Without realizing it, he began walking toward the waterfall, his movements slow and unnatural, like someone under hypnosis. The moment he reached the edge, his eyes snapped back to normal.
Before he could react, his hand brushed against the falling water.
In an instant, the waterfall pulled him in, faster than light itself, dragging him deep inside and hurling him violently into another place. It felt as though he had been thrown through a waterfall tunnel or a cavern, ripped out of one reality and spat into another.
Ayan had crossed into an entirely different world.
When he finally emerged from the tunnel and looked around, he froze in shock. Then, half laughing in disbelief, he muttered, "What the hell is this?"
Before him stood a massive, breathtaking castle, grand beyond imagination. Floating islands hovered in the sky above, each carrying smaller castles of their own. Everything was wrapped in thick fog, giving the place an unreal, dreamlike glow.
"How the hell do I even get up there?" Ayan muttered to himself. "If only there were stairs…"
The moment the thought formed in his mind, stairs began to appear, shaping themselves out of thin air, leading straight toward the castle.
He stared at them, stunned. Since the moment he had been dragged into this mess, it felt like shock after shock refused to give him a break.
Gathering his courage, he carefully placed his foot on the first step and began moving forward, slowly, cautiously. Then he noticed something that made his blood run cold. With every step he took, the stairs behind him vanished, dissolving into nothingness.
There was no turning back.
When he finally reached the inside of the castle, the sight left him speechless. It felt like space itself had opened up before him. Endless darkness, scattered with glowing stars. A short distance ahead, an intense, radiant light shimmered so brightly that he could not see what lay beyond it.
Instinctively, Ayan formed something like a slab beneath his feet and walked on it, moving deeper into the castle.
That was when he heard it.
Crying. Screaming.
At the same time, a single star flickered brightly in the distance, pulsing as if it represented the person whose screams were tearing through the silence.