a low, concerned voice.

The cloaked figure, his face concealed by a dark hood, replied coolly, "He seemed interesting. He managed to find our hideout despite the barrier I set."

The cloaked man turned to another figure in the room and said, "Seven, go and bring him alive."

"At your command, sir," Seven responded with a quiet voice.

The cloaked figure then added ominously, "Even if he reports us, unless the Church sends at least two Cardinals, nothing will stop us. It's too late."

Laughter echoed in the room, but there was a sinister undertone in it, as if they knew that what was happening now would lead to something much more dangerous.