“Are you ready Drake?” asked Steve Mainsburn.
“Of course, I am. This is what we have been working towards for over ten years!” Drake Ludwan replied.
The duo were standing inside a medium-sized glass chamber. In front of them was a large array of buttons, levers, and other control mechanisms on a desk. On the sides were large monitors showing graphs and numerical data. Through the front glass window, one could see a gigantic, metallic structure standing tall and majestic.
“If this actually works, it could transform the world!” Steve yelled excitedly.
He was not exaggerating. The two were physicists building a nuclear fusion reactor.
Nuclear fusion is a method of making energy using the same process that occurs in the cores of stars. If the process could be successfully utilised, it could replace all other sources of energy in the world, including fossil fuels and other renewable energy, resulting in a revolution.
Many scientists have tried to build nuclear fusion reactors before but none of them were successful. However, Drake Ludwan and Steve Mainsburn were world-leading experts and geniuses of their generation despite being relatively young in their early thirties. They pooled their knowledge and worked together for over many years to take a completely new and innovative approach, which resulted in the current situation.
After all that preparation, they were finally going to start the reactor. At once, they would find out whether all their efforts were going to be fruitful or a complete waste.
“Let’s do it,” Drake replied. His right hand was hovering over the start button as warm sweat trickled down his back. His hands were shaking uncontrollably and adrenaline pumped from his chest, making his breathing rough.
Steve laid a comforting hand on his shoulder while placing his other hand next to Drake’s.
They pushed the button together.
Immediately, loud ringing and various other sounds were emitted from around the room as energy gushed to the centre of the metallic building with an unstoppable force. Things were relatively calm where the two were located but they knew that inside the reactor, the temperatures were rapidly surging to reach the same level as the inner cores of stars.
The two were hurriedly staring at monitors, quickly processing the information shown through various graphs, charts, and indicators.
‘Yes! It is working!’ Drake thought.
But he knew better than to rejoice so soon.
There were still too many variables and unknowns. Even the slightest miscalculation of some small quantity could have a chain reaction that affected everything and they wouldn’t be able to do anything.
They could only hope for the best.
The reaction proceeded rapidly and soon, they could hear deafening sounds created by the start of fusion.
It was now or never.
Both Drake and Steve tightly held their breaths, not even daring to blink. If they didn’t know any better, they would want to directly march into the structure to see the reaction for themselves.
“Hold on what’s happening!?” yelled Steve.
An indicator on a particular screen turned red, but soon the same thing started happening on other screens until a wave of red engulfed the entire room.
“The energy levels are too high!”
“Oh no, that’s not good! We must get out of here!” screamed Steve in fear.
This was the worst case possible - the reaction had gone out of control!
The reactor was built to protect against such a situation so there shouldn’t be any danger inside the glass chamber, but they still had to evacuate for safety reasons.
The two didn’t hesitate any longer and they rushed to the door. However, they suddenly heard a deafening sound.
BOOM!
Small cracks appeared on the metallic building and rapidly expanded to cover the whole structure.
BOOM! BOOM!
The cracks began widening and white light spilled out.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Those last few explosions sealed the deal. The whole structure simultaneously melted and broke apart.
“AAAAHHHHH!” screamed Drake and Steve.
The surrounding temperatures soared uncontrollably. They felt like they were standing on the sun.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!
In the next instant, not just the metallic structure or the glass door, but their entire research facility exploded spectacularly, resulting in a large gas cloud that shot up into the sky.
All the buildings within a one-mile radius completely melted and disintegrated, those within five miles were demolished by fierce winds. Any individual lucky enough to be away from this death zone was deafened by the sound or blinded by the unbelievably intense light.
It was like the whole world changed in an instant.
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…
“Aaaaah!” gasped Drake, sitting up in a panic.
He vividly remembered the terrifying explosion.
What went wrong?
It was not supposed to go that way. He had painstakingly calculated everything over countless days and nights. It was reviewed by his friend Steve, and many other trusted colleagues – so what could have happened?
His mind began working at lightning speed, trying to deduce what the error was. But quickly, he stopped and asked himself the most basic question.
‘Where am I?’
Drake was standing in a completely white room with no walls. He was standing on an empty, white platform that stretched onto infinity.
“Oh hello!” came a voice from behind.
Drake immediately shook, caught by surprise. He turned around so fast that he tripped and landed on his bottom. But surprisingly, there was no pain. Confused and afraid, he could only look up towards the source of the voice.
In front was a lonely desk filled with various documents. Behind it sat a middle-aged man who was also dressed in white. Even his short, scruffy hair was white.
The man stared at Drake with a curious gaze and started speaking with a smile.
“Welcome to the afterlife. I’m sure you have many questions, so I will try my best to-” he stopped speaking in the middle of his sentence and had an unexpected change in expression. His smile vanished and he continued with a grumpy tone, “Oh who am I kidding? I’m not in the mood for this. I don’t really care if you have any questions or anything about you really,” he said plainly.
“Here’s the gist of it - you died. Normally we, the Orion Immortals, will not care about a random soul. However, you are somewhat special, as your soul has the ability to retain memories and skills through different lives. Those who possess this ability meet the minimum criteria to try to become a member of our organisation. But first, you must pass a few tests.”
‘Huh? What? I’m dead? How am I here if I’m dead? What tests?’ Drake wanted to ask all those questions but the man continued without giving him a chance to speak.
“So, I will send you to a different world now, one based in… argh… I don’t know and I don’t really care. I’m just going to send you to a new world now. You can go there and if you give an acceptable performance, we can discuss things further.”
Saying that, he then immediately raised his arm towards Drake.
Drake felt an overwhelmingly attractive force pull his body towards the man’s hand. Drake wanted to resist but he couldn’t. He did not even have time to process anything the man said.
“Wait! Please wait! I just want to know-” Drake was going to ask one of his million questions, but the man gave him no chance. He caught Drake by his neck and his eyes flashed with a brilliant golden radiance.
“Bye!” he whispered.
Drake felt a formless energy wash over him as he rapidly shrank and drifted into the distance.
The last thing he saw was the indifferent eyes of that eccentric middle-aged man.
…
On a land far, far away.
A vast ocean was under the ferocious assault of a terrifying storm. Dark clouds gathered and thunder rumbled through the air. The winds pushed against the water, making them form chaotic waves.
Deep below the ocean surface, a shark demon swam hurriedly. Its underwater cave was destroyed by the storm and it could not do anything. Helpless and filled with rage, it decided to come to its favourite hunting ground.
A few dozen meters in front, the demon spotted a reef swarming with fish of all sizes and colours, lighting up the entire ocean surface. If anyone from Earth saw their appearance, they would be in awe of their beauty.
Yet the demon saw nothing but food and a way to release its anger.
“ROOOAAARR!” the shark demon roared with fury, brazenly announcing its arrival.
At once, the entire ocean surface trembled and fell into chaos. Schools of fish darted away in all directions.
As the fish fled in fear, the demon descended like a dark god. It opened its mouth and sucked in a huge gulp of water, reeling in a large chunk of the fish population. The schools of fish were mercilessly torn apart by its vicious fangs.
But the demon barely considered that a starter.
It looked towards a large whale that was swimming much faster than the other fish and was the furthest distance away. If it were facing any other opponent, they would be helpless against its speed.
However, a cold glint flashed in the shark demon’s eyes as it dashed through the ocean, instantly appearing in front of the whale - it was time for the main course.
The whale cried and retreated with terror. The shark demon laughed as it opened its mouth wide to chomp down ruthlessly.
At this moment, from not too far away, an eerie laughter resounded across the ocean.
“Hehehehehe! Hehehehehehehehe!”
The laughter was so loud, and the voice so booming that it created winds which swept through the surrounding water, creating currents that disrupted the movements of the fish.
One of the currents formed in the same area as the shark demon and pushed it aside like a pile of trash.
The shark demon felt humiliated!
Who would dare to attack it in its own territory?
“I have finally created the primal energy core!” yelled the voice, laughing even more loudly.
Furious, the shark demon turned towards the voice and charged.
First, its cave was destroyed by a storm and it couldn’t do anything. Now when it tried to eat, it was attacked in such an unexpected and bizarre manner.
The demon could not care less about anything else anymore. It just wanted to tear the perpetrator to pieces to vent its pent-up fury.
The owner of the voice was covered in black robes. They were holding onto a jade box as if it were the most precious thing in the world. As the shark approached from the side, they slightly turned to face it, revealing the wrinkled face of a lady.
Despite seeing a powerful demon charging at her, she was completely calm. In fact, her lips curled up into a cruel smile and she whispered to herself.
“Not bad! A fifty-thousand-year-old tyrant class demon shark is delivering itself to me. I might as well help myself then.”
She waved her hand in a small circle and the surroundings immediately changed. The water in front of her warped into a humanoid figure holding a trident.
It looked like a person made completely out of water!
The shark was surprised to see such a change, but it was too late to stop its momentum.
However, it wasn’t scared.
Its body was incredibly tough, so normal weapons could not even scratch it. It was extremely confident in its defence.
However, in the next instant, the humanoid figure disappeared. The demon’s momentum came to an abrupt stop and the humanoid figure suddenly appeared behind its back.
There was a trident pierced through the shark demon’s mouth and pointing out of its neck.
The demon was frozen.
It tried to move its eyes to look at the trident, however, it was too weak to do even that.
Its eyes lost their light and rolled backwards. The humanoid figure retrieved its trident and the shark demon floated limply in the water.
This legendary demon that had once ruled a part of the ocean for tens of thousands of years had now died in such an inexplicable manner!
…
In the same world, on the central part of the continent of Jin, there existed the Holy Kingdom. The western part of Jin was covered by the expansive Beast Woods, filled with dangerous demons and onis. To the northwest of the Holy Kingdom, bordering the Beast Woods, there was the small village of Jain.
Inside one of the houses in that village came the cry of a newborn baby.
“Wuah!”
“It’s a boy!” cried a male voice in joy.
“Congratulations my lord. You have a son!” an old midwife spoke in a polite tone as she held a bloody child in her arms.
Unable to wait, the father quickly, but carefully, took hold of the baby boy in his own arms.
Unexpectedly, however, the boy immediately stopped crying.
In fact, it was looking at its own hands and at the face of this large man with a curious and intelligent gaze.
The father was surprised but also slightly worried at the sudden change in the baby’s attitude. He questioningly looked towards the midwife who replied with a slight nod to assure that everything was alright with the baby. The father relaxed and bent his head to the baby’s forehead to give a light kiss.
No one could have predicted what the baby’s true thoughts at that moment were.
‘It seems… I have been reborn!’