"Ugh… What happened?"
He clearly remembered that he was greeting his two tickets to survival, when suddenly a jolt of pain erupted from his head and finally he black out.
"This is the second time I've been unconscious in a span of 24 hours, which is worrying as I don't really feel like it's good for my brain."
Concerns plagued his thoughts as he continues to think about what may be the leading cause of this issue, his best hypothesis is that it may have something to do with his early awakening. Although it could also be due to the assimilation of his memories from both lifes. But Jun feel like it was the former, as was sure that he had finished assimilating all his memories last month
"Now, where am I?"
Awakening from his thoughts, the first thing that Jun realized was that he was no longer in the cafeteria, it seems that somehow… the landscape had shifted. The landscape had a circumference of roughly 100m, just with a single glance, Jun had a panoramic view of the entire region.
He did an inspection of his own body and found that, although he was wearing the same clothes; there was no food stains that should be present on them due to his fall. He pinched himself and found that he can feel vivid pain; clearly this was no dream.
"What am I doing here? Is this the place all humans come to after they die?"
Jun stood up as he surveyed his surroundings.
"Ah, there's something over there!"
In the middle of this otherworldly landscape was actually a small pool of water! The pond had a circumference and depth of about 10m, the water in it seemed to sparkle with the shine of crystals and it looked so pure and pristine, devoid of any pollutants.
Oblivious to any danger, Jun ran over and drank his fill. Only after he was satisfied, did he realize that the water which he just drank was unusually delicious. Not only did it sate his thirst and hunger, even his body seemed to be filled with a mysterious source of boundless energy.
Jun felt that this was a day filled with bizarre occurrences. Because now that he had come to his senses, he also discovered a weird looking stone monument at the side of the pond. This stone monument had a height similar to a full grown human male and had the girth of a giant tree.
As Jun walked in front of it, he saw that there were actually inscriptions on the stone monument! [Soul Realm]… So this place is the Soul Realm. Directing his gaze downwards, Jun discovered even more inscriptions.
[The Soul Realm only allows entry to the sovereign of this realm. Other than the sovereign, no other beings with conscience are allowed in here, unless they are already dead]
As Jun read the words.. "First my spirit was able to appraise a person's stats… now it seems like I'm able to store the dead souls I guess??? ...Yeah, I can see many things that could go wrong with that, I mean for one they could probably possess my body as theoretically this realm would be connected to my soul right?"
"Although, if I were to look at it in a positively and use all fictional works I've encountered in my previous life as a reference; I can come up with two possible hypotheses. My highball guess is that I can collect those souls life energy to either regenerate or increase my lifespan, also might be able to transfer life energy in order to resurrect someone maybe? While my low ball guess is that I could communicate with the dead."
Jun was grasping at straws in the dark, he had no clue what was going on. Thus, he decided to continue reading the other inscriptions on the stone monument for now.
[Time flows at a rate of 100:1 in the Soul Realm compared to the outside world, but can only stay for 1 real world hours per day.]
Upon reading this made Jun jumped in excitement!
"Oh man, I hit the jackpot! And to think that I was concerned about the future uses of my spirit, I mean sure Soul Appraisal is powerful in it's own way. But how would you build it? Aside from maybe being able to know about what ability a spirit beast might give, what else could it offer? But now things are different, with these new features coming to light, more pathways have opened up."
After which there weren't many inscriptions left, only a few more words at the bottom of the stone monument.
Effects of:
[The Soul Realm upgrades with each new Spirit Ring.]
[The Soul Realm resets at 12 pm.]
[Able to store and retrieve objects to and from the Soul Realm at any time.]
Jun did not know how much time elapsed, he had already thoroughly explored the landscape of the Soul Realm. The spatial realm was approximately the size of 1 hectare. Looking at the loose purple soil beneath his sole, he felt that this space was excellent for crop planting.
After exploring the spatial realm, Jun realized that there was no exit! How could he return to the world outside?
"Now that I think about it, this kinda reminds me of power in one of the Chinese novels, I think it was either AST or ATG maybe? I can't really remember, but I do know that they have a storage space they could enter. To get out of here, it should work via intent right?"
Just at the precise moment he thought of exiting, he realized that he was already back in the cafeteria where he had been previously! It seems that the Soul Realm was already attuned to his will. Although he noticed that the floor was surprising soft and comfortable, he once again surveyed the area and found that he was laying down in the lap of his survival ticket.
Jun recollected himself as he started to handpick a suitable reply that would earn him a positive reaction and judging by Gu Yuena's hair which is silver and not blackish-purple he assumed that she currently has amnesia. Although he wasn't a preschool teacher in his last life, Jun does have an experience interacting with children through babysitting in his teenager years.
"Oh wow… Are you a Fairy???"
Jun whispered in awe, earning him a shocked look from the silver haired girl. The corner of his mouth widening to a grin, feeling happy and relieved as getting her by his side might be easier than he thought.