Chương 2: Chapter 1: The Forest Outside

"... What?" I stood frozen, one hand still clutching the curtain. The street was gone. No asphalt. No sidewalks. No neighbouring houses. No streetlights. Beyond the window stretched an endless forest, bathed in pale morning light. For several seconds, my brain simply refused to process what I was seeing.

"... No." I blinked. Once. Twice. The trees didn't disappear. I rubbed my eyes. Still there. Maybe... Maybe I was hallucinating. Sleep deprivation could do strange things to people, right? I glanced toward my desk. Three monitors still glowed behind me. The ceiling light was on. The gentle hum of my computer filled the room exactly as it had a minute ago. Everything inside the house was perfectly normal. Everything outside... Wasn't. I reached for my phone. 2: 58 a. m. I frowned. The time hadn't changed.

Neither had the date. No emergency alerts. No missed calls. No notifications. Signal bars. Wi-Fi connected. Battery seventy-three percent. Everything looked exactly as it should. Except for one tiny detail. It was broad daylight.

"... Okay." I looked back out the window.

"This isn't funny." Not that I expected anyone to answer. I slipped my phone back into my pocket. Only then did I realize the towel I'd used after getting out of the shower was still hanging around my neck.

"... Right." I pulled it off and tossed it onto the nearby couch. For a moment, I simply stood there, staring at the front door. Going outside suddenly felt like a terrible idea. Not because of the forest. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Because opening the door would mean accepting that the forest was real. I grabbed the hoodie draped over the back of my office chair. The zipper caught halfway up.

"... Seriously?" A quick tug freed it. Normal. Annoyingly normal. I pulled it on before slipping into the pair of sneakers waiting beside the entrance. I didn't even bother tying the laces. My hand reached automatically for the keys hanging from their hook. Then for my wallet. I stopped.

"... Why am I taking my wallet?" A nervous chuckle escaped me. Unless the wildlife had started accepting credit cards, I doubted it would be much help. I put it back. One last glance toward the living room. The monitors still glowed. The coffee still sat beside the keyboard. Everything inside the house still looked perfectly ordinary. I turned back toward the door. My fingers tightened around the doorknob.

"As if standing here is going to explain anything." I turned it. Cool air greeted me immediately. Not freezing. Just... wrong. It slipped beneath the collar of my hoodie and across my still-damp hair. I stepped outside. My eyes wandered toward the small outdoor thermometer fixed beside the front door. 20°C. I blinked.

"... Twenty?" That couldn't be right. It was the middle of summer. Even before sunrise, summer nights weren't supposed to feel cold. Yet the air felt closer to an autumn morning than the middle of July. Not freezing. Just cool enough to make my skin protest. I touched my forehead. No fever. No headache. No sore throat.

"I didn't catch a cold overnight..." The words sounded ridiculous the moment they left my mouth. I gave a quiet shake of my head. Nothing about this made sense anymore. But there was a more pressing issue right now. The concrete path leading to the street had vanished.

"What is this all about?" I stepped off the porch. Soft grass yielded beneath my shoes. I frowned.

"... That's new." I took another step. The grass bent easily beneath my weight, droplets of dew clinging to the blades before soaking into the canvas of my sneakers. Almost without thinking, I crouched and brushed my fingers across it. Cold. Wet. Real. I rubbed the moisture between my thumb and forefinger. If this was a dream... It was by far the most convincing one I'd ever had. A gentle breeze drifted through the clearing. The leaves answered with a quiet rustle. Nothing else did. No cars. No distant sirens.

No train in the distance. No barking dog. No neighbour leaving early for work. I hadn't realized how noisy the city had always been until every last sound disappeared. The silence felt... heavy. My gaze drifted back toward the endless wall of trees. Every instinct told me to stay close to the house. Instead, curiosity won. I started walking. The grass brushed softly against my ankles as I moved farther from the porch. Each step carried me farther from everything familiar.

The house remained exactly where it had always been. Only the world around it had changed. My foot suddenly caught on something hidden beneath the grass.

"Whoa—" I stumbled before catching myself. Looking down, I pushed the grass aside with my shoe. A thick black cable emerged from beneath the blades. I knelt.

"... A power line?" I grabbed it with both hands and pulled gently until several more meters slid free from the grass. It stretched away from the house in a nearly straight line. Following it with my eyes, I began walking alongside it. The cable eventually ended a short distance away. Not at a utility pole. Not inside a junction box. It simply... Stopped. The outer insulation had been sliced cleanly away. Several thick copper wires protruded from the severed end. I stared. Then slowly turned back toward the house.

Warm light spilled through the still-open front door. My computer monitors glowed faintly through the living room window. My refrigerator was probably still humming. Everything still had power. I looked back at the cable. Then at the house again.

"... That's impossi—" ROOOOAR! The sound rolled across the clearing. Deep. Powerful. Close. I froze. Slowly... I turned toward the forest.