[ CHAPTER I (1): "GREAT START" ]
"I can't believe this shit..." Cain gritted his teeth, in both excruciating pain and disarray. A minute prior, he heard a deep, gruff voice calling for him to get up. He couldn't fully hear what the voice said, but it was enough to motivate him to slowly regain consciousness.
Thus making him realize the predicament that he was in at the moment, dangling from a tree, all the while a rope is tied around his left leg which causes him to feel sore over time. And for Cain to remember the fact that he was both stabbed and shot not long ago. "Shitty... luck."
Discombobulated, he instinctively searched for either the stab wound or the gunshot wound in his body. Surprisingly, he wasn't able to find any signs, instead he found out that he is pretty high up in the air—at least 30-40ft.
Groaning, he reached out for the nearest branch that he could find, something which was abnormally large and was at least 10x thicker than his forearm. Cain didn't have the time to mull over that fact yet, instead trying his best to flip himself right side up, as he is dangling by the leg after all.
Gritting his teeth, he doesn't understand how he got into the predicament that he found himself in. Because first, he didn't like skydiving—he was afraid of heights. And because, second, wasn't he supposed to be dying in an alleyway, alone, and not in the middle of a weird fairytale forest?
Cain doesn't know the answer for that at the moment. Though he could say that he isn't dead yet, as he can feel pain; blood rushing to his head, the pain in his ankle, and all-around his body which feels like it is constantly getting struck by tiny pin prick needles, are such examples.
"Achievement unlocked: how did we get here?" He asked himself, in both confusion and slight amusement amidst his struggle, remembering the said meme from somewhere when he was scrolling around the internet.
Cain, with what little strength he could muster, hugged the branch beside him. He tried his best—and failed miserably—to pull himself upright. "Damn it all!"
Trying to search for an alternative, he was able to notice something extremely abnormal. And that is he isn't wearing his usual plain t-shirt and loose jeans, but is instead something else—completely foreign.
At the moment Cain can't give a detailed explanation on his clothes, as he isn't in the right state of mind; metaphorically and literally, as he is after all dangling by a giant tree. "Would you look at... that..."
He eyed his clothes, which is tight around him, to the point that he felt suffocated by it. Still though, he endured, especially because it does look awesome on him; it was after all, leather, and he is wearing a cape, a red one, which made him feel like a superhero or some sort.
Again, he doesn't know why this is the case, or why he's wearing one. But that doesn't stop him from admiring his newly acquired clothes, or the sheathed dagger-blade by his person, strapped to his right ankle, something he only noticed now while admiring his clothes.
"I need that." Cain's eyes instantly shined in delight as he immediately tried reaching for the said dagger. "I really-really need that." Unluckily though, it was strapped to the same ankle that he was dangling on, which made it seem out of reach, difficult to get to.
That is unless he does a very weird pose, one which he doesn't even know will work. "Why does life have to be so... difficult." Which he did, as he needs to untangle himself as fast as he could, before he could physically throw up.
Something which he ultimately failed in doing, as he felt something come down from his stomach—a visceral liquid—to his mouth, which he then instinctively tried swallowing back, with little to no success.
So he tilted his head to the side and spat it to the ground instead, and for drool to accompany the said vile vomit as he does, causing him to be greatly annoyed. 'Too late!'
After the said endeavor, he was finally able to perform his weird maneuver. Which has him leaning greatly on the thick branch using his right arm, while his left foot leans also on that said branch. This allowed him to reach the dagger, and to ultimately pull it out.
The said thing almost fell to the ground with a thud, luckily Cain was able to steady his shaking grip in time and hold onto it as tightly as he could, as it is his life line after all.
That, or bite into the parachute threads one-by-one, which entangled him in an awkward position.
Yes, Cain is shameless, usually. But no amount of courage, or idiocy would make him choose the difficult and humiliating path, especially when the easier path is there, right within his grasp. "Thank you...!"
Without wasting time, Cain immediately cut loose the parachute—the suspension lines which kept him suspended upside down, and as he does, his legs, especially one of his ankle were given air to breathe.
And finally, after some effort, he was able to cut the last thread and completely free himself. Almost dying in the process, falling head first on the ground, if not thanks to the branch besides him that he held on.
"Don't-don't lose strength, arms..." He whispered through gritted teeth to both of his numb arms, even though those said arms can't give a proper verbal response, or even understand him as they aren't sentient.
For a moment he stared down, and immediately regretted it. Cartoon-like, his vision which is blurred due to shock and confusion, made the ground seem farther than it really is—his innate fear of heights doing some work as well.
"I don't want to die, shit." This gave him the fear of God, as he clutched and held tightly as he could onto the branch, all the while his brain was busy processing, trying to figure out the safest way to get down.
After some time of contemplation, he decided to go with the most straight up answer he could do, and just jump down hoping for the best. In which he did, landing feet first on the soil under.
Albeit with a little bit of damage. "My leg!"
Cain groaned, his leg losing strength as he almost fell head first on the dirty, unkempt soil below. Luckily he was able to catch himself, and not die from a fall.
Finally out of danger, Cain was finally able to take in his surroundings and realize that he may not be on Earth anymore—probably alive, yes, but definitely not on Earth.
As Earth, the planet he grew up on, doesn't have any thick, towering trees that block the skies. Unlike the trees which surround him, thicker than the normal every day or rare tree, and even more so abnormally taller compared to such.
If that wasn't enough for proof, then the fact that some of the grasses he could find, can easily tower over him; taller than him. While some vines seem to wrap around, all over the place, thorny and dangerous.
The stench of the soil which he inhaled, immediately feeling addictive to him; it was akin to the smell of dirt after a heavy rain, the earthy smell. But in this case, it was three times that, which made him subconsciously inhale more.
The smell was heavily reminiscent of Cain's childhood, causing him to sniff the air like an idiot. Before then coughing heavily as he smelt a faint smell of pee and feces as well, highly likely from the lifeform or animal living inside the said mysterious jungle.
"Disgusting place." Is what he thought, as he then covered his mouth using his freehand, something of which he noticed is thinner than before, and also more delicate and slightly paler—to the point that it felt like it was unhealthy.
So for a moment he stared at his "hand" in bewilderment, then at the other parts of his body, then finally at his private part hidden by his sleek black trouser. Only then was he convinced of something important. "This isn't my body."
Cain concluded. Sure of it, even though he doesn't have a mirror in his person, or any reflective surface that could one hundred percent confirm his suspicion.
"I can't believe this is the after life." He exclaimed, eyes instinctively darting at an eye-catching sizable pile of excrement nearby, leaning heavily on one of the poor trees—if the said tree had a mouth, it would have most likely gagged 24/7, or killed itself. "And it reeks of shit."
Cain sat by the ground and tried to remember the many after life depicted by the many religions he knows of, or formulated by wise men throughout times. Yet, none of those descriptions made sense.
No one person described an after life wherein the soul would spawn inside the deep untamed jungle, upside-down, dressed weirdly with a different appearance, on a parachute from Lord knows where. "Weird place."
Is what Cain could say, his eyes trailing at some parts of the parachute still up in the tree. Then finally at the dagger that he's grasping on, intricate lines with unknown symbols and words on the hilt and blade of it.
He doesn't understand any of the said words in it, as he doesn't speak any other language aside from English and a little bit of French, the latter of which was thanks to his best friend—who was a lady, whom he has a little bit of a crush on when he was in high school.
Yeah, he learnt a little bit of French just to get closer to her, and to have a chance with her. He never really did confess his feelings, but at the least he learnt French for free, that should be saying something.
Yet, no matter how much French he knows, or brief recognition of the other language that Earth has thanks to the internet. Cain still can't figure out what's written, though he could at the least understand the symbols.
One of which includes a double headed bird, on each side, one open and the other closed—said thing having a wingspan bigger than it's head. Which caught his attention, as he slowly touched it. "Weird symbols."
Cain was about to glance at the other parts of the dagger, but stopped himself when he noticed something weird flickering in his vision, right above the unknown texts.
"Huh?" Bewildered, he instinctively let go of the blade, it landing on the soil below with a soft thud. As he then slowly backed away from it, afraid that something weird may happen. "What in the?!"
But after some time, no weird things happened: no explosion, no opening of portal rifts, no nothing. Instead, the dagger lays there, menacingly.
Which made Cain wonder if what he saw earlier was nothing but a figment of his imagination. He has been stressed for days after all—add to the fact that he was stabbed, shot, died, and hanged upside-down for quite some time. It wasn't that far-fetched to say his mind is messed up to some degree.
But to confirm that he isn't crazy, he waited for quite some time before then picking up the dagger again. Overall it felt like eternity, but at most it was really just half a minute. And yes, nothing crazy happened.
"I'm going crazy, great." Is what Cain concluded, as he then finally picked up the dagger from the ground—and in doing so, another spark appeared in his vision, surprising him greatly; to the point that he froze.
And without giving him time to react, the said spark—in the color of green—steadily expanded right then and there. Which made his eyes widened in shock, all the while he could do nothing, but watch.
[ LOW GOTHIC DETECTED ]
[ TRANSLATING LOW GOTHIC TO ENGLISH ]
[ TRANSLATION: PRAISE THE GOD-EMPEROR! ]
"Holy shi—!"
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[ FUN FACT: "Low Gothic is the "common tongue" of every day citizens of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe—to be precise, to the quadrillions of citizens under the Imperium of Man. It evolved from the common tongues used during the Dark Age of Technology, meaning it has bits of every ancient human language (English, French, Mandarin)" ]
[ 01/01/2026 ]
[ 01/02/2026 ]