Arghh... My head... It Hurts!
Joe Walker woke up from his deep sleep, feeling an unbearable headache. He held his head as he woke up and continued to press it hard to alleviate the pain. His vision was blurry, and his eyesight was not functioning properly.
Where am I?
Joe Walker slowly tried to observe his surroundings while attempting to stand up. Despite the disruptive headache, his body was not entirely balanced. Nevertheless, he pushed himself to look around.
There's nothing here except me. Where am I, actually?
As Joe Walker started to grasp his current situation, he became even more puzzled by the dark, box-like room he could see. There was nothing else present besides himself.
What is happening to me? And who am I? my name... is... Joe Walker?
Joe Walker couldn't recall anything other than his own name. Memories of the past, both good and bad, family, friends, a significant other, or even the life he had been living were completely absent from his mind. The only thing that crossed his mind was the name 'Joe Walker'.
I will try to check around, maybe there is a way out.
Joe Walker chose to escape from the room first before reconsidering his identity. However, as he tried to grasp every corner of the room, he felt that he couldn't break it. There was no way out, such as a door or window. He felt trapped in a solid black cube. Trying to break it was futile and only caused pain in his hands and feet. There was no other equipment in the room that could be used.
I am truly trapped here. What should I do?
The eerie silence in the room gradually made him feel uncomfortable.
"Is there anyone out there? Anyone... Please answer me!" Joe Walker tried to seek help from someone outside.
There was no response, only silence. This made Joe Walker feel slightly scared and frustrated.
Unable to escape... Directionless... Purposeless... and even losing my memory. What has happened to me right now?
Suddenly, someone wearing a monkey mask appeared in the darkness. That person slowly approached and tapped Joe Walker's shoulder as he was lost in thought.
"Waa-ahh!? You! Who are you?" Joe Walker was quite surprised by the sudden presence of that person behind him.
Who is this weird masked man? How did he enter?
Joe Walker looked around and suspected that there might be a hidden door he was unaware of. However, there was no sign of such a thing in his current surroundings.
The strange man in the monkey mask suddenly said, "Don't worry, don't be afraid. I am not here to harm you, Mr. Joe Walker."
Joe Walker was taken aback by the man and hesitantly asked, "How do you know my name?"
Looking pensive, the mysterious man said, "Hmm... I cannot tell you that. It is part of what we have agreed upon, Mr. Joe Walker."
"Just call me Joe."
"Oh, thank you, that makes it easier to me... Mr. Joe."
Joe Walker was suspicious of the mysterious man's presence. The monkey mask made him even more dubious.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Did you kidnap me? What do you want to do to me? Why am I here? For what reason? Why?"
"Calm down, Mr. Joe, calm down! I will explain to you slowly because I am not here to hurt you. On the contrary, I want to help you!"
"Help me?"
"Yes, you heard correctly. I am here to help you!"
"If that's the case, get me out of here right now! And return my memories!"
"...," The mysterious man fell silent for a moment, looking at Joe Walker.
"W-what? Do you want to help me, right?"
"It seems you misunderstand something?"
"Misunderstand?"
"Yes, we are not currently on Earth anymore, mr.joe."
"Whaaat? Not on Earth? Then, where are we now? How did you bring me here? Where is this?"
"I told you to calm your mind first. While you are in this room, you cannot be harmed. You don't even need to breathe to live. You also don't need to eat. You are immortal, you cannot be hurt, and death is not the end for you. You are the chosen one. Or more precisely, you have made yourself as the chosen one."
"Wait a minute! Slow down! Stop... Stop!"
"Hmm? Do you want me to repeat it? Alright... While you are in this room, you cannot be harmed. You don't even need..."
"That's not what I meant! Let's slow down! That information is too overwhelming and nonsensical for me!"
"Oh, I see... I understand,Alright. In that case, you can ask me anything. Except how to return you to Earth, even if i want to, I cannot do it without permission."
Joe Walker fell silent for a moment, trying to digest the information he had received from the mysterious man.
However, Joe Walker understood that the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was futile. All the nonsensical things he didn't want to believe were pointless. However, when he tried to hold his breath, he finally believed it. Because he realized that he had never taken a single breath from the beginning.
But the strange thing was that his bodily functions were working normally. He felt his heartbeat working normally and vibrating when he touched his chest.
There were many questions he wanted to ask at that moment. However, there was one question he had to ask first and prioritize. With a high level of curiosity, Joe Walker asked, "First, I want to know one thing."
"Yes, please ask me, Mr. Joe. I will answer to the best of my ability," said the mysterious man who was currently with Joe Walker.
With a serious expression, Joe Walker began to move his mouth and asked, "Who are you really?"
A long silence ensued between the two individuals. No one spoke, they just stared at each other with their own intentions.
And in the midst of that silence, the mysterious man began to respond to Joe's previous question.
"Oyaya? Oyayayaya? Hmm, interesting. You prioritize asking about my identity rather than about where you are right now. Hmm... Hmm..., interesting."
"What's so interesting about that? Instead, you are the strange one! Blame your mask that makes you look even weirder and suspicious!"
"...hmmm," The mysterious masked man fell silent for a moment to think. But shortly after, he said, "That makes sense, but... I wear this mask for a reason."
"What's the reason?"
"Hoo..., let me introduce myself to you. The reason is because of my current existence and identity."
"I've asked you to introduce yourself from the beginning! You're really troublesome, you know!? Come on, hurry up!"
"You're the type of person who likes to force someone, aren't you? Alright, I'll tell you..."
"You're noisy! Damn you, hurry up! You've been saying 'alright' and 'I will tell you' like that since earlier. But in the end, you just make our conversation go in circles!"
"Can't you be patient and wait for me to explain?"
"Oh..."
"Oyaya, you're so impatient, that's why I told you to calm down. I know you're restless with your situation right now. But, being restless in a situation like this will only make things difficult for yourself, you know!?"
Joe Walker looked regretful for constantly trying to force the situation to go as he wanted, "I'm sorry..."
Behind his mask, the mysterious man smiled and said, "Alright, I will explain what you want to know right now. For now, please be quiet and listen to my explanation. Do you understand, Mr. Joe?"
"...," Joe nodded in agreement.
"Good, first, let me explain who I am. I am your guide in this room. I am assigned to be your guide and teach you how to use this room for the tasks assigned to you."
"...," Joe remained silent, sitting and listening attentively.
"The second thing I want to explain is about this room. This is a special room, it has no name, no concept of time, no spatial limits, and this room exists beyond all dimensions, encompassing other smaller dimensions within dimensions."
"Ah..."
The mysterious man interrupted Joe who was about to speak, "Before you ask about anything else, let me explain one more thing."
"Alright..."
"This room actually doesn't have something called 'outside'. Because from the beginning, this room is actually limitless. You are the one who makes it small like this. Even though this room can be destroyed, what you see is just darkness, silence, and you will understand that it is the true emptiness."
"Emptiness? Do you mean the real emptiness?"
"Yes, the emptiness that can never be felt by beings bound by dimensions. Because that emptiness exists beyond all dimensions. More precisely, it is the last layer of everything that exists. We call it 'The end'. The final layer that has no color, time, space, or even anything considered 'existent' in any world. Everything that reaches 'the end' will also become emptiness. Unless that person has permission from us, the 'outer beings' who control all dimensions and their interconnected contents."
"So, you are one of the 'outer beings' too?"
"Yes, you are right... I am an angel."
"An angel?" Joe Walker said, looking from the shoes and black suit to the mask and black hair of the person.
The mysterious man realized why Joe was looking at his body. He felt annoyed and said, "You must be wondering where I hide my wings, right!?"
"Eh? Yes, how did you know?"
"Sigh... if you think angels are winged creatures flying around, you are completely wrong. There are no angels with wings in 'outside', they look normal like humans, but their jobs have been determined since they were created."
"So, can I through 'the end'?"
Without hesitation, the mysterious man quickly answered, "You can... You have become a being unbound by space and time. But it's a bit complicated to ask for permission from the 'outer beings'. Especially since we rarely have guests like you. Moreover, 'outside' is very vast, almost limitless. No one knows how vast 'outside' is. Because it keeps expanding every moment, even this time when we speak right now."
"It seems very complicated 'outside'."
"I agree with your opinion, I also got bored with my previous job. That's why I'm grateful to be assigned a task like this. I thought I could get some entertainment by seeing something new."
"Angels can get bored too?"
"Of course! I am also a being! Especially, I am a special angel. I was given special abilities to understand what emotions are. It's very rare for you to meet elite angels like me," the mysterious man said proudly.
"...," Joe fell silent for a moment.
Joe Walker understood most of his current situation. However, there were still many other questions he wanted to ask. But there was one question that kept crossing his mind since the mysterious man started explaining. He felt it was an unimportant question, but he didn't want to ignore it.
He looked at the masked man and remained silent while continuing to stare at him.
The mysterious masked man began to feel uneasy with Joe's gaze. Especially since Joe remained silent, just staring at him without saying anything. He asked Joe, "Mr. Joe, I don't have the ability to read minds, you know. If you want to ask something, please say it out loud. Don't just stay silent and stare at me, it makes me uneasy, please stop!"
Ray thought for a moment, and he realized that now was not the right time to ask something unimportant. He shook his head and said, "No, nothing... I was just lost in thought."
"Lost in thought? Oh, I just heard that phrase. Is day dreaming right? daydreaming is standing still and staring at someone?"
"Y-yes! Something like that."
"Heeee... Interesting, but what's the point?"
"Hmm, to clear the mind, maybe?"
"So that's it, clearing the mind, an interesting activity, right?"
Joe Walker felt guilty for lying at that moment.
This angel is so innocent. I don't even know the point of daydreaming. I'm sorry, masked man, I lied to you!
Suddenly, the mysterious masked man started asking again, "Mr. Joe, is there anything else you want to ask me?"
"Oh, right... Something to Ask... Something to Ask... Something to... Ask...," Ray fell silent for a moment to think until he found something he wanted to ask and began to inquire back, "Who am I?"