Lee Shen welcomed death with open mind. He made himself ready to be it's food. His face had a serene expression, as a monk who lived his life long enough. But, it's just that....the beast didn't bite him. He was expecting a sharp pain, but in vain. When he slowly opened his eyes, they nearly fell out of it's sockets from what he saw.
Everything, literally everything was in black and white. The sun, the snow and the deadly jaw were all in black and white. The beast and it's children were all frozen as if somebody pressed the pause button in a video game. But what's surprising was, only he had colour and was able to move. Lee Shen hurriedly moved out of the jaw's trajectory, which was opened wide only inches away from him.
Before he could be thunderstruck anymore, a voice resonated in his ears.
"Aren't you a little too early asking for death?!"
Lee Shen stood up gritting his teeth in pain. He saw no one around him.
"Where are you looking at?! Look at the tattoo, you stupid!"
Lee Shen quickly looked at the tattoo in confusion. The tattoo slowly turned into smoke and floated in front of him. It formed into a translucent ghost-like shape which only had an upper torso. The ghost looked at him with absolute disappointment.
"You had one job, to survive. And you extraordinarily suck at that!"
Lee did not have any memory of this ghost-like figure or anything from his past life. He tried to figure out what the heck this thing is. The ghost burst into laughter.
"You don't need to think too much. You cannot remember anything about me or your past life for the time being. I locked them. It's for your own good, if you ask. Ohh…...I forgot to introduce myself. Just a mo!"
The ghost-like figure went a few meters backward and slowly began to materialise completely. Soon, a human figure completely covered in black bandages stood before him. He was like black bandage version of Egyptian mummies. He was more than 1.75 meters tall and had a 'disappointed' mask on his face. His right hand held a twin bladed glaive which looked normal. His left hand held an orb which had a rhombicosidodecahedron slowly spinning in it.
"I am Dnekewy Mbsilo, one and only sovereign of this dimension named Zaxaluke which is the 284th dimension in the world. Your Earth belonged to the 3rd dimension."
"Dimension?! 284th?! Like spatial extensions?" (Lee)
"Do not mistake dimensions as mere spatial extensions. They are an exact copy of the Origin dimension, but operate on its own set of laws. The topography, living organisms, atmosphere and even planets vary accordingly."
Dnekewy introduced himself as the soul of a deceased person. He had an air of simpleness around him.
"But, why are you in my body?!" (Lee)
"About that, We had an encounter in a weird space. Those memories are too much to handle. So, I sealed your memories regarding those incidents. Do not worry. When your mental strength is deemed fit, the lock shall be released."
"Are you a human?!" (Lee)
"No, I am not human but an indigenious species, very much similar to humans, of this planet, Utopia."
"Wait….did you say indigenious species like human?! So there are living intelligent beings here?!?!" (Lee)
"Considering the beast that laid trap for you intelligent, yes, there are!"
"NOT THEM, YOU FOOL!!! CREATURES LIKE HUMAN!" (Lee)
Lee shouted at Dnekewy for mentioning the beast, and the ghost silently chuckled while looking at him.
"What are you looking at?! Go on, speak something!" (Lee)
"Nothing. Now back to the point. There are multiple races here in Utopia. The planet is thrice the size of Earth. The land is nearly 75% of total volume. It is scattered into 10 major continents, 8 named after 8 directions they are in and 'Intellus' and 'Chaos' opposing each other around the planet. There are hundreds of islands around them. The ocean is inhabited by aquatic beasts and underwater folks. We are now in the outer region of northern continent. Those fictional race of skyfolks you have read about in comics exist here"
"How do you know what I have read and have not?!" (Lee)
"Boy, The tattoo is only a symbolic representation of my existence in your body. I actually live in your brain and can read any information that belongs to you. That's how I locked your memories!"
Lee Shen suddenly felt a creepy sensation all over his body. How would you feel if someone could just read your memory and yourself just like that?
Dnekewy heard his thoughts, but took a moment to reply.
"Be at ease. I'm not some creep who looks into other's personal stuff. At least I have lived for a hundred millennium years"
Lee Shen's eyes went wide.
"Hun….dred mill….ennium years?! What the hell did you eat?!" (Lee)
"You don't need to eat. You can live longer through cultivation and magic. Actually I wa-"
"WAIT!! DID YOU JUST SAY CULTIVATION?! MAGIC?! YOU SCREWING WITH ME?!" (Lee)
Dnekewy looked at Lee with an annoyed expression. His voice became firm and serious.
"Before I speak anymore, shut your mouth or I'll withdraw the Time-Break. You won't even be able to breathe before these beasts rip you to shreds"
Lee reflected on his rude behaviour for a moment. He raised his eyes and nodded in agreement.
"There are Elves, Demons, Dwarves, Goblins, Orcs, Beastfolks, Waterfolks, Skyfolks and many other races along with humans. Regardless of the race, innate affinity to either Qi or Mana is determined at birth. It decides whether one can use Qi or Mana. One cannot use both, as they counteract and violently rip the host apart. In fact, Both are essentially energy."
"To summarise, Earth's eastern fantasy and western fantasy blend in here!"