6 Memories

I don't know who's reading this, or what I'm writing it for... people don't usually remember me, not that I care about that.

I think this would be what they called a diary, where I can report things about my life. But I'm not here for that, I just write on this old thing, because it's the last resort capable of keeping me sane.

...What..

.. Who...

...'Why?.

To be honest, I've died several times, and so I don't even know who I am anymore

But I know that all I need is to keep trying without giving up

And when I find my way, it'll be time to rewrite my story from scratch.

But, what good was this journey if there is no one to tell my story?

My past self trembles at my memories, the voices of hundred versions of me perpetuate their presence in my head.

Even when there's someone stronger than me, he'll die at some point

And at the end of everything, only a dark bluish-haired silhouette will remain

Blood will flow nonstop from its body

And only time will tell its fate.

....

I wandered for who knows how many years on an endless journey, but what good is it if there's no one to accompany me in it?

I wonder if I've already surrendered to insanity, or if it's just some of my constant hallucinations.

How much is all my effort worth, over time? I always ask myself exactly that.

But I won't give up. Never. After all, this fight isn't just for me anymore, it's mainly for THEM.

And until the end, I will fight.

Not even if I have to go back a few hundred thousand more times until I can see your smile innocently shine once more.

...

I promised you, on that starry day, didn't I?

And I swear, we'll see the end of this together.

Someday...

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀'𝐈𝐫𝐞, 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

********************

"I passed out again…" Aquamarine said with an indifferent expression on his face. He had just opened his eyes for the thousandth time in a short time. It was already dawn, and his face was being illuminated by the moonlight coming in through small cracks between the bedroom curtains.

It was strange, as Aquamarine felt like he'd slept for who knows how many hours, but at the same time he also felt like he'd only taken a short nap. His head was lighter than it had been in the last few hours, so for the first time, the youth was able to think clearly.

HUUU

An icy breeze came in through one of the windows that was ajar, Aquamarine shivered slightly, that new body of his was extremely weak and made him feel like a mere child who depended on his parents.

''Fucking hell.''

You see, he had experienced death twice and was subjected to a near-death experience... So he didn't really seem to have the strength or the dignity he was supposed to have.

''Where exactly is this place?''

He observed precisely the room he was in, that place was certainly not his home. Whatever life he led, Aquamarine had never lived in a place as luxurious as the room he was in now.

Soon after, he slowly raised his body, with some slight pains in his legs that had been shaky before. He felt lethargic and a little heaviness in every muscle in his body the moment he stood up, it was almost as if he had been sick for an inordinate amount of time.

His body was so poor in strength that there wasn't enough energy for him to make any sudden movements. And so, Aquamarine decided to limit his scope of actions to just simple things, but he hated the situation he was put in.

His face was no longer burning, but his eyes were dry, and itchy around the edges. He rubbed both eyes with the back of his hands and then saw a wooden chair beside the bed, sitting down almost instantly. He looked around once more, and the boy felt like he knew this place, no, more precisely Aquamarine felt like he knew the place down to the smallest detail.

It was bizarre. After all, his memories of this world and Aquamarine's life were very vague and his mind was more confused than ever.

He sniffed himself, smelling a very different scent than expected. His body was enveloped in a warm and fragrant scent, in all his life he had only smelled this kind of fragrance when he was with renowned friends, or at parties of rich people that he had been luckily invited to.

There were many strange things at the moment — from his coming into the world once more, to this room he was resting in until now.

He shook his head quickly, and then once again thought that something was out of place. Aquamarine looked closely and intently at both hands. His hands had thick knuckles from his rigid training routine since he first touched a gun in a military encampment, and another strange thing was that his fingertips and palm were dry & had calluses scattered all over the skin.

However, the hand of this body he was now in had none of these characteristics and was as thin and smooth as a girl's hands.

The countless battle scars and a few lumps he had on his hand weren't there either. There was just a square shape of weird white lines on the backs of his hands instead of all those things and scars he had previously.

That whitish scar was so hard to see that he had to put his face close to his hand to get a good look at it.

"Okay... It gets weirder and weirder."

Just one second after it, he scanned the room quickly with urgency, noticing a huge decorative mirror near the front door of the room. Aquamarine jumped out of his chair and stood in front of the mirror in a heartbeat.

The boy's heartbeat was racing like a horse's gallop, showing he was confused but excited. His eyes landed on the exquisitely decorated mirror and then quickly turned to the person reflected in it.

A very thin boy who looked like he had been starving for some time was being reflected in the mirror's surface, with droopy eyes that showed no emotion and didn't seem to have any more strength left.

He shook his head once more, clearing his mind of all thoughts, and thinking that maybe it would clear his crazy vision. But just as he shook his head, that boy who appeared in the mirror also shook his rough, messy dark blue hair.

He thought this was absurd. Thus, he only laughed, dumbfounded.

''Why... Why do I look the same as when I was only sixteen?'', he asked himself, smoothing his hair with the fingers of the right hand, ''And why the hell do I have dark blue hair?''

He fell silent for a few seconds, taking in his pale, skeletal body.

Countless thoughts ran through his mind at the speed of the bullet train. But only a few were plausible enough to be taken seriously.

''So the isekai teleport theory was right?''

For a moment, Aquamarine thought that maybe he had survived all that happened in that busy street surrounded by unknown people, and everything that had happened so far, including the encounter with that shadow creature, were just illusions.

He could be stuck in a coma right now, lying sick in a bed and dreaming and hallucinating about everything that was happening to him.

He squeezed a part of the skin on his body, pulling it and feeling a sharp pain that made him stop.

''I'm guessing coma dreams aren't that accurate.''

The old boy who put all his effort into everything he did, had turned into a pale and skeletal boy, but to his surprise, he still kept all of his past memories. His memories were the only thing he really had a connection to after committing suicide, so maybe if this was a dream, that's why he still kept them. And aside from his memories, he didn't have anything else that was of sufficient value to hold back now.

At least from his past life.

He didn't want to forget. He didn't want to forget his friends, he didn't want to forget Jullie and the others. And most of all, he didn't want to forget his mistakes, so he wouldn't make them again.

''In order not to forget them, I cannot and will not forget them in any way. Whether it's a dream or not.''

While he was establishing his beliefs in this new world, something suddenly happened...

KRING, RING, RING...

He heard an unfamiliar sound that reminded him of a bell, which rang loud and clear. Initially, he was startled by the sudden noise that came from his back, but he soon collected himself and explored his surroundings with his eyes.

A dense, sprawling forest could be seen through the window, which grew brighter as time went on. The sun rose on the horizon of the half-dark sky and the stars and moon hid as the sun got closer. The day was dawning.

''Wow'', he exclaimed in astonishment, observing that extremely beautiful sight.

Deep in the forest, a few ancient-looking buildings and constructions stretched out before his view, outside the lighted windows. His theory of being trapped in a dream was instantly overturned, after all, dreams are usually rearranged memories of one's life experiences.

And he couldn't remember ever having a dream experience where he could imagine a landscape so vivid, with sounds and feelings that felt so real.

He finally accepted: this was the reality, Delarossi had really reincarnated him.

Another point that proved this fact was the throbbing migraine and the pain in the body that he was feeling. That, and also the extreme hunger he currently felt, with the rumbling of his stomach filling the air of the empty room.

All of his senses had already returned to normal, and he could hear the sounds of something sharp hitting in the distance.

He sat down once more, this time so he could reason correctly. As he sat down, he realized that with each passing minute, the memories of that body he was in entered his mind, joining the memories of his past.

Upon confirming that he would soon have his memories and most important information in this world back, he sighed in relief and turned to think about something else.

"First of all, let's think about it precisely", he said, massaging his temples with his fingertips.

He remained silent for a brief moment.

''All my stuff disappeared after I reincarnated. And most of all, I can't tell if I was thrown right into the climax of the game or if I was sent to the past to prepare myself beforehand...'', his eyes watched the ceiling of the place intently. ''The only way to confirm that is to look at a calendar or ask someone for information.''

''But more importantly what were those weird glowing letters that appeared on the beach?''

Aquamarine strained his mind as hard as he could, thinking deeply about what had happened moments before he passed out. He took his mind back to that moment, fact by fact, then he remembered the fierce waves that violently flowed towards him just as he finally took over his body again.

Then, as if it was some kind of unknown magic, before he closed his eyes and fell unconscious and almost died, he heard a few metallic words in his mind.

"Okay, so what the fuck was that?", he muttered. ''Some kind of cosmic message, from that shadow thing?''

As soon as Aquamarine said those words, as if it was just waiting for him to say something, some strange screens popped up right before his eyes.

[User has been recognized]

[The gift was successfully absorbed]

[Voice command function has been activated]

[Thought command function has been activated]

Strings of words suddenly appeared before him in bright flashes, the words refusing to disappear even as Aquamarine deliberately closed his eyes tightly. It was as if it was heavily engraved in his eyes. It was extremely similar in every detail to the glowing letters that rose before him in front of the waves earlier.

''Before, this thing said something about someone's gift or whatever it was…'' And then, other golden windows appeared in front of his eyes, one more time.

[User: Aquamarine Jann Linjol]

[Titles: None]

[Race: Human]

[Level 1 (0%)]

[Experience Index: 0/100]

[Memory recovery percentage: 47%]

[Health: 10/10 (100%)]

[Strength: 7]

[Agility: 9]

[Resistance: 6]

[Magic Power: 5]

He was seeing it clearly, but he still doubted his sanity. This all started after he came into contact with the shadow creature, in that white room that he had no idea where it was located.

This thing before Aquamarine reminded him of the old games people played all the time in his old world, when he was still living on Earth. As he thought about it, he noticed a few other different tabs on that glossy screen, having been placed on the right side and written in huge letters.

[Skills]

[□□□□□ blocked (?)]

[Gift From □□□□□□□□ (?)]

[Available skill points: 0]

[Proficiencies and Arts]

[Basic Martial Skills (Lv1)]

[Basic Lunari Swordsmanship (Lv1)]

[Basic Sword Proficiency (Lv1)]

[Basic Mana Manipulation (Lv1)]

[□□□□□ blocked (?)]

There were a few names there that he could recognize through the memories of his current body, but then where did his other skills and more complex techniques, acquired with his hard work, go?

''Well, let's see what's left.''

In both the [Proficiencies] and [Abilities] tabs, he couldn't see much. All of his old abilities, and even some things he didn't know about, seemed to be blocked and grayed out, not allowing him to interact with it.

''Screw this''

''Fuhhh''

He took a deep breath and then turned to one of the remaining pages. It was decorated in a redwood layout and its name was not shown at all. The boy's curiosity made him more excited, and so he wanted to know what awaited him on that mysterious screen.

[Blocked]

[User does not meet the requirements]

[?????]

He rolled his eyes, but he was honestly curious about the requirements that the nameless tab required. He smiled at the thought that at some point he would unlock it, he just needed to get stronger. It was just a matter of time.

''And this one, what does it do?'', he wondered, reading the name of the last window remaining.

The last, but not least, of the tabs he opened was the [Quests Window]. The tab was colorful and had some weird ornaments in the corners. It was elegant and had some details and carvings that gave it more life.

[ACTIVE MISSIONS:]

[Main Quest]

[Reach 10 points in all stats]

[Reward: ?????]

[Daily Quest]

[Do 30 squats]

[Reward: 5 exp]

[Side Quest: None]

He smiled as he realized that tab would help him grow more easily, but he certainly couldn't make his routine easier just because of that. He would try his best, and he would become strong like no one ever was.

As Aquamarine was checking out what the system had to offer him, the door to the room he was in opened.

A sound rumbled through the air, coming from the noise the door on the other side of the room had made. As if by instinct, Aquamarine thought about closing the system and that's exactly what happened when that golden screen disappeared completely into thin air.

The bluish-haired boy, still sitting in the wooden chair, stretched his legs, trying to see who had opened that door all of a sudden. He noticed the figure of a woman, who was getting closer and closer to him.

Aquamarine's eyes slid from the leather boots on the figure's feet, past the smooth, delicate legs clad in slacks pulled up at the knees and a tight plaid shirt; until he finally reached the face, which was immobile and cold as ice.

This was the same person who told him strange things before on the beach, and also the person who saved his life. Aquamarine's first impulse was to look away from her, but he didn't allow his body to do so. He looked at the young woman, meeting her eyes piercing and deep.

"We need to talk", her voice sounded serious as she glanced at the prince.

Next chapter