Peter looked at the goddess, "So what's next?" he asked.
"What's next? Hmmm, I guess I should give you something before you head on into a new world to live," she said and floated toward him.
She stretched out her hand toward his forehead. "What I give is something even beyond me. I only have the power to grant you access. How you use it is ultimately in your hands," she said. As her hand got closer to his forehead, the black distortion around it vanished, and a beautiful pale and slender finger showed.
It touched his head and there was a shine. A warm feeling filled his body.
"I wish you good luck in this new world, Peter. This might be the first and last time we ever see each other, so enjoy your life," she said.
Suddenly, everything started going dim for Peter. He tried to move but he couldn't. Soon the darkness covered him entirely.
[....]
Chirp chirp.
The sounds of birds filled the air as a gentle breeze blew, whistling calmly. Peter felt the cool breeze on his skin, his eyes twitched and slowly opened.
He looked around as the surroundings began taking shape. He sat under the shade of a tree on the top of a grassy hill.
A book lay on his lap, a small piece of paper sticking out to bookmark a page.
'I am alive, so it was true,' Peter thought. He slowly moved his hands before his eyes. He was much younger than his last self, his fingers were slender and pale.
But what stood out the most was what he wore. He looked at the puffy sleeves and could already tell that this was the dressing used by nobles or somewhat wealthy people in fantasy stories with medieval touches.
To be sure all of this was real, he took a sharp deep breath. His lungs filled with air, the smell of grass and dirt. He was alive, and he was inside a new world. A smile formed on his face, he couldn't hide it at all.
"She said I'd be transported into a new world, the work of Gaya where the story is situated from. Is this really Gaya?" he asked. He pushed himself up and got on his feet, grabbing the book before it hit the ground.
He looked at the back of the book. It was some strange language that he had never seen before.
[Special feature: Language transcription]
A voice rang in his head, and immediately before his eyes the words inside the book started changing, turning back into a language that he understood: English.
"What the hell just happened?" he asked in shock. He was certain that he heard a voice in his head, a voice that told him something, and then he could suddenly read the contents of the book.
His mind went to some of the novels that he had read, and he recalled the ones that had systems that aided the character.
"Could this be what she told me about? The gift she gave me?" he asked.
"Are you there, voice?" he asked, wanting a reply.
"Young master Raze!" someone yelled out to him. His body instinctively reacted to the calling. His head turned and he looked at the person.
A young blonde maid headed his way, waving at him.
'Did she call me Raze? Raze… There is only one Raze in the book. Raze Grimhold. I remember, the book-loving, talentless character that died.
I really liked him due to the fact that he read a lot like me. Wait, I am in his body?' Peter realized this and immediately he understood what the goddess had told him.
Raze Grimhold was a character fated to die, and not only that, he had many close shaves before that.
'Even under this tree, he was bitten by an extremely poisonous snake and that maid found him. That was the introduction to Raze that we got in the story. But I didn't get bitten.'
He looked at the side of his arm and there he spotted two black dots, but they had healed up.
'Wait, I was bitten? Could it be that the original died for me to enter? That would make sense.
I promise I'll live the best life for you, Raze Grimhold,' Peter thought and then looked up at the maid. He adjusted his face and let out a soft smile.
She got to him and grabbed him by both shoulders. "Young master, you shouldn't be out here on your own, you know your mother doesn't like it.
Also, your father just arrived, you should come and greet him," she said. She glanced at the book in his hands and let out a sigh. She understood the pain that Raze went through, being someone that seemingly couldn't show any talent.
Raze walked past her. He didn't talk yet. He didn't know how their relationship was. Even if he had read the story, this was no longer a story.
She walked behind him as they went down the hill. The estate was up ahead and he could already see the manor.