Hi_Zoda

After finding his wife and son dead, a boy is falsely accused of their murder. In a frantic escape, he is shot and left dying, consumed by guilt and regret. In his final moments, he meets a mysterious woman who offers him a chance to be reborn, free of painful memories—all his memories—but with all the skills he’s learned. She urges him to protect those he loves in his next life. As darkness takes him, he faces the uncertain future of a new life, unsure if it's a chance for redemption or an escape from his past.

The World Before It All Began

I heaved forward, coughing profusely, my entire body aching. After what felt like an eternity of struggling to calm my breath, my gaze darted around, perplexed by the change in the environment. I could barely piece together my fading memories—I had just fallen asleep, yet this felt too surreal to be a dream. But the only logical conclusion I could draw was that it indeed had to be a dream. When I attempted to rise, my knees buckled, sending me falling back to the ground.

Why is my body aching? This couldn't be the result of just one simple spell. I thought.

As I stared at the ash-black floor, I dug my fingers into the concrete-like sand, which felt weightless. Lifting a handful, I noticed the sand swirling restlessly, almost as if they were alive, desperately trying to escape my grasp. Following their chaotic movement, my gaze was drawn to the jet-black walls that loomed, stretching endlessly into a gray sky.

Despite this place's unappealing appearance, it felt nice—a soft, gentle breeze that breezed right through, sending unexpected yet pleasant shivers down my spine. This environment was more monotonous, not an ounce of color being able to be spotted, but this ash-black sand that seemed to move against its will like they were each living organism's attempting to retract its force.

But nonetheless, there was something strange about this place. I felt a supernatural force pulling towards the imposing walls, almost like the entire area was being pulled right along with me. I struggled to stand up again after letting go of the relentless sand. While my legs were still aching, I managed to actually stand up. Though my legs began to slightly tremble, I took a step and set off towards the towering walls.

After taking several steps, it seemed like I wasn't getting any closer. Confused, I whipped my head around to see if there was an imprint where I dug my fingers, but there wasn't. This left me with more questions than answers; why haven't I gotten any closer? I thought, attempting to reach the walls again, I kicked some sand around and tinkered with the landscape a little before approaching the walls again, and sure enough, after walking for about five-ish minutes, no progress whatsoever was made.

Agitated, I whipped my head around trying to look for the sand I had stacked up, and to my surprise, it wasn't there. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.

Deciding to wake up from whatever this "dream" is, I clenched my eyes as hard as I possibly could and then attempted to pry them open, but I remained in this place; that didn't work. I thought to myself, usually that would have woken me up. Then I tried to pinch my arm, but... I felt pain, the fact that my body ached in a dream should've told me enough.

The Weight of a Dream 2