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Chapter 2: Mysterious Circumstances
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'I don't hate this situation. I'm annoyed by it, and annoyance is usually enough for me to do some extreme things.
However, my opponents here are too far out of my reach. What I am facing is a few illusionary concepts... Death, weakness, sickness, and so on... And what am I ought to do against them?
I wonder if causing enough death would cause death to overload and die? Hahaha, yup my sarcasm is definitely unrivaled.'
Those were the last bizarre thoughts of the man and one has to wonder, is it truly sarcasm?
The man closed his eyes, drifting into the lands of the dead, or so he thought.
It was but a moment before he clearly sensed a difference. He felt different, healthier but dirtier.
He could distinctly smell the disgusting scent of the dead, the scent every creature gains once their bodies start to decompose.
He felt parched and extremely hungry as if he didn't eat for days.
Most importantly, he could feel extra foreign memories in his mind, and he clearly felt as if he can watch them like a movie and that he did while keeping his eyes closed.
Surprisingly, He was able to watch it all in what he deemed to be less than an hour.
What he saw brought an uncontrollable turmoil to his very soul.
It was fascinating, but to him, it all felt too convenient as if all of his wishes were provided to him on a silver platter.
Provided the platter is a bit dirty but when considering the dish, he deemed that all this dirtiness is a worthy sacrifice.
He has been transmigrated to another world and he isn't exactly clueless regarding such a scenario.
Fantasy books are a wonderful way for humans to unleash their imagination and he had read many books with similar scenarios. It was certainly one of the most interesting genres.
What made him a bit perplexed is how he transmigrated, It was all too comfortable.
'It's like someone gave me a ticket to the wonderland and provided everything to make it as comfortable as possible.
The icing on the cake however is the person lending me his wife to... Perhaps that's not a suitable example?'
The man wondered to himself with genuine curiosity though his sense of words was a bit wrong.
What he said however is right. He has been transmigrated to a new body without the latter's emotions. That would've changed who he really is otherwise.
Instead, he got to watch those memories like a movie with little to no effect on his emotions and thoughts.
On top of that, the previous owner of the body was a bit similar to him which will make fitting in much easier.
Though with his uncanny acting skills, that wouldn't have been a problem, but he wouldn't like to act like someone else all the time.
Most importantly, the journey was way too convenient. He simply closed his eyes then he found himself here, in a new world.
And he has to say, a beautiful world, if you exclude places such as the one he's in currently.
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Speaking of the place, the man opened his eyes to get a look at it himself, after all, seeing the place in a movie isn't the same as seeing it for himself.
A plain dark prison cell, so dark in fact that a normal person wouldn't be able to see anything but he strangely can, not a lot but more than he should.
That's partly because he's been here for so long that his eyes got used to darkness but mostly because of the strangeness of this world.
A plain cell with one white door. The door has a tiny window in its upper part of which light can come through in the day when the guard turn on the light.
Very little light, but now the man can see none of it, it's the night after all.
Other than that, all he could see is a small dirty bed and a deep hole at the far side of the room of which he could smell an agonizing smell.
Lastly, he could hear a few of his neighbors moving around the cell, a few small freaky-looking rats, squeaking and chattering from time to time.
'I'd like to complain about the undesired environment but it's actually quite convenient and I have been in worse conditions and in my childhood at that.'
What he didn't point out is that he'd rather be in those 'worst' conditions than this one, after all, he did find them interesting in contrast to this situation.
'As for how am here with all these conveniences, I will find out when I can though I wonder if the god of death is responsible?
Did she perhaps fall in love with me because of my last gift to my previous world?
Did I unintentionally gain her love while Thanos was trying so hard to do so? Yup, he must be seething in anger right now.'
This is how his nonsensical thoughts usually go and they're usually endless but they happened to be a perfect distraction to the unfavorable conditions.
He was after all a prisoner and in solitary confinement of all places so he has little freedom to work with.
However, he was okay with that, he still needs to thoroughly study the previous host's memories and understand the world he's in as well as make a set of plans for his future.
So he did just that, he closed his eyes and started going through those memories again.
That's all he did for the next few days except for devouring the food passed to him through the openable window in the door.
The food was just enough to satiate his hunger and the taste can be imagined.
Half-baked bread and a bowl of soap, one with a strange smell, who knows what they put in it.
Other than that, he got used to his new body which was strangely alike to his previous life in appearance, provided, he was similar in his youth as before his death, he was a middle-aged man.
This body however is in the peak of its youth as the previous owner was only 19 years old.
He felt a bizarre contradictory feeling while getting used to his body, a feeling of weakness and strength at the same time.
He could feel that the body is starving for massive amounts of nutrients as he has been in confinement for more than nine months.
Yet he can also feel that his body even in this state is a bit stronger than his peak body in his previous life and he was abnormally strong by that world's standards so that should say a lot.
He of course knows the cause of such sensation, it's after the most peculiar thing about this vast captivating world.
You see, in this world, there is a thing called the ether, something people use to break common sense and achieve miracles.
Though in this world, those miracles are daily occurrences. The ether as they call it; is said to be the energy of reality.
The energy that simply exists where reality exists, always. It's eternal and ever-reaching no matter how much it's consumed, it will always reappear.
Those who use it call themselves seekers, those not so rare bunch that set foot on the path of seekers with the first sequence being named after the previous: Ether Seeker.
That's the sequence the previous host of his body was in which is quite convenient for him because transmigrating into a body that already reached the next sequence would've put a limit to his future.
What's even more convenient is that the previous host was actually extraordinarily talented which is why his father put a lot of focus on him yet he had little to no interest in practicing.
In fact, he had little to no interest in anything, as if he was but a doll specifically prepared for him to use.
And that brings us to the reason why the previous host found himself in such a place even with his not so simple family.
'Perhaps I am cursed? with being born in extremely complicated families... Nah, blessed is a better word for it.' A nonsensical thought passed through his mind, knowing the reason he's here is actually his father.
A unique father, to say the least, though perhaps in such a world, this kind of people aren't so rare.
You see, the previous host might've been a tad bit lustful, which pushed him to ignore his practice even more.
He had so little interest in everything that he hung tightly on the thing that made him feel things the most.
'A bit naive.' Remarked the man in his mind though he could understand his circumstances, after all, the kid had no pressure to push him towards the path of ether seekers all due to his background.
All of that led his father to send him here where the only thing he could do is to grow stronger, and reaching the next sequence is the condition for his freedom.
However, strangely the previous body's host chose to be a headstone and didn't practice at all which could be explained by the fact that reaching that next sequence takes an average length of twenty years.
Or... 'Ahh, this is all way too convenient.'