(NATHANIEL) “Gahhhh… da… fuc…” Loud and terrible moans left my mouth as I barely managed to keep my entire body from collapsing to the ground.
The constant stream of fragmented memories entering my mind all at once wasn’t too horrible… the content of those terrible memories, however, was enough to break anyone.
Beatings, verbal abuse, hunger, and so much more of the most terrible things a human can experience were being forced into my mind in quick succession.
My eyes were unable to focus.
All I saw were those terrible memories and the perpetrators as well.
‘Damn… poor kid…’ Though I didn’t usually care about people I didn’t know, this was definitely someone I could show a bit of empathy toward.
Time passed a bit slower than normal, and eventually, through sheer force of will, I managed to sort all the memories into a frail but functional order.
Finally managing to fully see what was in front of me, I observed the scene.
My back was leaning against a wall I had managed to crawl toward, and from where I had crawled, there was now a fresh trail of blood following me.
The wounds the boy sustained had been healed while I was forced to organize the memories, and only small flesh wounds remained.
In time, they healed as well.
After catching my breath, I put all my effort into my lower half and just barely managed to stand upright.
‘Haaa… this boy may have been my age… but damn… he’s like an old man.’ I wasn’t really intending to insult the innocent kid, but he really was physically weak.
There was no blaming him, though.
He was merely the victim of horrible circumstances.
He was born to a small and poor family.
However, they were somewhat happy, but, when he was twelve, his mom and dad brought a beautiful baby girl into the world… And from then on, everything went to shit.
In order to provide for everyone, the boy’s father had to do a lot of immoral things to make a living.
Sometimes they could eat, and other times they’d have to starve for a few days.
Thankfully, the little girl managed to grow up healthy, thanks to her brother’s simply astonishing show of charity and love.
He’d constantly give her what little food he would have, truly showing just how much he loved her.
It was admirable honestly.
‘She really was his heart…’ The feeling of his heart stopping pierced my mind for a moment, but I held myself, just barely managing to stand upright.
Then I looked at the incinerator where garbage was burned.
…This was the exact incinerator where his father was burned alive.
It was a bit of justice, in a twisted way.
The gang that killed the boy’s father and then enslaved the rest of his family were, in their eyes, forced to lose a huge amount of credits by the hands of the same boy they had taken nearly everything from.
After the dad had been caught stealing from the gang, he was tortured before being burned alive.
And to further undermine the valiant father and his efforts to support his family, they took his wife and kids.
Their mother was a strong woman who always did what she could to prevent her kids from being on the receiving end of the gang’s torture and cruelty.
Even in the end, she always held her kids first.
After she died, it was on the boy to protect his sister, and the first thing he was forced to do by the gang was throw his mother into the incinerator.
But… instead, the boy carried her body with all his strength and buried her under a small field where the three of them would go when times were better and before his sister had been born.
Details of that terrible and sad day were still a bit fuzzy.
‘Yet… I still feel that terrible ache in my chest.’ Even though it wasn’t my own mother.
Turning away from the incinerator, I observed the sky.
‘When the boy died, the sky was getting darker.
Now it’s night, so the gang members are probably far away.’ I stood still for a moment, and no matter how much I racked my brain, I just couldn’t remember what the boy was called.
‘Jallis?
James?
I know it starts with J.
Damn it, what’s the rest?’ I wanted to maybe pay respect to the poor kid in some way… but I had more important matters to attend to.
‘So I’m in Shadow Slave, no question about it.
NQSC, the Nightmare Spell, Nightmare Creatures, Legacies, Awakened, Gates… well, still better than LOTM.’ Sighing, I recalled what I had heard before: ‘Lord of Mysteries, King of Space-Time, Beacon of Destiny, Embodiment of Sefirah Castle, Dominator of the Spirit World.’ Once I recalled the honorific name, I paused for a moment.
After noticing that no terrible creature had arisen and i was still in control of my own body, I began to pace in a circle.
‘I have been transmigrated into Shadow Slave, and definitely by the hands of CW.
Safe to say the rest of my friends were as well.
Pretty much everyone mentioned something about whispers.’ “Haaaa… in the end, those were ravings, I guess.” Stopping my pacing, I decided to conserve what little stamina this boy had.
‘But LOTM and Shadow Slave are fiction!
How the hell did I get stuck in this situation?!’ Lamenting my current situation, I decided to think over the memories from the boy and headed forward.
Making sure to go slowly and with extreme caution, I finally managed to reach the hidden place where the boy had hidden his sister.
The lock he had used to secure the door was gone.
However, it wasn’t destroyed, instead, it just hung loosely from the door.
Taking another look around, I sneakily made my way to the hidden room and, to my relief, it was empty.
However, there was something to the side of the small room.
There were two small advanced chips—the same chips that were used to transfer credits.
I understood the monetary system of this world due to the boy’s memories.
Credits worked in a mostly technological manner.
Small chips like these could be inserted into either a credit transceiver that could transfer credits to online accounts, or they could be used to transfer directly into a communicator.
‘Why does everything have to be digital in this world?
I can’t even hold my money like normal!’ With a grunt, I reached in and grabbed the small chips.
There was a small rectangular part made of matte black metal that was connected to a bronze piece meant to act as a USB.
Clicking the side of the black metal part, I looked at the small holographic numbers that appeared.
One had enough credits to keep me fed for about four days at most, while the second had only about two days’ worth of food on it.
‘She either dropped this while getting rescued, or he left these out of goodwill.’ The guy the boy asked for help was named Tralis, and he was a friend of his dad.
The boy had actually stayed at his place for a few days while planning the robbery of the gang.
‘Fifty-fifty.
Tralis gets paid fifty percent, while the rest goes to my… the boy’s sister.’ That was considering the man had a soul and didn’t just take the money for himself and leave her all alone.
Taking stock of my funds, I decided to first leave the outskirts, ‘Better to be poor somewhere in NQSC than in this shithole.’ i lampooned with a heavy sigh.
Not only was I still barely able to breathe properly, but I was definitely considering my safety due to the whole gang drama and its problems.
So my journey began, well, it wasn’t really a journey, i was already in the best spot I could be—the market!
Before going to my destination, I took off the outer layer of my clothes, which were soaked in blood, and was left in raggedy pieces of brown cloth that acted as a kind of robe.
The cold environment sent chills through my body, but I pushed through and went to the isolated area where the Outskirts were separated from NQSC.
Going to the checkpoint where the guards stood watch, I was met with some lovely dirty looks.
Deciding against making a comment to the guards, who could fold me like an omelet, I gave them a smile.
“How’s it going?
Mind if I go to NQSC?” The guard looked at me passively and with great suspicion.
“A pass?” he said simply.
“None whatsoever, sir!” Reaching into my pocket and taking out the chip that had enough money for two days, I looked back at him.
“But I can get one with this, right?” Glimpsing over the chip, he took it and produced a credit transceiver.
Putting the chip in, he observed the amount.
“You’re missing thirty-seven credits.” The guard showed me the transceiver.
With a groan, I took out the second chip, the transceiver beeped, and a small receipt was produced.
The guard handed me the receipt and the chip, he then opened the gate that led to NQSC.
With a soft sigh, I took a step forward, and before leaving, I bowed like a gentleman—which was ignored.
Turning around i was now finally met by the grand expanse of NQSC in all its splendor and sci-fi glory.
In the distance, large buildings loomed, connected by tubes that linked to other structures, used for magnetic trams and other modes of travel.
I decided to go to the bridge ahead of me, which had a small river below it.
‘Oh, well, I guess I’ll be sleeping here today.
Love it.’ Lampooning inwardly, I went and walked down to the bridge on the artificial grass.
‘It’s like all those anime scenes where people sit at the edge…’ While I walked, my gaze turned slightly to the side.
There, below the bridge and in the fading light, was a young man with a decent build and simple clothes.
He had black hair, and the roots were a familiar golden color.
He was facing away from me, looking at the river, another small detail i barely noticed was that his clothes were soaked.
‘Hair with golden roots… slightly pale skin… could it be…?’ Slowing my pace slightly so I wouldn’t be heard, the stranger still seemed to notice my footsteps and turned around.
Now I could see his face clearly, his eyes were a clear, unnatural golden color, while his face was youthful with pretty much perfect proportions.
‘… Definitely an ASG look-alike!’ The stranger was practically identical to the official art and fan art from LOTM.
From the eyes and hair, he was pretty much a direct copy.
The stranger gave me a suspicious look and seemed just about ready to throw hands.
However, I was also able to notice a slight twitching of his eyes.
It was familiar, since I myself had been just like that only a few minutes ago.
‘I know it’s one of my friends, but I just can’t prove it… Wait!’ There was one way I could identify a person from the twenty-first century—especially people who were very active online during the time we were taken from.
‘…Can I do it?
Can I desecrate my reputation as the most mature of us?’ The thought of such a thing made me shudder, but I had to do it.
I made my hands into fists and pumped myself up.
The stranger, in return, raised his fists and got into a fighting stance.
Opening my fists and making two palms, I made a hand motion resembling weighing two options or juggling.
Giving a mad smile, I barely managed to blurt out the two words I dreaded.
“S… six s… seven!” After saying that cringy nonsense, I hoped the guy would do anything but jump me.
Well who knows, maybe he would still jump me even if he were one of my friends.
Silently, a moment of silence passed, the stranger’s mouth opened slightly… and then… his eyes showed recognition!
(NARRATION) In a small room, a boy hanging from a rope struggled to break free for a few moments.
With a desperate set of tugs, he managed to snap it, along with a small part of the roof, and with a thud he hit the floor hard.
A few kilometers away, in a small alley, a young man awakened in a dumpster.
His eyes were unfocused as he looked at his naked body—except for a pair of boxers, which the people who robbed him had found useless.
With a wince, he recalled what had happened and threw up the contents of his stomach, his throat pained and raspy.
In a room where a young woman lay dead with her throat slit, the youth behind her woke up and looked around in confusion.
For a moment, he saw the naked woman and thought he was having a wet dream.
However, once he spotted her bloodied neck, he screamed and fell from the bed with a groan.
And in the depths of the outskirts, a beautiful young woman with long black hair walked around aimlessly.
_________________ Author’s Note: Yippeeee!
The whole gang is finally here, as usual leave your thoughts and ask any questions you might have.
Next chapter will be on Friday.
Have a good day 🙂