Noen slowly opened his eyes again, still squinting against the persistent glare. Before him, three massive images materialized in the white void like towering screens. Noen pinched his eyes together, trying to make out the details of the choices laid out before him.
The first was an image of a desert city. People moved through the streets draped in heavy layers of cloth, carrying water pots on their heads. Women held children in their arms, and every face wore a grim, weary expression—except for one. A young woman stood confidently in the middle of the crowded market, her posture sharp and defiant. Noen looked at the image description directly below it:
The Last Oasis
Noen shifted his gaze to the second picture. It was a dark, almost pitch-black metropolis filled with towering skyscrapers. The city looked hollow and ruined, as if life had been sucked out of it long ago. Only a single restaurant sign flickered with a lonely light; the rest seemed destroyed and uninhabited. He checked the text underneath:
The Hollow Streets
Finally, he looked at the third image. It was pitch black, a void of pure obsidian. Three large, white question marks ( ??? ) stretched across the screen, pulsating slowly. Noen looked down at the image description for this one as well, but it too consisted only of three characters:
???
Noen gripped his head, a groan of frustration escaping his lips. "Honestly, I'm starting to get really sick of question marks."
He turned his attention back to the first two images, squinting at the details. "And I'm just supposed to pick one, or what?" He began to pace, walking around the floating screens to see if there were any hidden clues or instructions on the back, searching for any hint as to what the smarter option might be.
He stopped in front of the second image, rubbing his chin. "Mhmm… this city is giving me major creepypasta vibes. It definitely doesn't look friendly." He scratched his head, shifting his gaze to the desert scene. "The other one looks incredibly hot, though. And the description… The Last Oasis… that sounds like there's barely any water left, if any at all."
His eyes flickered back and forth between the two. The dark city was unsettling, but the desert felt alive, even if it was struggling. "But at least there are people there. And that young woman… she looks like she might actually be helpful."
Stepping decisively toward the first screen, Noen pointed a finger at the desert landscape. "I… I choose this one."
Nothing happened. The white void remained silent.
"Hello? Voice from before?" Noen called out, but only silence answered him. "Maybe I have to touch it—Woahh..!!"
Suddenly, a powerful suction force yanked his arm forward. Before he could even react, his limb was submerged in the surface of the image as if it were liquid. He took a sharp, jagged breath, trying to steady his racing heart. "Ok… ok!"
His entire body began to be pulled into the frame, the image consuming him. But as his hand—the one still white-knuckled around the hilt of Duskfang—was dragged in, the blade hit the surface of the image and stopped dead.
CLANG!
His hand was forced through, but Duskfang bounced off the image as if it had hit a solid steel wall. The weapon was stripped from his fingers, clattering onto the floor of the white void, left behind in the sterile silence.
"N-No!" Noen cried out, reaching back with a hand that was already vanishing into the light.
The suction became absolute. He was ripped away from the white void and plunged into a chaotic, multicolored tunnel. Everything moved at a blurring, impossible speed, spinning and twisting his senses until he couldn't tell up from down.
"My… My weapon!"
Noen hurtled toward a pinpoint of searing yellow light at the end of the tunnel. It expanded until it consumed everything. "Ahhh!!!"
Then, total darkness.
"Hello… hello!"
Noen's eyelids felt like they were weighted with lead. He groaned, the sound dry and raspy in his throat.
"Hello… Sir!"
Noen slowly forced his eyes open, squinting against a harsh, unforgiving glare. "Hello…?"
A small boy was leaning over him, peering down with curiosity. He looked to be no more than eight or nine, his skin tanned deep by the sun and his clothes dusty and worn.
"Are you tired?" the boy asked, tilting his head.
Noen let out a sharp gasp and bolted upright. His lungs burned as he sucked in the hot, arid air. He immediately began frantically patting his sides and his waist, checking his body to make sure he was still in one piece.
"My weapon…" he muttered, his fingers still feeling the handle.
"Hello? Why are you lying here in the middle of nothing?"
Noen finally took a look at his surroundings. He was sitting in a dune of fine, golden sand that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The heat was a physical weight, pressing down on him from a sun that looked far too large.
He stood up, his head still spinning, the world tilting dangerously on its axis.
"Come with me, back to the city!" the boy chirped. Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Noen's arm with surprising strength and began to sprint.
„Ohhh right… the city." Noen mumbled.
After a run that felt like an absolute eternity, a small desert city finally materialized on the horizon. It looked exactly like the glimpse he had seen in the white void—sand-colored stone buildings clustered together like a fortress against the dunes.
"There it is!" Noen panted, shielding his eyes from the glare. "That's the one from the picture!"
The boy stopped in his tracks, looking up at Noen with a face full of confusion. "The one from the picture?"
Noen caught himself, realizing how insane he must sound. "What's your name, kid?" Noen asked, trying to change the subject as he wiped sweat from his brow.
The boy gave a wide, toothy grin. "I'm Sami, like my father. And you?"
"Noen."
Sami wrinkled his nose, tilting his head as they began walking again toward the city gates. "That's a weird name."
Noen let out a dry, tired chuckle, his throat feeling like he'd swallowed sandpaper. "Thanks."