Above, the sky was blanketed by dark clouds, stretching endlessly and hanging low. Despite the overcast, moonlight inexplicably pierced through.
Below, the earth was a desolate wasteland, with only sprawling seas of trees. Towering and leafless, they were like petrified arms of dead giants clawing at the heavens.
Soaring pillars of silvery lights connected the heavens and the earth.
Within a forest, a group of unconscious men in college uniforms lay, oblivious to the unknown world around them.
Until one of them stirred.
A pale young man jolted awake as he grunted.
He had scruffy chestnut brown hair, almond brown eyes, and a distinctive mole just beneath his right eye. Among them, he was by far the frailest.
The pale young man sat up, clutching his head.
'What… happened?'
For a moment, he struggled to gather his thoughts. His memory was muddled.
Then, the pale young man suddenly recalled that he was with his friends a while ago. They were on their way to the college campus when space abruptly shattered, then their vision darkened.
Remembering this, he anxiously looked for them when his eyes caught something that made his blood run cold. His eyes widened as his mind turned blank.
The pale young man abruptly stood up, ignoring the flare of pain within. His gaze traced the towering trees as his steps retreated.
Disbelief settled in.
An audible gulp shattered the silence. The young man's gaze drifted to the sky, then to the silver pillars. His disbelief deepened.
With every moment passed, his expression increasingly darkened.
Worse, he realized one horrifying reality as he looked down.
The forest was eerily quiet.
No rustling leaves.
No chirping insects.
And no whistling wind.
Usually, a forest was never silent and had ambient noises, a reminder that it was alive.
But here?
Everything was lifeless and silent as if nothing or no one existed at all.
Realizing this, horror dawned within. Unease and panic sank in. Chills ran down his spine as his instincts screamed danger.
But he swiftly forced himself to calm down.
He exhaled deeply.
At this point, he was beyond sure that they were in another world. But how and why? He didn't know.
Now composed, the pale young man remembered that he was looking for his friends a moment ago. Looking around apprehensively once more, relief came quickly as he spotted them in the distance.
He didn't know what had happened. For now, he refrained from entertaining that idea. Knowing that any passing moment mattered, he moved immediately.
Urgently, he scanned his surroundings for anything to arm himself. His friends were quite far off, and he needed something, anything to protect himself from whatever might lurk in the depths.
He spotted a small, sharp rock and bent to pick it up when his expression froze.
"Huh?"
The rock was small. Only about the size of two adult fists, but he needed both hands to pick it up.
The pale young man knew he wasn't strong. But he knew he wasn't that weak either.
Briefly, he examined the rock but found nothing strange.
Then came another realization.
If the rock was this strange already then…
He quickly shook his head and dismissed this idea, suppressing the growing fear within him.
The pale young man began approaching his friends one by one.
He stared at the one closest to him. He had a tanned complexion, curly black hair, with a lean and muscular physique.
"Hey!" he said in a hushed yet urgent tone. "Wake up!"
But the lean man remained unresponsive.
"Joseph!" He gently slapped his face multiple times.
"Kaelos?" Joseph finally opened his eyes, rubbing his cheeks. "Have we arrived—"
"What the fuck!?"
Like Kaelos, he had the same reaction but worse when he noticed the scenery around him. The trees, the sky, and the strange pillars.
Kaelos swiftly covered Joseph's mouth and glanced around him.
"Speak quietly. We don't know if there are wild animals here."
He stopped for a moment.
"If they're animals from Earth, that is…"
Hearing this, Joseph glanced around him again. He shook his head in incredulity and anxiously laughed.
"W-what do you mean!?"
"We're in another world…"
"Are you fucking with me?"
"Look at my expression." Kaelos pointed to his face. "Do I look like joking to you?"
Joseph stared at Kaelos' calm expression for a moment, then ran both hands through his hair as he came to the realization.
They were in fact in another world.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" he muttered under his breath.
Kaelos stood up and gestured.
"Come."
"Where?"
"Toward the others. Let's wake them up."
Joseph looked into the distance and spotted them, sighing a relief.
As they walked, Joseph apprehensively scanned his surroundings, still in disbelief as he repeatedly swore under his breath.
Shortly, they arrived and woke up another man.
He was chubby and had rounded glasses, with long black hair neatly parted down in the middle. He had a similar complexion to Joseph.
This time, Joseph did the waking while Kaelos kept watch.
Unlike Joseph, Xandrell woke up soon.
"Joseph?"
"Kaelos?"
Xandrell adjusted his glasses, but when he did, noticed the same oddity. He blinked and adjusted his glasses multiple times, even wiping them repeatedly.
He looked at the sky, the trees, and the ground. And then to Joseph and Kaelos, looking for answers.
His voice trembled.
"Where… are we?"
Joseph didn't answer. He was biting his nails and tapping his foot.
"We're in another world," Kaelos replied calmly. "Where exactly? I don't know…"
Xandrell blinked multiple times, trying to digest what Kaelos had just said. He pinched the side of his stomach several times in disbelief.
"Hey, Kaelos…"
Kaelos stared at him.
"No. I'm not kidding. Not joking. Serious."
He gestured to them to follow with his head, dismissing any idea of entertaining their questions any longer. Kaelos didn't care if they still couldn't accept this reality.
Fortunately, the last two were right next to each other and woke up quickly.
One was as feeble as Kaelos, with parted side hair. He was by far the tallest among the group.
And the other was short and appeared like a gentle soul, with spiky hair and a similar complexion to Kaelos.
When they woke up, both reacted with skepticism.
The feeble man trembled and walked back and forth, mumbling.
"How…"
"This shouldn't be possible…"
He stopped and looked at them.
"Where… are we?"
Joseph and Xandrell didn't reply. Like him, they were still in denial, panicking and thinking about their lives.
Only Kaelos was calm and replied.
"Rafael." He looked at him. "I know this sounds impossible. But we're in another world. And don't ask me why. I don't know."
Hearing this, Rafael only mindlessly shook his head.
"God! Hear my prayer! I'll make sure to visit the church every day."
The other one finally talked, whispering and reciting scriptures under his breath like a lunatic.
A moment later, he stared at Kaelos with a trembling voice but nothing came out.
"Alfonse…"
He shook his head as he didn't know what to say.
Waiting, Kaelos stared at his friends like they were madmen. They muttered and paced aimlessly, lost in their worlds and hoping it was all just a dream.
But sometimes, reality is stranger than a dream.
Kaelos looked at them sadly. He had already accepted this.
This new reality.
After all, to survive one must change and adapt.
"Come," Kaelos said, already walking without even checking if they followed.
Joseph's voice called out behind him, laced with worry.
"Where?"
"Somewhere…"
Then his steps paused.
"Anywhere."
"If this world is already this strange…"
He didn't explain further.
The rest realized what he meant and trembled in dread.