It would've been better if there was at least some light.
And the moment the thought settled in my mind, everything changed.
The pitch-black void lit up all at once, flooding itself in a blinding brilliance that burned straight through my eyelids.
It wasn't warmth, just color, hollow and endless, spreading like a sea of gold that erased the dark but not the feeling of it.
But the void still clung to me, thick and damp, refusing to fade even beneath that overwhelming light.
I raised my hand slightly, just to see if I could still move it, and the instant I did, a faint sting shot through my arm, sharp and unbearable for a moment, like someone had driven a thread of fire beneath my skin.
I opened my eyes slowly, the light stabbing at first, but after a few seconds, my sight adjusted to the golden haze that filled everything around me.
My gaze trailed down to my own body, what little of it I could see floating in that empty glow.
Wounds, thin, shallow, and unfamiliar, ran across my skin, their edges faintly steaming as if the light was cutting into them.
I flinched, gripping my wrist as the pain burned deeper, drawing a trembling breath through clenched teeth.
'Even though I've lived through it, it still sucks to be honest. How better it would've been if I was able to feel no pain.'
The moment my internal monologue ended, the pain vanished, just like that.
No sting. No ache.
As if it had never existed before.
I blinked once, then twice, staring at my own arm.
The wounds from earlier had vanished, not even a scratch remained where blood had been.
For a moment I just floated there in silence, as a strange chill crawled upon my spine. Something strange entirely.
My mind refused to believe it, as it felt too absurd to be true even in my own head.
I hesitated for a heartbeat, though that hesitation did not feel like one, and formed a simple, careless thought in my mind.
'It's a little too bright.'
The golden sea of light dimmed instantly, sinking into a soft shimmer enough to see clearly but not enough to be stingy, almost calming.
My breath caught in my throat at the sudden change, as the suspicion that had grown in my mind no longer remained one.
I hadn't spoken a word, and I hadn't moved an inch, but everything had obeyed me.
Slowly, an almost childish curiosity bloomed beneath my ribs, dangerous but irresistible.
I raised my hand again, watching the light ripple faintly with the motion.
'What if there was land?'
And there was.
The golden ocean folded inward, bending and solidifying until a floor formed beneath me, smooth, endless, reflecting faint glints of white like the surface of glass.
I propelled myself, landing softly, my feet touching it without a sound.
As I did, a faint grin tugged at the corners of my mouth, but I stopped myself midway.
'This... is this limitless-ness?' I pondered, but my request was not heeded to, and I got no answers, but maybe the utter silence was already giving away too much.
It felt like the world was holding its breath, watching what I'd do next.
Being the nice guy I was, I gave it something to watch.
'A tower, something magnificent, tall enough to scrape the heavens, if this place even had one.'
The ground rippled once, then burst outwards as a spire of gold rose from the surface, spiraling endlessly toward nothing with an ominous sound.
Its walls shimmered with reflections of me, thousands of them, all staring back, but slightly out of sync.
A faint laugh escaped my throat before I could stop it. "Yeah… definitely not normal."
Still, it was beautiful, magnificent even.
Then just like that, I created the skies, the atmosphere, and a sun.
An ominous one, flickering with red flakes that drifted across its burning surface, hanging in the middle of the pale-blue sky like a wound that refused to close.
I stared at it for a moment, feeling something stir inside me.
Then my gaze fell to the tower.
I reached out, wrapping both hands around its smooth surface, trying to lift it, but it didn't move in the slightest.
Not even a twitch.
But it was only a matter of seconds before a thought of being able to lift it easily.
The tower rose effortlessly, the weight vanishing like it had never existed.
I swung it once, the motion cutting through the air like thunder. Then again, harder, aiming for the sun.
The sun lurched out of place, spinning wildly as if caught in a spiral of its own fire, before plummeting down like a falling star.
It struck the ground with a blitzing speed, and then came the shockwave, a roaring, golden storm tearing through everything.
But it didn't touch me.
Not even a grain of dust dared.
'What if there was life?' The thought slipped past like an instinct, even before I could process it completely.
The surface shifted again, rising and moulding into something solid, before figures, sketch-like and half-formed, detached from it and slowly became clearer, human-shaped.
They walked mechanically, turned around, and bowed, but something was missing.
I raised a hand, and one of them smiled while another cried.
I kept observing them in amusement, waiting to feel something, anything, but there was nothing.
"Why does it feel fake?" I muttered to myself, clenching my fist in frustration as a plain sphere began forming in my hand.
'Let's try this one.'
I stretched my arm backward before launching it forward with full force, faster than a thought, faster than reason.
But momentum or impact was not what I intended to verify. It was something entirely different.
Even though the ball was rushing forward, I wanted it to come at me from the side.
But there was a catch, it couldn't duplicate, couldn't vanish, and had to remain in motion, always within my sight.
It had to keep moving forward, never breaking that rule, yet still find a way to strike me from the side.