Scrolling past the final paragraph of the last history book in the cloud folder he had been given access to, Aaron shut the hospital tablet off and pushed away the mechanic limb holding it in front of his face. His eyes closed as he fell into deep contemplation. An entire week passed while he spent all of his free time reading up on the world and participating in both physical and occupational therapy. A lot of smaller details in the books caught him off guard, but the major events matched the timeline he had created to a tee. Records of smaller villages he never even considered existing in the past now had detailed records of being wiped off the map in this world. Learning about such things erased much of the initial excitement he felt a few days ago.
Why did I make this world so scary? I really don’t want to die again.
Sighing, he pulled his legs off the bed and walked over to the nearby sink. His legs still felt weak, almost like he had the flu, but he could at least walk on his own now. He washed his face and then stared at his reflection in the mirror. A wry smile appeared on his lips. Adjusting to this youthful face of his was difficult since he barely recognized himself anymore. His eyes were the same blue, green, and amber gradient from his past life. Contrary to before, however, his brown hair had turned black, and it had hints of scarlet near the ends of each strand. He twisted a few strands of mangy hair between his index finger and thumb for a few seconds. A sigh slipped from his lips at its dismal and unhealthy state.
“Why is it more unhealthy in this kid body than it was with adult author me?”
After that, he pulled off his hospital gown and looked at the part of himself that was hardest to believe, a rock-hard eight-pack of abs. Sure, the arm muscles and chest muscles were cool, too, but an eight pack of abs? Although he was still recuperating, he felt far healthier than he had in years.
Good job, past me.
Once he finished admiring the physical state of this new and younger body, his thoughts wandered to the fact that no family or friends had visited him in the hospital yet. Again, he splashed water over his face and wondered what this body’s life was like until now. Amidst his contemplations, the nurse he had grown familiar with over the past few days entered the room with a tray of food in her hands.
“Hello again, Nurse Lynn.”
“Seriously, just call me Lynn. I’m still an intern,” The young woman replied, barely holding back a pleased smile.
Aaron shrugged and thought, So easy... Just using a title gets me brownie points. If she ever becomes a skilled healer, she could make for a good ally.
A moment later, a simple meal of beast meat stew, mashed potatoes, and an unfamiliar mixture of vegetables arrived in front of him on a floating tray. He raised a brow at the fantasy vegetables that pulsed with a slight glow of gentle energy that he assumed to be mana.
Glancing up at the nurse, Aaron narrowed his eyes, pointed at the vegetables, and asked, “Miss Lynn? Are these one-star spirit herbs? Do I have to pay for these?”
The young intern shook her head, and her face turned serious as she answered, “No. These were sent by the people who ran you over. They also sent a letter.”
Staring at the black envelope that Lynn pulled out from nowhere, Aaron blinked a few times before looking over her entire body with scrupulous eyes.
“Is that so… but may I ask where you were hiding that letter?”
A slight rosy tint appeared on Lynn’s cheeks as she pointed at her necklace and retorted, “Spatial storage. Also, you shouldn’t tease your elders like that.”
“I wasn’t teasing, though? Anyway, thanks,” Aaron said while grabbing the letter. He ignored Lynn who clicked her tongue and glared at him.
As soon as the envelope entered his hands, he raised a brow at the cold touch of metal against his hands. A dull yellow light shimmered along the seal, and the top fold opened on its own.
Hmm? Interesting. These were only used for super important or secret letters in my story.
He pulled out the letter and quickly skimmed through it.
“Pft.”
Lynn stepped away from him to avoid the spittle. She tilted her head in confusion at Aaron’s reaction and couldn’t stop herself from asking, “What’s it say?”
“Nothing. Just some rich schmucks want to buy my silence.”
“Why use a bio-seal, then?”
“Because they’re too important. Don’t ask about it if you want to keep your job.”
“Eh?”
Once again, Aaron opted to ignore Lynn’s puzzled reaction and rubbed his chin while staring at the family seal on the letter. It was far more interesting to him than the 100,000 Alliance Credits of hush money they supposedly sent to his bank account that had probably been filled with dust and crickets until now if his lack of visitors was anything to go by.
The Vorsworn family, eh? That’s kinda scary. I’d rather not interact with them right now. Hmm? Now that I think about it…
“Lynn,” Aaron suddenly spoke up, drawing the nurse intern’s attention, “What’s the date today?”
“Trecember tenth.”
“Year?”
“Oh, right, your memory. Sorry. It’s 106.”
Rubbing his chin, Aaron closed his eyes and fell into thought again.
Should’ve asked sooner. Calamity Year 106, though? That’s a year before Chris gets to the academy. I think they mentioned this body was fourteen right now, which would make me a year older than him and most of his team. Wait, if it’s a year before they start at the academy, and I got hit by Adelith’s former driver… Wasn’t there a setting like this in my notes?
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Suddenly, information scrolled into his head in vivid detail, causing him to knit his brows.
“Hmm…”
“Is something wrong?”
“...No. I just remembered something.”
“Oh! That’s great! I’ll go let Doctor Hetke know!”
Once again, Lynn dashed out the door before Aaron could say anything, not that he cared. Instead, he focused on the information that had popped into his head and frowned.
I barely remembered anything about this since it’s been so long. Am I now the kid who died because of her selfishness before the main story started? Since I lived, if her character doesn’t change for the better like it did in the story, that could be a problem.
Scratching his head, Aaron dragged his food over to his bed and sat down on the bedside. His mind continued working while he nibbled on the food.
“Wow. These spirit herbs… are really good. Maybe it was worth getting hit by a car. Maybe I should do it more often? Haha… Ha… Man, this is a lot to take in.”
Another week passed as Aaron watched the news and studied more books in between therapy sessions. He steadily improved his understanding of his current situation. Reports about skirmishes between the three main factions on Earth, humans, Tarrians, and the Bluud, showed up almost every day. The only main species from the first few volumes of his story that didn’t show up on the news was the Vurish, but that was understandable based on their hermit-like setting. The only strange thing was that he never saw a report about his accident anywhere.
Yawning and stretching after getting up from the toilet, he mumbled, "Well, considering my characters, I'll probably find out more about this body soon."
From there, he walked up to the sink and washed his hands. Finally, the day had come for him to leave the hospital and truly enter this world he had created.
Staring at his current self in the mirror, he smiled wryly. Despite receiving a combination of technological and magical healing treatment for two weeks, light scarring remained on his forehead, torso, arms, and legs. Other than that, after two weeks of recuperation, his countenance and physical condition improved to the point that he felt more youthful and vigorous than he had ever felt, even including his past life. Unfortunately, he couldn’t bring himself to smile about his new body beyond that. Videos and photos of the frontline battles at the edge of humanity’s territory flashed through his mind more and more as the days passed.
I’ll need to put in some serious effort from now on if I want to survive. Dying isn’t fun.
Thinking such, he left the bathroom and walked toward the exit. Along the way, he met eyes with Doctor Hetke who seemed to be waiting for him. Aaron stretched his hand out, gave the man a friendly smile, and said, “Thanks for taking care of me these last two weeks, Doctor Hetke.”
Shaking Aaron’s hand, Doctor Hetke returned a warm smile and said, “You’re welcome. Make sure to check in from time-to-time whenever you have progress on your memory.”
Aaron nodded.
“Also,” Doctor Hetke said as a black wristband covered in blue runes appeared above his palm right after releasing the handshake, “this is for you. Lynn was too embarrassed to give it to you herself, but don’t tell her I said that.”
“Uh, thanks, I guess,” Aaron mumbled while taking the AR-CO. He placed it over his wrist, and it unhinged and reattached itself around his wrist in the blink of an eye.
So much for memorizing the local map and my new home address.
Moving his arm up and down, he looked at the AR-CO with a raised brow and said, “She could have just given it to me herself, but tell her I said thank you.”
“Sure. She mentioned that she wanted to thank you for treating her well even though she’s still an intern.”
“Are interns not treated well?”
“Well, it’s complicated, so I also want to thank you for being kind to her these last couple weeks, especially since she’s my niece.”
“Eh?” Aaron exclaimed. His eyes widened in surprise.
“You didn’t know?”
Still stunned by the revelation that a character he viewed like his own child had a niece he had never created, Aaron shook his head. His brows wrinkled since he felt like a father who just found out he had already been a grandfather for a few years without knowing it.
“Anyway,” Doctor Hetke said, pulling Aaron back from his reveries, “take care of yourself. We’ll be reaching out once a week for a few months.”
“Mhm. Thanks. See you around,” Aaron said in a dull tone while exiting the hospital with his eyes glazed over.
Once outside, sunlight welcomed him with its warmth for the first time in weeks. He looked up at the bright blue sky and sighed.
I’ll have to try not to get taken by surprise when unfamiliar information comes up in the future, He noted to himself.
From there, he sat on a bench and started messing around with the AR-CO. Luckily, he didn’t need passwords since all of the apps registered his identity after reading his mana stream and biological code. After checking his bank account balance, he raised an eyebrow out of surprise.
{127,882₢}
The previous me already had 27,000 credits? Was he working somewhere?
Out of curiosity, he checked some social media sites, but all of his accounts were completely empty aside from basic info such as his age and the name of the capital city he currently lived in, Novelyn. He thanked his lucky stars that Doctor Hetke was able to give him his home address. Typing that address into the city map, he grimaced. The address popped up in the poorest and dirtiest section near the perimeter wall. Many of the sub-villains that the original protagonist wiped the floor with in the second arc of the story lived around there.
“Lord have mercy. What a great start,” Aaron grumbled.
Finally, he checked his email. There wasn’t much there, but what he did find surprised him.
The past me passed the test to enter Guardian Military Academy? The scores are… not great. Barely passed the academics section. Physical section ain’t too shabby, though. If it’s the year before the main cast, it’s probably around the top 40%?
Dropping his arms behind the bench, he looked at the sky again. A few clouds rolled by at a casual pace. Several colorful birds, flying lizards, and even creatures that looked like pterodactyls flew by overhead. Well, the pterodactyl ones got shot down by magic, bullets, or arrows pretty quick, though. Even after two weeks, he still struggled to process that he was walking around in the world he had created.
Well, all things in due time, I guess.
Putting everything else behind him for now, he stood up from the bench, he stepped forward to flag down a taxi. Before he could get very far, a middle-aged gentleman approached him. The man’s suit was neatly pressed and fit snugly on his athletic build. His salt and pepper colored hair was neatly parted to one side. Sleek sunglasses covered his eyes, but Aaron still felt small in front of the man’s sharp gaze. The man’s most notable traits were a perfectly curled handlebar mustache and an ‘L’ shaped scar on his jaw. These traits alone allowed Aaron to think of a certain character, causing his brows to wrinkle.
The Vorsworn family’s head butler… Maybe they want to make sure I won’t spread word that Adelith almost got me killed?
“Are you Aaron Wright?” The man confidently asked in a gruff voice.
Struggling to hold back a groan since the man likely knew more about his body’s past than he did at this point, Aaron gathered his wits and replied, “I am. Do you need me for something?”
The man briefly raised a brow, but quickly reverted to his poised demeanor and answered, “My name is Sven Alendale. If you have time, my patriarch would like to speak with you.”
In order to avoid irritating the man, Aaron paused for a few moments before nodding. Sven nodded as if this was how things should always go before gesturing for Aaron to follow. He then led Aaron to a black limousine parked nearby. He opened the door facing the sidewalk and gestured for Aaron to enter.
Nodding, Aaron stepped up into the vehicle. When he had one foot in, the head butler whispered, “Be respectful while you’re inside.”
Pausing with one foot in the door, Aaron glanced at the butler. He stared at the man for a good two or three seconds before nodding and entering the vehicle. The butler closed the door behind him.