After he was struck in the abdomen Kazuto was left unconscious, despite that his eyes remain slightly open with no glee to be found.
The only thing he could witness is a soothing ivory atmosphere around his surroundings, as he could feel his soul levitating in what seemed to be nothing.
'Is this... Is this where the dead gather? Only to just levitate here in the never-ending requiem of space and time, without feeling any human needs, emotion, or will to move?' Kazuto thought to himself, as his expression was purely calm and composed.
All of a sudden, a black shadowy figure approached him from his left as it moved like a serpent around the pale atmosphere.
The black shadowy serpent then appeared in its true form as a small little girl, with hair so long it reached her knees.
She then kneeled down from nothing and giggled, trying to reach Kazuto's ear as she whispers.
"Only pain and suffering awaits those who refuse to seek relinquishment."
After hearing what the girl had spoken, Kazuto's eyes started to feel heavy until it was shut closed. The remaining consciousness he had left in that world had completely vanished with not a single trace to be found.
His soul had been given the eternity of peace, at least that's what he thought was given to him.
In a whip, Kazuto started to feel something warm around his body as his numb and cold heart started throbbing. Seconds passed by and he could feel a somewhat kind of consciousness.
Kazuto opened his eyes, but this time his calm state had completely shattered apart.
His breathing was heavy than he expected. Both his eyes widened and trembled from the sudden treatment. His heart was abnormally beating faster than usual as well, and his face was covered with beads of sweat.
In a panic, he held his abdomen. However, there were no cuts in his clothes, nor pain to be felt or blood to be clenched.
He gazes down at his clothes and finds himself wearing a grey uniform with lots of pockets stitched around. Despite the number of pockets, he feels no weight.
"Where am I!?" Kazuto muttered, his trembling eyes gazing around his surroundings.
He later realized that he was no longer in the ivory atmosphere between space and time, but rather in a room, a cemented room that wasn't even painted. The only light source in this room is a singular dim lamp placed above the ceiling.
It also didn't help that the room reeked in such a horrible stench that it almost smelled like dead rats were specifically placed here, or even worse, buried beneath here.
However, even in such a condition, Kazuto was more concerned about what was ahead of him.
In front of him were wooden boxes stacked into one another which he can only assume are filled with supplies. Supplies that would come in handy when the time comes when needed.
'Maybe there's canned food inside of those crates. I could really go for a burger right now,' Kazuto thought to himself, his mouth craving as it gets drenched with saliva.
He then tried to stand up, but for some reason, he couldn't. His arms and legs just wouldn't move no matter how hard he tries. It was starting to feel that he most likely doesn't have full control of his own body.
*sigh*
All of a sudden a loud and deep voice shouted above the ceiling. His tone was in a panic, yet intimidating at the same time.
"The Adriatic troops are coming! Get into your positions NOW!"
What followed next was sudden multiple explosions, as shells of artillery bombarded whatever was above Kazuto, with dust particles above the ceiling starting to fall.
With the bombardment continuing to rattle the ground, he could hear men above screaming in agony and panic, as gunfire started being exchanged.
"I need to get out of here now! I can't stay in a place like this!" Kazuto muttered, panicked as well.
He force his body to move, but again it was still no use. His legs wouldn't follow his command no matter how hard he tried to.
"Hey, you! What are you still doing here lazing around!? Didn't you hear what the sergeant just yelled!" A man yelled.
'Shit! Now, what!? I can't go out there! I'll just die! I don't want to die! Not again!' Kazuto thought, his eyes quivering.
He gradually glanced at the man, gulping as he could hear footsteps approach him.
'I guess I have no choice.'
Kazuto closed his eyes and minimize his breathing. He was acting like he was dead hoping that the man would just leave him alone. However,
the best impression he could do was act like he was sleeping on the job.
The man felt annoyed as he held both of Kazuto's shoulders, shaking him with brute force as if he had the strength of an ape.
"Wake up! Wake up the hell up!! I know you're awake so don't act like you're dead Walter!" The man shouted.
'Walter? Who the hell is Walter,' Kazuto wondered, his eyes still closed and his body acting as if it was really dead.
"Damn it! You gave me no choice!!" The man said, anger in his eyes.
He then raised his right fist and punched Kazuto in the face with the impact almost feeling like a rock thrown into his skull. Kazuto swiftly fell to the ground, as he could feel his head being crushed by the cemented floor.
His head was aching in every direction as he could feel some sort of distortion in his consciousness.
"What!? you still want more!?" The man yelled angrily, his right fist clenching even harder than before.
"No! I had enough! You win!" Kazuto pleaded in a panic, raising his arms to cover his face.
'Huh? I could finally move again?' Kazuto had realized, as he couldn't help but make a small smile of relief.
"Good! Now stand up, we can't waste any more time in the bunker!! Especially now that the enemy is rushing us again! Damn it, this is the third time this day!" The man uttered as he could no longer hold his frustration.
The man was wearing a grey uniform as he, with a round helmet attached to his head. His clothes were full with pockets which he can only assume are filled with clips of bullets used for the Mauser rifle which he was carrying in his back.
"Um... a while ago, who did you call Walter?" Kazuto asked, as he slowly stood up.
"Who did I call that? You obviously! No one is around here but us," The man pointed his finger towards Kazuto, as his eyes painfully glared towards him.
"Yeah... but my name isn't Walter. It's Kazuto, Ka-zu-to!" Kazuto spelled it out.
The man who is still angry felt annoyed, as Kazuto asked a stupid question he thought he could never hear from anyone he had ever met in his life. However, he maintained composure, as he slowly breathes away all the frustration he had been feeling deep inside his chest.
"Walter... or Kazuto I guess. Look at your right chest. You see the pocket, right? Above the pocket is written your name, 'K. Walter'." The man answered as he pointed toward Kazuto's chest.
Kazuto gazed at his pocket, and what was written was only gibberish. Kazuto couldn't read it no matter how much he tried making sense of it.
He then gazed toward the man's right chest pocket, and what he saw was the name of the man, but again it was also written in gibberish.
'It must be in a different language that's why I can't read it. Knowing that I had no knowledge about this world that might explain it, but why can I understand what he's saying?' Kazuto pondered until he was disturbed.
"Hey! You two, what are you still doing here!? Men up there are sacrificing their lives for the country, yet here you two lazing around like pigs. NOW MOVE! Or I'll specifically be one to blow your heads off!" another man appeared, yelling as if this was their last.
The man was wearing a slightly different uniform. His clothes were still grey like the rest, but he had an insignia on his right chest that looked like an iron cross.
"Sorry, Sarge! Will go to our stations now!" The man saluted, his hands placed on the side of his legs as he yelled in the same tone as the sergeant.
"Come on, we got to go," The man muttered towards Kazuto.
He then started running towards the only exit the room offers, passing the sergeant without even making eye contact.
Kazuto quickly followed the man. However, he was stopped as the sergeant firmly held Kazuto's right shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going!?" The sergeant said, his eyes glaring down toward Kazuto.
He could feel the glare as if it was piercing his soul, with an extreme and horrifying aura shadowed around the sergeant's uniform.
'This man... he's not ordinary. I should at least assert my dominance,' Kazuto nervously ponder.
"I-I'm just f-ollowing o-orders, sir!" Kazuto timidly stuttered.
'Damn it! Why do I have to fail in the most important moments in my life,' Kazuto annoyingly thought to himself.
"Just following orders? You're not following orders, Private Walter. Not without a rifle at hand that is! You are basically a worthless cannon fodder without a gun!!" The sergeant yelled toward Kazuto's face.
"But here, take this." The sergeant's tone calmed down.
The sergeant gave Kazuto the rifle he had been holding for a while, pushing it toward Kazuto's chest as he grunted in pain.
Kazuto could feel the rifle's weight. It was heavier than he expected compared to the guns he usually holds at festivals. After all, this was no toy but rather a real one; not meant for fun, but rather meant to take one's life.
Kazuto gulped, feeling uncomfortable with the thought of killing someone as his eyes lay busy staring at the gun.
"Don't lose it," He warned Kazuto with a painful glare. "Now go, before I'll cut your head off!" he continued, yelling angrily.
"Uh... Ye-Yes, Sir!"
Kazuto hurriedly runs towards the tunnel, as he even had a hard time just carrying the weapon alone.
"Tsk... the new generation of men is getting less and less training and more cowardly as the years goes by. I'm afraid one day our military would only be run by fools!" The sergeant muttered as he glanced towards Kazuto.