The red moon hung above the World of Zeno. The Zhao Kingdom is located in the Red Sea Continent of the East.
Where am I?
Luke found himself in a dimlit room alongside four similarly dressed people. He felt a tingling itch, fervent pain in his ribs.
He couldn't help himself and subconsciously touched his ribs.
HISS!!
Luke took a sharp breath and his face turned pale, his lips quivered.
He immediately retracted his hands from his ribs.
Holy fuck! Why were his ribs broken to this point?
The last thing Luke remember was he was working at the rooftop of the construction project with one of his fellow construction workers. He hammered a yellow serpent-shaped metal, and he blacked out.
Now, he's in a dark, weird place dressed in an orange shirt and dirty pants, bare feet?
Luke suddenly felt a piercing headache. A sudden rush of fragmented memories, scattered across his mind like a surging wave.
Luke, 30 years old, is a guy whose wife died recently due to premature pregnancy. He had a sickly daughter currently on the verge of life and death. Volunteered to be a part of an unknown experiment of the royal family. Beyond that, Luke felt a hammer pounding his brain as he tried to search for more memories.
At this time, Luke realized what had happened. He might have died last night on the rooftop after hitting the weird metal. Now, he's in another world with a tragic man's body, with the same name!
At this time, Luke felt a lingering fragment of spirit inside their body that kept stubbornly persisting, not evaporating.
Although still in disbelief, Luke, a battle-hardened construction worker who took the beatings of society, managed to barely calm himself down. He doesn't really want to believe in shitty things like transmigration and reincarnation that his co-workers on Earth kept talking about in their past time. But now, it seems it's a reality.
Don't worry; there is a price for occupying your body. I won't treat your daughter badly. I will make sure that she will live in good health!
Luke assured the fragmented spirit in hopes that he would stop struggling and rest in peace.
You shouldn't slap a smiling face, right? As if the spirit had heard the sincerity of Luke's voice. It gradually turned into mist and fused completely to Luke's soul.
At this time, Luke felt his head become a bit clearer and his spirit improved with the fusion of two souls. Although as a construction worker, he didn't know what implications this had. At least, he doesn't need to feel guilt now for stealing a poor man's body. This is compensation, okay? Although he was a construction worker, he still had a good upbringing and decency!
Luke prided himself as a man of words even though he was a poor bloke on Earth.
He didn't if it was his illusion. The vision became slightly better, his thought process was significantly faster. If before, he felt that he was blind, now he could see!
It was as if he took a cheap version of NZT 48 pills from Limitless Movie that he had watched in the past.
Is this because of improvement in spirit or soul?
At the same time, Luke felt inexplicably close to the daughter of the predecessor. He even felt a tinge of panic as he thought of her current state.
Luke took a deep breath. Okay, I'll accept every emotion you have. I'll inherit your mantle.
Luke took a look around him, focused particularly on the four similarly dressed men. Without a doubt, all of them look numb and dispirited. Yet, he could see a burning desperation despite their outward exterior.
These are men who clung to a tiny thread of hope! Hoping to flip the table of their life. Like his predecessor, they must have reasons to volunteer in the experiment of the royal family, right? Maybe even direr than his circumstances?
Luke wants to talk with them for more information. But he held himself. He didn't who they were. Why would they answer him? Not to mention, they look depressed. Their minds were unstable. Who knows how they would react to him?
He looked at them up and down. They didn't even care about him scrutinizing them blatantly.
Luke took in the surroundings. The walls were cramped, no window for comfortable ventilation. He could even barely breathe. The walls were dark with mosses scattered in random areas.
He couldn't help but feel tense, his lips quivered as he felt his nerves tighten.
What experiment did the predecessor sign himself with? Luke had to admit that he may not be the brightest, maybe even a little bit dull. But he could feel the mood of the four men in the room with them being filled with resolve as if they were about to go to war.
Damn it? What am I supposed to do now? Should I break the door with my fist?
Stupid fuck! Luke cursed himself for such a stupid idea. As expected, his IQ wasn't reliable. Most of the time, it's offline.
Suddenly, Luke saw in his peripheral vision that one of the four turned his head at him. His eyes? Intense.
"What's your problem? Do you want to chicken out?"
His voice was hoarse, dry like a dessert.
Luke stared at the stranger eye-to-eye, man-to-man.
Why did this person ask such a question? Luke realized that his behavior just now must have been noticed.
Well, who could blame him? Anyone who found themselves in such an unfamiliar environment, in a stranger's body, with fragmented memories, surrounded with four unstable men and about to undergo a dangerous experiment would certainly be nervous, if not scared shitless, right? Who wouldn't panic?
Luke was sure that his reaction just now was even milder. If it was others, they would certainly behave more fearfully.
As a construction worker who performed 345 dangerous big construction projects, he had faced many dangerous on-site situations and high-risk tasks. He even died due to his fearlessness. Who would take the job of being on a rooftop, barely had footholds and no safeguards?
He even once got electrocuted fixing a live wire and almost turned to vegetable. It could be said that Luke's job on Earth wasn't for the faint-hearted. He might not be bright in the head, but he certainly carries his balls like a real man.
So, Luke didn't cower and coldly snorted at the question. "What do you think?" He eyed the man without shifting his eyes, piercingly straight.
The other three didn't even pay attention to the two.
"I'm Klay; I thought you're a softie. It seems I was wrong. You have guts." After seeing Luke's demeanor and how he took his stand, the other party nodded. "Well, that's not strange since this experiment isn't something a sane person would accept. We're all in the same boat. Walking in a thin line of madness." Klay turns around and face to face with the wall.
Tsk tsk... That was close!
Luke's mouth twitched a little. Nah, I'm not the same as you guys. He inwardly cursed once again.