When Sora opened his eyes, everything hurt.His lungs burned, his body felt heavy, and his head buzzed with static.
At first, he thought his eyes weren't working. Everything was blank—pure white. No sky. No walls. No ground. Just… nothing.
He blinked, rubbed his eyes, even slapped his own cheek. Still the same.White.Everywhere.
There was no wind, no sound, no shadow. Even when he tried to move, he couldn't tell if he was actually walking or just… existing. His feet didn't make a sound. He couldn't even feel the ground.
"...Hello?" he called out.
His voice came back weird—like it echoed, but only halfway. The sound didn't really travel. It just died a few feet away.
A chill ran down his back. "This… isn't funny."
He tried to remember what happened before this.There was something—darkness, heat, and then… pain? His thoughts slipped away every time he reached for them.
He looked at his hands. They were still his, right? Human. Pale. Real. But when he touched his chest, he couldn't feel a heartbeat.
"What… the hell."
For a moment, he thought he saw movement in the distance. A flicker. Like the air shimmered, almost forming a shape. But when he blinked, it was gone.
He tried to run toward it anyway. Or at least, he thought he did. His body moved, but the world didn't. It was like running in place inside a photo.
He stopped, gasping, even though he didn't need air.Somewhere deep in the white, something whispered. Not in his ears, but in his head.
[Initializing… System Sync: Incomplete.]
He froze. "What—who said that?"
Silence again.The words faded like they'd never existed.
Sora looked around, heart pounding even though he was sure it wasn't. He couldn't tell if he was dreaming, dead, or trapped in some weird simulation.
[Body reconstruction: 73% complete.]
The voice came back, clearer this time. Cold. Mechanical.
He spun in every direction, desperate to find its source—but there was no one. Nothing. Just him and the white.
[Soul calibration: in progress.]
The words echoed once more, and for the first time, Sora noticed it—tiny particles, faint glimmers floating in the void. They drifted toward him, sinking into his skin.
He shivered.Something was changing.
"Stop… stop it!" he yelled, but his voice sounded small, useless.
And still, the white world watched.