TUPP!
The light returns.
Sayda flinched, his body pitching forward as though he were about to plummet from a height. He then tried to regain his balance. The knife had already fallen to the ground from his earlier shock.
"What the hell is that?"
He panted as he spoke.
"Whose voice was that?"
Cold began to crawl down his nape, but he quickly shook his head.
"That voice... seemed to be in my head."
"Was that my imagination?"
Suddenly, the voice came again.
[ The game will begin shortly. ]
"What!! So the game hasn't started yet?"
He began to feel restless, unable to ignore what he had just heard. He then took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.
"Fuhhh... Maybe I'm thinking too hard."
He slapped both of his cheeks, trying to refocus.
"Okay, Sayda, focus."
The voice echoed for the last time.
[ Player will be reminded to be careful, good luck and... ]
[ Enjoy the game. ]
He then bent down, picked up the knife again, and tried to look closer, but nothing happened.
"Tch, nothing happened... maybe it's just my imagination."
The voice began to count down; the game was about to begin.
[ 3 ]
"Oh, it's starting."
Sayda quickly stored the knife.
[ 2 ]
He closed his eyes, bracing himself.
[ 1 ]
[ 0 ]
---
WHOOOSHHH!!!!
Everything became obscured momentarily, to the extent that visibility was entirely lost. The only sound discernible was that of a powerful wind forcefully striking his face, as if he were standing in front of a massive fan whirling at maximum speed, making it difficult for him to open his eyes or utter a word. However, he forced his mouth to open.
"Wh-a-a-a-t-t isss-ha-a-a-a-pen-i-i-n-n-g-g-g?"
His words came out warped as he tried to speak. Swallowed by the massive wind. His eyelids felt exceedingly heavy, but he used all of his might to force them open as his eyes fluttered in the breeze. Slowly, he finally managed to open his eyes, but what he saw was...
"Wh-a-a-a-t-t i-s-s-s t-h-h-i-i-s-s-s-s...!!!"
His eyes immediately widened, stunned. His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He was falling.
From...
THE SKY!
"A-a-ah-h-h s-h-i-i-t-t... W-w-h-y-y-y a-m I-I-I-I f-a-l-l-i-i-n-g-g f-r-o-m th-e-e-e s-s-k-k-y-y!!!"
The wind seemed to split his body as he fell at a very high speed. In his ears, the wind blasted until it was nearly deafening. The distance between him and the ground was getting smaller.
"D-a-m-n-i-t-t-t...!!"
There was nothing but a sea of verdant trees down below, a dense jungle that was waiting to swallow him alive. He pushed his face forward in an attempt to lessen his dread.
However, upon looking up, he observed a brilliant blue light in the distant sky directed toward him. The light appeared insurmountably distant, as if it was on the other side of the world. That blue light seemed to be surrounding and observing the earth's entire surface.
"W-h-a-t l-i-g-h-t i-s-s t-t-h-i-s…!?… Arghh! M-y e-y-e-s-s..."
He glanced down, his heart pounding more rapidly as he saw the exact spot where he was about to fall. Before he could think about anything, his body continued to descend at an increasingly ridiculous rate.
"S-h-i-i-t-t...!!"
CRACK!
His body broke through the layer of dense foliage before hitting the branches of a tall tree.
BUK!
For a moment, his body stopped on the branches... before it snapped.
CRACK!
And he was falling again. Another branch caught his fall, but it also broke instantly as well.
SRAKK!
He kept falling down, and without him realizing it, something grabbed his leg like a rope... No! ... Not a rope, but the roots of a tree that wrapped around him very tightly.
The roots continued to wrap from his feet to his waist, which made him fall more and more slowly. However, he still crashed several times between twigs and branches. His head was knocked so many times that his vision became blurry.
BUK!
And finally... He collapsed on the ground. He was lying on the ground, gasping for breath. His eyes glanced up and saw the pieces of fallen leaves and twigs due to his fall earlier.
"Hah...hah...hah... I'm still alive, right?"
"Hah! ...thank God these roots slowed down my fall."
He tried to stand up, but then his entire body felt pain from the fall.
"Argh... my back, I think it's already broken."
He then looked at his body.
"Shit, my body is full of these stinky roots wrapped around me."
He immediately took a knife from his storage. Slowly, he began to cut the roots. While he was cutting the roots, he suddenly saw that his hand and the knife appeared to have doubled.
"Wait, what! ...what is happening? Why are my eyes becoming blurry... ahh, my head is spinning."
WHOOOSHHH!
All of a sudden, a vicious and powerful blast of wind from the east struck him.
BUM!
Everything became black; he collapsed, and his knife slipped from his grasp.
He fainted.
Meanwhile, the same wind was still blowing fast across the vast forest until, at a distant point, the wind hit someone.
That figure walked alone in the vast forest; he was cloaked in black, his face faintly covered in shadows. The moment the wind touched him, he suddenly stopped.
His eyes, obscured by the hood of his robe, gazed eastward, aligned with the direction of the wind. Suddenly, the person spoke up.
"Eclipse?"
"No... nonsense."
He then looked forward and continued his way across the dark and vast forest, ignoring it without hesitation.
A few hours later, Sayda began to open his eyes.
"I... where am I?"
He tried to get up from lying down.
"Wait, what? ...this place... have I fainted?"
He then wanted to stand up but—
"Ahh, my back... shit..."
He tried to stand up again, but then something shiny caught his eye. He likewise turned his gaze, and it turned out to be a knife that belonged to him.
"My knife."
He instantly grabbed it, and for a moment he gave the knife a serious, intense stare.
"I swear to God, I heard a voice earlier... Or maybe this knife can speak?"
He brought the knife closer and closer until it was mere inches from his eyes.
"Tch, nothing happened."
He then stored his knife and got up from his place, crossed his fingers, and cracked his knuckles, creating a small popping sound. His eyes darted about; he realized he was surrounded by an endless sea of trees.
"Looks like I'm in the middle of the forest... so what I need to do now... Ahh, that's right, I have the map."
He instantly took his map out.
"Chest 'Map'"
POFFP
Immediately the map appeared from above, tied in the middle with a string. Sayda snatched it, placed it on the ground, and untied the string. His eyes became wider as he saw the map.
"I knew it; I'm in the middle of the forest... This forest is very huge; this may take days or maybe even weeks before I can leave this vast forest."
"Ohh, wait a minute.... Drago… Palace... Looks like this is the closest to where I am now; should I go there?"
He placed his hand on his chin and thought for a moment.
"Or maybe I should just keep walking. I might run into someone... Yeah, that's right. Brilliant idea. Just keep walking."
He then stored the map and walked straight into the forest without thinking again. Suddenly, he walked more and more slowly, and at last, he stopped.
"Meet someone, huh? Is this world inhabited? Or maybe in this world, there are elves and orcs! ... or giants and also a witch, like the game I played before."
He grinned.
"What am I talking about? Concentrate, Sayda... keep walking."
He continued walking while still hoping he could meet that fantasy creature. Strolling without a clear destination. Five minutes passed, and he still walked. After thirteen minutes, his pace still remained steady. By the forty-fifth minute, his back began to bend, and his steps grew heavier. An hour passed... and he was still walking until suddenly...
DUMM
He collapsed to the ground. Gasping.
"Ughh... wa-ter... I think I'll die before anything even happens."
Suddenly—
KREKK...
"COULD YOU WALK SLOWLY, YOU FUCKING IDIOT?"
For a moment, Sayda jolted.
"Someone's voice?"
Sayda said in a whisper.
Without wasting any time, he immediately pushed himself up from the ground. His eyes looked around to see where the sound was coming from, but then that voice came again.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING SO FAST, HUH?"
Without hesitation, he sprinted and peered through the opening in the bushes ahead of him when he heard the voice coming from the left. It turned out that there were two people with ragged clothes, and both had swords on their waists.
"HUHHH? Slowly, you said..."
In an angry tone, that guy instantly grabbed his friend's shirt.
"You know this all happened because of you... because of you I need to go on this stupid and meaningless journey... RISE IN RANK?! To hell with you, damn rank."
Sayda then spoke in a low voice.
"Are they fighting?"
The person brushed aside the hand tugging on his shirt.
"Huhhh? You think I'm desperate for a rise in rank? Hey, listen, you stupid... I wouldn't be doing any of this if it weren't for the system created by Kaelar..."
Sayda, who heard their conversation, frowned.
"What the hell are they talking about... Rank? Kaelar?"