Everything was white.
Not the soft white of snow, not the blinding white of the sun—this was the kind of white that stretched on forever. Empty. Silent.
Until I looked up.
And there it was.
A being shrouded in white, towering above me like a mountain, like the damned Statue of Liberty had decided to cosplay as a god. Its "face" was worse—an enormous, glowing emoji grin, tilted at me in the most condescending way possible.
"You. . .!"
Above its head floated a username tag, glowing bright and unmistakable:
[ForgottenTruth]
My gut clenched. Of course.
I reached for my spear on instinct—only to find it wasn't there. No spear, no homunculus body, no horns. My reflection on the blank floor showed me my old self: Park Suho, messy black hair, tired eyes, useless frame.
Perfect. Dropped into hell, and now dragged back into the skin I hated most.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
ForgottenTruth clapped, the sound echoing across eternity.
"YOU'RE HERE." it boomed, its voice neither male nor female, but deep enough to rattle my bones.
"Urk!" I immediately fell on my knees, as an immense pressure forced down my entire being. What. . .what on earth?!
"HM?" It seemed confused by my plight. "OH, RIGHT," It coughed, before speaking again. This time, it's voice didn't have the magnificent effect of making me lose my shit.
"Sorry about that," It said with a chuckle, which was still weird to hear when its voice sounded like a blend between a man and woman.
I collected my shit enough to look up, only to realize that the humongous being had shrunk itself to human size, and had offered a hand to me. "Need a hand?"
I swatted it away. Oddly, it felt like swatting away clouds. I placed my trembling hands on my knees, got up myself and offered it a glare. "What is this?! Where am I?! Who are you?!"
"I'm already sure you know the answer to your last question," It pointed at the username tag above it's head. It laughed again, disappearing and appearing behind me. Startled, I took a leap back, but found I couldn't move.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that too," It's cloudy figure shifted, and suddenly I could move again. "Oh, don't glare at me like that. It's all just counter-measures. You have no idea the amount of powers that try to invade my domain. Seriously, you'd think with the billionth time, they'd get a clue that I'm stronger than them."
I pointed a finger at him. "You-what, are you a god? Some sort of sick being that dumped me into this world? What the fuck are you?! Stop talking in fucking riddles, and answer me!"
It formed lips, before showing me it's cheshire-like smile. "What, you didn't like my little present?"
"Present?" I spat, teeth grinding. "Screw that. What sort of sick joke of a being would displace someone into another dimension like that? And, out of all the people you could've dumped me into, you put me into sacrificial lamb, Kappa?! Seriously, that's fucked up, man!"
"Hahaha," It threw it's 'head' back laughing. "Oh yeah, that was pretty funny."
The thing laughed. Actually laughed. The emoji grin stretched wider, shaking with amusement.
My blood boiled. "You think this is funny?"
"Of course." It leaned forward, its massive face blotting out the endless white. "You of all people should know that one man's plight makes the best entertainment for those watching him."
"Isn't that right, Author?"
I wanted to scream, to curse it until my throat bled, but what good would that do? I forced myself to inhale, steadying the tremor in my voice. "Fine. Why? Why bring me here at all?"
The thing tilted its head. "You still haven't figured it out?"
"Figure what out?"
"What was the last thing I said," it asked, "before I pulled you into your own little playground?"
The memory slammed into me. That stupid notification. Those stupid words.
"…Do you really expect me to change the ending of this world?" I muttered, voice trembling.
"Exactly." Its voice echoed like thunder.
I clenched my fists. "There was a reason the story ended the way it did. Even when Leon killed the Ten Evil Gods, ninety percent of the realms died. Ninety percent."
"If you've been watching me, you know how long I've tried finding alternatives to my book's ending, which means you know that with the way it is, that was the only way Leon could have won," I gritted my teeth in frustration. "So, how do you expect me to change something even Leon with all the overpowered mechanisms I gave him, couldn't?"
"Now you drop me into this world without so much as an explanation, and expect me to defeat the 10 Evil Deities? With what power? My fore-knowledge? And what good is that when, if I meddle too much, canon collapses. Then what? What use am I then?"
"What can I change?" I bit the insides of my cheek, the pain still transferring in this realm of dreams and mist. "I. . .can't. Find someone else."
ForgottenTruth's grin never wavered. "Oh, spare me the pity party. Just like you've said, I've been watching you for a long time. Longer than you know. And, maybe in the end, all of this will make sense, but for now, I want you to stop lying to yourself."
It waved it's hand, and suddenly my status screen appeared before the both of us. "Look. You've already managed to obtain Helios's core, and while I can look into the future, I don't need to, since I know, at this progress you're going, all you need is a little incentive to become strong enough to avert the world's ending."
"You already know there's a path forward, Suho."
I fell silent. It was right, damn it. There was a path. A brutal, blood-soaked route I had written but never dared to publish. A path that could save the world.
But why me?
"Even if I could," I said at last, voice low, "what's in it for me? I'm not a messiah. I'm not Leon. And you—you're clearly powerful enough to drag me across dimensions. Don't give me that bullshit about not having the strength to interfere. Why don't you save the world yourself?"
The being was silent for a moment. Then it laughed—long, booming, terrible laughter that shook the endless void.
"Why?" it said, still chuckling. "To me, reality means nothing. Dimensions mean nothing. I am simply… bored. So very, very bored. And when you reach my level of power, boredom like this, bored beings like me need entertainment."
It leaned back, and with mist, it switched back to its massive, god-like body. It leaned back, finally moving its massive body. Then, slowly, it raised a colossal finger and pointed it directly at me.
I was barely the size of its fingernail. How could something like this exist in this reality?
"That's where you come in. Save the world, and I'll grant you one wish. Anything. No tricks, no secret curses, no fine print. One wish, absolute."
My heart pounded. Anything. A part of me thought back to a time when he hadn't died, and when everything was just life underneath the mistletoe.
For a long moment, I stared at its finger, looming like a mountain before me. Then I smiled—small, sharp, dangerous. "Deal."
I reached up and gripped the tip of its finger with my human-sized hands.
"Good," it said. "Get ready to return."
"Wait." I narrowed my eyes. "What's your name? Not that username garbage. Your real name."
It paused. The grin shrank, just a little. "I've had many names," it said softly. "But the one I favor most… is Azathoth."
The void shattered.
I woke with a scream, cold sweat soaking my skin. My lungs burned. My hands still tingled as if I'd truly shaken a god's hand.
And then the system chimed.
[Quest Activated: Save the World]
You have accepted the deal with 'The Blind Idiot God, Azathoth.'
Boon Acquired: [The Messiah]
— All that is evil will naturally hate you.
— All that is good will naturally like you.
— Luck +++
I lay there, staring at the glowing text until it faded.
"…Shit."