Eventually, the endless darkness faded, revealing a desolate land stretching beyond the horizon. Rivers of glowing magma flowed beneath cracked black earth, illuminating the world with a dim crimson light. Mountains shaped like corpses rose in the distance while the sky above resembled a torn abyss rather than heaven.
Yet strangely…
Kael felt nothing.
No heat from the magma.
No exhaustion.
No heartbeat.
He slowly looked down at himself.
His body had become translucent, almost unreal, like a spirit drifting between existence and nothingness. Though his feet touched the ground, his steps created no sound, no dust, not even the slightest disturbance.
It was as if the world itself could not fully acknowledge his existence.
Then Kael noticed them.
Souls.
Countless souls.
An endless river of transparent figures stretched across the wasteland, all silently moving in a single direction. Millions. Billions. Trillions.
Perhaps infinite.
The sight alone was enough to crush an ordinary mind.
Every soul wore a blank expression. Their eyes were hollow, devoid of awareness, emotion, or thought. They simply walked forward endlessly like puppets following an invisible command.
Kael immediately approached one of them.
"Can you hear me?"
No response.
He grabbed the soul's shoulder.
Or at least, he tried to.
His hand passed through it like mist.
The soul continued walking without even acknowledging his existence.
Kael frowned.
Then he carefully observed the soul's eyes.
Empty.
Not peaceful.
Not suffering.
Simply… absent.
And suddenly, realization struck him.
"They've lost consciousness."
A cold silence filled Kael's mind.
The souls surrounding him were not truly alive anymore. Their thoughts had already faded away, leaving behind only hollow remnants drifting toward an unknown destination.
Then why was he different?
Why could he still think?
Kael's eyes slowly widened.
"My experiment…"
The answer became clear almost instantly.
Even after death, his brain in the real world was still functioning.
The life-support systems beneath his hidden laboratory continued supplying oxygen, nutrients, and neural stimulation to preserve his brain activity. Because his brain had not fully died, his consciousness still existed.
That was why he retained awareness here.
For the first time in history…
A soul had crossed into death without losing the ability to think.
But the realization brought no comfort.
Instead, a terrifying possibility emerged in Kael's mind.
"This state isn't permanent."
He looked again at the endless souls surrounding him.
Sooner or later, his physical brain would fail.
Even though the laboratory was designed to sustain his body for an entire year, unforeseen variables still existed.
Someone could discover his hidden base.
A natural disaster could destroy the facility.
The machines could malfunction.
Or something far worse—something beyond human understanding—could interfere.
The moment his brain stopped functioning completely…
He would become like them.
A hollow soul drifting endlessly through death without thought, memory, or self.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Kael felt something resembling fear.
Years of studying mythology allowed Kael to remain calmer than an ordinary person would in such a situation.
As he observed the endless stream of souls, several possibilities formed within his mind.
"First… this place is most likely an underworld."
Not hell.
Not heaven.
Simply a realm existing between life and whatever came after.
"Second… this may be where souls are processed."
Recycled.
Judged.
Or sent toward rebirth.
Almost every ancient civilization had possessed some variation of such beliefs. The Egyptians believed souls passed through trials after death. Hindu scriptures spoke of reincarnation and the endless cycle of birth. Greek mythology described souls crossing into the underworld after death.
At the time, Kael had considered them symbolic interpretations created by primitive societies.
Now…
He was no longer certain.
Kael slowly turned around.
The sight behind him was even more horrifying than before.
An endless river of souls stretched beyond the horizon like a cosmic current flowing through existence itself.
Human souls.
Animal souls.
Dogs.
Cats.
Birds.
Creatures resembling giant insects.
Some beings possessed multiple arms, others had bodies made entirely of light. One soul drifting nearby had a head covered in writhing tentacles, while another resembled a floating mass of eyes.
And some creatures were so alien that Kael could not even describe their forms properly.
Yet despite their differences, all of them shared one thing in common.
Their eyes were empty.
Every single soul existed in a trance-like state, stripped of thought and awareness as they moved silently in the same direction.
Kael looked ahead once more.
The river of souls continued endlessly in front of him as well.
No beginning.
No end.
Just an infinite current flowing through the underworld.
And within that massive stream…
Kael suddenly realized how insignificant he truly was.
He was merely a single drop of water drifting inside an endless ocean of death.
-----------------
Kael quickly forced himself to calm down.
Panic would accomplish nothing.
If his theory was correct, then every second mattered.
The moment his physical brain in the real world stopped functioning, his consciousness here would also disappear. He would become another empty soul within this endless current.
A fate worse than death itself.
Kael observed the river carefully, trying to understand the laws governing this place.
He attempted to interact with nearby souls again, but his hands simply passed through them. It was like trying to grab flowing smoke.
"They can't perceive me… or perhaps they no longer possess the ability to perceive anything at all."
He then tried resisting the current.
Instantly, a terrifying force pushed against him.
The endless stream of souls moved with unimaginable momentum, like a cosmic river carrying the dead across eternity. Compared to it, Kael's strength was insignificant.
Trying to stop it was like a human attempting to halt an ocean with bare hands.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"So resisting is impossible."
He looked behind him.
The current stretched infinitely backward.
Returning was meaningless.
Even if he somehow managed to move against the flow, the distance was far too vast. He would lose consciousness long before reaching wherever the stream began.
That left him with only one option.
Move forward.
Kael carefully adjusted his body within the river of souls.
Soon, he realized something important.
Although he could not resist the stream itself, he could slightly control his movement within it. Like a swimmer drifting inside a powerful river, he could redirect himself using the momentum around him.
He increased his speed.
Avoided collisions with drifting souls.
Maintained balance within the chaotic current.
And continued moving forward as efficiently as possible.
His goal was simple.
Reach the end of the stream before his mind disappeared forever.
For the first time since entering the underworld, urgency truly settled into Kael's heart.
Because now he understood something terrifying.
Death was not the end.
It was a process.
And if he failed to escape that process in time…
He would cease to exist.