Chereads / New World Restart / Chapter 3 - A Cruel Realization

Chapter 3 - A Cruel Realization

Shinzo would be staring at his reflection. ("is... This me?") he pondered to himself. He would feel his face, wiping more blood on himself. Everything he saw in that reflection was real, his horn was rigid and pointy, and his eyes were grey as the moon but lifeless as a corpse, his hair was crimson as the puddle of blood he saw before him.

Shinzo's arms would go limp as he gazed into the reflection. ("Why... Why was I reborn as a monster?...") He would look up at the orange-ish sky. Tears dripped down his face, this isn't what he yearned for, he wanted to be reborn as an ordinary human, and live an ordinary life again. He didn't want to be some monster.

Shinzo would then look down at the blood-stained grass again ("At least I'm alive again?... Right?") he would try to conjure himself as he realized it was already sundown. One more tear would slip from his face as he pressed off the ground in an attempt to stand up. His legs would quiver under his weight as he got up, and he would take a few steps before relaxing on the side of a tree, using it to carry some weight off him.

He would weakly roam the forest, looking for a lake or at least a river to clean himself off with. Even though he looked like a monster, being smeared with blood is an even worse look. He would resume walking, leaving a small trail of blood behind him. After a couple of minutes of searching, he found a pond that leads to a waterfall. He would first take off his blood-stained attire and scrub out the blood in the pond.

He would then arrange them up on a branch to dry as he slowly got into the pond to clean himself off. The water was freezing but refreshing, he would try his best to rub the blood off him. It would slightly color the calm blue water around him light red.

Shinzo would submerge his head under the water for a couple of moments before rocketing back up and shaking the water out of his hair, he's entirely blocked out the incident that occurred hours ago and enjoyed himself in the pond. It was midnight when he got out of the pond. He didn't have anything to dry himself off with, so he just put his clothes on over his soaked body.

When Shinzo has finished dressing, he would look around the pond in the foliage for sticks, twigs, and rocks. Once he got enough he would build himself a makeshift campfire. It was dark out and a bit chilly, he needed It to sleep somewhat comfortably.

Shinzo would attempt a fire-starting method he saw on TV in the old world. He would twist and twist the stick with all his might but it sadly failed. He would just end up snapping the branch or missing and digging into the dirt.

With his body exhausted from the previous incident and the failed branch twisting. He would become desperate and think to himself about what to do. ("This is an unknown world... What if IT exists here?") he would think about the gemstone on the stick and how the top of that stick was wrapped around the gem. He would cautiously back away from the pile of sticks and stretch out his arm and opens his hand, aiming his palm at the sticks.

Shinzo would close his eyes and think about shooting a blast of fire toward the sticks, he would think about the circling air in his palm, the warmth of the flame, and the force that would send it. Shinzo would open his eyes and see a ball of fire in his palm, he felt the warmth of the fire too, but it didn't burn him. The thing that interested him most was that the flame wasn't red, it was blue. The flame was a dark blue with a flicker of white here and there.

He would think about a pressure propelling the flame at the sticks and then WOOSHHH. The flame glides toward the sticks and causes a small flare-up and then starts a fire. Shinzo's eyes would flutter as he gazed at his palm, ("IT EXISTS! MAGIC EXISTS!!") Shinzo would let out a yelp of exhilaration as he found out, but a chilly blow of wind hushed him down. He would sit by the fire, using it to warm himself up, and his heart would be still throbbing at the fact that magic exists.

Shinzo would watch as the flame, he made out of nothing scorched and crackled. It would surprisingly burn through the sticks quite quickly so, he would need to add more and more until they were all gone which caused him to search for some more. It seemed like the flame he produced was stronger than a regular fire.

He would raise his hand and stare at it once more, ("Is this all I can do?") he would think curiously, he didn't know the full capacity of his abilities but he also didn't know what would happen if he overused them.

Shinzo would let out a sigh upon thinking about the setbacks, he was still quite depleted from the incident in front of the cave. So he didn't want to overuse his abilities and die of exhaustion. He would put his hand back into his lap and look up at the night sky, there was barely any light pollution, and the only source of light was the greyish Blue Moon and the fire in front of him.

He would let out a yawn before laying on the ground, after escaping that cave and the experience that happened after it, he was quite drowsy and deserved a rest. He would lay his head on his arms before dosing off while thinking about finding a way to get out of this forest once he awakened. The birds were sleeping and not a single sound could be heard. It was perfect for resting, his eyes would close and his mind would go blank.

But just then, Shinzo's eyes would shoot open, but he wasn't awake, he wasn't in the forest anymore either. Everything was dim and clouded. A heavy fog roamed near his feet. He heard nothing and he saw nothing. Is this a dream or is this real? What is happening?