In-su jolted awake, drenched in sweat, his breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps. He lay there for a moment, his chest heaving as his eyes darted around. His head whipped from side to side, trying to anchor himself in some semblance of reality, but all he saw was darkness. Pitch black. A void so complete it swallowed even his own shadow.
"Where...am I?" he whispered, his voice trembling, barely audible over the sound of his racing heartbeat. His hands groped blindly at the air around him, searching for something, anything, familiar. The texture of the space felt off—cool and unyielding, like he was lying on polished glass instead of his bed.
In-su sat up slowly, his movements tentative, his entire body on high alert. His heart pounded against his ribs, loud enough that he thought it might echo in the eerie silence surrounding him. "Hello?" he called out, his voice breaking as it left his throat. He immediately regretted it, the sound of his own voice somehow making the void feel even emptier.
Then, a flicker of movement caught his eye.
At first, he thought it was his imagination—a trick of his mind playing games with the oppressive blackness. But no. It was real. And it was growing closer.
Two glowing orbs emerged from the darkness, sharp and menacing, like twin suns burning with an otherworldly intensity. In-su froze, his breath hitching in his throat.
And then it stepped forward.
The creature from the bathroom—the one he had desperately convinced himself was just a hallucination—was here. In the flesh. Its grotesque form moved with a slow, predatory grace, its eyes locked onto him with unrelenting focus.
In-su's scream tore out of him before he even realized it, primal and full of raw terror. "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" His body reacted on pure instinct, his legs scrambling to propel him forward. He didn't know where he was running to, only that he had to move.
But something was wrong.
No matter how far or fast he ran, the scenery didn't change. The void stretched infinitely in every direction, swallowing his desperate movements without so much as a ripple. It was as if he were running on a treadmill in hell.
The creature followed, its footsteps slow but deliberate, each one echoing unnaturally loud in the endless dark. Its growls reverberated through the space, low and guttural, vibrating deep in In-su's bones.
"MUUUUMMMMYYYYYYYY!" he howled, his voice cracking as he pushed himself harder, his legs burning, his chest tight. He glanced back—big mistake. The monster was closer now, its grotesque maw pulling back into something resembling a smirk, sharp teeth glinting.
Suddenly, a loud BANG BANG echoed through the void.
In-su stumbled, his feet skidding to a stop. His eyes darted around wildly. The sound wasn't from the monster. It was something else. Familiar. Grounding.
Knocking?
"In-su! Open the door!" a muffled voice called, piercing through the darkness.
His eyes shot open, and he was back in his room. Real air filled his lungs, his chest heaving as he blinked rapidly, trying to shake the lingering terror. Sweat dripped from his brow, soaking into his shirt as he sat up. His gaze darted around the room, his brain struggling to reconcile the horrifying dream with his now oddly unfamiliar surroundings.
Another knock rattled the door.
"In-su! Are you awake?"
"I'm coming!" he croaked, his voice rough as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.
But something wasn't right.
His room—it wasn't the same. It was still his room but...different. Cleaner. Sleeker. His old, peeling wallpaper was gone, replaced with smooth metallic panels that shimmered faintly under a soft, artificial glow. His rickety desk now looked like it belonged in a futuristic spaceship, complete with floating holograms hovering above its surface.
"What the...?" he muttered, stumbling to his feet. The floor under him felt unnaturally smooth, like polished marble. He turned in place, his jaw slack as his brain tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
The knock came again, louder this time.
"In-su, hurry up!"
"Alright, alright!" he grumbled, staggering to the door. When he reached out to grab the doorknob, his hand hit cold, unyielding metal instead. His brow furrowed as he looked at the strange, futuristic sliding panel in front of him.
"What is this, a spaceship?" he muttered, poking at a small touchpad on the door's side. It beeped in response, and after a few confused swipes, the door hissed open with a smooth whoosh.
Standing there was his mom, her muscular frame filling the doorway as she gave him her signature why are you like this glare.
"JESUS, MA!" In-su yelped, clutching his chest. "You scared the crap out of me!"
"What took you so long to open the door? Have you been doing drugs?" she asked, shoving a lunchbox into his hands without missing a beat.
"What? No, Ma, I don't do drugs!"
"Hmm," she said, her tone making it clear she didn't believe him.
In-su opened the lunchbox, the smell of freshly cooked food wafting up to greet him. His stomach growled, and his face lit up.
"Ahhh, food! Mama, you're the best!" he said, his voice reverent.
His mom stepped into the room, her eyes scanning the floor. "What's with this mess? Pick up your clothes!"
"Ma, stop! I'll do it!"
His mom shot him a glare that immediately shut him up. "Sure you will," she muttered, bending down to start picking up the clothes herself.
"Alright, alright!" he said, throwing his hands up in defeat.
Then something outside caught his eye. He turned to the window and yanked the curtains open. His jaw dropped. The world outside was unrecognizable.
Skyscrapers that reached impossibly high glinted under the sun, their glassy exteriors dotted with moving holograms. Flying cars zipped between buildings, leaving shimmering trails of light in their wake. The streets below bustled with robots, drones, and people wearing what could only be described as space couture.
"This isn't...2025," he breathed. "It's—what is this? The future?"
His mom barely glanced up. "Of course, it's 2130. Have you been drinking?"
"I haven't been—wait, 2130?!"
"YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING!" she bellowed, smacking him on the back.
"OW, MA! NO! I'M SERIOUS!" he shouted, pointing at the window. "Look out there! This isn't normal!"
She sighed, finally humoring him with a glance. "Flying cars. So what? We've had those for decades."
"DECADES?!" he shrieked.
"Have you hit your head, or are you just stupid?"
He groaned, clutching his head. "I just woke up from the weirdest dream, Ma. There were monsters, and—"
Her expression darkened. "Monsters?"
"Yeah, and they were chasing me—"
She cut him off, gripping his shoulders. "In-su, the prophecy has come true."
"What prophecy?"
"You must go to the mountains," she said solemnly, scribbling something onto a piece of paper.
"What mountains?! Are there even mountains in a time like this?? This isn't—"
"GO!" she insisted, thrusting the note into his hand.
"Ma…" he began, but she cut him off.
"IN-SU, THIS ISN'T UP FOR DEBATE!" she roared.
In-su stared at her, then at the note, then back at her. What is even happening? he thought, but he knew better than to argue. Whatever was going on, it was going to be one hell of a day.
He stared at her, dumbfounded. His day was only getting weirder by the second.
In-su stood by the roadside, his jaw slack as he tried to take it all in. The world around him was a kaleidoscope of advanced technology and futuristic marvels that made him feel like he'd stepped straight into a sci-fi movie. Above him, trains zipped through the air, gliding effortlessly along invisible tracks, their sleek designs looking more like alien spacecraft than anything resembling a train. On the streets below, people moved briskly, their faces buried in floating holographic screens, while others casually waved their hands over glowing panels to pay for items from vending machines that hummed melodically.
"What the hell is this?" he muttered to himself, his voice drowned out by the hum of the bustling street. His eyes darted from one astonishing sight to another. Even the streetlights seemed to have a mind of their own, flickering and adjusting brightness depending on the people walking beneath them.
The money in his hand felt strange too, smooth and glossy like plastic but with a faint, glowing blue edge that seemed to pulse faintly in time with his heartbeat. He turned it over and stared at the unfamiliar symbols and holographic images shifting on its surface. "This isn't money—this is magic! How the hell am I supposed to know if this is even real?"
When the bus pulled up to the stop, his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. It wasn't even on the ground. The damn thing was hovering a good two feet in the air, sleek and silver, with lights that swirled hypnotically along its exterior. Its doors opened with a quiet hiss, and he found himself rooted to the spot, blinking dumbly.
"Hey! You getting on or what?" the driver called, his voice slightly robotic, as though it was being auto-tuned in real-time.
"Uh, yeah... yeah," In-su stammered, fumbling with the futuristic money. He climbed in, half expecting to float up along with the bus. Inside, the seats were arranged in neat rows, each one looking impossibly clean and plush, with individual screens embedded in the backrests. A gentle, ambient hum filled the cabin, soothing but strange.
He shuffled awkwardly to a seat by the window and collapsed into it, still clutching his glowing money like a lifeline. He shoved it into his pocket and leaned his head against the cool glass. Outside, the city whirled past in a blur of neon lights and towering buildings, all glittering like a scene from a dream. He could see people walking on suspended platforms far above the ground, while drones zipped between them, carrying packages.
"Okay, calm down, In-su," he muttered under his breath. "Maybe you just hit your head or something. Maybe this is all a really messed-up dream."
But then, his reflection in the window caught his eye, and he froze.
At first, he thought it was someone else sitting next to him. His eyes widened as he leaned closer to the glass, his heart pounding in disbelief. The face staring back at him was his, but it wasn't his at the same time. His hair was longer—much longer—and tied into a messy bun that looked like it hadn't seen a brush in weeks. His face seemed sharper, more mature, with a jawline that could probably slice through bread.
But it was his eyes that made his stomach flip. They weren't the dark brown he'd been born with. No, they were a strange, unsettling shade of ash gray, shimmering faintly in the dim light of the bus.
"What the actual hell?" he whispered, gripping the edge of his seat as panic bubbled in his chest. "Is that me? Is this me? My hair—why the hell is it so long? And my eyes! What happened to my eyes? I look like one of those edgy anime characters people are always drawing on TikTok!"
He ran a hand over his face, tugging at his cheeks like he was trying to pull off a mask. But no, the face in the reflection mimicked every movement perfectly. It was undeniably his.
"Okay, okay, think, In-su," he thought, his inner monologue spiraling into chaos. "You're in the future—clearly. Everything's all... hover-y and shiny. But why do I look like this? Did I go through some sort of futuristic puberty? Did someone clone me and forget to tell me? Or—oh god—what if I'm some sort of evil twin? What if the real me is locked in a lab somewhere, and this is all part of some elaborate government experiment?"
He smacked his own forehead. "No, stop. Don't be stupid. You're still you. Probably. But then how do I explain the hair? Did I get a makeover? Who in their right mind gave me a messy bun? I don't even like buns!"