In the same hospital's special admission ward, a young boy, about 17 years old, lay in the bed.
While looking at the phone, he watched an episode of a famous anime, "Eminence in the Shadow, season 2." This anime was released in the previous year, summer 2023; now it's the second season.
"This guy is the only one who knows how to hide his powers and deal with all unexpected situations at the same time." He commented, looking at Cid.
After completing the episode, he started watching other anime's pending episodes and began collecting new web novels, reading their chapters one by one.
He then began watching pending movies on websites, Netflix, YouTube shorts, Korean series, Chinese anime, and series while drinking tasteless liquid nutrition and finally sleeping; the same routine continued for the past ten years daily.
Except occasionally going outside for mind relaxation, on a special wheel chair, just for a few hours in a week.
After a few hours,
Eero's eyes opened, and he clicked the help button and muttered, "How long will I have to stay like this?" while expressionlessly looking at his paralyzed lower body.
Above his chest, his body worked; below, it doesn't.
It happened to him after some incident.
He doesn't remember; doctors called it a nervous breakdown and memory loss. Now, even his chest area is slowly paralyzing. If that happens, his heart will stop completely.
"I can't do anything except wait patiently for that day," Eero muttered thoughtfully.
Nurses appeared for a regular check-up. One of them gazed at him in disgust and annoyance, thinking, 'Why did the hospital admit such a guy? It's better if he dies somewhere. I now hate this job because of this guy.'
They then helped him reluctantly with his nature calls. As his diet consisted of liquids only, it didn't produce much mess. Watching the nurse clean his body while complaining and cursing, Eero observed all this expressionlessly.
He now basically doesn't care. First, he felt angry, then guilty, then slowly sad and depressed, anxious, and timid. After going through all those emotional changes, his expression and emotion became less.
Looking at the nurse leaving the room uttering disgusting words, as if avoiding a plague, he murmured, "It's not their fault. I am weak, useless, and a burden on this world. If I could have a second chance, I would definitely become strong, independent, self-reliant, and create my own world," he said resolutely.
Then, a mocking smile appeared on Eero's expressionless face as he looked in the direction outside the hospital window and shook his head.
He murmured again, "What am I hoping for? That happens in novels only. There is nothing like a second chance; it is impossible. I shouldn't waste my time on those false hopes." Shaking his head,
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After looking at the service feedback file, he opened it, checked the date, marked all good, and in the end, wrote positive comments about those nurses, hoping to leave a good mark in their lives. 'At least it's compensation for the inconvenience I cause them.'
Putting the file back, he pushed the bed adjustable button, adjusting it for sleep, and peacefully drifted off.
*Beeeeeeeeeeeeep...*
A long beep sounded. After a while, a nurse appeared for the night check-up. Her face changed as she glanced at the long string of lines on the life detector. She clicked the emergency button.
Doctors appeared hurriedly inside, checking the condition, shaking their heads, and sighed. "He is no more."
Some sighed, some glanced pitifully at Eero's corpse, some gloated, and some were joyous, especially the few nurses. They wanted to dance; their hearts were relieved.
But they didn't know. This was just the beginning. They didn't even realize what they had missed. If they somehow knew the price of making a place in his heart, they would go to any extreme to achieve that, but it's already late.
Somewhere unknown...
[In a two-layer space, the upper layer is black while the lower layer is white; in the middle of those two layers, there lies a gray expanse that looks like a sheet or an infinite line.]
But don't consider this thin line as normal; its width is almost infinite. The nearer you get to it, the more it expands, eventually reaching outside the scope of imagination.
This horizontal line and a lot of similar parallel single gray lines are known as one dimension, also known as the base of all dimensions. But when you reach the middle of this line, you will see a + sign, another similar line intersecting this baseline vertically; this second vertical line is known as a balancer. Now both are called 2nd Dimension.
If you appear on the other side of these both lines, you will see a triple line intersecting the base and balancer line in the middle at the intersection point; it is a horizontal line similar to the baseline, known as the third line stabilizer of dimensions. It is also known as the third dimension.
[If you see two more base and balancer lines appearing in parallel to the previous lines at a considerable distance, joining the third stabilizer line, it will become a square, filled with gray energy.]
[This whole square and space inside are known as the fourth dimension, also known as the starter of dimensions].
[If there is the same square in front of this square in parallel, all its lines will join the other square; it will become a cube, known as the fifth dimension, also known as the Keeper of Dimensions].
[Similarly, a parallel cube in front of the previous cube will join to become a dual-layer cube, known as the sixth dimension, also known as the Gate of Dimensions].
[Another parallel addition will make it a four-layer cube known as the seventh dimension, also known as the Defender of Dimensions].
[Another parallel addition will make it an eight-layer cube known as the eighth dimension, also known as the King of Dimensions].
[Another parallel addition will make it a sixteen-layer cube known as the ninth dimension, also known as the Monarch of Dimensions].
[Another parallelism will make it a 32-layer cube known as the tenth dimension, also known as the Ruler of Dimensions].
[In other words, from the baseline, if you travel in any direction crossing three infinities, you will reach the 10th dimension.]
'What are three infinities?' a thought flickered somewhere in a huge gray expanse.
[Three infinities are base, balancer, and stabilizer of dimensions.]
'Basically, I am now in the square of a 4th dimension,' Eero thought to himself while sensing the gray expanse around somehow.
After probably dying in his sleep, he somehow appeared in this gray space.
At first, he was shocked and frightened because he couldn't see or sense anything—just darkness. As his heart started falling into the abyss of darkness, despair and helplessness shrouded his soul. Somehow, he started sensing the situation around.
Sensed the gray particles floating around. Then those particles became dense in his senses. After a while, darkness changed into grayness. Although nothing else changed, he still felt a little relieved. Any other color is better than the pitch-black darkness of the abyss.