Lir

His body aching and not recovered, he sat up and observed his surroundings. 

Looking left, he saw many trees that shot into the sky towering over the world. The greenery was almost too much to look at after his experience in the pitch-black darkness. The trees seemed to take up exactly half of the world, no more and no less. There were many types of trees some of which he had seen before such as pine and maybe oak. He knew their heights weren't supposed to be that high even without being knowledgeable.

There were also different trees, that had unique traits to them. One had thousands of moving branches that moved up and down in a smooth monotone motion. The entirety of the forest, however, was in the presence of a singular dark crimson-looking tree.

This one was more robust and had tiny streams of light flowing up seemingly to the top of the tree. It was similar to the tallest skyscraper on Earth, but only three times that. You couldn't see its top or anywhere near no matter how hard you tried. His squinting ability seemed to not work here either regrettably. Its bark seemed to glide along the tree of its own will continuing in a changing pattern that repeated infinitely. 

"That's very final boss-looking, isn't it? Strange world indeed," muttered Soren. 

He'd grown accustomed to weird environments and being near death, so this didn't bother him too much. Soren was just glad to not be in pain like his usual self. 

Still sitting on the floor he looked to his right and immediately flinched while blushing. He scooted himself closer to the forest by a few feet. 

What stood before him was the epitome of humanity, a being so beautiful and otherworldy that it belonged in a museum solely dedicated to him and only him. The man was staring at Soren with a gentle smile and a curious glint in his eyes. 

The strange man was dressed in an exquisitely refined blue shirt, reminiscent of the Victorian era, its intricate patterns hinting at royalty. Over this, he wore a sleek black coat that seamlessly complemented the deep hue of his attire. Blonde hair accentuated every part of his being while not being too overbearing either.

'So pretty and gorgeous, magnificent... wait wait keep it together, you don't swing that way. What a fine-looking gentleman though,' Soren mused to himself. 

Realization struck Soren at that moment. He was to receive his gift after he got out. This must be the gift provider. Or maybe the strange man himself?

He shivered slightly, 'No, surely the all-mighty voice wouldn't be so cruel to me as to make me spend the night with this pure creation of man.' 

The strange man's dazzling blue eyes bore into Soren's, momentarily leaving him speechless. "What are you so frightened by? If I wanted to kill you, you would have died the moment you arrived."

Coming out of his stupor Soren responded, "Oh I'm not afrai-" 

The strange man interrupted, "It's okay to be scared, but shouldn't you say your name when meeting a stranger?"

'You didn't do that yourself,' Soren internally grumbled.

Without showing a hint of dissatisfaction, he stood up and said in the kindest tone he could muster. "I'm sorry about that, my name is Soren Lopel. Might be able to know yours, good sir?"

The unknown man exaggeratedly raised both of his arms in the air, and particles in the air started swarming above him, some even from hundreds of feet away. Millions if not billions of them started combining forming what looked like a water droplet which then rose to the size of a cat, and then stopped growing once it was a giant letter. 

This repeated until there were 3 letters next to each other. 

"Lir?" asked Soren surprised it was in English.

Lir grinned widely, "Correct." 

His grin quickly faded as he reached into his pocket, producing a small, black pill with a single white line across the center. "You must want your gift," he said solemnly, tossing the pill to Soren.

Soren caught the pill, surprised that his supposed gift was a drug.

"My duties require me to tell you this, so listen closely," Lir explained, his expression somber. "Once you swallow it, you must not pass out. You'll experience emotions, though I don't know why, so don't ask," he added with a slight frown, his thoughts drifting to the past. "Once the effects wear off, you'll likely feel an intense desire to end your life somehow. Follow through with it."

If Soren were to think logically this whole situation was unusual. A giant red tree? A world split into two sides, with a godly being at the other end. A pill that was a gift? Were these people drug addicts or was there a reason?

Soren felt exasperated at having to die again, he was getting tired of it. Deciding to resign to his fate, for now, he nodded and became strangely determined.