There wasn't just one, but many wishes that lived inside the boy. He didn't merely want to be pulled from the world—he wanted to be seen, to be known. He wanted friends. He wanted a lover. He wanted mystery, danger, magic, pain, and meaning. He wanted a life where logic bent to his will and cruel reality never touched him again. In truth, he didn't want to die. He only wanted to stop living like this.
The paradox of his desires twisted inside him like a knot. One moment, he longed for grand adventures and impossible romance. The next, he wanted vengeance, to be the harbinger of despair against those who had broken him. All he wanted was something—anything—that wasn't this.
And as his wishes clashed, so too did reality begin to twist.
A chill crept into the room.
His eyes opened, slow and groggy. The air was colder than it should have been, the fan still humming overhead, yet unmoving. The sound remained—but the blades were still. That was wrong. And then, his body started giving out.
His limbs turned heavy. He swayed.
"What's...go..ing...o-"
But he never got to finish.
He had somehow became paralyzed and lost control of his body. As a result, he was laying on his back again.
'Weird as the situation may be, atleast I'm on my nice and comfortable bed.'
His thoughts scattered. He blinked, and the world around him dissolved into a void of black, stars scattered like dust across an empty canvas. Even his bed disappeared.
Thud.
Pain blossomed in his skull, sharp and sudden.
He hissed.
"Damn it all..! Am I concussed? Wait- that's not important right now. My room just vanished and I was paralyzed just now, wasn't I?"
He scanned his surroundings and came to a suspicion.
'Am I dead?'
No. He was standing. Feet planted on something solid. The stars shimmered above and below. Yet there were no planets, no galaxies. Only the cold abyss.
'This isn't space... is it?'
It was too grounded. Too quiet.
\[Wish Granted.]
The voice came without warning—feminine, almost robotic. He spun, looking for a source. There was none.
\[You wished to leave this world. Is that correct?]
He hesitated. Lucid dreams were supposed to be fake. This felt too real. The pressure in his chest, the echo in his ears... it was too much.
"Who... who are you?"
No answer.
He blinked, trying to piece it together. Then, he remembered the question.
"Correct."
Silence.
The voice spoke again.
\[You wished not only to escape, but to be loved. To feel human. To live an adventure.]
\[Yet only one wish can truly be fulfilled.]
\[You, who has forgotten his name, his purpose, his worth...]
\[This is the exit you begged for.]
He swallowed.
"Never thought... I'd actually be given the chance," he muttered. "I don't need to die by my own hand. I don't need to wait for someone else to end me. I can just... stop. Quietly."
'Do I really want that?'
He paused, the question slicing through his resolve.
'Haven't I just been watching anime and reading dumb manga?'
He smirked to himself.
'Not much of a life, huh?'
But then—
'Wait. I didn't rewatch *My Heart in Daggers* yet...'
That was almost reason enough to go back.
Almost.
"Yes."
He answered.
But he wouldn't get the chance to go back. Not this time. Those series had touched him—but not enough to anchor him to a life filled with pain.
He wasn't missed. He wasn't wanted. The hate hadn't waited until birth—it was already there in the womb. And by age five, he was apologizing for being alive. Not for himself—but for others.
Three times, he nearly died.
Three times, he was saved.
'A fourth time… would be the charm, right?'
It was the one time luck owed him something.
He smiled faintly and closed his eyes.
The stars pulsed. His heart continued to beat until it didn't.
Suddenly, he wasn't standing anymore. He was falling.
'Don't give me hope if it's false. Please... let this be real. '
His final plea.
The stars gradually became brighter, and brighter, and brighter. Brighter until they seemed as if the stars themselves were growing the entire time to swallow everything. Just like the stars, the darkness also began to emphasize it's existence.
He drifted.
**Darkness below. Light above.**
He closed his eyes as both existences rushed to swallow him whole.
But he couldn't see this.
After all...
he was already dead.
WHING!
WHING!
WHING!
[New designation: Starbound.]
[Awakening imminent.]