In a faraway land where everything are just starting, there lies the vast verdant grassland with no pointy mountains, uneven hills, or forest of trees in sight.
The luscious, full of vigor, plain grass that is half a foot tall and maybe even shorter swayed along with the passing cool breeze coming from somewhere.
It was as though this piece of land were the center of the world. White clouds can be seen on the far-reaching horizons, as though watching towers stood tall, surveying the land.
Some strange plants can be seen growing everywhere, bearing fruits like berries. Animals never seen before would also pass by to eat those as food.
Not far away, there was a pond of clear water. The water was so clear that one could see the shallow bottom, where rocks and some water-based plants grow. There were even fishes that looked transparent swimming around and frolicking near the water surface, blowing bubbles.
Suddenly, an unknown object or a figure fell from the sky. It came crashing into the pond.
BOOM!
A resounding noise rang out upon impact. The water rose and turned into waves that splashed outward.
Splash!
The birds that were leisurely flying around, and the nearby strange animals drinking water from the pond were jolted awaked. Shocked by the sudden event that had just transpired.
They immediately run away in fear, afraid that some sort of predator has awakened and will see them as its food.
It took some time before the churning and splashing water outward receded back to the pond. The water bubbled like one would see in carbonated drinks on earth. A while later, the water started calming down.
The water cleared up a lot, so one can start to see what was on the water. There is an unknown figure of an almost unrecognizable human wearing a tattered and almost destroyed suit underwater. It looked like it had burned as well as frozen together in a short time.
It has little human skin in its burnt body left; its flesh isn't complete either, and even its bones have many broken pieces missing.
Then, it was as though the corpse and the pond water had met some kind of chemical reaction. More and more tiny and innumerable bubbles suddenly came out from every part of the dead body, like one would see in a beverage called Sprite.
Time passed, and day and night alternated. The golden sun and the familiar moon constantly switch places. A young Asian-colored hand tinged with red vitality suddenly came out of the water.
It was as though it wanted to grasp something in the air but was confused about what it was. The clear pond was shallow to begin with, but after the hand returned underwater, the pond water moved, and a figure came out of the water.
It was the former corpse in a tattered suit that fell from above. It was standing in the pond, where the water reached only on its waist. It moved its hand near its face, where it took off its broken helmet.
A young face that looked no different in his early twenties appeared. He had the signature black hair and enigmatic brown eyes of an Asian. He can't be called overly handsome, but he's definitely not ugly.
The young man's eyes were filled with confusion at what he was seeing. But his expression was casually calm, as if nothing fazed him anymore. The edges of his lips curled up as a faint, visible smile appeared on his face.
"Where is this?" he said, a little unfamiliar with his vocal chords. He took off the remaining glove on his hand before throwing it on the shore as he rubbed his neck softly. Then he was a little surprised to find thin his two old hands weren't wrinkled anymore. He looked past it and saw his reflection on the water.
Touching his smooth young face, he raised both eyebrows in amazement, an indescribable feeling fleeting only in his eyes appeared. "I return to my youth." He felt it surreal.
It only took a while before he left the pond and stood on the grassy land. He took his tattered suit, booths, and other clothes he was wearing to the side.
His faint smile was getting wider and wider. "Happiness just came so suddenly. I almost thought of this as a dream. In the end, what happened after that? I should be dead already."
He gazed around him to see anything familiar, like the terrain, but unfortunately, he was lost. "The last thing I remembered before this was having one last look at the scene of the engine pulsing out propelling force with the others before meeting our end from the shocking heat waves."
"Is this earth?" Night passed, and he was wearing his tattered inner clothes and his suit pants plus booths. The upper suit was used as his blanket as he lay down, while the two gloves were at the back of his head, acting as his pillows.
Looking at the stars above, he was once again silently amazed by how clear the sky was at night. There were no signs of any satellites or airplanes passing above during the day or even at night. The wind is fresh, while the temperatures during the day and night are just right and not excessive.
"This isn't earth. I seem to have been transported into another world. I wonder how and why..." He thought back about his home planet. He wondered if it had already successfully left the Earth's orbit.
Pinching himself on the face, he faintly smiled after feeling the tingling pain. His eyes were half closed in wonder as he found it all unbelievable after waking up.
"In the end, this is my new reality. There's no way this super HD-like experience isn't real nor is it just me in a lucid dream. But there is also the probability of this being a virtual world. Maybe this is the afterlife?"
In virtual reality, what if he was already dead and he was revived using virtual reality technology? What if he only had a brain left and what he was seeing now was only what was on the computer?
"Hello? Anybody?" He said it so casually, as though he wasn't calling anyone but just talking to himself. The silence continued for an hour. He sighed, "This should not be a virtual world. Should I injure myself?"
Injuring oneself in this strange place was a foolish action. So he denies doing that. It's better for him to rest for now because another day awaits him tomorrow. "I hope I don't die sleeping this night."
Although it was the dead of the night, the clear stars above shone with twinkling light as they illuminated the vast grassland with their dim light. There was even an aurora appearing not far away.
The clouds on the horizon looked different from their usual white and gray colors. Instead, it seems to tint with various colors, focusing more on violet, pink, and deep blue. "Goodnight."
...
The warm sunshine pierced through the quiet and lonely night. The young man felt his face start warming up as he somehow felt his vision brighten. His right hand blocked what light was hitting him as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Morning already?" He sat up and yawned, feeling refreshed and hungry at the same time. Looking at the beautiful orange sun, he breathed in the fresh morning air in the surroundings as he meditated for half an hour in peace.
He opened his eyes and stood up. "Alright, let's do some simple warm-up exercises." Holding his waist with both hands, he started swaying his hips while he called numbers.
Simple push-ups, curls up, jumping jacks, leg stretching, neck stretching, and more. A while later, he kneeled down near the pond and bowed his head to drink some water and quench his thirst. "Puh~ Ah~. The water is somewhat sweet. Is this from rain or underground?"
What's important now is how to get food. He looked around and found some stones nearby that could be carved and turned into a few stone knives. After searching for more, he started making one.
The grasses around could be made into ropes, albeit not so strong in their hold. It was still helpful in his current predicament. "There are animals I hadn't seen before in this grassland. They should be edible if they lived consuming grasses. There are also berries, which should be edible too. I'll check on them based on how many animals eat them."
An hour later, he weighted the stone knives in his hand and waist before moving towards a not-so-far distance where a herd of wild hares were jumping around near a burrow. There are various mini trees that look like bonsai trees, bearing small cherry-like fruits around them.
The wild hares didn't seem to see or notice him nearing their place as they ate and played around. The young man's eyes turned serious. "The best way to hunt in this terrain is to crawl slowly for now."