Blink— blink…
Yuri's eyelids trembled, peeling open like they were glued shut.A surge of white light stabbed into his vision, harsh and merciless.
He flinched instantly — eyes flickering, arm raising to shield himself with the back of his sleeve.
His lungs drew in a slow, shaky breath.The kind you take after nearly drowning.
Yet his body… didn't feel like his own.Heavy.Foreign.Detached.
His thoughts scattered like marbles rolling across the floor, impossible to gather. He forced himself to breathe again, to piece together even the faintest sense of self.
And then—
It hit him.
His heart spiked, hammering against his chest. Suddenly he shot upright, gasping — fighting to steady his breath, fighting to not collapse all over again. He clutched at his racing pulse, grounding himself inch by inch.
He paused.
Finally, his senses returned.
And then he saw her.
Sitting quietly beside him.
Messy brown hair falling over her shoulders…Golden caramel eyes, sharp enough to cut through every wall he ever built…That same unreadable gaze — the one that saw him in his weakest moment, the moment he woke up in the nightmare of Level 1.
The girl who saved him.The girl who watched him break.The girl who, by all logic, was the reason he wasn't dead.
She hugged her legs to her chest, She wore a sleek black bodysuit under a white hooded jacket trimmed with black fur, the same dark fur edging her white high boots, with two white straps circling her thigh. A bow strapped across her back, arrows resting by her side — prepared, cautious, disciplined.
Yuri's eyes widened, disbelief punching the air out of him. His hand lifted toward her, trembling.
But before he could touch her—
She grabbed his wrist.Hard.
Her voice was a blade.
Luna: "What do you think you're doing?"
Yuri froze.
Yuri: "Uh— I-I'm so sorry! I was just in shock. I never thought I'd see you again—"
She clicked her tongue sharply — "Tgh."The sound alone shut him up.
She released his wrist, though her expression remained as cold and amused as the desert night.
Then she paused.Just long enough to make Yuri second-guess every movement he'd made since waking up.
Luna: "That should be my line. I'm surprised you were even able to come this far."
He felt the words in his skull.
And suddenly—Memory hit him again.Harder.
This world… this place…
It wasn't the ruins.It wasn't the darkness.
It was a desert — a vast bleeding desert of deep red sand stretching beyond the horizon. Strange curved patterns were etched into the ground, carved into the hillsides like runes from dead gods.
Yuri's eyes dropped — and he almost stumbled.
Below the cliff, a golden river flowed endlessly.Its surface shimmered, glowing as though millions of stars drifted within it, dancing in a current of liquid light.
He rose to his feet, still unsteady, and dared to turn—
And what he saw nearly stopped his heart.
A statue.
A giant.A titan.A monument carved from forgotten myths.
A massive seated figure, legs crossed like an ancient monk. Its head rested in its hands — elbows planted on its knees — staring forward with hollow, cosmic patience.
It was colossal.World-sized.A god frozen in red sand.
Yuri's breath hitched in his throat, knees weakening under the sheer scale.
But higher—He looked higher—
And dread crushed him.
Suspended above this desert was the sky he recognized.No— the world he recognized.
Level 1.
The nightmare.The destruction.The ruined horizon he had escaped.
Now looming above him like a second planet — a parallel, twisted reflection of where he had been.
Yuri staggered, his jaw shaking.
Yuri: "W-w… what… t-this…"
Tears stung his eyes.He had no words.How could words exist for something like this?
A gentle pressure met his shoulder.
He turned — and saw her again.
Her voice softened.
Luna: "Welcome to Level Two. I'm glad you made it.Call me Luna."
Her shift in tone disarmed him completely.Warmth where there should've been suspicion.Sincerity where there should've been distance.
Something inside Yuri loosened — something tight and trembling.
And in the quiet of her own thoughts, she whispered silently to herself:
"So… I was right the first time."