Terrestrial Savior Archetype - T.S.A Chapter 2 (part 2): Survey 2

‘Empathy test? What is it about…?’

Jeong-woo knew there was no point in questioning, yet he asked.

The answer was conveyed through his senses.

Chill!

“Heck!”

A chill spread from his toes, as if slowly sinking into a massive tank filled with icy water.

The coldness soon started to devour his knees and then his thighs.

Along with it, the sensation in his lower body faded away. It was happening within his consciousness.

“Am I going crazy…? What are they doing?”

Although taken aback, Jeong-woo struggled, but his body remained motionless.

It seemed like the control over his body vanished right after the “empathy test” began. However, his consciousness remained intact.

Before he knew it, the coldness had risen to his chest, and he was aware of it.

“If it reaches my head, what will happen?”

Now, the sensation of freezingness was starting to cling to his throat.

Although it didn’t cause suffocation, he instinctively felt the need to resist.

“Stop it!”

In an instant, as Jeong-woo strongly expressed his aversion to the coldness engulfing him, a brief moment of relief emerged within his consciousness.

The unidentified energy that had been devouring his body wavered.

“It’s testing empathy like this?”

The cunning human brain tried to perceive the test of the Earth.

Struggling…

As the regained coldness started to cover his nose, Jeong-woo focused his mind, feeling the chilling sensation creeping toward his throat.

“Stop…!”

It was a stronger determination than before, but this time, there was no sign of the coldness subsiding.

Instead, it swallowed their vision in an instant. It even chillingly covered their foreheads. The unexpected turn of events bewildered Jeong-woo.

“Huh?”

Ssu…

In the end, Jeong-woo let go of something he had firmly held onto as an unknown force began to surround his forehead.

‘……!’

Even in his consciousness, Jeong-woo had almost completely lost control over himself, and he released something he had held onto tightly until now.

Composure, caution, and even a glimmer of hope that this might all be a dream.

Then, an immense dread filled the space where they had been.

Finally, Jeong-woo felt that the space where his consciousness existed was filled with pitch-black darkness. If it continued like this, if it disappeared…

‘Ah… S-save me…!’

Feeling his existence gradually fading away, he completely surrendered.

He cried out silently, having lost his reason.

Like a person being executed while having a muzzle in their mouth, slowly losing their field of view.

‘P-please! Please!’

Jeong-woo desperately pleaded.

His last remaining piece, his forehead, was rapidly growing cold.

In that moment, all thoughts except the desire to live vanished…

And this primal will emerged once again, summoning a ray of light.

Found…!

Can this be called “vision”?

In the sea of pitch-black darkness inside his mind, a very thin ray of light pierced through the space.

It resembled a pure white line.

However, it was too far away. So far that it was almost pitch-black.

But Jeong-woo knew.

That thing would soon rush toward him.

‘……!’

The last bit of consciousness remaining in him instinctively contracted.

Then, the “light” approached.

His vision… no, his consciousness rapidly whitened to the point of chills.

Everything was disappearing. Even Jeong-woo himself.

Paaah.

‘omg!’

A dull gasp.

Jeong-woo, who was sitting in his chair, unknowingly fell forward.

Kkiri-rik.

The wheels of the chair squeaked as it slid backward, causing his forehead to collide with the desk.

Thud!

“Ugh…!”

A second groan.

Jeong-woo finally realized that he was making sounds from his own mouth.

The “voice control” by the Earth had been lifted.