《I'll Become the Best Protagonist》 Chapter 1 - Prologue A medium-sized bookstore stands proud between big buildings in this small size town. This bookstore gives a quaint feeling for anyone who comes across it. It has rustic look with a moderately-sized yard that resembling a meadow. Even though it seems old-fashioned, it gives an odd but calming sensation, reminds you about life simplicity before the modern era. If you go inside the building, you¡¯ll also experience the same novelty with its exterior. There are many books neatly arranged by their category in their wooden racks. Wherever you look, there always book in your vision, but it doesn¡¯t feel cramped at all while the silence felt soothing. The book¡¯s unique smells, its wooden furniture, and its orange light from antiquated ceiling lamps could alleviate your anxiety. *Ding* Bell¡¯s ring echoed across the room; it¡¯s come from the front door. In this slow evening, a young man followed by a teenager showed up and then walked toward the counter near a window where an old man sits down with his eyes glued to today''s newspaper. ¡°Evening, old man,¡± the young man greets the bookstore owner with a laidback smile. This young man wears unassuming casual attire, his appearance makes him difficult to spot in the crowd, and his average height¡¯s not helping either. His short black hair sloppily combed backward. People who look him from afar may see him as an office worker in his holiday. ¡°How many times I must say it to you, never call me an old man. You brat.¡± The old man put down his newspaper and looked at the young man. Even though his word was with a reprimanding tone, there no frown on his face, he looked at the young man like a person who meets his old friends. ¡°So, who¡¯s that boy behind you?¡± asked the old man. ¡°This boy? He¡¯s from Scona High School, I met him about a month ago, and we¡¯ve been together ever since.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t mean together as, you know, together. Right?¡± ¡°Scram, you know what I mean old fart. I¡¯m still straight.¡± ¡°Still?¡± ¡°No, nope, never, nada, nah. Forget it, and here¡¯s your book. I¡¯ll borrow another one,¡± the young man put a book in the counter and walk toward a rack with fiction category. The old man chuckled at the young man''s rapid denial while the young man was searching a book on fantasy section. After a moment, the old man looked at the teenager who standing awkwardly beside the counter. He tried to start some conversations with the teen. ¡°So, how did you two meets?¡± The timid teenager startled when hearing the old man voice, after a moment he answered with a small voice, ¡°We met on my way to home from school, that time bullies from my school harassed me and then...¡± The shy youngster voices become smaller and smaller until it¡¯s not audible anymore. However, the old man still understands the general idea of what the teen wanted to convey. ¡°So, he did it again. Well, it¡¯s just like him, I guess.¡± ¡°Again?¡± the teen timidly asked. ¡°Yeah, he can¡¯t just leave people in trouble alone, like you. He also helped me when someone scammed me four years ago. He always like that, can¡¯t turn blind eyes to people in need.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t he afraid that people will exploit his kindness.¡± The old man shrugged his shoulder, ¡°I often warned him to be careful as some people already exploited him in the past, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary anymore, his judgment keeps getting better ¨C Now, he just needs a short time facing them to know whether a person really needed his help or not.¡± The teen was silently listening. ¡°He¡¯s kind but not na?ve. It¡¯s a rare sight nowadays. What do you think about him, boy?¡± the old man asked. ¡°I think, he¡¯s just like a superman. The thing that every boy aspires to be, but as they grow up, they understand that it is unrealistic.¡± The teen silent for a moment, he looked at the man who was still choosing between two books in his hand, and then he continued his words.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°No, I guess someone like that truly exists, but I, at least, couldn¡¯t be like him.¡± ¡°If there someone who likes him, I want to see that person,¡± the old man muttered which then replied by the teen¡¯s giggle. *Ring* *Ring* While they¡¯re talking, the teen¡¯s phone ringing loudly in this quiet store. He looked at the unknown number on his screen and then proceeded to pick that up. ¡°Melvin, you son of a bitch. You better listen to me if you still want to live a normal life, delete that fucking¡­¡± a series of curses came from the phone. ¡°Yeah, you must be Harris.¡± The young man who just come back from the fantasy section snatched the phone from the teen after hearing the threat in the loudspeaker. ¡°¡­¡± there was a short silence from across the phone. ¡°You¡¯re not Melvin,¡± Harris, the voice across the phone, tried to sound calm, but the anger still leaked out from his tone. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m his helper, nice to meet you. Oh, you must already do your homework. So, I¡¯ll make it simple. Fuck. Off.¡± ¡°Do you even know who I am. I am¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know who you are ¡ª an arrogant child from some influential politician. Wait a minute, I mean a corrupt politician, a very, very shady one. However, that shade now shined by the light.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Harris became quiet, waited for the young man''s next words. ¡°Look at channel seven, and you¡¯ll understand that your backing is no more. If I¡¯m you, I¡¯ll run as far as possible. Many people with hatred ¨C no, your victims, is coming,¡± he hung up the phone without waiting for Harris¡¯s answer. He looked at the old man and the teenager who¡¯s staring at him with a weird look after he closed the phone. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just like you I guess,¡± the old man said. ¡°Hu-umph¡± the young man lifted his chest proudly while smiling widely, ¡°another arc got a happy ending it seems.¡± ¡°You, really¡­¡± Before the old man finished his words, a scream reverberated across the street. ¡°THIEF!¡± All of them look towards the window, and they saw a fat man who screamed while trying to catch the thief, but it seems the thief was too fast for him. It¡¯s a stamina difference between an office worker with someone who spent his life in the street. That man could only hope for someone to stop that thief. However, after people noticed that the scary-looking thief was holding a knife in his right hand, they choose to move aside. They don¡¯t want to bring trouble for themselves just for someone they don¡¯t even know. ¡°Well, that¡¯s as expected. Most people won¡¯t help if there any chance that it¡¯ll implicate them,¡± the old man mumbled when looking at people''s actions outside. ¡°Well, it seems my job¡¯s calling,¡± the young man let out an excited smile and then immediately rushed outside. After a while, the teen finally remembers something, ¡°Ah, my phone.¡±
Call me Tobias, from long time ago ¨C no matter how long, I always love books. I spend most of my childhood with them. Each of them has unique charms that drew me in, each of them has a unique story to shown whether it¡¯s the story about heroes who protected everyone, anti-heroes who disappointed with the world, or even monsters who rejected by their loved ones. I always imagine that I was in their feet and seeing through their eyes. When I was a kid, I envied those protagonists. Their life is always eventful and exciting. I, on the other hand, always spent my life at home with my strict grandparents. They rarely permitted me to go outside with my friends, and I often resented them for that. I felt they were annoying and exasperating, but when they pass away, I know that I lost something important that day. Something that won¡¯t be coming back ¨C ever. When I think it again, they only considered what is best for me ¨C my grandfather often brings me hunting and fishing even though he also forced me to wear many protective pieces of equipment. He also often tells me his tale as a war hero, his story was stirring but there no proudness in his eyes ¨C only guilt, sorrow, and regret ¨C his story usually ends with life lessons about knowing what right, wrong, recognizing whether I could uphold it or not, also how to acknowledge my weakness. My grandmother is a kind and smart woman. Every day she always teaches me many things whether that¡¯s life skills or explains something that doesn¡¯t come up in class. She always knows all the answers, that¡¯s how I saw her. Many people asked her advice and there nothing she can¡¯t answer. She was busy, but despite all of that, she always cares for me. She understands my love for book, and even though she tired from all-day work, she still took her time to read me a book before I sleep. Truly, I was an ungrateful bastard who don¡¯t know important things before he lost it. I was immature and foolish; there¡¯s no denying that. Now, I¡¯m trying to grow up as their ideal, a man who know right and wrong and a man who smart enough to uphold it. I want to be a man that I, myself, can be proud with. You know, there a term for these kinds of people in every book ¨C protagonist, a leading character in their story. I want to be a great protagonist. No, I¡¯ll become the best protagonist. *Ring* *Ring* Melvin¡¯s phone ringing in my pocket while I am drowning in my thought, I unconsciously put his phone there before I went after that mugger. It seems the phone was already ringing for some time, but I don¡¯t get any chance to pick it up when I caught that mugger earlier and give back that fat man¡¯s purse. ¡°Is this Harris again? I thought he¡¯s a smart man.¡± I look at the phone while grumbling and find a simple question appear on its screen. Weirdly, there no number or sender¡¯s name on the screen. Unconsciously, I knit my eyebrow when reading cryptic words there. [Melvin the Bastard. I saw your suffering. Do you want to leave this world and play a different game?] [Yes] [No] ¡°Is this a new kind of bullying?¡± I ask myself. I want to ignore it and press home repeatedly, but weirdly there no response. I can¡¯t move to other screens or even turn it off ¨C what a waste of a virus, why they use it for harassing other people. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s see what you got here,¡± I said as I press [Yes] button. After I press the button, I saw everything around me distorting, and the people''s voice started to fade away. I saw blobs of darkness descending from the sky and then stop inches above the ground. Before I understand what¡¯s happening, all those blob¡¯s surrounding me in circle and then they finally engulf me. ¡°What the¡­,¡± before I finished my words, my mind went blank. Chapter 2 – Lecture Since the dawn of humanoid, humans have tendencies to impart their wisdom to the next generations. They wanted to convey their lifetime experience to their offspring, whether they wanted to pass their dream or to make sure that their kids didn¡¯t repeat their mistake. However, if they only told their kids that ¡°you must do this¡± or ¡°you must never do that,¡± those pieces of advice will be lost for the future generation. That¡¯s why human creates fable, myth, saga, or any story in that matter ¨C to pass their insight into the far future. As time passed, those tales snowballing and become so abundant that humanities overwhelmed by their sheer amount. Many scholars studied those tales, whether it¡¯s their language, cultural background, or even the story narrative. Talk about narrative, do you know that not so long ago an anthropologist studied many lore¡¯ narratives and concluded that there was only one hero story template after all ¨C the monomyth or usually called as the hero¡¯s journey. In the hero¡¯s journey, hero stories usually start when he was thrown into an unfamiliar world and experience transformation as they move forward. Eh, why I blabbed this nonsense? Because right now, I become like one of them ¨C one of those heroes who are thrown into a strange situation. The last thing I remember was those distorted space, and then I fell unconscious. When I woke up, I found myself in this white area without any boundary. I looked around and saw many translucent orbs hovering aimlessly. I tried to touch them, most of it flew straight across my hand, but some of them stuck to my body, which gave me warm feelings inside. I felt healed from the inside. ¡°My God, that man hand just grow after touching these balls,¡± someone shrieked loud enough after saw an amputee''s arm grow back when the orb¡¯s touch the amputee. ¡®It seems that healing sensation wasn¡¯t only my feeling,¡¯ I thought. Oh right, there are other people in this white space too ¨C I count more than fifty of them earlier, and more of them continued to appear from nothingness. I should mention them first, but not every day I saw floating balls with healing properties like these. The people, on the other hand, not particularly remarkable, except for the selected few. They¡¯re in the state of panic or fear, some of them even screamed whether it¡¯s a prank or a reality tv show, but they only got similarly confused cry from the other ¨C well, as expected. Other than those kinds of people, I found three people who still calm in this situation. Even though it¡¯s not so obvious because they wore big cloaks, all three of them bring a sword, automatic guns, and many ammunitions, I also briefly saw one of them carry a hidden weapon. They¡¯re still on guard, but didn¡¯t appear to in deep thought or assessing this weird situation. Not long after, I could saw their tense expression for a brief moment before they take a deep breath and calm themselves. ¡°It seems they know what¡¯s going on, but they didn¡¯t create this situation or even control it in that matter,¡± I mumbled. I walked further and stand where I can silently watch them. Those three people not moving from their place as though waiting for something while the other running around like headless chickens. ¡®I better wait here and preserve my strength.¡¯ About ten minutes later, those floating balls dissipated and leave nothing behind. Soon an orange portal materialized in the sky, and a small creature emerged from that portal. That creature appearance was similar to female human if not for four glittering wings in their back and its height that only about 30 cm tall, which impossible for any human. ¡°A fairy?¡± someone from the crowd said while squinted his eyes. ¡°Yes, yes. I am a fairy.¡± The fairy smiled while answering, her voice was pleasant and lovely. Even though she didn¡¯t answer that loud, the speech echoed inside all people ear. Noises from before disappeared after people realized what just happened. ¡°Now, now. Let me tell you this first. Congratulations to be chosen as a [Player].¡± The fairy smile never left her face while she talked enthusiastically. The people on the other hand, they keep quiet, waiting for what she gonna say next. ¡°Some of you may be wondering why are you here, and some of you maybe already have the answer, well, partially,¡± the fairy glanced at the three people who carried weapons, ¡°however fear not, as I, the guide, will share some necessary info so you won¡¯t die dog¡¯s death there. So, listen well.¡± Nearly all people hold their breath and keep quiet, they understood the abnormality of this situation. The fairy looked at their tense expression with satisfaction. However, of course, there¡¯s always an idiot who broke the silence with a shout. ¡°Fairy, please send me back to home. I have a little sister who still needs my help, fmpf fmpf fmpf.¡± A woman who stands beside me shouted to the fairy with tears in her eye, the fairy¡¯s irritated look appear after hearing the woman cries that interrupting her speech. The fairy raised her hands, and then her hand started glowing with a bluish light. The aura changed from warm and comfortable into cold and distressing. The air became so thin, which makes it harder to breathe, I saw some people fainted while standing. When I realized the woman was in danger, I immediately blocked the woman mouth with my hand and forced her bow while bowing myself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, she really didn¡¯t know any better. I hope Miss fairy be generous and overlooked this one.¡± The fairy silent for a moment, looking at us bowing to her. ¡°Fine, finally, someone that knows some manner. Consider this your good day human.¡± ¡°Thank you, Miss,¡± I said while still bowing. After the fairy release her bluish sphere on her hands, this place aura reverted back and return to warm and comfortable again. The people who terrified earlier finally could take a deep breath of relief. The fairy finally shifted her attention to others and started talking again. ¡°As you heard earlier, you¡¯re chosen as a [Player], and you¡¯ll be playing many interesting games, but first of all, you must see this.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The fairy said it with a smile, but the people could felt something dangerous underneath it. She snapped her finger, and in that instant, I felt unbearable pain in my head before it finally subsided. After that, I noticed that a gleaming floating window appeared on my retina. ¡°What the hell is this thing?¡± someone near me shouted. ¡°It seems all of them got it too,¡± I mumbled and then inspect the window in the front of me.
Status
Name? Tobias
Rank? Colorless
Strength? 15.3 (Colorless)
Stamina 20.0 (Colorless)
Agility 11.0 (Colorless)
¡°What the heck is this? Did I just got the gamer¡¯s interface?¡± I yelled instinctively. The fairy chuckled after seeing my reaction and then said, ¡°Correct, was it dream for you, young people to have that kind of interfaces?¡± The people still quiet after that excruciating pain, they weren¡¯t vigorous enough to answer the fairy yet. Besides that, they also felt intimidated from the fairy¡¯s aura earlier. I raised my hand and asked, ¡°Is there any catch you don¡¯t tell us yet?¡± The fairy shifted her eyes to me, in a brief moment, I saw her expression change a little, but then she let out her usual refined smile and answer my inquiry. ¡°As I said earlier, that''ll help you to finish game scenarios. Without this system, your chance to survive is zero, and it won¡¯t be interesting for all of us, right?¡± ¡°Is there any prize for the winner?¡± ¡°Heh, I like your confidence. You don¡¯t know yet what game it is and ask this kind of question.¡± ¡®I just want some motivations for this bullshit,¡¯ I said in my heart. ¡°To answer your question, yes there are prizes for the winner,¡± the fairy said with a smirk. ¡°Whether you wanted to revive your loved ones, become a world sovereign, riches, and beauty, immortality, or all knowledge in this universe? No problem, this game can fulfill any of your desire. As long as you keep survive, you¡¯ll have your chance to get what you wish.¡± ¡°As long as I survive, huh,¡± I murmured. The other also thought the same thing, they finally understood that they¡¯ll put their lives at stake here. Many people enjoy to read this kind of development in stories, but when they put in the character shoes ¨C to bet their lives in reality, most people will chicken out. Even so, there no shame to cowardice, that¡¯s human nature ¨C it¡¯s what helped us to survive. After all, everyone only has one life. ¡°So, how this system could help us to survive?¡± I asked. The fairy let out a wide grin and then said, ¡°Observe.¡± Many vibrant orange orbs soared from her body, those orbs soon merge into one giant portal like the one where the fairy appeared earlier. From that portal a flying beast appeared, that creature seems like a gigantic crow, but it¡¯s wing flaring with dark fire. The monster let out an ominous aura, from one glimpse, I understood that this crow could slaughter all of us. However, before anything happened, the fairy slightly moved her hand, and then the crow fell down instantly with a confused look on its eyes. I also heard some people nearby screamed when looking at this scene ¨C well, it¡¯s understandable as I also forgot to breathe because of that. Soon, the crow corpse vanished completely, left nothing but some kind of glittering stone on that spot. That stone let out a beautiful reddish glow that enchanted everyone, but before long, it soared towards the fairy right hand. ¡°What a waste, it only drops common rune,¡± the fairy sighed and then said, ¡°Anyway, whenever you, system users, killed a living being, you¡¯ll have some chance to get this kind of rune. This rune will become one of the keys to surviving in this game. You could become strong and survive anything as long as you consume enough runes.¡± ¡°Anyone wants to try this?¡± the fairy asked. Her question startled many people, they wanted to try that so-called rune, but after remembering the scene earlier where the fairy killed the crow without even blinking make their heart shrink and didn¡¯t dare to raise their hand. Even so, their reaction was understandable, if the fairy had sadistic tendencies and killed them after they raised their hand, where they could sue? Maybe the fairy will said ¡®You want the rune? You must kill the one beside you, hahaha. Now please kindly to kill each other.¡¯ Well, maybe not like that, but that beside the point. The point is an average human that already get used to safety won¡¯t take any chance when it involved their lives. They didn¡¯t have enough information to make the gamble. However, three people have enough of that missing information ¨C people who know what¡¯s going on before the game even begin, people who equipped with many weaponry on their body. I saw two of them already moving their hand up. ¡°So, it¡¯s safe,¡± I thought and then raised my hand ahead of them. ¡°Me, I wanted to try that rune,¡± I shouted. The fairy startled for a moment, ¡°You again? Fine, catch,¡± she said while tossing the stone to my hand.
Strength Rune (Red) Acquired
Store Consume
When I touched the rune, an interface appeared on my retina, and it gave me two choices, whether I store or consume the rune. ¡°Pick consume,¡± the fairy said. I nodded and then consumed it.
The Rune¡¯s rank is above your capability to consume it. Most of its energy will be wasted, do you want to proceed?
Yes No
[The Rune¡¯s rank is above your capability to consume it. Most of its energy will be wasted, do you want to proceed?] [Yes] [No] I startled for a moment, but I still picked yes. Its energy will be lost, but at least I¡¯ll understand more about this rune. Also, I shouldn¡¯t store it after the fairy told me to consume it earlier, I couldn¡¯t afford to go into the fairy bad side ¨C yet. The rune gradually faded as though it evaporated, from that rune dim lights immediately emerged and enveloped my body. These lights felt warms like the orbs earlier, sometimes I can feel my body changing to the better and sometimes felt a little pain, but the hurting body parts soon become warm and comfortable again. I felt those light somehow developing my body in each cycle. The process repeated a few times until it stopped, and soon, I come back to my sense again. I took a deep breath and glanced at the system¡¯s interface.
Status
Name? Tobias
Rank? Colorless
Strength? 20.3 (Colorless)
Stamina 20.0 (Colorless)
Agility 11.0 (Colorless)
¡°My strength just increased by 5,¡± I mumbled. Still couldn¡¯t believe it, I punched the air without caring curious look from everyone else. Compared to before, I sensed a significant rise on my punch force. ¡°This¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t find a word to describe my current feeling. The fairy smirked at my reaction and said, ¡°Everyone, that¡¯s an example of what runes could do, what he consumed is a strength rune ¨C as its name implied, it can increase your strength. There are many kinds of runes and some rules you need to understand, but I¡¯ll let you find it for yourself in the first scenario later. From now on, you must use your own wit to get your own rune.¡± Many people give me some look of envies after hearing what the fairy said. ¡®Hey, it¡¯s not my fault that you didn¡¯t dare to take the chance,¡¯ I thought. ¡°Now, now. I¡¯ll send you all to your next world. Good luck, and don¡¯t die boringly,¡± the fairy said and clapped her hands once. Blinding lights appeared from the sky, it surrounding everyone in the vicinity. After a while, the surrounding people fade away, and soon, my eyes could only saw white, vibrant color. Not long after, I found myself stood on a lush, virgin forest, many trees towering against the sky like trees from tropical rainforests in Asia. Meanwhile, the fog below my feet makes it harder to spot any small dangerous animal like a snake or poisonous spider. I couldn¡¯t recognize many of vegetations surrounding me, some of them have big thorns, and their toxicity was very apparent from many animal corpses near it. ¡°Just where the heck that fairy throws me to?¡±
Scenario Begin
Main Objective
Survive Until The Third Great Race War Concluded
¡°Damn, I just got hero¡¯s journey-ed.¡± Chapter 3 - Comprehension
Scenario Begin!
Main Objective
Survive Until The Third Great Race War Concluded
I stood and inspected the interface to find whether it has hidden clue or not. However, after five minutes, I couldn¡¯t find anything significant. ¡°Fuck it, I didn¡¯t have enough information here,¡± I swore as I closed the interface. I expected this kind of obstacle as a person who got thrown into a survival game for some kind of higher beings¡¯ entertainment. They wanted to see my suffering and anguish from this kind of game. Well, maybe not, but for sure they¡¯re not sending me here for vacation. However, as a self-proclaimed best protagonist wannabe, I also desired to get the thing which given like a matter of course to many protagonists from recent novels ¨C a cheat, something that could break the stories balance. With that in mind, where the fuck was my cheat. I wanted an overpowered cheat where I could steamroll anything that comes by. I wanted to face-slap any young master that offend me. Heck, I wanted it just for the sake of it, even if I would never use it. Hell, I¡¯ll even settle for an impractical power as long it sounded cool. Was there any protagonist that¡¯s not distinguishable than side characters? Well, some of them, yes, but still, I wanted a protagonist¡¯s unique trait ¨C like some Korean light novel about inheriting future knowledge. Wasn¡¯t that the usual course when something like this happened? Maybe it¡¯ll happen to me. I mean like, the future me already finished this game, but humanity got wiped out. So I wished an ability to rewind time. However, it was impossible to send anything to the past except my memories, and I did just that ¨C sending memories to the past to fix all of my mistakes. Who said that won¡¯t happen? ¡°Come here, I¡¯m ready to accept my future memories and become a regressor,¡± I said while spreading my hand and closing my eyes. Not long after, I felt something strange. Very strange. Because, even after I said something embarrassing like that, nothing happened ¨C no memories whatsoever injected directly into my brain that let me find some kind rare artifact or epic battle skill which I can use to steamroll this bullshit game. ¡°Fuck,¡± I yelled. Well, enough with the joke, it¡¯s weird if regression actually happens to any person. Time to approach this game like ordinary people. I took a deep breath. ¡®Think, think, all the words from the fairy before,¡± my mind rewind earlier scene. ¡°Player. Game. Scenario. Runes. System. Some higher beings?¡­¡± I mumbled while trying to remember the detail. ¡°Right, it¡¯s the players first game ¨C this is our tutorial.¡± Those people in the white place earlier didn¡¯t seem experienced in this so-called game, they¡¯re confused and anxious while trapped in that place except for three of them. Even so, those three people didn¡¯t seem like veterans, I didn¡¯t have any proof for this assumption, but I have good eyes for this kind of thing. ¡°This idea is quite a stretch, but nothing wrong to try. Inventory,¡± I said.
Inventory (1/3)
Item Name Amount Description
Beginner Package 1 Guide aid for all beginner Player. Disappear after the Tutorial ended. Guide¡¯s note: Don¡¯t die boringly and use this wisely.
The sudden appearance of a new interface startled me. I didn¡¯t have high hope earlier, but I can¡¯t stop my grin after seeing this inventory was indeed exist ¨C excited with the probability and practicality of this inventory system. I took another deep breath to calm myself. I grabbed a rock from the ground and imagined the rock entering my inventory. The reason was to test whether the system only activated by voice or was it directly linked to my thought.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. It takes some time, but I finally get the hang of it, and then the rock vanished almost instantly from my hand. ¡°Well, it¡¯s handy.¡± ¡®Inventory,¡¯ I said in my mind.
Inventory (2/3)
Item Name Amount Description
Beginner Package 1 Guide aid for all beginner Player. Disappear after the Tutorial ended. Guide¡¯s note: Don¡¯t die boringly and use this wisely.
Granite 1 Just a Rock Weight: 0,1 kg
¡°Cool,¡± I unconsciously said. I tried to save more rock to test its limit. The second rock went without a hitch, but the third rock failed to store which shown by system warning interface.
Warning
Your Inventory is already full. Discard some item in your inventory if you still wanted to save this item.
¡°So its current limit is three objects, huh. Maybe there some way to increase it later.¡± After confirming that, I discarded two rocks from my inventory and shifted my attention to the more important thing inside it ¨C beginner package. Indeed, you¡¯ll need this thing to all game tutorial. This really made me happy, I¡¯d never expected that I¡¯ll be this emotional to a beginner package in my life before. Even so, when I thought about it, it¡¯s understandable, those people above wanted some kind of amusement rather than our death. So it was in their interest to keep our life as long as possible while it was still entertaining. ¡°Well, time won¡¯t wait,¡± I muttered while opening it.
Beginner Package Opened
Item Name Amount Description
Language Rune (Trial) (Unranked) 2 Effect: Mastering one language instantly. Requirement: Someone who could use the language must be in the vicinity when the rune used. Note: This rune or its effect will disappear after the scenario finished.
Healing Rune (Trial) (Colorless) 2 Effect: Colorless Rank ¨C Healing all injuries Red Rank ¨C Healing minor injuries Requirement: The injured person must be in the vicinity when the rune used. Note: This rune will disappear after the scenario finished.
Truth Rune (Trial) (Colorless) 2 Effect: Saw through any lies from Colorless rank for 10 minutes Requirement: None Note: This rune will disappear after the scenario finished.
Cloaking Rune (Trial) (Colorless) 2 Effect: Colorless rank ¨C becomes impossible to perceive for 30 seconds. Red rank ¨C becomes harder to perceive for 10 seconds. Requirement: None Note: This rune will disappear after the scenario finished.
Green Pouch 1 Just a small pouch to save little things.
Just after the beginner package opened, another warning window appeared on my retina.
Warning
Your Inventory is not enough. Select three runes you wanted to save in the inventory, the remaining will be dropped.
¡°Dropped? So it¡¯s not removed, huh,¡± I mumbled. There was a difference between dropped and removed from the inventory in games jargon. If this similar with my usual games, I¡¯ll still get the dropped runes granted that I must carry them myself. There was some risk to that like robbery, pickpocket, or maybe another player. So I must choose which runes to save inside my inventory to minimize the risk. ¡°Well, language is a must. If the system gives players some kind of universal translator those people above won¡¯t gift this rune ¨C I¡¯ll save one of this. Next is healing rune, this is a necessity in an emergency, I¡¯ll also save one of this. The last is cloaking rune, it seems useful in or for an ambush, I¡¯ll pick this one too,¡± I murmured while choosing the rune. All runes were useful for my situation now except for the truth rune, I already had good eyes to determine whether someone was honest or a liar which make this rune utility minimal. It¡¯s already long since the last time someone successfully lied to me. Even so, I¡¯ll still hold them for now. After confirming my option, I looked again at my inventory.
Inventory (3/3)
Item Name Amount Description
Language Rune (Trial) (Unranked) 1 Effect: Mastering one language instantly. Requirement: Someone who could use the language must be in the vicinity when the rune used. Note: This rune or its effect will disappear after the scenario finished.
Healing Rune (Trial) (Colorless) 1 Effect: Colorless Rank ¨C Healing all injuries Red Rank ¨C Healing minor injuries Requirement: The injured person must be in the vicinity when the rune used. Note: This rune will disappear after the scenario finished.
Cloaking Rune (Trial) (Colorless) 1 Effect: Colorless rank ¨C becomes impossible to perceive for 30 seconds. Red rank ¨C becomes harder to perceive for 10 seconds. Requirement: None Note: This rune will disappear after the scenario finished.
I nodded after confirming them and then put the remaining five runes to the pouch. ¡°What a nice gesture from those being,¡± I sarcastically said while tying the pouch to my belt. Time to move. I would need more information if I wanted to survive this so-called great race war. Which mean I need to find a settlement of intelligent creature ¨C preferably human, but if there some beautiful cat girl race in this world, I probably will go there. I looked above to find the tallest and safest tree to climb, a few minutes later, I found a suitable tree that towering into the sky and proceed to climb it. The process was easy because I consumed strength rune earlier ¨C the gift from the fairy. I was confident that I can climb this tree before, but not this easy. My grip becomes stronger, and I leaped higher because my leg was stronger than my expectation. Just in fifteen minutes, I already stand in the top of this tree ¨C about half of my estimation before. ¡°This is quite a massive forest,¡± I said. On my left, vast numbers of towering trees stand proudly while mountains straightly lined up on my right. The sun directly above my head indicating that¡¯s now still noon, but as I didn¡¯t know what kind of planet is this and how long a day is, I better to hurry. I looked around to find some rivers because most of the settlements usually concentrated around a water source. At least from what I read. When I looked around, there was some kind of monsters roaming in the forest. The beasts were bizarre, and nothing like I have ever seen before. As expected of another world, it seems the game wanted players to hunt those beasts and get runes ¨C well, if the player wanted to survive next scenario it is. However, even I doubt that I could kill those huge monsters with my current ability not to mention the mental pressure while facing unfamiliar creature. ¡°What a twisted game,¡± I said while still searching for the river. Not long after, I found a river with a town nearby. This town had big stone walls encircled it, there also some watchtower on the wall and the city¡¯s vicinity, there were three main roads outside the town where I saw some carriage pulled by horses. That¡¯s it what I currently know, there was not much detail I could infer from afar. ¡°Finally, a civilization.¡± I tried my best to remember the safest route to go to that town, I decided to avoid any monster and memorize landmarks nearby. ¡°I¡¯ll head there, but I need to do something first,¡± I said while glancing at animal corpses that poisoned from tree¡¯s toxin. Chapter 4 – Mockingbird You never really understand a murderer''s view until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around it. That lines that I read somewhere before, unexpectedly rolled in my mind as I saw my image on the soaked red ground. I watched the beast¡¯s blood as it flowed into the ground and created a small pond. I saw my face on that pond. Was that my reflection? The attractive look that usually felt pleasant now seems like a stranger, the man on the red lake appeared frightening. Excitement, pleasure, thrill, and many emotions that shouldn¡¯t be, emerged on my face while I cutting this beast. Did I change into something that wasn¡¯t myself? Did I already go too far? Where was I taking the wrong turn? ¡­ Okay, enough with this monologue. I tried this once a while as a joke, and it¡¯s kind of fun, but it¡¯s creepy when my situation was really similar to the monologue. I usually calmed myself with monologues in my head with some exaggeration. It¡¯s put me at ease as though I was a reader and could view the situation more objectively. However, the situation was somewhat different, and when I exaggerated it, it sounded disturbing. Anyway, I focused my attention on the beasts¡¯ corpse. The beast''s cause of death was some poisonous plants, but most of the poison won¡¯t be lethal anymore, which could be seen from the corpse arid state. I checked all the beast corpses but only found one that took my interest. ¡°Inspect,¡± I mumbled while focusing on the beast¡¯s corpse. Earlier, I tried many possible things and found that inspect is an acceptable system¡¯s command. It gave some basic descriptions of the stuff I wanted to know. ¡°That shitty Guide, she threw us here without told us these basic commands,¡± I swore.
Sorideal Rhino Corpse
An omnivore species, but they prefer to eat meats rather than plants. They usually move and hunted individually. Note: Their horn has medicinal properties to cure some ailments.
The corpse¡¯s belly bulged with something which piqued my attention, I slit its belly with a sharp rock, and then, between blood and intestine, I found a human skeleton. Well, I said human skeleton, but there are many other nasty things other than the skeleton, but I¡¯ll spare the gory detail. It¡¯s really not good for mental health. I retrieved the skeleton from the corpse¡¯ belly, it carried a leather satchel bag. Most of its content already corroded by the beast stomach acid, but I found a strange journal; it¡¯s intact and clean even when other things got corroded. ¡°Inspect.¡±
Rudy¡¯s Log
A diary made from Gine¡¯s Tree ¨C a common material for books and notes. Note: Because of its material, the diary won¡¯t easily destroyed.
The book was full of strange letters and symbols, but as expected, I still yet learned any language of this world. However, from many hand-drawn pictures in this book, I inferred that this book was about wildlife biology and their habitat. This book was unusable for people who didn¡¯t understand its language like me, besides that, I also didn¡¯t have any leisure to learn it. I put aside the book and ransacked other items in the bag and found nothing useful except some gold coins and a small dagger. There were foods and other small weapons inside the bag, but nothing usable nor palatable. After everything been sorted and inspected, I threw all the things from the bag except the book and gold coins. Other than that, I also cut Rhino¡¯s horn earlier and put it inside the bag. Then, I placed the dagger near the bag¡¯s strap to make it easier to reach if immediate danger arises. ¡°This will do for now,¡± I said while looking at the bag and then wore it. I stared at the skeleton for a moment, and then I bowed to it. ¡°Sorry that I took your belonging. Also, thanks.¡± And soon, I went towards the town with the route I memorized earlier. (2 Hours Later) ¡°Well, that was easy,¡± I murmured. When I followed my route earlier, I took many detours as I avoid dangerous spots, which make my trip longer, but it surprisingly went out without a hitch. I already anticipated some unforeseen problems along the way. Even though I already planned the safest route ¨C as avoided monsters, dangerous-looking plants, and dangerous places like quicksand ¨C I still expected some surprise obstacles at my travel. This smooth journey, to be honest, entirely unexpected for this kind of game. A few minutes after I walked, I finally spotted the same gigantic town¡¯s walls that I saw from the tree before. I stopped my steps and didn¡¯t go there immediately. I hid near the town and picked a place where I can observe the town and also run away if necessary. After all, I need to make sure that they weren¡¯t hostile to a stranger like me. There are some people queued outside the town gate, waiting for their turn to checked by the guards. I also saw one luxurious carriage surrounded by many soldiers, they were lined up outside the gate while carrying flashy banners. They looked like an important group, the one in the carriage might have been a noble or some kind of merchant. Even so, there was some interesting detail when I observed them more, the soldier was actually in weary states as though they were just taking a long trip. Even so, the town guards didn¡¯t give them permission to cut the queue while the group showing no discontent from that treatment, at least not much. It''s odd for nobles of this city to not have clearance to bypass this kind of routine check. ¡°Except,¡± I mumbled while observing other people outside the noble¡¯s group. Unlike the noble group, others went to this city on foot. Most of them come in groups of two to four ¨C each group was at least containing an adult man and woman. They wore ordinary clothes, and a leather bag lay on their back. Even though it¡¯s not apparent, many of them wear bandages or layers of fabric which intended to block their wounds.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°So that¡¯s why. They are refugees.¡± There¡¯s not much information yet, but I roughly understood what¡¯s going on by observing the situation. As the system said, my objective was to survive some kind of war. When the war began, some skirmish bound to happen, which naturally will implicate peasants. If it happened already, then there¡¯ll be high surges of refugees from the losing side of that skirmish. But of course, the refugees won¡¯t only affect the peasants, the war will also directly implicated the nobles. When they were losing their territory from the war, they only could seek assistance from their allies, but their influence surely will fall on other nobles¡¯ eyes. I believed my inference was correct from the unnatural amount of guards on the watchtower and how many wounded groups that queued on the front of the city¡¯s gate. The war already began. ¡°It seemed there is no problem with going into the city. I could pretend as a refugee.¡± Like Grandpa and Granny said ¨C think boy, use your brain to smash any problem. Wait, that didn¡¯t seem right. Mm, whatever. The most important thing was this city wasn¡¯t hostile to foreigners, at least on the surface, and it was enough for now. I have to gather more information in this city for my own survival. If this town were safe enough, I''d stay there until the scenario finished while hunting beasts¡¯ rune in the town¡¯s vicinity. Still, I doubted this scenario will give me peace. ¡°Anyway, time to go,¡± I said and then queued like everybody else. Shortly after lining up outside the gate, I took the language rune from the pouch and used it.
Language Rune was Consumed. Choose one of the following languages to master
Vardhandi Language The official language used by almost every human tribe.
Finnick Language An obscure language that often used by the Finnick tribe.
Haynam Language Nearly extinct language because of famine on the Haynam tribe.
Chinese Language A language created on earth mostly used by Chinese people.
¡°Chinese? Is a Chinese player around?¡± I surprised by a language which not supposed to be here. That Chinese player was taking me by surprise, but my choice was clear, and it won¡¯t change just because of that small surprise. ¡°No brainer. I¡¯m picking Vardhandi.¡± It seemed some people here come from minor tribes, which handed me those weird language options. I wanted to search for information in this city to survive, not to learning linguistics. There¡¯s little to no merits to know those rare languages. It¡¯s easier to communicate with others when we spoke with the same words. After I choose it, I immediately understood many words along with their meanings. And then, not long after, the language structure, image, slang, and other essential aspects in the Vardandhi language also taught directly into my brain. I felt the process takes a quite long time, but in reality, it¡¯s happening instantaneously. Nobody around me even realized what just occurred. Soon, the people''s speech around me became clear. The voices that sounded like clattering nonsense earlier, now become noticeably comprehensible. ¡°This war really makes life hard for peasants like us,¡± an old man sighed while talking with an old woman, presumably his wife. ¡°Yeah, even Sir George run away to this place. Did humans even have a chance to win against those beings in the first place?¡± Their conversations continued without any sign to stop. Their tone was depressing and gloomy. ¡®So, my guess was true.¡± The war was not good news, but at least I finally could converse with them. I observed around to find someone that looked like to chat. It didn¡¯t take long, after a few moments, I saw a group of people talking to each other while waiting for their turn. I walked towards them and join their conversation. ¡°Good afternoon, mates. Mind if I join you while waiting?¡± I said with a smile. There was a story about a young Chinese girl. Fourteen years ago, a baby girl was born at night in a middle-sized hospital. That day was the happiest day for the couple who just become father and mother. They were longing a child of their own for years, the baby¡¯s cry on that day was like melodies from heaven. Mei Xing was the name they give to the baby. Years passed, and Mei''s body grew healthily, but she rarely talked for an infant at her age. When the parents went to the doctor, and the doctor said that Mei has permanent hearing loss. The doctor also said their child would have trouble communicating with others. The parents were shocked for a while, but they still showered Mei with affection as always. They make sure that their girl got what she needed. They learned hand sign language, took many classes to treat their special child, they also bought her many picture books and toys. They swear that whatever happened, they¡¯ll always love her, their sweetheart. She was just a little unique than other girls. ¡®What could stop them?¡¯ they thought. But they died. From a traffic accident. When Mai was only six years old. And then, the uncle act as Mei¡¯s guardian, which supposed to take care of her, but the thing was, her uncle was a gambling addict and often used her inheritance to gamble. In just five years, all of her parents¡¯ wealth gone to local casinos. The uncle became a drunkard, no he always was one. However, after her inheritance dry, he started to beat her senselessly each time a debt collector came to their house. He also told her to stop going to school because it was a waste of money. She should go beg for money on the street instead. Ans she did that. Since then, she begged for other¡¯s pity, and when she didn¡¯t bring enough money, another beating session could be expected. It hurts. However, she couldn¡¯t scream, for she was a mute. Three years passed, she spent it, as usual, begged some small change, hoping some pity from the passerby, which usually turned their face when they saw her dirty appearance. One day, the uncle thought that her profession as a beggar wasn''t brought enough money. And then he decided to sell her to a shady man. He grabbed her on her hair and bring her to that man in exchange for money. That was the last straw. She afraid, she terrified, and then finally, she broke. She struggled, punched, clawed, and bite like a wild animal, which took her uncle by surprise. At that moment, she ran aimlessly, but how much stamina a malnourished child had? Soon, she exhausted and stumbled along the way until finally fell to the ground. She exerted all her strength to get up, she looked a mirror on her left. She saw a dirty tearful little girl that full of snot and wounds on her body. The mirror reflected her current state ¨C a mute, worthless, and unwanted girl. She questioned the reason for her life while weeping. And she asked the reason for her misery. Was it a mistake, her existence in this world? Her ice heart crushed by reality, she cried alone in this cold night. She wanted someone sat next to her and told her everything will be okay. But nothing happened. Because not every story had happy end. While she weeping, the reflection on the mirror changed. Words appeared in the mirror, which she could understand. [Mei Xing the Unloved. I saw your suffering. Do you want to leave this world and play a different game?] [Yes] [No] ¡®Mama, Papa,¡¯ she thought while looking at the mirror, and then, before she fainted to the ground, she touched [Yes]. When she woke up, she found herself on a white space filled with hovering glowing balls. When those balls touched her body, all her wounds and her hunger disappeared. Also, she can hear again ¨C people clamoring and then the beautiful fairy voices. Those people let out something that she never experienced in her entire life. She didn¡¯t understand what those echoes coming from peoples¡¯ mouths means. What happened was inexplicable to her, and when she tried to understand what just happened, she got thrown to an unfamiliar world. When she woke up, she was in a forest with other people. Before they had any chance to think, a giant snake ambushed them. Their situation was dire, but with some sacrifice they could run away from the snake. Finally, after everything calmed down, those people decided to work together, they wanted to survive as a group. There was strength in numbers. After all, that¡¯s how humans persist and become apex predators on earth. They created some bonds along the way even though everyone had different languages, they became friends as people who truly know what misery was. ¡®What¡¯s could go wrong,¡¯ they thought. But they all died. From another monster assault. Leaving her alone in an unfamiliar forest. She ran and ran without directions, and then, with just sheer luck, she found a town. When she wanted to go inside, she stopped by the guard. She didn¡¯t understand a word the guard said, but from the guard hand gesture, it seemed the guard told her to waited like everybody else. And so, she waited, queued up like everybody else, and then she curled up on the corner. When it was her turn, she walked towards the guard, but she couldn¡¯t understand what the guard asked. The guard yelled at her with incomprehensible words for her. She became tearful as it reminded her of her uncle. She confused and didn¡¯t know what to do. Shortly, she burrowed her head into her knees. ¡®Just end all of this,¡¯ she thought while holding her sob. However, not long after, a young man approached the guard, told him something that she didn¡¯t understand. He gives guard some gold coin, and then the guard finally put off a smile. The guard gestured his hand to let them inside while putting the gold inside his pocket. The young man grabbed her hand and bring her inside. ¡°Oh right,¡± the man halted his steps before he enters the town, and then he asked the guards with a language the girl didn¡¯t understand, ¡°Do you know where library and bar in this city?¡± Chapter 5 - Watcher All stories had their different charms. Action stories that made my blood pumping by excitement. Adventure stories that made my mind wonder what¡¯s going next. Or maybe, romance stories that made my face red from embarrassment. When I was a kid, I thought that I¡¯ll be old enough to love all the stories. And as I going older, my hate towards some kind of stories will disappear. To some extent, it was true, I finally could appreciate some chilling horror stories and even Yuri. Hell, I love Yuri despite my grandfather beating me back then. However, I could never understand tragedy and what makes it so appealing. What''re the pleasures you got from other people''s misery? Was it just they could feel better about themselves? Can¡¯t you just help other people to make yourself feel better instead? I asked my grandfather, but I couldn¡¯t comprehend his answer about human catharsis. Well, I was young at that time, and he¡¯s suck with explanations anyway. And then I asked my grandmother. She said, as humans grew older, they started to realize how corrupt the world was. Whether it¡¯s aspirations, motivational stories, or any tales with happy endings, as humans began adulting, they began to recognize that more than half of those just outright lies. A deception given by our teachers, bosses, politicians, government, and often by our friends and families too, to make us appropriate human beings ¨C to make us believe, there was happy end as long as we have good morality. When we read tragic stories, we saw the world bare and witnessed that not even the peak of morality could escort you to your happy end. When we read it, we glimpsed at the truth of how the world works, compassions often were disregarded, and evils often weren¡¯t vindicated. Their explanation was hard to follow back then, no it was me who didn¡¯t want to understand. I wanted to saw stories with a happy ending, not the kind of stories that would crush my heart from the injustice that happened to characters inside it. What¡¯s wrong with a happy ending. ¡°Once again, I¡¯ll say it, I am someone who hates tragedy.¡± I said that while looking at the old man in front of me. ¡­ ¡°I didn¡¯t understand any sentence you just said, Tobby boy,¡± he said with a confused look. ¡°Are you fucking serious, mate? After that long ass speech, you still don¡¯t understand?¡± I yelled at him. ¡°¡­, Yes.¡± ¡°What the¡­ Fine, let me tell you once again.¡± ¡°Enough, I don¡¯t want to hear your explanation for the third time. You are too talkative. I¡¯m not saying your speech suck, but my head hurts just from hearing them.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t mince your words at all, old man,¡± I mumbled. ¡°Now you finally get my feeling,¡± the old man said while chuckling mischievously. ¡°Don¡¯t mind his harsh words, he actually likes your speech. It¡¯s been long he looked this happy,¡± the old man¡¯s wife said while sitting beside him. ¡°I know he likes me. He¡¯s like an open book in front of me,¡± I said smugly as a matter of fact. ¡°You both little piece of,¡± the old man fumed above his head, couldn¡¯t found any word to retort us. While I had fun taunting the old man, I heard a guard yelling at someone. I looked back and saw the guard yelling a little boy who crouched on the ground. It didn¡¯t seem the guard using physical violence, but I saw the boy has injury all over his body, most of it shallow, which won¡¯t endanger his life. However, this scenery where a small boy crouched in tattered clothes while sobbing still gave a bitter taste for anyone who saw it. ¡°Did he got separated from his family?¡± the old man said. ¡°Or maybe they are already,¡± the old woman¡¯s words sentence stopped halfway after realizing how inappropriate it was. ¡°Whatever it is, we can¡¯t bring her with us.¡± ¡°¡­ I know, we don¡¯t have the leisure to help others in the first place,¡± the old woman said while looking at her child sleeping next to her. They became quiet. It¡¯s like on earth, the war brought disasters even for uninvolved parties. Many people couldn¡¯t help themselves, let alone others. They were praying for survival while the people above playing for benefit. When war came, men put their swords at each other throats. When war came, even the most virtuous men lost their virtue. When war came, kindness became a weakness. Whether you¡¯re men or women. Whether you¡¯re a soldier or a farmer. Whether you¡¯re a young man or an old man. When war came, death descent. You only can lament and resent the event which you can¡¯t even prevent nor comprehend, because of some dissent or the government disagreement about their covenant. One thing for certain. When war came, you¡¯ll die, without knowing why. Well, except for the king, they can surrender anytime and trade their kingdom¡¯s wealth and their citizens for their life.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I watched the boy who still crouched to the ground, sobbing as if confused with what happening. He closed his eyes while tear piling up in the corner of his eyes. The guard stopped his yell after being told by his superior to put the boy aside, but the boy still shivered all over his body. Many people around the boy heard the guard¡¯s scream, but everybody turned a blind eye. Nobody wanted to help the child. No one could blame them, though, they have their own burden, and a child in a war just adding a weight everywhere you go. Moreover, after I conversed around with others earlier, I knew that people need to pay tax five golds each to enter this town. One gold was enough for one to live frugally for a month and those five golds were sufficient for a small family more than a month. There was also a choice to work for this town as a soldier, but considering this war period, this option was equivalent to suicide. Anyone who started become a soldier in this timing will become cannon fodder, only people with exceptional ability that could survive, rise in rank, and took advantage this situation. However, if they were extraordinary people, they won¡¯t be a peasant for this long in the first place. So, for ordinary peasants without any experience of battles, their only real choice was paying five gold and become a temporary resident in this town. Those five golds were a lifeline that could determine their life or death in this war period. There¡¯s no way people would help the boy when they can¡¯t even assure their and their family security. What a sad sight. ¡°Fuck it,¡± I stood up and then approached the guard next to the boy. What kind of protagonist who didn¡¯t move after saw this kind of sight. Even though the boy will become a burden later, I¡¯ll still put my best effort into helping him. ¡°What do you want, kid?¡± the guard said to me derisively. He had a criminal-like appearance. His white beard was fully grown similar to thick bushes, and also a sword scar crossed his left eyes make him like some classic bandit in an old story. I wanted to spout many curse words to his face, but I need his approval to go inside the town. ¡°Excuse my intrusion, I know this little boy. I¡¯m his father¡¯s friend. He afraid of strangers since his parents got killed by soldiers. Can you tell me what he did?¡± I concocted a story on the spot. The guard observed my expression while squinting his right eyes. It seemed he wanted to determine whether my words were lies or not. I¡¯m sorry, but my ability to lie was top notch. ¡°Do you know what happened if you get caught of lying here?¡± he whispered quietly while emitting bloodlust on his eyes. I felt nauseous from the ominous pressure he gave, there were some invisible hands wrapped around my body as if it would strangle me anytime soon. I was sweating bullet on my face even though I already tried to keep calm. ¡°If it¡¯s become a slave, then yes, I aware of that,¡± I said while calming myself. However, my quivering voice gave another impression. ¡°So, I¡¯ll ask it once again. Are you this boy acquaintance?¡± ¡°Yes, did he do anything wrong?¡± I confidently answered with another question. The guard got quiet while still glaring me weirdly. Was it just my feeling, there was slight confusion in the guard eyes for a moment. Not long after, the guard sighed, and then the ominous aura dissipated. ¡°¡­, forget it, it was my fault to overreact towards a child. My son goes to war as a soldier, and his commander said he lost contact with my son. I felt restless and became slept deprived for a few days already. Earlier, my anxiety got the better of me. I¡¯m sorry for that, boy,¡± he said while looking at the boy who still crouched on the ground. Surprisingly, he apologized. Maybe he¡¯s not really a bad person. Quite unexpected for someone who has a criminal appearance. I¡¯m sorry for anyone who had a scary face. Like proverb said, you can¡¯t judge books from their covers. ¡°Don¡¯t mind it, this war taking a toll for all of us. Right, can you let me go inside with this boy? Consider us as a group,¡± I shamelessly asked him. ¡°You supposed to go back to your line, but consider this as my apology. Follow me.¡± I notice a vein bulged in his forehead for a moment, but when I look again, there was actually none. It must be my feeling. ¡°Really?¡± I just tried asking without expecting anything, but he really let me cut the line. What a nice fella. I followed him walk towards a room. Inside the room, there was a bluish translucent crystal ball above a small table. Some guards stood around the crystal, and they look slightly tense. It seemed the crystal was an important item for them. ¡°Put your hand here,¡± the guard said while pointing the crystal ball. I looked the crystal carefully, it let out a strange bluish calming aura. I believed the guard didn¡¯t have any intent to harm me, but I won¡¯t put my hand to something suspicious without ascertaining it. ¡®Observe.¡¯
Eyes of Friegze
A device created from a peaceful but already extinct crystal creature, Friegze. Friegze¡¯s eyes could determine whether someone or something considered by their race as a dangerous creature. When someone considered as dangerous by Friegze beast ¨C a serial murderer, warmonger, rapist, etc. ¨C stand nearby, the Friegze¡¯s eye will shine red. However, after Friegze¡¯s died, their eyes only active when someone touched it.
¡®Basically, a tool to determine whether someone is a criminal or not.¡¯ I put my hand on the ball, and then unsurprisingly, the blue crystal didn¡¯t shine red. I looked at the guard, and then he nodded while writing something on a paper. ¡°Good. What¡¯s your name?¡± the guard asked. ¡°Tobias.¡± ¡°You have a strange name, but fine.¡± He said while writing my name in the paper, and then he pointed at the boy, ¡°he also needs to touch the crystal.¡± I nodded and then grabbed the boy¡¯s hand, he jolted and taken aback from my sudden action. ¡°I¡¯m sorry he¡¯s still tense about this all,¡± I said while slightly forced the boy hand towards the crystal. A few seconds after the boy touched the crystal, its aura didn¡¯t change into red. I slightly relieved, I thought there will be some plot twist here, and the crystal will shine red or something along the lines, but yeah, sometimes no plot twist was good. ¡°Good,¡± the guard said while still writing. ¡°The total taxes for you both are eleven gold coins. Do you wanted to pay it with gold or worked as a soldier until you bring equal value to this town.¡± ¡°Wait, I thought it was five golds each person?¡± ¡°Consider it my fee to let you cut the line.¡± I took back my words about he¡¯s a nice person. This guy truly a bandit, sometimes you can judge a book from its cover. ¡°What a greedy old man,¡± I grumbled. ¡°So, golds or works as a soldier. Or maybe you wanted to queue back?¡± the guard said as though he didn¡¯t hear me at all. This hateful guard. ¡°Golds, of course,¡± I said while sighing and then gave eleven golds I acquired from the skeleton in the forest. ¡®That person quite rich, huh,¡¯ I thought as I counted the golds left in the bag. After the guard finished counting the gold I gave to him, he told me to go inside quietly. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart, considering that even nobles didn¡¯t get allowed to cut the line, one gold was a bargain. Maybe it was his roundabout way to help me. He probably too embarrassed to help me for free. What a tsundere. ¡°Did you just thinking something rude?¡± he said while emitting another ominous aura. As expected, this man was scary. ¡°Nothing,¡± I answered while hastily running through the gate with the boy also running next to me. *** Not long after, in the Guards¡¯ room. A burly man with a scar on his left eyes, sat in the middle of the room while looking at a paper and eleven golds in his hand. The guards standing next to him, still tense because of this man''s smile. It was unexpected for everyone in this room. No, even his existence in this room was very abnormal. ¡°Tobias, huh. What an interesting kid,¡± he murmured with a smile. Chapter 6 - Stop I stood near the town¡¯s gate and observed the clamoring people in front of me while my hand still gripping the boy¡¯s hand. After I step inside the town, a three-meters wide street composed of black stones unfolds on my eyes. Most of the town buildings I saw were built with some kind of orange stone; they give the impression like small versions of an old castle on earth. Even so, those buildings were stunningly arranged like candy to the eyes for whoever seeing them. The uniformity of material and the serenity sensation from the color choices were flawless. Besides that, the placement of public buildings was also excellent. A Church, a courthouse, a library, and other civic institutions were located in the center of this town. They¡¯re placed in the safest part of the town. Even so, they still easy to spot with their towering stature, which visible even from the corner of the town. In the center of all this, a towering castle stood tall with its white color ¨C it has different colors and higher than any other building in this town. The town¡¯s design was planned systematically and will put most cities on earth to shame. I saw the boy next to me, dazed after seeing this sight. I can¡¯t blame him though, even I who come from earth got surprised by this view. I¡¯m sure the impact was more significant for this kid. ¡°This town is quite stunning, right kid,¡± I asked the boy next to me. After hearing my voice, the boy jolted backward. It seemed he¡¯s still wary with me. I put my best smile and then said, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± The boy¡¯s facial expression still tense, and when I look into his eyes, I saw some fears and confusion there. I understood if he didn¡¯t trust me yet. I also understood if he confused about why a person he met earlier help him out of nowhere. However, his confusion wasn¡¯t caused by that. He acted as though he didn¡¯t understand what I said even though I used Vardandhi Language, the most common language in this world. Even if he was from a hidden tribe, at least he¡¯ll still know a sentence or two and won¡¯t act that what I said was really incomprehensible. It¡¯s as if he¡¯s not from this world. ¡®Wait.¡¯ I hunkered down and then observed his body more carefully, the fear in his face became more apparent when I looked into his eyes. ¡®Blood on his body, too much for a child, its someone else blood. He has some shallow wounds; however, every wound was very new ¨C less than a few hours. There no sign of malnourishment; he does not even appear hungry. His clothes tattered, and from its appearance, he already wore it more than a week. His teeth were clean, no, too clean, and too neat¡­¡¯ I stared at the boy while thoroughly observing his appearance. Many thought flying in my head as I examined him to find proof that supported my assumptions. ¡°So, it¡¯s like that. You¡¯re also a [Player],¡± I concluded. His worn-out appearance gave me the wrong impression and spurious conclusion, I thought he was another victim of war. However, when I inspected him earlier, he was actually in good physical shape to the impossible extent. When your rations were limited, you¡¯ll use it sparsely; you won¡¯t have this kind of physical form. There were two possible reasons for this. First, this boy was living in a very well off family before got separated from them. It explained why he had an excellent physical shape if his family was very caring about his health. However, it didn¡¯t explain why he didn¡¯t understand my words, its strange for a well off family to not even teach his kid about the most common language of this world. Second, he¡¯s a player like me. His physical shape could be explained by the orbs in that white rooms which have mysterious healing properties. If that orbs could even regenerate lost limbs, it won¡¯t be a wonder that they could recover people to their peak condition. The kid''s inability to comprehend my words also could be explained by it. It¡¯s because he came from the earth and not yet to check the system¡¯s inventory and find out about the beginner pack. It''s a miracle that he survived until now. I took a deep breath. ¡°Do you understood what I¡¯m saying now?¡± I tried to ask in English. Still no reaction from the boy. ¡®Uh, what do I do now?¡± For a few moments, I fell quiet. ¡°Wait, that¡¯s it,¡± I exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re the Chinese player before,¡± I remembered the language choice given by the system earlier, one of them was the Chinese language. I tried to remember some Chinese words I learned from my grandmother. It¡¯s been long since the last time I need it, so my memory was a bit hazy.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You. Not. Need. Suspicious. Me. I. Good. Not. Bad. Person,¡± I said in broken Chinese while using my hand to help me convey the meaning. The boy stepped back after hearing my words. ¡®Okay, that was my fault. Now he becomes even more suspicious of me. I¡¯m sorry grandma, I should listen to your lectures more seriously.¡¯ I sighed while lamenting my past laziness. ¡®Well, I just need to try more to convey what I want to say.¡¯ I started to concoct a proper Chinese sentence in my head. *Plak* However, before I said anything, the boy slapped my hand and then running away from me. For a few seconds, I only observed the boy¡¯s back without doing anything; the event was unexpected, which made my reactions late. ¡°Wait, stop.¡± I immediately shouted after realizing what just happened ¨C a child got thrown into an unfamiliar world; without even understand its language; and without knowing that monsters roamed in the wild. The child can''t survive this world. The best scenario was his swift death from a monster hand, while the worst scenario was to become a perverted noble¡¯s slave, became its plaything, and end up dying in an unknown sewer. ¡°Shit, he¡¯s running even faster. Why people never stop when I said so.¡± The boy was in the panic state, there¡¯s no way any of my words will pass through to him. However, if I left him alone, it¡¯s like let him walked to his death. ¡°I don¡¯t really want to use this now, but¡­¡± I murmured while grabbing something on my hand. I rushed towards the boy and grabbed his hand, luckily, the boy wasn¡¯t fast enough to outrun an adult like me. ¡°Gotcha,¡± I yelled while the boy struggling to escape. I looked like a child predator right now, but whatever. I forcefully opened his palm and put out a rune in his hand. It was the same rune that I used to learn this world language. I wasn¡¯t eager to use it to the kid as I still have some use to it, but after everything said and done, a rune for a chance of life is a worthy exchange. Others may say that I was foolish for doing this. It was irrational to not save every advantage I can. After all, the more card I had in my sleeve, the bigger the chance I had to survive this game. Rationally, it¡¯s better to keep the rune for myself in this kind of circumstance, morality will be damned when you were in a life and death situation. However, I didn¡¯t like that, just that one reason was enough. After all, my value of what¡¯s right wasn¡¯t based on circumstances. ¡°Vardhandi. Vardhandi,¡± I repeated it to the boy while gesturing number one with my index finger. It¡¯s a gamble whether he¡¯ll understand me or not, but it¡¯s a necessary bet. The boy looking at the rune in his hand, and then the rune disappeared almost instantly. The boy touched his head as though he was in pain. It seemed he already consumed the rune, but whether he chose what I recommended or not is a different question. He looked around and found many people look at us. Apparently, he understood that he was creating a ruckus. And then, he looked at my face. ¡°S- stay away from me¡­¡± he yelled in Vardhandi language but then fell silent as though he just did something strange. More and more people looking at us after his scream. He became confused and then run again from me. I dumbfounded, he¡¯s running away again? After all of this? ¡°Seriously?¡± It appears that everything that just happened was too much for the boy to comprehend, and his panic state won¡¯t change only because he understood what I said. Wait, when I thought it once more, it¡¯s understandable if he felt more alarmed when he suddenly put in this situation. ¡®Well, at least he already understands this world language. His chance of survival increased drastically.¡¯ I took a deep breath and then shouted towards the boy who still running aimlessly. ¡°Oooi. If you already cool down your head and need any help, search for me.¡± I saw the boy stopped for a moment after hearing my voice and then looked at my directions, but not long after, he ran again. I, the one who saw his back that getting smaller, couldn¡¯t help but worry. However, if I still chase him now, the effect would backfire. People would start to call a guard to arrest me. ¡°That is the man, officer,¡± I heard a voice from afar. ¡°Scratch that, people already call them. Time to run.¡± ¡°Wait, stop. Don¡¯t you dare to run,¡± the guard shouted after he noticed that I wanted to run. ¡®Who the hell stupid enough that will stop just because someone said so.¡¯ *** *Huff* *Huff* I needed to run in a circle across many narrow alleys and change clothes a few times to escape from the guard. It was exhausting, that guard had some kind ability to follow my scent. Note for the future me, never again to involve with the guards. Luckily, there was only one person that tracked me earlier. If there was more, I doubt I¡¯ll escape like this. Even though I could explain it to the guard, he still needed to bring me to their office and took my statement. That alone wasn¡¯t so bad, but from what I heard, the justice system in this town was like a sloth, especially after the war broke out. If it wasn¡¯t too important, they¡¯ll put it on hold and put the suspect in confinement until they have time to interview the suspect. It would take days or even weeks, I didn¡¯t have the leisure to spend my day like that. Therefore, I choose to run. Well, that¡¯s enough of blaming the system. The guard probably already gave up catching me. I observed the building where I was hiding. It¡¯s different from ordinary buildings in the town, actually, scratch that, it¡¯s different from any construction in this town. It was made from woods while the others were created from some kind of stone. The interior color was varied from light to medium brown, which reminded me of mocha latte. There was also some smell similar to cinnamon come from the building¡¯s wall. The place was relaxing, but that was a matter of course. It¡¯s to increase the functionality of this building. After all, this building was a library. The calming sensation was to make readers not too stressed while reading books. Also, it seemed this place was usually a place where many nobles gathered. So they made it as comfortable as possible. That being said, the fee to enter this library also very impressive. It¡¯s two golds to one day reading in the library. It could last two months for living frugally here. ¡°This is extortion. I miss the internet. I miss the freedom of information,¡± I sighed while choosing up books from their racks. ¡°Hmm, History of the World. Yes.¡± ¡°The First Great Race War. Uh, this¡¯s a bit thick, but yes.¡± ¡°Arcone ¨C The first hero. Uh, I¡¯ll just read the summary.¡± ¡°The Second Great Race War. Well, okay, I¡¯ll take it.¡± ¡°Introduction of Magic for Dummies. What? Why the heck dummies series exist in this world. Fine then, I¡¯ll read it too.¡± The book hunting continued, and not long after, I simply forgot about those two golds. I focused my attention on the books that I already picked up while sitting in a table near the window. After all is said and done, I genuinely need this information to survive. I really can¡¯t put too much faith to the plot armor like some hotblooded protagonists. ¡°I¡¯m still a protagonist wannabe after all.¡± Chapter 7 – Nightmare Many official guards of this town stand in each corner of a luxurious mansion. They¡¯re observing at many people who just entered the hall with a distrustful look. They still couldn¡¯t believe why their lord let these people entered this mansion considering their history. This town, Najual Town, suffered many casualties after armed conflict a few years ago with the other side ¨C the armies from Galos town. The conflicts escalated a few times and nearly became a full-blown civil war. If they let the thing take its course, the war will happen in a year or even less. Of course, when that happened, the citizens and the armies already prepared. Nevertheless, it didn¡¯t happen. A few weeks ago, they got the news that the Galos town failed to defend the attack from the demon race. The demon race occupied their town and used it as their base. Many people in Najual town receive this news with a cheer. With this incident, they had the advantage of choosing whether they wanted to negotiate or to wipe them out. It sounded extreme from an outsider perspective, but it was morally acceptable considering their culture and their position as open enemies. However, their lord¡¯s unforeseen command caught them off guard. Their lord¡¯s choice to receive this party as guests instead of just eliminate them was inexplicable. They had the upper ground, people supports, and justifiable moral reason to do so. If only the lord didn''t directly order them to stay put earlier, a clash between the Najual¡¯s soldier and Galos¡¯ soldier would break out right here, right now. Even though they were supposed on the same side as two towns with the same neutral alignment, they didn¡¯t even try to hide their hatred towards each other. The atmosphere was tense, everyone stood in a position where they could draw their weapon if a command arise. Whether the Najual¡¯s soldier or the Galos¡¯ soldier, they glared to each other full of abhorrence. Neither of them wanted to back down and show a sign of weakness to their enemies. *** Inside a luxurious room, two high-profile men quietly stared at each other, gauging each other fa?ade. None of them wanted to show any weakness to the other side. As the lords of two towns without alignment to any race, they somewhat reclusive and chose to not associate with politics of other races, which caused their meetings rarely occurred. Their last meeting was half a year ago in the warzone when their armed conflict escalated. One of them was Najual¡¯s town lord, Rakhual. He sat down in a sumptuous armed chair while stirring a sugar cube in a cup of tea. His lack of official attributes and his informal blue clothes gave him an impression similar to an ordinary citizen. However, when people heard his achievement in the field of magic, nobody dared to think like that anymore. In contrast with Rakhual''s calm manner, the other party appeared grumpy and a little unhappy, which he didn¡¯t even try to hide. However, it¡¯s understandable when considering what happened to his town. The town that he built and lead ambushed by many groups of demons and occupied by them. He was Galos¡¯ town lord, Hezkel. He stood up while still glaring at the Rakhual intensely. He wore a silver armour and a red cape with a phoenix image on his back. The same phoenix picture also displayed as a palm-sized insignia on his chest. He will look like a dashing cavalier with his sculpted body if only he remove the frown from his face. Hezkel glanced and scanned this room while still in his stoic face. He realised this room was Rakhual¡¯s private room from the high amount of rare magic books here. Most of them arranged neatly in their racks while three opened in a desk near where Rakhual sat. There were many notes and scribbles shown on those books. It was absurd for someone who had the same age as himself to already in the stage of correcting mistakes in magic books. Even though they were enemies, Hezkel couldn¡¯t help to felt respect for people who put this many efforts to achieve his dream. Nevertheless, this and that were different matters. They¡¯re still not friendliest term. ¡°Get straight to the point and make it fast. None of us could stop the soldiers if they went rampage and started to put their swords on each other throats,¡± Hezkel spoke brashly. Rakhual was silent for a moment while looking at the phoenix insignia on the Hezkel¡¯s chest. The phoenix was Galos¡¯ symbol of pride, it¡¯s representing an ancient beast that always rises from its ash. This ideology brought people together under Hezkel, a man that even though lost countless fights, but always come back stronger and fiercer. Hezkel created the Galos town from a wasteland into a town with a terrifying military might in just a few years. And even this time, when Hezkel just lost his town, many people followed him and already waited for his next move. He had charisma and strength that make people wanted to put hopes onto him. ¡°I agree, Hezkel. it¡¯s our best interest to keep it short,¡± Rakhual put down his cup and spoke to the Galos¡¯ town lord ¨C Hezkel. ¡°Lilo Silph, era not e ki o nor,¡± Rakhual chanted with a low voice, but Hezkel heard it clearly with his sharp ears. A small wind appeared from nowhere and bring the books on the desk into their racks. It was a simple spell which often Rakhual used unconsciously. It was his habit to train his affinity with mana. Hezkel observed the whole thing, even though he still maintained his stoic face, he couldn¡¯t help but amazed by Rakhual''s earlier demonstration. Only true experts can shorten their incantations and still got the results they desire. Rakhual, the one who used less than twenty syllables on his incantation just show his mastery over wind magic. It was like a rule of thumbs; the higher someone understanding about a type of magic, the shorter their incantation. Most of the nobles also employed wizards with this rule in mind. ¡°Please, sit down,¡± Rakhual asked after finishing his spell. ¡°I¡¯d rather stand as my soldiers are waiting outside,¡± Hezkel answered coldly. Rakhual fell silent for a moment before finally opened his mouth. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll cut it short for you. I needed you to join me to defend this town¡­¡± Before Rakhual continued his words, it was cut short by Hezkel. ¡°And here I was wondering what so important that you called me despite everything,¡± Hezkel said without hiding his mockery. ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s just another load of bullcrap.¡± Hezkel sighed, ¡°if that¡¯s what you just want to say. I¡¯ll be on my way to take over another town.¡± ¡°If that the case, why are you sitting down?¡± Rakhual said with a smile after seeing Hezkel sat down at the chair in the front of him. ¡°Even though I hate you very much. I know what kind of person you are. You aren¡¯t the kind of person who told this kind of shit without any reason,¡± Hezkel put his right hand on the armchair and then prop his chin against his palm. ¡°Now. Tell me, what is the reason?¡± ¡°Well, how I must say this,¡± Rakhual sighed. ¡°I suppose you didn¡¯t get any news from two weeks ago.¡± Hezkel was quiet before nodded. His spy can¡¯t enter the town while he was tightly under siege. ¡°I thought so,¡± Rakhual said. ¡°Two weeks ago. Gehenna got destroyed from the inside.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Impossible,¡± Hezkel stood up and yelled after hearing it. ¡°I also reacted like this when I got this info, but it¡¯s true. You can confirm it yourself later. So, calm down, denial won¡¯t change anything.¡± Hezkel looking menacingly at the Rakhual eyes as though he wanted to saw through into Rakhual heart while breathing erratically. After a while, he calmed down, sat down again, and took a deep breath. ¡°Forgive my outburst,¡± Hezkel said and then sighed. ¡°This will be a very long chat.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I already prepared a residence for your groups,¡± Rakhual smiled. ¡°You¡¯re really prepared as usual. But fine, this time, I¡¯ll take your offer.¡± ¡°Oh my, thank you,¡± Rakhual said, which only replied with a little smile from Hezkel. Hezkel silent for a moment and then asked, ¡°That ¡®event¡¯ also supposed happened about two weeks ago. Is this directly related to it?¡± ¡°If what we thought is true, then it¡¯ll be a nightmare for all of us. I truly hope that wasn¡¯t the case,¡± Rakhual sighed, ¡°but¡­¡± *** I couldn¡¯t understand many strange things that happened today, it may because I was really as dumb as my uncle said. Even so, I know this occurrence was very odd. After I finally gathered my courage to run away from my uncle, I fainted on the alley. When I woke up, I was already in a white and strange place. It was scary at first, but when I notice that uncle wasn¡¯t here anymore, I somehow felt relieved. In this place, some balls were floating around. It''s like a toy that I see other children played around with. Whenever I touched those balls, my body felt light, and my pain lessened. My hunger also disappeared, I felt like I was eating to the fullest today. No wonder other children love to play with a toy. After a while, I felt a strange thing from both sides of my head. It was coming from the people who open their mouths wide. It was loud, unpleasant, and somewhat made my ear itchy. Was it what people called as noise. I was deaf, so this feeling was new to me. Not long after, a fairy-like creature that similar to a picture I saw in the bookshop appeared on the sky. Miss fairy was charming. Her lustrous golden hair, her glittering wings, her lovely dress. Everything about her was stunning. If only I were like her. Maybe uncle won¡¯t hurt me anymore. Soon, I feel something that I never felt before. It was directly sensed by my head. Maybe it was what people called talking. ¡®Was it the fairy voice?¡¯ I thought because everyone looking at her. It was a beautiful voice. I didn¡¯t know what she talked about. Some words, I understand. Some words, I didn¡¯t. Nevertheless, her voice was comforting and relaxing. But soon, my body felt heavy. It seemed miss fairy was angry about something. I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s mad about, but I know it¡¯s better not move and just quiet like when uncle angry. And shortly, miss fairy not angry anymore. Somebody already talked with her about something I didn¡¯t know. And then miss fairy started talking again with her gentle voice. Is this what people call heaven? Because I enjoy this feeling of safety and warmness here. ¡®If this is a dream, please don¡¯t wake me up.¡¯ But I woke up. In an unfamiliar place. There were many plants, they were tall and lush. They were so different from the plants that I saw in my uncle''s place. This place gave a weird and strange feeling. Different from that white place, I felt many dangerous things surrounding this place. It was scary. My hand can¡¯t stop shaking, and I felt nauseous. Not only me, but the people around me also shaken. They let out a loud voice that I didn¡¯t understand. Maybe they were shouting something, but I couldn¡¯t understand what they were saying. Just after that, a man¡¯s head disappeared. Bitten by a big snake that slept on a tree. This scenery was scary, and I wanted to puke, but then realised almost all people running away. I felt I must follow them, and so, I also run away following one of them. After a while, those people stopped running after realising that the snake didn¡¯t give chase. And then, those people sat down and started to talk with a language that I didn¡¯t understand. They looked confused at first, but after trying out different odd noises, they could talk to each other. Even so, I still didn¡¯t understand what they were doing. Nevertheless, they didn¡¯t chase me away. So, I still followed this group because I felt safe with more people around. They even gave me the food first after finding fruits in this weird place. Even though they stared me weirdly when I ate that fruit, they didn¡¯t try to hurt me. Maybe they were kind people. ¡®God, please bless these nice people.¡¯ But soon, all of them also die. A strange creature appeared and bite people here while I lay on the ground because I was too afraid to move. That creature ate those people''s bodies one by one, and soon, it crept closer to my body. It wanted to eat me. This was my ending. However, before it bit me, suddenly that creature stopped while looking around. It let out a small shriek before it ran away. However, its attempt to run was futile as a huge bird flew down from the sky and catch that creature. I was afraid and confused about what happened. So, I run away. I didn¡¯t know where I want to go. I went without direction as I wanted to get away as far as possible from this place. Soon, I found people and then a city. I wanted to go inside because I thought it was safer than on the outside, but a man with a uniform prevented me while talking with language that I didn''t understand. I tried to force my way in, but the man was stronger than me. He seemed angry and then pointed at a line of people. It seemed he wanted me to wait like everybody else. I nodded and then sat in the corner. I finally calmed down. However, when I remember what happened earlier, many emotions stirred in my heart. Tears flowed on my cheek. I tried to wipe them out, but it won¡¯t stop. My body trembled a little when I remember how that snake bit that man head. I shrivelled when I remembered when that creature ate everybody. And I wept after realising my fragility. Will I die painfully like that? It¡¯s been long since last time I cried like this. Whenever I cried, my uncle always hurt me. So, I never cry like this. But this was okay, right? Uncle wasn¡¯t here. After a while, the man with a uniform called me. He talked with weird language again while pulling me from the line. It seemed my turn to go inside was come. I step inside the gate but stopped by the man. He seemed angry about something while gesturing something with his hand. I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t understand anything. So, I fell silent. I didn¡¯t know what to do. I tried to force my way in again, but the man immediately stopped me. He snapped and then shouted at me. His face now was similar to my uncle when he wanted to hurt me. It¡¯s scary. Unconsciously, I took a step back, but I stumbled and fell down. It was terrifying, and then another tear flowed again. I tried to wipe out those tears quickly, but it won¡¯t stop. I saw the man overlap with uncle''s image, the thought that he¡¯ll beat me because my sobbing voices surfaced in my head. ¡®I afraid. It was hurt. Please don¡¯t hurt me.¡¯ I closed my eyes and buried my head into my knees. ¡®I will become a good child and won¡¯t ever cry anymore. So, please, don¡¯t hurt me.¡¯ The painful thought keeps resurfacing and made me trembles while the tears still won¡¯t stop. ¡®Somebody, please help me. Just end all of this.¡¯ In between my sobbing, I felt a hand caressing my head. I didn¡¯t know who he was, but he looked me in the eyes and told me something. He stood up and talked with the man in uniform, and after a while, the man in the uniform guide him towards a room. He grabbed my hand and bring me with him. He seemed to notice my shivering hand and stroke my head, it was gentle and soothing. His hand was cold but warmer than everybody that I ever met, it¡¯s strange. Can I trust you? The room had a beautiful crystal, the man put his hand on it and then put my hand on it. After it was finished, he gave something to the guard and then rushed towards the gate. Was it money? So I need money to go inside this town. After I entered the city, I felt awe with the scenery. It was the most beautiful thing that I ever saw. Suddenly the man let out a voice towards me, which shook me. He seemed thinking for something and then lowered his body and stared me intensely. I didn¡¯t like this gaze. After a while, he let out a weird voice and then mumbled something which followed by a sudden shout. He tried to talk again, but this time I could slightly recollect something from his mouth movement. It¡¯s moving like when I met uncle the first time, and also that weird man in that alley where uncle sold me. I backed down. This man was suspicious, after all. I slapped his hand and run away from him. He yelled something, but I didn¡¯t stop. I didn¡¯t know what he¡¯ll do if I stop. When I realise it, he already running next to me and grabbed my hands. He put something inside my palm and then yell out a weird word while gesturing ¡®one¡¯ with his hand. I looked at the thing he put in my palm and felt an urge to grab it. The next thing I saw was a floating thing, it wants me to choose. I chose the choice with number one in it. I felt something emerge in my head, many things which made my head hurts. When it stopped, I could understand the clamour around me, the shout around me. It was weird and confusing. There were many stares pointed at me, and I could know that those bystanders talked about me. It was uncomfortable and nauseating. ¡°S- stay away from me¡­¡± I screamed. ¡®Wait, I screamed? I talked? What¡¯s happened.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know what to do, and so, I run again. It was a weird feeling to understand what people talking about, it wasn¡¯t uncomfortable, but it was a bit overwhelming. ¡°Oooi. If you already cool down your head and need any help, search for me.¡± I heard him shouted at me. I stopped for a moment trying to understand what he meant, I looked at him for a moment before finally chose to run again. Not long after, I stopped in a narrow alley while trying to regulate my breath. ¡°It was tiring,¡± I mumbled as I lean my back to the wall. ¡°Ah, I can speak?¡± I exclaimed because of this weird feeling. I gulped and then said, ¡°A. I. U E. O. Ehehe that feels strange.¡± I giggled a little. ¡°Hello, my name is Mei Xing. I am fourteen years old. I hope we can be friends,¡± I talked slightly louder. I often imagine this scene where I went to school and could introduce myself like others and had friends that spent their time playing with me. It was a fleeting dream, which I understand won¡¯t come. However, I now can talk, I slightly felt happy and made my imaginations run wild. This happiness was an odd feeling for me, but I didn¡¯t dislike it. *Growl* When I busy fantasised, a sound coming from my belly. ¡°Was that the sound of hunger?¡± I mumbled, and then I started rummaging dumpster near the alley. There was some leftover food thrown by the resident here, which then I ate to the fullest. Luckily, my experience as a beggar helped me to find edible food. Even though they appear dirty, they won¡¯t hurt my stomach. After I finished eating, I fell asleep even though the sun yet to set. Maybe it was because I tired or because I already feel full, I sleep soundly this time. There was no nightmare like usual.