If this is a dream, then please wake me up.
I stood in the middle of a grassy field, surrounded by a silent forest.No wind. No sound.In front of me floated a massive black sphere, pulsing slowly.Like the heartbeat of the world itself.
People around me stood frozen. Faces pale. Eyes wide.But not me.Somehow, I knew this place.I had seen it before. Not in person, but on a page.
Before this moment, my life was ordinary.Wake up. Eat. Work. Repeat.So many days passed that I forgot how it felt to truly rest.I worked as a novel editor.Ironically, I hated reading.
To me, stories were tasks.Characters were just names in a file.Plots were just problems to fix.Emotion was something I removed with red ink.
But one novel changed everything.
It was titled Survive in the Tower of Madness.The story followed a man trapped inside a mysterious tower filled with awakened individuals.He had one unique ability.Each time he died, he returned to a checkpoint, keeping everything he had learned.Each failure made him stronger.
The novel became a sensation.It brought life back to the company I worked for.But then, without warning, the author disappeared.
No name. No photo. No address.Only a silent email inbox and a disconnected number.The final chapter ended on a cliffhanger.
Still, I called that number.Morning. Afternoon. Night.Every day. For three years.
No answer.
Until one night, just as I was leaving the office, my phone vibrated.The caller ID showed a number I knew by heart.My hand trembled as I picked it up.
"Good evening, writer. Is everything alright?"
There was no response.Only soft breathing.Faint and ragged.Like someone speaking from the bottom of a dream.
I waited.
Finally, one word reached me.
"Survive."
The voice was rough and quiet.Almost inhuman.
Then everything changed.
A pressure filled my head.My vision blurred.My thoughts slowed.And the world faded into black.
Now, I am here.
Standing beneath a sky that does not belong to Earth.Surrounded by strangers.With a monstrous heart floating above us all.
But I know what this place is.I have seen it before.I have edited it.Line by line. Chapter by chapter.
This is not fiction anymore.This is the beginning. And I do not know how the story ends.