Daewon found himself standing at the edge of a sky-high cliff. Far below, right beneath him, jagged rocks just barely broke through the thick fog that seemed to stretch forever. The wind whistled sharply, blowing his hair and clothes. His feet felt glued to the ground, but his body was almost over the edge, as if something was pulling him.
"What is this...?" he whispered, his voice barely audible over the ferocious wind. His chest tightened, it felt like his heart might explode any minute. All of his instincts told him to step back, but due to his shock, he was unable to move. The ground under his feet started to shake.
Suddenly, the earth cracked beneath him. Crumbs of rock fell into the mist below, disappearing into the dark abyss. Daewon's eyes widened as he felt the ground collapse beneath him. Panic then built inside him, and he reached out, trying to grab anything. But there was nothing he could hold onto. The edge was gone, and Daewon was slowly falling down.
Time started to drag on slowly. The wind was screaming in his ears, a knot formed in his stomach, and the sensation of floating overtook him. He couldn't see anything but the fog and darkness. Just when he thought he would sink into the void, a calm, firm voice echoed in his mind.
"Is this all you've got? You seriously didn't do anything, but let yourself fall."
Daewon froze mid-fall. The world around him seemed to stop. He wasn't falling anymore. Instead, he noticed that he was floating in an empty space, the mist flowing around him like it was alive. And there, in the distance, a figure began to emerge. At first, it was just a shadow, its form moving like smoke, but then it slowly started to solidify into something more. Into a dominant presence.
"It's you again." Daewon said, recognizing the voice instantly. He felt a mix of frustration and confusion but also a strange sense of relief. He didn't know why exactly, but the voice had become familiar to him.
The figure then stepped closer. The air around it seemed to flow with energy, though its form remained barely noticeable, flickering like a flame near its end.
"You remember me. Good." its tone was calm but commanding. "That means you've been doing your homework and paid attention"
"Homework? Paid attention?" Daewon said in an irritated tone, crossing his arms. "To the cryptic nonsense you've been throwing at me? I don't know how I'm meant to understand any of this."
The figure chuckled softly, a sound seemed to slowly echo all around him. "If it was all meaningless, how could it be so unforgettable? Why can't you shake it off? Why does it keep haunting your thoughts? Why does it make you uncomfortable? Why Daewon... Why?" The figure's voice was trembling with desperation.
Daewon was silent. The voice's words hit him harder than he'd expected. He hadn't been able to shake away the feeling that something was trying to get through to him, something important. But admitting that felt like a weakness.
"Tell me, what do you want?" he asked though his voice was sharper than before, but deep down, he was more confused than anything.
"It's not about what I want, Daewon." the figure replied. "It's about what you want, what you truly desire."
Daewon clenched his fists. He was tired of the cryptic nonsense the figure was feeding him. "I want to be stronger. I want to stop feeling helpless, it's like I'm floating through life without control. Isn't that obvious?"
The figure stepped even closer to him, it's form beginning to take a clearer shape. It's presence grew stronger. "Then stop holding back." it replied. "You hold onto fear as if it's your only anchor. You're afraid of failing, afraid of disappointing others. But you can't move forward as long as you hold onto that fear."
"Easy for you to say." Daewon mumbled bitterly, his words full with frustration. "You're not the one who has to live in this cruel life and accept the consequences. I'm the one that has to deal with everything."
The figure then tilted its head slightly, as if it was considering Daewon's words. "True. But I don't need to deal with the consequences because I'm not the one in control. But you are. You have the power to change your path, but you can't do that if you're always scared of what's gonna happen."
Daewon's throat felt tight. The figure was right. Everything had always been about fear... the fear of not being enough, the fear of failure. Failure always held him back in ways he couldn't quite explain.
"So, what now?" he asked, his voice quieter. "What do you expect me to do?"
The figure's presence became even more intense. "The choice is yours." it said. "Stay where you are, stuck in this cycle of fear, or step forward and prove that you're more than a weakling with doubts."
Before Daewon could respond, the world around him slowly began to dissolve. The mist vanished, and the figure's voice echoed one last time, as if it was calling from a distance:
"Prove your worth."