When Anon regained consciousness. He was hit with a tsunami of information. It was like that feeling you have when your leg has become numb and you feel pins and needles as you walk on it.
Except, he felt this over his entire body!
"Whasod!"
Anon tried to talk to himself. But to his surprise. He had lost all control over the muscles in his body. He couldn't even talk properly! The only thing that remained stable was his thoughts. But even that was falling apart!
Why? His body and soul had become estranged. He felt paralyzed.
He thought to himself:
"Thousands of years in reality were only mere moments. But the coordination with my body has reached an all time low. If I go to a doctor, they may find something abnormal about my condition..."
"How do I resolve this?"
Anon used his endless willpower to forcefully control his body like a puppet. But even willpower has limits. He was sweating and feeling sick from merely lifting his arm.
He grabbed his phone and clicked the emergency call button.
Anon felt that even breathing was becoming hard. It was like his body went into shock from the experience of thousands of years in an instant. His brain activity was comparable to a person in their final moments.
He was dying!
As the dispatch asked him what the situation was. He murmured some incomprehensible gibberish. But thankfully, the person on the line was a professional and they tracked down his location.
10 minutes later. He was rushed into an ambulance and was on the way to the hospital. The paramedics tried to ask him questions and refused to let him go to sleep.
Anon felt so tired. The fatigue accumulated for thousands of years beckoned him. He wanted to drift off into nothingness.
NO! He ignored such intrusive thoughts. He couldn't stop now. He had just 'revived'! How could he die so soon? But his spirit was so old and could hardly handle the wear and tear of reality.
An average person might have a 60% control rate between body and soul. But right now, Anon had less then 1%! This was due to the tricks he used to track his body from his domain. It was as if his body was deeply sick. It was fighting this foreign soul! This invader!
But it wasn't some outside force. It was Anon! But his body wasn't used to such a soul or the experience of so many memories. His brain was overloaded!
The paramedics shined light in his eyes. But his pupils didn't even constrict. He stopped breathing and started to lose consciousness as his heartbeat became irregular.
He was pulled out of the ambulance and taken to the emergency room right before he blacked out.
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"He has stopped breathing..."
"But there is still a pulse!"
The doctor had Anon on life support. He did various test. But...
"He is braindead..."
Anon's face was also covered in blood. His eyes bloodshot. It was as if he had some sort of internal trauma that attacked the brain.
"The body is alive. But it is an empty shell... There is no chance of recovery!"
The doctor sighed. Such a thing happened to a young man for seemingly no reason. He needed to contact the family and-
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The doctor had merely glanced at the open eyes of this young man. But for a second. He felt as if he was standing in front of an apex predator. He lost his train of thought and his heart raced.
"You!"
Anon's eyebrows twitched and he blinked.
"You- You died!"
Anon's face spasmed from his lack of control. He then said some nonsense. But the meaning was clear to the doctor. These were weak whispers of a dying man. But for some reason. It was so loud that everything else was drowned out.
"I died? Who decided that?"
"You? You don't have the authority!"
The doctor then saw that the man's eyes closed. He realized something in this instant.
"Too many all-nighters. I need more rest. I'm starting to hallucinate!"
The doctor assumed he imagined that magical scene. Because a braindead patient telling the doctor he didn't have the authority was ridiculous! Not to mention that weird look that was as if he was standing in front of some primordial being...
But then he thought about the spark in that man's bloodshot eyes. Even the hallucination. He hesitated and decided to do more test.
There was a response! The body was basically paralyzed. But the eyes were reacting to light. It seemed the person was sleeping?
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Anon had lost consciousness and felt as if he was heading towards oblivion. He found himself in some sort of dreamscape. He was in a labyrinth. He couldn't remember what he was doing before.
He had forgotten about everything.
The realm was shaking and started to dissolve.
He felt incredibly comfortable. The abyss called him. He was about to welcome it~
But then he felt a deep fear! He would not have even had the chance to experience this fear if not for the medical equipment keeping him alive.
"NO! If I stop now... I'll be wiped out!"
All of his memories resurfaced.
His body that was in human form transformed into how he truly saw himself. An omnipotent sovereign! He became the maze itself and saw that in the center was his soul. Everything was falling apart.
The hourglass hidden in his subconscious was about to spring into action.
But he laughed!
"Hahahaha! My dear TImekeeper... I have got this!"
At that moment. Anon's life flashed before his eyes. He saw centuries of memories flashing in his mind. He sneered at his weakness.
"Do you think your master is so weak?" Anon calmed down his restless artifact.
"It's just a matter of life and death... why so serious?"
"It is a small issue."
In an instant. Anon condensed his will and attacked his soul itself!
"Break!"
"Break!"
"Break!"
Anon felt the connection between soul and body became even more illusory. The attacks were having an opposite effect then what he wanted. But he knew he couldn't afford to stop now.
"BREAK!"
Anon focused on 'Seal 9' Concentration.
His will was cracked and his spirit was about to dissipate. But in the next instant. He felt a cool feeling running down his spine in reality. It was like his brain was on fire. But now it was covered in ice.
This comfortable feeling had spread all over his body.
"Recovery in both spirit and mind!"
The dreamscape dissolved and Anon entered a dreamless sleep.
But right before this happened. He heard a faint voice...
"The body is alive. But it is an empty shell... There is no chance of recovery!"
He opened his eyes and faced the doctor.
"You- You died!"
Anon responded. Despite barely being able to control his vocal cords. It was as if he pierced the mans mind with his meaning.
"I died? Who decided that?"
"You? You don't have the authority!"
Anon then closed his eyes.
Anon had successfully opened the first seal. But he was still in a vulnerable and weak state. Luckily, the hospital was a perfect place to recuperate. He could even have an excuse for work.
A medical emergency!
He slept for 36 hours straight. When he regained consciousness. He found he was in a hospital bed and there was a television that was off. He was no longer hooked up to life support. He was breathing on his own! His face had been cleaned.
Anon knew he couldn't walk in his current state. But 'Concentration' was working its magic! He felt the connection between body and soul was now at 2% versus its abysmally low rate before.
He had reached an important stasis.
A day passed.
5%
Another...
10%
Another...
15%
He could now stand on both feet and retain his balance. He could even awkwardly walk.
20%
He could walk normally.
40%
The hospital had him do physical therapy and were shocked by his progress. But when they looked at the various test he took beforehand. They couldn't find the source of his muscle weakness.
So this mysterious illness recovering mysteriously felt just right.
60%
Anon's control was now at the level of a normal person. But it continued to improve as he was discharged from the hospital. He had spent two weeks recovering in the hospital.
But he had never felt better.
70%
80%
90%
99%
He had 'perfect' control over his body now. But this didn't mean he was like a martial artist. His body hadn't been developed and was still ordinary. His physique was normal and his muscles were average. His flexibility wasn't amazing. But he could use the full potential of his body.
He could use all the explosive force of his muscles despite the damage. His strength had improved in its control. But it wasn't anything supernatural. It was just his nervous system becoming more efficient and less restrictive.
His body was no longer rejecting his soul. He started to think of ways to activate the rule of his artifact.
He had spent a month out of work.
It was time to go back.