“Don't make eye contact,” I whispered to myself.
Hard to do, with the guy ahead trudging closer.
Metal groaned beneath my feet.
The sound ruptured into a festival of yells.
Not good.
The hobbling guy approached, shrieks decorating his arrival.
Again, not good.
No time to scan the area—the space between us was shrinking.
Confrontation? Dangerous. Unnecessary.
I couldn’t see behind me, but it was the quickest way.
Shrieks to the right. A scream or two to the left.
I veered, hitting the corner, hoping for something below to jump on.
Nothing. Only the vast sea.
The containers are too flat to try, unless—
A rumbling sound melted his ear, each step heavier.
Where did she go?
One of his eyes covered. His left arm dead for a long time ago.
Will was all that dragged him forward.
A bitter expression painted his face as he felt yet another life extinguished.
Soon, he reached the container’s edge.
Strange, she was here a moment ago.
After concluding left was the only viable option; his face hardened.
He scanned his surroundings and found no one.
Disappointed, he dragged himself to the next container’s closest point.
Pain corroded his body as he raised his bandaged arm.
Guttural sounds spilled out—low, pained, for no one’s ears but his own.
Undecipherable words broke out of his mouth.
Unbeknownst to almost everyone, piranha-like creatures appeared.
Hate showing in his expression.
With what remained of his functioning body, he grabbed the fish.
The fish launched forward, yanking him to the next container.
Light-orange eyes watched from afar, pitying him.
Sounds ceased while I hung up.
Silence.
He must be gone.
The containers weren’t completely flat, after all.
It was too risky to remain beside one.
I closed my eyes to be sure there wasn’t anyone near.
“Hel—”
A cry for help, cut short.
On the other side—a fish.
The sound faded.
Climbing was easier than letting myself fall or going unnoticed.
I looked for somewhere to hide, but there weren’t any.
The sky was full of floating containers.
Sizes and positions changed, yet the shape was the same.
I could jump between them. Possible. Sure.
The problem was the menacing guy.
Even if I moved to another container, what was the point?
It took too many years to get here, now, what I’m supposed to do?
I won’t let myself fall down here.
I breathed and calmed myself.
No point worrying.
I ran and jumped onto the nearest container.
At least, until something behind me made a slight noise.
The guy didn’t leave?
Missed my step. Damn, not again!
Still, is possible to make it.
I twisted mid-air, forcing the leap—and slammed into something solid.
Prepared to hold on to the side of the container, my body smashed before.
My attempt ended in the mid-air twist.
I grabbed on to something.
A blink later, I was where I jumped from.
But instead of my destination, a hooded figure stood in front of me.
Silence made itself present for an uncomfortable amount of time.
Exhausted, I sat down.
Surprised, the hooded figure flinched, covering their face.
Soon, me sitting down turned into laying on the floor.
Not a single word exchanged.
After resting for a bit, I stood up.
It was harder to do, due to the wound in hand.
The stranger noticed my uncomfortable way of standing up.
Deep in thought, they turned away.
They loosened their hood.
A small fish appeared, yet I pretended not to notice.
I didn’t want to make unnecessary enemies.
Or at least, I repeated it that to myself.
It was my first time meeting another human.
The awkwardness was killing me.
This wasn’t how I hoped it went.
Hundreds of simulations ran through my head.
Then it appeared again.
Scaly, elegant fins, orange back, and a white bloated belly.
The fish from when I arrived.
Too late, I noticed it had pulled me back onto the container.
A soft, high-pitched voice came from under the hood.
“Did he do that to you?”
It took me a minute to realize what was she talking about.
My wound.
I shook my head.
Another moment of silence.
I was about to go, but she hurried.
“Wait.”
I didn’t hear what she said next, but it sounded like some sort of command.
Her fish got smaller and approached my hand.
It stung at first, and soon, I felt my hand getting better.
I half bowed.
“Earlier—you heard me, right?”
I nodded.
Tsk.
“Aren’t you going to say a thing?”
Taken aback, I tried, and my mind went blank.
“Um…”
No words came out.
“Forget it.”
She turned and walked away.
“I don’t know how you’ve been surviving with almost no clothes.”
After realizing, she stopped.
“No.”
“Don’t tell me.”
“Are you new here?”
I nodded.
“How? I thought—”
She cut herself off. “Never mind.”
And after taking a moment to breathe.
“The game was canceled, or stopped, or something. Point is, there is no game anymore.”
Her gaze flicked to the container I’d tried to reach.
“Some don’t want to believe it—or don’t care.”
Regret laced her words.
“Canceled?”
Finally, a word came out.
We were both surprised.
“So, you don’t believe me either. Search for your own answers.”
Her expression soured.
With her fish nowhere to be seen, she walked away.
“Just… be careful out there.”
She was gone.
A game?
My mind wandered to different places.
Game.
It was a word that I haven’t heard in a long time.
Memories crawled under my skin like insects.
Another scream shattered my thoughts.
“They’re becoming unbearable.”
I need to move.
Then I remembered—something different among the containers.
It was for a moment, a blink.
Yet, I saw some sort of platform.
Search for your own answers.
Her words clung to me.
I approached the container’s edge.
It was longer than expected.
When had I passed my entry point?
No idea.
The danger gone, I finally saw my surroundings in full—and recognized nothing.
Other containers appeared close until I noticed their true distance.
I ran.
A lot.
My lungs burned when I reached the border, sweat dripping from my forehead.
I collapsed, contemplating what had occurred.
My body felt heavy.
Too many close calls in such a short period.
Now I was in an unknown place.
“God Domain.”
The words tasted strange.
Saying it wasn’t what I expected is an understatement.
I found mentions of it all over different cities.
That's right—always near mentions of...
A game.
Years ago.
A small boy walked on the ashes of an old village.
The boy, tired from walking, stumbled upon a half destroyed shack.
Even when destroyed, it stood out against all the ash.
Growl.
Hunger attacked the boy.
He dragged his feet into the shack.
What was inside was more surprising than outside’s destruction.
Ramblings, all over the remaining walls.
Hints of madness crept everywhere.
Between time, decay and scrawl, nothing but a few words could be read.
God Domain.
Perhaps it was there where his pursuit began.
His eyes traveled through the madman’s home.
Further exploring the shack, he discovered several other words.
Yet, only one stuck out.
His fingers traced the word—it stood clear:
Game.
Surrounded by broken phrases, nonsense, and unintelligible drawings.
To its left, another word hanged.
Splattered, diffused, covered.
It defied reading, but it spoke to him.
Drawn to it, the boy observed, leaning closer.
Until…
The boy shivered.
Cold swallowed the village whole.
He was still too young to recognize what it meant.
The village went silent.
I shuddered, laying on the floor, still feeling heavy.
Above me a clean sky, light-blue and weak-warm.
I closed my eyes and focused.
When I opened them, my trusty shield was there.
Shield.
That thin, nameless thing clinging to my arm.
It was how I named it.
Yet, I’m not sure of what exactly it is.
Folding my left arm, it looked like a thin layer.
I raised my arm and tried to look through it.
It was tame, but I could see a faintly warped image of the sky.
I’ve never tried to use it outside of life or death situations.
With the monsters and danger gone, I had my first proper rest in years.
It was comfortable, too comfortable.
A certain heat came from my shield.
The temperature rose a tad.
Huh? It’s warm.
Quite like my power.
However, my shield burnt warmer.
I lost focus, and my shield was gone.
Feeling uncomfortable, I turned my head by degrees—left, then right.
As quietly as I could, I scrambled, alert of my surroundings.
Time to move.
Far away, a ball of light hung from a fine thread.
A humanoid shape accompanied the image.
I went the opposite direction.
Sooner than later, the warmness dissipated, like walking farther from a bonfire.
I finally reached the border.
Like I thought.
Floating containers choked the sky in all directions—yet, at the center of all, a platform.
The distance should have hidden it, but skyscrapers and many structures rose there.
Bridges connected the nearby containers.
Faraway containers stood distanced and disconnected.
The platform, a thin and expansive container, nested a bunch of unique landscapes.
It was the only place with something on it.
Answers must be there.
Whoosh.
I dodged instinctively.
It wasn’t an attack; a guy shot up onto a container.
His laugh echoed all the way.
Challenging, he turned around to see me.
He then continued his path and ran to another container.
It was annoying, still; I decided to not mind him too much.
I opted to go for another path of containers. I ran and jump, no ground given to misstep.
Prepared for an impact that never happened, I dashed and halted.
Shocked, I jumped several times where I was standing at.
I was already proficient at jumping, but the height I reached now could’ve been a record.
God Domain, huh?
It hadn’t stopped surprising me.
This is going to be faster than expected.
I improvised my path as I ran and jumped.
It was fun, almost freeing.
In no time, I was on one of the bridged containers.
Looking back to where I came from, I saw how far I had come.
A shy smile drew on my face.
While preparing to jump, I saw the man looking at me.
After noticing it, he shot to another container.
Was he waiting for me?
When I took a bridge instead of jumping, his irritation was obvious.
He was far away, but I could see he wasn’t keen on what I did.
I choked down a laugh.
Next bridge it is.
He ran towards me, and I jumped to the next container.
He was mad, even more so.
Though I ignored him and jumped.
After looking where to jump next, I saw he was already in front of me.
“You’re fast.” I murmured.
The clash stopped when we were at the last container, near the border, before the platform.
At some point, our paths had collided.
Now we were standing side to side.
He was faster. My ability to keep up with him surprised me.
Seeing that he didn’t make the last jump, I thought he was waiting for me.
I wasn’t about to let the opportunity go, so I made the last jump first.
Amazed, he shot to the platform.
While in the air, everything felt slow.
When he was besides, he looked at me and laughed.
“Nice try.”
He started gaining distance.
Oh no, I’m not letting you go.
I stretched my hand and tried to grab his backpack.
I grabbed onto something.
Not so fast.
He lost balance.
We shot towards the platform.
Neither could control the speed or direction.
We were separated.
I clashed with the ground, my head spinning.
Again on the floor. I shouldn’t get used to this.
I raised my sore body.
Before me, a city stood.
Falling, half-destroyed, it brought back terrible memories.
Massive beyond reason.
It astonished me to the core.
Yet, the biggest surprised laid farther.
The skyscrapered city felt small in comparison.
At the center of it all, a mega structure observed over us all.