章節 3: New World (2)
Where was I… was a stupid question. In the middle of the rain and nowhere, that was a very stupid question to ask.
I turned my neck behind and only lush green stretched out in front of my eyes. I looked in front of me again and saw a huge cliff. It was so tall that it hurt as I kept on craning my neck to get a glimpse of the top.
"What the hell am I doing here…?" Did my parents abandon me here or something?
But more importantly…
"What is happening?"
Something happened to the regular regression. Not only did I find myself in unusual greenery, but I also have memories of my past life. This was new… and scary. It was unknown territory for me. This had never happened to me before. Usually, I would lose my memories except for the fact that I regressed. I would know nothing about the future. My brain would grow at a fast rate, I would lose all my emotions at some point. That was what happened in my previous life, and maybe in all other regressions. Of course, I had no way of knowing about the other regressions, but this anomaly… I had a feeling that… I could finally reach my goal.
"...!"
I just realized it.
Something even more strange happened. So strange that it couldn't be called a regression anymore.
My hands, my legs, my body, and the control I had over my body— was not that of a newborn. This body was not mine. I could talk and it was a language that was non-existent on Earth. This world was not Earth.
"..."
I never believed in fantasy, but the regression changed my belief. But this? I could not deny it even if I wanted to.
"This is another world and this is not my body…"
I looked down and I found a pool of pale blood. Then, I looked up the cliff. Perhaps…
"Ugh!"
My head hurt intensely, almost unbearably.
"What…?"
However, then something filled my retina, something I had only seen from behind the screens.
{Reach the 100th floor}
The pitter-patter of the rain filled my ears amidst the rustling of the trees and this thing was floating before my eyes. It was telling me to do something. There was no voice, nor was there any urgency in it, just a simple message. It was a vague direction. But it seemed to have captivated me. There was something beautiful in its words, something akin to salvation, that was what I felt from it. But of course, this was nothing but a gut feeling. But… my gut feelings were never wrong before.
{You will die when you reach the 100th floor}
You will die… those words meant a lot to me… to someone like me who could not die no matter how many times he tried. My bones shook and my heart thumped intensely.
What was this that I was feeling? Excitement? Fear? I could not tell.
"..."
But it was better than nothing. They say, "hope is the last thing ever lost". I lost it a long ago, but it seemed like I had just regained my hope once again.
The rain stopped but I didn't move, just stared at my palm.
"...the mark is still here."
The mark was still there, meaning I would still regress back every time I died.
"But would I lose my memories this time too?"
I died on Earth and now I am here, with my memories of Earth intact. But would this happen if I died again?
"...the sound of a waterfall."
There was only one way to find out.
***
Water splashed everywhere and a white mist veiled the water below. The sweet scent of the aftermath left by the rain tingled my nose pleasantly. The birds were on the branches, singing a tune that seemed to calm the forest.
"Pristine…"
That was the word that came out of my mouth when I saw the scene stretched out before me.
The languid peace that spread its wings like a free bird caught my heart in a gentle embrace.
"It is really beautiful…"
Thus it left me with a sense of melancholy in my heart. I was about to do something that would stain the purity of this place.
But it didn't bother me more than it should.
I stepped in the water, wetting my bare feet. Slowly, the water began to engulf my lower body. It was cold and kind. I stepped in even deeper. The water was now at my chest. It was still cold and kind.
A bit later, the water was above my head. It was no longer cold and kind. It became something else. It became icy and violent. No air entered my lungs except water. My ears were blocked. I could hear nothing except the heartbeats and the flowing water filling me up.
Glurg!
I began to suffocate. A familiar feeling once again. Maybe I died of suffocation during one of my regressions? Only that could explain this familiar sensation.
"..."
I could feel my body growing colder and colder as the seconds continued to pass. It was here. The same thing that tormented me countless times was here again. That wretched death was here again.
My vision began to blur and my heartbeat grew shorter by the second. The clogged-up suffocation inside me became more unbearable. I was dying again.
***
"..."
The sound of raindrops falling over me. The same pool of blood beneath my head and the same cliff that was too big for me to see its top.
"I did not lose them…"
The memories remained intact. I knew everything that happened before I died. Those feelings still lived inside me, vividly.
"So… has this place become my starting point…?"
I didn't want this place to become my starting point. I would not like to wake up in a pool of blood every time I die.
But I had more pressing matters right now.
"I don't know a single thing about this world."
What I needed right now was information.
***
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票