The head felt dizzy, and both his arms and thighs were aching as if he had been hit by a truck.
He still remembered being attacked by a beast, but it seemed he hadn't been eaten yet?
Rhode opened his eyes and did not see an unfamiliar ceiling.
The sunlight was a bit glaring, causing him to squint naturally as he instinctively tried to lift his hand to shield his eyes.
Rustle... Someone considerately drew the curtains, making Rhode's eyes feel a little better.
"Judging by the time, he should be waking up about now."
Rhode heard someone speaking; it was a somewhat elderly female voice.
But he couldn't understand what was being said; it wasn't Mandarin or any language he was familiar with.
Nor did it sound like English or any other familiar language.
Rhode gently tilted his head and saw an elderly lady with pink hair, draped in a peculiar red cloak, standing by the window.
It was probably her who had been speaking just now.
"How are you feeling?" A kind male voice came from the other side, and Rhode saw an old man in a clown hat sitting cross-legged on a chair beside the bed.
Of course, Rhode couldn't understand this sentence either.
Rhode's throat felt a bit dry, and he struggled to ask, "Where is this?"
The two elderly people on either side of the bed exchanged glances, looking puzzled, and didn't understand what Rhode was saying.
Rhode thought for a moment and tentatively said, "Where is this? Who are you?" Um... where is this place?"
Seeing the increasingly confused looks of the two elders, Rhode felt things weren't going well.
Mandarin didn't work, English didn't work, and broken Cantonese didn't work either. What to do now?
The old man with the clown hat lightly hopped off the chair, and Rhode noticed that this gentleman wasn't any taller standing than he was when seated.
Thinking this way was quite rude, Rhode chastised himself a bit before noticing how agile this elder was, not at all like someone of his age.
"It seems like there's a language barrier? What a headache." The elderly man was a bit troubled.
"A language I've never heard before." The pink-haired lady asked, "Where did you pick up this kid from?"
"Right in the forest, I already told you."
At this moment, the wooden door was knocked, and a teenage girl about seventeen or eighteen walked in:
"President, it's about time. If we don't leave soon, we'll miss the routine meeting."
"Ah, I almost forgot. Porlyusica, can you take care of this child?" the old man asked the pink-haired lady.
"I refuse. I hate humans, Makarov, and it's noisy here,"
The pink-haired old lady said she hated humans while helping Rhode sit up, then poured a glass of water and handed it to him.
"Thank you." Rhode subconsciously expressed his gratitude.
Porlyusica couldn't understand, but she could probably guess what Rhode was saying.
But she didn't respond. Instead, she turned and left directly: "His injuries are not serious anymore, I'm heading back."
"Ah, thanks." Makarov understood his old friend's character and knew it wasn't worth persuading her.
Rhode took a sip of water to moisten his dry throat, watching the pink-haired lady leave with curiosity.
The short old man was conversing with the girl who had just come in.
The two of them were speaking a language Rhode didn't understand, but judging from their occasional glances at him, he guessed it was probably about him.
Just then, a slight pain in his left leg made Rhode frown. He noticed that both his left arm and waist were wrapped in bandages, and he raised his hand to touch his head, finding his forehead also properly bandaged.
The injuries all over his body reminded him of being attacked.
It was a bit of a spooky story.
Rhode remembered staying up all night gaming online with his roommates and not wanting to move after waking up in the morning.
His two roommates who went to buy food went missing one after the other, not returning for ages.
Starving, Rhode had no choice but to drag another remaining roommate out to look for them.
One went to the new cafeteria, the other to the old one.
Rhode, distracted by his phone while climbing the stairs, accidentally tripped and fell flat on the ground.
When he got up, he found himself facing a vast forest.
What to do if you suddenly find yourself in an unfamiliar place?
Don't panic; first, take out your phone to check your location. In times of need, you can make an emergency call...
But he couldn't find his phone.
It seemed like the phone had flown out when he stumbled just now.
Rhode realized the situation seemed odd, maybe something science couldn't explain.
There was once a show on CCTV called Runaway Science, which talked about people waking up in cities thousands of miles away from where they went to sleep.
Rhode suspected he had encountered something real, or even worse, not another city but another world.
Thinking carefully, he wondered if his two roommates experienced the same thing and that's why they hadn't returned?
Whatever the case, he needed to find a place with people to ask for help.
Rhode made an effort to discern directions and, after some hesitation, decided to head west — that area seemed to have flattened grass, as if trampled by someone.
But a few minutes later, he regretted his decision because he startled a beast as large as an elephant.
He had never seen such a gigantic creature — a bear with pig-like spots, a pig head, and pig hooves.
Rhode's stick, broken for self-defense, was completely ineffective against it.
The moment the giant beast pounced, the stick broke, and Rhode was knocked flying, everything went dark.
Before he passed out, he heard bird calls, wolf howls, frog croaks, and some unknown beast roaring.
This was definitely not any normal world. But by then, Rhode couldn't focus on thinking about that.
He only felt that death seemed too sudden, with many things left undone.
If there was a next life, he would definitely not play on his phone while walking, especially going up stairs.
But it seems now, he wasn't dead; was he rescued by the owner of this place?
"Hey, hello!"
Rhode's thoughts were interrupted by a gentle voice, it was the young girl who had just entered.
The girl wore a dark red dress, with white long hair cascading to her waist, bangs tied in a bundle to the top of her head, features delicate, smile graceful.
This was a girl whose appearance and demeanor would attract attention no matter where she went.
Rhode didn't understand what she was saying, but from her waving gesture, perhaps she was greeting him?
"Hello." Rhode said, her bright smile slightly dispelling his unease.
Just as the President said, the girl showed an 'as expected' expression:
"Unfortunately, I can't understand what you're saying either. I imagine you must be troubled and uneasy."
"Ah, you can't understand this either... Anyway, the President needs to step out for a while, and asked me to look after you temporarily."
The girl tried hard to communicate using gestures, but to little effect.
"Oh right! I haven't introduced myself yet; I'm Mirajane."
She pointed to herself, and said slowly, word by word: "Me, Mirajane."
"Mira...jane?" Rhode hesitantly mimicked the syllables he didn't understand.
Mirajane's bright smile reappeared on her face: "That's right, Mi, ra, jane."
Rhode was infected by such a smile, repeating the name twice, his pronunciation gradually became accurate.
"Mirajane." He learned his first word in this world.
"And you?" Mirajane pointed to herself, "I, Mirajane."
Then pointed to Rhode, "How about you?"
Rhode understood her meaning, pointed to himself: "Rhode."
"La...de?" Mirajane repeated tentatively.
"Rhode." Rhode corrected her pronunciation slightly as she did before.
The first step in their communication, though somewhat forced, had started at last.
"Nice to meet you, Rhode." The girl said, stretching her right hand towards Rhode.
Rhode gently held the tips of her fingers: "Please... please..., Mirajane."
He hadn't learned the phrase that likely meant 'Nice to meet you' or something similar.
Grumble... Rhode's stomach made an untimely sound.
Rhode held his stomach, opening his mouth without knowing what to say.
Mirajane smiled knowingly: "Ah, this I understand, wait a moment, okay."
She made a pressing down gesture with both hands, turned and left the room.
Rhode watched her leave the infirmary, picked up the cup, sipping water slowly while starting to organize his few memories since tripping.
First was the sudden appearance of the forest, peculiar-looking beasts, then waking to see several people, and the unique language they used.
This was by no means a world he was familiar with, nor a normal world.
Rhode wanted to know how long he was unconscious, what happened during that time, where he was, how to return, and many other things...
But the barrier in basic communication made these questions even harder to pose, such a troublesome situation.
He lifted the blanket, his leg still hurt a bit, but it was moveable, likely not severely injured.
"It's better not to move much... even though you don't understand." Mirajane entered with a tray, placed it on the bedside cabinet, gesturing Rhode to eat first.
On the tray were a glass of milk and two delicate-looking sandwiches.
The triangular pieces of bread were neatly cut, with lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and ham in between, the vibrant colors looked very appetizing.
Rhode picked one up, giving her a questioning look uncertainly.
At her encouragement and the urging of his stomach, Rhode bit off one acute corner of the 'isosceles triangle'.
The soft aroma of the bread, the smooth and savory taste of ham greeted him.
Then, the slightly sour juiciness of tomatoes, paired with overly sweet sauce, made Rhode slightly uncomfortable.
But the refreshing and fragrant lettuce relieved that well.
After swallowing that bite, Rhode truly felt alive.
But then he couldn't savor the taste anymore, like a cow chewing peonies, he just devoured quickly.
After downing a sandwich, Rhode's hunger eased a lot, he picked up the milk cup, feeling the warmth on the cup wall, it was clearly heated intentionally.
She must be a caring and gentle girl?
Rhode gave her a grateful look.
Mirajane smiled, quietly watching him eat and drink.