The Dawn of the New World

"Agreed."

"Splendid," Mr. Hyde tapped the cane thrice, "Pay attention to the various marks and prints on the ground, what do you see?" he gestured towards the ground.

Hao Xuan bent down and examined the marks one by one, as quickly as he could.

"More than fifteen different sets. Three of them are fresh, one of which belongs to a human. I can't tell about the others."

"Most of the laws in this world mirror yours, but some are either completely opposite or absent here. You won't understand it if you try to use common sense so just throw such judgments away. That means the most recent prints are the oldest."

"But...that means there are twelve other prints that came after them?" Hao Xuan probed.

Mr. Hyde nodded, still smiling as always, "Exactly. I told you it wouldn't be easy. They usually go around in groups but as long as they are not one of the converts, it should be good. To the left then," he pointed in the exact opposite direction the prints were leading to, "You should hurry and leave before the sun sets. The doorway will not be easy to find after that."

Hao Xuan didn't ask anything and took several large strides in the direction Mr. Hyde had pointed out. It was only after moving a few tens of meters that he realized the peculiarity of his words.

"Wait, did you say the sun?" with a tightly knit brow Hao Xuan looked around him. The world was overwhelmingly pale, as if illuminated by a hundred full moons. But when he looked up it was right there, as clear as it could be.

A white sun, burning and bubbling a mere handful of kilometers away. Hao Xuan felt like if he used all his strength and jumped, he would be able to leap right into its bubbling depths.

"WHA-"

But it wasn't hot, quite the opposite actually. Hao Xuan could feel the searing chill emanating from its surface. The mist swayed to reveal more of the nearby surroundings around him.

Hao Xuan took a step back. His legs shook and almost gave way to the strong case of dizziness he was experiencing from the vertigo. His mind reeled from the shock as well, as if he had seen something not yet meant for his juvenile eyes.

He was standing on the roof of a building, only the building wasn't attached to anything. It was floating freely through space, surrounded by countless other similar structures. They were orbiting the white sun that was the source of all the mist.

Mr. Hyde couldn't help but nod firmly, commenting from the side "That's how I reacted too, the first time I came here."

Hao Xuan looked at the thousands of identical buildings floating in empty space, moving back and forth, mixing amongst themselves without end all the while orbiting the white sun. And what little bit of confidence he had slowly slipped away into the void.

"A-Are you sure we will be able to find our way back?" he inquired with a stutter.

"As long as you are quick enough, yes," Mr. Hyde replied with a searing gaze that wanted to bore into Hao Xuan's mind and dig out all his secrets.

Despite every discernable warning bell currently ringing inside his head, Hao Xuan paid close attention to Mr. Hyde's words and lept from one building to another going further away from the doorway.

He tried to remember which one he came from but after a couple of minutes he lost it.

Fortunately, it didn't feel like the buildings changed their trajectory under his weight. The sun's gravitational pull was holding them in a tight orbit that should not change anytime soon.

A little over 10 minutes later he arrived in front of a much smaller but much, much wider building. Its area was at least 1500 meters square, looking like a government building of some sort.

Although architecturally similar to the others around it, this was the only building that was covered in closely packed black tree roots from top to bottom. Only a handful of windows and doors were left unobstructed.

"There," Mr. Hyde pointed at an open window on the top of the structure, "Careful when you enter the building. The gravity changes along with each surface."

Hao Xuan didn't really understand what he meant but he readied himself mentally, as much as he could in this situation.

He quietly landed on the roof. There was not a single speck of dust anywhere in this world so even the normal tracks and signs of life that were left behind were absent here.

He bent down over the edge and fell into the window Mr. Hyde had pointed out. But the moment he entered, the world turned upside down. Instead of landing on the floor, the force of gravity changed just like how Mr. Hyde had said and Hao Xuan's feet planted firmly onto the ceiling.

"Woah...!"

Hao Xuan exclaimed trying to get used to the unique visuals because it wasn't like everything else was upside down as well. There were chairs, tables and a plethora of other office furniture some familiar and some foreign still attached to the floor, which was above him.

Only Hao Xuan himself was standing upright on the ceiling, looking down on an otherwise normal scene.