The smell of rainwater bursts through my nose as I open my eyes. I can see the blue sky piercing through the gray clouds.
As I try to lift my body, I felt a nostalgic sensation pouring into me.
I looked around and saw nothing, but rather the vast blue ocean and a golden sun in the sky.
I walked on the ocean below me. Every step I made is a ripple traveling across a thousand miles.
After walking for a while, the ripples stopped. I was greeted with a flash in my eyes and saw a blob of golden liquid in front of me.
What is this? It wiggled as if it was angry to see me. Then, it suddenly jumped onto my face and tried to drown me.
I tried to claw it off of me, but it wouldn't work.
"This damn slime, what are you planning to do?!"
I dunked my head on the ocean below me. Surprisingly, it began to separate into pieces.
I was about to turn my back after looking at its body into shreds, I started bleeding gold blood.
I can feel my eyes and nose getting numb and my senses unresponsive.
"Fuck this shit. I'm not dying again."
I started tolerating everything and began to walk.
Eventually, the bleeding stopped. My senses are responsive again, but my eyes and nose are still numb.
After hours of walking with no thought, my eyes and nose are sensitive again, and I began to smell rainwater.
Something feels off with my left eye, it's as if I can see more clearly than my other eye. I looked into the ocean to see my reflection, and my left eye is now gold.
Nevertheless, I never gave it thought and continue walking.
Countless hours have passed, and I have reached the end of the blue sky. My legs felt more bulkier than usual, but my upper body is still the same.
In the end, I can see an invisible border that reaches beyond the skies.
I tried touching the border, and it reacted like water, sending ripples of waves that flow at irregular intervals.
Suddenly, the border vibrated, making a humming sound. Out of nowhere, the border began to open countless black eyes, and started to look at me with cautious evaluation.
Nonetheless, I stood firm and placed my hand on the wall, pushing it firm and hard. From the looks of it, the border wasn't happy with my decision and tried to stop me.
It began to throw countless weapons from the sky facing toward me. Knowing I can't dodge it, I tried to brute force myself through the border.
Eventually, I was able to make it through and what greeted me beyond the border was the forest that I had been in countless hours ago.
I can see Eta at the corner of the tent holding a needle with a surprised look on her face.
"You were supposed to be dead!" Eta said while directly pointing at me with a needle. I told her to put the needle down, as I am afraid of anything small and pointy.
Eta cautiously approached me, examining every nook and cranny of my body.
"your left eye is now gold," Eta said while rubbing her chin. Now that I think of it, she's not wearing her hood, and I can see cat ears coming out from her head.
Eta looks like one of those cat girls I watched in anime during my past life. Her hair is black and all curly and short, and her eyes are pitch black with straight eyelashes.
I haven't realized yet, but she is wearing round eyeglasses. I can still see her white lines protruding from her cheek, presumably whiskers, which are bothering me.
I looked into my arm and saw numerous injection attempts made by Eta. Confused, I asked her,
"What is this?"
"Oh, I tried to extract some blood from you to know what kind of poison you've been struck," Eta replied.
"But for some reason, I can't pierce your skin. Let alone even damage it." Eta followed up.
I asked her, "Why do you need my blood to know what kind of poison I've been dealing with?"
Eta explained to me that this world has at least 2 million different kinds of poisons. Ranging the severity from mild to catastrophic, and the complexity from simple to incomprehensible.
"Poisons can take different shapes and sizes. For example, the poison that I extracted from your wounds can at least kill Five 3rd Tier Magicians in one go.
The structure of it is complex to the point most antidotes won't work but rather heal or purifying spells from a 4th Tier Magician can," Eta explained to me.
Realizing what she had done for me, I thanked Eta for saving my life by sincerely bowing down to her. It's quite cute seeing her being surprised with a sudden thanks.
With most of my wounds gone, and some strange things happening in my body, I went out of the tent, only for me to be greeted by 3 cloaked men with wooden masks.
My left eye immediately reacted violently and started moving on its own without any force.
I can see a few dozen more people hiding behind some trees, charging their bows and directly aiming at me.
"Hey, how about you raise your hands and kneel before anything happens." the man holding the flag said.
I raised my hands slowly and before I dropped to my knees, I heard something from the tent.
"Click!"
I felt a strong gust of wind flies right above my head, hitting the man holding the flag, immediately followed by an explosion.
After the dust was clear, all that was left is their pile of burnt cloth.
I saw Eta come out of the tent looking all smug and happy as she is carelessly holding a weapon that is oddly similar to a rocket launcher.
I had nothing to say but to just look in awe at the highly destructive weapon or so-called rocket launcher in a fantasy world.
Well, it looks like those guys hiding behind trees have already left, I guess they don't want to be blown into nothing.
Looks like we can rest now. The sun is already rising but I'm feeling drowsy. I think I'll go take a nap somewhere-
Suddenly, a dense cluster of mana surged throughout the forest, sending a wave that can kill a lot of smaller life forms.
An orb of black light suddenly formed above the sky near the rising sun.
It started to spew electric currents and shrunk into the size of a marble, followed by more orbs of black light.
Before I can react, the orbs started to beam a line, the lines then began to move violently and fast to the point that only the afterimage was left.
I began to hear multiple trees falling, and the tree beside me was unknowingly cut in half.
After that, the orbs began to descend quickly, followed by multiple small explosions that quickly bombarded the whole area for a moment.
The area that was left is a crater, filled with black flames devouring the exploded trees and stones that are turning into liquid.
I can see the purple-haired girl holding a red sword in her right hand standing on top of a tree, and Alpha with a bandage on both shoulders and on the left leg.
From above, I can see a man wearing a gray tuxedo and pants with a pitch-black right arm. I can feel a dense amount of mana coming from that.
"Let's conclude this child's play, shall we?" Neksha suggests to Yara. "I have a lot of secrets up my sleeves, better save it for something big."
Yara replied, "In a year, I will surpass you." while pointing the blade to Neksha with a serious face.
"I will wait for you," Neksha replied as he coats himself with mana and disappeared.
The sun had risen and is now illuminating the forest. The black flames are now gone and all that's left are smooth craters from melted stones.
I approached Yara to ask some questions, but she ignored me. That guy must have said something that hurt her.
Alpha pats my shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it, she was struck by reality."
"But, aren't you dissatisfied too? From the looks of it, that guy was leagues ahead of her." I said to him.
"It is what it is. Well, let's get moving. I'll carry you this time." Alpha replied.
I haven't seen Alpha's face, so I tried to take a peek, but he was quick to catch on.
"Haha. Trying to take a look at my face? Well, there's no point in hiding it and I also trust you." Alpha removed his hoodie, revealing an elf ear with green hair.
His face is rather simple, somewhere in his 20s. A smooth yet hard face, with light green eyes and a soothing smile.
"Oh, I never realized it just now, but your left eye turned yellow," Alpha said to me.
"Alot has happened." I replied.
I heard Eta calling from a distance, telling us to pack up. I looked back at the crater and wondered, "Will I be able to do something like this?"