[A/N: This chapter is subject to potential changes and revisions, so if you see any errors, let me know.]
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[There was an error in the transfer!]
[The candidate's memories have been only partially restored…]
''DAMN IT! NO!''
Breathless, screaming, Luxxan snapped open his eyes to a room that was luxurious beyond the usual comparison with his old home, bought in the hope that he could one day renovate it.
Something he knew very well that he would probably never be able to do, given the pile of debts and loans he still hadn't paid off effectively with the bank.
''This is no time to get lost in futile thoughts...'' Said him, checking his pulse. ''Calm down... Relax...''
Taking a deep breath, the first thing the man did was check his own body and the state it was in, while taking a look around without hesitation.
"Okay…let me see if I understand everything correctly."
Wiping his sweaty forehead on the white sheet of the bed, he sat up.
First of all, if his memories weren't playing useless pranks on him, then, for some unknown reason, and through a medium he had no knowledge of, he'd passed out after falling into an online ambush.
Things had completely gone down the drain right after he opened the website where his favorite novel was published — in fact, to be more specific, the website crashed and redirected him to a mysterious tab.
There, he had to obligatorily answer a question from an unknown user who went by the name '6Last_Seed7', and then it all happened so fast that his memories were fuzzy.
Everything was very vague from then on, frankly.
The only thing he swore he was sure he saw after that was a black silhouette of a tall person who had entered his house, when he suddenly fainted.
''Yea. But what the fuck does all this mean?'' He muttered.
Straightening the posture he was sitting in even more, so that his spine wouldn't hurt later, the college student tried to reason.
''And what's this bed too?'' The youth asked, squeezing the pillow. ''Where the hell am I? — by any chance, was I kidnapped?''
The sensation that screamed comfort, wherever he touched it, genuinely scared him — it was this level of poverty he was used to, to the point where any hint of luxury terrified him.
Besides, with everything he'd been through in those last few hours since he'd blacked out against his own will, it was viable to think he'd been kidnapped by someone.
His assumptions, that he'd been drugged by someone or an organization, or gone through a similar dangerous process, weren't so silly after all.
"The sensations make it clear that it is not a dream. So I can rule out that possibility.'' He stated, now taking a closer look at the entire location he was in.
The windows in the corner of the room were monstrously huge, overlooking the beautiful city below — from which, given the perspective he was in, Lux couldn't see very well.
Hesitating for a moment, he rose from the bed to look out over the glittering city and the passing cars below.
It was bizarre, and the atmosphere of the room did nothing to soften the air of tension.
In addition to that, the room he was in was extremely dark, where the only light that could be seen was the rays of the sun — rising on the distant horizon —, seeping through the windows and serenading the room with its resplendent glow.
Dazed, Lux let out a worried sigh.
''This is a pretty refreshing situation for any kidnapping.''
Blinking cautiously, eyes still groggy, he sought to at least rule out some of his crazy theories so he could come up with some logical statement quickly.
First, it was unlikely that he had been kidnapped, as there was not enough evidence or evidence to shed light on this point — nonetheless, he didn't dismiss that idea, at the time.
Second, maybe things could have gotten out of hand in some binge drinking with his neighbor Raymond, from apartment 502, next to the dump Lux used to call 'home sweet home'.
But, then, how could he explain all this luxury?
Neither he, nor Raymond, had jobs that paid them so well, to the point where they could party all night and still rent a hotel room as tidy as the one Lux was staying in, right now.
That stupid hypothesis was invalidated the moment it was formulated by the university student's mind.
So, desperately, the only thing Lux could claim to know at this point was that he had no idea what was going on.
In short, he knew he didn't know anything, and that was bad. Really bad.
''Right…''
More confused than before, he absently reached into his pocket for his phone, only to stumble on the floor.
Lux groaned loudly as he hit the floor, pulling the bedside desk with him as he plummeted — embarrassed, he gripped his arm in pain and grunted slightly as a troubling event unfolded.
Against his expectations, distant footsteps began to approach at an alarming speed, and before he had a chance to get up to arm himself, the wooden door swung open.
The light from the ceiling lamps in the hall, on the other side of the open wooden door, illuminated the room along with the small traces of the sun's rays.
His drooping eyes ached from the extreme lighting.
''Young master! You've woken up!'' In front of the door, ghostly green eyes greeted Lux, motionless on the floor.
A foreign-looking woman entered the room shortly thereafter — she was the only other person in the room besides Lux, and also the owner of the beautiful lime green eyes.
Worried, in an attempt to try to quell his doubts accumulated on a huge mountain in the few minutes since he'd woken up in that room, Lux instantly stood up and straightened his back.
His lips moved against their will when he asked.
''And who would you be?''
The woman blinked, looking a little stunned by the young college student's speech.
"I… huh… I'm Pharah Mourad, sir. Your personal bodyguard, remember?"'
Finding the joke funny, and the woman's manner suspicious, Lux frowned, almost grimacing.
What the hell was really going on there?
Had people decided to play a severe prank on him or something?
''What do you mean by this stupid dialogue?'' He said, a slight squeaky tone built into the end of the sentence. ''I don't have any bodyguards. This isn't even where I live!"
His impassive, patient facade disappeared from one second to the next.
He had begun to panic completely, as his instincts took control of his rationality and logic, he slowly backed away from the strange woman in front of him.
Not understanding the significance of the man's way of acting, the woman looked surprised and took a step forward, but was stopped midway when Lux lifted his hand.
''Stop! Did you understand? Stop!" Irritated, he ordered imperiously. ''Get away from me!''
Pharah, the woman in the black suit and bow tie, hesitated and stopped at the commands, shouted by the red-haired college boy.
She seemed disturbed by the man's comments.
''Master.'' She said. ''You remember, right?''
''What are you talking about, you crazy girl?''
She ignored the nasty comment Lux made, and continued her explanation.
''You got caught in an elemental attack and suffered a lot.'' The weight in her voice was real. ''This is the first time you've woken up since a week ago when the incident happened.''
Lux shuddered.
His hairs stood on end all over his body.
Gradually, he opened his mouth once more, already beside himself.
''A week ago? I woke up today, just now.'' Retorting, Lux felt as if his heart was going to explode in his chest.
Frankly, who was that woman who claimed to be his bodyguard, insisting on that fact with all her might?
And, above all, where in the world was he?
He grabbed the chest area of the white shirt he was wearing — wait, since when was he dressed in white pajamas in the first place?
''.....!'' Glancing precisely at the scene, Pharah clenched her smooth little fists and cursed as she screamed. ''Doctors-''
Only to look up again, staring into Lux's eyes and his terrified expression.
Embarrassed, she gestured slowly with her hands, as if she were dealing with a small child in the teaching phase, asking the college student to calm down.
"If you wish to know where we are, sir, I must tell you it is a familiar place." She stated. ''Now we're on your penthouse. Do you remember where you live, by any chance?"
He shook his head vigorously.
Not even he, a guy who had suffered all sorts of things in his life, could handle so much bullshit at once.
''No, no, no! I live in a poor house. I'm poor! Is this some kind of prank or dream?!''
However, he couldn't deny reality as it was.
Things were extremely real — from the sensations on his pale Caucasian skin, to the incense of the sweet scent coming from that pretty brown-haired woman in front of him.
Stunned by Lux's statement, the bodyguard took a few steps back.
''Poor? Master, your family is by far one of the most influential and wealthy in the entire country!''
''How? Me, rich?" He made a sign with his fingers, demanding. ''What's my name, at first?''
The woman once again showed surprise, but answered him anyway.
She didn't seem to have the confidence to say anything aggressive to Lux, apparently.
''It's Ezran del Razón Zeebeed, Young Master.''
''W-where... no, let me rephrase: what world are we in?''
''This is Excedia, Master? Literally Earth?'' Replied Pharah. ''We are in the capital of the colony of Glitter, more precisely in southern of it, right now.''
At the mere mention of that word, 'Excedia', Lux's already uncontrolled breathing quickened even more and his palms sweated heavily like a pig's hooves.
Honestly, his nerves were a mess.
Suddenly waking up in a different place, with no idea where he was and what identity he had.
''Leave me alone for a while, please...'' He begged the woman. ''I need some time to think.''
Turning around, he walked away without even looking Pharah in the face.
Relaxing his muscles and heavy shoulders shortly thereafter, and letting out a long sigh of exhaustion as the footsteps disappeared along the hallway outside the room, the distant sound of a door closing sounded in the distance.
Silently, he glanced at his reflection through the window and his heart stopped.
Looking back at him was a face he knew all too well.
That was why he stared at his ghostly reflection in shock.
''.....!''
Looking closely, Ezran confirmed that the person staring at him really was somekind of the teenage 'he'.
A body he had already left behind many years ago.
''What the hell?''
The features he still had looked almost the same, but with a sharper shape that wasn't reminiscents from his old self.
Those bluish eyes looking back at him were also the same color, but with an impressive gleam that he couldn't help but be surprised about.
'Excedia... Ezran del Razón...' He thought.
Lux wanted to avoid it, but things were so surreal it had already become impossible to ignore.
Who would want to admit they'd been transported to an unknown place out of nowhere? Wouldn't that be enough to horrify the average person?
That was why he didn't know if he wanted it to be true, but stammering, the university student finally accepted:
''I'm in a romance?''