It wasn't a dream.
Kim knew the difference.
Dreams slip away when you try to grasp them,
but this…
was solid.
He opened his eyes.
He wasn't in the world,
and he wasn't outside it.
No sky.
No ground.
No darkness.
A place without definition.
He stood.
Looked at his hands.
They weren't bleeding.
They weren't black.
They were…
normal.
And that frightened him.
He spoke, his voice echoing without direction:
"Where am I?"
The answer came—
not from in front of him,
nor from behind him,
but from within.
"Between you and yourself."
Kim stiffened.
"You."
He said it without a question.
"You're the thing born from chaos."
The voice paused for a moment,
then said:
"No."
"I am what was born because chaos was not enough."
Something appeared before him.
Not a body.
Not a shadow.
A form that changed with every glance.
Sometimes it resembled Kim…
and sometimes it resembled nothing alive.
Kim asked,
"Are you alive?"
The voice laughed.
"If I were alive… you wouldn't be in pain."
Kim stepped closer.
"Then what are you?"
The form stopped changing.
"I am the question that was never allowed to be asked."
Kim clenched his jaw.
"And who created you?"
A heavy silence fell.
Then the thing said:
"The same one who created you."
Kim's chest tightened.
He said sharply,
"I wasn't created.
I was human."
The thing moved closer.
"You were a result."
Kim shouted,
"Enough!"
The place trembled,
but the thing did not disappear.
"You merged life."
"Then darkness."
"Then nothingness."
Each word
was spoken
as if pulled from an open wound.
"You were trying to survive."
"And I… was born because survival isn't enough."
Kim breathed with difficulty.
"Then you're my curse."
The thing fell silent.
Then it said, with deadly calm:
"No."
"I am your final attempt to survive."
Kim stared at it for a long time.
"Do you want to control me?"
The thing laughed.
"If I wanted that…
you wouldn't still be you."
Kim lowered his head.
"Then what do you want?"
The thing came so close there was no distance left.
"The same thing you want."
Kim lifted his gaze.
"The answer."
Silence.
Then the thing said something that changed everything:
"We were not created by mistake."
Kim froze.
"What?"
"The mistake…"
"is believing that perfection is possible."
Images poured forth.
Worlds being built.
Beings being shaped.
Repeated templates.
Then…
flaws.
Discarded.
Exiled.
Forgotten.
"They create copies."
"And when a copy fails…"
"they call it a defect."
Kim ground his teeth.
"And Nir? Biath?"
"Results."
"And me?"
The thing paused longer this time.
Then said:
"You are the proof."
Kim's heart shook—
even though it didn't exist.
"Proof of what?"
The voice drew closer until it became a whisper:
"That a defect can become aware of itself."
Kim opened his left eye.
The clock hands were still.
"And does that frighten them?"
The thing laughed.
A joyless laugh.
"That's why they're watching you."
Kim took a deep breath.
"And will you lead me?"
The thing answered with terrifying honesty:
"No."
"Then?"
"I'll walk with you."
Kim fell silent.
Then he asked the question he feared most:
"If I find who created this system…
who created the defects…
what will I become?"
The thing remained silent for a long time.
Then said:
"Something they won't be able to name."
The place began to collapse.
Not with an explosion,
but with fading.
The thing spoke one last sentence:
"When you reach the truth…
chaos won't be your strongest weapon."
Kim asked,
"Then what will be?"
"Awareness."
Kim opened his eyes.
The pain returned.
The seal returned.
The world returned.
But one thing…
was no longer the same.
He was no longer alone.