Above, the sky was blanketed by dark grey clouds stretching endlessly, layered in shifting shades. Despite the overcast, moonlight inexplicably pierced through.
Below, the earth was desolate—cracked and withered. Only seas of colossal, lifeless trees stood. They were like towering, petrified arms of dead giants clawing at the heavens.
Soaring silvery pillars of light connected the heavens and the earth.
Within the sea of trees, a group of young men in college uniforms lay unconscious, oblivious to the new world around them.
Until one of them stirred.
"Ugh."
He was a pale young man in his twenties, with scruffy chestnut brown hair brushing his eyebrows, almond brown eyes, and a distinctive mole just beneath his right eye. Among the group, he was by far the frailest.
The pale young man sat up, clutching his head.
When the headache subsided, he opened his eyes and, for a moment, was mesmerized by the sky. But awe was quickly replaced by horror, as he abruptly stood up—ignoring the flare of pain within.
Disbelief replaced his horror as he looked around, his steps retreating. His mind went blank.
The pale young man's gaze traced the towering trees, and then drifted into their depths. He scanned his surroundings in hopes of change, but everything remained the same.
Worse, he realized one thing.
The forest was eerily quiet.
No rustling leaves.
No chirping insects.
And no whistling wind.
Everything was lifeless and silent—as if nothing—and no one— existed at all.
For a moment, unease and panic settled in. Chills ran down his spine. His instincts screamed danger.
But he swiftly forced himself to calm down, and suddenly remembered he had been with his friends just a while ago. Looking around anxiously, relief came quickly as he spotted them in the distance—safe and unharmed.
The pale young man didn't know what had happened. His mind was in disarray. He didn't have time to waste, so 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—then froze, his expression shifting.
'Huh?'
The rock was small—about the size of two adult fists. Yet 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.
Briefly, he examined the rock—but found nothing strange.
Then came another realization.
If the rock was this strange… the ground was likely even stranger.
However, he refrained from testing that for now.
He began approaching his friends one by one.
The pale young man stared with 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 predicament they were in.
Kaelos swiftly covered Joseph's mouth and glanced around him. "Speak quietly. We don't know if there are wild animals here."
Kaelso stopped for a moment. "If they're animals from Earth, that is…"
Hearing this, Joseph glanced at his surroundings, 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 at his face. "Do I like joking to you?"
Joseph stared at Kaelos' calm expression for a moment, then ran both hands through his hair.
"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 still scrutinized his surroundings, still in disbelief as he repeatedly swore under his breath.
Shortly, they arrived and woke up another man.
He was chubby, with similar complexion to Joseph, with rounded glasses and neatly parted long black hair.
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 scenery. 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.
"Where… are we?"
Joseph didn't answer. He was biting his nail 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. "Come to wake up the others."
Fortunately, the last two were 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 similar complexion to Kaelos.
When they woke up, both reacted with skepticism.
The feeble man trembled and walked back and forth, muttering unintelligible things.
"How…"
"This shouldn't be possible…"
Suddenly, 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 everyday." The other one finally talked, whispering and reciting scriptures under his breath like a lunatic.
After praying, 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 own worlds—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.
Behind him, Joseph's voice called out.
"Huh, where?"
"Somewhere…"
Then his steps paused.
"Anywhere."
"If this world is already this strange… then its creatures will be even stranger. More dangerous."