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Noogai was dead asleep in the middle of his bed, face half-buried into a thin pillow while the glow from his old alarm clock burned bright red against the darkness of his apartment. 3:07 AM. The entire room smelled faintly of sweat, old laundry, and instant noodles left abandoned somewhere under his desk. A fan creaked uselessly in the corner, barely moving the humid air.
The twenty-two-year-old groaned quietly in his sleep, turning over and tangling himself deeper into the blankets. His brown t-shirt was already damp with sweat from the heat, sticking uncomfortably to his back, while his blue sweatpants looked wrinkled beyond repair. Even while sleeping, he still had socks on—thick black ones, because apparently the idea of bare feet touching the floor disgusted him on a spiritual level.
Then came the knock.
Soft at first.
Tap. Tap tap.
Noogai ignored it.
A few seconds later, it came again, louder this time.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Noogai’s eyes snapped open behind his crooked glasses. For a moment he just stared blankly at the ceiling, trying to process reality through the haze of exhaustion and irritation.
"...What..." he muttered hoarsely.
Another knock.
"...Who the fuck..." He slowly sat up, hair completely messy and sticking out in random directions. "...It's literally three in the morning. What kind of psychopath visits people at 3 AM?"
The knocking continued.
Noogai’s expression twisted into immediate anger. He violently shoved the blanket off himself and stomped toward the front door with all the fury of a sleep-deprived goblin. Every step sounded aggressive for no reason.
When he finally reached the door, he yanked it open so hard it nearly bounced back off the wall.
"What?!"
Standing there with the biggest grin imaginable was none other than his best friend, college buddy, and professional nuisance—Programmer.
Or, as literally everyone called him, DJ.
DJ looked absurdly awake for 3 AM. His long brown braids rested over the shoulders of his red jacket, and he had his hands shoved casually into the pockets of his blue jeans like this was the most normal interaction imaginable. Unlike Noogai, who looked like he had crawled out of a swamp, DJ actually looked somewhat put together.
"Yo dude!" DJ said cheerfully. "The night is beautiful right now. We should totally hang out in the woods."
Noogai stared at him with complete deadpan silence.
"...At night."
"Y-yeah," DJ replied confidently. "At night."
There was a long pause.
Noogai slowly began closing the door.
Before it could shut, DJ suddenly grabbed Noogai by the arm and yanked him outside with surprising force.
The door slammed shut behind them.
Click.
The self-locking mechanism engaged instantly.
The silence that followed was horrifying.
Noogai stared at the door.
Then at DJ.
Then back at the door.
"...ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"
DJ looked proud of himself.
"Welp," he shrugged. "Guess you gotta come with me now."
Noogai immediately tried the handle anyway, violently rattling it despite knowing perfectly well it would not open.
Locked.
His keys were inside.
His phone was charging inside.
His dignity was somehow also probably inside.
Noogai slowly turned around with the kind of expression usually seen seconds before a murder documentary cuts to commercial break.
"You absolute parasite," he hissed.
DJ just grinned wider.
"Oh well! No choice now. We’re exploring the woods together." He proudly pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Good thing I brought a map."
"Are you insane?" Noogai snapped. "Last time I explored something with you we ended up in another state!"
"Technically that was an accident."
"You drove us across state lines because you wanted tacos."
"And the tacos were amazing."
Noogai crossed his arms tightly and looked away with an annoyed pout. Truthfully, he wanted to go back inside more than anything. The woods at night sounded terrible. Dangerous. Humiliating, honestly. If they got lost again and someone had to rescue them, DJ would never let him live it down.
But unfortunately for him, curiosity always ruined his life.
After several seconds of internal conflict, he sighed heavily.
"...Fine. Only this once."
DJ immediately threw an arm around him dramatically.
"Knew you'd say yes, man!"
As they started walking, DJ casually tossed the folded paper over his shoulder toward a nearby trash can.
It missed completely.
Neither of them picked it up.
The two continued down the empty streets until the glow of the city slowly disappeared behind them. Eventually the pavement turned to dirt, and towering trees surrounded them from every direction.
The forest was freezing compared to the apartment.
Branches cracked beneath their feet as they pushed deeper into the woods. Bushes scratched against their clothes while thorns snagged at Noogai’s sweatpants.
"Ow—fuck!"
"You good?" DJ asked.
"No, genius, nature just attacked me."
DJ laughed loudly.
The deeper they went, the darker everything became. Moonlight barely reached through the thick canopy overhead, leaving the forest drowned in shadows. Every little noise suddenly sounded ten times louder.
Crickets.
Rustling leaves.
Snapping twigs somewhere far away.
Noogai adjusted his glasses nervously. His confident attitude from earlier was starting to disappear rapidly.
"Uh..." he muttered quietly. "DJ... I think we should go back."
DJ kept walking.
"It's so dark I can barely see anything," Noogai continued, voice slightly trembling now. "If we keep going we're gonna get lost."
DJ glanced back at him with a smirk.
"Dude... are you scared?"
"No."
"Pfft. Pussy."
Noogai immediately stiffened.
"I-I ain't scared!" he snapped defensively. "I just think this is objectively stupid!"
"Mhm."
"C'mon then! Let's keep going!"
To prove a point, Noogai stormed ahead past DJ, despite internally regretting every life decision that led him here.
DJ quietly snickered to himself and followed.
For nearly an hour, they wandered through endless trees with absolutely no direction whatsoever. Every path started looking the same. The air grew colder. Even DJ’s confidence began fading slightly.
Finally, he stopped walking.
"...Huh."
Noogai looked over immediately.
"What."
DJ scratched the back of his neck casually.
"Yeah, we're definitely lost."
Noogai slowly crossed his arms.
"...Then use the map."
DJ was silent.
"...DJ."
"Okay, so," DJ began carefully, "you're gonna be really mad—"
"DJ."
"—but remember that piece of paper I threw earlier?"
Noogai stared at him.
"The map?"
"...Yeah."
The silence afterward felt nuclear.
Noogai’s eye twitched violently.
"You threw away the ONLY MAP."
"In my defense—"
"y-you!"
"It was dark!"
Noogai looked seconds away from collapsing from stress.
Before the argument could continue, DJ suddenly noticed something in the distance.
"...Wait."
A faint red glow flickered between the trees.
Both of them froze.
The light pulsed softly like a heartbeat.
DJ’s eyes lit up immediately with excitement.
"Ohhh, that's definitely not normal."
"No shit," Noogai whispered.
DJ stepped closer, staring at it with fascination.
"Okay, either that's a serial killer..." he said thoughtfully, "or something incredibly cool. It's a 50/50 chance that we get murdered and I'm an expert at 50/50 so you'd have to trust me."
"Why are those the only options?!"
Ignoring him completely, DJ grabbed Noogai’s wrist and dragged him toward the glow.
As they approached, they realized the light was coming from inside a massive tree. A hollow opening in the trunk radiated deep crimson light, swirling strangely like liquid energy.
The air around it buzzed softly.
Noogai immediately backed away.
"Nope."
DJ crouched near the opening, staring into it with childlike wonder.
"Dude..."
"Nope."
"It looks exactly like a portal."
"Nope."
"Like an actual interdimensional portal."
Noogai looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"What are you talking about?"
"What? I've seen movies."
"Movies aren't real, DJ."
"Neither is whatever this is."
DJ grinned.
"We should totally jump in."
"What?! No! Absolutely not!"
DJ stood up dramatically and placed a hand over his chest.
"That's okay," he said calmly. "I respect your opinion."
Noogai blinked.
"...Wait. Really?"
"Yeah."
"...You're not gonna force me?"
"Nah."
Noogai narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
For one brief moment, he actually relaxed.
Then DJ suddenly shoved him directly into the glowing hole.
"Nah."
Noogai’s scream echoed through the forest as he disappeared instantly into the crimson light.
"DJ YOU SON OF A—"
His voice cut off abruptly.
DJ burst out laughing so hard he nearly fell over.
After a moment, he peered down into the glowing portal with a grin.
"...Worth it."
Then, without another thought, he just shrugged and jumped in himself.