Chapter 1: Another World
Lorasia Continent, amidst the towering trees, Leon opened his eyes and sat up. "Arghh," he groaned, feeling unbearable pain in his legs, his mind disoriented. He looked at his legs and recoiled in horror. His body was covered in bruises, and his legs were limp and broken.
"What happened? Why am I in such a state?" he wondered. As his mind cleared, he remembered what had transpired.
"So, that's how it is," he realized. "When I was going to visit my girlfriend, I didn't remind her it was our first anniversary. Then, I bought her a gift and went to her apartment to surprise her."
When I arrived, I found the door closed but unlocked, so I decided to go inside .What unnerved me was the sound of moans coming from within. My heart pounded, but I tried to tell myself it wasn't what I was thinking.
When I reached her room, the curtain was open, and I saw my girlfriend having sex with another man. My world seemed to shatter. Stunned and heartbroken, tears streamed down my face as I turned andleave.
In my distraught state, I didn't notice the gift I was carrying slipped from my grasp. Without realizing it, I walked into the middle of the road and was struck by a car.
And before I lost consciousness, I saw a black vortex appear beside me, rapidly expanding. That's all I remember.
For now, I don't know where I am. Shouldn't I be in the hospital if I'm still alive?
Leon sighed, looking around. He was surrounded by trees and sparse grass. He could see a road in the distance—a muddy track pockmarked with potholes filled with dirty water.
"Huh...what should I do if I can't even stand, or even crawl?" With this painful legs,he wondered. "What will happen?"
From the looks of it, he was in a remote area where encounters with other people were unlikely.
As he pondered this, gritting his teeth against the pain, he heard a growl. "What is that?" he thought, whirling around. His heart pounded a frantic rhythm in his ears.
Before him, five gray wolves were slowly approaching, saliva dripping from their jaws.
The sight of his broken legs brought a fresh wave of unbearable sadness. The betrayal of the girl he'd envisioned as his wife makes him feel unbearable pain in his heart and willingly accepts death.
However, the image of his mother's face and his two older brothers, each with their own families, filled his mind, and he closed his eyes.
He silently prayed that his brothers would care for their mother, especially considering their family's impoverished circumstances—landless and with only secondary education.
Just as he resigned himself to his unfortunate fate, a whooshing sound cut through the air, coming from the direction of the muddy road. A chorus of pained whines erupted from the wolves.
Turning his head towards the road, Leon was shocked and surprised by what he saw: a dozen individuals, clad in leather armor and riding horses.
Leading the group was a man around his age, around twenty, clad in a full suit of silver armor— except for his head,he has shoulder-length hair. Two of his companions holding bows, presumably the ones who struck the wolves, and five others in leather armor rushed toward Leon, swords drawn.
They moved so swiftly that some of them appeared blurry to Leon's eyes.
"This! This is...?" he thought, bewildered by the incredible speed of the approaching figures. Could it be...? A shock rippled through him.
"Don't tell me I've traveled to another world?" he muttered incredulously. "My clothes are still the same as from Earth, my shoes, and my injuries from the car accident. Or maybe I was transported here by that expanding black vortex?"
Lost in thought, Leon stared blankly ahead as the sounds of swords slicing through flesh and the pained whimpers of the wolves reached his ears.
A few seconds later, an unnerving silence descended, broken only by the rhythmic thud of approaching boots.
The silver-armored man approached, his gaze fixed on Leon. "Who are you? Why have I never seen similar clothes like yours in the Empire? Where are you from?" he asked.
Leon was taken aback. The man's language was unfamiliar, unlike anything he knew from Earth. Yet, to his astonishment, he understood perfectly and he felt that could even speak their language.
The man, misinterpreting Leon's silence as reluctance to answer, frowned in displeasure.
"If you don't answer, don't expect our help. We're going to leave, if not for that woman's request to rescue you, I would not waste my time to save you," the man stated, his tone sharp and authoritative.
Leon shook his head, unsure how to respond. He couldn't bring himself to reveal that he was from another world. Even if he did, would they believe him? Would they even care? And what if they suspected ulterior motives?
"I don't remember anything, all I know is my name," Leon replied. "When I woke up, I was here, with broken legs."
"Hmm..." Marcus murmured, turning to his men behind Leon. "Did any of you see similar clothing like his?"
"Apologies, Sir Marcus," one replied, "I haven't seen anything like it in the entire Silverion Empire."
"And you?" Marcus asked the others.
The soldiers shook their heads.
"Then there's only one possibility: maybe he's from the Holy Empire of Lumia, or perhaps from the hidden factions."
The silvered armor man's name is Marcus of the Clayton family, a knightly family of the Silverion Empire—among the ranks of nobles."
"We'll consider this later. We need to hurry and reach Ravenhold Fortress before nightfall," Marcus said, his tone decisive. The truth is, he wouldn't have bothered saving Leon if not for Anastasia's request.
The healer Anastasia was essential—last night's attack had left Ravenhold with many casualties with only few healing mages available.
The possibility of another undead attack this night made her presence even more critical. Having one healer was better than none.
"Let's go, carry him to the carriage," Marcus ordered his men.
The soldiers lifted Leon into the carriage. Inside, he found two people: Marcus and a masked woman with one leg made of prosthetic metal.
"Hello, my name is Anastasia. Please bear with me while I heal you."
Leon nodded, sitting on the carriage floor. Each bounce sent jolts of unbearable pain through him. He couldn't understand the urgency—even with an injured person inside, they were unwilling to slow down.
Anastasia bent down, gently touched Leon's leg, and whispered, "Heal." An emerald light bloomed from her hand. Moments later, the pain in his legs subsided, and he felt the tentative return of feeling and movement on his number legs.
"Incredible," Leon thought, in astonishment . This confirmed his suspicions: he'd been transported to another world—a world of magic and knights, he realized, glancing at Marcus. If his subordinates possessed such abilities, their leader surely did as well.
"You must be wondering why we're in such a hurry," Anastasia said, interrupting Leon's thoughts.
Leon looked at Anastasia, who was intently focused on healing his injuries. Marcus, meanwhile, sat with his eyes closed, seemingly unconcerned with Leon's recovery. He remembered Marcus mentioning that Anastasia had requested his rescue.
Leon turned to Anastasia and offered a sincere, "Thank you," accompanied by a grateful bow.
"Let me tell you something: when night falls, the wilderness becomes extremely dangerous," Anastasia stated.
"Why?" Leon asked, genuinely curious.
On the side,Marcus opened his eyes at Leon's question, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. "Perhaps he really has lost his memories," Marcus muttered, shaking his head. "He even forgotten the basic knowledge of this world." He then closed his eyes again, resuming his rest.
Anastasia sighed. "You've truly lost your memories."
"What do you mean?" Leon pressed.
"It's simple," Anastasia explained. "When night falls, darkness engulfs the world, and countless malevolent spirits coalesce into physical forms, hunting any living being they encounter."
"No wonder you were in such a hurry," Leon replied, understanding dawning on him. "Encountering undead in the wilderness at night is incredibly dangerous."
"That's not all," Anastasia continued, her voice serious. "Recently, a horde of undead, rumored to be led by a newly evolved undead king, attacked Ravenhold Fortress.
A dozen were killed, hundreds injured. If we don't reach the fortress before nightfall, we risk encountering them on the way, surrounded by powerful undead—likely including many tier-three and even tier-four undead creatures, plus the undead king himself, a tier- five undead. If that happens, we'll certainly face our doom."
Listening to Anastasia's grim explanation, a shiver ran down Leon's spine. Encountering undead was likely far more terrifying than anything depicted in anime or movies. He imagined the trauma of witnessing it firsthand, hoping desperately to avoid such an experience and instead adapt to this new reality.
Despite his heartache, Leon didn't want to die,not in this magical world. A flicker of hope ignited within him—perhaps, as a traveler to another world, he possessed some hidden advantage, a "golden finger" that would eventually reveal itself, making him stronger. He envisioned a future where he could explore this world and, one day, perhaps even return home.