With a sudden jolt, Alex suddenly opened his eyes. His vision was foggy and his ears kept ringing. A confused look appeared in his face before he stiffened.
"What was that? A sneak attack while I was hunting? A kill steal? But, why was it so painful? Wasn't my pain index set to 5%?"
Suddenly, Alex noticed his surroundings and realised something was not right.
"The Hell?"
He was inside a luxurious carriage, which was clearly moving. Pulling the curtains of his window apart, his eyes widened.
"How beautiful!"
A vast green field, a shimmering lake and warm rays of sunlight hitting his face. He could even spot the vast snowy mountains far ahead near the horizon. Seeing such a realistic scenery and feeling the warmth of sunshine in his face, Alex came to a conclusion.
'This is not Pandora. The simulation could never replicate the warmth of sunshine. But if he wasn't inside the game, then where was he? Nobody in the real world used carriages anymore and furthermore...'
Looking down at the sophisticated clothing he was wearing, which looked nothing like the modern age clothes and more like how nobles dressed in the past, he was even more confused.
A few minutes went by and thoughts kept churning in his mind. Eventually, he arrived at two possibilities.
1. He was inside another VR game. But how that happened without his knowledge or permission was a big question mark.
2. He was in a far away land in the real world. Someone could have knocked him out and kidnapped him. But why a carriage? And these clothes? Nothing made sense.
Eventually, Alex stopped his crazy thoughts and decided to examine the carriage first.
'There must be something here that can give me some clue. If I find nothing, then I can only shout for the carriage to stop. Somebody must be driving it right? But who knows what might happen afterwards. It's better to first confirm what happened to me before confronting some stranger.'
Having thought out his plan of action, Alex looked around him. This was clearly a luxurious carriage, which was evident from all the fancy markings made from gold and silver. The furnishing was classy and elegant. The seats were comfortable and warm.
Eventually, Alex noticed a small cabinet on the other side. There was also a table having a crystalline bottle with rough edges lying atop it. A crystalline cup was placed beside the bottle. With every shake of the carriage, a red colored liquid swooshed inside the bottle.
'Wine? Maybe'
For now, Alex was more interested in the cabinet. Raising his body from the comfort of his seat, Alex noticed that for some reason his body felt stronger? He also noticed that his skin looked fairer and he had calluses on his hand.
'Damn. This doesn't seem right. Is....this my body?'
Alex was shocked as all the facts suddenly came together in his mind.
'F*ck! Transmigration? But how did I die? Am I jumping to conclusions? But this body clearly is different from mine. I really wish there was a mirror around.'
Shaking his head, Alex knew that speculating won't help him, so he walked upto the cabinet and opened it. Inside, there were a few books and more of those crystalline bottles. Ignoring the bottles, Alex grabbed the book at the top and was shocked to find that he couldn't recognise the language written on it's cover.
'Shit, by the look of things, there is really a high probability that this is another world. So, that means, I really died?"
Alex was shocked by this revelation and felt like the world around him was collapsing. He hurriedly touched his face around and discovered some differences from his original face. Even his hair felt silkier and smoother.
Alex felt sorrowful as he sat down with a thud.
Even though he wasn't that close to his father, thanks to him rarely coming home, he was very close to his mother. Realising that he might never see her again, he felt incredibly sad.
"F*ck! How did I die? Heartattack? Impossible! I was healthy as a horse and had my medical checkup last month. There was absolutely no issue with my heart. Machinery malfunction? Fat chance! The VR pod he used was one of the most exepensive out there with no defects detected in the past 1 year. The company selling it sent personnel every 3 weeks to check the working of the pod and do maintenance service. Assissnation? That was possible. Though Alex was not sure, he had a feeling that he was most likely killed by an assassin. But which Motherf*cker dared to assassinate me out of nowhere? And why? I don't remeber offending someone to the extent that I deserved death? Revenge? Yes, it could be revenge against father! As the Police Chief, he must have many enemies. And since the murderer could bypass all the security measures installed in our house and avoid the guards patrolling around, he/she must have been an incredibly skilled assassin.
'How unlucky! If only I was not inside the VR pod unconscious when he came in. Atleast I could have screamed murder. Well, maybe he timed it so?'
As he gazed at the passing scenery, a myriad of emotions flashed in his eyes. In most novels involving transmigrations, the protagonists are usually happy to have transmigrated and quickly adopt a goal to strive towards, but all Alex felt was a sense of loss. He had many dreams and goals on Earth. He wanted to become a game designer, he wanted to confess his love to his crush who was clearly interested in him, he wanted to take his mother on a world tour with his own money. So many regrets!
Alex sighed as he kept gazing at the passing scenery and reliving his past memories. Almost an hour later, he felt the carriage slowing down. It was then that he recalled his situation and realised he wasn't safe. He had no idea who was driving the carriage and whose identity he had stolen while transmigrating. Usually, he was supposed to receive some memories of the previous host. Atleast, that's what normally happened in those novels he read. But clearly, he had no additional memories about who he was and where he was. Eventually, the carriage stopped.
'Okay. I need a plan. I can't afford expose myself. Who knows what kind of world was this? I could have even transmigrated into the past and may still be on Earth. I need to keep a cool head and absorb any and all information I can gather about my situation. I need to keep my mouth shut as much as possible and listen.'
Just then, there was slight knock on the door of the carriage and a feminine voice was heard.
"My lord, we have reached the outskirts of Rosefall and will need to travel a few more hours to reach the city. We'll taking a short break before proceeding forward. Is that alright with you?"
Alex's brows twitced having being addressed as 'My Lord'.
'Am I some kind of noble? This kind of identity is double edged sword for sure'.
Alex calmed his emotion and reponded with just a hum.
He obviously had no idea how nobles talked, especially how the previous host talked. It was better to be on the safe side as long as it was possible. The voice outside was not alarmed and he could hear footsteps moving away. Alex sighed as he messaged his temples.
'Well, it looks like there are many people accompanying me and they are probably in charge of my safety or something. That was good. Atleast he wasn't a captive or something.'
'Though it is dangerous, I need to go outside and see the people accompanying me. It could even awake some dormant memories of this body if I see some familiar faces.'
Having made up his mind, Alex stood and fixed his clothes. Finding no apparent problems, he held the knob and silently opened the door of the carriage. Suddenly, a strange thought appeared in his mind.
'For my first step in this strange new world, should I use my right leg or left leg?'