Seeing his friend experiencing it, he immediately asked the mysterious knight to turn in the direction of the horse they were riding and go to save Zuko. "Please! I will give you as much money as you want," he pleaded humbly.
However, from behind him, Lucien saw how the knight shook his head. He replied, "There is no chance to save your friend. The ones chasing you are the forces of the Mac An Cameron kingdom, consisting of cunning intellectuals. They are cornered to the point that our escape this far is already a stroke of luck. If you still value your own life, don't risk it by doing something foolish!" he shouted.
"Impossible," said Lucien, mourning as he continued to look back at the location where Zuko had fallen earlier. He truly felt weak without his only support system. How was he supposed to survive in this world?
"And also, don't boast about giving me a lot of money or anything like that. Wealth in this world is only owned by the nobles and people in the middle to upper economic strata. The circulation of large amounts of wealth among the poor will only arouse suspicion, leading the nobles to punish innocent people," the man informed.
"I don't care what kind of place this is. I will still go back," Lucien decided firmly. The thought of death could be considered later. What mattered most was what was happening right now.
"Eh?!" When he was ready to risk his life by jumping to the ground to return and save his friend, he saw something shining so brightly that it was dazzling. Reflexively, he closed both of his eyes.
BLAAAAARRR!!!
*
Lucien couldn't remember anything that happened after his vision was blinded by that white light. The only thing still etched in his memory was how he heard a loud explosion and felt his entire body ache so much that he couldn't feel anything anymore.
Seriously, though. That was something that proved this damn situation wasn't just a fantasy. The pain, shock, sadness, loss of direction, and even the fear he felt, all felt so real that he didn't mind being called crazy or considering all of this unreal.
And here he was. His eyes slightly opened, realizing he was in the middle of a forest with towering trees blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground. The natural or woody scent of the forest, consisting of the smell of wood, fresh soil, patchouli, sandalwood, cedarwood, moss, vetiver, and others, filled the atmosphere around the teenager. It was truly contrary to the track record of fear and despair he had felt just a few seconds ago.
"Am I already in heaven?" Lucien asked, raising one hand into the air, attempting to reach for something that wasn't there.
And someone replied, "Sorry to disappoint you. But no, not yet."
"WHAT?!" Lucien was startled and reflexively turned to the left where the voice came from. The pain that had been all over his body suddenly decreased drastically. It turned into an inexplicable feeling of surprise. Before him, Zuko was bandaging his injured hand, whatever the cause may be. Lucien hadn't even realized that there was such a large wound there. The pain might have come late, but he felt his common sense couldn't afford to be left behind either.
"What happened? How can you still be alive after everything that happened? Where is the knight on horseback who saved us? Is this not heaven?" Lucien asked in succession. He even ignored the wound on his hand, which had just been rewrapped by Zuko with a torn piece of clothing.
Zuko smiled faintly. He replied, "There's no heaven where humans can still feel pain, bro."
Ah, that's true.
"He asked us to rest here while he looks for a river to water his horse and replenish our supplies for the journey," Zuko informed as he grabbed a leather pouch. He handed it to Lucien, "There's still a little left. He instructed you to drink this once you regain consciousness."
Without saying anything more, Lucien immediately followed what Zuko instructed. He took the opportunity to check something. Hmm, the taste of the water in this world is the same as in our world. Where is this? Could it be the world inside the game developed by my father's company, Viatrix Upheaval? He could only wonder silently as he looked around with serious eyes. The situation was too similar to the real world. How could Verena Respectarac Abadi create such advanced VRMMORPG technology? Were he and Zuko accidentally made into trial players or something like that?
"Our lives were almost lost," Lucien muttered to himself as the water in the container ran out to the last drop. He wouldn't believe his family would do that to him. Turning him into a guinea pig. It's the worst!
"After thinking it over... the setting of our current world does indeed resemble the world of the game Viatrix Upheaval. Not only the battle of the three kingdoms. But, you must also feel familiar with the scenery of this forest, right?" Zuko asked.
Your statement is indeed correct, Lucien responded in his mind. "This is one of the forests that the hero knights summoned from another world must pass through when they want to begin their adventure. All of this scenery is truly too similar.
Zuko continued with a whisper, "We must be trapped in a conspiracy of a new game trying to emulate Viatrix Upheaval."
Lucien frowned upon hearing his friend's words. He asked, "Huh? What do you mean? Are you out of your mind? There's no such thing."
Zuko turned to look at Lucien and grasped both of the teenager's upper arms. He responded, "You're the one who should wake up and open your eyes, Lucien! What kind of technology do you think can make 3D humans like us experience something like this? And, do you think there is a blessing from a god or whatever it's called like in anime, games, or manga that will send real humans like us to isekai? Do you really think like that?"
"..."
"Use your common sense, Lucien!" Zuko requested again, staring more intensely into the teenager's sharp eyes. Trying to convey his feelings. Aligning thoughts. "We are still in our normal world. Just in an unknown place and time."
"If your assumption is correct, where do you think we are now?" Lucien asked seriously.
"I can't guess," Zuko replied, raising both palms, "There are many places untouched by human civilization on this planet. A remote location in Africa? Or a film set in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert?" he asked.
Suddenly, the back of Lucien's head felt excruciatingly painful. It was as if Thor's hammer was being repeatedly slammed there with force. He couldn't think straight at all. "Zu…"
Instead of responding, the teenager continued his questions, "Or perhaps we are in Longyearbyen? TN Changtang? Kerguelen Islands? Easter Island? Spitsbergen Island in the Svalbard archipelago? Villa Las Estrellas? Pitcairn Island? Novaya Zemlya? Tristan da Cunha? Oymyakon? Cape York? Barrow? Ittoqqortoormiit? Siwa Oasis? Socotra Island? Supai? Coober Pedy? Palmerston? La Rinconada? Banten in the Cocos Islands? Iqaluit? Tórshavn?"
"Zuko, my head is really… Can you…" Lucien tried to speak so that, for a moment, the teenager in front of him could shut his mouth because the noise he was making only made everything worse for him.
Draak draak draak. Instead of acting calmer, Zuko repeatedly shook Lucien's body. With sharp eyes, he said again, "We must leave this place immediately before that man returns, Lucien! We must return to Indonesia! To our home! No matter what. I have a very bad feeling about all of this. That man, all the strange people who just fought, this place, all of it."
"Zuko…"
"Only bad things will happen!" the teenage boy warned seriously.
But instead of accepting Zuko's invitation, Lucien's whole body, which had momentarily regained strength, felt weakened again. As if half of his life force had disappeared. Zrruuk. He fell again.
"Lucien, Lucien, Lucien!" Zuko called out repeatedly while shaking his friend's body vigorously. He was too afraid something would happen to Lucien, who was willing to risk his life to help him.
Zreek zreek zreek. The sound of four-legged animal steps approaching the location where they were. Zuko immediately tried to lift Lucien's slightly larger body onto his back. They had to escape immediately!
Tap. "What are you going to do?" the knight on horseback asked with sharp eyes.
It's all over now!