Year 2082

  Renny fell.

  Flailing his arms in the air as he fell into the Void.

  There was no rush of wind.

  No feeling of resistance.

  Only acceleration.

  Renny tumbled, limbs useless, unable to orient himself.

  The ground was coming in fast.

  5, no, 2 seconds—

  Renny landed.

  Safely—?

  The chains were the only reason he was alive.

  Without them, jumping through a Door without a Coffin is suicide.

  He was back.

  Again.

  To the place that gave him nightmares.

  But things were different now.

  He had chosen to come back.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Not just to face the Void—

  but the fear of being useless.

  He scanned his surroundings.

  A barren wasteland.

  Black—darker than night.

  Specks moved in the distance.

  Voidspawn.

  Strangely, the chains felt different here than they did on the Surface.

  Stronger. As if they responded to the Void.

  He had to figure out how they worked in order to use them to get stronger.

  Had to keep moving.

  No Coffin spotted yet.

  He'd like to put some distance between them.

  –––

  His feet dragged.

  The chains made no sound when he moved.

  He no longer looked at them when they moved.

  They clung tighter to his skin, dug deeper, covered more of his skin.

  Parts of his skin were fully covered by the chains.

  He understood how they worked now.

  It was about setting conditions.

  Feel lighter

  Don't break

  Extend

  Be sharp

  He lost count of how many Voidspawn he killed.

  Was it 10?

  20?

  He only remembered fighting one that was probably named from how strong it was.

  He flexed his fingers.

  That battle was etched in his brain, the pure speed and power of it pushed him to his limits.

  The victory was messy, earned, lucky.

  He had to get stronger.

  He was alone.

  Dying here meant nobody would come for him.

  There was no one left to blame for where he ended up.

  He'd long lost his pursuers, who were they again?

  Forgot.

  Words echoed in his head.

  His and others.

  Were they echoing or was someone whispering?

  Reflects how afraid you are

  Choose wisely

  9 dead

  Little lamb

  He kept moving, no destination in mind.

  The surroundings shifted.

  Damaged buildings appeared around him.

  A single palm tree appeared in front of him.

  He remembered faintly, a lesson from Dive Academy.

  About the 3 phenomena of the Void.

  Visual Dissonance — Difference in perception for each individual, limited to relative position.

  While perceived directions may differ, relative spatial relationships are conserved.

  Didn't affect him, he was alone.

  Terrain Shift — The Void’s landscape undergoes periodic reconfiguration.

  Local spatial relationships remain stable, allowing movement, combat, and short-term navigation.

  That must've been what just happened.

  He'd been through so many he lost count.

  He forgot what the last one was.

  Something about the mind degrading the longer one was in the Void.

  Was that happening now?

  Is that why everything seemed off?

  Is that tree real?

  He'd forgotten what he came into the Void for.

  Had to keep moving.

  His Heartlight was low.

  Huh, that's interesting, hadn't it been a day at least?

  Shouldn't it have replenished already?

  Oh, he remembered something about how Heartlight doesn't replenish in the Void.

  That's not good...

  Had to keep moving.

  He didn't know if there was a way out.

  Had to keep moving.

  He didn’t remember what he wanted to become anymore.

  Only what he refused to be.