Olivia's consciousness sank slowly, as if something were pulling her toward an unfamiliar place. Then... darkness swallowed everything.
Olivia stood alone in the middle of a vast, silent space. No floor. No ceiling. Only white mist drifted slowly around her. Her chest felt heavy.
"Where... am I?"
Then she noticed a reflection beneath her feet. She looked down and stumbled backward. The face staring back at her wasn't the small child's face she had grown used to in this world. It was her, her real self, twenty-four years old.
She touched her own face with trembling hands, barely believing what she was seeing. Olivia looked around the space again.
It reminded her of outer space—vast, endless, and cold. But she was certain this place carried a meaning she didn't yet understand.
No matter how far she walked, the space seemed to have no end. Worse, she felt like she was walking in circles, returning to the same spot over and over again.
Her energy began to drain, and her heartbeat quickened. The dim, cold atmosphere wrapped itself around her chest until her heart felt unbearably restless.
Finally, she gave up. Olivia sat down, staring up into the emptiness above her.
"Celine! Ophilia! Mama... Daddy!"
Her voice echoed through the hollow space. Nobody answered. Then, something glimmered in the distance.
Threads?
Thousands of thin, delicate threads began to appear in the air, shimmering like starlight. Some were a soft red, warm like living blood.
Some were bright gold, like captured sunlight. And some were a deep, absolute black—like the shadow of midnight itself. The threads moved slowly, weaving through each other as if connecting every life in the world.
Olivia stood and walked toward the light with slow, careful steps. Her eyes went wide at the extraordinary sight.
"This... what is all of this?"
She reached her hand out hesitantly. As her fingers drew close to one of the red threads, a faint vision flickered in her mind. Strangers. Lives she had never seen. A world she didn't recognize. She flinched and pulled her hand back.
But then, something caught her eye. Among all those thousands of beautiful threads, there was one knot that looked completely wrong.
Its threads were tangled together—red, black, and gold—all bound up like a destiny that had been broken.
"This thread... it's different from the others. What does it mean?" she whispered.
The knotted thread pulsed slowly, as if it were alive. Olivia's heart began to pound. Slowly, she moved toward it. The closer she got, the tighter the feeling in her chest became.
Why... does this thread feel like it's in pain?
Her hand rose without her realizing it. Her fingers were almost touching the knotted thread when suddenly, a voice rang out through the darkness.
"Don't."
Deep. Heavy. Like it came from somewhere very far away.
Olivia froze. But before she could ask anything, the threads around her began to shake violently. The space cracked like shattering glass. Light exploded in every direction.
In an instant, Olivia's eyes snapped open.
She was gasping. Sweat soaked her face, as if her experience were far more than a dream. The room was silent; the only sound she could hear was her own heartbeat.
Then, Olivia noticed what had made her gasp in the first place. Her body went completely still. Her face drained of color as a chill ran down her spine.
Something was floating in the air, right in front of her eyes... the same delicate threads from her dream.
Olivia, having no idea what was happening, began to tremble. She yanked her blanket over her face immediately.
When I was reading this novel... I never once came across a scene like this!
she thought furiously, internally cursing her terrible luck. She bit the edge of her blanket in frustration.
Don't tell me... I've landed in a completely different novel?
She cried inside her own head, unable to believe this was happening to her. After a full hour had passed, Olivia finally gathered enough courage to peek out from under her blanket.
The threads were gone. She exhaled slowly. Finally.
Olivia decided she would go back to sleep immediately so she wouldn't have to see any more strange things. She pulled the blanket up to her chest, but as she turned her head, she spotted something on the small table beside her bed.
Food. Fruits. And a small folded piece of paper. She picked it up and read:
[Get well soon —Ophilia & Celine.]
Olivia smiled quietly. She set the note down and lay back against her pillow. The room that had felt so cold moments ago slowly began to feel warm again.
Moonlight fell softly through the window, lighting the darkness in silver. Her eyelids grew heavy. Olivia's consciousness sank slowly into sleep.
The moment Olivia fell completely still, a sound drifted from outside the window.
Several small figures hovered in the darkness. Their forms were unclear, like shadows given life. Their eyes glowed dimly, and they had thin, delicate wings.
"Is that the girl they talked about?" one of them rasped, drifting through the air.
"Yes. That's her," a blonde-haired one replied.
"She belongs to our master. I'm certain of it," another said, grinning.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's—"
"Not yet," a pink-haired one interrupted sharply.
"We wait for Master's orders. He hasn't given us any instructions."
The others nodded in agreement. Then, a long-haired female figure spoke quietly.
"But she's the only one who can..."
The others ignored her and turned instead toward a creature emerging from the shadows.
"How is Master right now?" the woman asked.
"For now, he is alright," it answered with a nod.
"Good... then let's go back," one of the small creatures said, and they vanished.
One by one, they followed. Some dissolved into the shadows, while others stepped through black portals. Before the last one wearing a long scarf disappeared, he paused and turned back toward the window.
"We will meet again... when the time comes."
Then, he disappeared into the night, leaving no trace behind.
TO BE CONTINUED...