Chapter 47: Prolog - The Second Life Again
A soft sensation penetrated my body.
The sensation of a familiar taste of death has returned to me.
When my heavy body slowly opened my eyelids which felt very heavy, I realized something was pressing on my body.
Twiichh...
I forced my eyelids to open wide with a false pain that spread throughout my body.
"Kuuh!!" I muttered softly when my eyelids opened wide and I realized the figure of a little fox girl sleeping on top of my body.
The little fox girl was wearing a small blue kimono with long grayish-white fox ears until her little fox tail stood up straight when she felt the movement of my body which still felt stiff.
"Hmmng?? I can feel a sting vibration of life when I wake up from the dream world. Are you awake, Player from another world?"
The little fox girl woke up along with my consciousness which began to be able to move my hands which still felt stiff.
"It seems like I've experienced this for the second time," I said while observing the wooden ceiling that looked like a typical building owned by the Sakura Empire.
The fox girl immediately got down from my body and fixed the position of her blue kimono that almost slipped past her slender little body. If this kimono had come off and exposed her naked body, I don't know what nightmare I would have gotten after seeing the nude body of a small child.
"Welcome to my room, Player," the fox girl forced her half-sleepy body to sit on her knees and bowed respectfully.
Because my body still felt weak and didn't have enough energy to get up, I could only move my lips to say something.
"It seems like something happened when I passed out."
Twiitchh...
I could see her fox ears twitching and her sleepy eyes trying to stay awake but it seemed in vain because the fox girl's body fell and hit the wooden floor.
Thugg...
"Awawa~ it hurts so much!" Feeling the pain because her head hit the wooden floor, the fox girl now woke up consciously with her eyes streaming tears, and small sobs that were heard. Both of her hands seemed to be holding her forehead which hit the wooden floor until it produced a loud crashing sound.
"…"
Seeing her child-like behavior, I could only remain silent without making a sound.
Her body posture as a fox girl seemed familiar to Shinano. It's just that this is a small variant that is always sleepy all the time.
"Why am I in a place like this?" I asked to known the condition of my body which for some reason was in the Sakura Empire area.
"Aww... please wait a moment. My head still hurts from hitting the floor," replied Shinano-chan with a small scream from her fox that growled because of the pain.
"It's your fault for being sleepy and hurting your head."
"That's not wrong, you should have calmed me down who was in pain as an Admiral."
"I'm not an Admiral."
"You were my Admiral when you in another world, weren't you?"
"What did you say?"
Even to reply to Shinano-chan's words, my body felt unbearable pain. Luckily because I was lying down and not standing, it will became little bit hurt, if I had been standing then this pain would have been unbearable and my mouth would have inadvertently groaned in pain.
Shinano-chan stopped rubbing her head which now left a bright red bruise.
"It still hurts. I should have asked for some ointment to reduce this bruise."
"Oh! Speaking of this embarrassing accident. Are you okay after being in a coma for sixty days?"
"..."
I could hear those words.
A coma for sixty days?
Isn't that the same as being in an 60-days trial death?
What exactly happened to me?
My last memory was only hearing a soft whisper after my body fainted by forcing the Wisdom Cube's performance non-stop to move the entire Seawolf network that was moving in a hunting formation.
Twiich...
Shinano-chan's ears moved again after my gaze met her sleepy-looking eyes.
"A coma for sixty days? Was I unconscious for that long?"
"Ah! Not really. That was the number of days in the condition that was added after you mistakenly entered another body in this world."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
Whether it was my mind that was in a mess or Shinano-chan's words seemed to be directed at me who was in another world, it felt so strange and funny that someone knew that I was from another world.
"Do you doubt the words of a ship girl who can walk in the dream world?" Shinano-chan's gaze now clearly stared at me as if seeing my origins from another world.
"Ah! Maybe this will answer your question," Shinano-chan now took out a small box and opened the lid until a gleam of reflected light was visible.
"A mirror? For what?"
The answer given by Shinano-chan surprised me a little because the small glass box reflected the appearance of my long-dead face.
My heart beat quickly when I saw this nostalgic and sad face again.
Long unkempt hair, a long messy beard, and an expression on his face that was not filled with the spirit of life.
This was my old self before I died.
"W-Why did this happen?"
My facial expression looked messier than before. The face that was filled with tiredness and fatigue looked very unattractive compared to my new body before.
"Are you happy to return to your original body?" Shinano-chan asked as she moved her small fox tail like a happy dog.
"Your original body is much healthier than that dying body that died."
"Although your original body is very weak by the health standards of this world, it is much more suitable than being bound by the coercive rules of the old body, isn't it?"
Shinano-chan's words shook my body with incredible fear.
How could she know that I had lived in two different bodies?
Was this because of Shinano-chan's mystical ability to walk through dreams, even dreams from another world?
Behind my pale, calm face, there was a sadness, fear, and regret that was hard to express in words. Even this mirror only told me the state of my having returned to my old body.
"Did you miss this?" Shinano-chan gave me a new package wrapped in white sealing tape.
"What is this?" I asked as I accepted the new package given by Shinano-chan.
"You'll understand once you open it."
Without further explanation, I immediately opened the new package and saw my old cellphone which looked like new.
"T-This… could it be…" I immediately reached for my old cellphone which seemed to have died a long time ago along with its charger.
My hand reflexively pressed the power on/off button and expected my old cellphone to be able to work normally after previously sinking with me.
I could feel a small vibration and my cellphone screen suddenly came to life. The first thing I saw was a background image showing Shinano and Shinano-chan sleeping together.
"How could I still use a background image like this on my old cellphone."
I tried my best to hold back my embarrassment because my body was still weak after waking up from a coma.
"What happened here?" I muttered after seeing the contents of my cellphone the same as before I died and was thrown into this Azur Lane world.
"Is this reincarnation or transmigration?" I continued to mutter softly.
I didn't want to think about such a ridiculous incident beyond common sense. The fact that I returned to my old body in a new world would not change even if I tried to deny it.
"This is going beyond my logic," my little mumble caught Shinano-chan's attention.
The cute little fox girl just smiled at me.
"Because Shinano is not around. I will answer your questions as best I can, oh Player from another world," Shinano-chan said in a soft tone.
I could see her serious facial expression trying to stay calm while holding back her drowsiness.
"I know you must be confused after all this. But this is a responsibility that should be shouldered by the Sakura Empire itself. The experiment to open the dimensional gate from another world like the one done by Siren seems to have a flaw and a bit of a work accident."
"It's a bit hard to admit but you are one of the victims who got caught in this condition. Maybe you are the only player who managed to survive after several other players got caught in the same condition."
"You being trapped inside one of the Seawolf subjects' bodies was not a mistake because all the male subjects were Azur Lane Players from another world who known the working principles of this world trapped in male Seawolf body. We accidentally triggered something unexpected by giving them a second chance at life and ended up dying from such a small test."
"This may sound very cruel."
"You ignored the little test that Shinano gave you based on the forced Quest that she had arranged. You even managed to overcome some of the worst-case scenarios that would have happened when your identity was being questioned because you were using someone else's body."
"Shinano expectations of yourself have attracted the attention of other nations and almost destroyed what Shinano planning and the influence of the Sakura Empire itself did not expect. I did not want to create new lines of hostility after we successfully conducted the experiment that transferred your soul to your original body."
"It may be a little late to say this."
"Please forgive Shinano's selfishness for her little experiment that went beyond the control of the Sakura Empire."
Shinano-chan gave me an explanation and new information that involved a strange experiment. Summoning someone from another world, inserting their soul into a Seawolf test subject, and returning me to my original body after she successfully forced my will through the Quest system.
That was enough reason to be angry and hate Shinano.
"What was Shinano's purpose in doing all that?" I asked.
The answer that Shinano-chan would give would be my decision to be angry at Shinano or Sakura Empire.
The trial that was able to attract Players from another world, was too much because at the same time, I had drowned. But I could see my pitiful old body again.
I wanted to be angry but I had to know that my anger would still be on right targeted rage.
Shinano-chan took a deep breath and prepared her little fox body to answer my question. With the seconds starting to slow down because of the pressure of my question which was quite heavy to answer, Shinano-chan looked at me without shaking her pupils.
"To save this world from the Destruction Event that will occur because Siren technology has developed to interfere with the future, present, and past," said Shinano-chan while staring intently at me without shaking her gaze.
The answer that explained their situation made me feel the despair in her eyes that had tried to prevent the Destruction Event from happening.
"I understand," my short answer made Shinano-chan relieved and relaxed her body to be more relaxed in front of me.
For now, at least I have a new goal after returning to my old body and being trapped in the world of Azur Lane thanks to Shinano's interference.
Author Note:
Since I have three novels that are still tied to the MGS system and the Win-Win system, you may notice how slow this fanfic updates. You may be able to support other authors' works fanfic, because this fanfic is very late and I have to maintain focus in the Privilage Chapters (Still frustated why must update it everyday with minimum 1500 words).
Sorry for the delay because this novel became a side Quest.
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