A Person at the Threshold

It was dark all around, yet white as well—dim and lightless, yet dazzlingly bright. It seemed empty, yet also seemed to contain all things.

The grass beneath the starry sky, the Sea Waves before the reef, the carvings on palace walls, the ruins in the deep sea... Countless scenes flashed before his eyes.

His thoughts stalled for a moment, then slowly began to turn.

He had been here before.

As always, he had forgotten some things, yet remembered others.

He forgot those secondary, harmless burdens.

He remembered those wondrous, real, and important existences.

But that was not the most important thing.

What mattered was that he was here.

He.

As his thoughts shifted, the world's end, nature's mighty force, the sun's heat, underground currents, the vitality of life, the stillness of death—in short, everything—appeared before his eyes without reserve.

It felt wonderful. It felt free.

As if he had released every restraint, escaped every shackle, and cast off every burden.

There was no gravity, no time, nothing else.

Nothing could restrict his thoughts anymore.

Only he existed here, like an unbridled wild horse racing freely, a sky bird soaring at will, or a lone fish swimming recklessly through the deep sea.

Wandering through the world.

Everywhere.

Without restraint.

Until he himself became the entire world.

[The... world...]

A trace of discomfort passed through his heart.

But it did not matter. Just as he had ignored all other unimportant things, he paid it no heed.

Only one sensation stubbornly remained with him.

An impulse.

Not enough.

The impulse arose abruptly and could no longer be stopped.

Still not enough.

A faint restlessness rose within him.

Far from enough!

He wanted more.

He wanted to know more, understand more, and obtain more!

With that thought, he began to rise.

How wondrous.

He