NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Who? What? Where?
*ugh….*
'Am I dead? Why can't I move? I can't even open my eyes. At least my body is intact'
With no sensory reception, Lee Shen tried to move, but an awful lot of pain welcomed him. He wanted to grit his teeth and clench his fist. But he couldn't. He felt powerless. He can feel his body upside down but it felt that it wasn't really there, as if attached and severed at the same time.
For the time being, he thought of staying still. He can feel ground under his body with bare soil pressing against him. The faint smell of iron around him felt familiar. The pressure weighing down on him was unusually cold. He hoped to not die from hypothermia. Unknown to him, the battlemarks and scars were slowly healing. Lee Shen tried to stay alert and awake, but loss of blood and unspeakable adversities pushed his consciousness deep down to slumber.
An uncertain amount of time passed. Lee Shen opened his eyes slowly. He can now feel his body completely, which was previously numb. He can tell that the pressure above him is now negligible. He can hear his heartbeat and his own breathing. He is now completely restored to life.
'Where am I? Thank goodness, I'm not dead. What is this over me? Nevermind. I need to see where on earth I am!'
While lying upside down, Lee Shen slowly moved his both hands and pressed it to the ground. Cold ground under him prickled his hands, but he didn't give up. He raised his body with the support of his knees and hands. His open eyes saw that snow was caving in as he rose up. The next second, he froze. Under the faint light that crept through the layer of snow, he saw that the soil was deep blue in colour. The snow surrounding him had a very faint red colour too.
'Maybe I am dead and in a colder region of hell. This is going to be one 'hell' of a trip!'
Lee Shen didn't dwell on the weirdness of what he saw, so he tried to move out of that place. Without much effort, he broke through the layer of snow and sun rays fell on him. After climbing out of that spot, he realised that he was completely naked. His training trousers he used to wear is nowhere to be seen. Lee Shen stood there for a few moments while feeling the familiar warmth of the sun. The empty blue sky was pleasing to the eyes. Looking around, he couldn't see anything at all. It was as if he's in the middle of a snowy plain. Not even trees were in his sight. He became alert by this sight and felt something very fishy.
"There are no vast snowy plains in Kathmandu, let alone in Nepal. Where am I actually?!"
He decided to move slowly and steadily in a direction since he does not know where he is. While he was moving, his well-trained keen eyes scouted the surroundings. But what amazed him was zero hunger or thirst all this time. He touched his stomach to make sure it was there.
After a long time walking, he spotted a tree that looked similar to Pine. For Lee Shen, who is 1.77 meters tall and well-built, it was an average tree. After making sure that no lifeforms are in the vicinity, He ran towards the tree and quickly climbed on it. Lee Shen, who shared a common surname with Bruce Lee, idolised him from his early age. It is the devotion to his idol that made him good at physical activities. And thanks to that, he climbed the tree pretty easily.
'This tree smells weird. It has an unusually smooth bark and sturdy branches!'
After reaching a height from where he can observe the surroundings, he noticed that the branch on which he is now standing is a little bit thinner than the others. But since he liked the spot, he decided to stay there and recollect his thoughts. Sitting cross-legged, he started to recollect his memories. As soon as he began to ponder, he blacked out!
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When Lee Shen opened his eyes, he realised that a lot of time had passed. He stood up, checked his surroundings, and there was nothing new in his sight. Under the bright moonlight, he could spot a few quadrupedal animals moving around, very far from him. He raised his head and was shocked. A giant white doughnut 'moon' shone in the pitch black sky. Meteors occasionally flew in the sky and some even corrected its trajectory. He struggled to calm his baffled mind and went to sit down.
He breathed out a mouthful of air and closed his eyes again. Seconds later, as if he felt something very strange, he opened his eyes and grabbed his right hand's forearm. In the inside of his forearm, he saw the number '284' tattooed big and wide. He felt a familiarity from the tattoo, but couldn't figure out why. Lee Shen sighed and let go of the matter and decided to take a nap with the support of other nearby branches. As he fell asleep, he murmured -
"It a dream, Lee. You will close your eyes and wake up in your room. But, its too realistic to be a dream."