Charlotte
The first thing I felt as I opened my eyes was a pitch-black darkness.
Blink—blink. With every flutter of my eyelids, the world around me slowly came into focus.
It was an unfamiliar place with not a single trace of light, yet it carried a strange, comforting warmth.
The space was so narrow that it could barely fit a single body lying down.
I had no idea why I’d woken up here instead of in a bed, but my mind was utterly calm.
If I could stay this composed even after waking in a strange place, it was probably because I was treating the whole thing like a dream.
Coffin—
Yes.
This place had a structure very much like a coffin.
I couldn’t have said why that word came to mind.
It just surfaced naturally, as if it had been waiting there all along.
The moment I thought about getting up, the lid of the coffin began to open of its own accord.
With a dry, dragging creak, the view brightened and cold air spilled in.
The first thing I noticed after climbing out was the broken window.
Shards lay scattered across the floor, with pale moonlight falling through the gap they left behind.
Following that light, my vision widened.
What I found beyond the coffin was a room no bigger than about sixteen square meters.
There wasn’t a single piece of intact furniture in sight.
A chair lay on the floor with one leg snapped off, and what looked like a bookshelf had rotted through and collapsed halfway.
This wasn’t my house. It was unmistakably an unfamiliar place.
Just how many people had the hobby of stuffing a healthy adult man into a coffin and dumping him in some strange room?
The question that rose in my head made me let out a small laugh.
“Ahaha—”
Even the sound that came out of my mouth felt unfamiliar.
It felt as if everything I knew had been denied all at once.
Relief. Loss.
Two emotions tangled together and muddled my mind.
Unlike my complicated feelings, my body felt strangely light.
After climbing out of the coffin, I walked over with easy steps and looked out the window.
The broken shards on the floor dug into the soles of my feet, but I didn’t feel any pain.
My gaze, carried by the pale moonlight, took in the world outside.
Collapsed buildings. Empty roads. Darkness settled over everything.
The cold moonlight pouring down from the sky was the only lamp illuminating this world.
Then, at the edge of my vision, I caught sight of silver strands swaying softly in the air.
When I reached out and touched them, they drifted apart in a delicate shimmer, and the sight of it was truly beautiful.
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