Eyes From Across Time: Kwan's Journey

Kwan is an 8-year-old boy living in the Cold Period of ancient Korea, during an era of unrest and strife for his people. Driven by his inquisitive nature, he discovers a temple that houses a ritual that promises to teleport someone across time and space. He dreams of all the wonders he can see and visit, but the elders warning him that attempting the journey could be dangerous, potentially killing Kwan if he stays conscious throughout the process. Despite being warned of the dangers, Kwan chooses to attempt the ritual, staying conscious as the teleporters anaesthetise him for the trip and directing all of his youth-filled energy and fortitude to hold his breath and remain conscious during the process.

Kwan arrives at what he believes is his destination, only to find himself facing something he never expected. While in a timeless void, he witnesses entire galaxies, lands of strange creatures, distant futures and gloomy alternate timelines, all of which he unexpectedly sees at the same time. No longer aware of his home and overwhelmed by the countless possibilities, Kwan sees himself felled by the weight of eternity and eventually returns to his home in Korea, ejected from the alternate universes.

Having witnessed the singular expanse of time and existence, Kwan struggles to find his place back home. Everyday obligations laid heavy on him, and he withdraws from what he sees as the pettiness of the world he once occupied. Possessing insights on life that he never asked for, Kwan finds the anxieties of his own life to be baseless and hollow and struggles to retain enough sanity to stay in touch with reality. With those closest to him noticed this slow descent, his caretakers fear for his safety and security and reduced his powers to either bringing joy or great tragedy.

The immense pressure of the entrancement that Kwan travelled through had caused an exhaustion scare for the precocious 8-year-old. With so much knowledge in his head and no context or understanding to make sense of it all, Kwan falls into a sadness masked by anger and a sense of dislocation from society.

At last, Kwan's caretakers discern the only way to make sure he remains safe is for him to leave the Kingdom forever. During his final farewell with the people he once considered his own, though, Kwan unexpectedly arouses a sense of tragedy in those around him, revealing what they feared they'd know sooner or later, that his attempted trip through time had shaded his life with an overwhelming grimness, which he would have to carry to his grave. Thus, Kwan is sent away with a heavy heart and an unbearable sense of doomed inevitability.

Kwan's journey leaves him an outcast among his people, forever changed by the lessons he learned. He carries the weight of time and eternity with him wherever he goes, stuck with an accumulated wisdom that will forever define him wherever he travels.