Noah's eyelids twitched faintly before slowly opening.
At first, everything was blurry. His thoughts were sluggish, as though his mind had been submerged beneath an endless ocean.
The excruciating pain that had tormented him only moments ago had vanished completely, disappearing as if it had never existed.
'Where am I...? What happened...?'
He struggled to gather his memories. Then they came rushing back.
The underground passage where he was running alongside Mary.
'Mary...'
His eyes widened.
"Ma... Mary!"
He abruptly tried to sit up. His vision finally began to clear.
What greeted him wasn't the forest. Nor was it the underground ruin. Instead, beneath him stretched an endless expanse of rough gray ground, barren and lifeless.
It resembled weathered stone, scarred by countless cracks and untouched by any sign of life.
There was no trees, no wind nor any sound. There was only silence.
"...What?"
