A silver-golden moon hung high in the middle of the sky. From time to time, waves of silver and golden light rippled from it.
As the silver waves reached the atmosphere, a bone-chilling cold spread; even the air froze, but the golden light neutralized it.
On a tree branch, a silver-haired youth was watching it with great interest. His back was leaning slightly against the tree trunk, and one of his feet swung gently below.
Finding nothing unusual, his eyelids grew heavy. As time passed, they closed. Soon, a steady breath mingled with the sound of insects.
Beside the towering tree was a quiet lake. On it, the moon's reflection broke and shimmered, turning into trembling silver and golden lines that danced across the surface.
At the lake's shore, white roses swayed, their scent spreading with the wind.
But this peaceful moment did not last long. A confusing murmur broke it: "Hah, what the..." The sleeping youth opened his eyes, and before he could finish his sentence—
Thud!
"Ouch!" He lost his balance and fell from the ten-meter-high tree branch.
"Aah, my butt! It hurts!"
The youth landed squarely on his backside. He couldn't help but think, "Oh no, falling from that height; it's all over." The ominous thought made the pain more acute.
"Grrr," he gritted his teeth and endured it.
But it didn't take long for the pain to start fading a little.
"Hah, where is this?" Looking around, the corners of his mouth drooped. His curiosity and the beauty of the surroundings momentarily made him forget the pain.
But soon it came back. "Ahh, it hurts…" Rubbing his backside, Zi Fan tried to stand up, but he couldn't feel his legs.
"Are… my leg bones broken?" he thought bitterly. "But the pain isn't much?" Feeling the pain, he couldn't help but question his own judgment.
When he tried again, he succeeded. But his expression wasn't happy—his eyes went wide in shock.
"How… is this possible?" Feeling his uninjured body, his belief in medical science began to crack.
He took a look at the thick tree. "I just fell from a ten-meter-high tree branch, and I only got some butt pain… that's it." The disbelief on his face was obvious.
Soon clarity came to his mind. "I woke up suddenly in an unknown place, and my body didn't get injured from that fall. Could it be…?" He paused for a moment.
"Is it possible some crazy scientists captured me… and did some experiment on my body?" he whispered.
Closing his eyes and lifting his head, he took a deep breath. Fresh, slightly scented air with the smell of roses entered his lungs. His restlessness faded away, and calmness came to his mind.
But as he opened his eyes—
Tap, tap, tap.
One step, two steps—unconsciously, he began stepping backward.
"This… this—" he couldn't even finish his words. He couldn't believe his own eyes.
"How is this possible?"
He started rubbing his eyes, looking up again and again, but nothing changed. The moon was silver and golden.
"Am I dreaming?" he began to question reality. "No, the pain I felt is real," his mind answered.
"Then could this be a projection made by those crazy people? Or am I part of some kind of movie?"
"Yes, it's possible. Then they should be watching me by camera; it should be nearby."
He began to search. "Could those cameras be too small to notice?" Finding nothing, he dismissed the thought.
Seeing the lake beside him, he started walking toward it.
The image of a young man with silver eyes and tender white skin, wearing a white ancient Chinese-style robe, emerged in the water.
He blinked several times, unable to process what he saw. He touched his face—it was soft and smooth. "Is this really my face?" a low murmur left his lips.
"Shit, did they even do plastic surgery? No, no, that's not right… then how could my eye and hair colors have changed?" He began to doubt his analysis.
Earth's technology is not that advanced.
"And the unusual moon with this unfamiliar body… could it be—" Before his thought could be finished—
"Ahh!" An intense pain shot through his head, like somebody was cutting a part of his brain. The pain was so overwhelming that tears fell nonstop, and he vomited.
Fragments of familiar and unfamiliar memories came to his mind.
His name is Zi Fan, a native of Blue Star, who was killed by some robbers and reincarnated into this fantasy world twenty years ago, retaining his past life memories.
But not even a day had passed after his birth when a horrible monster race called Umbryss began to attack all nearby villages.
His mind recalled a chaotic scene:
"I'm sacrificing my seven emotions to the ancestor demon Umbryss for the power of invincibility under Stage 2."
The night stillness was shattered by the hoarse voice of the three-meter-long black gorilla monster.
Seven kinds of colors were forcefully extracted from that monster. With each color dragged out, its face lost expression; sometimes it laughed, the next moment it cried. After all colors were pulled into a black card, its face became expressionless.
From the card, a black demonic fog entered its body. It began to grow rapidly—4, 6, 7 meters—and stopped at 9 meters.
"Now what should you do?" Looking at the two tiny humans, it spoke in a flat tone.
The metallic smell of blood hung in the air, and the surrounding ground was soaked in scattered fresh blood.
Both humans and monsters were dead.
"Roar!" Behind the monster, a cacophony of thundering footsteps and guttural roars filled the forest. Many more of its kind were coming.
Those two tiny humans were his father and mother. His mother was hugging his baby body tightly.
But suddenly, an Umbryss attacked from behind.
"Mom…" a scream left his lips.
"What happened… to my mom?" His body tumbled uncontrollably.
"And I was reincarnated here twenty years ago with my memories, then why do I only remember this now?"
Cold sweat fell from his forehead. "Yes, I also awakened a system after my birth."
System… system.
A golden dark screen took form before him, but he didn't even get a clear look at it. His voice didn't stop.
"System… system, why aren't you answering me like before? Why is your voice—" but no answer came. Yet he didn't stop; he was calling for the familiar young woman's voice.
To be continued…