1 The Beginning 1 (1/2)

Boom!!

Luo Jing’s head was rumbling.

Boom!!

His head once again rumbled as his body violently jerked before falling down. Boom!

His head smashed onto something hard, causing him to grimace in pain.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he could only see a dim, blurry background. In front of him, a silhouette was moving back and forth, as if it was busy closing the window and cleaning up the room. Next to the silhouette was a window; lightning flashed outside, brightly illuminating the room as if it were day.

”Oww…”

Luo Jing moaned as he tried to raise his hand to rub the back of his head, but his body wouldn’t move: a mixture of pain, itching, and numbness had left it paralyzed. It was as if his limbs didn’t belong to him; they firmly laid on the ground beside him like four wooden sticks.

”Am I dead?” His mind was still chaotic. He had a flashback: while taking a shower, he had accidentally touched the power outlet with his wet hands, electrocuting himself in the process. With his own eyes, he watched as a burst of blue electric current emerged between his finger and the sockets, and after which came a pungent smell of burnt flesh as he lost consciousness.

His head was in a daze; it seemed like all his memories had turned to mush.

Luo Jing opened his eyes as much as he could, trying to figure out what was going on around him.

”Thud!”

After another violent rumbling, his head hit the headboard of the bed, filling him with yet another outburst of unbearable pain as he passed out soon after.

Nobody knew how long it had been, perhaps one day or perhaps several days, when he finally regained consciousness and could feel his body once more.

He heard the soft sound of a door closing.

”Has mother left already?” A girl’s voice asked.

”Yes, she ate breakfast before us and went out to get some groceries. I’m going to leave to visit your auntie soon as well.” The familiar voice of a man answered, followed by silence.

Luo Jing found himself in a small bedroom. In front of him was a reading desk. He was holding a black pen, writing something on a piece of white paper. A bright light shone from the window to his right; light rain showers fell outside, and the roof of the residence building across the street was soaked through.

Suddenly, like a flood breaking out of a dam, a huge and complex wave of thoughts rampaged into his mind.

He unconsciously groaned and gripped his forehead with his hands. Countless new memories swarmed into his brain.

”Garen? My... my name is Garen? Have I traveled to an alternate reality?”

He couldn’t think about anything else; still bearing a headache, he started exploring the memories that had just flowed into his brain.

This world was similar to Europe prior to the Nuclear Age. There were cars, planes, and firearms like guns and cannons, but weapons of mass destruction had not been developed yet.

His new identity was a boy named Garen from a middle-class family. He was 16 years old and his parents were employees of a rubber company. He had a little sister called Ying Er. The lifestyle was like that of the 20th century Europe, but the memories of his family and his own appearance made it clear that this place was definitely not on Earth. Both Garen and his sister were born with dark purple hair and eyes the color of wine. Their hair color was passed down from their father and eye color from their mother. He’d never heard of anyone born with these hair and eye colors on Earth. Furthermore, in Garen’s memories of history, the most powerful countries in the world were not China, the United States, or Russia. Instead, they were the Yalu Confederation, Weisman Empire, and the Republic of the Tulip. Just like Earth, there were a few hundred other countries of varying sizes and governments.

Asides from the difference in names and lifestyle, things were very similar to Earth. People who lived here received education as well, starting from elementary school, then middle school, and finally college. Right now, Garen was attending the third best high school in the province, Shengying Nobles Academy. It was the first year of school. During the school break, Garen was sick in bed with a fever and actually died, just as Luo Jing died in his world and ended up here.

Still collecting his memories, Luo Jing started to change clothes. When he snapped out of his trance, he found himself in a small and tidy room, eating a soft cherry cake on the dining table. The palm-sized cake had a creamy-yellow color, and was decorated by a ring made of whipped cream with cherries on top.