Where am I?
That was the question Magnus asked himself as he slowly regained consciousness. As the fog in his mind cleared, he tried to look around, but all he could see was darkness. In fact, he couldn't even tell if he had opened his eyes. He couldn't feel anything at all—his arms, his legs, not even his own neck.
What’s going on? What happened to- Agh! Fuck my head hurts.
He felt slow and groggy; he could hardly even think without feeling a sudden headache. For the next few minutes, he tried his best to gather himself and figure out what was happening to him, but that was the confusing part. Nothing was happening to him, he couldn’t feel anything, or see anything, it was as if he didn’t exist.
I- I can't move! I can't speak either! Where the hell am I!?
He tried to scream, yell, and struggle, but it was limited to the thoughts inside his head. There was nothing he could do, and that only made him want to panic even more. He tried to think back, thinking about what had happened just before he woke up in this place.
I was at my house... and Wendy had just gone to the bathroom. I tried checking out that new game I downloaded, and then... and then... my room, it started getting weird like it was... glitching out.
He tried to sort through his memories, but doing so while staying calm felt impossible. Without any way to tell how long he had been in this state or how long he might remain, the pitch-black darkness felt suffocating. There were no reference points to gauge the passage of time, if time even existed in this weird void.
Still, he did his best to force that despair-inducing feeling from bubbling over, instead exerting every effort to grasp onto even the smallest detail that might give him a clue as to what exactly was happening to him.
That’s when it suddenly appeared. It almost seemed to materialize out of nothing—something that was so out of place yet also so familiar.
Command Console
[ERROR]: Unknown parameter detected! A fatal error has occurred!
Attempting to restart program…
[ERROR]: Insufficient permissions to perform this task!
Attempting system scan…
[ERROR]: Insufficient permissions to perform this task!
Requesting elevated permissions…
Permissions granted!
Attempting to restart the program…
In the emptiness, a small, two-dimensional screen floated in front of him. He watched as line after line appeared on the screen before realizing where that sense of familiarity came from.
It looks like a command prompt, like the one you'd see on a computer or in a game engine... but why is it here?
Before he could even try to ponder that question, the Command Console suddenly flickered. If he had eyes, they would have gone wide with surprise. The Command Console had suddenly distorted and disappeared, only to then snap back to normal as a flood of error messages covered the screen.
Command Console
[ERROR]: Attempted restart has failed!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
[ERROR]: An unknown error has occurred!
Formatting program...
'Formatting program...'
That was the last thing he saw on the screen before the console flickered again and vanished completely. For a brief moment, it seemed as if the void around him had changed form. Lines upon lines of strange symbols appeared in front of him, some larger, some smaller, some encompassing others while being encompassed themselves.
There were no words to describe it, and he wouldn't have the chance to. Just as quickly as the scene had appeared, it vanished, and he could feel his consciousness being strained. It was as if he was being lulled to sleep by some unseen force, and his mind slowly switched off.
What's happening...
And just like that, he lost consciousness once again.
•
"He... ok... We nee..." Fragmented sentences from nearby voices echoed through Magnus's mind as he slowly regained his ability to feel. He could tell something was rocking his entire body, slowly nudging him awake. His eyes fluttered with each movement, and eventually, he was able to start making out the world around him.
The dark grey sky above was the first detail he noticed; it was familiar yet felt so foreign. Alongside that, he could feel rumbling, not from the same source as what was jostling his body but from somewhere more distant. All he knew for certain was that he was moving, and whatever he was lying on was hard.
"Huh? Oh, look! I think the kid is waking up!" A voice from nearby exclaimed as a girl bent over and looked down at him. When she came into focus, he could see a concerned look on her face, which quickly changed to one of focus as a loud bang rang out in the distance.
Stolen novel; please report.
Looking up from him, she yelled, "Faster! We're almost at the bridge!"
Huh... what's going on?
This was the second time he had woken up in some bizarre situation, and this time it felt even more dreamlike than when he had woken up in a void. Blinking a few times, he slowly sat up, and all at once, the details of the world around him became clear.
"You better hurry up, Marcos, they'll catch up to us at this rate."
"I'm going as fast as I can, the horses are getting tired!"
He saw tall trees rushing past him as he looked around and realized he had been lying on the floor of a cart this whole time. The girl he had seen before was crouched down to his right against the side of the cart, while a man sat up front, whipping the lunge line in his hand, driving the horses ahead of him.
As he took in his surroundings, he felt the muscular arm of someone tap him on the shoulder while speaking. The voice carried a strange accent, one he couldn't quite place.
"Finally decided to join us in the land of the living? It's a miracle you could stay asleep for so long, considering the mess we're in."
Turning around, he was stunned by the sight of a massive burly man. He didn't know whether to yell or scream. He hadn't said a word so far because he was simply overwhelmed. The scenes and scenarios around him were all happening too fast for his brain to keep up, let alone react.
Suddenly, he heard a whooshing sound as something cut through the air. He felt his collar being grabbed as he was pulled back slightly by the big man from a moment ago. The moment he moved, something flew past his face and embedded itself into the frontal board of the cart's bed.
His eyes slowly widened as he realized what that object was: an arrow.
"Ah!" The shock and silence completely vanished as he screamed, and hearing that, the man who had grabbed him couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahaha! Seems the shock's finally worn off! Good, that means you're still sane!"
"Gerald, stop bothering him. He’s probably terrified! If you want to bother with something, then help me!" Pushing aside her long black hair, the girl reached for a bow that was attached to the back of her metal and leather armor.
"Oh, come on, Mia, you know I'm no good at these long ranges," he said as he grabbed the arrow that had struck their cart and handed it to her.
Looking at Gerald, Mia took the arrow with a sigh.
"Fine, if you're just going to sit there, at least make sure he doesn't fall out of the cart," she said as she nocked the arrow into her bow and pulled it back alongside the string. Her eyes, which seemed to refract like blue crystals, narrowed, and the wind around her began to move.
It flowed past her hair, causing it to flutter violently while the air began to compress itself to the point it created distortions. As Magnus watched this phenomenon unfold, he could have sworn he saw specks of light gathering as well alongside the flow of air.
But his mind quickly shifted away from that as he now had a clear view of what exactly they were running from. Initially, he thought they were being chased by other people on horseback. His brain was hardly functioning right now, but summing this entire situation up as some kind of medieval chase scene felt reasonable.
But he was wrong, dead wrong.
What he saw when he looked behind him weren’t a group of bandits on horseback or anything of the sort. No, what was chasing after them was a massive mob of creatures, abominable mixtures of human body parts and an insect's hard exoskeleton. Their 'human' halves looked almost like corpses with their pale and lifeless appearance.
Yet, they carried various weapons such as swords, daggers, and even bows. And the worst part was that they were fast. Their insectoid-like legs seemed to blur as they gave chase, keeping up despite the carriage being pulled by two horses. As they ran, they could still aim and use their bows accurately; the fact that he was almost killed a moment ago was proof of that.
He didn't know how, but their insectoid bodies was keeping them stable as they climbed over the terrain.
"What the hell are those things!? There are hundreds of them!" He yelled the moment he saw them. They weren't just chasing after them by following the dirt path; they were also rushing through the forest on both sides. It was like a flood, one that was threatening to overtake them at any moment.
"Kryle-Human Hybrids, nasty little buggers, and you don’t even want to know how they're made," Gerald answered as he saw a few of the so-called Kryle Hybrids getting extremely close to their cart.
Seeing that as well, Magnus immediately wanted to move back, but he realized his body had already moved without him realizing it out of fear, and his back was already against the carriage's front board.
But at that moment, Mia released her arrow. She had been holding it for so long that Magnus had nearly forgotten about her, the fear of the weird human-insect abominations enveloping his mind. Yet the second the arrow was released, it sounded like thunder as the entire cart shook violently.
Shockwaves rippled out from the arrow as it flew through the air, targeting the closest kryle to them. Without any warning, the arrow struck it square in the upper chest, and the next second he saw it blown apart. Its upper body disappeared as mashed chunks of flesh, blood, and other bodily matter flew everywhere.
But it didn't stop there.
The arrow kept flying, turning in the air, hitting the second closest kryle directly in the head. And just like the first, its entire head disappeared, exploding into blood, brain matter, and pieces of its fractured skull.
It was only after the arrow turned again, striking its third target that it broke from the multitude of impacts and stopped its chained attack.
"Tch, of course, those abominations use cheap arrows; I was aiming for ten. Should have just used a wind arrow instead." Mia seemed disappointed as she watched the corpses of the kryle she killed fall to the ground. Although there seemed to be too many of them for these three corpses to matter much, these creatures were extremely simplistic.
They only gave chase and didn't bother slowing down or avoiding the corpses, causing a few of them to trip. That also caused those behind them to stumble, generating a chain reaction.
In seconds, dozens of them had fallen over, and those running behind them also fell over. This continued as the horde pushed forward without care, killing their kin by either smashing them under their combined weight or impaling them with various leg appendages.
"There's the bridge!" Marcos, who had been quiet and focused on driving, suddenly called out as he pointed ahead. Turning his gaze away from what was chasing them, Magnus saw a long rope bridge built over a rushing river.
"Good, now hold on!" Mia got down and seemed to have directed this warning to Magnus. In response, he held onto the cart the best he could as the horses and wheels crossed the bridge. It was bumpy, but the bridge seemed well-made and hardly swayed as they traveled.
After a few moments, he heard Marcos give the good news as the rumbling ended.
"We're past the river. We're safe." Hearing that, Mia sighed in relief, while Gerald simply chuckled as if he had just been on a roller coaster.
"Hehe, well, that was fun.” Magnus had no idea how Gerald could laugh about what just happened. He had never been more tense in his life then he was a moment ago. On the other hand Mia, Gerald, and Marcos all seemed to be used to this kind of thing. Even though they had been rushing to get across the bridge, they never seemed worried about making it or not.
Still, as he watched as their cart continued to ride away from the bridge, he opened his mouth to ask something, almost instinctively.
"Ar- Aren't you guys going to cut the bridge? I mean, they can still chase after us, right?" Hearing the fear and concern in his voice, Mia looked at him and gave a reassuring smile before answering.
"No need to destroy a perfectly good bridge. Kryle hate water, and they would sooner cut off their own limbs before getting within a hundred feet of the stuff." As he listened to her, he turned his head to peer across the bridge and into the forest on the other side.
The kryle had stopped far from the bank of the river and didn't get close. Their mouths moved as if they were saying something, but they were too far away to hear them.
Besides himself, everyone in the cart seemed to relax, and that, in turn, caused him to ease up as well. After a bit of time passed they began to slow down and took a branching path from the main dirt road they had been on. It led to a small clearing in the forest where the cart and horses finally stopped.
Marcos was the first one to get off, making his way up to check on the horses, who were panting heavily. They were exhausted after being pushed that hard to get away from the kryle.
After a brief pause, he spun around to face Mia and Gerald and said, "The horses have been at it for too long. They'll need to rest for at least a day."
Mia nodded in understanding before clearing her voice to address everyone present.
"Okay, looks like we're setting up camp here then. Marcos, fetch whatever grain we have left in the cart for the horses. Gerald, try to find us some water. I'll get the fire started." The two men nodded, each setting off to handle their tasks. As they dispersed, Magnus remained seated, a hurricane of thoughts swirling in his mind.
He was completely overwhelmed. The events he had just witnessed were absolutely insane, and what he had heard, was even more so. To him, it all seemed less like reality and more like he had simply gone crazy.
Ya, that’s it, that must be what this is. I must be losing my fucking mind...
Cradling his head in his hands, that conclusion seemed to be the only one that made any sense. He had, without a doubt, lost his grip on reality.
With Marcos occupied with the horses and Gerald venturing into the woods in search of water, only Mia was left to notice Magnus's distraught state. A shadow of sorrow crossed her face as she approached him. She hesitated for a moment, her head bowed, weighed down by a sense of guilt before she finally spoke.
"I- I’m sorry we couldn't save your village. It was my responsibility to protect it and everyone who lived there, and I... I failed. I realize there's nothing I can say that would change what happened." As Magnus listened, his confusion of what was happening only deepened, adding layers to his already chaotic mental state.
What? What village is she talking about?
Mia cautiously lifted her gaze to meet his, searching his face for signs of the anger, sadness, or despair she had braced herself for, but found only bewilderment mirrored back at her.
"Are you okay? Well, obviously not, how could I expect you to be, but... you seem lost." She had been secretly relieved when she heard Magnus's screams during their escape, though she never voiced her relief like Gerald did. After all his screams meant he was still capable of feeling fear, not so traumatized that he was numb to everything.
But now, she wasn't so sure anymore. Magnus glanced at her, his eyes flickering with uncertainty. He parted his lips, as if on the cusp of saying something, then hesitated.
Could it be? Did I really get... but how? Okay, stay calm. If this is really what I think it is, if that actually happened to me... there's only one answer I can give.
"I- I can't remember... I don't remember anything." As Magnus confessed that, a look of shock painted Mia's face, swiftly morphing into deep concern.
"What? You mean... you have amnesia?" She pondered the possibility for a moment, realizing it might account for his slow responses and puzzled expression. Meanwhile, Magnus was already ensnared in his own spiral of thoughts, grappling with a sudden, staggering realization of his situation.
Did... Did I actually get isekai'd?