Inside a dark forest, the trees swayed, shedding their leaves. The wind whispered against the body hairs.In a corner of the forest, a man walked as if unconscious.
His eyes looked calm and tired, as if he wasn't aware of himself. His body staggered. Suddenly, he became alert; his eyes seemed to be searching for something.
They scanned the entire area like a madman without stopping. His ears were pulled back, tense. Behind the places he looked at, sound traces formed. What did these sounds mean? They seemed like a part of nature, yet were not exactly sounds—like something was trapped inside.
They tried to approach, to merge with nature. Immediately afterward, the man calmed again, and the sounds settled.What were all these events? What was this man doing here? Who was he?
Just as he tried to figure all this out, the world seemed to stop —he couldn't even hear their own thoughts. A chill filled the man's insides, and before he could even grasp that feeling, the man in front of him instantly merged with the earth. At that moment, he was stunned. How could a human merge with the soil?
And how had the man not noticed he was being watched all this time? He tried to look at himself but saw nothing. Was he really there?
Unable to understand anything, a sudden urge arose within him to look up at the sky. Just then, the clouds parted, revealing a planet. It was transparent, and it looked as if rays of light were shining on it, but the source could not be seen. Suddenly, he collapsed to the ground; he couldn't believe his eyes. How had he become a physical being? He started to feel truly afraid.
What was this place? What was happening to him?After overcoming his fear, he realized he was hungry. Now was the time to explore his surroundings; perhaps he could learn something about this place.As he wandered, he noticed that this place was filled with things he had never seen before in his world.
The trees were much harder and thicker; none had leaves, only bare branches. Each tree was different from the others, as if each tried to be unique. No matter which tree he looked at, he felt something different from each one.
There was something in each tree, something he couldn't quite grasp.As he continued exploring, he found stranger structures: strange stones, strange buildings, strange plants, and flowers— all different and beautiful.
Strangely, he never felt lonely; it was as if everyone was watching him and knew he was there. Once again, a chill ran through his body.After walking on a windy path for hours, he saw an animal for the first time.
He was scared, completely unaware of what it could do. Suddenly, he was speechless—the animal spoke:"Is this your first time seeing these lands? If you want, I can tell you about this area.
''Ah, don't worry, there's no need to be afraid. Thanks to this special environment, all the creatures here can communicate with each other. We don't know how it works, but we can communicate. Anyway, where was I? Before showing you around, would you like to eat something? You look like you're about to die."
Surprised, he said, "Y-yes, I would like that...""Then this will be a gift this time. This food is an extract from a plant unique to this region." (The animal extended its hand.)He slowly put it in his mouth and began consuming the plant extract.
"T-This... what is this? I feel renewed, as if reborn..." (He relaxed.) "My hunger is gone too, thank you."
(The animal smiled.)"Then let's set off. Follow me."For some reason, he followed the animal feeling relieved and began observing the area.Every time he looked around, he noticed new details. Every step he took on the ground, every tree he examined, he felt as if he were in a magical place. Was this a place that constantly changed? He wanted to ask but hesitated because he knew nothing about this place.
Everything he saw felt strange and weird; he didn't believe he could explain it with feelings or words. So he chose to remain silent and sealed everything he saw in a corner of his mind, quietly following the animal.
"We are almost there; be patient, you will understand soon."
"What do you mean by understand? What will I understand?"
"At least something small about this area."(He gave small sideways glances, questioning.)
For the rest of the time, instead of looking around, he began to look at himself. He wore things he had never seen before; he didn't even recognize himself. When he saw a mirror for the first time, he wanted to cling to it.
At first glance, his body was very smooth, like a statue, tight and flawless in appearance. But physically, he couldn't feel himself much; he felt very light and didn't understand how he was walking.He wore a strange outfit: black with patterns like outer space, with lines seemingly engraved like drawings on nature's green.
There were symbols underneath. Below, he wore simple leather boots and wide white sweatpants. He didn't care much about his clothes, but the black symbols on top caught his attention.
He didn't have time to learn the meanings of these symbols, so he set that thought aside.His eyes suddenly fixed on the animal that had stopped.
"You can be glad; we've arrived at the settlement. But strangely, it's very empty. Everyone seems isolated; I think I should hide too. Don't worry, you will witness a very rare event. If we meet again, you will really learn everything."
"What? What are you talking about?"(A strange feeling suddenly filled him; he felt as if he had merged with the whole planet, connected to everything.)The entire planet began shaking and trembling, and his mind lost consciousness. It was as if his brain was producing images and sounds he didn't understand, connections appearing before his eyes and in his mind.
Some were familiar, as if he had seen them before. When he looked at a tree, he remembered some bonds he had felt with it. But suddenly, unable to endure any longer, he fell to the ground and fainted.
***
Suddenly, he woke up from bed, sat upright, and stared blankly at the wall."Was all that just a dream?
"He looked around his stone house, stood up, went to the window, and gazed at the view, lost in thought. Was there a meaning to that dream?