Chapter 1: The Rose Garden

Have you ever woken up in a start, realizing you were sleeping in a dark place, even though you didn't remember turning off your bedroom light at all? The situation I was experiencing now was almost the same. I was in a place I couldn't even understand.

I could only guess that my current body position was lying on something truly soft, but strangely, I didn't feel comfortable at all with whatever it was I was lying on.

All I could see above me was a plain black image, filled with darkness that enveloped it.

Then I suddenly remembered the horrifying situation that befell me. Where a strange, terrifying creature had ripped my body apart alive.

That terrifying sensation still clung to my mind, a pain that should have vanished with my body. Long claws piercing my skin, pressure crushing my bones, and the whispers of a foreign incantation that burned my veins. I shook my head, trying to banish the image of the old man with blood-red eyes.

It's over, it's over, I told myself repeatedly, trying to convince myself. Yet, even in this strange, unfamiliar place, the shadow of that horror still felt so real, like a stain on my memory.

"!"

I wanted to say something, but my throat seemed to be constricted. Words only echoed in my head, unable to pass my lips. Something forced my mouth shut tight.

Driven by an irresistible curiosity, I tried to get up from my lying position. And there, I saw something so absurd, beyond the limits of my imagination.

Expanses of deep red roses grew everywhere, as if without end. Their intense color blended perfectly with the pitch-black ceiling. Their beautiful stems swayed gently, dancing with the wind from who knows where. A surreal sight that made me wonder, was this the place after death? A place where all souls are gathered after being separated from their bodies?

The surprises didn't stop there, because when I was finally standing, I could see my own body.
Wait, could this still be called a body?
Because all I saw was a very bright white light that kept me from seeing my own skin. However, that light was indeed shaped like a human body in general.

When I tried to touch it, nothing different happened to my skin, which was so bright because of this light. I just felt a normal touch, as usual.

With curiosity, I began to walk in a random direction. This place was only filled with roses, making me confused about where to go.

I didn't feel any hindrance when walking through this cluster of roses, because magically, the growing flowers even made way for me, as if they were inviting me to step through them.

I kept walking endlessly, for who knows how long. Yet, nothing changed at all. I was confused whether I was just circling back to the same spot, or if this entire place simply looked identical. Whoever created this place must have worked incredibly hard to plant these endless roses. It was quite impressive, but also, in a way, piss me off.

At first, I started to feel desperate because nothing was happening no matter how much I walked. But then, I suddenly saw something glowing from a dim white light a few meters from where I stood.

With new hope in my heart, I rushed towards that light without a second thought; I couldn't even be called walking anymore, but rather running.

As I got closer, the white light grew brighter and brighter until it made me squint from the glare.

But when I was close to the light, I was shocked to find that the source of the light, visible from afar, was from a small body that appeared to be swaying its head as if singing. What made it quite unique was that the surrounding roses also seemed to move in sync with the small body, which, judging from its posture, was a girl enveloped in white light just like me.

Honestly, the sight I was witnessing felt like something out of a children's fairy tale book, where the main character was playing with magical flowers.

"!"

"!"

Until finally, the light-girl noticed my presence, who had been standing behind her. Although the light covered her face, I could still feel our gazes meeting.

"!"

It seemed her situation was almost the same as mine, especially the fact that neither of us could utter a single word from our mouths.

It seemed that my sudden appearance startled her, making the light-girl recoil slightly, and fear seemed to seize her. And do you know what made it extraordinary? The flowers that had been dancing earlier moved and tried to protect the light-girl.

The flowers, which had previously looked beautiful with their elegant red color, now began to stretch their stems and look at me with hisses like snakes and with murderous glares.

The sight was truly terrifying because never in my life had I seen flowers this horrifying, with such a strong murderous aura filling the surrounding area.

I desperately wanted to speak and explain something, but again, no matter how hard I tried, not even the slightest sound escaped my lips.

So, I had no choice but to try to explain to them that I had no ill intentions by using random hand gestures, like raising my hands and shaking my head.

Even so, it seemed the light-girl and the wild flowers were still confused and hesitant about my intentions. So, I tried even harder, moving my body to show that I was a good and funny person.
I even tried to dance in an irregular way. For several minutes, I tried to do something silly to save myself from death for the second time.

Finally, after an exhausting struggle, the light-girl seemed to lower her guard towards me. The tremor in her shoulders showed that she was laughing lightly. Seeing this, the wild flowers, which had previously been ready to pounce on me, also calmed down.

Seeing the situation was safe, I spontaneously caressed my chest as a sign of relief. Even the flowers that had previously looked like snakes returned to their original form.

It seemed that because she felt I was not bad person, the girl waved her hand at me, which I returned.

But it seemed she was waving at me not as a greeting, but rather inviting me to approach her. Without hesitation, I obeyed her request and wondered why she wanted me to come closer.

Finally, after I was near her, the girl told me to sit on a stone that I hadn't even noticed was there.
Even though I couldn't see her face, I felt that she was happy now. Perhaps it was because she was happy to see someone who shared the same fate, trapped in this nowhere land.

I didn't quite understand what she wanted to talk about, but one thing was certain: she wanted me to stay on this stone and witness what she intended to do in front of me.

And indeed, not long after, the girl began to sway her head again, and the roses that had previously looked wild also followed her movements, as if what I had seen before was just an illusion.

Even though not the slightest sound came from her throat, seeing her tiny hands sway made me even more certain she was singing in her mind.
Even so, somehow the dancing roses seemed to genuinely enjoy what the light-girl was doing, as if they were truly listening to her song.

This beautiful sight truly warmed my heart, even making me forget the situation I was in or the tragedy that had befallen me earlier.

It's true I wasn't entirely sure if this realm was a place where souls rested or where souls waited to be transferred somewhere. And if my guess was right, it meant that the girl playing with the roses had already passed away. That made me very sad, as she had died at such a young age.

For several minutes, I watched her perform in front of me until she finally finished singing and bowed in thanks after her performance.

After that, she turned back to me, tilting her head. Perhaps she meant to ask how I found her performance. Of course, I immediately clapped my hands enthusiastically and stood up.

Seeing my explosive response, the girl put her hands behind her back and rubbed one of her feet on the ground. I immediately knew she was feeling very shy.

What a poor girl, I thought, wondering how she could have died.

As time went on, we grew familiar with each other. Accompanied by the roses watching over us, the girl and I started playing various games.

Sometimes she taught me a game I had never known. I wondered if this was a new game for this era?

But what surprised me even more was that she didn't understand basic games like rock-paper-scissors. Had the current generation truly forgotten this game?
The point was, we spent our time teaching each other new games until we lost track of time.

It was quite strange for me, a man in my late thirties, to be playing with a girl so much younger than me. If I were caught doing this in the world where we lived, I'm sure someone would think I was her father. Or if they knew I wasn't her father, they would surely report me to the authorities.

But believe me, I had no ill intentions towards her, and what we were doing here was purely by chance and also the joy we felt from meeting someone in a place that was actually quite creepy.

Until finally, I returned to reality: we couldn't just stay here. We had to do something to get out of this realm.

I tried to talk about it with the girl by looking for a stick nearby and writing something on the ground I was standing on. Neatly, I began to write a few words specifically to invite her to find a solution to get out of here.

And this is where I realized something very unfortunate: the girl didn't understand at all what I had written. At first, I thought she couldn't read yet, but that idea was immediately debunked when the girl also wrote something on the ground. The problem was, the letters she wrote were completely foreign. Honestly, did these letters even exist in my previous life?

At first, I had almost given up on trying to communicate with her until I had another idea: trying to use drawing as a way to communicate. After all, why did it only occur to me now?

I wasn't very confident in my drawing skills since elementary school. My drawings were always the lowest grade compared to my other subjects, even the lowest in the class.

Nevertheless, I tried to draw a vast expanse of flowers and kept trying to replicate the shape of the roses around us. In short, what I was doing was like drawing and telling a story about what was in the drawing, accompanied by random hand gestures.

However, it still wasn't enough because the girl still didn't understand. I even saw the red rose watching us seem to laugh after seeing my bad drawing.

Damn it, I know my drawing is bad, but being belittled by a strange creature really made me feel so humiliated!

Because I didn't want to be stuck here forever, I tried to ignore it and started to improve my drawings until I could convey the message I intended.

"!"

After trying very hard just to communicate with her, the girl finally made a gesture that seemed to indicate she understood what I meant.

Then she paused for a moment, rubbing her chin, a sign that she was thinking about something.

Not long after, she seemed to have found a solution, judging by her movements. Although I was also confused why I seemed so dependent on a child, let's wait and see what solution she would reveal.

But instead, she now invited the Red Roses near her to move a little further away from me. I didn't quite understand why she did that.
When they had moved away, they began to speak to each other, but in whispers, so I could only stand there and guess what they were talking about.

Their discussion felt long, but what made me even more curious was how the girl could communicate with the red roses. Were they using telepathy or something? I didn't understand.

A long time passed until they finished their discussion and seemed to have reached an agreement.
Seriously, what the hell they talked about ?

The girl started to approach me again. She now told me to sit down again, but this time she ordered me to sit cross-legged and even close my eyes.

I obeyed the girl's command. Sitting cross-legged on the cold stone, I closed my eyes, letting the darkness consume me once more. Silence. Only my own breath was audible, battling with the faint beat of my heart. I wondered, what would happen now? Would I be sent somewhere else again? Or was this some strange ritual?

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind brushed against my face. It wasn't ordinary wind—it felt like a giant's breath, full of unseen power. The wind swirled around me, ruffling my bright hair.

Because I was very curious, I tried to open my eyes slightly, peeking through a small slit in my eyelids. And there, I saw them. The red roses. They were the cause of this wind. Their red petals now spun wildly in the air, radiating energy, as if they were living, swirling storms. The light-girl stood not far in front, looking at me, her hands raised as if controlling this very magical thing.

I closed my eyes again, letting the wind caress me. The sensation was strange, neither cold nor hot, but rather a vibrating energy piercing my skin. The wind grew stronger, and I could feel something—something light and soft—beginning to float around me.

They were red rose petals. Millions of petals. They scattered in the air, dancing in the increasingly strong vortex of wind. I could feel them touching my skin, soft as silk, though I rarely touched silk. Then, magically, the petals began to wrap around me.

One by one, the petals adhered to my light body, winding around it, forming a glowing red cocoon. The sensation was no longer a touch, but a warm, penetrating embrace. I could feel them enveloping every inch of me, from my toes to the top of my head. The faint scent of roses now filled my lungs, so thick I felt I could taste it.

Inside the red cocoon, everything became pitch dark, yet strangely, that darkness felt calming. I didn't feel fear, only a strange sense of peace. Then, the sensation changed. My light body—or whatever it was—began to pulsate. No longer pain, but a deep, rhythmic throb, like a newly awakened heartbeat.

I could feel something within me that had long been dead, now coming back to life. A process I couldn't explain with reason, yet it felt so real. Like a seed forced to grow instantly, or a butterfly slowly hatching from its cocoon.

Memories began to surface, memories that strangely I felt were not my own. Alien flashes, unfamiliar voices, sensations that were not my experiences. It was all like a very real dream, yet too fleeting to grasp. My soul felt pulled and stretched, then compacted again, as if re-forged. I was no longer just light; I was something new.

Then, a strong pull. Stronger than the wind. Like gravity suddenly finding its target. I plummeted, tearing through the layers of petals that enveloped me, passing through the darkness, heading... who knows where.

The sensation of falling was brief. Then, a gentle impact, and the darkness broke.

"See you next time and let's play again someday on the future!"

Amidst the fading darkness, I heard a voice, clear like wind chimes, yet filled with an unfamiliar melody. The voice of a little girl, uttering words I had never heard before, but strangely, I understood what she was saying.
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