Heavy...
My body feels incredibly heavy...
I try to move my fingers, but I can't...
Where am I?
Where am I?
I slowly try to open my eyes, but there's nothing around me, everything appears dark.
It doesn't take me long to realize that my body is sinking, slowly but surely. I begin to move my body, and it feels truly heavy.
"WAKE UP!"
What? Who?
Suddenly, I hear a voice that is very deep, echoing, and extremely loud, as if a giant is ready to step on me at any moment.
"WAKE UP, DARIO!"
I try to locate where the voice is coming from, but it's futile, everything is completely dark. I don't even know if I have opened my eyes or not.
"IT'S NOT YOUR TIME!"
A bright light appears right in front of my face. Is this light the one speaking to me?
"YES! IT'S ME SPEAKING TO YOU!"
Wha-what? Is he reading my thoughts?
"I AM WHAT YOU CALL GOD!"
"I AM WHAT YOU CALL A DEITY!"
"I AM WHAT YOU CALL THE CREATOR!"
"AND I AM WHAT YOU CALL THE DESTROYER!"
"IT'S NOT YOUR TIME TO DIE YET, DARIO TURNER. I WILL REVIVE YOU."
The light disappears soon after speaking. I don't know what it means, but does that mean I'm already dead?
So, where am I right now?
Slowly, I begin to move my body, and it turns out what I've been thinking all along is true—I feel like I'm inside water.
Wait, I'm starting to struggle for breath!
Then I see a tiny speck of light, and I believe that light is the surface of the sea. I hurriedly swim towards the light, and finally, I manage to reach the surface.
Wait, wasn't I just in the sea earlier?
But, WHERE AM IIII???
I stand up and look around. I know this isn't my room; it's not an area I'm familiar with.
I see many strange trees that I've never seen before. Am I in a forest?
I gaze at the bright blue sky, but there are fast-moving clusters of white clouds. Are they really clouds?
I start walking towards a deeper part of the forest. There are so many unfamiliar plants and trees. My surprise doesn't cease there.
I also begin to encounter some strange creatures. They hang from the trees like monkeys, but they have fangs and long, large arms, and their bodies are covered in scales like a fish.
The deeper I explore this forest, the more unfamiliar creatures I encounter. There are insects with pincers the size of basketballs, walking trees, and many more.
I traverse this strange forest with a mix of emotions. I don't know how to express these feelings—should I be scared? Amazed? Curious? Everything is happening too fast and there's so much for my mind to digest.
But as I observe my surroundings more closely, the number of these monkeys increases. They all watch me while keeping a distance. Have I entered their territory without permission?
And true enough, I hear the sound of tree branches moving. The sound grows louder as if something is hanging among those trees, and shortly after, a creature appears. Its body resembles that of Bigfoot, but this creature also carries a sword twice its size.
"LEAVE! GET OUT OF MY TERRITORY, OR I WILL KILL YOU!!!"
The sudden scream from the creature startled me. I began to run away as fast as I could, leaving the group of monkeys behind. I had ventured too deep into the forest that I had lost my way back.
"CHASE HIM!! AND MAKE SURE HE NEVER RETURNS HERE AGAIN!!!"
Hey, hey, are you serious?
The creature's shout echoed loudly. Even though I had run about ten meters away from it, it still sounded as if the monkey was screaming right in front of my face.
As I ran away from the monkey pack, it didn't take long for me to realize that they were chasing me. It seemed that the talking creature was the leader of this monkey group.
Wait, I only just realized that the creature could speak. Where am I, actually?
I ran as fast as I could, trying to distance myself from the monkey pack. The more I ran, the fewer trees and plants there were, and the sunlight became brighter. I was sure that I was running in the right direction.
And it didn't take long for me to realize that there was a large river ahead. I glanced back and saw that the strange monkeys were no longer following me. It seemed that this river was beyond their territory.
I was truly exhausted. Being chased by a group of strange monkeys was truly terrifying. I walked slowly toward the river in front of me. I drank from the river to quench my thirst.
After drinking, I looked around. As far as my eyes could see, the river seemed to be endless. I couldn't even see its end. Moreover, on one side of the river, there seemed to be a cluster of smoke and what sounded like human voices. Perhaps there was life there!
Without much thought, I immediately walked toward that spot. Honestly, I was still trying to process what had just happened.
As far as I could remember, I was in front of my computer in my room, playing a game, and...
Oh, it seems that lightning struck my house...
And I got struck too?
Wait a minute, does this mean I'm inside the game world?
If that's true, does it mean I'm dead? And I've been reincarnated?
All of this has really made me dizzy. I stopped in my tracks and stooped down to drink from the river again.
After drinking, I was suddenly shocked to see my reflection in the river. This is completely different from my face!
No! This is not me!
What is this?! Sharp eyes, red hair, a fairly muscular body, and a stature like an 18-year-old child. This is definitely not my body!
Sigh, it seems that I really have been reincarnated. It can be concluded that I died from the lightning strike.
However, no matter how hard I think about it, everything really doesn't make sense. How can being struck by lightning and dying lead to being reborn in such a strange world?
The more I think about it, the more my head hurts.
I try not to dwell on it. I continue walking towards the cluster of smoke. The closer I get, the thicker and larger the smoke becomes, and there are many voices of humans and even animals.
And now I'm at the edge of a cliff, about 10 kilometers below where I'm standing. I see many buildings arranged neatly, like a kingdom. The billows of smoke I see are actually coming from the burning buildings. Many people have been killed, and many are running for their lives.
As far as the eye can see, all I can comprehend from the scene is a war, and there are a tremendous number of people engaged in the battle, so many that they look like a swarm of ants attacking a kingdom.
And the most unbelievable part is the animals. The creatures they ride on are truly bizarre. I see some that can fly and breathe fire, some that are so large they can break through walls, and others that run incredibly fast and agile.
The series of phenomena I've experienced in a single day is truly confusing. It started with the strange forest, encountering the peculiar monkeys, seeing a completely different version of myself, and now witnessing a kingdom under attack.
Am I inside a movie? Or am I in a game world?
After a few minutes, I see a shadow among the crowd. The longer I look, the larger the shadow becomes, and when I look up, I see several meteors falling.
I ran away from where I stood, trying to avoid the impact of the meteor. But it seems that it's too late to ensure that I'm completely safe from the meteor's impact.
I didn't get hit by the meteor, and I was at a considerable distance from it. However, due to the meteor, the ground began to collapse, and I fell down with the sliding earth. A large rock hit my head as it fell from above, and my vision immediately went dark, and I lost consciousness.
.......................................…
"Oh..."
"-Rio..."
"Dario..."
"You will find your destiny here..."
"Be cautious in making choices..."
"If you need power, come to me..."
.......................................
I slowly opened my eyes, waking up with a slightly blurry vision and a throbbing headache. I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision, but what I found was that I was in a room.
Who? Who is speaking to me? I'm trying to recall the dream, but I can only vaguely remember it. All I remember is someone calling my name.
"Oh, you're awake."
I turned to the side and saw a woman slowly approaching me.
"You finally woke up. When they first found you, they thought you were dead. But seeing that you were still breathing, they didn't bury you on the spot and sent you here," the woman said as she handed me a glass of water.
I took the water and could only stare at her as I processed everything that had happened.
"Hey, is something wrong? Haven't you lost your memory?" she asked.
"I... Where am I?"
"You are in the emergency outpost of the Eldoria Kingdom. Because they found you lying unconscious, and it seems you're not one of the Chaos Legion people who attacked us a few days ago."
"A few days ago? How many days have passed since the attack?" I asked.
"Five days, and luckily you weren't crushed by trees and rocks from the landslide," she replied.
Suddenly, I remembered. There was a meteor that suddenly struck, causing the ground around me to collapse. I tried to grab onto something to save myself, but it seems I passed out from the impact of the rock hitting my head.
But the previous events were too strange. If this woman starts asking about my origins, what should I say? And even if I recover, I will surely be asked to return to my original place. The problem is, where should I go?
Should I pretend to have lost my memory?
"HEY!"
I was startled when the woman suddenly shouted in front of my face.
"Yes?"
"I've been asking all along, what's your name?" she asked.