Who am I?

If I had to answer that… I guess I was nobody. Or maybe I was someone who never really existed in the first place.

A blank soul, floating in an empty world.

But it wasn’t always like this. Once, I had a name. A life. A face that no one ever remembered.

I was never the strong, charismatic, or handsome guy. I wasn’t the one people admired or feared. I was just there—the quiet, dependable one. The guy who stayed after class to help others, hoping someone would finally see him. But no one ever really did.

And I guess, after a while, I stopped seeing myself too.

Looking back, I think I was always afraid to live.

I had dreams. Stupid, childish dreams. A good job. A girlfriend. A life that mattered. But I never chased any of them. I was too cautious. Too hesitant. I told myself there was always tomorrow.

Until, one day, there wasn’t.

High school was the first real lesson in disappointment. At first, I thought I had friends. We laughed, talked about anime, shared dumb inside jokes. But when I started pulling away—too shy, too scared to keep up—they stopped waiting for me.

And then there was her. The first girl I ever loved. The one who told me she wasn’t ready for a relationship, that she needed to focus on her exams.

It wasn’t a month before she was dating some rich kid with a future.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I guess I was just convenient until something better came along.

After that, I stopped trying. College? Too risky. I didn’t want to go through it all again. Instead, I settled into a dead-end job that barely covered rent, filling the emptiness with anime and video games. It was easier to live through fictional characters than face how pathetic my own life had become.

And before I knew it… that life was over.

There was no one waiting for me at the end. No tearful goodbyes. Just a sterile hospital room and the quiet pity of a nurse who had probably seen too many lonely men die the same way.

Then, nothing.

No golden gates. No fire and brimstone. Just… silence.

I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Seconds? Years? The concept of time doesn’t seem to exist in this empty space.

At first, I clung to my memories. Replaying them, just to prove I was real. But now, they’re starting to slip. Some faces are blurred. Some voices are fading.

It’s almost like I’m… regressing. Like the longer I stay here, the younger my mind gets.

A reset before reincarnation? Or am I just unraveling into nothing?

The thought makes me laugh. Or at least, it would—if I still had a mouth to laugh with.

I used to daydream about this, you know? Getting hit by a truck and waking up in a world of swords and magic. Becoming the protagonist of my own adventure.

Maybe that’s what this is. Maybe I’m finally getting my second chance.

…Or maybe I’m just another lost soul, floating in the void, waiting to disappear.

But then—

The silence breaks.

A deep, grinding noise vibrates through the void, shaking the very foundation of this empty world.

Before me, something impossible emerges—a gate. Massive, ancient, made of rough-hewn stone. Carvings, jagged and uneven, cover its surface like the markings of some forgotten god. And in the center, where the two doors meet, is a single, unblinking eye.

It sees me.

The gate creaks open, the sound like grinding marble against steel. A blue light pulses from within, alive, breathing, beckoning me forward.

I don’t have a body. No hands, no feet. But something—some force—pulls me toward it.

A moth to a flame.

I don’t know what’s waiting on the other side.

Salvation? Damnation?

But at least something is finally happening.

And so, without a choice, I step through.