"Ughh..." Zhen Shi groaned as he tried to make sense of the darkness surrounding him.

With his mind working on figuring out the current situation, he realized that he was completely frozen in place and unable to move. And the last thing he remembered was the sound of a rumbling engine and some strange images...

Like most other days, he had been walking back to his apartment after spending a day in the regional library. But since he had to get ready for the flight on the next day, he was in a bit of a hurry.

Having almost reached the top of the mountain road, he could vaguely glimpse some of the village farmland. But that was also the moment he realized that his damned shoelaces had become untied...

As such, like any other normal person who had no desire to trip on their own shoe-laces, he had bent down to tie them up.

But before even a minute passed, he had heard the sound of a rumbling vehicle... however he proceeded to ignore it. After all, he had to tie his shoelaces! Not look at passing vehicles like a village nincompoop!

Nevertheless, to Zhen Shi's great annoyance, the sound of the rumbling engine grew closer and louder forcing him to raise his head. And... that was the last thing he did.

All he saw was a rusting bright red machine with strangely mismatched tires, dashing towards him while puffing out clouds of grey smoke that would cause the environmental authorities to cry themselves to sleep.

And just a few steps behind this evil machine was a fat sweating uncle running in a hurry while shouting, "Aiya! My tractor is rolling down the hill!"

And just like that, a poor fellow whose shoelaces were still untied was pushed down the mountain precipice by a wild tractor, that was a menace to the environment.

'SHIET! I died like that?? Wait... Could this be the true meaning behind the danger of untied shoelaces?

Shaking his head to forget about this shameful matter, Zhen Shi began to think about his memories. He could remember his life, what he had done, what he hadn't, his hopes and dreams, all useless now...

But besides his memories, there was nothing else. He couldn't feel his body, and he couldn't sense anything else either. Just vast, cold, unending darkness...

Even after hours of thinking and contemplating, he couldn't make sense of anything. There was nothing but the dark void and his own thoughts to keep him company. To make things worse, as time passed, the darkness seemed to weigh mercilessly on to his very sense of self. Under that terrifying pressure despite his struggle not to, he almost gave up completely...

Time seemed to be frozen, as seconds felt like hours, hours like years, and days like decades. As time continued to pass, Zhen Shi was barely holding on with his will, while on the verge of flickering out forever.

But suddenly, after a moment that seemed to have lasted an eternity, a vague light appeared connecting him... to something... somewhere out there.

Despite being only a single spark, this light was a beacon of hope amidst that sense of nothingness and darkness!

Like a dying beast grasping for straws, he struggled and tried to push himself towards the light; the only real change that had happened in this endless void since the day he had been stuck here. But even then, he was unable to get himself to move, almost as if he had become a part of the darkness itself.

Fortunately for him, that spark of light seemed to stretch out through an immeasurable distance and wrapped around him.

But as it did, the darkness surrounding him began to boil and squirm almost in disagreement.

Instantly the light increased in intensity literally pushing the darkness away and began to take him away decisively.

As this light saved him from the clutches of the dark void... for the first time in a long while he began to feel again! Whatever it was that had wrapped around him, it felt light and warm, like a mother's embrace.

It was the exact opposite of the cold merciless darkness; a warm hopeful light.

The light seemed to be expressing its regret and remorse for his current situation, as he was slowly pulled away from the dreary dark to a growing light...