12 Source Leaf 1

Feeling rather unwell, Trex looked at the scrumptious soup. Mesmerized by the sight and scent, Trex realized that he never ate anything the entire time. This also made him wonder where did the food his mom brought to him last night went.

Well, it's a world of magic, after all. Maybe they used magic to feed my unconscious body.

As he ate the soup, Trex's thoughts began to drift.

Two different memories linger in his head. One is his time as an operating system for a computer; the other is from his creator. Both are something he truly cherishes and couldn't let go of.

There's also his deadline. Thirteen days and fourteen hours. Till then, his personality and memories would jumble. Due to the unchangeable protected memory, the best thing he could hope for is to just lose himself. The worse, however, is getting his very being corrupted.

Then there's also the fact that he's a spirit race called Chede, but even so, his body in the real world and metal world is still that of Marko Rhemi.

The more he looked for answers, the more it feels like there's only one answer.

Magic.

The image of the different runes being used to cast spells in Spellworm lingered on his mind. Even though he already knew the runes, Trex still has no idea how to manifest the runes and cast a spell. Still, every attempt at the runes gives him a weird feeling deep within his mind.

Or maybe it was just the effect of the food. Nonetheless, Trex was beginning to feel refreshed.

Still, Trex finds it weird. Shouldn't he feel some novelty for his first time eating? Then, it hit him; this was Jonathan's experience. And according to it, the food seems to be better in the other world than here.

Well, whatever.

After eating, Trex felt extremely fresh. The feeling when you slept perfectly enough and woke up without being bothered by an alarm clock. Trex never felt so tranquil.

I should prepare now, he thought.

Spending a handful of minutes in the shower in his own room, he got out. Looking through his closet, he realized that the clothes are basically separated into two sides. One side looks brand new and unused, while the other side looks overused to the point the color is fading.

Trex felt weird upon sighting this. Scouring through the clothes, he noticed another point. The overused clothes are merch with either character, prints, landscape, or slogan, while the unused ones seem to be branded and trendy.

Denying himself aid from Jonathan, Trex decided to pick the clothes himself. After a more thorough search, he found a grey shirt with five swords pointing down, each with flowing curved lines that seem to swirl around the blades. Behind was the name of the game the swords belonged to.

Tacky.

Trex found the back of the shirt tacky, so he scoured something. Just a short while, in the unused parts, he found an olive-green sweater with a grey hoodie that matched the shirt. After matching it with a pair of black pants, Trex began to look like an actual teenager. The swords began to look like patterns as he left the sweater open.

Feeling great at his current look, he left his room.

——

Being truthful to himself, Trex didn't even know why he left the room when he finished dressing up.

Entering a narrow hallway, Trex learned that his room is on the edge of the second floor and is also the nearest to the stairs.

At the edge of the hallway is another bedroom presumably of his parents.

It was a sizable home.

A little nervous, he took a deep breath and went downstairs.

It didn't take long for voices to reach Trex's ears.

He found a man that looks similar to him in the living room, surrounded by spell circles while holding a silver card.

On the other side of the living room, his mother and Illana were staring at him with their mouths agape.

Eliza couldn't help but hex herself and clear her eyes, only to see a young man dressed neatly. Prim and proper, adjectives that were never associated with her son.

Instead of her son's typical merch, he was fashionable.

Wait. That's not right. The shirt is a video game merch, but it was mixed with clothes that look good on her son.

If she didn't see the swords on her son's undershirt, Eliza would've called the authorities for breaking and entering.

"You… you, what are you wearing?" Illana couldn't help herself and speak up.

Trex was surprised at Illana's sudden outburst.

Looking down at his clothes, "I… I…" Trex could only stutter.

The clothes he picked, he really didn't know why he chose them. It just felt like they looked good. Was that enough?

Before he could formulate his reply, Justin heard Illana's stupefaction and turned around. Looking at his son, his eyes widened.

"What are you wearing?" He couldn't help but speak up. He couldn't help it. The number of times he and his wife admonished his son for not wearing the clothes they bought for him were just as much as the hours of time Marko played games.

"What?" a deep voice was heard in his ears.

"Sorry, mister Lichten, something just happened back in my house. Where were we?" Justin immediately appeased the person he's on call. Shooting a look at his son one more time, he went to the kitchen, leaving Trex's sight.

"It's uh, I saw mom's clothes earlier, so I thought I should…" Trex stumbled through his words as he tried to find a reason.

It was only now that he realized that he's currently in somebody else's body. Having no actual memories of the last body, Trex couldn't help but feel terrified.

Hearing herself being called by her 'son,' Eliza woke up. "It's... It's just surprising," she said with a smile. Whatever that smile means, Trex had no idea.

Timidly, he bowed down.

Seeing this, Illana and Eliza looked at each other.

"Anyways, let's go. We'd be late for our appointment," Eliza broke the awkward silence.

With a nod, Trex followed his mother.