"Huh!"
"..."
"Where am I?"
Only this single question echoed through the absolute void. To the right, to the left, above, below—there was nothing but darkness. Endless, suffocating darkness. It was a place where light seemed to be a forgotten concept, a place where a single word spoken from the lips would spawn a thousand echoes.
And in this unknown, abyssal space, I stood frozen, voiceless.
As the initial shock faded, utter confusion took its place. I looked around wildly, but my eyes met nothing but the black. I looked down at my own hands, at my body.
Where... where am I?
I flailed my limbs frantically, hoping to brush against something—anything—that would prove matter existed here. But my efforts were futile.
"IS ANYONE HERE? WHERE IS THIS PLACE?"
I screamed at the top of my lungs, but my voice only returned to me, twisted into an echo that sounded like a counter-question. As if this void itself was mocking me.
With no other option, I began to run. I sprinted blindly into the obsidian expanse, hoping that eventually, I would reach an end. But that, too, was in vain.
However, after what felt like an eternity of running, I realized something strange.
Despite the desperate sprinting, I wasn't tired. Not even a little. It felt as if I could run for a thousand kilometers in this place without shedding a drop of sweat.
Finally, out of sheer frustration, I lay down on the... ground? To be honest, I couldn't even tell what lay beneath me. I stared up into the black sky—if it could even be called a sky.
Lying there, a thought drifted into my mind:
Am I having a nightmare?
I had heard that dreams could be strange. Some were nonsensical chaos, while others carried profound meaning. But looking at the nothingness around me, if this was indeed a dream…
"Hehehe, if this is truly a dream, then it's a pretty damn terrible one!!"
I was spiraling, losing my grip on sanity.
What should I do?
What could I do?
This place was slowly driving me mad. The horror of it was indescribable. Imagine blinking your eyes open to find yourself in a place with no walls, no floor, no light—perhaps not even darkness, just the absence of existence.
I mean, this place is…
My thought trailed off.
Perhaps I had been lying on an infinite floor of glass, one that blended perfectly with the dark. Because the moment my train of thought ended, the floor beneath me vanished.
I was falling!!
I plummeted into the abyss at a breakneck speed, like a man falling from a skyscraper. The wind pressure was immense, distorting my face, the roaring gales drowning out my voice.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!!!"
SPLASH!
In an instant, I crashed into the middle of a vast ocean. But because of the darkness, I hadn't seen the water coming. My breath hitched; I was choking. Air bubbles escaped my lips as I thrashed.
"I... CAN'T... SWIM!!"
I kicked and clawed at the water in a panic, but just as suddenly as it had appeared, the ocean vanished. It was as if the water had never existed, as if I had been flailing at a hallucination.
"WASN'T THERE WATER ALL AROUND ME JUST A SECOND AGO!!?"
I frantically patted my body. I was completely dry. My black t-shirt and pants didn't hold a single drop of moisture.
That was when I saw it.
In the corner of this endless dark, something caught my eye. A reflection. Light reflecting off an object in a place with no light source? How is that possible?
I gulped, forcing my legs to move toward it. As I drew closer, I saw it lying on the floor—a golden locket shaped like a four-leaf clover. A symbol of good luck.
Good luck? My current situation feels anything but lucky.
I reached down and picked it up. I was genuinely surprised. Finally, I could see something; finally, I could touch something real.
THUD!!
A heavy sound reverberated through the void.
I snapped my head up. Far, far away in the distance, a colossal door had appeared. It was so massive that even craning my neck back, I couldn't see the top of it.
Suddenly, a gritty sound came from my hand. I looked down in horror. The golden clover locket was crumbling. It turned into fine dust, slipping through my fingers like dry sand. No matter how hard I clenched my fist, I couldn't hold onto it.
As the last grain of the locket vanished, I looked up again to check the door—
But the door was right in front of my face.
"AHHH!"
Terrified by the sudden proximity, I scrambled backward and collapsed on the floor.
Pointing a trembling finger at the towering structure, I stammered, "THAT WAS SO FAR AWAY! HOW DID IT GET SO CLOSE! I WANT TO GO HOME... DAD! DAD!!"
I screamed for my father in pure terror. But once again, it was useless. My desperate cries only echoed back to me.
Now that I was close, I saw a symbol etched upon the door: A large circle, beneath it a smaller circle, and beneath that an even smaller one. A single vertical line bisected all three.
CREAAAAK…
With a groan that spoke of ancient weight, the massive door began to open—as if it had been sealed for eons.
From the widening crack, a blinding, fierce light erupted.
It was intense, voracious. It didn't just shine; it devoured the surrounding darkness, swallowing the void whole. It was as if the darkness was being transmuted into pure light.
The brightness rivaled the midday sun. It was searing. Keeping my eyes open was impossible. Even after squeezing my eyelids shut and covering my face with my hands, the light pierced through.
Moments later, the intensity subsided. I slowly lowered my hands and tentatively opened my eyes.
Only one word escaped my lips.
"...Magnificent."
The massive door was gone. The suffocating darkness was gone.
Before me lay a celestial garden. Its beauty was so profound that every metaphor on Earth would fall short in comparison. A crystal-clear blue sky, the melodic rippling of a river, the intoxicating scent of flowers—it was an ethereal, heavenly realm.
"Is this... Heaven?"
I stared, spellbound. I was drowning in the enchantment of this place.
In the dead center of this paradise stood a colossal tree—a great ancient tree. Its branches sprawled across the horizon as if it alone was holding up the weight of creation.
I began to walk. Silently, entranced, I moved toward the tree. With every step I took, new flowers bloomed beneath my feet, as if the very place was welcoming my arrival.
A cool breeze caressed my cheek. As it passed, my old clothes dissolved, replaced by a shimmering, weightless white robe. Birds in the sky sang in a language that felt like music for the soul. The river's hum became a symphony.
For a brief second, I glanced at the base of the tree.
"...Are there two people standing under the tree?"
But in the next blink, I realized it was just an illusion.
However, while my eyes feasted on the beauty ahead, the world behind me was a different story.
The flowers that had bloomed at my arrival began to rot. The river water evaporated, leaving cracked, parched earth. Blood began to seep from the fissures in the ground. And from that blood-soaked soil, rows of corpses clawed their way out.
In front of that legion of the dead, a single figure dragged itself forward. A man—broken, half-dead, clutching his shoulder. He scraped against the ground, desperately trying to crawl toward the great tree, while the horde of corpses chased him, intent on tearing him apart.
But I didn't notice.
I didn't want to notice.
I only wanted to lose myself in this beauty.
I only wanted to rest in the shade of that tree.
Finally, I reached it. I sat down, leaning my back against the massive trunk. I looked back at the path I had come from.
Everything was normal.
The rotting, the blood, the horror—it was all gone. The landscape had instantly reverted to its pristine, beautiful form.
As soon as I settled under the tree, a wave of exhaustion hit me. My eyelids felt heavy, pulling me down into a deep slumber.
"Why am I so sleepy? It feels like I haven't slept in ages."
I decided to give in. I would sleep. But the view was so captivating that I fought to keep my eyes open just a little longer.
Drip.
A drop of water landed on my left hand.
I looked up.
"The sky is clear... So where did the water come from?"
Unknowingly, I raised a hand to my cheek.
"Am I... crying? But why?"
Tears were flowing continuously from my left eye. I was weeping with one eye, without knowing the reason, without feeling the sadness.
Slowly, the darkness of sleep claimed me. My eyes drifted shut.
And just before my consciousness faded completely, a voice whispered into the air:
"...I give this to you, Durlav."
To be continue...