Like a blind man hearing a familiar voice in a sea of noise, Sultan saw light in this message.
Finally, someone who Sultan can contact. A sign that he hadn't gone mad and the world didn't end. A Linck back to sanity and a bridge of hope.
More than that, they appear to know some information about sultan's bazar situation.
Like a lost sailor in a stormy knight, Sultan hoped that this mysterious sender would be able to provide any possible explanation about what transpired in the last few hours. Not wasting any more time, he started drafting a reply, his eyes moving furiously.
"Hello there," he wrote.
I'm in dire need of help. I think I'm lost. I don't have a clue about where I'm currently, or how did I get here?
One moment I was in my home, another I was in a strangely light-dotted place, and now I am in a cold hell of darkness. So, I will be in your det, if you can provide any assistant or perhaps an explanation. At least, please contact the authorities on my behalf, and inform them about my need of help."
The respond didn't take long, though long enough for doubt to seep into Sultan's mind .
What if this was a delayed message? or even worse. What if his mind has started hallucinating due to the inhuman cold he is experiencing.
Such unwelcome thoughts played in his mind like unruly children.
Thankfully, all his worries were for not. because not after a few moments, the short reply came.
"Yes, yes, I know. I do have an explanation."
Relief exploded inside Sultan. " great. Could you tell me what's going on? What happened to me?" he asked eagerly.
"Well, yes, I could," came the reply. "But I don't think you'd appreciate the explanation right now.
you see, It's a bit lengthy and will involve you asking a lot of questions and me answering a few of them. Instead, I can offer help. Do you want to return home? because I can provide a way for that.
Sultan didn't like the sound of this.
He was definitely appreciative, overjoyed even, for the opportunity to find a way home, but… secrecy is a bill hard to swallow for Sultan.
this individual is acting a bit too mysterious for his taste.
It's quite clear that the information for what transpired with Sultan is in the high end scale of importance, since the possibility of it being a freak of nature should be rolled out on the account of someone knowing about it.
This suggests that it's undoubtably man-controlled, or, at the very least, occurs frequently enough for records about it to exist. All of this makes it somewhat understandable why the unknown sender would be secretive about the topek.
Still, sultan didn't like it. his very own life is on the line here, so the most basic form of courtesy is to inform him of what he have fallen into.
And because Sultan hates to have a lot of questions unanswered and being ordered around without understanding the situation, he took longer than usual to respond to the last message.
"Okay, well, what should I do?" he sent after a while.
Who was he kidding? This person was his only hope of surviving, and his impression, no matter how untrusting it seemed at first, wouldn't change anything.
Because as much as Sultan abhorred hoarding information, he surely hated being dead far more.
"Good! First, you need to start moving, or your body will freeze to death soon enough," came the stupid response.
"Oh, yeah. I kind of guessed that on my own. Haven't you promised a way home.
how can I go back?"
"goodness!" came the reply.
"can't you take a joke?"
"Yes, I have promised that and I'm going to see you home safely. You don't have to bite me for it."
Sultan stared at the stream of texts dancing in front of his eyes, dumbfounded. What kind of person makes a joke of someone who's literally dying from cold and was a moment ago begging for help?.
What's worse, they seemed like the type who loved to have one-sided conversations. "
pleas, kind sir or madam. This is no time for jokes. I'm awaiting your instructions." Sultan interrupted with a message of his own, less this person continue monologuing forever.
"whatever," they replied Curtly.
"Follow this map until you reach the marked location. Then I'll give you further instructions on how to get home," the next one said, , tailed with a type of Linck.
Feeling disappointed, Sultan opened the attached map. "I thought they were going to rip open a portal or send a spaceship to pick me up," he muttered. "Anyway, let's see what we have here."
And as he examined the map, a flock of curses flew out of his mouse.
The so-called map turned out to be just two dots and an arrow.
In the same moment, the chat exploded with "hahas" and maniacally laughing emojis, As if waiting for this exact reaction.
And to seal the deal, comments like
"priceless. Your reaction is priceless."
And
"I'm not being paying enough for this."
Started jumping between every haha and haha.
"Wait, wait. Before you bark at me again, this isn't a joke," the sender quickly added.
"Explain," Sultan demanded.
"You see two colored dots?" they began.
"Right," Sultan confirmed.
"One green and one blue."
"Yes, yes."
"If you look closely, you'll find an arrow pointing from the blue dot to the green. You are the blue dot, and your destination is the green dot. So, you'll have to go wherever the arrow points."
Sultan massaged his temples with the heels of his hands. "Yes, I got that. I'm not a child. Where's the rest? Why doesn't your map have any details?"
"Sorry. That's all I've got," came the infuriating reply.
"so could you contact someone who can help me appropriately?"
"Na, can't do that for plenty of reasons," They send with a wink.
And sultan lost it.