Johannes is a young man of the age of 25, who has always been of rather stoic nature. One could say he has been hardened by the many trials he had to endure during his excuse of a life, or at least that's what he liked to think. In reality he regularly pitied himself but was too proud to let anyone know.
The young adult had a lot of interests, but one was the most dominant. Ever since the dungeons popped out of nowhere, his interest in those has been growing into an obsession. The first dungeon appeared only a year ago, which sparked his initial curiosity.
His interest in dungeons stood in a stark contrast to what his life looked like.
Due to several issues with his heart, all of his life took place in the more or less comfortable beds of the many hospitals he had to stay in. So there was no way for him to ever experience what it feels like to be a "Diver".
A Diver was one of the lucky people who had the power to dive through dungeons. The power came in form of skills that enhanced one's innate abilities and talents. People online initially brought up the term as a joke. When the first Diver went into a dungeon, he had to wear a diving suit as his skill was tied to the element of water.
"If only I could leave this bed and do what those Divers do", he told his father in an excited voice that betrayed the state of his body. His father, who has grown old and reached the age of 58 without any major signs of aging, looked at him sorrowfully. The mood had a sad undertone and the cold hospital room certainly didn't help that.
The depressing gray walls confined father and son inside a room full of machines, paired with dazzling lights that beamed from the top. At some point Johannes made it his mission to count the different divisions from the rectangular lamp, but he was too afraid to risk his sight for something needless like this.
The machines helped Johannes to breathe, as his own heart and lungs were not fully working as intended. "He could at least tell me that I will be able to become a Diver one day", Johannes thought as snippy as he could. Yet he could not let his father notice his disgruntled thoughts and added "Just kidding".
It's not like his father would have been able to read his thoughts anyways, Johannes had to narrate in his own mind to explain his clumsy attempt of a conversation.
His father was by no means a fool and understood that his addition of those two words merely aimed to overplay the awkward tone of the situation. He gently hugged his frail son and told him that he loves him. "What a rare sight", Johannes thought.
Afterwards, he made his way to the narrow doorframe and weakly brought out some words that Johannes could not fully understand.
"Sorry", is what Johannes assumes he said in hindsight. His father has never been a man of words. It is not that he did not talk, it was more like that he was unable to speak out his heartfelt thoughts. His mother and his sister were better at this, Johannes noticed this day.
That was the last time Johannes saw his father. He died from a sudden heart attack that nobody could have predicted.
When his mother broke the news on the phone, Johannes had tears flowing down on his cheeks. Like his father, Johannes was not a man of words. Hence, he was unable to even dare to utter a single word. Unable to attend the funeral, he fell into a deep hole. "Why did it have to be him? Why wasn't it me who died?" were his most prevalent thoughts, day after day.
The days went by in the blink of an eye, and Johannes' thoughts only grew more grim. When he didn't cry, he blamed himself for not being a more loving son.
In the middle of the night, 4 days after his father's death, a dazzling light shone into his face. Johannes immediately woke up.
[To my Son...] is what the floating message showed to the confused man, who was barely awake. The clock told Johannes it was 2 AM, which was way too late for anyone to prank him. Or way too early, depending on how he looked at it.
"To my son? What is happening? Is this a sick prank?"