That Night
Lights flickered in the distance.
A cool night breeze brushed past the boy as he stood quietly, gazing at the moon hanging high in the sky.
The hazy moonlight poured down softly, casting a silvery glow on the street before him.
With a trace of unease, he pulled out his phone. It was a recent purchase, yet at this very moment, two small, clear lines of text were flashing on the screen:
[Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly live?]
[Yes]
The boy's name was Liam Knight. He was eighteen years old, from the United States, and had just completed his college entrance examinations. Now, he was simply waiting for his admission letter to arrive. Though his family was not wealthy, they were considered comfortably middle-class. His parents, both still alive, were often away working, but overall, life was good.
In Liam's eyes, the present was enough. He had no great yearning to understand the meaning of life, nor any desire to become some puppet of a so-called "Lord God."
Yet here it was—this prompt. These two choices that made him laugh and sigh all at once.
Liam, an avid internet user, recognized the words. These exact phrases had been circulating for a while now on certain niche forums and weeb websites.
He had imagined this kind of situation before—silly fantasy scenarios one might joke about online. But when faced with it in reality, the uncertainty hit differently.
He even suspected that it might be the work of a hacker. A virus, perhaps—some clever trick targeting teenage boys, just waiting for them to tap that fateful "Yes," so their chats and bank cards could be stolen.
So after a long moment of hesitation, Liam chose not to click.
No matter how intriguing it seemed, something about it didn't feel right.
And so, the phone remained on from that night until the following day. Thanks to it, Liam hadn't used his phone at all that day.
Out of curiosity, he borrowed someone else's phone—only to watch the screen flicker and dim, the same two lines of text appearing once again:
[Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to truly live?]
Liam fell into deep thought.
He pondered in silence.
There was no logical explanation.
Back to the original question—was this the point of no return?
He couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible would happen if he clicked it.
The two options—both "yes"—felt more like signing a contract in blood than answering a simple prompt.
And so, with furrowed brows and uncertain steps, Liam continued walking along the silent night street.
But in the very next moment, he no longer had to make a decision.
A vehicle—no, a portal disguised as a car—barreled toward him at an unimaginable speed. So fast, in fact, that Liam had almost no time to react. The immense force of the impact shattered the quiet night. The screeching metal echoed, and with the sound of something tearing through the air, Liam was sent flying like a kite with a severed string.
Pain surged through him in an instant, sharp and unbearable. His mind went blank beneath the crashing wave of agony.
Then—darkness.
He never saw where the car came from. It was as if it had materialized out of thin air. Given its speed, it should have made a deafening noise, but he hadn't heard anything. It had simply... appeared.
When Liam opened his eyes again, he was somewhere else entirely.
A boundless white world surrounded him.
Confused, he looked around. A misty gray haze blurred the edges of everything.
His body, strangely uninjured despite what had just happened, moved without pain. Curious, he took a step forward. The white floor beneath him rippled like water beneath his feet.
Liam frowned.
Was he... dead?
It all seemed absurd. First, the mysterious message. Then, being struck out of nowhere.
Were there really so many ways to travel through dimensions these days?
And if they were going to drag him into another world anyway, why bother asking first?
But now that he was here, what was he supposed to do?
He tried to speak, but no sound escaped his lips. His mouth moved, yet the world remained silent—as if he had entered a vacuum.
He glanced around again. Nothing. No towering figure calling themselves the Lord God. No eccentric goddess with a strange name like Aqua.
Annoyance flared.
Liam muttered in his heart: You summoned me here, but then disappeared? No welcome speech? No explanation? Not even a clipboard?
So, he walked.
The white world stretched on endlessly in every direction. The further he walked, the more isolated he felt.
He was alone. Utterly, completely alone.
He didn't know how far he had gone or how many steps he had taken. Time had no meaning in this place.
Eventually, that initial sense of curiosity gave way to a quiet loneliness. Solitude crept into his heart like a slow, chilling wind. With no voices to hear, no sights to see, and no one else in this world, a dull fear began to take root.
At first, he had searched his surroundings. But now, he simply moved forward, silent and composed, as if trying to outrun the creeping emptiness.
There was no color here—only white. No temperature. No sound.
Only silence.
Is this it?
A wry smile touched Liam's lips.
He had come all this way, only to be left here—abandoned in this endless white canvas. Not even a god showed up.
Fatigue swept over him. Weariness settled in his limbs like cold iron.
He decided to sit.
As he sat down, ripples once more appeared beneath him.
His eyes wandered over the silent world.
A thought struck him—sudden and wild.
What if... there is no god? No creator? What if this world is empty because it's waiting for me to shape it?
Like a blank canvas in need of an artist.
Like a story yet to be written.
Liam's mind drifted back to that night—before everything changed.
Darkness had blanketed the city. Neon lights blinked and danced in the gloom. The streets had emptied, leaving only a few drunken stragglers weaving through the silence. The wind rustled gently through the leaves, whispering softly in the night.
Tall buildings loomed in the distance, glowing like giant castles of glass and steel. Most shops had closed for the night, save for a few late-night eateries still open. The savory aroma of food wafted through the cool air, making mouths water.
A stray cat crept from a nearby alley, approaching a trash can with cautious curiosity. It sniffed, then began licking something with a faint sizzling sound. A dog nearby barked, piercing the stillness.
Liam had been walking through that city of night, under a sky filled with stars like scattered diamonds. The moon had shown only half its face, casting a soft, comforting glow. A nightingale's song echoed faintly in the distance, high and clear.
The city, bathed in moonlight, had felt like a world all its own—mysterious, alive, full of hidden stories.
It had made him feel peaceful.
And yet, also deeply alone.
Suddenly, the world around Liam began to change. The pure white was swept away. The sky turned to a deep night once more, moonlight spilling down like silver silk. Streets formed beneath his feet. A black-and-white cat appeared nearby, meowing softly.
The world reassembled around him—real, vivid, and full of detail. The transformation rippled outward from where Liam stood, painting the void with life and light.
He stood there quietly, watching it unfold.
The loneliness vanished. The fear dissipated.
In their place bloomed a fresh sense of wonder.
A strong, unmistakable feeling:
Something new had begun.