I knew there was no choice left.
Five men kept approaching. Their footsteps echoed dully across the concrete bridge, like the tolling of a funeral bell. The darkness of the night swallowed their figures, but I didn't need to see their faces—I already knew how this would end.
"You didn't really think you could just walk away, did you?"
The raspy voice of the leader lashed across my nerves like a whip. I stepped back. My soles slid over the damp concrete, heart pounding in my chest like it was the last time it ever would. The cold metal rail dug into my back, and beyond it yawned the abyss—a black river that consumed everything without a trace.
They walked slowly. Confidently. Like hunters cornering their prey against a cliff.
"Either you pay, or—"
I didn't wait to hear the rest.
The next moment, my body lurched backward—and I jumped. Without hesitation. Without farewell. Without a plan.
The world turned upside down.
Air burst from my lungs as the cold hit me like a wall. The icy river pierced every cell in my body. Shock. Panic. Pain. I thrashed in the dark depths, trying to understand which way was up, which way was down—but there was only darkness. Filthy, sticky, foreign.
I felt nothing. No hands. No legs. Even my thoughts turned sluggish, like mud on the riverbed. I was being pulled into the abyss, and it felt like the end.
"Am I dead?"
The thought flickered somewhere deep in what remained of my consciousness—and in that very moment, within the darkness… came warmth.
Faint at first, barely perceptible, but growing stronger with each passing second. I opened my eyes. The water no longer pressed in on me, and before me—floating right in the heart of the abyss—was a golden cube, slowly rotating. It emitted a soft, inviting glow, like a warm sun in an arctic winter. Its faces shimmered, reflecting every shade of amber, and inside pulsed something—powerful, ancient, calling.
I reached for it.
I had almost no strength left. My movements were slow, as if swimming through syrup. But the closer I got, the lighter I felt. The cube shone brighter, a beacon for the drowning. I stretched out a trembling hand, and the moment my fingers touched its surface—everything vanished.
A blinding light flared before my eyes, searing my consciousness. I tried to scream—but couldn't. There was no sound. No water. No wind. No breath. Only radiance.
When my sight returned, I realized—I was no longer in the river.
I was standing on something solid. Beneath my feet lay a smooth, transparent surface, like ice or glass. I moved carefully. No water. I could breathe. It was warm.
Slowly, I lifted my eyes—and saw the stars.
Myriads of lights stretched out in all directions, surrounding the space I now occupied. This wasn't just space—it was something more. The stars pulsed, moved, aligned into patterns, as if watching me. The sky—or its illusion—was boundless and infinite, but I stood within a confined space.
Crystal-like walls enclosed me from all sides. I touched one—there was a soft resistance, like an energy barrier. A cube. I was inside a cube. Roughly ten meters wide, tall, and long. Transparent. Almost invisible, were it not for the faint shimmering at the corners—thin threads of light outlining its edges.
What is this place..?
I exhaled, and my voice echoed dully, as if bouncing off unseen walls. The words dissolved into the emptiness—but in the very next instant, golden light flared before me.
As if out of thin air, another cube appeared—smaller in size. It hovered in the air, spinning, radiating that same familiar glow. Its surface trembled, as though something inside was building up. And then… a voice.
It didn't sound out loud—it spoke inside my mind, clear, cold, and emotionless, like a perfectly tuned synthesizer:
— Greetings, Master.
I flinched, stumbled back. The air thickened, as though something had filled it. A sharp pang clenched in my chest.
"W-what the…?"
My voice broke. My lips were dry. I stared at the cube in front of me, my heart racing like mad.
"Who are you..? Where am I?"
But the cube gave no answer. It kept spinning, its glow growing ever brighter…