Into Another World I Go

"Here we go again." A young boy named Julius Jovin sighed as he stood outside of the library. He looked at the sign that read [New Fantasy Books On Sale!]. It was that time of the week again when new fantasy books would release, the perfect time to buy them cheap and in bulk.

Julius was a type of kid that never liked doing much of anything in life. Everything was only meh to him. He was quite athletic although having never played any sports, his brain was more developed than others although he never really studied, and he found joy in fantasy more than any other aspect of life.

Fantasy brought to life what seemed to be missing in the world. A sense of something greater than just living to create a family, earn money, buy expensive cars and look cool before dying like everyone else. Julius believed that in the end, everyone died the same, and did the same boring things in their lives before they died as well. However, this was not the case in the world of fantasy.

In the world of fantasy, anything could take place, unprecedented and unexpected things that could turn a persons life into a rollercoaster of exhilaration. This was what Julius craved the most, exhilaration. Or in other worlds, fun.

Sure, his life wasn't the worst from the outside perspective. A normal 16 year old kid who seemed to have a stable, loving family, a small group of people he could call his friends, and all in all a blissful life full of no worries. However, this was exactly what he despised.

Sure! Maybe it was because he was too entitled, he was given many things from birth, so maybe that's why he felt that he didn't have enough, but nevertheless, he still felt like there was something more to life then what it currently was.

Julius made his way into the library and scanned through every book in the fantasy section one by one. At this point in his life, he was an enthusiast of fantasy. A connoisseur one might call it. His entire life was built around fantasy novels.

As he browsed through the section, a rather peculiar looking book caught his attention. It was a book that stood out from the rest, having edges made of real steel and a truly antique looking cover.

Julius opened the book to find many dark brown pages, ones that seemed to predate Julius himself.

"Weren't these supposed to be a batch of new books?" Julius said to himself as he flipped through the book and turned it around to the back. On the back was an inscription of a weird text he could barely read.

"What does this say? W-We-Wel-Welcome?" On saying these words, Julius felt a weird tingle in his feet.

As he looked down, he noticed that the floor beneath his feet had started to glow slightly with a circle of some sort with unreadable enchantments written on it.

"What the hell is this!?" Before his shock could catch up with him, a blue light shot up from the floor, enveloping his entire body and knocking him unconscious as well as erasing his body into thin air.

He had lost his consciousness, but he could still feel a weird sense, the sense of pure nothingness, for that was where he was at right now.

In a seemingly infinite pool of pitch black water that sunk Julius' naked body down to its murky depths. Eventually, his eyes flew open as he immediately tried to swim towards the surface of the water.

As he arose on top of the vanta-black water, he panted heavily and looked off into the distance. All he could see around him was black. Nothing. A looming void. Before he knew it, the infinite ocean underneath him had turned into a solid ground that he was sitting on.

"What in the fuck is this!? What is going on!?" His yells turned into echoes in the void. "I have to be hallucinating. There is no other explanation for this!"

As his mind ran through millions of thoughts per second, he suddenly heard the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

<System Installation Process is complete. Welcome host, to the Boundless System.>

The voice sounded completely androgynous, and seemed like it was coming from none other than Julius' head.

"What did you say? The Boundless System?"

<Yes.>

"System... answer my question. Where am I right now? What happened to me?" Julius questioned with slight hesitation.

<Ah, a quick learner I see. Currently, host is... deceased.>

On hearing these words, Julius felt a weird chill go up and down his body. It wasn't out of sadness nor fear. It just felt like he had lost a sense of touch with reality.

"What did you say? I am... deceased? Meaning dead?... No, that can't be true. How do I know I am not just hallucinating. How do I know to trust you or not. There is no way I can do that."

<You believe that you are hallucinating all of this? You must have a very powerful imagination to be able to do that... however, I know you do not, for I have already calculated the limits of your imagination.>

"Was that an attempt at a joke? And... of course I do not believe that all of this is just some hallucination! I'm not stupid. But, what am I supposed to make of this! Do you expect me to just sit here and accept that I have died just like that?"

…

"What about my life. My friends, my family, my future. What about all those things. You expect me to forget about all of that in an instant?"

<Your future? Tell me Julius... do you truly care about what your life holds?>

An straight forward question was proposed.

"I... I don't know!" Julius hesitated.

<What if I told you that... your entire life isn't over, well, excluding this one. There is something else waiting for you. Something much greater.>

"What... what do you mean something greater?"

Intrigued.

<What I mean is, a new world. One of pure fantasy that one could only imagine!>

"Are you saying that there is a world like that waiting for me? A world full of fantasy!?" Suddenly, the feeling of doubt, fear, and uncertainty left Julius' body. The only thing left was... excitement.

If there truly was a world like that waiting for him, then what was stopping him from abandoning his other life? His parents? They barely spoke to him, and his relationship with them was quite bad in general. His friends? Those who he only spoke with to blend in with other students in school in order to not be picked on? His entire life was just a façade of happiness.

Now, he could experience true exhilaration. His mind was already set.

<I see you've made your decision. If that is the case, I will start the process of transmigration.>

"Transmigration? A method in which your soul transfers into a new body. I've heard about it in many fantasies. To think that such a thing truly exists."

<Host transmigration process starting.>

On hearing these words, Julius immediately fell unconscious once again.

…

After what felt like months of long anticipation, Julius finally opened his eyes anew!