The white light of the pierce pierced my vision as I opened my eyes. My mind is fresh from last night's sleep.
My gaze wandered for a few seconds before landing on the back of a purple-skinned woman. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts as she looked at the crossing ants on the ground with a blank face.
'She is watching the ants, huh?'
I slowly stood up and went near her.
Sitting down, I watched the ants. They were black and small, moving in a line so perfect that it put humans to shame for their order. They carried their food on their small frames.
I watched as they moved. Samantha was so lost that she didn't notice my presence for dozens of seconds.
Turning her head towards me, who was now engrossed in the ants, she spoke.
"When did you come here? And do you like to watch ants?"
"I was here for a minute, and yes, I like to watch ants. I am a 5-year-old kid, you know."
Of course, I love to watch ants.
Who doesn't like to watch them when they walk in a straight line? I mean, this is one of the greatest time killers.
Upon my answer, Samantha gave me a strange look as if I had said the sky is red and then looked me up and down twice.
Yes.
Fucking two times.
"You are a kid, but your face is…"
What the hell? What about my face?
"What do you mean?"
"It is so bland, like nothing fazes you. That is why I almost forgot you are a kid."
'Don't give me that 'almost' you did forget, didn't you?'
I didn't show my true thoughts on my face, and to be honest, I get that a lot, like whenever I cut my finger, I would only say "ouch," and my mother would worry while servants gave me a strange look for the lack of emotion.
But it still hurts. I show my emotions; it's just… the movements of my facial muscles don't respond that well.
Shitty face.
"Anyways, when will we get to that Liora or whatever?"
"We should get there by evening."
"I see."
"Then I will go wake up Julie." Standing up, Samantha went towards Julie, who was still sleeping like a log while murmuring, 'I swear I didn't forget that he was a kid.'
Shitty face.
"Haa… what a great way to start the day."
I watched as Samantha woke up Julie. Julie was hesitant to wake up, but under the relentless struggle of Samantha, she yielded. Shortly after, we gathered to have breakfast.
"Samantha, what kind of people are mutants?" Julie asked while nibbling on the food in her hands.
My gaze also locked on the so-called food.
It was just dried meat. No spices, not cooked, it was a dried raw meat, and it wasn't like we had other choices, as the fruits were all poisonous in the forest.
"Mutants are people… that are corrupted by the radiation in the fallen world. Mutants weren't always mutants; they were normal people, but when the area of apocalypse came, people started to transform because of the radiation."
"But why didn't they use mana or artifacts to protect themselves?" Julie asked with confusion written over her face, and I was the same.
'If they used mana or an artifact, they would have been safe.'
Or maybe they…
A ridiculous idea came to my mind, my expression falling internally, and my mind throbbing with just how ridiculous it seemed.
Despite the chaos in my mind, I didn't show it outwardly.
But then…
Samantha parted her lips once again with a soft smile, continuing.
I didn't know why, but my whole body was waiting attentively.
"Because they didn't have mana when the apocalypse, or more specifically..." Samantha paused, looking at our expression, which was completely that of disbelief. Of course, I didn't show it much, but there were still subtle changes to my face.
"…they didn't know how to use it. As the mana was entirely a new concept."
Something stirred within me upon hearing those words. My mind going into overdrive.
Click~
With a soft 'click' in my mind, everything that went through my short life in this world flashed, and pieces started to come together, forming a picture.
The picture of a man with white and red eyes standing in front of a world consumed by madness, fire raged, devouring every single form of living being, growing more and more.
The air is dry; instead of water, blood flowing, making a river… no, an ocean of it. Limbs, guts, and every kind of organ scattered, floating on the ocean of blood.
The man watched it all, his eyes hollow, standing opposite him a grotesque, otherworldly creature, his features vague, enshrouded in a veil of darkness. Yet, his figure resembled that of humans, but two horns adorned his forehead with four inverted wings on his back.
'hehe'
I laughed internally at the truth. It was all there, but I ignored it unconsciously.
Fuck! My peaceful life.
Samantha's words brought me back to reality.
"Those who weren't transformed soon became afraid of those who were, because those who did transform became corrupted, their minds consumed by madness. Normal people started to call them mutants, attacking them and hating them for how they looked and were."
Samantha's expression turned bitter as she said those words.
"But what about you, Samantha?"
"Me? Are you talking about how I am still sane despite being a mutant?"
"Yes."
'I will think about it later.'
I quickly sorted the mess in my brain and listened to Samantha. She gave a wry smile, hearing Julie's question.
"That is because we have evolved. Our ancestress found a way to dominate the madness and become sane again. We started to harness the power we got and yet…" She paused as her smile vanished, and she clenched her fist. "We were still seen as a monster who would devour their own. We were exiled, cast out by our own, and thrown into this jungle filled with monsters."
"Our ancestors fought and fought and fought, struggling for decades before they were able to create a home for themselves in this forsaken forest, called Liora."
"Sorry, kids, I think I talked too much, and we should get going."
Samantha stood up and strode to a quiet place to calm her nerves. Julie and I sat in silence.
I didn't know what was going through Julie's mind, but mine was in chaos.
By a different revelation.
Mana.
The empire of Gorgon.
The continent of Panas.
The city of Liora.
The Mutants.
And…
Fallen world.
It was all there, yet I kept ignoring it.
My life was doomed.
My peaceful days.
They will be gone.
Because I…
"… was reborn in a game where the world is doomed to end in twenty years."
Fuck!
***
Extra content
Three days had passed since Liam had made the deal with Samantha.
Like any ordinary day, Liam was sleeping soundly until…
"Ahhhhh!"
He heard a scream. He shot up and cursed.
"Son of—"
But he stopped midway as he saw a woman with purple skin sleeping in the place where the parrot should've been and Julie screaming upon seeing it.
Liam's jaw hung as he was in a daze.
'How did she manage to expose herself this quickly?'