Isaac continued to wriggle in pain for several minutes, struggling to cope with the powerful headache that followed his resurrection. The next few minutes were made of convulsions, then, once passed, vomiting.
After several minutes the pains then stopped and Isaac just stood there, still and trying to catch his breath and watching a book floating in front of him, the cover open on a page, after listening to the Admin's message. His mind was a little lost between confusion and annoyance.
In front of him, the rather thick book was opened on a page with the text written:
---
[Entry: Death]
When your body shell reaches a 100% integrity damage threshold, you are considered [Dead]. Once [Dead], your envelope will be rebuilt at your last save point. Your personal effects worn on your body will be left at the site of your death.
You can set a save point at any time and in any non-hostile, non-combat location. This operation requires 30 seconds of summoning and 5 minutes of cooldown between each use.
Warning: A penalty of [Death] will be applied to you as soon as you respawn. The higher your level and the more you die, the more the effects of this sanction will be increased.
---
Isaac shivered as he read the last part of the message.
"Are they going to increase?" he thought, remembering the powerful pain he had just felt and the vomiting that followed.
He then came to shake his head from side to side, unconsciously refusing to not die at all in the future. That feeling, those headaches like you could hear saturated music right in your mind.
The vomiting could attest to the intensity of the pains he had just felt.
He then took the book, closed it and began to think about where to put it just as the latter slipped out of Isaac's hands and vanished into the air as mysteriously as he had appeared.
Several tens of minutes passed before his mind calmed down. After a few more breaths, Isaac then began to taste the bile that had risen from the vomiting.
He then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then began to scan the surroundings, looking specifically at the crater he was in.
Isaac was in the center of the crater, about 5 meters deep. Once lined with blood and bone, you could now see the inside of the crater and the cracks that lined its surface. The earth seemed to have been charred slightly and a thin black layer had settled in some places.
If you strained your ears a little more, you could even still hear cracklings, like those you could hear in the corner of a fireplace. Yet Isaac saw no fire or flame, not even heat.
After a short while of observation, Isaac decided to get up. Observing his body, his hands and his feet, the first thought that occurred to him, besides being in his birth clothes, was the faint white glow his skin seemed to emit.
He then began to pat his skin and began to remove the dirt that was on his arm to take a closer look. To his surprise, Isaac was able to observe a new phenomenon.
As he brushed away the dust, he could notice that he didn't smell much. Aside from the air, the earth did not seem to leave a trace or touch his skin. The thin layer of dust seemed to float a few millimeters without ever touching his arm.
Intrigued by this strange phenomenon, Isaac then undertook a small experiment.
He grabbed a handful of dust and gripped it tightly, closing his fist, forcing it a bit. He then felt the contact of dirt and dust directly on his skin, like before, then opened his hand.
His palm this time had traces of dirt. The dust slowly began to fall, leaving Isaac puzzled and deep in thought, interested in what seemed to be going on.
A force field? "Was his first thought. Of all the stories he had read in his life, the force field seemed to be the logical answer in a technological world.
"But is it really a technological world?" He thought back to what had happened when he arrived in this new world and especially the young woman he had met.
Suddenly Isaac seemed to remember something.
He began to look around frantically, searching for the young woman. But everywhere he could look, there was no one. "She left ?"
Isaac sank into his thoughts again. Why was she gone? Was she busy? She didn't want to stay? So many unnecessary questions whose answers would have to wait until the next time he met her.
"For now, let's see what it is." He again undertook a new experience listening to the crackling and the charred earth around him. "Is that why I don't feel the warmth of the crackle?"
There didn't seem to be any indications. The windows that once accompanied him everywhere were totally gone and no information seemed to come to him as he experimented.
For several tens of minutes, he began to try many things. Among other things, measuring the pressure required to "pierce" this white aura, was the ambient temperature regulated by contact with its aura. So many strange and exciting things to discover.
"This world looks a bit like a game or a virtual simulation. A simulation system, information windows and a control system. Now, why don't I have a status window?" he wondered silently.
With an idea in mind, he placed his hand in front of him, palm open and back towards him, before speaking out loud and clear: "Status window".
After a minute of waiting, Isaac sighed lightly, laughing a little. "It would be too easy," he thought before looking up again towards the crater walls.
Slowly but surely, the young man then began to climb along the walls and gradually climbed back up before finally leaving the crater.
Beyond, a still magnificent view awaited him. A long and large meadow of a bright green, a sky of a pure clear blue punctuated by clouds and trees as tall as buildings lining distant hectares.
Isaac then smiled as he contemplated from the top of his small hill the view he could savor alone and in silence. The air so pure and clear without a hint of pollution, cool and slightly humid, warm air whose breeze blew gently down her hair, carrying it in the air.
Right now, the only thought that filled his mind was how beautiful this world was and how much he wanted to discover it.
It is in this state of mind that the young man then undertook a long walk towards one of the forests, his face smiling and serene without noticing the small blue grass floor lying in the center of the crater.