1 Assumptions

"Life is meaningless." That is the answer most of us reach before we finally understand that we make the meaning. But that meaning may affect the meaning that others make for themselves, and that is how we affect others even if we don't want to. The last conclusion that we come to is how we are just present here to collect information, thinking that we're great because we want motivation to move on or sometimes we're manipulated by others to continue to be a part of this system we call society.

Understanding the world's inactivity and conflicting nature, a silent room was filled with clacking noises. A man who seemed like a high school student was gasping for air at the sight presented to him in the room whose door he had broken. The first things he saw were legs that were not on the ground and a girl his age hovering in the air with the support of a noose over her neck. Her eyes had dilated pupils and her complexion was pale. The boy after trying to adjust his breathing ran without considering his balance or lack of oxygen towards the stairs adjacent to the door. The room became silent again with the occasional screeching sounds of the noose that was still oscillating due to the weight of the girl.

"I knew that heaven and hell were real! It was not just fiction made by people after all!"

A voice filled with vigour filled the surroundings which seemed similar to a forest along a road.

"You see Madam, contrary to common belief; consciousness is not that grand of a thing. If your brain dies, you are nothing after that."

"What makes you say that? We're in this place even after feeling all that pain."

"I do from time to time contradict myself, and have my suspicions but this place truly doesn't feel that story-like to me. It couldn't just make me believe in god and such."

While saying this, the person in front of the (Madam) started walking. The girl started following him again.

"You talk like you know everything, sir."

"Why thank you for calling me a sir."

"Didn't you hear me complain, sir?"

"And here I thought that I found a companion that would give me warmth and would be fun to talk to."

"I can do talking but what is that about the warmth?"

"Yup, still too young to know about it."

"So, OLD MAN, how about you tell me what you know then."

"I know nothing. I can just assume, would you be happy with that?"

The girl stopped walking after hearing his words, the man in front of her didn't pay any mind to her and kept walking towards the seemingly less forested region.

"Yeah... hah...ah....an assumption would do for now."

Klack.Klack... The girl started walking fast on the dried leaves to catch up to the man while answering him almost out of breath.

"If an assumption will do fine, why wouldn't you just make one yourself?"

"But you just said you can tell me about it by assuming."

"Mam, look, I said that I can only assume. What makes you think that I will talk about my assumptions? I stopped doing that years ago."

"Talking to you is a waste of time."

"Well, we all always try to waste our time by doing something, sometimes it's satisfying and other times when it is not, we complain."

The girl made a disgusted face after hearing that comment.

"That is a very cute reaction you know."

"Are you trying to impress me or something?"

"You can assume all you want. No one can stop you from that."

The forest was getting less and less dense as they continued to walk. A road appeared before them when the girl was going to say something.

"So there is still a human civilization. Or is this some sort of simulated space? Or is this a limbo that was supposed to be similar to the previous lives we were in."

"For a person who refuses to talk about his assumptions, you are pretty talkative."

"Well, I just want you to understand me better because I think we'll be together for some time."

"Why do you refuse to answer my questions then?"

"That was just... sarcasm."

While scratching his head, the man gives the girl a playful giggle. The girl doesn't change her expression of disgust. They both continue to walk on the same path while being silent for some time.

"You see that bar over your head?"

"Yes, why ask about it now though?"

"Conversations need new topics to start or else awkwardness would start to take in. I would hate that."

The rectangular-shaped box on top of the head of both the girl and the man were almost inorganic with black margins and a green colour filled in them. The only difference was that the margins of their bars were at different distances to the green colour that mostly filled the bar.

" Why is yours less filled than mine?"

"How many days have you been here in this place?"

"I just teleported here after I opened my eyes when I felt that I can still open them."

"Yup, that should be the reason then. Another assumption I should consider I guess."

"What should be the reason?"

"Time."

The man-made a disappointed look after answering the girl.

"You are not a resident here?"

"I also got teleported. Can't you assume that based on when I said that I can only assume? Are you that dumb? I think I was too considerate not asking you questions and assuming things myself."

"Well, I eventually stopped thinking when I met you."

A grin appeared on the man's face. He appeared amused by something that the girl said. He then took a deep breath and opened his mouth again.

"You died, right? Or were you just unconscious before you came here?"

"How did you know?"

"I think I need to explain to you everything now. How troublesome. Is this the cliché trope of a cute girl being an airhead? I would like it to some extent but this is the supposed afterlife! Let me rest!"

"That's rude but I'll take the compliment. What makes you think that you would be the protagonist of such a story though?"

"Nothing. Just give me an answer."

"I most probably died but that doesn't end the possibility of me being unconscious."

"That is the most confusing part. Can you elaborate your death, Mam?"

"I stranded myself."

A warm smile appeared on the girls face when she said those simple three words. The man didn't pay any attention to her cute smile and just slowed his walking speed.

"Suicide, huh? You're pretty similar to me, then."

"You also killed yourself?"

Discontent was shown on the girls face for the first time. The man-made a proud face while talking about even a topic such as this.

"I finally dared to overcome my fear. The World doesn't give you anything but what it gives are the things that you don't want to have. I have been considering it to escape many of the things that I didn't want to feel but I still didn't do it because of a factor known as fear. That may be an excuse but isn't everything an excuse?"

"I don't know if everything is an excuse. Why would we call them differently if everything was?"

"Because we need categorization to communicate easily."

"That makes sense."

Clack...Clack...Sounds of them walking on the road took over when the man didn't start any other topic of conversation. It was the same for some time until they encountered some more people who were also walking on the road. They didn't approach them and even if they wanted to, everyone was silent in their way.

"Figured out anything about this bar yet sir?"

The girl asked in a very low voice. The man didn't turn towards the girl and just stared at the bar on top of his head after some time he also started staring at other's bars till another man started staring at him. The girl was waiting for his weird actions to end while staring at him with a blank face. He got flustered due to this and put his head down and started speaking to the girl.

"I am flattered that you address me that way but that wouldn't impress me. I am a tough man to get."

"Ahhhh, again with that."

"Well, I guess you can move the bar around and then you can play with the filled area by trying to stretch it. Don't stretch it in the direction of the green filled area as we don't know what it represents yet."

"Are we in a game world?"

"I considered that already and the answer is no."

"Why?"

"Because I've read too many Fantasy Novels where the protagonist gets transferred to a new world or gets a gaming system in his world. This isn't one of them. I have been not reading them recently though, so it is still an assumption."

"Then, You're a real expert on this stuff? Wh... "

"No, I've seen better people. I can just assume some possibilities, nothing more than that. Yeah if you haven't figured the obvious out yet, the green filled part of these bars reduces with time."

"You told me that already. Tell me something imp....."

"Airheads need confirmation for everything; that is one of my hypothesis."

Every time the girl started to say something, the man started speaking while just hearing only the important question part of it.

At the end of the road, there was a town filled with silence and the regular sounds of crickets, rustling and clacking of feet. All the facilities there were open for public use without any administration. There were vehicles present with their keys still attached to them but there was no money to be found anywhere.

As the man passed each facility he slightly touched them and then moved on. Even if he was walking for 3 days, he still didn't feel any need to excrete or eat food nor any fatigue but when he tried to sleep, he can do it easily which was the same with all the other functions too.

The people gradually started taking note of each other, there were 13 people present. They all were vigilant of their surroundings and the bars that were hovering over their head. Particularly two people with bars that were about to become devoid of the green colour stood out. They were full of bruises and one even had one arm chopped off and bandaged. Even in this situation, people just didn't interact with each other.

When the sun started rising again after the silent night, which couldn't be said to be a pleasant one for all of the people there, 7 of them had left the vicinity and all the others had their bars depleted except the man's whose bar was now looking similar to others. The night was spent by the man in the company of the girl whom he just took along with him to different locations in the town to check.

The observations were nothing grand. The internet and electricity were still operational. They can even send radio waves to each other but not to the people they know and the same was with the internet too, only the links and requests could be sent and received but not messages or calls. It was strange but no one present can encrypt a message in a link and sent it there. Water and fuel supplies were unlimited but the food was limited or in need to be prepared but the people there didn't feel the need to make it except some. One of the people that stood out was unable to ride a vehicle with just one arm and had stayed in the town watching videos on the internet. He was a man of average build with Asian features wearing a military uniform.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" A scream that was loud enough to resound throughout the town was heard by the girl and the man. The girl rushed to the scene while the man walked on his usual pace.

"What happened here?"

"t-t-that thing walking toward us !"

The women pointed towards a skeleton without an arm that had a hollow red bar on top of its head and flesh hanging on his appendages.

The girl helped the women who had fallen on her butt stand up and started running but stopped when he saw the man just casually walking towards it. The man went to a nearby shop and took his time taking a knife and stabbed it on the skeletons head. A mass of red-coloured substance spilt out of the crack made by the knife. The bar disappeared along with the skeleton.

"Wh-What was that?"

"Can't you tell? It was our dear Korean-sir who loved surfing the internet."

"Why did you kill him then?"

"I thought he was not functional as a human being anymore and also wanted to test a theory of mine. So, I wanted him to die painlessly. But I guess, I gave him more pain."

The woman who was still supported by the girl was astonished at the conversation between them. The man pointed his index finger on her.

"You should not scream that loud. If my theory is correct, then you could've given me the power you were supposed to possess."

"M-m-me? Power?"

"Looks like someone doesn't understand English completely here. Don't worry, it's not my native language either Mam."

"Y-y-yes, you k-know p-place?"

The women pointed her index finger towards the ground.

"No."

Annoyance can be seen on the man's face but he still answered the woman seriously. The girl was watching the woman tremble on her voice as she tried to speak a language not known to her and the man ignoring her after just starting the conversation. After the man gestured the woman to go away after talking to her in an annoying voice, the girl started following him again.

"This is a death game. We get more life by killing others"

The man said these lines abruptly before sitting on a nearby scooter and turning the accelerator. The girl didn't say anything but silently went to a nearby cycle and followed the man with it. The man was not in a hurry and was riding the scooter at a low speed that was slow enough for the girl to catch up to him in seconds.

"You don't look cool on that, you know?"

"I don't look cool on anything. And besides, I only have a license for two-wheeled 200cc vehicles."

"Why not wear a helmet if you follow rules to this extent?"

"I would wear one if I could but I didn't find any that would suit my handsome face. I'm dead already; let me satisfy myself even a little now. What do you want exactly though?"

Silence followed that question along with the sound of the scooter and the chains on the cycle. They travelled for quite some time listening to the wind and the sound of the tires rolling against the road.

"What was that about the death game?"

"You see, I killed a person after coming here. After that, I met you and others, the depletion of the green coloured portion of my bar was slower than any of yours. So, I just tested killing another person and it slowed yet again."

"How do you know that?"

"Assume that on your own, don't make me do all the assumptions. I don't want to be responsible for any wrong decisions I make!"

The scooters accelerator was rotated to its maximum limit before it left behind the girl whose cycle cannot compare to the man's vehicles speed. The speed of the cycle was still slow as the girl stopped peddling the cycle after the man ran away. She stopped the cycle and started staring at the clouds.

"It's time to rest again, I guess"