Something was continuously poking him. What was that!
Reece's eyebrows furrowed, he didn't know for how long he lay unconscious.
"Was I rescued?" The first thought came to his mind.
That thing again poked his hand. And now with this, a girl's sound hit his ears.
"Hey, what happened? Get up, bro!"
A girl!
In the base camp!
Reece opened his eyes instantly! Leaning over his face, a girl, probably a teenager, was poking him with her fingers.
Who is she?
The girl now pushed him.
"Hey, Reece! Get up. We need to reach the camp asap. Don't drag me down."
... What did she call me? Reece! She knows me!
But I don't know her!
"Kiddo, who are you? And how do you know me!"
He asked.
"Kiddo! Do I look like a kid! Are you out of your mind? Reece, it's not a time to joke. We need to reach camp!"
Yes, the girl was definitely not a kid. But she was at least ten years younger than her — so for him, she was definitely a kid.
He smiled inwardly, looking at her. Anger flushed her cheeks, she was a cute girl.
Curiosity played in his eyes. "Aren't we already in camp?"
The girl suddenly stopped. She looked at him straight at his eyes. There was something in her eyes — anxiety!
She spoke again, but this time, her voice sounded like a prayer.
"Reece, I'm really sorry for telling the professor about your cigarette smoking. You received punishment for me. I promise I'll never do that. But now, please get up! We have to reach camp asap. If we can't make it on time, not only me, it'll affect your rank, too!"
Cigarettes!
Reece was taken aback! What was she saying! Punishment! When did smoking become an offense? And, who was this professor?
And this girl, who allowed an underaged girl to enter the base camp! Northern frontier's territory was restricted for common citizens, how did she get in?
Moreover, she talked nonsense since his consciousness was regained. And after such a long battle, he was definitely not in the mood to entertain a teenage girl.
He was quite annoyed.
"Listen, kiddo. I don't get what you're saying. Stop talking nonsense. Who let you get inside?"
The girl suddenly stood up.
"Fine. You get what you wanted, now stop doing this drama. If you really won't get up, I'll return and report alone. Yes, my rank will go down a little for sure!
But one thing you surely forgot, you are not the top-ranked student in the class anymore. Your own negligence led to your auto-generation being disabled; your system won't heal you. Best of luck, lie as long as you want in this jungle."
Her voice was cold and stern.
Reece got a little bewildered. The girl's expression indicated that she wasn't lying. Then!
Now, he looked around. And suddenly, he was flabbergasted!
Where is this place!
He assumed he would be in the base camp's hospital, but... This place was different! It was in the middle of a dense green forest.
He was lying on the ground of a forest!
He looked at his body. And again, a strange feeling washed over him.
How did he get so thin!
The result of his hard workouts, his abs, the well-maintained biceps, triceps, and the veiny hands — all were gone! Instead, it was a thin, slender body, more like a...
Teenager!
And, there was no pain! After surviving two bullets and fighting in a severe battle, his body should be aching in agony, but.. he felt nothing!
He looked ahead, the girl already walked away. He called her, "Hey, listen!"
The girl halted her steps and looked back.
"What? You're coming!"
Reece got up from the ground. There was something fishy. He had to know what actually was going on.
"Wait, I'll go —"
"Reece, run!"
Before he could finish, the girl suddenly shouted. Her eyes widened in shock. Her gaze was fixed on something behind him.
"What!"
He looked back to see what frightened her so much and was shocked!
What was that!
A beer! A huge brown furry bear was rushing towards him with fury, the big sharp claws aimed at him.
Sssccchhhhhh!!!
Before he could react, it attacked him. Reece felt his right cheek burn instantly! And with that, suddenly, an opaque bluish screen appeared before his eyes.
[ System Alert !! Auto Generation Disabled. Healing Suggested ]
"What!"
Suddenly, with the speed of a storm, the girl appeared next to him and attacked the bear with something sharp in her hand.
"Reece, fall back. Wait for me to heal you!"
She pushed him aside.
But Reece couldn't react!
What was happening! Everything around him was so strange that he almost forgot to react.
The last thing he knew, he lay unconscious in the deep snow-covered rift. He got two bullets in the battle — one almost touched his heart, and another pierced his heart. He thought he would die.
But.. he regained consciousness. And suddenly everything around him completely changed!
Instead of the camp, he was lying on the ground of a deep green forest, and it was definitely not the Northern frontier, that area had to be covered in snow at this time.
Then this girl constantly talked with him in a manner that she knew him for a long time, and he was her classmate or something.
After that, his own body! Reece was always a gym freak. He spent most of his days in the gym to build such a body, but his body suddenly changed drastically, as if he went back to his teenage!
Then the auto generation things. What was that girl talking about! Healing!
Wasn't it a common biological mechanism of the human body to heal any wound? Why would his healing stop!
And, healing system! Was he a lizard that his body would regenerate!
And now, this bluish screen hanging before his eyes, from where on earth it appeared! What technology is this!
"Argh! It's confusing like hell!"
He muttered. And again, another moment of astonishment!
Even his voice also had changed! His deep, serious voice is replaced by a young, boyish voice. Or, better said, the voice of his own younger self!
Now, it was way more confusing than before!
[System Alert! Life Expectancy: Low! Generate Healing As Soon As Possible ]
The screen again hovered before his eyes, now with a different notification.
Reece was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice till now that his t-shirt was covered in blood. The burning feeling was not there anymore, but he felt incredibly weak. He tried to get up, but couldn't. He felt dizzy.
In front of him, the girl was fighting with that beer with all her might. But compared to that, she was really small. His brain signaled him to get up and help her, but his body didn't support it. All he did was nothing but see the girl struggle.
She was panting heavily, losing all her strength, she crumbled to the floor.
"Hey!" Reece yelled.
But that was another mistake.
The beer's attention shifted towards him now, and it jumped at him!
Sssccchhhhhh !!
Another scratch on his body, then another one, then another...
The bear charged at him until he fell to the ground, then left off on its way, leaving two injured humans.
Groaning in pain he saw the girl lying in front of him, unconscious on the ground, then his eyes closed.
That was how Reece died... For the second time!
.....
[ Analysing Host's Profile ]
[ Unable To Awaken Dormant Human Potential ]
"Tuchh!"
"That was a... Silly mistake!"
A man sitting in an almost dark, dimly lit room, shook his head in disappointment.
"What to do now?" Another one asked.
"Restart the system." He replied.
.....
Reece still lay there; he didn't breathe anymore, but the screen hovered before him, and the notifications changed constantly.
[ Restarting System.. Processing Special 'REPLACEMENT' Mechanism ]
[ Problem Detected: Host's Memory Not Compatible With System ]
[ Erasing Host's Memory... ]
[ Replacing Substantial Data ]
[ Data Replaced. Ready For Awakening Dormant Human Potential ]
Suddenly, Reece's heart started beating again! Unknown to him, his surroundings started changing slowly, and a dark hollow circle started appearing just before him.
He had now turned into just a blank slate, and his fate was being rewritten.
....
Far away from all these, silence prevailed all over the dimly lit room. A gron appeared on the man's face.
"Welcome Reece Vaughn, welcome to the world of Keepers. Have a fresh start.
Hope we will meet someday."