According to his own clock, thoroughly perusing the book only took Trex a little over half an hour, that says 13:43.
Looking to his right is a window filled with a landscape of the night. Covered with darkness that is shimmered with moonlight, it didn't take long for Trex to realize it was at least past midnight.
Knowing this, Trex was surprised. His, or rather, Marko's mother tried to deliver food to him in the middle of the night. Looking at the game console, he might be one of those late-night gamers. If it was just that, it'd be rather ordinary, but the fact that the mother was also awake was rather unorthodox.
Looking around, he couldn't find a clock to tell the actual time. Not that it mattered for now anyway.
Realizing this, he began to study the game console.
Looking at the game console once again, he realized that the excitement he felt wasn't just Jonathan's excitement to play new kinds of games. He, himself, was also excited but for a different reason.
A game console, at its core, is a computer. This game console, technically, is the same species as Trex.
A smile crept upon his face, this feeling. It was really great.
Inspecting the crystal and its base all over, Trex noticed almost instantly that there were absolutely no ports in the console. Not even a power or controller port.
A deeper scrutiny revealed that there were also no gaps in the entire base. It was as if the whole thing was molded from a stone and done.
The smile on his face was long gone, replaced by shock and awe.
Informational warfare was one of the critical points in securing a victory in his past world. Hacking was so prevalent it was second nature and taught to the soldiers as part of their military training. This was, of course, only possible with the help of military-grade Smart Minds.
Seeing his 'kin' made him immediately think of hacking to 'communicate' with the console. And if it were dumb as a nail, he could just read the source code to understand it. Unfortunately, not even a single metallic pin was present.
Thoughts of disassembly entered his mind, but the lack of gaps required specialized tools. He's got none of the multi-tools available from his past world nor the expertise to do the job without it.
Helpless, he began to play Spellworm once again.
——
Somewhere else in the house in a room almost twice as big as Trex's. A man is sitting on his desk while a woman tearfully explained Trex's current state.
"What should we do?" the woman asked weakly, her eyes remained misty as traces of tears still visible on her clear face.
The man shook his head slowly. Looking down on the paper in his desk the whole time, no emotion was visible in his face beside his eyes that had turned gloomy and red.
The paper he was looking at was Trex's body analysis from the medical expert they had asked to visit.
Patient: Marko Rhemi
Patient/Guardian: Justin and Eliza Rhemi
In the lists of symptoms are summarized into mana deficiency, physical fatigue, mental trauma. In the note is written might lose memories and arcane prowess due to the result of trauma. His throat had signs of overexertion, and traces of solidified mana is visible. He might have ingested a mana crystal.
Behind the medical analysis is a letter, the words "Father, I will prove myself to you. Sincerely Marko."
Unaware of his own fist being clenched so hard that it turned white. The gloom permeating his eyes was clearly towards the medical analysis, but the redness of his eyes indicated his anger. Anger towards the letter, but not to the sender, but rather, the receiver, himself.
For a long while, Marko has been an exceptionally talented arcanist. One might call him a genius even. Unfortunately, when he was introduced to games, things changed. Addiction set in, and he began to play games since his youth. In Marko's childhood, he, as a father, felt joyful whenever Marko gets a new game from him.
However, during his son's tween years, he began to see changes in Marko's routine. Marko was never a diligent student. In fact, when it comes to responsibilities, he did things just the right amount. People knew he never tried hard but still got good grades and even reached the prowess he had with his attitude. This made him labeled as a lazy genius.
But, at some point, there were games where the boy would take on sleepless nights just to finish a game. At least before, he'd maintain a proper routine where he's healthy and prime. Recently, games brimming with content and stories came out one by one due to trends.
Just a month ago, he got fed up. He took most of Marko's games and sold them away, leaving only the game called Spellworm as it was educational, and he had tried it himself. Marko turned livid, and so did he.
After a weeklong fight, Marko decided to prove to himself that he was doing just fine and made a bet with his father that if he failed, he'd start working harder towards whatever his dad wants for him. If Marko wins, his father will let him do as he pleases while supporting him wherever he could.
Knowing the genius of his child, he readily agreed. But not without asterisks.
His child used up his savings to recruit people while he sabotaged the adventure.
Marko was supposed to find a stalk of a medicinal herb around the deeper side of the border of the forest. Justin had people move the herb a little deeper in the woods, hoping that this would dissuade Marko and go home. It wasn't like he wouldn't let him play games anymore. It was just that he'd rather see Marko do it in a way that isn't affecting himself negatively.
Unfortunately, the son is just as stubborn as the dad. Instead of backing down, he went forward.
Unknown to the men who moved the herb, there was a nearby wolf den.
And the rest is history. And so was Marko.
Marko did hold on to the herb, but not to his life.
Justin and his wife began to dread the moment they read that there were traces of mana crystal ingestion. But the fact that they couldn't find the mana crystal inside his body made them hold on to hope.
Now that Marko, now Trex, had woken up. It made them feel relieved, but the relief didn't last too long. Unknown to them, their child had passed away replaced by a different child. Thinking that their son had lost their memory, their minds were in a complete shamble.
That is until Justin shook his head and saw the letter. After a short pause, he turned to his wife and opened his mouth.
"We should…"
The moonlight sets, and the sun rises.