*2 Days After Ko returned from Raibon Mansion *
"Ko, don't you want to go to school today either?" Ko's father asked from outside his room.
"I'm not feeling well today," Ko answered in an exhausted voice.
*"What is this kid's problem?"* Ko's father thought to himself. "It's been two days since you came out of your room. Don't you want to see your dad's face?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"No," Ko replied.
"But we want to see our son's face," his father pleaded.
Ko remained silent.
His father stood outside the door for a few minutes, waiting in silence for a response.
Finally, he walked away with a disappointed sigh.
"What did he say?" Ko's mother asked.
He shook his head with a saddened expression.
"You've been spoiling him too much. I'll go and drag him out of his room," Ko's mother fumed after seeing her husband's dejected face.
"Wait… He'll come out on his own. Give him some time," Ko's father said, stopping her.
"Hmph. Do whatever you want." Ko's mother turned away and returned to the kitchen.
*"Is he depressed?"* Ko's father wondered.
*"His innocence and pure nature make him vulnerable even to the smallest things."*
He sat down on a chair and thought for a few minutes.
*"I'll ask his girlfriend."*
He stood up, walked over to the telephone, dialed her number, and made the call.
"Hello," Ko's father said in a gentle voice.
A cheerful voice answered from the other end of the line.
"Uncle, is that you? Is Ko alright? He hasn't come to school for two days."
"That's what I wanted to know too. Did something happen at school or at your house?" Ko's father asked worriedly.
"Heh? He was perfectly alright at my house, though." Kenika paused for a moment. "I'll come to your house after school and talk to him," she said confidently.Meanwhile, in Ko's room.
Ko sat on his bed with his knees drawn to his chest, resting his head on them. Tears streamed down his face and fell onto his knees.
"I don't know what to do…" Ko muttered.
*"There is something wrong with me."*
The weight of those words made him clench his teeth.
*"Am I going to hurt the people close to me?"*
His eyes widened as confusion and anxiety consumed him.
"I don't know."
A soft voice echoed inside his head.
"I don't know."
"I DON'T KNOW."
The voice grew louder and louder, as if he were fighting against himself within his own mind.
"Nnngh…"
Ko covered his ears with his hands. He pulled the blanket over himself and cried himself to sleep, haunted by those bizarre images from that night.
"You have a right to action…"
Ko slowly opened his eyes at the sound of the divine voice. The moment it reached his ears, it felt as though every material suffering had been stripped away from him.
He turned toward the voice and saw an infinite light spanning across millions of multiverses. Pale pink lotus petals drifted through the boundless expanse. A divine fragrance, unlike anything Ko had ever experienced on Earth, gently caressed his soul.
Ko looked around, but he couldn't see anyone.
"Light *** ** **** void, but light **** ***."
The same divine voice echoed throughout the surroundings.
"Who are you?" Ko asked, his eyes softening.
"Are you the Preserver?"
A serene expression settled on his face.
"Who do you think I am?" the voice asked in a gentle tone that filled one's soul with divine bliss.
Ko lowered his head in reverence.
The voice let out a divine smile before sending Ko's consciousness on an interstellar journey toward Earth.
The scenery around him began to change.
"Wait, I didn't ask—"
A universe bubble from the multiverse swallowed Ko.
The flow of time materialized before Ko.
He witnessed the birth of the universe.
From nothingness, the universe was born from the explosion of a single point of light that illuminated the infinite void. That point of light carried the same divine presence Ko had felt beyond every verse.
Ko watched from so far away that the explosion looked as though someone had gently blown on a pile of dust scattered across a black canvas.
He saw dark matter gathering cosmic dust as new stars began to form. Millions of years passed in the span of a few seconds.
The stars eventually collapsed, giving birth to black holes. Their immense gravity drew in nearby stars and planets, forming galaxies and planetary systems.
He witnessed the formation of the Solar System, the Moon, and Earth. Everything unfolded in a linear sequence as the breath continued to expand the universe into the infinite void.
"So… what the divine voice said means that void and light are equal?" Ko wondered, his soul still immersed in that divine trance.
Suddenly, everything rewound to the beginning, where only a single point of light remained.
This time, the light appeared larger. There was no explosion—only a still, cold void and a single divine light.
"What? There is no explosion?" Ko asked in confusion.
"Is this a different universe from mine?" he murmured.
The universe changed again.
This time, it exploded, but only clouds of cosmic dust existed. The flow of time was extremely slow. There were no black holes, no planetary systems, and no environment where life could emerge.
Again…
His consciousness drifted into another universe where there was no light, and time itself was null. The flow of time had completely frozen.
Then he entered yet another universe where time flowed at an unimaginable speed. Everything collapsed within a few million years. There wasn't enough time for life to evolve into humans.
As Ko witnessed all of this, a realization struck him.
He opened his eyes to find himself lying on his bed.
He sat up and looked around his room.
"This is my room, right?" Ko asked in a doubtful voice.
"Was all of that just a dream? It feels like I just watched *Interstellar 2* before Nolan himself."
*But the lingering sensation in my chest is real… just like what I felt in that domain.*
Ko jumped out of bed and ran outside like an excited child.
He rushed over to his father with a bright, wholesome smile.
"Dad, can I use the prayer hall for a while?" Ko asked.
His father's face instantly lit up.
"Ko, you finally came out of your room."
He pulled Ko into a tight hug.
"Do you know how worried I was? Why did you shut yourself in?" his father asked as he let go.
"Umm… I was busy binge-watching last winter's anime," Ko said, scratching the back of his head.
"Huh? Winter anime? What's that? Was it really worth skipping two days of school and making your parents worry?" his father asked, his concern evident in his voice.
"You can scold me later, but for now, can I use the prayer hall?" Ko asked, making puppy eyes.
"Hmm? Okay. But why do you suddenly want to pray?" his father questioned.
"Um… ah, it's nothing big." Ko replied as he ran toward the prayer hall.
To be continued...