1 In Another Universe
Chris opened his eyes and finds himself lying on the bed, in a somewhat familiar room. The bed he was on was not big, only enough to accommodate his also small body...
Wait!
Chris immediately stood up from the bed and went to look at the mirror.
Young! Really young!
He looked so young, as if he was back in his teen years. And as he thought of this absurd idea, Chris hurriedly look for anything that can tell him what the current year was.
It was at that time he found the calendar hanging on the door.
March 13, 2017
Today would be the first day of class, and he will be a second-year student. And looking at the time, it seems like he would be late.
Well, no kidding since it was already 10:32 in the morning. He was already two and a half hours late from class. So, Chris just decided to not go to class today since it would be all just introductions and orientations.
What he needs to do right now, is understand his current situation.
"Am I dreaming?" Chris asked himself, although he had already pinched his face multiple of times from the time he had awoken. He still couldn't believe what was happening.
But it was only reasonable because, who would accept this situation so easily. He was already in college before this bizarre situation happened. And he was just about to graduate, if this is real, then would he have to go through all of it again?
College and puberty and all???
Also, Chris also found something really strange. In a conspicuous corner of his brain, there are memories of his predecessor.
This is also the difference he had experience from those main characters in the novels he had read. As they would usually feel pain when...
"ARGGHH!"
'FUCK MYSELF!' Chris cursed inside but he keeps on rolling on the floor, holding his head in pain. His body soon got covered with sweat, as his clothes got soaked wet.
His screams attracted the attention of someone from downstairs, as he had slowly lost his consciousness, he was not able to make out who it was.
---
"Dear please come home!" A woman, in her twenties said while her voice was slightly trembling. Her raven eyes were threatening to break into tears as she plead on the phone.
"Why? What happen?" Answered a middle-aged man's voice, his voice was gentle but was a bit hoarse.
"Chris' in pain again. This time's much greater than the last time. I want to send him to the hospital." The woman said.
"What? Wasn't he already fine last night? How come it gotten worse?"
"I also have no idea, but I'm really worried for his health." She was also in distress, last night her son said that he was already fine. They didn't find anything weird, so they thought that he was fine as he had said.
She was about to wake her son this morning since he still has a class to attend but seeing that he was sleeping so soundly, she did not disturb him and let sleep some more. But who would have thought that he would be screaming in pain a few hours later?
Looking at her son lying in bed right now, she couldn't help but be worried even though he looks well.
---
Meanwhile, Chris is now going through the memory of his predecessor. They had almost the same experience except for a few things that may be what differentiate this parallel reality to his former reality.
For example, this parallel reality is 20% much larger than the Earth from his former reality. And about 10% of this are areas that are still unexplored even to this day.
This can be contributed to the unfavorable environment these places are located. And to the unknown dangers that lurks within, these unexplored lands.
The name was also different as the planet was called Gaea. An alternative name for Earth but was the official name in this reality.
As this planet is much larger than Earth, the history was also different, and the names of the races were also different. Instead of the seven continents, there are nine continents in this planet.
Namely the Akirfa, Aisa, Ailartsua, Eporou, Acitratna, Northern Oidima, Southern Oidima, Agnosti, and Airdna.
The continent he was in is Aisa and was almost the same as the Asia on Earth. The only difference is that Aisa is not the largest continent but Agnosti is. Aisa is only ranked third next to Airdna.
The countries are also different in names, cultures, history, pretty much everything. So this makes it more confusing for someone like him.
He currently is in Penippilihs, an archipelagic country in Southeast Aisa. Situated in the western Pekika Ocean, it consists of about 8,000 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Lozoun, Vasias, and Manantnio.
He lives in a small island called Bagiatnan Island. Although their family cannot be considered rich, they live a good life with his father being a small businessman while his mother was housewife and a writer.
He is 16 years old this year, and will be turning 17 in May 14, which is about 2 months away from now. His predecessor didn't have many friends, just like he was previously on Earth.
But his selected number of friends are what you can consider as true friends, as they will always be there with you through thick and thin.
Coincidentally, he has the same circle of friends just like his predecessor has, with a few differences like his predecessor's feelings for a certain classmate of his. Who was once his girlfriend in his previous life, they had broken up two years later and the reason is their lack of communication.
Chris at that time was inexperience in love and he thought that, if they love each other, their relationship will stay strong. But he was wrong, as it turns out there are a lot of things to do to maintain a healthy relationship. And unsurprisingly, he did none of those.
Chris stopped thinking about the past since what he should be doing right now is focus in the present and prepare for the future.
Opening his eyes, what he saw was the same room once again. But this time, his thoughts are much clearer than last time. Turning his head, he saw a woman who looks like she's in her twenties.
Seeing this woman, Chris immediately recognize her.
"Mom..." he called.
The woman hearing him, turn to look at him and hurried to his side. She asked with a gentle tone.
"How are you feeling Chris?"
"I'm fine mom." Chris answered. He couldn't help but tear up a bit staring at the woman in front of him.
The person who had sacrificed so much for their family after his father's disappearance during an accident. She single-handedly raised the three of them, him and his two siblings. She went abroad just so she could earn much more than what she earns in their country.
Although he also had to sacrifice some of his time for his siblings, but compared to what his mom did to them, his sacrifice is like a drop of water in pond.
"Are you sure? Your dad's coming home, we'll take you to the hospital." My mom, Rose, said anxiously.
"I'm really okay mom. No need to bother dad too much, he still have to work right?" Chris said to his mother, as he knows how much of a worrywart she is.
Rose looks at her son for a few seconds before nodding in agreement, "Okay, if you say so. But just in case you feel strange again, we'll go to the hospital."
"Yes, mom." Chris smiled.
"I'll leave first, you stay here and rest. You can go to school tomorrow. I will help you inform your adviser."
"Thanks mom."
His mother left his room. After checking that she was back downstairs, Chris immediately sat on the bed as he began to call out.
"System?" Chris whispered, but there was no answer. He began to think if he was just hallucinating earlier or he really did hear something like a system in his mind while he was in pain.
"It must have been because of the pain." Chris said dejectedly. As having a system would have been helpful to him but he can still manage without one. Since getting reborn and transported to a parallel world is already a boon.
As he had read too many system genre novels, his mindset got influenced that when someone gets reincarnated or given a second chance, they will be given a system or some sort of cheat.
But it seems that reality is cruel. This second chance in life was already something hard to believe, adding the fact that he is in an alternate universe. Having a system will only makes it weirder.
As soon as he thought of this, Chris felt that he should probably start preparing for his future plans as he was lazy in his previous life and hadn't done anything significant in his life.
He immediately took out a notebook from his bag, and then began to write everything that he could remember in his life. He also included all the wrong things he had done so if he ever encounters them again, he will not make the same mistake again.
About an hour later, he was done writing and his arms were sore from his nonstop writing. It had even started to hurt a little, but he preserved until he had written everything that he could remember. And surprisingly, he had used up two notebooks, though the second one is one half filled.
Staring at the notebook in his hands, Chris made sure to keep it in a place where no one will find it. He had also avoided writing names on the notebook and any significant events but had renamed them with something that will remind him of them when he read it.
It was at this moment that Chris really hope that he had continued creating his own language so that he won't have to grow such length. But because of his insufficient language, he was not able to finish what he started.
When he was all done, he laid down on his bed as he sleeps. He was mentally and physically exhausted from what all happened today. First was the painful surge of his predecessor's memories. Then trying to recall every important event in his life and then writing everything he could remember into his notebook.
What he didn't know is that, as soon he fell asleep. A mechanical voice sounded in his mind.
[System Binding Completed.]
[Congratulations to the user, the Proficiency System will be at your service from now on.]
