Under the starry heavens of a cloudless sky, Skylar, preoccupied with carving, looked at one of his two guests—Karo in particular—who was examining one of his carved works with genuine interest. Then, with an eager smile, he launched into a lecture.

  “That one you are holding should be both a rare and a dominant species. It’s called a Chyntrope. They are a very, very ruthless set of creatures. They love setting ambushes, and they are also masters of conspiring with other creatures. They can literally plot people to death. I remember there was this time I almost fell into the trap one of them set for me. But you know, my species—we are also quite intelligent. All I had to do was lure an idiot into the trap, and seeing the expressions of those two idiots… it was priceless. Maybe the guy has a vendetta against me or something…”

  "Thish wone…"

  Karo, enjoying his narration, interrupted after picking up a carving shaped like a winged turtle and holding it toward him.

  I kinda miss that old bastard. I just hope he and the others are okay… It really hasn’t been long since I separated from them. They have Lady Cat with them—they should be alright. And it’s a good thing I didn’t ask for their names or get too close to them. We might never meet again… It’s a pity though. I really enjoyed their company…

  At the sight of the carving—whose color was wood-brown unlike most others, probably because it belonged to the first set he made and had undergone transformation from prolonged exposure to light and heat—his cheerful expression suddenly took a complete one-eighty-degree turn, something his two visitors easily noticed.

  Because of this, Karo quickly dropped the carving and picked up a newly made white one, holding it toward him again.

  "Thish wone…"

  ...

  Elsewhere.

  A voice drifting through the air reached the peak of Flower Monkey Mountain, where the old white monkey is—and from where he was most likely spying on Skylar and his visitors—Karo and the golden monkey.

  "Grandfather, how about we do it this zenith hour… His cracks have widened greatly, and if this continues, there is a chance he will lose it on our mountain…"

  "Hmm… Chief is right." The old monkey responded, his voice traveling in the direction the first one came from. "The crack in his root might extend to the crown, and that won’t be good if he loses control in that condition… We will have to wake the elders."

  He paused, looking to dive into his inner world for a moment

  "Chief, start the preparation." He instructed. Seated in a lotus position beneath one of the eight extremely large Heavenly Stars—a reddish-orange one, forming a halo behind his head—the old monkey projected his voice across the nightly sky, following the path of the previous ones.

  …

  Meanwhile.

  In the field of white accommodating the large tree which Skylar sits close too, back to his cheerful self—he excitedly narrated his past accomplishments within the wolf lair, and all of a sudden, the golden monkey, who had been in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes as though he had received a signal.

  He looked toward the oblivious duo—Skylar and Karo—after which he stood to his feet, and left the field with a contemplative expression.

  Completely unaware of the golden monkey’s departure, the duo continued their passionate ritual. Karo would pick a carved statue, and Skylar, visibly excited, would explain it if he knew its origin. Sometimes, he would add stories featuring himself and the carved creature as the main characters.

  …

  "Karo, bring him to the Sacred Sanctuary."

  A couple of hours after their conversation ritual ended, while Skylar carved with focused attention, a familiar voice drifted straight into Karo’s ears, instructing him. He had been watching quietly, almost dazed, by Skylar’s charming visage as he busied himself with his carving task.

  Upon receiving the message, Karo’s expression turned gloomy. He stood and moved a bit away from Skylar with his back facing him—likely an attempt to conceal his anxiety written on his ugly monkey face.

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  "Shkai, folloe…"

  He instructed brusquely and, without waiting for a response, began heading toward the exit of the hedged moonlit field with quick steps.

  “What’s it this time, and why am I feeling kinda strange?” Skylar wondered as he stood and followed Karo, who was moving a little too fast.

  Is he not going to wait for me…?

  He broke into a run to catch up with the strangely tense monkey.

  Their journey led them along a path illuminated by glowing flora—bioluminescent flowers of countless kinds lining both sides of their path—and fantastical fauna: large luminous birds and radiant bioluminescent insects expressing themselves freely around the duo and the island sky.

  A few times, Skylar paused briefly to examine these otherworldly creations. Whenever he realized he had fallen far behind Karo, who never abandoned his lonely aura, he would stop his childish distractions and run to catch up.

  Ahead of them, beyond the glowing path, lay a foggy lake of translucent liquid. The view beyond it was completely obscured by towering milky white fog that formed a protective wall hiding whatever lay behind.

  At the lake’s edge rested a black wooden boat—surprisingly without an oar.

  “Are we crossing in that?” Skylar asked as Karo pulled at the boat.

  Karo answered by simply stepping into the rear of the construct and pointing toward the front seat.

  “Okay, now you’re saying I should take the front seat. How am I supposed to know where we’re going…?”

  Grumbling, Skylar dragged his feet through the shallow water and climbed into the front part of the boat.

  "Jush enther, idiot." Karo snapped impatiently.

  Alright… let’s see what happens when I lead us nowhere.

  The moment Skylar sat, to his surprise, the boat began moving forward on its own—steady and leisurely, as though guided by magic.

  “Hey, does this boat have a motor somewhere? Maybe underneath?” he joked.

  Karo, however, remained silent, his somber and anxious mood returning.

  There’s definitely a lot on his mind… I feel sorry for him. Skylar concluded his analysis of Karo he turned to look at.

  The boat continued silently into the thick fog. Skylar observed despite the obscurity and Karo behind him made no sound at all.

  After several minutes, faintly glowing spots of light began appearing ahead.

  Probably glowing plants… or some giant insect or bird… Skylar thought.

  Then moments later, like piercing through a bubble, the boat broke past the fog zone—and Skylar’s view transformed into an overwhelming splendor.

  “Fuck… how is this possible?!” He gawked.

  Trees twice the height of Everest rose orthogonal to the boats path a couple distance in front, standing close together like a colossal natural fence concealing what lay beyond. Massive glowing vines climbed their trunks from the clear waters below to their unseen canopy, linking tree to tree and illuminating everything. It was like a fence of sky-tall logs with radiant flowering vines acting as luminous mesh sealing every gap, except for a space the boat is heading towards.

  I’ve never seen even a hint of trees this tall from the peak… Did they just appear? Or are we no longer on Monkey Island…? He rationalized. His eyes then move to the glowing, flying creatures that oversee the otherworldly biome.

  “Karo, what are those creatures?”

  He pointed toward a massive flying reptilian creature dominating the sky among countless exotic birds and insects species.

  “Is it a dragon?”

  "Drhaghons? Imposhible." Karo denied. "We anh dhem are levlel—can’t evha coehsist."

  So he knows dragons… and he says they’re on the same level… How strong are dragons in this simulation exactly? His thoughts deepened as the boat approached the living sky-piercing barrier—the gap it presented specifically—his eyes on the clear reflection of the biome on the clear waters. I fought that golden guy over a hundred times and couldn’t even get within five meters before passing out… If I keep thinking these monkeys are ordinary creatures just because they live peacefully, then I deserve the title of greatest idiot of all time, but are they really on the level of a dragon?

  Meanwhile, their small boat sailed through the gap—a sanctified opening between the trees. It entered a territory of clearer water like a mirror surface, reflecting the crafted heavens above it.

  “Inner Heaven… or Celestial Heaven?” Skylar muttered.

  Above them stretched an impossible sky—two massive spirals of stars intertwined in opposite rotation like overlapping galaxies, beneath the cosmic heavens—a seemingly infinite stretch of bright colourful stars—looking like the one outside—a copy compressed into existence overhead.

  “Wow… it’s like a stolen version of the sky outside. All eight planets are here... and that familiar presence at the center…”

  "Ghet dhown." Karo interrupted his muttering and observation as the boat reached a golden platform.

  In response, Skylar stepped onto an islet of pure gold that stood at the center of ultra clear waters permeated by a sacred atmosphere—specifically, a golden land connected to it, seeming like a short handle of a massive lens—the islet. With Karo behind him, they walked toward three figures waiting on the round gold islet, which its center is under the space between the two mysterious spirals of stars—one looking black, the other looking white.

  So there are two other entrances. He noticed two additional long golden pathways far away—golden structures like short spoke on a massive hub—all perfectly equidistant from one another, including the one he walked upon. All three on water, leading seamlessly to the enormous golden islet beneath the opposing black-and-white spirals of the artificial heaven.

  Not long after, Skylar and Karo reached the great island—silent, immense, and seemingly slumbering as it awaited the promised time—the next event.