It felt as if I had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
An endless darkness surrounded me—thick, suffocating, alive. The cold wrapped around my body like invisible chains, creeping slowly into my bones. The air itself felt frozen, as if warmth had never existed here.
For a moment, I thought I was already dead.
The silence was terrifying. Not the ordinary silence of night—but a deep, hollow quiet that seemed to swallow every sound, every thought, every trace of existence.
And within that darkness, a dreadful thought crept into my mind.
This is where demons live.
Not creatures with horns or claws—but something far worse. Something unseen. Something that waits patiently in the dark, inching closer and closer until it slowly devours whatever wanders into its domain.
I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering violently.
The cold was unbearable.
But the strangest part was the memory.
I remembered only one thing clearly.
I had been studying in the library.
The dim yellow light of the desk lamp, the smell of old paper, the heavy silence of midnight halls. I had been reading… trying to stay awake.
No.
Wait.
I hadn't fallen asleep.
I had collapsed.
But then…
Why couldn't I wake up now?
Why was I still trapped here?
A surge of panic rushed through my chest.
Someone… please… get me out of here.
My breathing grew uneven as my eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. Slowly, faint shapes began to emerge from the void.
And then I saw it.
About fifty meters ahead of me, a thin silver line stretched across the darkness.
Water.
A surface of water, glimmering faintly in the blackness.
But that made no sense.
Because the strange pressure around my body made it feel as if I was already underwater.
Confusion flooded my mind.
What is happening to me?
Is this real… or am I trapped inside some kind of delusion?
My thoughts spiraled as I slowly walked toward the distant waterline, each step heavy and uncertain.
The darkness seemed endless.
The cold grew sharper.
When I finally reached the edge of the water, I leaned forward instinctively.
And froze.
My reflection wasn't there.
The surface was perfectly still, like polished glass.
But there was no trace of me.
No face.
No shadow.
Nothing.
A sudden chill ran down my spine.
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
My heart began pounding violently.
Where do I hide?
There was nowhere to run. No walls, no corners, no shelter—only darkness stretching endlessly in every direction.
Panic gripped me.
I shut my eyes tightly.
If I can't see them… maybe they won't see me.
But after a moment, another thought pushed through the fear.
Why am I so terrified?
What could this darkness possibly do to me?
And why was my mind racing with a thousand thoughts all at once?
Before I could answer myself—
A voice echoed softly behind me.
"Zooni…"
The sound struck me like lightning.
My eyes snapped open.
"M–Mom?!"
I turned around in disbelief.
She was standing there.
Exactly the way I remembered her—calm, warm, and impossibly familiar.
"What are you doing here?" I whispered, my voice trembling.
Relief rushed through me as I tried to run toward her.
But strangely… my body wouldn't move.
My legs refused to respond, as if the invisible weight of the darkness had anchored me to the ground.
My mother stepped closer, her expression gentle but firm.
"Zooni," she said softly, "calm down."
Her voice carried the same soothing warmth it always had.
Then she pointed toward the water.
"Go sit in the water."
Fear immediately surged through me.
"But Mom… I'll drown."
She looked at me with quiet certainty.
"Trust me, Zooni. Go."
Something in her voice silenced my hesitation.
Slowly, cautiously, I stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
My foot touched the water.
And to my shock—
I didn't sink.
The water held me.
I moved further inside and carefully sat down.
The surface rippled gently around me, but I remained suspended, as if the water itself was supporting my body.
My mother knelt beside me.
"Close your eyes," she said softly. "And listen carefully."
I obeyed.
Her voice flowed through the darkness like a distant melody.
"Zooni… whatever is happening to you right now exists because of you."
Her words settled deeply into my mind.
"And only you have the power to stop it."
A long silence followed.
Then she continued.
"You know this already, don't you?"
"When the mind loses control of itself, everything begins to fall apart."
"But when a person learns to hold the reins of their own mind…"
Her voice grew stronger.
"…there is nothing in this world that can defeat them."
She paused, then spoke words that echoed like ancient wisdom.
"Before fighting a battle on the battlefield… you must first win the battle within your mind."
The cold no longer felt as sharp.
The darkness no longer seemed as threatening.
Then she began humming a song.
A lullaby.
The same one she used to sing to me when I was a child.
The melody drifted gently through the void.
Soft.
Comforting.
Familiar.
But slowly… her voice began to fade.
The song grew distant.
Further and further away.
Until it became nothing more than a faint echo.
And then—
A sudden scream shattered the silence.
My eyes flew open.
This time—
I was truly underwater.
The icy water closed around me as reality crashed down like a violent wave.