Darkness.
That was the first thing Zuol-Ki noticed when he came back from the other side. The stale air was damp with an almost palpable heaviness, only a faint glimmer of light filtered in, offering meager illumination in the shadowy space.
This couldn't be the road to the afterlife, he thought.
The room was a confined square, no more than a hundred square meters in size. A bookshelf leaned against one side, its wooden spine creaking under the weight of the volumes it carried. The opposite wall, worn and crumbling, seemed to bear the passage of time with resigned dignity. And there, right in the middle, lay a spacious hall adorned with white flagstones, covering about thirty square meters.
"What…?" Zuol-Ki's brows furrowed at the familiar sight, a wave of deja vu washed over him. His gaze was drawn to the white flagstones underfoot. They looked familiar—no, not just familiar, they were the very stones that once adorned his training hall at the back of the main building.
"This can't be…" Zuol-Ki let out a soft laugh, the absurdity of the situation felt too overwhelming. He remembered the sharp cold steel running through his body, the crimson life that stained his clothes, and his vision fading into oblivion.
The aftermath was supposed to be serene, a journey to the afterlife, or so he was told. But there he was, standing alive in the uncanny replica of his training hall.
Zuol-Ki's mouth clicked shut, his thoughts were interrupted by an unusual sight.
[空 : 0, 一 : 1, 二 : 2, 三 : 3, 四 : 4, 五 : 5, 六 : 6, 七 : 7, 八 : 8, 九 : 9]
[......10.....]
[Addition: +, Subtraction: -, Multiplication: x]
[Error! Files Are Corrupted!]
[Entering Beta Mode!]
[Beta Mode Has Been Activated]
Mathematical symbols? In the midst of his death and rebirth, this seemed to be the most peculiar oddity.
"I was dead…" He muttered, a tinge of disbelief creeping into his voice. He'd been ambushed, a spear plunged into his body with deadly precision. He could still feel the phantom pain in his arm, the fabric of his clothes sticking to his skin, the piercing cold, all too vivid.
He shook his head, "Was it a dream?"
No, the sensations were too real to be brushed off as a dream. The sights, the touch of the cold flagstones under his bare feet, the rhythmic sound of his breath echoing in the large room, even the patterns of his thoughts felt authentic.
His own existence seemed beyond "realistic"; it was safe to say he'd been resurrected.
"Zuol-Ki, you're here?"
The voice drew his attention to the entrance of the training hall. There, a long-haired man stood, his silhouette illuminated by the faint light that spilled into the room. It was Jeok-Myung, a man he knew too well, and the sight sent shivers down his spine.
"What's going on here?" Zuol-Ki muttered, dread pooling in his stomach. The fear was not just due to his unexpected resurrection, but also due to the strange sense of deja vu. The realization that he had already lived this day before dawned on him.
"I was expecting you," Jeok-Myung's tone was calm, but his eyes carried a hidden depth. His figure emerged fully from the shadows, the lantern light glinting off his steel armor, casting an imposing shadow.
"Why are you here?" Zuol-Ki asked, his voice barely above a whisper. There was a part of him that hoped this was a dream, an elaborate illusion.
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"Same reason as you. We've been given a second chance, Zuol-Ki." Jeok-Myung's reply was cryptic, adding layers of mystery to the enigma.
Zuol-Ki stared at him, their shared past rushing back to him. Jeok-Myung was a man of many secrets and few words. Once a loyal comrade, then a traitor who had plunged his spear into Zuol-Ki's body.
Zuol-Ki looked down at his hands, the veins throbbed with life, the stinging sensation on his skin felt all too real. He had been given a second chance, a chance to live, and to rectify his past mistakes. But was this life, or was it a cursed existence in a loop of time?
As Zuol-Ki grappled with these thoughts, a familiar chime rang out, the one that always accompanied the mysterious mathematical symbols.
"[Please select an option:]"
▶ [Accept the situation and learn more about it from Jeok-Myung]
▶ [Challenge Jeok-Myung to a fight, to vent the pent-up anger from past betrayal]
▶ [Leave the training hall, explore the place, and find your own answers]
Zuol-Ki closed his eyes, his heart pounding in his chest. The absurdity of the situation was undeniable, but the choices he had to make were eerily familiar. It was as if he was a character in a game, forced to make decisions that would alter his destiny.
His eyes snapped open. Acceptance? Challenge? Exploration? The options swam before his eyes. And in that moment, Zuol-Ki realized that he was not just a man reborn. He was a man with a destiny, a man in the cycle of the Crimson Phoenix, tasked to change his past.
His past failures, the betrayal, the pain, the death—all of it echoed in the hollows of his soul. He was no longer the man he had once been. He was Zuol-Ki, the one reborn in the cycle of the Crimson Phoenix. And he was ready to confront his past, rewrite his story, and find his redemption.
▶ [Accept the situation and learn more about it from Jeok-Myung]
The silence in the training hall was almost palpable. Jeok-Myung, once a brother-in-arms, now a potential ally or foe in this twisted second life, stared back at Zuol-Ki with an inscrutable expression.
"Good," Jeok-Myung's voice broke the silence. "We've much to discuss, Zuol-Ki." His eyes held no trace of the treachery from their past life, only a shared burden of understanding.
They settled down on the straw mat, the ever-present hum of the energy barrier and the flickering light of the lantern their only company. Zuol-Ki looked at Jeok-Myung, waiting for him to break the ice.
"The Crimson Phoenix Cycle... it's a chance for rebirth, redemption," Jeok-Myung began, his voice barely more than a whisper, "But it's also a ruthless test. Failures can lead to an endless loop of pain and death. Success..." he paused, his gaze meeting Zuol-Ki's, "... can lead to liberation."
"So, we're trapped in a cycle? Forever doomed to repeat our past unless we manage to break free?" Zuol-Ki questioned, the bitter taste of his past death fresh in his mind.
Jeok-Myung nodded solemnly. "But remember, we have the power of foresight now. Our actions can change the course of this life. And we are not alone. The choices we encounter, the symbol you saw, are guideposts given by the cycle itself."
Zuol-Ki mulled over Jeok-Myung's words, saying "Is it really ok? even if we have foresight, we aren't sure that we will go on the same path as we once did and who knows what could interrupt us going down this path". This reality was much harsher than he had initially thought. The stakes were higher; it was more than just a second chance at life. It was a gamble with time itself.
Jeok-Myung interrupts and says "Why worry over things we can't change, now shall we go train like the old days, Zuol?" with a menacing smile.
A hush fell over the training hall as Zuol-Ki and Jeok-Myung paused in their stance, muscles still trembling with exertion. This newfound reality seemed rife with such sudden pauses, the stillness amplifying the roar of his own thoughts. The man standing before him was his rival, his betrayer, and now his mentor. Zuol-Ki tried to focus on Jeok-Myung's words, to glean as much as he could from this uncanny resurrection. But a seed of doubt sprouted within him, wrapping its roots around his resolve.
He cast a sidelong glance at Jeok-Myung, his jaw set. "I don't trust you," he blurted, the words lingering in the air between them. Jeok-Myung's eyes widened, and for a moment, the training hall held its breath.
Before he could respond, the door to the training hall slid open. A messenger rushed in, his face taut with urgency. "Zuol-Ki, Jeok-Myung, the second strategist calls upon you," he panted, his gaze darting nervously between the two warriors.
A shift in the air pulled Zuol-Ki's attention back to the front. As the messenger hastily retreated, an ethereal screen appeared before him, the characters shimmering with otherworldly light.
"[Please select an option:]"
▶ [Proceed immediately to the second strategist]
▶ [Insist on finishing your training before meeting the strategist]
▶ [Confront Jeok-Myung here and now about your trust issues]
Zuol-Ki studied the screen, his mind grappling with the absurdity of the presented options. Each choice seemed as bizarre and bewildering as the next. The reality he knew did not play out like this. Actions were dictated by thoughts, emotions, and circumstances, not by prompts that appeared out of thin air.
"Is this a joke?" He murmured, his eyes narrowing. Were these prompts part of his second chance at life? A bizarre guiding system, playing with his fate? He tried to comprehend the mechanics behind these choices, but understanding eluded him.
Yet, as he scrutinized the options, he found himself drawn to the first one. It held an air of urgency, a directness that appealed to his newfound pragmatism. The second option, though it promised more time to train, seemed a deflection from his duties. The third one… he glanced at Jeok-Myung, the man who killed him, now playing the role of an ally. Confrontation would have to wait. He was in unfamiliar territory, and making enemies was not in his best interest.
▶ [Proceed immediately to the second strategist]
He turned to Jeok-Myung, masking his trepidation with a firm nod. "Let's go."