Kalandra gasped. It felt like his body was different from his previous body. A fresh smell of blood began to smell in his nose. He felt pain in his chest, it felt quite painful. With a reflex he touched his chest that felt pain, he felt the basa around his hand. Then he slowly raised his hand, his eyes widened for a moment, his hands were filled with blood at this time.
He slowly lowered his hand then looked around. The tall trees towered in silence, the ground wet because it was flooded with rainwater and the rain seemed to stop as if it was hanging in the air. The atmosphere felt silent all of a sudden, as if time had stopped at this time.
"This... It looks like a game I've played before," he muttered, his gaze sweeping over his familiar but unfamiliar surroundings.
However, something is not right. "But why does it all feel so stopped?" He whispered again.
He slowly tried to get up from his seat, but soon felt a sharp pull of pain in his chest. The pain that left a mark, too real to ignore. His hands squeezed the ground, trying to support his body, but the pain was so excruciating that he was unable to move any further.
Repeatedly he tried to stand up, but failed. His body felt so weak, as if the energy from his body was just gone. In desperation he could only hold onto his chest and blood continued to flow out of his body.
"Shit, what the hell is this...!" His voice was hoarse and full of confusion. He moved his teeth, trying not to let the pain get the better of him.
"Why can't I move my body, what exactly happened?!" he shouted in his heart, every word felt like a heavy burden.
His body lay weak on the ground, the pain that was felt severely hindering his efforts to get up. Everything he felt right now was completely foreign and incomprehensible, not only his body and the things around him felt foreign.
Suddenly, a transparent blue screen appeared before him, floating in the air. The board shimmered faintly, as if reminding him of something very familiar yet at the same time unfamiliar. The numbers on the screen are lit up brightly with information on HP = 5/120 and MP = 5/10.
"HP and MP, that's the term in the game. And also why is that blue board in front of me?" Kalandra muttered in a low voice, her eyes continuing to stare at the floating sailboard before her.
Then his eyes quickly glanced at his body. Unfamiliar clothes and spots of blood flowing around his chest.
"Maybe this... Am I really trapped in someone else's body?" he thought anxiously, suspecting that this wasn't just a dream or hallucination.
Silence struck for a moment, but suddenly a mysterious voice sounded in his ears, "Hello Kalandra. Ah no, should I call you Lucian now?"
"What...?" His eyes circled for a moment, he gasped. Then try to find the origin of the source of the sound. However, there was no one around.
"Why, you look so surprised, Lu-ci-an?" The voice sounded back this time, almost like a joke, but it held something that made my hair twitch like the voice of someone who knew everything and was playing with a new victim.
"Wait, Lucian? Isn't that it—....!" His face was slightly pale at this time, his memories were spinning rapidly. Lucian, is the real name of the antagonistic character from the game he played before. And now... the body he wears... belongs to that character.
"Who are you, show yourself right now!" Kalandra gritted his teeth, his eyes sweeping through the entire area that was still silently frozen, searching for the whereabouts of the owner of the mysterious voice. Yet still, there was no one there, just a void and a voice that kept echoing in his mind.
"Fufufu~ you're asking about me? You can call me Architect for a while," the voice sounded playful, like someone enjoying the chaos he was creating.
"As far as I can remember, I've never asked for such a thing, right?!" Kalandra gritted his teeth, angry and panicked.
"Congratulations, Kalandra. You've been chosen to be part of a story."
"Oh, are your memories disturbed? Didn't you accept the offer that was given earlier?" The Architect's voice turned a little sharp, as if he was testing something from his reaction.
"Offer...?"
Kalandra froze for a moment. A glimpse of a shadow flashed through his mind—about an email he received last night from a strange address claiming to be the game's developer. He had ignored it, thinking it was spam or unimportant promotions, but... He had time to open it. And the contents...
"You... You, the developer of that trash game?" His voice was now full of anger and disbelief.
"Well that's it, you can call me that." The Architect was heard chuckling softly.
"By the way, how dare you call my work trash?" The voice sounded heavier this time.
"That's why I call your game trash, it turns out that the developers are like that too." Kalandra snorted in annoyance, his eyes narrowing sharply, as if hoping to find the source of the sound and destroy it.
"I'll forget those words of yours, Kalandra," the voice replied in a calm tone, almost as if ignoring his anger.
"Why? Don't accept it? It's really trash," Kalandra said in a more cynical tone, trying to release a little anger that was starting to burn. "After all, I accidentally clicked on that link, it's because my iPad suddenly froze!" she complained, feeling as if he was the victim of this incident.
"Oh, really? Well, whether intentionally or not, the point is that you've suppressed it, haven't you?" the mysterious voice replied calmly. "The facts won't change in the slightest right now."
Kalandra growled, unable to stand the increasingly confusing situation. "But this is not fair! Why do I have to go into such a dying body?!" Kalandra's hand squeezed his chest, feeling the pain that still felt painful, even though it had subsided slightly.
"What do you mean? You're now at the beginning of the game's story, aren't you?" the mysterious voice said in a tone that seemed to think everything was clear, but still seemed to care about Kalandra's confusion.
Kalandra gathered his anger, staring blankly at the blue screen that was still hanging before him.
"I feel like I really want to kick your leg if you're in front of me right now." his voice was full of annoyance, even though he knew it wouldn't change anything.
"You know, this is really crazy. Getting into the body of a person who was about to die, and now I'm stuck in a story that I can't even choose."
"Oh my gosh, it's no wonder you didn't move during the conversation with me," the mysterious voice sounded even more cynical, as if it was judging Kalandra with amusement. "I guess there's a system bug, you shouldn't be here right now."
Kalandra felt his blood boil, angry at being in such an unfair situation. "So it's all your fault, huh? I was trapped in the body of a dying person, and now you're saying there's a bug?!" His face was filled with annoyance, his body felt stiff and unable to move, but his emotions continued to flow unstoppably. "What am I supposed to do now? So try to explain, damn Developer!"
"Oh my gosh, I really hate repeating my words," The voice sounded like it was complaining. "Alright, the point is as I said before..." The sound began to disappear, fainter and distant, like the whisper of the wind carried away by the heavy rain. "Good luck Kalandra, no.... Lucian Hale."
Time was running again, Kalandra—or rather Lucian—was lying on the wet, cold ground, hit by a torrential rain. The rainwater drenched the wound on his chest, adding to the piercing pain. He tried to recall the previous incident, the conversation with the mysterious voice, and the ever-declining statistics.
"Oh, there should be here Cedric, the main character," Lucian muttered, his voice hoarse and weak. "He was supposed to appear after I was defeated, to give the closing dialogue and... Bad Ending Notification. But... Where is he?" A gripping silence envelops the ruins of the castle, accompanied only by the roar of rain and wind. "Is this the scene after the bad ending notification? An additional cutscene that isn't in the game?" He felt even more confused.
"Dream, this must be a dream..." Lucian tried to convince himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that when he opened it, he would be back in his room, in front of his phone screen. However, when he opened his eyes, he was still in the dark and wet ruins of the castle, with sore wounds and a weak body.
"Ah, no... My eyes are starting to close," he whispered, his voice almost inaudible. Fatigue and pain got the better of it. "It's really a nightmare... I hope... I woke up right away..." Lucian closed his eyes, feeling his body getting weaker, and his consciousness began to fade. The rain was still falling heavily, drenching his helpless body, while darkness swallowed him up slowly.
[ Start synchronization ]
[ Time to repeat ]
[ Synchronization completed ]
Lucian's eyes opened slowly. The faint light pierced through his eyelids, not the moonlight as before, but the dim morning sunlight piercing through the dense foliage. He found himself lying on a soft bed, wrapped in clean white sheets. The fragrant smell of flowers fills his sense of smell. He rolled his eyes, felt a little dizzy, and then tried to sit up. Her body felt lighter and fresher.
"My phone, where is my phone..." he muttered, his hand reaching for the side of the bed, looking for his phone. He had to check if what he had experienced before was just a dream. Or whether he's still in the game. Anxiety and confusion were still felt, even though his physique felt much better. His hands reached under the pillow, beside the bed, but his phone was nothing.
He circulated his gaze throughout the room. A small table in the corner of the room was neatly arranged with a vase filled with fresh flowers and an old book that looked worn. Not a single item was known to him. There were no game posters, no laptops, no traces of Kalandra's life that he was used to. There is only a calming simplicity and calmness. However, it is precisely that calmness that makes him even more confused.
"No way... This is not my room..."
He stood up, stepping slowly towards the window, which was made of old wood that glistened from the morning sun. When he opened the window, the breeze brought the scent of fresh flowers and green foliage. He looked out over the beautiful garden outside. The garden is filled with colorful flowers in bloom, from soft red roses to bright yellow sunflowers. Bees are busy flying among the flowers, and the birdsong sounds melodious, creating a soothing symphony of nature.
"Perhaps this..." Lucian muttered, his voice almost inaudible, yet it was enough to make himself gasp.
Just as he pondered this, the sound of a knock on the door sounded softly. "Young Master, I'm sorry I'm being rude anymore today, but I need to check—" A middle-aged man's voice rang out from behind the door. The door opened slowly, revealing a man with hair that was starting to turn white and dressed neatly, like a maid. The man looked surprised to see Lucian standing by the window, his initially friendly face turning worried.
"Young Master, no matter how bad your life is, don't do such a ridiculous thing!!" The man exclaimed, his voice sounding panicked. He seemed to be hurrying up to Lucian. Lucian was stunned. "Huh?" He didn't understand what was happening. He could only look at the man with a confused look.
The middle-aged man suddenly knelt down, hugging Lucian's legs. "Young master, if you're feeling lonely, I'm here. So, don't do that bad act. I will always be with you." His voice trembled, indicating an immense panic.
Lucian was even more confused. "Um... sorry. Who are you?" He asked, his voice still sounding a little hoarse, but his tone sounded calmer. He felt that something very strange was happening, and he had to find out what was really going on.