I woke up again.
That was the first thought that drifted through my mind.
Not relief, not confusion, just a quiet, dull awareness. The kind that comes when waking stops feeling new.
My eyes opened slowly, as if even they were unsure whether it was worth the effort. For a moment, everything was blurred together into soft shapes and colors, but as my vision sharpened, the same familiar scene returned.
Colorful tiles.
They spread across the floor in uneven patterns: reds, blues, yellows, greens... too bright, too intentional, like someone had tried too hard to make the room feel cheerful. It didn't work.
A brown door stood ahead of me. Plain. Solid. Closed.
A gray desk sat to the side, empty except for a faint scratch along its surface, as if something had been dragged across it over and over again.
And beneath me… my bed.
Light blue fading into white covers, soft and almost comforting. Almost.
Everything looked exactly the same as last time.
Exactly.
That was wrong.
A faint unease crept into my chest.
Wait…
Where is Aruka?
The thought hit me all at once, sharp and sudden.
She had been here. I was sure of it.
I could still remember the warmth of her arms around me, the steady rhythm of her breathing, the way she held me as if nothing in the world could reach me.
So where was she now?
I turned my head slightly, scanning the room again, slower this time, as if she might appear if I just looked carefully enough.
Nothing.
Only the tiles. The desk. The door.
The silence.
I stared at the empty space beside me for a few seconds longer, waiting for something.
anything
to change.
...
It didn't.
"Oh well…"
My voice came out quieter than expected, dry and unfamiliar.
"I'll just see if this brown door can be opened."
It felt like the only thing that mattered right now. More important than Aruka's disappearance. More important than the strange repetition of this room.
The door.
I pushed myself up.
The moment I did, the world tilted.
My body swayed, and before I could react, my legs gave out beneath me. I collapsed back onto the bed, the soft covers catching me as a wave of dizziness crashed through my head.
"Ugh…"
Everything spun.
The ceiling, the walls, even the colors on the floor. They twisted and shifted like they were melting together.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to steady myself.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Slowly, carefully, I lifted my left arm into view.
That's when I saw it.
A bandage.
Wrapped tightly around the spot where blood is usually drawn.
I stared at it.
For a second, my mind refused to connect the dots. It just… observed.
Then—
"I had been drugged."
The realization came without panic. Without fear.
Just a quiet conclusion.
But…
By whom?
I searched my memory, but it felt like trying to grab onto smoke. There was nothing there. No faces. No voices. No moment I could point to.
Just emptiness.
I let my arm fall back onto the bed.
"What do I care…"
The words slipped out almost automatically.
Strangely, I meant them.
The drug. The missing memory. Even Aruka.
They all felt distant, like problems that belonged to someone else.
The door, however…
That felt real.
Important.
I tried again.
This time, I moved slower. I sat up carefully, waiting for the dizziness to return. It did...
but weaker, like an echo instead of a storm.
Good enough.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood.
The floor felt cold beneath my feet.
I steadied myself against the wall, pressing my palm against its surface. It was smooth. Artificial. Not like real walls.
Everything here felt… constructed.
Step by step, I made my way toward the door.
Each movement required effort. My body was heavy, uncooperative, like it didn't fully belong to me.
Still, I kept going.
The closer I got, the more the door seemed to change.
Not physically, but in presence. It felt less like an object and more like a boundary.
Between what I knew…
And what I didn't.
I reached out.
My hand trembled slightly as my fingers wrapped around the handle.
Cold.
I hesitated for just a second.
Then I pressed it down.
Click.
The door opened with a soft creak, revealing...
Not a hallway.
Not anything ordinary.
Beyond it was a brightly lit room, almost blinding compared to the muted tones behind me. The light was harsh, artificial, reflecting off smooth metallic surfaces and glass panels.
Machines.
Screens.
Wires.
The entire space looked futuristic...
too clean
too precise
too controlled.
And in the center of it all…
A figure.
Slender.
Standing still with their back to me.
For a moment, I just watched.
Then—
The door creaked again as it opened a little wider.
The sound echoed.
The figure reacted.
Slowly, almost mechanically, they turned around.
My breath caught.
It was a girl.
Someone I didn't recognize.
But the moment her eyes met mine...
Something shifted.
Her expression changed instantly. Not to surprise. Not to anger.
Something else.
Something… unexpected.
Before I could process it, she started walking toward me.
Her steps were quick. Direct.
Too direct.
"Wait—"
I didn't get to finish.
She reached me in seconds and grabbed my arm.
Tightly.
"Ow—!"
Pain shot through my body, sharp and immediate. My already weakened state didn't help.
But she didn't react.
Didn't speak.
Didn't even look at me properly.
She just dragged me forward.
"Hey—what are you—?!"
No answer.
The bright room blurred past as she pulled me through it. Doors, equipment, flashing lights—I barely had time to register any of it.
Then suddenly—
A new space.
A large hall.
Noise hit me instantly.
Voices. Laughter. Movement.
Children.
Dozens of them.
Some were eating at long tables. Others were playing, running around, shouting, arguing.
It was chaotic.
Overwhelming.
The girl dragged me through the crowd as if none of it mattered.
As if I didn't matter.
She stopped at a table and pushed me down onto a chair.
Hard.
I winced slightly but didn't resist.
She made a brief hand gesture.
Sit.
So I did.
Then—
She turned around.
And left.
Just like that.
No explanation.
No words.
Nothing.
I stared after her as she disappeared into the crowd, swallowed by the noise and movement.
"…What was that?"
I muttered to myself.
Who was she?
She looked familiar.
But also… not.
Like recognizing a face from a dream you can't quite remember.
I sighed and leaned back slightly in my chair.
Then I looked around.
Children everywhere.
Talking.
Laughing.
Eating.
Playing.
Too many voices overlapping at once.
Too much movement.
Too much sound.
"How annoying…"
I pressed my fingers lightly against my temple.
"It's all so loud… Shit."
The noise wasn't just sound. It felt like pressure. Like something pushing against my skull from the outside.
I hated it.
I hated noise more than anything.
Cats and birds get scared immediately when it gets too loud.
People aren't that different.
They just pretend better.
Loud environments make people uncomfortable. They get headaches. Irritated. Exhausted.
That's why everyone looks for quiet places.
Places where they can breathe.
Think.
Feel.
Tranquility matters.
Without it, everything becomes… distorted.
Once, a philosopher named Tesahen said:
"Noise disturbs peace and swirls in thoughts. Those who hear too much noise lose the silence in the heart. Those who find it, find peace and clarity. For only from the tranquility of the soul does the light grow."
I liked that.
No—
I admired it.
Thoughts like that felt… true.
Grounded.
Real.
And yet, sitting here, surrounded by noise, I couldn't feel any of that tranquility.
Only irritation.
Only pressure.
So I distracted myself.
With a question.
"What is a pawn in the game of chess?"
I whispered it under my breath, watching the children in front of me without really seeing them.
Some would say:
"A pawn is just a decoy. A piece to control space."
That's not wrong.
It's one way of thinking.
Another would say:
"A pawn that reaches the end of the board becomes something greater. A queen, perhaps."
Also true.
But neither of those answers felt complete.
Because they only described the game.
Not what it meant.
"A pawn… or us…"
I murmured quietly.
"…who makes enough effort… will be rewarded."
That was my answer.
Simple.
Concise.
Maybe naive.
But I believed it.
Or at least… I wanted to.
I must have been lost in thought for a while.
Because when I blinked, I realized I had been staring.
At a group.
A specific group.
And suddenly—
I recognized them.
Zogar's group.
Of course.
There he was.
Zogar.
Short to medium turquoise hair, slightly messy, like he didn't care enough to fix it, but somehow it worked.
Orange goggles rested on his head, slightly tilted.
And that smile.
Wide. Confident. Almost infectious.
He looked… cool.
Effortlessly so.
Next to him sat someone with short, wavy pink hair.
Fapezon.
They were talking animatedly, leaning slightly toward Zogar, clearly engaged in whatever conversation they were having.
And then—
On the floor.
Literally lying down.
A boy with violet hair and headphones.
Quiagro.
Completely detached from everything around him.
As if the noise didn't exist.
As if he existed in his own world.
I watched them quietly.
Something about them felt different from the rest.
More… grounded.
More real.
My gaze lingered on Zogar.
"That guy…"
I muttered softly.
"…he really does look cool."
And for the first time since I woke up
...
The noise didn't feel quite as overwhelming.
Not gone.
But… distant.
Like it had lost a little of its power.
Just a little.
And somehow—
That felt important.