Chapitre 4: Waking Up
Argh...
What a terrible migraine…
My head... it hurts so much…
It feels like someone's pounding my skull with a hammer…
Suddenly, a flood of memories rushed back into his mind.
Wait, I remember… a truck… crashing into me…
Did I survive?!
As this thought crossed Daniel's mind, his eyes snapped open, revealing a vast, unfamiliar clearing.
Instinctively, his hand reached for his chest, right where his heart was. To his shock, he felt it—his heartbeat.
Thump!
Thump!
"I'm alive... I survived..." The sound of his own heartbeat was strangely comforting, more than he ever realized it could be.
Perhaps it takes facing death to truly appreciate life. He had always taken his heart beating for granted. Now, after nearly losing his life, he understood just how precious it was to simply live.
Daniel quickly sat up and began checking for injuries, but what he found left him utterly bewildered.
"Why is it that, instead of feeling pain like anyone involved in a traffic accident should, I feel strong… and energized?" he frowned in confusion.
Other than the lingering headache, Daniel felt no other discomfort in his body, which was strange, considering he had been hit by a truck.
"But how's that even possible? Unless I somehow awakened some kind of supernatural power like Qi, Haki, Chakra, or whatever other bullshit you see in anime, there's no way to explain how I came out of that crash unscathed."
He frowned, shaking his head. "But that's unlikely, right? This isn't a novel!"
Daniel tried to recall the accident, but the moment he did, his head throbbed intensely, forcing him to stop thinking.
"Whatever. It's better than being crippled. I don't think I could handle living as a disabled person. I suppose I can just ask the nurse what happened to me." he spoke to himself and finally lifted his head.
That's when he realized—this wasn't a hospital room at all.
As he looked around, he found nothing resembling a hospital room. There were no electrical devices to monitor his health, no IV drips, nothing.
He also realized he wasn't lying on a simple hospital mattress. Instead, he was resting on a luxurious queen-sized bed. Not only was it unbelievably comfortable, it didn't creak or groan whenever he moved.
This was far different from the bed in his apartment. His bed was practically a rock, squeaking every time he shifted positions, and sleeping on it had never been pleasant. It was one of the main reasons he often slept at his girlfriends' places—where their beds were much comfier and smelled nice.
"If this isn't a hospital room, then where the hell am I? Don't tell me I've been kidnapped…" wild thoughts began to race through his mind.
"But who would even bother to kidnap me? I'm not the heir to some conglomerate, and I don't have any assets worth blackmailing. I'm just a broke guy who happens to be handsome and good at flirting. Wait! Could it be one of those husbands found out about me sleeping with their wives and now they're out for revenge?!"
As he was lost in thought, the door to the room suddenly swung open. Two men entered. One had a stern expression, while the other seemed more carefree. Both had swords scabbard hanging from their left waists.
The two men who had just entered the room didn't seem to notice he was awake.
The carefree one scoffed loudly, "Has Lady Abraham lost her mind? Letting the Lord bring in his illegitimate child? And from the badlanders no less! Did you see him? He's as ugly as a goblin! And now, the Lady wants us to wake this beast up? Ugh, my hands were itching to give him a good whipping!"
"Shh! You idiot!" the stern-looking man hissed, visibly anxious.
"What? What did I do?"
"You're talking too loud! Haven't you heard the saying? 'Walls have ears and mouths!' Do you want to get punished for gossiping about the Lady and Lord?" the stern-looking man grabbed his partner by the collar and shook him roughly a few times.
Realizing his mistake, the carefree man's eyes widened. He nodded quickly, lowering his voice.
"Just shut up and do your job quietly!" the stern-looking man reminded. He then moved cautiously toward the door, peeking down the corridor. After ensuring no one was around, he exhaled in relief and returned to the room.
That's when he noticed Daniel, wide awake, staring at them from the bed. His eyes widened in shock.
His partner followed his gaze and froze as well.
For what seemed like an eternity, the room was enveloped in awkward silence as the three men locked eyes.
Finally, Daniel, unable to suppress his curiosity, frowned and broke the tension. "Who… who are you guys?"
He had been listening to their conversation, but none of it made sense.
Also, judging by their attire, they didn't seem to be nurses. 'Was I right about being kidnapped?'
The two men exchanged uneasy glances, unsure how to respond.
They had been sent to wake the "beast". But how exactly were they supposed to treat him? As a guest? Or more like a criminal?
More importantly, how long had he been awake?
Finally, the stern man spoke up, his voice sharp. "When did you wake up?"
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Why does it matter when I wake up? Who the hell are you guys?" he stood up from the bed.
Immediately, Daniel realized something was wrong. He was towering over the two men in front of him, which was odd because, by all accounts, they appeared to be about the same height as him. "What the... since when did I get so tall?" but before he could fully process this, he noticed both men abruptly drawing their swords.
"Don't move!" the stern man warned, sword aimed at Daniel.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Daniel raised his hands in surrender, his eyes widening as they locked onto the gleaming blades. He had never taken the sword scabbards seriously, assuming they were just decorative accessories. Little did he expect he was fully mistaken!
"Let's just talk, alright? No need to point those swords at me."
"So... when did you wake up?" the stern man repeated.
Daniel gulped. 'Should I tell the truth?' he glanced at the tense man, sword still drawn. 'Nah, he looks like he'd stab me if I told him the truth.'
"I only woke up just now. Is there a problem?" Daniel said, feigning confusion.
"So you didn't hear our conversation?" the man pressed.
'Ah, so that's what he's worried about,' Daniel thought.
"What conversation?" Daniel replied, playing dumb.
The stern man narrowed his eyes, studying Daniel's expression for a moment before sheathing his sword. He gestured for his partner to do the same. "Nevermind,"
Daniel exhaled in relief as they withdrew their swords.
"You, come with us," the stern man ordered.
"Where are we going?" Daniel asked, hesitating. If he weren't afraid of provoking the two men, he would've outright refused. Who knew where they planned to take him?
"We're taking you to meet Lady Abraham."
"Lady Abraham?" Daniel had a huge question mark on his face. On second thought, he felt the name sounded somehow familiar.
"You don't know Lady Abraham?! You were brought here without even knowing who she is?" the stern man asked, astonished.
"Yeah? Is she someone important?"
"Well, obviously!"
"Never heard of her. Does she own something like Google or YouTube, or something?" Daniel asked casually, trying to buy time as much as possible.
The men blinked in confusion. "G-Gogle? Y-Yutub? What the hell are those?"
"Seriously? Have you been living in a cave or something?"
At his words, the two men's expressions turned strange.
"What?" Daniel asked, noticing their odd reactions.
"Living in a cave... isn't that basically what you've been doing all this time?"
"What?!" Daniel blurted, now more confused than ever.
Were they referring to his life in general? Or rather his crappy apartment? Was his place really that bad, to the point that his kidnapper would classify it as a cave?
Daniel felt like something was missing from their conversation. But whatever it was, he couldn't quite grasp it.
At that moment, the stern man continued, his tone shifting slightly. "I don't know what this 'Yutub' or 'Gogle' is that you're talking about, but Lady Abraham is someone very famous. However, given your… unique circumstances, I can understand why you might not know her reputation. So, let me tell you about her achievements."
He paused dramatically before listing them off:
"She's an Eighth-Circle Ice Archmage."
"The Honorable Counselor of Altinova City."
"Leader of the Abraham Family's Second Branch."
"A rare talent, the kind that only appears once in a thousand years!"
"Founder of the Eternal Ice Spire."
"And she's better known as the Ice Queen—Lady Adelaide Abraham!"
The titles rang out like proclamations, each one more impossible for Daniel to process than the last. He blinked a few times, still not entirely sure how to respond to such a grand introduction. Eighth-Circle Ice Mage? Ice Queen? What kind of fantasy world did I wake up in?
Or rather, what kind of moron is bored enough to come up with a list of achievements like that? It's like something out of a chuunibyou fantasy…
"Pff-" he was about to burst out laughing at the absurdity when a flicker of memory flashed across his mind.
"No way…" Daniel muttered in disbelief.
The stern man, interpreting Daniel's shock as awe for Lady Adelaide's titles, scoffed. "Even an illiterate badlander like you should understand the significance of those titles, right?"
But what the man didn't realize was that Daniel's shock ran much deeper than simple awe. Inside, his emotions were twirling into chaos.
Adelaide Abraham… Ice Mage… Badlander… Two people dressed in medieval armor…
And then, the fact that he had no injuries despite a life-threatening crash.
Suddenly, the puzzle pieces were beginning to fit together.
"No... no... this can't be," Daniel whispered, shaking his head in denial. But as he did, his eyes fell on a mirror across the room.
There, staring back at him, was his reflection—or rather, his new reflection.
— Un nouveau chapitre arrive bientôt — Écrire un avis
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone