System, please just shut up

Kael found himself floating.

His body felt weightless, calm, and utterly comfortable.

He slowly opened his eyes to find himself suspended in a void.

There was nothing around him, only an endless blanket of soft darkness.

'Not this again,' he thought, a flicker of resignation.

His mind felt heavy and blank… empty.

He drifted continuously for a while, then grew bored and decided to try and fall asleep, surrendering to the sensation of nothingness.

He to floated aimlessly for an unknown period of time.

Until he felt a shift in his surroundings.

His eyes fluttered open as he stared into the distance.

There was a small ball of golden light shining, impossibly bright, in the distant gloom calling on to him.

He felt an invisible force pulling him toward it.

As he drifted closer, its size began to increase, growing more vibrant with every passing moment.

It expanded until it consumed his vision, growing so blinding that he had to shut his eyes for fear of going blind as the light devoured his entire being.

A couple of seconds later, he peeked through his eyelids only to be met with a sight that would have left famous world paintings in shame.

He was floating within an immense, ethereal dome, entirely composed of living, molten gold.

It wasn't merely light, it was liquid radiance, flowing and swirling in majestic, silent currents.

Golden lava-like streams ascended and descended, twisting into impossible, luminous braids that pulsed with an inherent, ancient feelings.

The air itself shimmered with the scent of pure energy, a presence so overwhelming and divine that it pressed in on him, not with force, but with an almost suffocating majesty.

It felt like being cradled within the heart of a newborn star, boundless and serene.

His body continued to float effortlessly inside this breathtaking dome, and over time, a strange familiarity settled in, and he grew bored all over again.

So he decided to go back to sleep.

After another unknown period of floating aimlessly, he felt another change.

There was something solid under his feet.

He opened his eyes to find himself standing on the first step of a long, winding staircase that looked like it ascended into infinity.

"..."

'Absolutely not.' He thought, immediately turning around, not even a bit interested in whatever the hell was at the top.

There was no way he was climbing that.

But unfortunately for him, when he tried to turn back, he was met with an invisible wall. There was nothing there, but he couldn't walk forward.

'Great.' He sighed and stared back at the infinity staircase.

And with an unwilling step, he began ascending.

One step.

Two steps.

Ten steps.

One hundred steps.

One thousand steps.

The stairs just kept on going infinitely, without showing any signs of stopping.

And Kael just kept on climbing, never taking a break.

For some reason, he didn't ever feel tired, so he never stopped.

One hundred thousand steps.

One million steps...

He just kept going.

And at some point, he couldn't help but think.

'Whoever is up there better have a damn good explanation for all this stairs.'

And so he kept moving.

Ten million…

At some point, he lost track of how many he had gone.

And finally, it seemed his suffering would come to an end as he saw a flat surface above.

He immediately quickened his pace as the number of steps began to grow smaller and smaller.

Until he was finally at the last step.

And what met him at the top was... a pond?

He stepped onto a vast, perfectly smooth platform, still imbued with the same soft, radiant golden light that seemed to emanate from the very air. At the center stood a single, magnificent mythical tree, its gnarled, ancient trunk spiraling upward like a living sculpture. Its bark shimmered with an inner golden luminescence, and its leaves, though subtle, cast soft, dappled light across the ground. It was not overtly grand but held an immense, quiet presence, exuding an aura of timeless wisdom.

By its roots, nestled into the seamless golden stone, lay a small, perfectly round pond.

Its surface was not water, but a liquid gold, rippling gently as if breathing, reflecting the ambient light with an almost blinding, yet somehow calming, brilliance.

At the pond's edge, a single, smooth, dark jade-like rock rested, worn flat as if by aeons of stillness.

The entire space resonated with an overwhelming sense of peace.

It was a tranquility so profound it seemed to hum in the very air, inviting serenity.

Kael limbed the final step and stood on the platform.

A peaceful feeling washed over him, sweeping him into a state of deep, inexplicable tranquility.

It was a sensation he couldn't explain with words, a soothing balm to his very soul.

And without even knowing it, his body gently guided him towards the pond standing at the corner.

The closer he got, the more the feeling intensified, like floating on a thousand clouds.

He reached the edge of the pond and stood there motionlessly, staring into its golden depths, allowing the feeling to consume him whole.

The view was also breathtaking.

Everything blended in perfectly, the complete lack of noise, the sublime beauty of the golden landscape, and the soft, nurturing energy in the air. They all complemented each other perfectly.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

A calm voice suddenly echoed from beside him.

In any normal circumstance, if he was sneaked up upon like that, he would have had an outrage.

But the overwhelming feeling he was currently experiencing seemed to negate everything else.

He slowly turned his head to the source of the sound only to be met with something quite spectacular.

Sitting, or whatever you wanted to call it, next to him… was an extension of the pond.

Like, literally.

It looked as if part of the liquid gold had risen from the water and slithered up to him, now peacefully sitting, its form shifting gently, a conscious, golden presence beside him.

"..."