章節 2: Welcome to Wonderland

There was a tale about the world Stephan was pulled into; a tale about the world of Masmoenia and a gruesome one. There was a battle that changed the whole world and cursed it into the current state it was in. All races found themselves pulled into a hard situation they couldn't get rid of. They shut their walls and lived inside them escaping the cursed mist that enveloped the whole land.

There was a seat called the seat of the Supreme king that everyone fought for in that battle. However, with the presence of the twenty-one, there was no winner and everyone was penalized. It's a seat that represented the planet in itself against others and without one. Masmoenia fell into ruins.

Thus, at that point of time, there was only one person who was called upon to fix the mistakes of the past and resolve the conflict. She called herself a seat holder alongside twenty one others. However, she was the only one who remained conscious and kept her memories of the cruel past.

The seat holder watched on as a spectator as the seat of the Supreme King remained empty with no one to put the rules on carved stones. As the sole beholder of the past, she had to take matters into her own hands but she was tired. She wished for no more work and decided to call someone from her mother planet, the Earth.

When Stephen finally reached the end of the game she sought, she materialized herself pulling him into an isolate dimension, pulling his soul away from his body to let the other one who accepted the bargain transmigrate. He felt as if he was floating mid-air but no wind had left a trace around.

"Congratulations for finishing the game, player Stephan Lancaster," she said, fluttering her thick eyelashes and looking at him with her glazed red eyes resembling a ruby polished until smoothness. "Since you are the first one who reached the desired ending, I am ready to offer the reward promised. You are brought before the world you might like better. Consider it as a reborn situation, like in those games you played."

Stephan's face changed as she materialized a glowing object in the shape of a globe, but unlike the Earth, the continents were different. He was confident he was dreaming until the black veil faded and he realized he was high in the sky and the land stretched in front of him, big, immense and dark. There was a somewhat fog enveloping the whole place but he could see through it faintly.

"Say hello to Masmoenia, the Utopia you have been asking for. Welcome to the world I belong to or I came to belong to later!" she giggled softly, her eyes glittering under the rising sun. It was a sight he had only seen on his monitor. An orangey color mixed with the blue of the sky, it reminded him of his bag of chips.

Confusion highlighted his face when the beautiful woman floated freely, moving around as if she was swimming. He was torn between believing what he sees and the logic he has been living. The world he was in didn't have any magic so everything that happened to him felt unreal. He kept thinking until her spell was annulled by her and he found himself falling with an increasing speed.

"Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! Why am I falling? Am I doing some kind of bungee jumping without an elastic cord? I am dying… I am certainly dying," he stared below him, the ground coming to his face at high speed. The girl laughed seeing him having a stupid reaction. "Who are you?"

"Ammm…" she said with a seductive voice. "I thought we were over the introductions. I am a seat holder: Aurora Von Peregrinator. Keep my name in your mind because I am someone amazing," she floated around him, doing a circle shape like a dolphin.

"This ain't the time for your playing around. I will smash into the ground," he moved his hand around, trying to swim to reach her. He took a deep breath and held it in as if he was under water. His hand reached for her leg and grabbed it as if his life depended on it. "Now's not the time for your laughing! What do we do about this? You are also falling. Do something! My heart will stop any minute."

Aurora started laughing until her stomach hurt. They were falling but the fall was going slowly; it was only for him that it felt going quickly. It was one hell of a fall.

"It's not a fall Stephan Lancaster," she said after her laugh was appeased. She waved with her hands and he noticed strings attached to his arms and legs and also his heart. "You are being pulled into your new body…" she smiled.

She moved her hand into slow motion chanting in a weird language drawing shapes with her finger. She knew of the game systems and how to make one; she had been planning it for a while. It wasn't cool for the world to be in such a state and for humanity to decline to a point only a kingdom was left for them. The other two kingdoms had humans living in them but they weren't under human's rule.

"I am not falling. You are the only one experiencing it. You are pulled into the new body chosen for you, Stephan Lancaster. Keep in mind that this world is the same as Legend of the Past. There are quite the few rules here and as the sole player in my new system, I bless you to have fun. Remember: Always have fun in whatever you do! Remember everything is like the game you played."

"This isn't the time to be talking! The ground… The ground… It's coming closer," he panicked and screamed. Suddenly, his face turned serious. "This fall took a while. It's strange!" his eyes widened as a realization struck his mind. "Wait, was I pulled from the Earth to this planet? Wait, was I pulled this whole time?"

She slipped from his grasp and flew away from him. As he came closer to the ground, he noticed the body lying on the ground almost dead then swallowed. Everything was dark. He also noticed he was away from the walls he had seen a while now.

The gravity of the ground felt like the one he experienced when he woke up from his sleep. It was as strong as the attraction he felt for his blanket. In the end, he felt as if his face slammed against the ground and finally, he possessed the body of Maddock.

"What a shitty landing! Can't you do a better work?" he said trying to get a hold of his new body; moving his fingers like a baby trying to hold a finger, clenching his fists then spreading them, moving his legs to be sure they were his…

She smirked. "But it was fun, wasn't it? I bet you have always been asking yourself what kind of life would be if those games you played were true. I bet my life on it. It's always good to start a new journey by a fall. I mean Alice in Wonderland was able to fall into her Wonderland through a hole."

"I see," he looked around examining his surroundings. It felt as if he was in a dark forest. It reminded him of a dark horror game he played. His actual expression was indifferent, one of someone who was used to the dark atmosphere. "So, what do you want from me? I don't believe you came all the way to planet Earth, pulled me into a somewhat dark world you called Masmoenia and made me experience a terrific first time bungee jumping for nothing."

Aurora's face showed a wide grin. "Going straight into business, huh? You see, I called you here simply because I was bored and I bet you were too. You can experience this world with a game system I designed especially for you."

"You seem so full of yourself. I already miss my monitor and my mouse," his finger moved as if it was clicking something to shoot or aim. "Look even my finger is agreeing with me."

She rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers, a gaming window appeared before him. It was similar to the status windows he experienced in the games he played. The blue color of it didn't light any area; it was as if he was the only one seeing it.

[Welcome to Wonderland.]

The first thing he noticed was Wonderland. It was an odd name for a dark world like Masmoenia. He stared back at Aurora, narrowing his eyes in disbelief. "You didn't find anything else to name it but Wonderland," he cringed. "Seriously, do you think this dark atmosphere is something you call Wonderland?" he pointed his fingers everywhere showing her the spooky forest. "It's more like a horror game. I bet a disgusting monster will come out any second now."

"But it's a Wonderland for you, isn't it? When life becomes a gaming system, you are tempting to try it. Prove me the opposite!" she raised her head proud of what she did.

He kept his cringe face staring at her. "And…"

"No, no, no, no… I don't need your opinion on the game I made... Before diving headfirst into the different classes, you must understand the stats and attributes. You are given this day as a tutorial and you will be protected by the system against the dark Lords. However, if you provoke one, don't blame me if you died," her grin widened and it felt to him as if her eyes were grinning as well. "Looking forward to see you! Remember my name because you will find it somewhere in this world," she faded the same way she materialized in front of him and he was left alone.

He looked around and widened his eyes at the realization. She was the only source of light available.

"At least, give me a torch, you swindler!"