The scent of anesthetics. The soft footsteps surrounding her. The quiet, sterilized air. The whirs of machines and tubes encompassing her.
The twenty-seven-year-old was much too familiar with it all having spent 8 years in that hospital room, an age much too young to even be bedridden for that long.
8 years ago, a girl with a bright future was suddenly plunged into despair on an unfortunate morning as she was diagnosed with an incurable fatal disease; a disease that would wane all of her senses one by one as the days go by.
She was unafraid of death. Well, perhaps not unafraid. She wasn't resentful of her fate nor was she upset that she would slowly wither away. Possibly the years of being stuck in that same hospital room is what caused her to feel that way.
The first sense she lost was hearing. Due to this, her caretakers at the hospital halted communication with her after a while. They found it futile to talk to a person that couldn't hear and didn't consider the effects this would have on the patient. Afterall, she was just a test subject to them. Something to figure out. They weren't trying to find a cure for her sake but for the benefits it could bring them.
However, all she wanted was some company. A shoulder to rest her tired head on and complain about her unfair fate. Something she was never offered. So as time went by, she felt lonelier by the year. As an orphan, she had no one that would care for her and visit except the caretakers.
To gratify her loneliness, she found a way to stay entertained. Throughout the 8 years she spent hospitalized in that white, secluded room, she had finished reading hundreds of online novels. She only stopped when she was forced to after all her senses dissipated. From hearing to smell, then touch.
As her eyesight disappeared and she closed them for the last time, she had only two wishes. Someone to talk to… and to read more novels.
While she fell into an endless sleep, she felt as though someone was responding to her last wishes.
[Acquiring Unique Skill, Wisdom Monarch.]
[Acquiring T10…]
[…]
.
.
.
.
'Feels nice…' I thought as I felt the early morning sun warmth on my face. Sleepily, I roll around in bed before I realize something.
'Sunlight…'
'...Sunlight!??' My eyes open with a jolt. I haven't felt anything for a few years. 'I can see too?? How is this possible?? Hold on...'
I took a closer look and could see that this wasn't my hospital room. Confused, I tried moving my body. Although it felt heavy and I lacked control, I could move it a little. 'Did I get cured? But that shouldn't be possible… I'm sure I died…'
To explore, I direct my eyes around where I could. The unfamiliar ceiling, the wooden bars… the wooden bars??
'A crib…?'
I found this situation a bit too familiar. I raised my hands to my eye-level. 'Small hands and stubby fingers… it can't be.'
I squint my eyes at my small hands, scrutinizing them, unbelieving the theory I came up for this situation. From the novels I read on my sick bed, I loved reincarnations, regressions, transmigrations, etc., the most. I can't help think that I, myself, have been reincarnated much like the main characters I've read about.
I marvel at my small hands. How it was possible, I did not know. I could not decide whether to be puzzled, confused, or be happy that my senses had returned after suffering for so long.
I look further around the room I was in and was quite thrown aback. Calling the room shabby and run-down would be an understatement; it looked as though it could fall apart at any second.
'…would I have a family in this life?'
But after taking a look around, it seems I shouldn't let my hopes up.
Four days pass by and whatever hope I had left had already dissipated considering not a single soul appeared within that run-down house. However, she did notice something strange.
Four days has passed. As a baby, I should get hungry at least within 2-4 hours. But no matter how much time had passed, I did not hunger. How strange.
Just as I was thinking that, something even stranger happened.
[Initiating Awakening sequence.]
'…? Who…?'
[Recognizing and registering master: Zenais Hortensia.]
[Awakening sequence complete in 5... 4...]
'Wadafaq.' Utterly confused, I could only entertain a ridiculous expression as the robotic voice continued with what they were saying.
[3... 2... 1.]
The countdown finished. As soon as it did something akin to a soft electric shock ran through my body, a little similar to a light cramp. 'What was that-?'
[You have just experienced my awakening, Master.], said the robotic voice all of a sudden, it's voice still resounding in my mind.
'What the absolute fuck is going on.'
It wasn't a question directed at the voice but it still answered. [Master, feel free to ask any question you please. I'll do my best to clear your doubts.]