章節 2: I am blessed
When Kazuya opened his eyes again, he realized he was floating. There was no ground, no sky, no walls to contain his body. It was just him and the void. A space so vast it seemed infinite, yet so dark it felt like it didn't exist. He felt no weight, no cold, no heat, no physical pain of any kind. It was as if his body was there, but at the same time, it wasn't.
He tried to move a finger, but nothing happened. He tried to lift a leg, swing an arm, turn his head. nothing worked. All he could do was float. Float in the dark abyss of his own existence. Time, or what remained of it, began to drag on.
Seconds stretched into minutes. Minutes dragged into hours. Hours... well, he wasn't sure, but it felt like they had stretched into days, weeks, months. Who knows, maybe even years. Kazuya began to count. He counted the time he had been trapped there, in that endless void. Thousands of years passed, or at least it seemed that way. Everything blurred together. He was no longer sure of anything.
He couldn't sleep. That was one of the first things he noticed. There was no relief in closing his eyes and escaping reality, no dreams to fill his mind with different worlds. Only eternal wakefulness, always alert, always conscious. All that was left for him was to count.
"One, two, three... thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand."
Sometimes, he would lose count. And he would start over. But after so much time, he began to think. Think about everything. His choices in life, his actions, his achievements. Why was he here? Why was he, such a grand and enlightened soul, trapped in this place? He had the feeling the universe had something special in store for him. Maybe this was the real hell they spoke of, a divine test for a being as extraordinary as himself.
He reflected with a proud smile, "If I am here, it's because I was chosen. God must have placed me in this void not to punish me, but to prepare me for something even greater. I am a superior entity, destined to reign among the commoners, to govern those who cannot comprehend my greatness. There is no red demon with horns tormenting me, because I am above that. I am blessed, not cursed."
He speculated that perhaps he was in a different kind of hell, a hell not understood by mere mortals, a dimension that ancient, long-forgotten religions had predicted. Perhaps it was a superior hell, reserved only for those of his exceptional stature, those who were chosen for great purposes. "Maybe this is how the ancients saw eternity," he thought with a condescending smile. "Those who cannot comprehend my greatness misinterpreted what hell really is. I am undoubtedly superior to any earthly vision of suffering."
Or perhaps he was in a purgatory of another level, a temporary stage designed for him to eternally reflect on his actions until some higher power finally recognized his true greatness. "This is a transitional pause for a being as enlightened as I am. A divine test, a space for reflection for someone who was born to rule and inspire."
"A thousand years. Ten thousand years. A hundred thousand years."
His mind continued to function, continued to turn, but slowly, something changed. He began to accept. That void, that darkness, became a part of his existence. He no longer fought against it; instead, he became it. The thoughts that once consumed him now accompanied him like old friends. It was as if he and his thoughts had merged into a single entity. "Maybe I'm crazy. Or maybe this is clarity. Who knows?" he reflected.
Suddenly, a voice. Not a sound, but something in his head, echoing in his mind. "Hello?" the voice said, sounding curious, hesitant.
Kazuya was not disturbed. That place had long since worn out any capacity for surprise he might have had. Instead, he responded with an almost irritated indifference, "Ah, so finally someone dares to interrupt my vast realm of solitude? Why have you decided to bother me now? What do you think you can add to my grand isolation?"
The voice hesitated, clearly shocked and offended. "Seriously? You've spent millennia in complete silence, and the only thing you can say is why I came to bother you? I imagined that after so much time you'd be more interested in understanding the situation, or even in knowing what happened to you. Instead, you just ask me that?"
Kazuya smiled disdainfully, his mind so fragmented by now that the feeling of superiority seemed almost comforting. "Oh, sorry if my first reaction didn't meet your expectations. After an eternity floating in this void, my concern isn't exactly with social norms. I'm more interested in how you, or anyone else who appears here, can contribute to my understanding of this place. If you are here, it's because there is something I should know, something that affects me importantly. Otherwise, I'm more than happy to continue with my glorious reflection on my greatness."
The voice went silent for a moment, apparently trying to recover from Kazuya's blow of humility. As if thinking, "Well, I just came here to chat, and I'm already being disdained. Lucky me!"
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票