My voice was hoarse and my body felt as if I had run a marathon.
I'm not exactly proud of my reaction or at the very least about the way I handled it. If I had some self-control I could've been a bit more... low-key. But that was neither here nor there.
I'm in the world of Vishwas.
More specifically, Vishwas' Last Stand.
I had already taken some time to fix the room, the bed I had jumped on for a while was now fixed and the books were stacked neatly on top of one another on the nightstand instead of laying strewn across the floor.
It was time to think.
My life had never been one of peace, much less, happiness.
I never had anything particularly wrong with me... I just kept getting dealt bad hands.
Whether it was something as simple as getting my name picked out of a hat and having to clean the toilets or brushing up against a pissed-off cop and getting my face bashed in for "attempted thievery", I could never seem to catch a break.
If something bad had to happen to someone, I was the someone that the world seemed to pick on time and time again without fail. It was almost funny.
Almost.
But this? This kind of development was not a boon I ever even considered getting and it took me a while to start analysing my situation deeply.
Being no stranger to these types of scenarios, I scratched a couple of potential theories off my list.
There was no way my previous life was a dream/illusion of any sort, I have vivid and detailed memories of everything that happened as if it were yesterday, which it coincidentally was, but that's not the point. I knew it was real.
My body is not in the pod nor near any other type of VR equipment, even if it was, the pain I felt when slamming my toe against the bedframe was much too real to be simulated by any VR game, regardless of its price/quality.
I don't remember seeing any omnipotent ROB or otherwordly creature that sent me here... although if there *was* something with that level of power, erasing my memories would be a cinch. I guess that's one theory I can't yet delete.
The chance of this being a dream? Highly unlikely. I don't think it would be possible for my mind to simulate even 1 millionth of the things I had experienced, I crossed this one off as well.
Random Transmigration? No. The body I have now is identical to the one I had before straight down from the anemic-looking stomach to the wide amber eyes, the only change being that I was healed. What are the chances of being randomly transmigrated into the body of your identical twin from another world? Slim to none.
As I sat down and thought of ideas, whenever I managed to cross one off, two or more took their place, sending me down a never-ending spiral of theory after theory after theory.
Taking a breath to calm my mind, I decided to focus on other things.
Regardless of *how* I came here, my main priority is understanding the situation right now, an existential crisis could be saved for later.
"Andri Winters..."
My name was the same, and so was my face save the scar tissue. There was no need to have an identity crisis along with an existential one.
Holding up my Student ID, I scrutinised my face.
"Hmm. Handsome."
Call me arrogant if you want but if you spent the better part of 4 years looking like a bootleg Freddy Kreuger, you'd think you were handsome too.
I couldn't help but feel a bit giddy due to that.
But that giddiness was soon replaced by a bit of shame.
I knew how people treated those lesser than them, my sudden happiness towards my face made me feel better but also consequently worse due to the fact that I was already seeing myself in a better light due to my appearance. The world is cruel and I'm not really any different.
But can I be better than that? I don't know.
I've finally been given something, something so precious that none have received it before me.
My life was not something that was deeply precious to me, not nearly as much as it was to most others, I need to change my mentality. This life, this chance, I can't afford to waste it.
I felt like I could sit down and think things through for days at a time but I saw that the timer for my curfew was nearing its end.
Delving into the wardrobe that I now recognised as mine, I wore Oberon Academy's first-year uniform after geeking out about it for a minute... maybe two minutes max... maybe a little more.
Anyways!
I wore the uniform, got some shoes, and stared intently at the timer, hoping that somehow my glare could scare the clock into ticking a little faster, sadly the only one who got ticked off was me! I could almost swear that time slowed down by almost half while I was waiting.
*DING*
I heard a soothing chime of a bell as the words on the door dissipated, even if it wasn't said explicitly, I knew that it was open.
I need to find out more about this world, right now every bit of knowledge I possess is merely theoretical.