People say life is what you make of it. I've heard it so many times I can recite it in my sleep. Parents, teachers, motivational speakers, strangers online everyone has the same tired line "Go out there. Make it count. Live your life." As if life actually mattered. As if the world had something worth reaching for.
I've tried. Or at least, I thought I had. I picked up hobbies, learned new skills, read every book I could find, scrolled through endless videos and recommendations. I told myself I was searching for something meaningful, something that would make this life feel worth living. And yet… Here I am. Nothing stuck. Nothing changed. Everything is still the same dull pattern. Wake up, eat, work, scroll, sleep, repeat. And the moment you think maybe there's a crack in the monotony, it closes, leaving you staring at the same gray walls.
The truth? The world is boring. Predictable. No matter how hard you strain your eyes, it's just the same struggles, the same disappointments, the same empty promises that tomorrow will be different. And if you tell yourself it isn't… congratulations. You're lying to yourself. I tried, I really did, I'd seen everything worth seeing, and found it… lacking.
But the worlds I escape to? They're alive. Dangerous, thrilling, full of color and sound ordinary people like me become legends. In those worlds life has meaning. My choices have consequences a new adventure everyday, something new to look forward to. The promises that were once false now stand true. Tomorrow will be different, something interesting will happen. Life is worth living. This one isn't. This one is waiting for me to die of boredom before I even reach thirty.
And yet… as I walk down the street, earbuds in, phone in hand, nothing extraordinary The same sounds of the city drone on, cars beeping people rushing to places and the gray sky. I sigh, glance at my phone, and then the world froze
Everything stops. Cars stop moving, their engines screaming silently. People freeze mid step, mouths open, eyes wide, frozen in disbelief. My own heartbeat echoes like a drum in a vast empty hall. I look around, expecting someone to be messing with me, some prank, some glitch. But it's… too still. Too complete.
Then I hear it. A crystal clear voice Not coming from a person. Not from anywhere I can see.
"Do you understand why you are here?"
I spin, searching for the source, but find nothing. Just the frozen world, frozen in time. My throat tightens."Who's there, what do you mean?" I stammered.
"You want another life, desire it so badly you disregard this life as meaningless," the voice stated, almost annoyed. "I have given you and this world life. but all you do is squander it and complain, never actually trying to have a life worth living indulging in your fake fantasies now… you will come to understand. "The voice sounded annoyed, angry like it was venting
I swallow, heart thumping my mind races. Who you are, are you doing this? and what do you mean I will come to understand!! Then, before I could even react or ask anymore questions, I heard the loud horn of a truck.
Darkness nothing but darkness. It felt like I had been stuck there for a while, months, days, years it all kind of blurred together but one day I awoke. My feet find themselves steady on the ground. The air has weight, almost metallic, and carries a faint hum, like electricity running through the sky itself. My eyes sweep the horizon. Buildings, structures rise in impossible shapes, glass and metal fused in ways that shouldn't exist, gleaming under a sun that feels too harsh, too bright.There is no street, no sidewalk, no familiar landmark. Nothing familiar at all.
I stumble forward, my hands brushing against a smooth wall. My head spins. Every rational thought I've ever had collapses into questions that have no answers. Am I dreaming? Hallucinating? Dead?
Then I notice tiny lights flickering along the edges of the structures, almost like circuitry embedded into the walls themselves, pulsing rhythmically, as if the city is alive. Alive, and indifferent to me. Far bigger than any city I've ever known.