There was no sky.
No ground.
No horizon.
And yet, things existed there.
Somewhere beyond what could reasonably be called a place...
BEYOND VOID.
Countless beings remained scattered throughout it.
Some had forms.
Some had forms only when they wanted them.
Some were so enormous that worlds would have looked small beside them.
Others appeared almost human.
Power meant something different here.
But even in a place like this...
there was still a hierarchy.
And among everything that existed Beyond Void, there were three whose presence stood above almost all others.
The third strongest was sitting alone.
NAFSAN.
He looked completely uninterested.
Then something appeared before him.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Across Beyond Void, creatures stopped moving.
Some lowered their heads.
Others moved away.
The second strongest had arrived.
Nafsan barely looked up.
The entity stared at him.
"NAFSAN."
No response.
"You have been summoned by ????????."
Nafsan finally raised his eyes.
"If ???????? wants something from me, he can come to me."
Silence.
"I am not someone who gets called."
Nafsan stood.
"I call."
His eyes settled on the entity.
"I am the calling."
The second strongest stared at him for several seconds.
Then:
"One day..."
Its presence expanded.
"...I am going to kill you."
For the first time, Nafsan looked slightly interested.
He smiled.
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"Just imagining it gives me chills."
He opened his arms slightly.
"So why wait for that day..."
His smile widened.
"...when we have this one?"
Something shifted.
Neither moved.
But everything around them reacted as though a battle had already begun.
Then—
a voice spoke.
"Nobody is killing anybody here."
Everything stopped.
Not gradually.
Immediately.
Across Beyond Void...
every creature fell to its knees.
Thousands.
Millions.
Things without human legs somehow lowered themselves.
Things that had never bowed before bowed.
Everything.
At the same time.
Except one.
Nafsan remained standing.
He didn't even look surprised.
The voice continued.
"Nafsan."
A pause.
"I am tired."
Another pause.
"And I am bored."
Nafsan's expression didn't change.
"The point?"
For a moment, Beyond Void became completely silent.
Then ???????? laughed.
Not loudly.
It didn't need to.
"Nafsan..."
"I have watched stories for longer than you could understand."
And suddenly—
something appeared before them.
An impossible structure.
A question mark.
Not a symbol drawn onto something.
The structure itself resembled one.
Worlds surrounded it.
Then more worlds appeared.
And more.
And more.
They extended outward until counting them became meaningless.
Each was different.
Different histories.
Different people.
Different laws.
Different possibilities.
Different stories.
Some were close enough to distinguish.
One carried a name.
SAFSAN STORY.
But beyond them were others.
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
And beyond those...
more.
The farther the structure extended, the more impossible it became to tell where it ended.
Because it didn't appear to end at all.
Infinite stories leaned upon an infinite question.
This was Sirna.
The Sirna Multiverse.
???????? continued.
"I have listened to the stories SEENEE tells."
"I have watched stories he knows."
"I have watched stories even when nobody inside them knew they were being watched."
Nafsan stared at the endless structure.
"But?"
???????? laughed again.
"You really do hate long conversations."
"I hate conversations that haven't reached their purpose."
"Then I'll reach it."
The countless worlds shifted.
SAFSAN STORY remained visible.
NAFSAN STORY remained visible.
But farther away...
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
Again and again.
???????? spoke.
"Those interest me."
Nafsan looked toward them.
"The ones without names?"
"The ones whose names we cannot see."
That made Nafsan's eyes narrow slightly.
???????? continued.
"Something happened inside Sirna."
"Something that even SEENEE did not expect."
Nafsan finally gave the voice his full attention.
"SEENEE knows Sirna."
"He knows its stories."
"He knows its rules."
"He knows beginnings."
"He knows endings."
"And yet..."
The enormous question-shaped structure turned slowly before them.
"...something happened that even he could not anticipate."
For the first time since the conversation began, Nafsan said nothing.
???????? continued.
"I believe whatever caused that irregularity may lead toward whatever is hiding those stories."
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
Nafsan looked at them.
"And you want me to find it."
"I want you to enter Sirna."
"Search."
"Find the thing connected to this."
Nafsan waited.
"What is it called?"
Silence.
Then ???????? answered:
"I don't know."
Nafsan turned his head slightly.
???????? laughed.
"Don't look so surprised."
"Someone like me admitting ignorance must be refreshing."
"You want me to search for something without a name."
"For now."
The question mark at the center of Sirna seemed to grow darker.
"I need something to call it."
"So until we understand what it actually is..."
A pause.
"...let us call it Reality Door."
Nafsan stared at Sirna.
Then he asked:
"Is that an order?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
"You wouldn't follow one anyway."
Nafsan smiled.
"At least you understand that."
"Which is why I thought of something else."
Nafsan waited.
"If you do what I want..."
The voice became quieter.
"...you will receive what you have desired your entire life."
Nafsan's smile disappeared.
"Your freedom."
Silence.
Then Nafsan laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because he had been insulted.
"My freedom?"
He looked toward the source of the voice.
"Are you insulting me?"
For the first time, some of the creatures kneeling throughout Beyond Void dared to raise their heads.
Nafsan continued.
"You are going to give me freedom?"
"Freedom is a concept."
"It means one thing to one creature and something completely different to another."
"Freedom can mean escape."
"Choice."
"Power."
"Death."
"Life."
"Isolation."
"Control."
"Nothing."
"Everything."
Nafsan looked toward the infinite worlds of Sirna.
"And as long as infinity exists..."
"...freedom can mean infinitely many things."
He turned back toward ????????.
"So let's change the rules."
The second strongest entity looked toward Nafsan.
???????? remained silent.
Nafsan continued.
"You get what you want."
"I enter Sirna."
"I search for this thing."
"I find what you're calling Reality Door."
"But my price isn't freedom."
A pause.
"My price..."
"...is you."
Something changed throughout Beyond Void.
The beings still kneeling lowered their heads again.
Even the second strongest stared at Nafsan differently.
Nafsan continued.
"When I find it..."
"...you and I fight."
Silence.
"The winner owns it."
"Whatever Reality Door is."
"Whatever it does."
"Whatever it means."
"The winner takes it."
For several moments...
???????? said nothing.
Then—
laughter.
It spread throughout Beyond Void.
"HAHAHAHAHA."
Nafsan didn't move.
The laughter eventually stopped.
"So that was your wish."
A pause.
"I had my suspicions."
Then the voice changed.
Not angry.
Not threatened.
Almost amused.
"Oh, Nafsan..."
"Know your place."
"If only you understood clearly..."
"...who you are asking to fight."
Nafsan smiled.
"Then show me."
Silence.
And then—
???????? laughed one final time.
"I'll make an exception for you."
A pause.
"Deal."
Nafsan looked toward the infinite question before him.
Toward Sirna.
Toward SAFSAN STORY.
Toward the endless—
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
????? STORY.
He had been asked to find something without a name.
Something even SEENEE had failed to anticipate.
Something ???????? had temporarily named...
Reality Door.
And for the first time...
Nafsan was about to enter Sirna.
00.2
BEYOND VOID
END.