When I opened my eyes again, I felt the cold wind hitting my skin, caressing my long hair. Instinctively, I grabbed my hair and looked around, feeling something strange.
"Since when do I have long hair?" I must have been groggy from sleep. I rubbed my eyes, then suddenly stood up in a rush of realization.
"How did I end up in a forest!?"
Looking around, all I could see was an endless place filled with various flowers and trees. Even though there was no sun, it felt like rays of sunlight were illuminating everything.
It was neither cold nor hot. "Wait a minute! Could this be Heaven?"
I frowned strangely and looked around. There were no angels, no God—just me, all alone in this deserted yet beautiful, cool place.
"This is… weird?"
My muscles felt more relaxed and better than ever before. As I stretched my arms, I realized I hadn't felt this good in a long time.
Instead of modern clothes, I was strangely wearing what seemed like primitive, medieval attire. I had boots on my feet and brown trousers.
On top, I wore a simple but comfortable tunic, looking as if it were made of silk. I admired the clothing, as it was a style I had never experienced before.
"Is there really no one here?"
I stopped examining my clothes and muttered in frustration. Was there truly no one here? Or was I actually in a coma, lost in a dream world?
I sighed and decided to walk further. Even if this place was endless, my only chance was to run into someone.
---
"Damn it, could this place really be endless?" I said in frustration. I had been counting to keep track of how long I had been walking, but after 4 hours, I had given up.
My sense of time was warped; it was always sunny here. There was no change, not even a single person in sight.
Yet, my body felt more resilient than ever. Despite walking for over 4 hours, I still felt energetic and strong. Before, climbing stairs would tire me out, but now I felt incredibly durable.
"This body… is really something." My physique was enviably muscular, firm and natural. Yet, I also sensed something else, though I couldn't quite understand what it was.
"If I walk for another 4 hours, I won't die from exhaustion, but from mental fatigue."
Even though my body was strong, I was still an ordinary human mentally. Walking endlessly like this would drive me mad. There was nothing in this cursed place.
It was like being trapped in a Hell disguised as Heaven—no escape, just a seemingly endless space.
Finally, I sighed and sat down. I felt so helpless. Being trapped here forever would drive me insane.
I lay down and closed my eyes. I wanted to rest a bit, to calm myself down. Otherwise, I'd go crazy from the stress.
Soon, my mind was ready to drift into sleep. A sound caught my attention, but I ignored it. "I must really be losing it. Did I just imagine hearing something?"
A smile curled on my lips, but then I heard the sound again, making me suspicious, so I opened my eyes.
"I thought you were asleep?"
I locked eyes with a woman who had long brown hair and blue eyes. My first reaction was to pull back immediately.
"Who are you?!"
The woman didn't answer my question and laughed, seeing my expression. She covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't expect to scare you this much."
My face briefly burned with embarrassment. I coughed and looked at the woman, a bit excited. After so long, I had finally encountered another human being. "Where is this place? I can't seem to get out of here."
The woman laughed even more, as if she had heard something hilarious. Curious about why she found it so funny, I looked at her. "What's so funny?"
After laughing for a while longer, she calmed down and looked at me with a smile on her lips. "This is the first time I've met someone like you. This is Avalon, the land of fairies."
"Avalon? Nice joke, but there's no such place."
"You're standing in Avalon right now, human. It's not hard to understand," she said mockingly. I didn't believe her. Even as someone who had died twice, Avalon still sounded like nonsense.
The woman seemed to understand what I was thinking and laughed again. "Wait a minute, you really don't believe this is Avalon? You're hilarious, hahaha."
"Hey, hey, it's not that funny, okay? I just woke up here. How would I know if it's Avalon or Heaven?" I quickly replied. "And there's no one here, right? This place should be full of fairies, shouldn't it?"
The woman paused for a moment, then sighed. "I understand you. After all, this place used to be full of fairies."
"Wait a minute," I interrupted, "What do you mean this place used to be full of fairies?"
The woman frowned slightly, displeased, and then looked out at the seemingly endless garden she claimed was Avalon. "They left, without even looking back."
"To where?"
"To the world."
"The world?!" That had to be impossible. Why would the inhabitants of this place go to the world? If this really was Avalon, it was supposed to be the Celtic Heaven, right? How could they just leave like nothing had happened?
"What caused them to leave?"
The woman, while picking flowers and neatly placing them in her basket, looked at me and then began to speak: "Because God disappeared."
"What!" I froze in shock once again as the woman continued to tell me this as if it were nothing. "The angels isolated themselves in their heavens, and no one knows where God is."
Was this really such a simple issue? After all, we were talking about God. This wasn't a simple matter.
"Do you know why God disappeared?" Even asking that still shocked me. The fact that God even existed was astonishing information.
The woman looked at me as if I were an idiot, and I immediately apologized. After all, even the archangels probably didn't know where God was.
"Seriously, are you asking that?"
"I said I'm sorry, okay? I'm still new to all this. You know, all of this is really surprising to me."
"The one who should be surprised is me. You shouldn't be here."
I didn't quite understand her words, but before I could think further, the woman continued. "After all, this is Avalon, the land of fairies. No human can enter here. It's almost impossible."
I sensed a momentary disgust in her expression when she mentioned humans. It seemed she had a strong disdain for them.
"Do you hate humans?" Unsurprisingly, the woman nodded immediately. "After all, they are all greedy and filled with sin."
"Not all humans are bad."
"I know, but that doesn't mean I'll pity or love them."
"Come on, do you know? I'm human too, right?" When I said that, a slight trace of mockery appeared on the woman's face. "Don't speak so confidently."
Wait a minute, am I not human? That can't be possible. "Are you doubting my humanity?"
The woman shook her head: "If you were human, I would sense it, but you're not. Not exactly."
A small smile appeared on my face for a moment. "What, am I a half-dragon or something?"
When she nodded, I laughed, but my smile dropped when sudden realization hit me.
"I'm actually a half-dragon, aren't I?"
The woman nodded cutely, then laughed. "You really are a funny human."
I couldn't help but smile. There was an odd silence for a while, and I couldn't bear it any longer. "Is there anyone else here besides you?"
The woman stopped picking flowers and shook her head. "Other than Grandma Vivian and Uncle Merlin, everyone else is gone."
Hearing those names, my eyes lit up. After all, I was going to meet people who were considered legendary and fictional.
"The Uncle you're referring to is the wizard Merlin, and Vivian is the Lady of the Lake?"
"Yes," the woman said calmly, even a bit bored. "The ones from the mortal legends."
"Great, can I meet them!?" I asked almost begging. The woman sighed, and I clasped my hands together, looking at her. "Please..."
"Alright, alright. Just don't try to make that sweet expression, it looks disgusting."
"Hey!" I shouted in protest as she walked away, but she had gone too far and ignored me.
I quickly ran after her and caught up.
"I still don't know your name, would you honor me with it?"
"You can call me Erika." The woman, whose name I learned was Erika, said. She turned to me and asked, "And what's your name?"
"My name?" Just as I was about to say my name, I blanked out for a moment. What was my name?
"I-"
"You don't remember your name?" Erika said calmly. I looked at her with a bit of frustration. "How can a person forget their own name? This- it feels strange. No matter how much I think about it, I can't remember my name."
"Then don't push yourself too hard," Erika said. "We're heading to my Grandma, who's the best healer in Avalon. She might be able to help you."
Hearing that, I nodded. For now, all I could do was hope, but I wasn't sure if God would hear my prayers.
Luckily, without waiting much longer, Erika brought me in front of a house. It looked large and spacious. Most of it was made of wood and stone. It was a beautiful and natural-looking house.
"Uncle Merlin can be a bit annoying sometimes," Erika said, showing a momentary sign of boredom on her face. Then she looked at me. "If he does that, just tell Grandma directly."
I nodded, curious about the legendary wizard, and followed Erika. Erika set the basket aside, and as she headed toward the kitchen, the smell of food made me instinctively lick my lips.
It smelled wonderful.
"Erika, is that you?"
Vivian was a very beautiful woman who appeared to be in her 30s, with long blonde hair reaching down to her knees and a voluptuous figure. Her hair was loosely tied in a messy ponytail.
When Erika and I entered, Vivian was cutting some vegetables.
Vivian turned her head to greet Erika, but she froze, and the knife in her hand dropped to the ground. Before I could understand what had happened, Erika frowned. "Grandma? Are you okay?"
Despite Erika's calls, Vivian remained silent, so I looked at her with concern. "Ma'am, are you alright?"
"Merlin! Get down here, now! It's urgent!"
Vivian shouted and looked at me. I glanced at Erika to understand what was happening, but she seemed just as confused as I was.
"What is it, you old witch? Why did you call me? Can't you see I was sleeping?"
A young man with medium-length gray hair that fell to his shoulders and eyes glowing with a mystical light walked in.
I was almost certain this was Merlin. But I was disappointed not to see an old and wise man.
When Merlin entered, his eyes first rested on Vivian, then when they landed on me, he rubbed them in disbelief.
"How- how can you be here..."
Merlin looked at me strangely for a moment. I frowned at him. They were both acting weird. "Instead of being mysterious, why don't you just tell me what you're thinking?"
"You're King Arthur, Arthur Pendragon." Vivian looked at me seriously, making me tense up and want to retreat. Hearing her words, I froze in place and suddenly burst out laughing.
"There must be a mistake. I'm not Arthur."
"You are." This time, the response came from Merlin, and I sighed in fear. This really was turning out to be quite the day.