I couldn't believe it was the end of the world.[Year 3211]I had fallen on the burning battlefield, blood pouring from my stomach. Ninety-five percent of humanity had already perished. Who could've known that World War IV would mark the end of Earth? What would happen to the last surviving humans? Would they even want to live — when death was certain anyway?
I failed… I couldn't even uncover the truth behind the zombie virus. I failed as a Neutrorobot Scientist.
"Twenty more seconds before my system heart shuts down… Would there even be a place for me in hell? I'm sure as hell not going to heaven. God kept me alive till the very end of the war, yet what could I even do? The zombies will have another small war with the remaining humans — and that'll decide who rules the world. Surely, humans won't just sit there; they'll find a way out. But… why do I even care? Ahh… time's over. This marks the end of a failed scientist."
And then, the timer hit zero.~That was supposed to be the end — or so I thought. From the moment my eyes closed, the darkness I expected never came. Instead, a bright light grew stronger as I slowly opened my eyes.
I could open my eyes?
I was standing on another battlefield, merging with a new body. That body — and mine (yeah, the one that just died) — both had wounds in the abdomen. My senses returned. I was in a new body that had been injured before… but wasn't anymore.
"Ahhowwh!"I had a sword in my hand which I couldn't hold or balance. I hadn't even gained full control over this body yet. The sword slipped and fell. Before I could get into any danger, I tried to grab it again. I had long blonde hair and an athletic body, I guess.
Two guys came near me, locked in a sword fight. So, swords existed in this world. One of them shouted, "The hell you're slacking off, huh?"I assumed he was my teammate and replied, "Ahh, sorry, sorry, my shoe got lost somewhere!"
It was the worst reply—the dumbest one ever. He must've doubted me. The guy ignored it though. I either had to run or face the situation. Running wasn't an option since I knew nothing about this world. He definitely doubted me and shouted, "Oyy!"
He looked like one of those guys who are calm yet rude—don't give a damn about life but still stay loyal to their duty.
I whispered, "Aahaa, I'll fight with my pocket knife for today. I actually never use it, you know," then raised my voice, "If you'd like—you can use my blazing 10/10 sword for today, 'cause I'm fighting for real today!"
I absolutely didn't know the guy I had transmigrated into—or his personality. The guy, clearly confused, asked, "Hmm? You okay? Did you fall on your head while fighting? Fight with your sword, idiot!"
He was definitely a friend of the one I transmigrated into… or someone ranked higher than him—that is, higher than me now.
My mouth automatically shouted, "Yes!""You've surely hit your head. You're not behaving like your usual self," he said — and that was the moment I got cooked.
I gave an average reply, "I am my usual self."Though he got me the next moment. "Then tell me—what's my name?"
Game over.
"Haha, why this all of a sudden? I obviously know your name.""Then tell me."
He was killing opponents like slicing paper with a blade, so running wasn't an option. My brain had already given up on life completely, and now this mess — so it was already in trouble. I feared that if I didn't answer, he'd cut off my head too. So there was only one way…
"I'm not the user of this body. I just got transmigrated into this guy and have no idea what's goin' on."...To surrender.
"Then who are you?""I'm Nuwen. What I know right now is that this planet isn't Earth, and when I was transmigrating, I saw that the original user of this body had the same injury as mine in his abdomen. So, I assume he's dead."
He seemed to already know that would happen — and looked sad.
"Geez! You're another trouble. Let's not talk here. I think you can't fight with a sword, so—""Absolutely not," I interrupted for no reason. (How foolish of me.)
"You're changing your uncanny name first. You're Hiroshi Senjo — the original user of this body." I nodded."I'm Keijo Nozil. The battle will be over soon. You can't go anywhere other than this battlefield — or others will doubt you. Stay right here. Since the real Hiroshi is dead, you'll need to make a new permanent registry."
"Hmm?" I didn't understand what he meant by those words. He handed me some small, buttoned bombs."Take these. Throw them at any enemy trying to kill you."
Keijo then ran off. I sat down on the ground since the body's owner was already exhausted.
An opponent came toward me — wearing a weird soldier mask and holding a spear-like weapon aimed straight at me. I threw a bomb at him without thinking. It was an electric shock-trap bomb — an invention from the early 27th century. I thought that would kill him, but it had no effect.
I got up and ran with everything I had, then bumped into someone. That someone wore heavy metal armor, and the impact made my nose bleed. He was twice my size — and looked like a bold, dangerous monster.
He grabbed me. I used all my willpower to break free but couldn't. I didn't want to die in my new life either.
And then—suddenly, I was flying through the air. Someone was holding me. (I mean, not literally flying — but he saved me.)
That man had hunter-like eyes, a sharp jaw, messy hair, and a solid build."Fighting without a sword, huh? You trying to be experimental?" he said.
Not wanting to cause trouble, I replied nervously, "Y-yeah," with a confused smile."Where's your sword?""I think I l-lost it… or maybe Keijo has it."
He overreacted. "IMPOSSIBLE. A soldier—A vice captain lost his sword?!"
Wait… what? That moment, I realized I was a vice captain.
"I'll find it b-back soon, once the battle ends.""It's already over. Let's go back to the castle."
People were still fighting… and that guy said it was over?
"C'mon! Come fast or the land will devour you."
The phrase 'or the land will eat you' made me laugh a little. Taking it as some kind of joke, I walked toward him.
We walked for a bit and reached a massive, endlessly structured castle — huge and grand in every way. Keijo was nearby, clearing out some enemies around the castle.
"Oh? Hiroshi! I'm done, wait for me," he said, then teleported right in front of me. That proved this world also had magical abilities. But I still didn't know anything about them.
"You should go now, Nozel. We both will take time," Keijo said, and Nozel simply walked away.
"You teleported?""That was speed."
That destroyed my assumption."But yeah," Keijo continued, "teleportation exists in this world — along with many other magic powers."
In my world, I had seen plenty of fiction where the MC gets reincarnated or transmigrated and gains magical abilities in another world of magic… At least this world must have those basic elemental powers too.But jumping to conclusions too soon — that's not what a scientist does!
Keijo said, "Go through this now.""Go through what?""Go through this Divine Protective Shield Barrier. Only our people can pass through it."
I wasn't sure what barrier he meant, but since he was facing the castle, I walked slowly forward.
"The wall glowed?! Just what did this Nuwen-shit bring with his soul?" Keijo thought.
"Am I inside yet? Let's go.""Yeah. I'll explain everything to you about this world once we're inside."
An enormous door stood right before me. My eyes roamed everywhere. Thank god I didn't have any phobia of massive things.
Keijo had one hand casually in his pocket. He opened the door by touching it with his right palm. The funny thing? It opened just a little — enough for ten people to walk through comfortably.
"It opens this much only?" I asked, laughing.
"I used my palm. Wait, I'll explain this part first, or I'll forget later… As you saw, the door is huge and would take ages to open fully. So, a magical mechanism using everyone's palm prints was developed, dividing the door's opening by rank. A vice captain can open only this much. A normal person's palm won't work, but a Tesai's will. And yes, a Tesai is basically a soldier or fighter in our Blue's, s—" Keijo started explaining, but I interrupted.
"What's Blue?" I asked.
"Shut up! I'll tell you everything in order… A Tesai can open it only for themselves to enter or exit, but without a reason for war, they need consent. A captain can open almost half — I mean, he can fold it to half."
"Hmmm… like an automatic elevator door," I thought.
"And the king or queen can be teleported inside or outside, same goes for squads X, Y, Z, and Zero. I'll tell you about the squads later. That's all about the Great Castle's door."
"Hmm… why is this pathway so long, and why does it have so many distributaries?
"This is floor 1, with 50 distributaries, and each distributary has 20 residences. There are a total of 120 floors, where the last floor is the queen's, and the 5th floor is the king's. Not all floors have fifty distributaries each, but the entire castle upgrades after the 60th floor. Those who live above the 60th floor have a super-fast lift and teleportation panels — but teleportation panels are only for royal families, Tesais, captains, and vice-captains. From the 60th floor and above, each five floors has a squad base — a total of 12 main squads until the 115th floor. Above them are squads X, Y, Z, Zero, and the queen. Our floor is the 115th!"
"Wait… we're from the same squad?" I asked him.
We reached the elevator area, where there were twenty normal lifts and fifteen teleportation panels.
"Yeah, and I'm the captain. You're the vice-captain."
"Y-you're the captain?!" I wasn't too shocked, but people like him — with a mid-range personality — usually become captains only because of strength or power.
"Obviously. Why the hell would I have talked to you like a friend if you weren't my squad member?"
Hmm… maybe he actually has some leadership skills.
"But you could open the door only a little?"
"True. That was my choice. I can open it one-fourth with my actual level."
He clicked on the 150th floor, and we shot up at incredible speed. I was shocked — inertia didn't work here. I ascended without being pulled down by gravity, but I was still under its effect. Maybe because of someone's magic ability?
TO BE CONTINUED...