Have you ever woken up with a sore throat, a heavy head, blurry eyes, and unresponsive limbs? Besides these, you find yourself in an unknown location, wondering what the actual fuck happened?
Hold on to this sensation.
Now imagine retracing your steps, picking up clues, meeting people for the first time, remembering grand gestures you'd wish they would never remember, and finally solving the puzzle of What-the-actual-fuck-happened.
If this realization had been done behind bars, the adventure would have been too wild. If you wake up beside your ex, the adventurer is stupid. Inside a basement, if you're on your lonesome, and in a pinch, if you are unlucky. Either way, in reality, all your grand adventures during last night were rather bland. Another wasted day of memories, which you still can't recall.
Remember the sensation you were holding onto? Crank it up a notch, up until your imagination says otherwise. Now, before your mind can comprehend the physical backlash, you gain perfect recall, remembering the adventures of last night to be a legendary one.
This is my current status: memories filled with fantasies my overthinking mind couldn't imagine and a sore body for proof.
Deep down, Tetsu always wondered if he could access his screen while his brain was off or unconscious. He tried accessing his system with his eyes closed, and it worked. Now he wanted to check with his brain switched off. For one, he wasn't willing to risk his life to test this theory and, as an opportunity presented itself, he wasn't able to recall a single thing.
"Fuck it!" Tetsu dismissed yet another mystery for later.
Back to stressing about matters he can control. Tetsu spots a few more trees and many more birds being hunted by grass. "You don't see that every day…" Tears trickle down his cheeks. "Or any day."
Stealing his breath and wiping away his tears, Tetsu readied himself for the next round. He didn't have the luxury to mope around or question ridiculous phenomena. Since he first encountered the system screen, he accepted what he saw, no matter the absurdity, and survived thus far based on split decisions. Split as in a minute or two after overthinking.
Any disbelief in the impossible or time wasted over pointless emotions and he would have been long dead. He patted himself on the back one last time, planning his next move.
"Level one killed me... Nearly!" Tetsu grunts. "Fuck level two." Tetsu pushed himself onto his knees.
The Blade-grass were still varied of him. They flipped from sharp your-dead stance to we are just swaying, harmless tiny grasslings.
Some animal instinct in Tetsu warned him about the grasslings next move. He knew they waited for him to let his guard down. One false move, one misstep, one truth about his true abilities, and he will not live until level two.
"Painful though it might be. Level two is still better than the end." Tetsu told himself.
Grasslings picked up on his sudden confidence as they swayed away from Tetsu. Faint though as it may be, Tetsu's instincts picked up and transmitted the information.
One move to decide the winner.
Tetsu kinda understood the concept of mana, while some unknown sense told him the grasslings farther away gathered mana to attack. Like a constipated patient, he released quick, short bursts of mana from his entire body. He had a hunch these Mana blasts frightened the grasslings upfront. They comically tried to rip themselves off the ground in an attempt to run away, but the grasslings farther away forced them to stay.
"Move." Tetsu forces another blast with a groan, warning the grasslings. "Why sacrifice yourself for those cowards?" He tried to persuade the grasslings upfront.
Part of Tetsu mocked him for considering each grass blade as an individual, while the rest kept an open mind. After all, he did have a crazy night or a crazy decade? His clock was still a mess, but his internal justice told him not to harm anyone. They did what they had to do to survive and, as it happens, so did Tetsu. He held no hatred against the grasslings, even if they ended up the victor.
Each Mana blast drew way too much energy. A glance into his stats would've shown his fatigue meter spiking by the second. With his goal in sight, Tetsu ignored his body and ran on pure adrenaline.
He stepped and the grass beneath his feet flattened. None of them sharpened, fearing his wrath, while Tetsu himself didn't scorch any grasslings. For one, he didn't know how to, nor he would've if he could've. Grass or not, they fought to survive and part of him respected their choice.
All along, Tetsu threatened with words he couldn't back and power he had no control over. One step at a time, he covered a mile. A mile, according to Tetsu; ten meters as per Earth's standards.
After reaching a clearing of a two-meter radius, he passed out. Four hours later, he would get back onto his feet and find the clearing shortened to a meter. With a casual shrug, he ignores the threat and moves to the next safe zone.
He repeated this process a few times. Each time the Blade-grass got more confident, reducing his safe zone as he slept, while each time Tetsu traveled longer, shortening his break and increasing his distance.
With his mind off, Tetsu ignored the absurdity of his situation and his curious mind that demanded answers. He also skipped on his experiments that taught him valuable lessons. Once he reached his final safe zone, Tetsu passed out for one last time.
Once lost, either it is time or a bond, either it is physical or emotional, will desire, with your whole heart, or dwelling over it, get it back?
Well, in his current predicament, maybe. But based on his past life as an earthling, it's a hard no! With a full understanding of this, Tetsu sulked for a solid day before he decided to move on.
Heading back into the grass fields was a dumb idea. The grasslings figured out Tetsu's bluff as he sulked and now threw their brethren as live shuriken, while Tetsu dragged his sulking ass out of range.
After many pointless sacrifices and Tetsu crawling out of range, the grasslings took the second round of sulking.
Tetsu took into account the amount of time he might have wasted, the depth of his cuts, and all the lost experience to decide the results.
"Draw." He concludes. "That's only because I managed to live." A blade of grass flies past him, bearly missing his head. "By pure damn luck." He adds.
Tetsu falls back and continues to sulk over his first hunt—grass.
"Fuck, there's no way I am starting with this story." Tetsu agrees with himself, then turns onto his belly and crawls away.
Once he felt the Blade-grass couldn't reach him anymore, he puffed his chest out and hunted for his first prey–Alleged first prey.
First came the safe house. Tetsu knew its value from his last fight, which he shall never reveal. After inspecting a lonesome tree over a hilltop, he marks it as his safe zone. Surrounded by rocky plain grounds, he could spot any approaching threat while he hunts for his next prey.
Imagining himself as a hunter made him chuckle, and as soon as his pathetic match against the grasslings crossed his mind, his smile swiftly turned into tears.
"Safehouse, check." Tetsu made himself a go-to guide for the tutorial. "Next comes research." He creates an imaginary second point. "Rule number two. Know your shit about your opponent."
"If grass is too strong?" Tetsu's gaze wanders around. "What can I take on?" He imagined the worst-case scenarios and shuttered. "Think positive." He assures himself.
After a while, he spots a Rino. Needless to say, this creature only came close to resembling a Rino. With short hefty limbs and a bulky body, Tetsu decided to call it a Rino.
He ignored the huge cavity in place of its horn. "Humans are already here." He told himself. He ignored its lower half, which was made of a mixture of gemstones and metal. "Stuff skin." He nodded. Last but not least, he ignored the plump pinkish skin wobbling in place of its second half. "Hmmm, mmmh." He stroked his chin. "Rino." He named the unknown beast. "No way in fuck I am fighting you." He turns away.
If he had to choose one, Tetsu would pick the Blade-grass to quench his curious mind. This gorgeous beast would have to wait its turn.
Tetsu pulls out his screen, looks at the missing notifications, and screams inwardly, not wanting to give the wobbly Rino any reason to attack. "Check the one thing you have." Tetsu edited his imaginary guide. "Rule uno–numo Check your shit."
Tetsu opened his system, skipping through the obvious warning of fatigue damaging the shell, estimated recovery time, mana exhaustion, and many other vital clues for staying alive.
"huh-huh." Tetsu scans and ignores the system warnings. "Not important at the moment." He schooled his screen as if it took notes. "I will worry about them when there is no one around trying to kill me."
A blade of grass glides through the wind, amputating a branch of the tree Tetsu stood under. The branch nearly misses Tetsu's head, falling beside him with a thud.
Instead of losing speed, the Blade-grass rotates faster. [Double impact] it uses its final skill, curving through the air as it returns to finish the job.
Over its bad luck or Tetsu's sudden fortune, even this time around, the winds weren't in the grass's favour.
A strong up wind blew the Blade-grass of course as it dug into the trunk, leaving a deep scar, until it stopped. Half of the Blade-grass was lodged inside the tree trunk, while the other half went limp, flapping over Tetsu's forehead.
"Case and point." Tetsu sighs at the screen as his legs give away.
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Once Tetsu regained some sense and sensations in his limbs. He used his hands to straighten his legs, which still slept like they were dead. With the tree at his back, he pushes himself flat on the group.
"Need to move." He pats his legs. "Otherwise you won't have a body left to move."
When his legs didn't listen to threats, Tetsu tried reasoning, bribing, and until he finally gave up. "Fine, stay down. See if I care." He falls back, hurting his head on the rocky surface. "Ow!" He grunts.
A gentle breeze graces his heavy, sweaty body. His eyes roll around as the gentle blue sky turns murky orange. The rough sand beneath him felt more luxurious than any five-star hotel's bed. While the only normal tree around gave the perfect shade, making Tetsu witness his first sunset under a warm shadow.
As the sun dissolved behind the curtains of an unknown world, night fell. Like a light switch turned off, the world fell into darkness, until stars from a forgotten galaxy decided there would be light.
How long has it been since the world hid its night light from us? Was it our greed, negligence, or busy lives that kept us from witnessing the world beyond our reach?
Tetsu did not know. His memories were only filled with dark skies and a projector that couldn't do justice to the magnificent sight he withheld.
We wrecked the moon, colonized Mars, and took the next big step. Yet, for a view like this, Tetsu would trade everything in a heartbeat.
Stars fell. New stars took their place. Colors filled the skies and mist covered the Earth. Owls and wolfs sang. In tune, the crickets and frogs joined the melody. A chill ran down Tetsu's privates. He shivered and rolled up into a ball.
"Ding!" He tried to replicate the system's notification sound. "Get a trouser... or a boxer, ahh..." He yawns. "First thing in the morning."
One by one, his body parts gave out. Except for the magical sky, the scent, sounds, and ground reminded him of home.
Home?
No way.
Tetsu jerks himself up. This is the exact sensation he experienced during the AI nature reserve, back on Earth.
Tetsu exerts mana from his upper body, pushing himself onto his legs in one swoop motion. On his feet, he remembers his legs still didn't respond and went face down back to the ground.
Thug! He hits the rocky floor, now his hands and half of his face not responding. Knowing he reached his physical limit, he laid still. His eyes kept panting around in hopes to see what killed him in the end. Once he realized what a stupid idea that was, he relaxed his entire body, cursing his first trail, first hunt. In which he was the hunted, not the hunter. The realization of being useless hit him harder than anything else. His shell, soul, and mind gave up on him as he closed his eyes, leaving rest to luck
The lowest stat he got!
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