Chapter 102
He couldn’t remember when he had closed his eyes.
When he slowly opened them, he saw countless stars embedded in the black night sky. Like stardust scattered across black silk, the twinkling lights in various colors caught his gaze.
“Where is this...?”
He had clearly woken up from sleep, but everything still felt heavy and lethargic. His body wouldn't move at will, as if submerged in water. Though momentarily startled, he looked around and finally realized.
Darkness surrounded him on all sides. He thought it was the night sky, but it felt more like he’d been dropped into the middle of space.
“What the hell?”
At this point, he could only admit he was still dreaming.
‘What kind of nonsense dream is this?’
Just as he furrowed his brows in disbelief, a bright yellow light shone from behind.
He turned around to find an enormous tree floating in space like himself, though he had no idea when it had appeared. The tree, astonishingly, was entirely made of golden light—its roots, its richly spreading branches, and its leaves.
Drawn as if hypnotized, he stepped toward the massive golden tree. A contradictory feeling surged inside him: a primal fear at its overwhelming presence, and yet an irresistible desire to examine it up close.
As he approached, piercing through the far-reaching glow, the tree's structure came more clearly into view. What stood out most was the root.