It was dark. Too dark to see anything. The darkness wasn't like when you close your eyes — it was as if I had lost my sight entirely. What even happened, when it comes down to it? And where did I end up?
I remember the guys teasing Leo, and I volunteered to jump into the water to draw attention away from him. Right. I was going to do a flip to impress them. And then what? My head isn't working at all, everything's hazy. I need to go back to the previous thought to piece the chain of events together. I was about to do the flip, the guys moved to the edges of the cliff to give me space for a proper jump. I took a running start and dove into the water.
Okay, okay, something's starting to take shape.
Yeah, I pulled off an epic trick, a flip, and at the end I entered the water in a perfect dive! It must've looked amazing from the outside!
And then my hands got stuck in something through the murk… Oh, no…
No way. Did I… die?
*Not quite*
Not quite? What does that mean? So I'm unconscious or something?
*Not quite*
What does "not quite" even mean? Wait! Who's talking to me?!
*…*
Or is my imagination playing a cruel trick on me?
*…*
Just like I thought, I probably lost consciousness from the lack of oxygen underwater, and now I'm hearing this "not quite" on some subconscious level. Unless, of course, I'm lying to myself with these assumptions that I just passed out. Although the voice that addressed me sounded very real… Am I losing my mind?
*No*
Who's talking to me? Looks like I really have gone insane. I don't remember hitting my head on a rock, yet I'm hearing voices in it. Wait a second, I think I heard this voice right before I lost consciousness. But what did it say? I mentally said goodbye to my father, and then my eyes closed…
*You cannot deceive death*
Right! Uh…
— Wait a second! That definitely doesn't sound like just a voice in my head! Who are you? And why can I hear you?! Where am I?!
I surprised myself with how sharp my voice sounded. Or rather — the sensation of a voice. There was no air here, yet the words were somehow still being "spoken," as if the mere act of thinking had become speech.
*You are currently in a place where the concepts of life and death diverge*
— What does that mean?
*There is neither life… nor death here in the usual sense*
— So… I'm dead?
*No. Your body has died*
— And isn't that the same thing?
*No, because your soul is still alive*
I was in absolute confusion. If I died, that means I died, doesn't it? But this voice was telling me otherwise.
*The body is merely an outer, material vessel. It is needed for the soul to exist in the material world*
— And the soul?
*The soul does not die with the body. It comes here*
All of this was strange. Since childhood, from books, movies, and just from things people said, I had always known that after death a person goes to heaven or hell depending on how they lived. But this voice says I ended up somewhere "here."
— And what happens to it?
*The soul can exist for as long as it can sustain itself. Until it fades*
— So… it can still die?
*Yes*
So if I believe that voice, that means I'm still alive — more precisely, my soul is. And if I think logically, my consciousness, my "I", is sealed within the soul, which is why I'm still alive. Does that mean… In that case, can I return?
*No, the body that housed your soul can no longer contain it*
I don't know whether there's any point in speaking out loud or not, since this voice reads my thoughts anyway and answers questions I haven't even asked yet. Even that idea wouldn't let me rest: that someone could dig around in my head and read my thoughts.
*I can only read the thoughts that lie on the surface, and those that can be spoken*
That doesn't reassure me in the slightest, you know! Who are you, and what will happen to me next if I can no longer return to my world?
*I am a soul just like you*
— …?
What does that mean — "a soul just like me"? And why does this soul know more about this place and about existence than I do? And it still hasn't answered my previous question.
*You can materialize in another world and continue your life there*
Continue living in another world? Is it even possible to live a normal life after dying once? And how would I know whether I ended up in a good place? What if it's some post-apocalyptic world, and I'm the only living being on the planet? Or what if I end up in a world where development never moved past the Stone Age and cave people?
*All of that is excluded*
And where does that confidence come from? Though, based on the information this voice seems to have, I suppose I can believe it.
*Well, you also have a choice: to end the existence of your "I" and let your soul disperse*
No, no, no! I definitely don't want that. I still have so much life left to live! I haven't even held a girl's hand yet…
*In that case, are you ready to incarnate in a new body?*
Well, that's much better than losing my "I." And anyway, how do you know the world I'll go to won't be destroyed?
*Because I can choose the world you will enter*
Choose? Who even is this "soul"? Why is it going to choose for me? Don't I have the right to choose a more suitable place to live on my own?
*No*
And why is that?
*You do not possess such power*
Power? What power is it talki…
But before I could finish the thought, I started to feel something…
Up until now, I hadn't felt anything at all.
But now… I felt the tips of my fingers.
At first barely noticeable, then — clearer.
But something still wasn't right.
As if I were still here… and my body was somewhere else.
And yet I could feel it.
*Before you awaken, there is something you must know*
Hm? What is it?
The way it was said made me tense.
*You are no longer human…*
— Wait, what…?