Ethereal Life, Chapter 10: Moon's Blessing

The dog tag necklaces are like those used by in military. "Maybe that's why it's familiar to me. However, the issue is, I know I don't wear a dog tag or necklace at all."

So where did this dog tag necklace come from? "I remember I didn't wear one when I first woke up in this place." His eyes looked around him cautiously. Did someone put it on him while he was asleep?

If so, then that would be terrifying! However, he shook those thoughts away. As he guesses another theory, "And that was, it appeared on me like some kind of magic."

However, is that even believable? "The question is, is my appearing here and returning to my youth something unbelievable? No, it is a probability that this was the work of something that can't be explained."

There are many possibilities. One is that he might be in a virtual environment and an alien was doing an experiment while he was the lab rat. That would be horrifying.

Another would be, "This is his cheat," like those transmigrated protagonists in light novels. There are other possibilities, but he lacked the logic to explain them. But for now, he was on guard.

He tried to take off the dog tag but failed. He failed! 

It's not that it was sticking to his skin, but it felt heavy to lift up! How is that possible? His expressionless face seems to be questioning how he could still feel like it weighed nothing when his hands can clearly feel the necklace as though it were as heavy as an unmoved boulder.

Is this a supernatural world? Is this his cheat? How did it appear? Why so? How do I use it? "Status Open."

Silence.

"System?" Sadly, he tried to call on commands and names from the light novels he had read in the past, but to no avail.

There's not even any information or a hint. He gave up; instead, he returned his attention to enjoying his roasted chicken.

What can he do? Nothing. 

And so the days passed. He has already adapted to living in this vast grassland.

No matter what happens, he won't be shocked anymore, but surprises will remain the same to give his dull life some color.

Working daily on brick making, he rested for a while as he wiped away the sweat dripping from his tired forehead. A cool wind passed by, making him feel fresh and at peace. He smiled faintly at this moment. "My emotions are coming back."

A few days ago, the empty feeling in his heart slowly disappeared. Although faint, he can still feel the emotions he had lost slowly coming back.

It was a very mysterious feeling, somewhat magical and even strange. How did that even happen? Via that already long-forgotten dream?

The young man was touching the dog tag on his neck, feeling its somewhat metallic property. Somehow, when he was holding it with an intent to only feel. There would be no unmovable feeling coming from it, and the weight feels normal to him. He can even moved it from left and right.

However, once he thought of taking it off, he would suddenly overcome by something so heavy that he couldn't move it no matter what. It was magical and strange.

And with this strange thing with him all day, how could he still think of this world as a normal one? He took a sip of water from the leather bag he had made to cool the heat within him.

No matter what, where he was now was his new home, his new life. To survive, he has to survive. And he was already doing it.

A month passed by. His shelter has grown bigger and wider. It looked like a five-meter-tall pyramid from afar. He made a hole above while using a piece of glass from his helmet to keep it closed like a lid.

The sunlight can now enter the dark shelter without worrying about rain coming in during the day.

Next, work on making walls. This might take him a year to build a hundred-meter-squared area protected by three-meter-high brick walls made from mud. "But it's better to do it to prevent unwanted creatures from suddenly appearing before me."

As for the weapons he currently has, aside from his military knife and tool kit that can be used as hidden weapons that he always keeps near him, the stone knives can still be used, and the stones around him can be thrown.

Forget it; there's no long object appropriate to make a spear, so he might as well use his attention on the other objectives.

Aside from making walls, he was planning on making a garden. He would replant those vegetables, mini fruit trees, and flowers far away in his soon-to-be garden.

And in the next few days, he started tilling the land in the morning using the stone slabs. Making mud bricks in the afternoon qnd stargazing at night.

That became his norm every day. Aside from resting a day and hunting, He was basically carefree and could do anything he wanted in this place.

Looking at the boundless, deep starry sky above while lying with his back on top of his pyramid-shaped shelter. He felt at peace. "A few seconds later, and I might enter enlightenment," he murmured to himself, finding it funny.

Looking at the moon not far away, he suddenly thought of the moon from Earth. "The moon here looked like the same moon we have on earth. They looked almost no different, if not for their bigger size in my vision. Is it near?"

That distance in his eyes was actually too far for him to walk in a lifetime. "The moon is lonely, yet its cold appearance and status have charm that made all those people back on earth make a ship just to step on its land."

He sighed softly. He also wished to step on its cold soil and experience what it felt like to jump around in a new gravity he hadn't felt before. "I also want to see how the view up there can describe what place I am in."

Suddenly, he felt something in his chest tremble. He was jolted awake as he immediately bowed his head, only to see the silver dog tag necklace on his neck emitting silvery dust like light. "Hmm?! What the?"

It wasn't bright, nor was it glowing strongly. It was dim, but he could see in the night. Seeing that it wasn't doing him any harm, he calmed his rapidly beating heart.

At least there was no danger to be felt. But what could have happened right now might just be the start. "What's going on?"

He tried to take it off once more, but he still failed. There was no change in its strangeness. The dim glow of silver dust around it still continues to accumulate. In the end, he even tried to use his knife like a stick to take the dog tag off, but the result was the same.

Naturally, he gave up and just lied back on the roof. He gazed at the big moon above as he thought, "Could the dog tag be absorbing the moonlight from the moon?".

It has the highest probability, and his gut is telling him that it might be. If so, then he can just let it be. No matter what happens, he can just accept everything as long as it brings him no pain or harm.

After all, what's the harm in encountering supernatural things at this point in his life?

Time passed, and he returned to sleep in the shelter after staying outside for a few hours. He lay on his own bed, covered by leather.

Looking at the top of his roof, the moon was still raining its moonlight even through the glass. The silver moonlight-like dust around the dog tag also thickens. He wondered what would happen next.

He couldn't be bothered for now; he could only go to sleep. "I'll find it out eventually."

Whether he dies from an explosion or gains something from it, it can only wait. "Please feel no pain." He can only hope.

...

The next day.

The sun replaced the moon above the sky as sunlight swept through the verdant land.

He walked out of the shelter full of energy. Looking at the dog tag he had, there seems to be a little change. However, he can't pinpoint what it was. "I forgot how it looked back then. I can only compare it next time."

The good thing is, nothing bad happened to him. Instead, he was much more energetic now than ever. Even his mind was much clearer than before. This might be the benefit he received from yesterday night. "Although unbelievable, when this really happened to me in reality, I feel no excitement at all."

He was really old to feel the joy of arriving in a different world—a magical one to be sure. "But... I'm happy; I found the clue to what world I'm currently in."