Chapter 1: To Nothingness, I Shall Strive!
"Liomas, head to Area ~04~ now, then hold your position," spoke the leader of Squad ~A146~ in a rapid voice.
"Understood, sir. But who will you send with me?" asked Liomas after crouching down.
"Load your ammunition and advance. Support will reach you immediately. Hurry up!"
Liomas loaded his ammunition with pessimism, then began moving cautiously and fearfully. His ears were trembling from the sound of consecutive gunshots.
He had to execute the order to cross the engagement line from the extreme left flank without the enemy noticing him.
Liomas covered the meters between the two locations in a short time, and with surprising ease, completely contrary to his expectations.
Area ~04~ contained a house in a condition between bad and average.
He had to secure the place before support arrived, so he decided to enter the house after inspecting it. Even his feet agreed with the idea due to the fear that had gripped him since the war began.
He threw stun grenades through the windows, one of them being hand-made.
He advanced inside after breaking the decaying wooden door remnants with multiple kicks and strikes from the butt of his weapon. The weapon was an M1 Carbine rifle.
It was an effective rifle, despite being light and small to the extent that he could carry it with one hand only.
He carefully searched every corner, then decided to settle on the second floor after professionally planting a mine at the base of the stairs.
He leaned his back against the side of the window on the floor, where he was visually dominating two areas: the stairs and outside the window.
Throughout all this, his heart hadn't calmed down yet. He wasn't comfortable at all. He was sweating heavily, his heart racing. He wanted any sign that support was coming, even if it was a false signal.
He checked his suit pockets, finding a strawberry chewing gum. He opened it with trembling hands, then placed it in his mouth and started chewing it, but he needed two attempts to successfully get it into his mouth - the first time, he accidentally delivered it to his right cheek.
Tap tap tap
Liomas quickly jumped to one of the cracks beside the window. He tried to see who it was without looking directly through the window. Although the view was difficult, it informed him of what was happening.
Yes, they were indeed the enemies. They managed to surround him after a sniper spotted him.
Perhaps fortunately for him, this sniper had spotted him only using binoculars.
Tears fell from Liomas' eyes, and his trembling increased. He took out a smoke grenade and threw it down the stairs. His goal was clear: to hide the mine.
He activated a hand grenade and struck it against the wall opposite him. He placed the rifle's muzzle under his chin, then... BANG.
BOOOOOOOM
His remains scattered throughout almost all parts of the floor.
He had no other solution. The number of enemies didn't encourage even thinking about attempting, even if they captured him - they would have killed him like a dog.
Therefore, he chose quick death over that.
---
{ Do you want to start over? }
[ Yes ] [ No ]
"Yes"
{ Warning! Starting over will be in another world. Do you still want to continue? }
[ Yes ] [ No ]
"Yes"
{ You will be a student in a village specializing in: }
[ Elemental Magic ]
[ Energy Magic ]
[ Be a Rebel ]
[ Show more suggestions... ]
{ You cannot view skills and characteristics. Choose what feels suitable }
"Show more"
{ Selection made }
[ Name: Liomas Ren Wu ]
[ Age: ? / 15 ]
[ Social Role: Student ]
[ Social Status: Medium ]
[ Village: Wang Nai ]
[ Clan: Wu ]
[ Family: Ren Wu ]
[ Power: Spiritual Energy / Energy Magic ]
[ Special Skill: None ]
[ Goal: !A!?M!?3#!? ]
{ Choose now }
[ Load ] [ Wait ]
"Load"
{ Loading, please wait... }
{ Verifying... }
{ Preparing... }
{ Congratulations, successful.. Transferring... }
{ Final message! : You won't be able to leave! }
---
"Liomas.. Liomas!"
Liomas raised his head to find an old man in front of his face. The features of his face were drawn in an unpleasant manner.
"You didn't sleep while I was speaking. This isn't like you," spoke the old man while stepping back.
Liomas turned his head to inspect what was around him. From the cues he found, he concluded that he was now inside a lecture hall, but it was for training lectures, and the old man was the teacher.
He was quiet. Something inside him was guiding his awareness, until he finally comprehended.
"No, this is impossible to happen."
"I'll wake up.. Yes I will, I will, I will," he uttered to himself, trying to calm down.
He moved his eyes from one corner to another again. He felt then that his eyes would soon abandon their place.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"
---
"Hmm!"
"Rise, my son. What happened to you?"
Liomas' eyelids slowly separated to find the teacher's face opposite him again. He moved his eyes with difficulty to check the situation, noticing that the teacher was placing his hand on his stomach, exactly on the pit of his stomach. The palm of his hand was emitting a faint blue aura, and emanating a mild type of heat.
Liomas moved his head, finding the students looking at him with different glances. Each look was trying to tell him something.
"I don't know, but now I feel a little better. Thank you, teacher," replied Liomas in a somewhat weak voice.
"Did you overindulge in wine?" asked the teacher after removing his hand.
In this world, overindulging in wine takes the doer into bad nightmares, hence the teacher's question.
"No, I didn't."
"Hmmm." "Well, you may leave."
"Teacher, I need someone to accompany me, as a precaution in case something happens to me on the way. I fear falling."
"Alright." The teacher turned his eyes and said, "Chi, please accompany him carefully."
"Alright, teacher," Chi agreed, then gave the teacher a respectful salute.
This salute is usually done by placing the right fist straight on the left palm, then bowing slightly.
[ Note!: This salute will be replaced with uttering the word: "Buko" ]
Liomas' plan was clear. He was now an intruder in this world, so he was indeed ignorant of even his place of residence.
At least he needed to know only his residence now, and then free roaming around the village would teach him a lot indeed.
"Let's go, Liomas," Chi spoke after a kind smile.
"Alright, thank you in advance."
He took him, crossing a few meters with him until they reached the residence.
It was a residential building shared among students of the Wu clan, consisting of 8 floors, with approximately 16 individual rooms on each floor, totaling 128 rooms.
Chi pushed the main door and accompanied Liomas until he was in front of his room door on the third floor.
"Come on, open your room door and rest a little. I'll tell the guards that you're exhausted so they'll watch over you."
"Thank you for your effort, really."
Chi smiled after assuring Liomas that his work wasn't difficult, then took the stairs down, returning to the training institute.
Liomas contemplated the floor and adjacent rooms. He finally raised his hand to push the door, but the door refused to open.
He tried pushing it again but to no avail. He kicked it; it didn't work.
"Hey!" "You there, what are you doing? I want to sleep. Please, give me peace," one of the students spoke, then returned to his room.
Liomas noticed that when the student wanted to return, he raised his hand and placed it on the wall, it seemed, and then the door closed automatically.
He turned his gaze back to his room door. He found something in the door's center, exactly like a slight inward curvature the size of an average hand.
He deduced it was this world's fingerprint. He placed his palm on the door's center, then it opened easily. He finally entered.
He turned to see how the door would lock and found it locking automatically. Then that curved mark appeared again, this time from the inside too.
It became clear to Liomas how easy the matter was. You open the door with your hand, it locks automatically after entering and passing through. You can open it from the inside the same way you open it from the outside.
He sat on his bed after taking a short tour around the room, inspecting it with interest and curiosity.
He learned that he owned a wardrobe with 3 copies of the formal uniform, the one he was wearing being the fourth copy.
He also found an additional leather slipper like the one he was currently wearing. It was pitch black, had a comfortable leather texture, and was specially made to be soft and easy to bend without breaking.
Additionally, it had another feature: indeed, it didn't make sound when the wearer stepped with it.
He took off his shoe and stood upright in front of the window. He shed some tears.
They were tears of longing and nostalgia. Indeed, his children and wife missed him greatly, just as he did now.
He was forced to experience separation, as if life had stopped beside his relatives after a big misunderstanding.
He let out a harsh sigh as he remembered that he couldn't return, and at the same time remembered how he had committed suicide, remembered the war, remembered the atmosphere.
"I suppose I must, to put it correctly, do what I couldn't do in my previous world."
"I must strive to nothingness."
He watched the clouds in the clear blue sky as they passed. He contemplated deeply. In his eyes, clouds and time resembled each other - in the blink of an eye, that cloud disappears there. We content ourselves with waiting, we wait for it to go away without movement, then nothing after that. We'll only wish if we could draw it.