A discovery by some explorers from the Casonia Kingdom revealed that luminescent plants did not rely on moonlight, nor even the rare phenomenon known as magic. They were also fascinated by their ability to glow during the day, although it was hard to notice, unlike at night when no ambient light could obscure it.
Meanwhile, somewhere where various kinds of plants thrived, giant trees stood, filling the grassy terrain. In the center of these trees was a circle of tree-less space where most of the luminescent plants blossomed.
The light emitted by them was enough to make them look like small suns, even in the middle of the day when the sun was at its brightest. This phenomenon would certainly baffle the explorers and excite magic enthusiasts.
In the center of these plants was a white object shaped like a sphere. It might be right to call it a giant cocoon, as it was covered in thick silk. But the way it behaved was more like a heart, with its steady throbbing every second.
The followers of the Church of Light would immediately make it disappear the moment they laid eyes on it, showing no mercy. For they always stood by their rule that if they couldn't explain it, they would destroy it.
However, the thing inside had no need to worry about harm. It had remained dormant for two decades without disturbance, and it seemed it would continue to do so for another twenty years or more. It simply beat, and beat, without concern.
But that peaceful existence did not last forever, and in the next moment, its small world was shattered.
A hand was pressed against the wall of the cocoon-like object, jolting it awake. Smoke began to billow from the cocoon, and within just two heartbeats, the silk covering began to melt.
As the melting occurred, a flash of memories suddenly surged into the entity within, and a flame was ignited. Consciousness began to materialize, bringing with it all the possible emotions a soul could possess.
Another heartbeat passed, and the next to emerge from nothingness were bones and flesh. What had been shapeless now molded itself into the likeness of a human. Then, it gained the senses of taste and smell. It felt the heat in its body as the sense of touch activated. It heard the beats of its own heart, followed by the sound of another's. Its newly formed hands clenched into fists, and its two eyes opened.
'Where am I?'
What it saw first were the brown trunks of trees and various kinds of vegetation.
'What is this place?'
'Wait! Who am I?!'
The entity touched its smooth face, feeling it for a moment. But without warning, a fleeting memory flashed in its mind, and its eyes lost focus.
It saw what seemed to be a man sitting in front of a rectangular flat object, holding complex artifacts. The man had short, unkempt hair and an average-looking face. His body was thin, and his height modest, just below the shoulders of an average man.
The memory was brief, but it carried with it a flood of emotions—confusion, familiarity, and an unsettling sense of loss. The entity shook its head, trying to clear the images from its mind.
"Was that man… me? He looked exactly like me."
The height, the face, the build—everything was the same.
"And what are those things?" the entity questioned, but no answer came.
It saw a four-cornered room, a door, a bed, windows that were closed, unfamiliar tools, and small objects whose purpose it could not fathom. The sharp jolt of the image lasted only a fraction of a second before it stopped, and its eyes returned to focus.
Back in the real world, the entity discovered that it had lost most of its memories. It tried very hard, but recalling any details seemed impossible. It then began studying its body to see if anything was wrong.
"Everything seems normal."
"Ugh!"
A sudden noise snapped him from his thoughts. When he looked down, he saw a woman in a disheveled state, struggling to push herself off the ground. Her hair was tangled, and her clothes were filled with holes. Curiously, she had no injuries, and even her beautiful face seemed vibrant with life, her breathing steady.
'She looks dirty,' the entity thought.
"Where am I?" the woman spoke, her voice a little hoarse.
"I'm being chased and—" She mumbled quietly, then stopped and shook her head.
"..."
Their eyes met, and only then did the entity notice her stunning beauty. The grace of her face and the elegant lines of her body—especially with so much of it exposed as he quietly observed—were exceptional, he judged.
"Hello, fellow risers." The entity's first words echoed, though he didn't know what language he had just used.
The woman was startled.
"W-who are you?!" she exclaimed.
"Me? I'm—" He paused, suddenly realizing that he had forgotten his own name.
The woman, now standing properly, raised her eyebrows.
"Ah, that's not important. What matters is that you and I woke up in the same place. So, do you have any idea what's going on?"
The woman shook her head.
"Hmm, I see."
The entity turned around and observed the surroundings. That was when he noticed the plants emitting bright lights.
'What kind of plants are those? They're strange.'
He stared at them intensely for a few seconds before turning around, only to find the woman already running in the distance, nearly out of his sight. The entity followed her running figure and noticed that her feet were bare, unprotected by anything.
'She runs so fast.'
The entity wondered if the woman was experiencing the same issue as him. He shrugged, forcefully pushing her out of his mind, and tried to focus on his own situation.
Waking up in an unfamiliar place would cause anyone unease, but what troubled him the most was the feeling that parts of his memory weren't lost—they were blocked by something or someone. He wondered if his brain had been altered, with only the irrelevant parts left untouched.
With nothing to lose, he listed the important things he could remember, but there were none. He didn't know his own identity, he didn't know if he had family, and he didn't know if he had a home to return to. So, even if he managed to escape this place, he would have no idea where to go next. After a short while of thinking, he came to the conclusion that he couldn't really do anything about it and decided he'd focus on it when the time came.
With that, he began walking in the direction where the woman had run off, while planning his next move. First, he needed to find people before the sun set. The forest unsettled him, and who knew what dangers might lurk in the night? The sun was still bright, and he figured he had enough time before darkness settled in.
As he walked, he encountered various kinds of strange vegetation and not even a hundred steps and he paused his walking, thinking he heard someone scream of a woman.
Aside from the light-producing plants, he noticed what at first appeared to be an eyeball. However, upon closer inspection, he realized it was merely a flower from a bizarre plant.
He also came across a plant shaped like a mouth, with sharp yellow teeth surrounded by green juice. He tried to poke it with a stick, but the plant seemed to be in a dormant state and wouldn't budge.
Then he saw a tree that looked kind of eerie. It appeared almost identical to a normal tree, except for the human-like face on its trunk.
'I wonder if it will suddenly move if I get close to it.'
He shrugged and took the risk, but nothing happened.
"These were just a few of the many strange things he encountered as he walked through the quiet forest. However, the most peculiar aspect of his journey was that he hadn't seen a single insect or animal along the way, despite having walked for what felt like an eternity."
'What kind of place is this?'
The entity began to question the oddness of his experience when he noticed some bushes shaking up ahead. He parted the long blades of grass as he stepped closer to the source of the movement.
When the entity got close enough to see what was behind the bushes, he frowned. He saw the woman he had first encountered upon waking, now entangled by thorny vines. They had bound her feet, arms, and neck as she struggled to free herself.
Bluish liquid covered the ground and the surrounding vegetation, splattering everywhere as the vines writhed.
The entity nearly stepped into the bluish liquid but managed to halt his foot just in time. That's when he began to doubt what kind of world he was in.
He shook his head.
'I have to help her first.'
Looking around for a way to help, he noticed several squashed eyeball flowers nearby, their sticky green goo spilling onto the tree trunks and leaves. If it were only the vines, he would rack his brain to find a way to stop them. But the problem was the liquid released by these crazy plants—he was wary of touching it.
The entity searched the ground and was about to grab a random stone when a booming sound echoed throughout the forest. His eyes instinctively closed as a strong gust of wind passed his way. He jerked his head up to assess the situation, only to see that it had drastically changed.
The woman was kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath. Her bruised fists were clenched tightly. There was no visible damage to her wet body, aside from her already tattered clothes, which now had even more holes, revealing more of her milky white skin. On her calf was a tattoo of an upside-down heart, which, to his surprise, was releasing a sinister miasma.
Clueless as to what it meant, the entity instead scanned her surroundings and saw pieces of withered vines and the remains of shattered plants. Dust filled the air as the grassy floor deteriorated.
The aftermath of their harsh encounter was devastating to the eyes of the entity, yet he couldn't stop thinking about what the woman had just accomplished.
"It truly was a strange world."
Just as he began to wonder if there was also something special about him, he heard the cracking of bones as she got up and moved her feet. The entity walked straight toward her, stepping through the suspicious wetness along its path. As he approached, he saw her turn in his direction, and he involuntarily recoiled.
But the woman quickly turned her attention to her now bruiseless fist, causing her beautiful face to twist into a frown. Her gaze shifted to the tattoo, and her expression changed again, reflecting a mix of emotions.
The entity deduced that the woman was weird and problematic.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
He was about to ask her a question when suddenly the ground shook, and he almost lost his balance.
Rumble. Rumble.
Leaves fell as the world descended into chaos. The forest hummed, and the entity could feel its agony. His heart pounded loudly in his chest as he tumbled to the ground. He quickly grabbed a random protruding root as the shaking intensified. Something exploded, and his body slammed hard against the earth. He clutched the root tightly, his knuckles white with effort.
The woman wasn't so lucky. Her body was flung violently and crashed into a nearby tree. Branches, stones, dirt, and debris flew past him. The sickening crack of bones breaking echoed through the air, only to be swallowed by the hissing wind.
The entity felt the world turn upside-down, overwhelmed by the dizzying sight of rapidly moving clouds above him. His stomach churned, and nausea surged, but he fought to keep himself together. He couldn't remember when he had last eaten, and he was sure that if he vomited, it would only be water.
Thankfully, the shaking gradually slowed, and the sky above began to stabilize. He exhaled and breathed deeply as the rumbling finally ceased.