Return Of The Cosmic God

Time was a meaningless concept in the vast expanse of space. Silence was my constant companion. It pressed against me like a weight I couldn't escape. After years of drifting aimlessly, my body finally gave out. I don't remember when it happened or even how…

Had I cried out? Had I whispered some desperate plea to the uncaring void? Or had I simply succumbed to the crushing loneliness in silence?

I went unconscious, the faint glimmers of starlight fading into black as the void swallowed me.

I floated in darkness, deeper and heavier than the emptiness of space. There were no dreams, no thoughts, just an endless, suffocating void…

And then, something shifted.

I felt a faint awareness pulling me back from the void of darkness. At first, it was like a distant whisper, faint and unintelligible. Slowly, it grew louder, more insistent, until I felt a spark deep within me…

My fingers twitched…

My chest rose sharply, and a sudden gasp escaped my lips…

My eyes fluttered open, heavy and unfocused, and I blinked against the faint light that filtered through the darkness…

I groaned, my voice hoarse and broken. "What... happened?"

I raised a hand, the motion sluggish and unfamiliar. It felt as if my body no longer remembered how to move. My fingers trembled as they reached for my face, brushing against the sharp lines of my jaw…

"Am I... alive?" I whispered, the words barely audible.

My vision was blurry, and my surroundings shifted like a mirage. I blinked several times and forced my eyes to stay focused. The dim light of distant stars came into view. Their faint glow pierced the darkness around me…

"God… How long... how long was I out?" I asked aloud, my voice cracked and dry.

I pressed a hand on my chest and felt the familiar rise and fall of breath, but my lungs were eerily still. "I'm still here…"

As I moved, a dull ache spread through my entire body, every muscle screaming in pain. It felt as though I'd been frozen in place for centuries. My joints became stiff…

I winced, clutching my arm as I tried to stretch it.

I turned my head slowly. My neck was stiff and sore, and I stared into the endless void around me. The stars twinkled faintly, scattered like diamonds on a black canvas. They felt so far away…

"Still nothing," I muttered. "Still, no one…"

I chuckled bitterly, the sound hollow and weak. "Of course, Shin. What did you expect? A rescue team? A miracle? You're alone. You've always been alone…"

I closed my eyes briefly, trying to steady my thoughts. But the overwhelming solitude crept back in. It was a constant reminder of my endless drifting…

"Why am I even here?" I asked the silence. "Why am I alive when everything else is gone?"

The void, as always, offered no answers…

I stirred my body slightly, but a faint ache still lingered in my limbs. As I adjusted my position while floating in the unyielding black, a subtle shift in the dim light caught my attention. My head turned instinctively toward it, sluggishly at first and then with a sharp jerk as the enormity of what I saw hit me…

My eyes widened.

"What the...?" The words barely escaped my lips.

There it was, looming before me like a cosmic colossus—a planet so massive and overwhelming that it seemed to swallow the very stars around it. It was at least fifty times larger than Earth, its surface sprawling with jagged landscapes that appeared both awe-inspiring and utterly terrifying…

"Am I... seeing this right?" I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief. "This can't be real. There's no way something like that exists..."

I rubbed my eyes, half-expecting the image to vanish like a mirage, but it remained…

"Nope… Not a dream…" I muttered. "That thing is definitely real. And I'm just floating here, looking like a lost balloon in front of a freaking giant marble."

The planet's sheer size was almost incomprehensible and its atmosphere was swirling with thick, dark clouds that crackled with flashes of light. It orbited a sun that was at least 10 times bigger than ours. The huge star casts a golden hue over the planet's chaotic surface…

I stared, slack-jawed, as the landscape came into sharper focus. Towering, jagged mountains clawed their way up through the clouds, glowing faintly as rivers of molten lava snaked down their sides. Volcanoes erupted sporadically, spewing fire and ash into the turbulent skies…

"Oh, yeah. That looks totally safe..." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let me just pop down there for a relaxing vacation. Nothing like a nice lava bath to unwind."

As my gaze swept over the planet, the first thing that caught my eye was the jagged mountain ranges. They stretched endlessly, their sharp peaks piercing clouds. The mountains weren't like Earth's. It looked like I was looking at hell itself...

Active volcanoes were scattered all over the planet. Some erupted violently, spewing ash and fire into the atmosphere, while others bubbled ominously, and their lava lakes shimmered like liquid gold. The air surrounding the volcanoes seemed to ripple with heat, distorting the view like waves over hot asphalt…

Despite the planet's harshness, there were pockets of strange, alien vegetation scattered across its surface. Dense forests stretched for miles, and their trees… They were unlike anything I had ever seen on Earth…

The trunks were impossibly tall and twisted, their gnarled bark glinting with a metallic sheen. The branches spiraled out in intricate patterns, almost like fractals, and were adorned with leaves that shimmered and shifted colors—green one moment, then silver, then a deep, iridescent blue…

Some of the trees bore glowing orbs that pulsed faintly. These fruits—or whatever they were—seemed to radiate a soft, otherworldly light. The ground beneath the trees was covered in a carpet of moss-like growths that glowed faintly in the dark…

"What kind of place is this?!" I muttered, staring at the alien vegetation in disbelief. "Metal trees with glowing fruit... is this a forest or a light show?"

In stark contrast to the fiery mountains and glowing forests, parts of the planet were shrouded in rainstorms. It just looked like the earth's rainfall….

My gaze shifted to the glowing forests and shimmering rainstorms, and my expression softened slightly after looking at the heavy rain. "Okay, wait. That's... actually kind of beautiful," I admitted, squinting at the strange metallic trees and their disco-ball fruits. "Weird, but beautiful. I mean, glowing fruit? That's gotta be worth a few likes on Instagram—if I ever get back to Earth, that is..."

I paused, the reality of my situation sinking back in. "If I ever get back to Earth..." I repeated, my voice quieter this time.

The storms themselves were equally surreal. Thunder rumbled across the skies, but instead of the sharp cracks of Earth's storms, it sounded deep and melodic, almost like a distant, resonant drumbeat. Occasionally, flashes of lightning would streak across the sky, but instead of white or yellow, they were hues of violet and crimson...

Between the forests and volcanic regions lay vast rocky expanses. The ground here was cracked and uneven, as though the planet's surface had been torn apart by ancient, cataclysmic forces. Massive rock formations jutted out at odd angles, and their surfaces were smooth and reflective, like polished obsidian…

Some of these rocks emitted a faint glow, their surfaces etched with strange, geometric patterns that pulsed with energy. As I stared, I could almost swear they were alive…

But not everything on the planet inspires awe. As I floated closer, I noticed strange, unsettling details scattered across the landscape. There were massive craters, their edges charred and jagged, as though they'd been blasted into the ground by some unimaginable force…

In some areas, the rocky ground was covered in jagged scars, as though something had clawed through the surface with immense power. These markings weren't random; they formed strange, spiralling patterns that sent a chill down my spine.

"What... happened here?" I murmured, my voice trembling.

The planet itself was a paradox—a place of stark contrasts where beauty and danger coexisted in equal measure. The glowing forests and rainstorms painted a picture of serene otherworldliness, but the violent volcanoes, jagged mountains, and haunting scars told a story of chaos and destruction…

Despite its harshness, the planet called to me. Its sheer size and alien beauty were captivating, but there was something else—a pull I couldn't explain…

"This place isn't right," I muttered, narrowing my eyes. "It's like... it's alive. Watching me. Waiting for me..."

I shook my head violently, trying to dispel the thought. "Nope. Not going there. I've seen enough horror movies to know that's a bad mindset..."

Still, the planet's pull was undeniable. It was as if the very air around it vibrated with anticipation, urging me closer.

"Great…," I said with a dry laugh. "I'm being lured in by a sentient death trap. What could possibly go wrong?"

My stomach growled suddenly. I glared at my abdomen and placed a hand over it. "Really? Now? Five years of starving, and you decide to chime in when I'm staring at a planet that looks like it eats people for breakfast?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "Alright, fine. Let's think this through. Step one: get closer to the planet. Step two: figure out if it's going to kill me. Step three... uh... I'll figure that out later…"

I hesitated, glancing back at the glowing rain and twisted forests. "You know what? Forget steps two and three. Let's just hope I don't spontaneously combust the moment I land…"

As I floated aimlessly in the void, lost in my thoughts, a sudden, invisible force tugged at me. It was subtle at first, like a gentle nudge, but within seconds, it grew stronger, relentless, dragging me toward the massive planet below.

"What the… what's happening?!" I shouted, twisting and turning, trying to resist.

The pull grew fiercer. "No, no, no! This isn't how this is supposed to go! I was supposed to approach slowly, not get sucked in like a damn piece of space junk!!!"

My body spun uncontrollably as the planet's gravitational force dragged me closer. The massive world loomed larger and larger…

"Okay, okay, don't panic…" I muttered, my voice shaky and frantic. "Just think, Shin! Think! How do you stop this? Oh, wait—you CAN'T!"

As I plummeted toward the planet's atmosphere, the air around me grew impossibly hot. A sudden roar filled my ears, drowning out my panicked screams…

Then, the fire came.

My entire body ignited, flames licking at my skin as I tore through the atmosphere like a blazing meteor.

"ARGHHHHHHHH!" The scream ripped from my throat, raw and guttural, echoing in the roaring inferno around me.

My skin felt like it was peeling away, layer by layer, as the friction burned hotter and hotter. "Make it stop!" I screamed.

As the flames consumed me, the unbearable heat intensified, and my scream grew louder and louder. My screams were drowned out by the deafening crackle of fire and the howling of air tearing around me…

I looked down, and my stomach churned in sheer horror—my skin was no longer just burning. It was being peeled away.

Chunks of flesh tore from my arms and legs, disintegrating into ash that was whipped away by the blazing winds of reentry. Beneath the burning skin, raw, exposed muscle glistened grotesquely, and I could even catch glimpses of the white of my own bones.

"OH GOD!" I screamed, tears streaming from my eyes, only to evaporate in the relentless heat. "PLEASE! MAKE IT STOP!"

The pain was hellish…

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" My voice cracked, hoarse and broken from the raw force of my cries. "WHY ISN'T THIS ENDING?!"

My hands flailed uselessly in front of me, now little more than charred remnants, fingers barely recognizable. The sight sent a wave of nausea through me, though there was nothing left in my stomach to vomit…

"MY BODY—IT'S... IT'S MELTING!" I shrieked, panic surging as I saw another layer of muscle disintegrate from my leg, leaving it skeletal. "I CAN SEE MY OWN DAMN BONE!"

Every second felt like an eternity, the agony relentless and unyielding. My mind begged for unconsciousness, for any escape from the torture, but cruelly, I remained awake, fully aware of every agonizing moment.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS!" I cried, my voice a guttural roar. "JUST LET ME DIE!"

My vision blurred. The land grew closer…

"WHY?! WHY ME?!" I screamed again, my voice almost unrecognizable.

I clenched my teeth, tears streaming down my scorched cheeks. "I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! I DIDN'T ASK TO BE A DAMN METEOR!"

The flames licked at my chest now, burning deeper as if trying to sear straight to my heart. The pain was unbearable, every nerve alight with white-hot fire…

"IS THIS HOW IT ENDS?!" I roared, staring at the onrushing planet. "FIVE YEARS OF HELL, AND THIS IS HOW IT ENDS?! BURNED ALIVE LIKE A DAMN FREAKSHOW?!"

The ground rushed up to meet me, and I closed my eyes, the last shred of humanity in me, hoping for oblivion. The pain had consumed everything. There was no room for thought, for memory—only the blinding, searing agony…

"JUST... END IT!" I roared one final time, the words torn from me in a guttural howl as my voice gave out entirely.

And then—impact.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The impact was cataclysmic. A massive crater formed beneath me, jagged and smoking, its edges glowing faintly from the sheer heat of the collision. Rocks and debris flew into the air, raining down...

Dust and ash filled the air. The sound of my impact reverberated across the land, echoing off distant mountains…

The world shattered around me….

TO BE CONTINUED