After drinking my fill of the white water—perhaps a bit too much—I decided to rest, leaning my back against one of the lifeless trees.
As I lay there, my thoughts began to flow more freely, no longer consumed by the relentless thirst. With my mind finally able to focus, I started to understand the Abyss a little more.
I turned back to where I had come from, and the sight was unsettling. The region was divided into two distinct forces—light and darkness, locked in an eerie struggle.
The dark void attempted to creep forward, trying to swallow the desert whole, but the unwavering light of the distant star held it back, keeping the abyss at bay.
Oddly enough, the star didn't seem to move like the sun in my world. It remained fixed at a single angle, even after hours of resting. If it had shifted, I might have been dragged back into darkness, forced to relive the horror of the void. That was something I *never* wanted to experience again.
Hunger was manageable, especially now that thirst—the greater torment—had finally subsided. But it didn't take long before I resorted to eating tree bark, even knowing it could be poisonous. In the end, survival left little room for hesitation.
To make things easier, I sharpened two sturdy sticks into makeshift wooden knives. For that, I had Bear Grylls to thanks—his survival tips had stuck with me, guiding me even here in this strange, desolate world.
I scraped at the inner bark of a fragile tree, knowing full well that a dead tree was likely toxic. Yet, despite that knowledge, I hesitated only briefly before eating it. And once I started, I continued until I feel satisfied from it.
The tree bark was bitter, leaving my mouth burning and my throat parched, yet hunger drove me to consume it like a fool.
After a short while, I collapsed from nausea. Within minutes, breathing became a struggle, and I could no longer lift my hands. Even a twitch of my muscles felt as though countless needles were pricking me, halting my every movement.
In that agony, a strange relief washed over me. After drinking more water, I found a dark comfort in the thought that this might finally end it—that death would free me from this endless torment.
In the dark void, I tried countless times to end it all. Yet, no matter how hard I tried, the Abyss relentlessly tormented me in different ways, ensuring that death remained forever out of reach.
I collapsed once more, still forcing myself to eat the bitter tree bark despite my worsening condition. And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, I lost consciousness in the Abyss.
But we all know—**the true tormentor here is the Abyss itself**.
Even as my body failed, I still woke up, drooling, covered in my own vomit. I had survived yet again. But survival came at a cost—my body felt weaker than ever.
Yet, I could move.
I had no sense of time, no way of knowing how long I had been unconscious. I dragged myself forward, cleaning up at the water source, slowly regaining some strength. The hunger and thirst, though still lingering, were slightly more bearable now.
With my weakened body, I pressed on—leaning heavily on my walking stick, gripping my makeshift knife as I wandered deeper into the endless white desert.