1 And So I Ran

Whoosh

As I hold my weapon, I push forth with my strength to increase the speed of my hand which transcends all prior knowledge in order to go past my limits.

If my efforts were below this much, then I can only blame myself for not being victorious in this rigorous battlefield.

Yes. It's been nearly seven days since the start of my battle. Sleep? I don't know what this means. Rest? Not inside of my vocabulary.

A week of hell and the seventh day marks the end of it all.

Criiick

The tip of my weapon snaps like a worn out twig in the midst of winter.

Damn it!

Partner no!!!

It's all my fault.. All along, I knew that I've been pushing you beyond your limits this whole time yet you didn't complain..

Thank you for holding out for this long.. take a good rest now.

I wipe my sweat and tears then pull out another weapon.

The blacktip could absorb the light of all existence and is sharp enough to pierce the heavens!

I grit my teeth and increase my speed even further.

Ugh..

One final push through..

Almost there..

ORYAAAAAA!!!

I exert the last remaining energy left inside of my soulless vessel for the end is coming to a near.

…

Amidst my endless sweat and tears, I hear the dismal sound which echoes throughout the whole battlefield. It's the signal to conclude the battle.

"Pencils down. Please remain seated until your papers are retrieved. You can leave once it's been taken"

A lazy voice of an old man caused everyone to sigh with relief.

Done..

It's finally over!

Soon after the voice spread across the whole room, people started leaving once an examiner picks up their exam.

The second my paper was retrieved, I stood up and left instantly. The quicker I leave, the sooner I'll be able to escape this godforsaken exam hall.

Ah-

Freedom.

It almost feels too unreal. Like an ethereal being passing through. It makes you wonder if this truly is real.

You can't blame me for thinking like this. It's been a terrible year.. If I ever hear a high school student complain about how hard their homework is, I'll slap them sideways.

No no no.

The amount of work they shove at you in university makes you wonder if you made the right choice.

Well, I complain about it but here I am.

I actually finished two semesters of it but I'm sick of it.

What I need is to relax my mind and soul in order to regenerate my soul once more.

If I don't, my soul will transform into codes sooner or later. Codes, codes and more codes. That's all I've done for the past year. Well, it's in the past now. It's finally summer break and I'll enjoy it to the fullest!

I reach my hands to open the door but when I exited, my body which should be brimming with happiness ended being drained from all of its remaining energy.

It's hot..

The blazing heat of the midsummer sun glared at me with no restraint. Not even a single cloud could be seen.

Ah, shade.. any will do..

My eyes slowly look around the surroundings to find a cover.

Luckily, an out of place tree could be found right in front of the building I was just in.

I lethargically move my legs to the holy tree and plop down on the divine grass.

Ah, this is bliss.

I can feel my cells being rejuvenated by the second. My tired weary mind is treading the threshold of passing out but I can still hold on.

It's finally over huh…

I didn't expect for it to be this difficult.

I haven't felt this kind of sleep-deprived sensation before.

It's because of that stupid game that came out recently. I mean it's because I'm an incredibly responsible student and I decided to sacrifice my time to further increase my knowledge in order to be part of the never-ending corporate slave cycle.

...

Some time has passed when I hear a soft yet comforting footstep.

When it came to a halt, it was followed by a voice.

"Haru chan, you ok?"

A soft and lifeless yet familiar voice rings beside my ear.

After living for 18 years, there can only be one person in my knowledge who could have such a lifeless and bored voice.

Now don't get me wrong, this girl who I'm good friends with is not lifeless for the same reason as to why the rest of the students at this moment are dead.

She's just been naturally like this since the first time I met her.

I feel a cold sensation on my forehead which made my whole entire body shudder with joy.

I slowly lift my head up and see a bored looking girl with a tilted head holding her knees with an iced coffee in her hands.

A small dripping sound can be heard once more as the cool condensation of the drink in her hand slowly falls on my forehead once more.

"You want my iced coffee?"

"You're the best~"

"Mn"

I reach over her extended hands to take the iced coffee.

Each second is a bliss~

Yup. Iced coffee is the best for summer.

As I'm drinking, the girl in front of me is just sitting down while staring at me.

Her name is Hana and is the same age as me. I first met her by chance when I first went to the university in order to get used to it.

I still remember it as if it just happened yesterday. Nothing exciting happened but I could still recall her beautiful figure with a bored listless expression which ruins her beauty slowly looking up at the trees in a forest nearby.

She didn't even notice my presence as she immerses herself in the never-ending verdant abundance.

Well, if you consider five minutes of walking to get out of the forest as never-ending then yes it is never-ending.

Yes. I wasn't captured by her beauty. Instead, I was left speechless as to how her expression doesn't match her appearance whatsoever.

As I get lost in my memories, her not so sweet yet ever so tranquil voice rings in my ears.

"Haru chan, I have to go"

"Mn"

As I'm sitting down sipping on the half-empty iced coffee, her long golden hair which shames the beauty of the sun under the soft touch of a winter morning slowly gets smaller and smaller until it finally disappears from my view.

What am I going to do with this girl.. I sometimes worry about her. Apart from me, I've never seen her interact with anyone else.

Oddly enough, she helps out those in need. Specifically older seniors. I secretly admire her for that.

"Oh? Isn't that Haruto?"

"Who else would be just laying around in the middle of the day"

I turn my head and see two people walking towards me.

"Yo"

I greet them casually and return to my leisure break and relax my body.

"How'd your exams go"

These two are my friends. The one who just spoke just now is Cal. He's tall and muscular which contrasts with his soft personality.

"It went ok.. I hope.."

It's fine, right?

"You had the same exam as him right Jake? How come he left before you?"

"He left the second the exams finished.."

"Typical.."

My other friend is called Jake. He doesn't speak too much but he's a good person.

"give me a break.."

"Anyways, did you see Hana? The T.A. told me to go find her"

"She just left"

I shake my iced coffee and point to the direction where she went off too.

"Oy Haruto… come with me to get her. She only ever listens to you"

"Nope~"

Jake sat down beside me as well.

"Good luck"

After he sat down, he gave Cal a thumbs up with droopy eyes.

"Oy! Ah whatever.."

Cal left with many regrets but nonetheless, he still went to go find her.

I already know how this is going to end but oh well. It's not my problem.

"Shouldn't you go help him?"

"Too tired"

I wave my hand and lay my head down.

"I should probably go. My parents came to pick me up"

Parents huh..

Not like it has anything to do with me.

"You going to open your restaurant later? I want to eat your food again before going back home"

"Hmm.. ya I guess I'll open it"

When I left home, I decided to pursue a degree in order to create my own future.

Since my family didn't support me, I had to find a way to have a steady income to support myself.

That's when I decided to open a restaurant.

Luckily, the place that I'm living in right now used to be a restaurant and I got the permission from the owner to use it.

It's thanks to this that I can actually pave my own path.

In fact, I wouldn't even mind doing a restaurant business for the rest of my life to be quite frank.

As long as I can pave my own path then that's all that matters. It doesn't matter where or what. As long as it's my own choice then I'm fine with it.

Well then.

More people are leaving to go back home and the campus is getting quite congested.

Hmm…

I guess I'll visit the forest before I go back home.

As I walk out of the campus and reach the entrance of the forest, a sense of comfort instantly resonates within me.

This mysterious forest always somehow calms me down no matter the situation. The surrounding looks as if I was submerged underwater while the sun is seeping ever so gently. The rock formation is oddly comforting along with the gentle breeze of nature.

No matter how many times I go here, this tranquility and serene atmosphere never gets tiring.

Everything looks identical as to how it was the last time I've been here except for one odd thing.

Why is there a random door in the middle of the path..

Who the hell thought it would be a funny idea to put a random door here.

Sigh..

I should put it away before a biker gets hurt.

I exert all of my strength to lift the door but to no avail, it's still firmly rooted on the ground.

Who the hell would put this much effort on a gag?!

Ugh..

I open the door to see if it would somehow stimulate my mind to find an elaborate way to move it but nope. Nothing happened.

Bah, forget it.

After checking the opposite side of the door, I simply left it.

I'm tired and exhausted so I'd much rather spend my time lazing the day away as I bask in the gentle gleam of the forest light instead of exerting useless strength for a stupid gag.

Ah, not good not good. I left my iced coffee.

I swiftly turn back to retrieve my iced coffee but to my surprise, not only was my iced coffee gone, but the door also disappeared without a trace.

Ehhh…

I rub my eyes but nothing happened.

I'm losing my damn mind..

This is what I get for sleepless nights due to my terrible work habits.

It's not like it's my fault that the latest RPG game is too good. I mean it's not like I'm to be blamed for being a splendid student studying my youth away to be part of the never-ending economic slave chain.

As I lament on my misfortune, I hear a loud and indistinguishable noise above me.

A large bird that spans more than 50 meters loudly cries as it flies past me.

It had a fierce prehistoric look to it but oddly enough it somehow resembled a Mockingbird. The only difference is that the feather looked like a plate of metal and the beak looks like it could pierce the sky.

What the hell is that?!

I'm not dreaming, am I?

Whooosh

As it flies away, a rush of fierce wind knocks me back by several steps.

Guo-

As I cough and block my face from the hot wind, I quickly realize that this couldn't be as simple as a dream.

This forest wasn't that big. At most, it was 1/10th the size of my campus yet I don't hear any terrified screams from anyone.

People would surely see it from here yet only the screech of this flying beast can be heard.

I recall the door from earlier.

Stop it Haruto. You're not a protagonist from a light novel. There's no way that a side character would somehow mysteriously get sent into a different world by entering a stupid gag door.

But still..

How else can you explain this situation?

...

The sensation on my body can definitely prove that this isn't a dream.

As I was lost in a daze trying to distinguish if this is the reality or an illusion, my spine felt a tingling sensation as if I have just been frozen to the core.

I turn around slowly and see a pair of bright fluorescent yellow eyes that felt sharp enough to pierce my soul. As it stares deeply at me, I felt as if I was naked amidst a frozen tundra.

This feeling…

I've never felt anything like it.

If I had to explain it, the only thing that can describe this terrible feeling is the very essence of primal fear.

When the distance between the cold gaze and the position from where I was standing shortened, the figure of a naked alluring woman with long silky hair flowing down all the way to her hips, a pair of blossoming mounds and a figure that could ignite the hidden passion inside of a man's heart emerged from the shadow behind the thickets.

I ran for my life.

My legs didn't stop for the consequences may be too immense. I'm not entirely sure why I'm running but I just know.. I have to keep running.

Although my mind is preoccupied with plenty of questions, my intuition is telling me to run as fast as I can.

And so I ran.