A drool jammed with bubbles leaked from his dry lips out of nowhere. Astounded by the cleanliness and whiteness of the place, his eyes fought the closing shells upward to regain himself from reality.
"Is this heaven?"
"Am I dead?"
"Then, how did I die?"
Khali tilted his head and pointed his eyesight to the farthest distance it could reach. His index finger flew onto his head and scratched a single area where his memory of the past could be dug. While removing some blockage, Khali's eyebrows pointed in the same direction downward, meeting its glabella. A fast picture of the earlier event flashed.
"Ahh," Khali said as he moved his busy finger in front of him, pointing to a clearer image of his recollection.
'That's right. The man earlier. I saw him jump in front of us then...' A thought ran into his mind.
"Hello?"
He roamed for a moment, then asked,
"Is anybody here?"
The floating quote "Welcome" vanished in the air. A black portal appeared at the back of Khali. A small step out of the portal made Khali turn around.
"Hi." A hypnotizing soft voice from a beautiful woman said as it appeared in front of him.
Khali's body turned sideways. His heart stopped beating, then beating louder and louder and as fast as it got. You could even hear his heartbeat a meter away. The portal disappeared into thin air.
'She's so beautiful,' words that ran into his mind.
An earthly-goddess figure, her golden eyes shined like a diamond. Anyone who looks at her falls in love with her, as she has the most perfect white-freckled face. She wore a gold halo crown face chain which made her look like a goddess. Her purity glowed in her white dress.
Khali's time seemed to run slower than it was. His heart pumped like a volcano blowing up inside of him while looking at her. He closed his eyes like a turtle, together with his mouth wide open. Hypnotized by her beauty, he couldn't move a bit.
"I am Eve, your guardian."
Khali stood like a baby. Something must have stopped his feet from walking. Was it her face? Her voice? Or just her mere presence?
"Eve," he muttered, as his feet felt numb. His daydreaming ended as Eve called his name.
"Khali."
"How do you know my name?" he replied. He hadn't met this woman before, and this place was unfamiliar to him.
"You are in a game called Wanderers Online. You are now a Wanderer."
"A what?!"
"We call every player of this game a Wanderer."
"Hold on, I'm in a game?!" he then asked. His world trembled, like an earthquake shaking his mind.
'There's no way I'm in a game,' he thought. He became iffy, reaching his head once more to recollect his memory, but no signs of a picture showed up. He can't remember anything.
"Yes, you're now in a game. As part of the terms and conditions of this game, your memory is temporarily gone. That's why you can't remember anything from your past." Eve responded.
'They erased my memory?!' Khali's eyes popped out as he gathered his thoughts. He remained silent for a while. He can't process anything.
'Why am I even here?' 'How did I get here?' These questions bothered his mind.
"If you don't have any further questions, I will now introduce you to the game," said Eve.
His head nodded as if he were letting her continue talking. He still can't believe he's in a game and his memory was gone. How could anyone think at this moment?
Eve then swiped his right hand in the air, changing the picture of the entire area. Their world changed into something unimaginable. The surroundings shifted from one picture to the other, like the scene in the sci-fi film Lucy. It showed the different scenes of Wanderers Online.
"There are Seven Worlds in this game. The Dead City, Dungeon of Monsters, Lava World, Forest of Skulls, Spring of Death, Bubble Island, and Ghost Mountain. You must complete all the challenges in these worlds to get the prize of $10 Million Dollars."
Khali's head turned right away to the floating $10 Million Dollar sign in front of him. You can see the image of money flying in his eyes. His heart pumped as if it had just come back from death, after knowing he could bring home that huge amount of money. This could change his life. His lips reached his ears, feeling like he was on top of the world.
Eve continued to tell him further instructions until Khali's excitement cut her sentence.
"If you failed to finish this game…" —
"No, no, no, no. Enough with this. I want to start now. Tell me how to start this game. I'm ready." He said. His eyes filled with determination.
His actions shocked Eve. She looked concerned about him. However, she followed what she's been told to. So, she introduced Khali to the game.
Space turned to a white, quiet place after Eve raised her hand. Khali looked over his shoulder, observing how it twisted into a white space. An angelic voice sang a heavenly song. It was Eve. Her voice produced a lullaby that could make one go to sleep.
Khali looked surprised and dumbfounded. He gulped as Eve floated in the air, like an angel in the sky. After singing, she hovered near Khali's face. Her finger touched Khali's forehead, and everything turned white.
"Khali. Khali."
An echoing voice surrounded his ears. He was lying on the ground. His eyes opened as he recognized the face of Eve looking down at him. He sat for a while. He observed his surroundings. It wasn't white space anymore. It's green and full of plants and trees.
"Where are we?"
"We're in Heaven,"
"Heaven?!" Khali stood up from the ground. He couldn't hide his anxiety. How could he not believe he's dead knowing he's now in heaven? Won't anyone get surprised as he was?
"Relax. This is still part of the game." She smiled as she saw how Khali's stressed face faded.
"New players are safe in Heaven. This is where they meet other players." Eve continued.
"So, now what?"
Eve swiped her hand, and a high-tech watch attached to Khali's hands.
"WOW!"
"This is your watch. It contains almost everything you need to know about yourself. Just tap it and it will show everything in the air,"
Smiling all over his face, you can see how surprised he was. He can't take his eyes off the watch. Amazed by its appearance, he tapped the watch and it popped something into the air.