I stared at the beautiful palace in front of me, with one question resounding in my mind: "How do I get in?"
I tried touching the gate of the palace, but to no avail—it didn't open. I tried climbing the fence, but it was as if an invisible force was stopping me from reaching the top. I tried countless methods, but none of them worked.
"I got here, but what can I do? Please, Mr. Door, open," I cried out.
The door gave no response, as if mocking me, saying, "Idiot, I can't talk." With nothing left to do, I leaned against the fence and began to observe my immediate surroundings.
The fence was painted gold, shining so brightly that it created a stark contrast in this dark world. The fence surrounded the palace far and wide, and the palace stood in its middle.
The palace gave off a strange effect, like an illusion. It felt as if it was there and wasn't there at the same time.
"Beautiful," I exclaimed as I stared at it.
As if that wasn't enough, the palace glowed with a holy light, as if responding to my innermost thought. It felt like it was communicating with me, bathing me in its light.
The light kept flickering a few times every second as I stared at the palace.
I stopped for a moment, wondering what it meant. The meaning behind that flicker was unknown to me, but I couldn't look away.
"It seems I've reached another rock bottom," I muttered.
Day twelve passed just like that, with minimal results. I looked at the dark sky and the clouds below me, wondering why I was drawn toward this palace.
"Who am I really?" that question echoed once again in my mind.
Over the course of this journey, I had been trying to remember my identity… but no memory resurfaced.
Day thirteen came like the wind. I picked myself up and began brainstorming how to enter the palace.
"It seems I can't enter through ordinary means, so there must be another way," I said, glancing at the fence.
I placed my fingers on the wall, tracing it for any hidden button, any protrusion or dent. My fingers moved slowly, searching every inch.
But in the end, I found nothing. The wall was like any other normal wall… nothing special about it.
"Hmm… where could the key to opening the entrance be?" I asked myself.
With no other means to open the entrance, I was left with one final option. An option I wasn't sure would work.
That option was…
"…deciphering the flickering light."
There was a meaning behind the flickering of the holy light, but grasping it would be difficult. This might be the test I had to pass before entering the palace.
Just by observing the light, I felt like I'd seen something similar before. So I did nothing but stare at the flickering light, trying to grasp its meaning.
Through careful observation, I noticed the light flickered three times every second. That meant a hundred and eighty times per minute, and ten thousands and eight hundred times per hour. Aside from the frequency, the intensity of the light varied.
At each second, the intensity of one of the three flickers was different from the others. I was sure there was a message hidden in it.
"Three times per second. Different intensity," I noted.
Three more days passed like that, with the same monotonous routine—observing the light.
I was so focused on it that I hadn't closed my eyes for the past five days. My mind was a mess, caught between staying awake and processing the information. There was nothing in my head aside from the light.
"Low at first, medium next, and finally high…" I said quietly.
I couldn't speak properly anymore. Drowsiness was dragging me under. Finally, I reached my tipping point. I couldn't stop myself from falling asleep. With one last look at the palace, I collapsed.
But maybe I didn't fall asleep. What appeared before me looked more real than anything I'd seen here.
"Am I asleep?" I pinched myself, waiting for a reaction.
"Ouch!"
I immediately felt the pain, confirming I wasn't dreaming. With that confirmed, I glanced at the person standing before me.
The person stood only a few meters away. He wore an eerily calm expression, with gray hair to match it. His eyes were dark gray, like storm clouds. It looked like a raging storm was brewing behind them.
He wore a golden robe tainted with red, and beneath it was a prestigious outfit. The shirt was adorned with intricate patterns and jewels, and the trousers were dark.
He smiled briefly and spoke.
"Welcome, chosen. Hmm… you seem unable to enter the palace. I wonder why?" he said thoughtfully, walking toward the gate to inspect it.
The man carried an aura of playfulness wherever he went. After a few minutes, he turned to regard me.
"Yes, before you enter you must pass the test. How could I have forgotten that?" He muttered to himself.
But despite that, I still heard what he said.
"Which test?" I asked.
"According to what I'm seeing, you've already started taking the test," he said, pointing toward the light.
"What you said is true," I replied, "but I can't grasp the meaning behind the light."
"The meaning of the light can only be known if you are worthy. To understand it, you have to resonate with it… become part of the light to truly understand it."
"And one final question," I said. "Why am I here? And who are you?"
"The reason you're here is because you're destined to be here. This is your destiny, boy. And as for who I am, you'll know when you need to know," he answered.
Immediately after he spoke, he vanished, as if he had never been there.
"I was destined to be here… what does that mean?"
That question had no answer for now. But as I moved forward, I would find the truth.