It was a strange, arid land. Drought-cracked soil, withered trees and dry rocks stood out. Dead plants could be seen on some of the rocks.
This drought... was the most common phenomenon in Vestoria since the Vestal invasion. There were still places full of vitality, full of greenery, but the invading cities of the Vestals were consuming the planet like a parasite. It was only a matter of time before the green, reminiscent of the old days withered.
In a region at the height of drought, a tanned youth could be seen under the merciless rays of the sun. He was half-naked, holding his clothes up, trying his best to block the sun from shining on his face.
Looking at his face, one could see an expression devoid of emotion. His black eyes were empty, as if he had died inside. Together with his disheveled hair and round face, he looked menacing.
The young man was walking. He had been walking for a long time. He didn't even show any emotion anymore. Only out of the corner of his eye could he be seen looking at something.
Even though nothing was visible outside, there was a small map in his field of vision that caught his attention. All he had been doing for the last few weeks was walking here.
Finally he paused and took a deep breath and let it out, as if talking to someone, complaining, "I've been walking for weeks. Is there no city nearby?"
Then a white window with a gold frame suddenly appeared, visible only to him.
Shaking his head in the negative, the man laughed bitterly and said, "You must be dreaming if you are thinking of taking the 100 SP I have. I have no such intention at the moment. I will find it sooner or later."
As the window disappeared from view, the man only sighed once and kept walking.
...
He kept walking until it got dark. He sat and looked up at the stars in the sky.
"I'm looking for a city like this window in front of me says, without even knowing who I am, what I'm doing... Ah, ah... Is there really a city here?"
Right next to it, a white window with a gold frame was open.
This was the quest he had accepted without realizing what he was. On his first day here, it had come to him out of the blue and he had accepted it in the hope that it would help him. Unfortunately, nothing good had come of it yet.
He was tired after weeks of walking. He didn't feel hunger or thirst or anything like that. He only felt tired from weeks of walking.
"Strange."
He murmured softly to himself. Memories and the information they brought were chaotic. He did not even know his own name. He had some information about where he came from, plus some information that he had not yet fully digested, but it was difficult for him to say anything clearly.
This information was meaningless to him.
Exhausted, he lay down on the dry earth. As he looked up at the stars in the sky, he wondered what he should do. The clearest thing he remembered now was that he had never seen such a beautiful starry night in his previous life.
Here, he could enjoy the view, which was mesmerizing yet different. As pleasant as it had been during this journey, walking alone and alone...
He closed his eyes as fatigue enveloped his body. Before letting his consciousness travel to the deepest depths of the dream world, he murmured in a low, inaudible voice:
"What a sweet feeling, how nice it would be if I could stay like this forever..."
…
When he opened his eyes again in the realm of dreams, he found himself in a completely different place.
It was a plain. Everywhere as far as the eye could see was bursting with life. Green grass, plants and flowers were everywhere. Tulips, evening glories, roses, daisies... Each in a different color.
When he looked ahead, the plain gave way to a small hillock. There were at most two hundred steps between him and the small hill.
He was confused as he surveyed his surroundings. This place was very familiar, but he could not make sense of how it was familiar. When he looked behind him, he could see trees lined up like a rampart, full of life. They were arranged in such a way that it was impossible for even a squirrel to pass through, let alone a human being.
Although artificial, it had a strange, natural appearance.
Looking around, he muttered in confusion:
"Is this... Some kind of dream?"
This confusion lasted for a short moment. As he tapped his forehead with his hand, he thought with a relieved expression:
'There can be no other explanation! How could I come here from such an arid place?
With this thought in mind, he continued to look around, and when he couldn't see anything else remarkable, he focused his attention on the hill and realized that there was a figure on top of the hill. He could only make out the figure, but he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he was seeing a friend he had seen a long time ago.
He felt the urge to go to him and talk to him for hours.
In honor of this, he started to take steps. One step, two steps, and three steps. On the third step he suddenly froze and trembled as if struck by lightning.
"W-What's that?"
Memories... Two weeks after waking up, he was remembering more fragments of memories. Some pieces complemented each other, others were like new and unrelated puzzle pieces!
Bewildered, frightened, excited and confused, he roared questioningly at the figure on the hill, "What does this mean!?" He was sure the figure on the hill had something to do with his memories.
The figure did not answer him. It continued to stand there awkwardly. He felt that it did not even deign to turn its head towards him. It was as if he was looking at the horizon. This provoked him even more.
"Answer me, you bastard!" he shouted angrily as he took three more steps towards him. Just as he was about to start running, he felt a sharp pain in his head. It was as if a needle was piercing his mind. Stumbling with pain, he took two more steps forward. As the pain intensified, new memories began to invade his brain. He grabbed his head in pain as his vision darkened, but angrily took another step forward.
And then he left the realm of dreams. As his consciousness returned to his own body, the sharp pain he had felt in the dream disappeared. Instead, he felt a sense of relief. In the same way, new memories flashed before his eyes, as if he had always been there.
This dream... should not have been real. It was fundamental that dreams were not real. But he did not have the experience of being consciously in a dream in any of his memories. It was such a realistic dream...
Not knowing what to say, he took deep breaths to digest his memories. While some of the new pieces of memories completed the old ones, the rest left many more missing pieces.
On the bright side, at least he remembered his name now. His heart rumbled with excitement as his lungs filled with air. "I-I'm James... I'm James!" he shouted into the void as the light returned to his eyes.
But unexpectedly he heard the complaint of a girl's voice heard everywhere:
[Ah! Won't you please not shout? I barely made the connection.]
He froze in surprise at the sound he heard everywhere. He looked around but no one was there. It was a desolate flatland, maybe it used to be a plain. He looked to the right and to the left, towards the stacked rocks, and shouted:
"Who's there!? Come out!"
He heard it again, coming from almost everywhere. Rather than the complaining demeanor of before, it was replaced by a more soothing voice, but this time it was impossible to identify its gender.
[I am Beginner Fox of the Reincarnation Selection Corps, assigned to guide you, please remain calm].
James paused for a moment at this. Although Beginner Fox's voice didn't sound familiar at the moment, what he had said had brought a sense of familiarity, but it had also raised a few questions in his mind.
His earlier grumpy demeanor gone, he asked in confusion, "What is the Reincarnation Selection Corps? Can you explain a little more please? Also, where are you hiding? Your voice seems to be everywhere..."
Although it was confusing that it sounded everywhere, such a thing was impossible. It had to be somewhere nearby. He thought maybe there was a special ability, a device or something like that. Especially when combined with his new memories and his experiences here, it seemed much more realistic.
[I'm not hiding somewhere. I am communicating in your mind through your system and yes, it is reincarnation, sir, or rather a transition to another world and universe. You were sent to this world as you are with your body created in accordance with your soul.]
She had a very gentle and explanatory tone. James paused involuntarily.
"All right, all right... Let's start again."
He sat cross-legged where he was, took a deep breath, and finally said, "You mentioned I was sent. Why did you send me here?" he asked.
There was a short silence. James frowned slightly. Curious and worried, he thought, 'Was that something I shouldn't have asked?
After a moment of silence, the Beginner Fox's voice was heard. She spoke in a hesitant and strange voice:
[W-Well... This is what you wanted... I mean, well, well...]
Beginner Fox's tone was very strange. So much so that it had lost its earlier sexless and lofty feel and sounded like the first young girl's voice he had ever heard. James was really annoyed by this strange tone of voice. The obvious anticipation in his first question was a harbinger of ominous news to come. At least he was caught up in the feeling.
He said in a skeptical tone with a hint of irritation in it. "What?" he snapped.
Following James's angry outburst, Beginner Fox hurriedly confessed in his mind [We sent you to New Vestoria unintentionally!]
James raised one eyebrow in confusion at Beginner Fox's words. "What's wrong with that?" he asked in an even more incredulous voice, only to be answered in a voice that sounded rushed, flustered and clearly panicked:
[The problem is that... you, you... we sent you as Half-Bakugan by accident!]
With that, there was silence.
In James' shattered memories there was a cartoon called Bakugan. The information about it was strangely clear. Some fragments of memories were missing, but there were enough for him to understand what Bakugan meant in a proper way. And even more could be found.
'Huge elemental monsters... Am I... Am I one of them? But that's impossible! I'm human. One hundred percent - one second... Half said...'
He stayed where he was in shock. Luckily he wasn't standing. Otherwise he would have fallen to the ground. Once again there was silence, but this time it was the Beginner Fox who was tense and uncomfortable. In a worried and agitated voice:
[H-Hey, come on! Don't worry. I'm Beginner Fox and I've been assigned to help you reach the city safely and to make sure you don't have any problems].
How could James trust these words when even the owner of the voice seemed to distrust them? After a short wait, he was able to shake off his confusion, anger and various emotions and say in a mocking voice, "You are not trustworthy."