("Everything around me is too bright, and... am I... still falling?") █████ thought to themselves, as they fell through the endless white void.
("I've been falling for some time. I don't know how long, but I can tell it's been a long time since I went into that bright light.") █████ thought again, losing the sense of time.
("What time was it before I entered, 10 PM? Eleven? I don't remember. Am I even alive right now?")
█████ clothing swayed against the non-existent wind in the bright, white space. There's nothing here, just █████ and the sound of their clothes rustling. █████ felt as if their life had come to an end. But █████ were still thinking, therefore, they still were. But what is waiting down there? Not even █████ can see it, it might still be so far down.
("I can't open my eyes right now, it's still too bright.")
("But I feel like I'm already reaching somewhere.")
█████ felt as if they were going to crash towards the ground. But suddenly-
"GAH!" █████ said as they jolted awake, sitting up abruptly on the floor. █████ planted both their hands on the ground. "... What the hell?" █████ said as they looked around, turning their head left and right.
It wasn't the bright, white space anymore. But cracked concrete walls, the yellow paint is faded, and on the ceiling seems to held one light bulb every 10 meters. █████ found themselves sitting on the floor's carpet. █████ looks behind them, but it's only walls.
("Where the hell is this? Is this the Backrooms?") █████ thought, thinking about the many times they watched the series. ("No, this doesn't look anything like the backrooms. There should be patterns on the walls, but there are none.") █████ thought, scratching their head.
Soon after, █████ brought themselves up from the floor and began to move.
They passed by some hallways, but most just led to dead ends. █████ came to realize that there are no doors anywhere, so they thought that there might be a secret switch or something. So █████ began to search for it, scraping at the walls and scanning the grounds. But after a while, they didn't succeed in even finding one. They put their hand on the wall to get some air.
("There's really nothing here, just walls and more walls.") █████ thought, gasping for air. ("Just what the hell is this bullshit? Where the hell am I supposed to go?) █████ thought as they looked up a little in frustration. █████ wiped sweat from their forehead.
But █████ then heard footsteps from behind, ("Someone's here.") █████ quickly turned around to look, and it's someone in a robe, a red robe to be exact, with marked symbols on it. ("A cultist? Did I go into a cultist hideout or something?") █████ thought, asking many questions in their mind.
The robed person walked towards █████ and stopped a few meters away. The robed person didn't speak first, they pulled the hood back.
The robed person seems to be a male, an old male. It looked like he was in his late 50s and completely bald. There are also symbols across his forehead. The symbols seemed to be glowing, and he doesn't look like he's in a good mood... That's what █████ thought at least.
"I'm very sorry if I scared you." The robed person said, "I was looking for you because I felt the presence of another person ending up here."
("Ending up here? Wait, am I trapped? And there's others?") █████ thought.
"So I'm not the only one here?" █████ said, finally straightening himself up, "I was exhausted, walking around trying to find an exit. But I can't find anything."
"I tried already, there's nothing but walls here." The robed person said, "Hey, █████. That's you, right?"
"Y-you know my name?" █████ said, surprised, "You're not... going to kill me or anything, are you?"
"I have no point to, besides, I'm not the kind of person to do that." The robed person said.
"Are you a cultist? What's your name?" █████ asked.
"My name... You can just call me The Narrator." The robed figure, Narrator, said.
"The... Narrator?" █████ repeats, thinking that he's not serious, "That's not even a name, that's a title! But.. why The Narrator?"
"To be beyond the narrative is to narrate, no?" Narrator said, "I took the name because of that."
"But since I'm talking to you, am I watching a story unfold?" █████ asked, confused, "Feels like I'm breaking a wall here."
"You can say that if you're new around here, but we're not a watcher here." Narrator said, pausing for a few seconds before saying, "We still got our role to do, but we're not entirely dependent on one's narrative."
█████ stands idle and silent, tilting their head just a bit.
"I don't know what any of those words mean." █████ said, "I mean.. I read books sometimes, but still."
"It just means that fate doesn't govern over you." Narrator said, "It's kind of hard to explain right now if you're still confused." He added, looking elsewhere.
... █████ stayed silent for a moment, they crossed their arms and looked around for a bit.
"Where are the others?" █████ asked, "Since you said there are other people here."
"Follow me then, there are a lot of them. But to think of it, you belong to a different kind of group, just like the 3 others that came here yesterday." Narrator said.
"Different group?" █████ asked, thinking, what is something special about them?
"There's just something I can feel from you. And that makes you special." Narrator added, "I don't have the correct words for it. But I'd say that you're not dependent on anything, story-wise."
"... I'll ask about that later because I still don't understand. But then I have another question." █████ said, before continuing, "Where am I?"
... "Welcome to Labelthrough." The Narrator said, "Things may not go as fine as they are right now. So, like some people have said, keep your guards up."
They continued to walk throughout the hallway, it looked like an endless maze, but the Narrator seemed to know already the way. █████ thought it was a bad idea to follow him, but there were really no other choices, so they went with it.
█████ looked around the place, seeing few cracks here and there. "This place looks like it's going to break down over us." They said, looking up at the ceiling, "There are cracks there too." They said again, pointing, "And there." Pointing again, "And there." Pointing again.
The Narrator speaks, "This place looks old despite how new it is. Looks can be deceiving."
"You're saying this place is new?" █████ said in disbelief, their finger frozen mid-air as they looked at The Narrator.
"That's correct. Never any newer than 2 days ago." The Narrator answered.
"... I'm... I really don't know what to say." █████ said, "... Like, what do you mean this place is new but it looks old? It's as if saying this whole place is regenerated to look like this!"
The Narrator glanced at them from the side... Before looking back forward. ("You found the answer yourself.") He thought.
The two continued to walk down the confusing path towards the main room.