Chereads / The Journey to Immortality / Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: A Rude Awakening Part 1

Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: A Rude Awakening Part 1

Zhou Mingyu wasn't sure how long he's been asleep for. The only thing he was sure of was the raging headache that he felt right now. 'Guess that really was all just a dream.' He thought as he opened his eyes and winced at the bright sunlight hitting his face. After a few seconds of shock, the realization finally hit him, and he quickly sat up.

'Why am I outside?' He could feel himself beginning to panic as he looked around wildly at his surroundings. He was sitting by a slow-moving river at the base of some grassy hill. Across the rivers was a thick patch of woods and on his left lied a dirt path that leads to only God knows where. If Zhou Mingyu wasn't on the verge of having a panic attack, he would've appreciated the pretty scenery.

"Where the hell am I?" He muttered and to himself as he scathed his head in confusion. 'Wait… why does my hair feel so long? … and… do my hands feel smaller too?'

He slowly moved his trembling hands onto his lap and stared down at them in shock. His palms were small and fat with short and stubby fingers attached. They immediately reminded Zhou Mingyu of child's hands. Fear and confusion seized his heart and he quickly stood up. A wave of dizziness rushed to his head when he looked down and saw that he was a lot closer to the ground than usual.

It was around this point that Zhou Mingyu began to panic. 'Oh my God, Oh My God, OH MY GO-'

"I'm so glad you're ok!" A cheery voice rang out from behind him. "I was starting to get worried!"

Zhou Mingyu couldn't stop the scream that tore through his lips. Even after he turned around and saw that it was only Miss Star. In fact, the sight of the supposed illusion probably caused him to scream louder. The little star let out her own shocked scream and jumped into the air in. Wisps of whitish smoke gathered around her feet and legs with white sparks twinkling like stars inside the thickening cloud that kept her floating in the air. Zhou Mingyu was so mesmerized by the pretty sight that he almost started to calm down. Almost.

"You!" He cried and pointed an accusing finger at her.

The little star blinked and tilted her head. "Me?"

"Yes, you! What did you do? Where are we? ... Am I dead!? Oh dear God, I'm dead! I'm dead and you're here to-"

Miss Star flew closer to him, flailing her hands around. "What!? No, you're not dead! Please calm down and I'll explain everything I swear!"

It was a difficult task but after a few deep breaths, Zhou Mingyu managed to relax and waited for the little star's explanation.

"Ok!" the little star cheered as she clapped her hands together. The white mist around her began to fade away around her as she was gently lowered back on the ground. "I don't know why you're so scared! I didn't move you very far. Your town is still in walking distance so please don't be worried!"

"I'm nearby the town?" Zhou Mingyu muttered to himself. He looked back to the lazy river and thought, 'That must be Hezhong's river... It's so much cleaner than I remember.' He scathed his head in confusion and was quickly reminded of the bigger problem. "What-what did you do to my body!?"

Miss Star had the decency to look embarrassed as she looked down to the ground and started to fidget with her hands. "Well, it's a bit of a long story. At first, I was just going to transmigrate you into Wu Junjie's body but after you told me about how much you liked him, I thought that you would have more fun if you meet him instead. So, I tried to put you into one of his companion's body instead so you could meet him right away and you were supposed to be older I swear but…" She gestured to Zhou Mingyu's newer and smaller body. "I must've messed up somewhere along the way. I'm sorry, I really am!"

Zhou Mingyu just blinked at her as he tried to comprehend what he just heard. He knew that Miss Star was speaking Chinese but for some reason, he couldn't understand a single word that came out of her mouth. At this point, his head began to hurt from the countless questions he had.

"... Wait," He stuttered out, "Are you telling me that you transported into 'The Tales of Wu Junjie'!?"

"Uh-huh!" The little star said cheerfully but Zhou Mingyu couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear in his heart. 'What the hell is she!? She looks like just a little girl but she's powerful enough to do something like this!?' Eventually his frustration at the situation he found himself in soon outweighed his fear. 'What the hell kind of bullshit is this!?' He thought as he gritted his teeth.

"Why would you do that!?" He yelled out.

"H-huh?"

"Why. Would. You. Do That." He repeated slowly, his anger and frustration growing more and more by the second. "You thought that you could just show up in my apartment, dump me in some fake world in SOME KID'S body and I would be fine with it!? What, did you think I would be happy at being kidnapped by, by whatever the hell you are?

"B-but you wished for an adventure."

"I didn't actually mean by that! I don't even like Wu Junjie or that damn book!"

"W-what? But everyone likes The Tales of Wu Junjie. My siblings even used to tell his story every morning…" Miss Star's body began to shake as she looked down at the ground. "You even said that everyone likes him!"

'Great, even non-human kids get raised on Wu Junjie's stories.' Zhou Mingyu nearly rolled his eyes at the thought. "Yeah, well, everyone but me!" That was partly the truth. While Zhou Mingyu was never a fan of the novel, he still had some fondness for the story due to its connection to his hometown. Still, technicalities like that didn't soothe the overwhelming anger he felt right now.

He was about to spit out another string of cruel words when Miss Star lifted up her face and looked at him through the tears welling up in her eyes. This wasn't the first time Zhou Mingyu saw her on the verge of crying. However, unlike last time he made no move to comfort her and soon the tears began to fall freely down her face.

As it turns out, the tears of a star were very different than that of a human. Instead of normal saltwater, her tears took the form of small white crystals that sparkled as they slid down her chubby cheeks. Another thing that set them apart from human tears was that they left no wet tracts on her face nor did they leave her with the telltale sign of red-rimmed eyes. Instead, all they left was a faint glimmer of light and a sight that Zhou Mingyu felt should have been immortalized in some painting. A small part of him was still angry at the star's carelessness but sure enough, his brotherly nature began to rear its head at the sight of the crying child.

"Miss Star don't tell me you're crying again?" He scolded but the harsh tone that he had before was gone. He did feel a brief flash of annoyance when he finally noticed the new higher pitch of his voice realized that his but he quickly pushed that aside to focus on the matter at hand.

"E-eh? I-I'm not c-crying. Especially not for some ungrateful human like you!" The little star tried to sneer out. However, she couldn't maintain that facade for long and in a second, she fell to her knees and wailed out, "Oh, I really have ruined everything! You must hate me now!" She sniffled and tried to wipe away the crystals sticking to her face with her sleeve. "Not that I blame you. I only ended up making things worse for you.

Zhou Mingyu sighed at the display and kneeled down in front of her. 'Such dramatics.' He thought as he patted her head. "There, there Miss Star. I don't hate you, I'm… just a little frustrated right now." While that was a major understatement, Zhou Mingyu was willing to see that in the end, Miss Star was only just a child who didn't understand the seriousness of her mistakes. Granted she was a child with seemingly unlimited power, but she was a child nonetheless and there was nothing Zhou Mingyu hated more than seeing a child cry.

"I know that you only had good intentions, but you need to understand that you did was a really stupid thing to do. You not only shouldn't have done this if you weren't sure you were ready, but you also should've asked me if this was what I really wanted instead of forcing me to go along with it. Do you now understand why I'm so upset?'

Miss Star rapidly nodded her head and looked at him with a fierce look in her eyes. "Yes, I do! And I promise to take full responsibility!"

Zhou Mingyu immediately perked up at her words. "Does that mean you can send me back?"

"Uh, um, no. Once a star grants a wish it can't be taken back unless the star is destroyed or another one reverses it themselves. But I promise to stay by your side and make sure that your wish for an adventure has been granted properly!"

Zhou Mingyu stared down at her and felt a now familiar frustration coming back. "So, you were just going to leave me here before?"

Miss Star broke out in a cold sweat at the look on his face. "Well, yes but I was told that's what all stars do so-"

"So," he repeated slowly. "You were going to leave me here?"

"Y-yes."

"You were just going to leave me here. Struck in some kid's body with no explanation?"

"... Ye-yes."

"Struck in some kid's body and trapped in some imaginary world?"

"Uh-huh." She squeaked out.

"..."

"Are you going to yell at me again?"

Zhou Mingyu took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No, I'm not. Just... please tell me whose body I'm in."

"Ehm, I don't remember his name, but I know he's supposed to be Wu Junjie's closest friend! My siblings told me that he was always by his side so I thought that he would be perfect for your wish!"

'His closest friend? Always by his side? Who could- Oh no...'

"I'm Hua Mingyu." He said with horror at the realization.