Rhodes Island does not exist.

Rhodes Island does not exist. Author: Pomegranate Doll

The Doctor is trapped in a twisted, tall building called Rhodes Island.

Countless oddities filled the cracks of this building, squeezing out and stripping away all common sense, driving it out of the world.

He tried to escape from here, but failed repeatedly.

All that accompanied him were base fears, a helpless soul, and a disturbing woman.

A rational person will witness the full extent of fear, and only by going completely insane can one avoid being overwhelmed by it.

So, when you face fear, do you want to be a wise man or a madman?

-

Some of the settings are based on other works.

Chapter 1, Part 1: Leaning Down to Kiss the Lips of Emptiness

The things that appear before my eyes make no sense whatsoever.

The professor stood on the rooftop of the building, looking down at the view below.

That is emptiness.

An intoxicating void.

The fluorescent stars are scattered across the murky curtain, weaving a colorful black tapestry.

And above his head was the sea.

The water was a deep blue and clear, surging and rolling with waves, and tasted fishy, ​​salty and bitter.

Is the azure sky its true color? Is it so distant that it has no end?

Is the blue of the sky and the blue of the sea the same color? Or is it possible that the sky is part of the sea?

But if that's really the case, then where is the entrance to this building, this tower, this apartment, or rather... this prison?

How did I get into this place?

The doctor removed his hood and leaned desperately against the railing at the edge of the rooftop, his empty eyes gazing into the abyss below.

He thought that once he reached the rooftop, he would be able to figure out the structure of the building and the way out.

However, the rooftop was just an illusion.

He couldn't even manage to look at the sky.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Open the door! Open the door now! Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!!!!"

Outside the isolation door at the entrance to the rooftop, the sounds of smashing and breaking rang out like a dense percussion ensemble. Countless twisted shrieks from different individuals condensed into a mournful howl, demanding the attention of the doctor just a wall away.

He knew that his desperate gamble had failed.

He had hoped to use this opportunity to reach the rooftop to test whether his escape route was feasible, but he could only admit defeat in the face of overwhelming reality.

The strange creatures that had been drawn by his fragrance along the way finally arrived, their mouths watering. They were all beasts filled with endless hunger, wanting nothing more than to devour the doctoral student alive.

Since that's the case, it's better to throw yourself into the abyss.

Feeling the growing pressure behind him and hearing the increasingly hoarse roars, the doctor climbed over the railing.

His eyes were fixed on the darkness beneath his feet. He breathed silently and then leaped down.

Pulled down by gravity, his body fell downwards.

Countless floors he had explored and touched flashed before his eyes like dreamlike bubbles, and he even recalled all the experiences he had gone through.

Then, his gaze swept across his room.

At the doorway, a pair of bright red eyes stared at him.

He heard a voice coming from those eyes.

He heard that sound.

"Welcome back, Doctor."

she says.

-

The things that appear before my eyes make no sense whatsoever.

The doctor, dressed in a black overcoat, stood in the sparsely furnished room. Before him lay only a worn-out sofa, an old television, and a disturbing woman.

The reason it's considered illogical is that he couldn't remember how he got there, nor did he know where he was.

But the woman in front of him seemed familiar.

Her body was covered from head to toe in a jet-black nun's habit, revealing only her long, gray hair and face with red eyes.

The woman smiled and looked at him.

"Welcome back, Doctor."

she says.

"During your latest search, you were swallowed by darkness."

She spoke.

"You paid a price to be reshaped here."

She shut up.

"Price? Reshaping?"

He was at a loss.

Because the doctor had absolutely no idea what the woman in front of him was saying.

He could understand every single word and syllable she uttered, but when they were put together into sentences, he could hardly comprehend their meaning.

The woman then spoke again to answer the doctor's question.

"Don't worry, since this isn't the first time you've asked me this question, I'll answer it for you kindly."

The doctor listened in silence.

"This is Rhodes Island, and I am your guide on Rhodes Island—Specter."

“On Rhodes Island, you can do whatever you want, but only if you are able to do it.”

"Then, can I leave if I want?" the doctor asked.

This is also the thing he cares about most.

"Of course, you can leave whenever you want, as long as you know how to leave."

Ghost Shark answered with a smile.

"The method..." the doctor pondered for a moment, "So it's an escape room? Am I in a large-scale reality TV show right now?"

"Hehehe... You can think that way, you can think whatever you want, that's your freedom." Ghost Shark said softly, completely agreeing with all the points the doctor had made.

"Then let me ask you, Ms. Specter Shark, is it alright if I address you like this?" the doctor asked.

“That’s all your prerogative,” Ghost Shark smiled. “Whether you use honorifics or not, call me by my first name, or give me some mocking or vulgar nicknames, that’s all your prerogative.”

"Then Specter, I want to ask you, what did you mean by going out to search, being swallowed by darkness, and the subsequent costs and reshaping?" The doctor asked the question that concerned him most directly.

"Hehehe... After you left this room, all your actions became a search. The darkness that devoured you was the final result of your last search. The price and the reshaping are the necessary things to retrieve you from that result. In other words—"

Ghost Shark's red eyes flickered slightly. "—You've already died once, but because you paid the price, you've been resurrected here."

"The price?" The Doctor seemed more concerned about this than the fact that he had already died once. "What price did I pay? What price is required for resurrection?"

"It's very simple."

Ghost Shark, still sporting that unsettling smile, replied.

"Any complete part of your body will do, like a finger."

"But I don't seem to be missing anything." Hearing Specter's chilling statement with that expression, the Doctor couldn't help but examine his own body more closely.

“No, the price you paid wasn’t your physical body.” Ghost Shark shook his head. “What you paid was your memories up to this point.”

"memory……?"

"Yes, you traded amnesia for a chance to explore freely."

Ghost Shark answered.

"and many more."

Upon hearing what Specter had just said, the Doctor suddenly realized that something seemed amiss.

Then, with a hint of fear, he asked the woman in front of him a question.

"If I remember correctly, didn't you say at the beginning that this wasn't the first time I'd asked this question?"

"So you mean I've done that before?"

Looking at the doctor's endearing posture, Ghost Shark smiled and parted his thin lips slightly.

"Yes, and this isn't the first time you've said this."

Hello everyone, I plan to continue writing Arknights fanfiction.

Chapter 2, Part Two: Pushing Open the Door to Dreams

The doctor was confused.

He was perplexed that he couldn't deny any of the words spoken by the ghost shark.

It was as if my subconscious was whispering to me, "This woman in front of me would never lie."

Moreover, although she said she had given up on her memories several times before, in reality, if she thought about it carefully, she could still perceive some fragments that had not been scattered in her mind.

Although piecing the fragments together to form a complete picture would be quite difficult, it would suffice as proof that he had been here.

In other words, the doctor now completely believes in one fact.

—I'm afraid I've been trapped on Rhodes Island for a long time.

"It seems you've recovered to normal. Congratulations!" Ghost Shark smiled, gazing at the Doctor with his blood-red eyes, and praised, "This is much faster than when you regained consciousness from amnesia last time."

"Is that so?" The doctor took a deep breath of the air that filled the room with a fishy smell.

Although his brain had forgotten, his body's memories still gave him a sense of familiarity.

"So, are you ready to begin exploring Rhodes Island once again?"

Ghost Shark spoke in a friendly tone.

"No." But the doctor shook his head.

“I have a few more questions for you. First, you said you were the guide here, so can you answer any question I ask?” He looked at Ghost Shark with a serious gaze.

“Yes, I can answer you if I know the answer.” Ghost Shark nodded humbly.

"Alright," the Doctor asked directly, "How will I obtain my usual food and water? By exploring Rhodes Island?"

"Yes, but you left some supplies behind last time, so you won't die from hunger or dehydration for the time being."

"What about tools or weapons for self-defense? Do you have any?" the doctor asked again.

"Yes, you left a pickaxe."

"Only one pickaxe?" the doctor frowned.

"Yes."

"Well, one last question." The doctor pondered for a moment, looked around, and finally fixed his gaze on an ordinary security door on the east side of the room.

"Is this room I'm in... or rather, this room you're in, absolutely safe on Rhodes Island?"

This time, Specter didn't say "yes" again.

She simply smiled and replied respectfully, as always.