1 Aine

"Bloody Hell!!" Luke Lewis couldn't help but cursed loudly upon feeling all his limbs were sore as if being harassed by many blunt weapons.

He struggled badly on opening his eyes, and the first thing that comes into his sight was a system notice.

<Level: 1>

<EXP: 0/50>

Luke couldn't read the system further because his vision gradually blackened. In the end, he couldn't resist the temptation and slowly closed his eyes for the second time. But exactly before he closed his eyes, the system changed into red color with many exclamation marks.

<Alert!>

<Quest: Sleep for the next four hours to recuperate>

<Reward: 10 exp and 25% status recovery>

Luke didn't awake for the rest of the hours. He only gets stirred at his sleep after sunlight emerged from its hiding and emitted a light that landed precisely at Luke's face. His eyelashes slowly trembled before a pair of grey-eyes gradually came into view.

The moment Luke's sight returned, a status screen abruptly appeared, causing Luke startled for a moment.

<You've completed the quest>

<You've rewarded by 10 exp and status recovery 25%>

This scene was not strange to him because every MMORPG game he played had this thing. But why did it suddenly appeared in front of him, and where is he currently??

Luke slowly blinked his eyes and ignoring the status screen; he slowly rose up from the bed he didn't familiarize himself with.

'Argh...My head felt so dizzy.' Luke silently thought while holding his throbbing head.

He remembered that he was playing a game at the GameNet, then how did he end up here? Luke scanned at his surroundings, and the aching came once again. But he already perceives enough the room he currently stayed.

It was a square room with an estimated size of 4x4. The room was decorated with bluish-black color with a touch of elegance yet simplicity. There is also a black normal-sized wardrobe beside the room which Luke assumed was a bathroom. Beside him stood a small table with a phone lying above it. As he was used to checking his phone upon waking up, Luke got an impulse to pick it but stopped upon hearing the sound of the door burst out open.

Like a frightened thief, Luke immediately retracts his hand, which was previously hanging in the air to his back. There's a middle-aged woman standing in front of his door. Her appearance wasn't outstanding with many faint wrinkles already present. Her hair was a mess, as if after running breathlessly. Her breathing wasn't unstable as she stared at Luke with a complicated gaze full of guilt and worry. Without any warning, the woman began running toward his direction and straightly hugged him.

Since Luke had no strength in his body, he could only let the woman hug her while he is musing confusedly, "Who is this woman?"

The middle-aged woman embraced Luke for quite a time before gradually lessened her tightness that caged Luke's body. Upon releasing Luke, she caressed Luke's face while slightly murmured, "Are you feeling well, son?" Tears were immediately strung out from the corner of her eyes upon seeing Luke flinched when her arm accidentally touched Luke's forearm.

Luke didn't even know that his body has flinched because his mind already went blank after the woman called him a son.

Son?

How could he become a stranger son? Did this woman hit her head on the road or something? He was an orphan since he's 3 years old. He couldn't even remember his parent's faces anymore.

Luke forced a smile, "I'm sorry, Auntie. But I think you have mista-" Before Luke completed his sentence, a memory start surfaced on his mind.

In those memories, Luke vaguely saw a boy waving his hand excitedly at the woman who has the same face as the woman who currently in front of him. Many memories start resurfaced like a page on a book being flipped. Those scenes that being replayed on his mind kept changing until the boy matured into a teen.

In a particular scene, the boy looks beaten badly by a group of people. Almost all his limbs got assaulted except for the uncovered part like his face. After the group left him miserably, the man stood up sluggishly and dragged his abused body toward a certain direction. His lonesome figure gradually disappears, leaving only a pitiable silhouette.

Upon reaching his home, the first thing he does was took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, Luke? Mom is currently in a neighbor city with Aunt Yen. She said she needs a temporary nanny to take care of her daughter. Therefore mom couldn't return home today. Can you settle the dinner by yourself?" A gentle voice coming out from the phone.

Luke slowly closed his eyes before tiredly replied, "I'm sick, mom."

The person on the other side seems went silent for a moment before able to react. With worry and a hurried tone, the other person said, "Then you should take medicine and rest! Should I return today?"

Luke didn't answer and mumbled weakly, "I'm also got beaten today, mom."

"I'm heading home today! I could only arrive in the morning, so please just stay still in bed. Wait for mother." On the other side, the person immediately hangs up the call, and Luke took a few seconds before realizing her intention.

Luke strode toward his room and entered it. He didn't change his clothes and immediately collapsed on his bead tiredly. In the moment of dejection, Luke's tears began to slip out from the corner of his eyes.

"It's hurt a lot! It's hurt! Why is it always me who got bullied? Why not anyone else? What is wrong with people in this world? I just want to study normally and make my parents happy. Why it's so hard to achieve? Why? WHYY??" Luke roared in grief.

Upon unleashing all his anguish feeling that he always tried to hide, the internal injuries from the beating he experiences today start to take effect. Luke curled his body like a ball because of the immense pain he felt.

"God, if I were fated to die today, please at least don't make my parents grief over my death. Let someone who obviously had stronger temperamental to take over my body. I wouldn't regret it as long as my parents are happy." Luke prayed as he often read novels and movies that the main character was from another world. With that, he finally closed his eyes...For the last time.

Afterward, Luke's breath turned vague and kept reducing, and eventually, his breathing suddenly stopped. If this scene happened in the hospital, the doctor would definitely assume Luke already dead. But then, a bizarre scene suddenly occurred. Like an undead, Luke's heartbeat suddenly starts beating again while his mouth quietly emitted a breath.

As those scenes being replayed in Luke's mind, his conscience slowly returned to the present time. His gaze fell on the familiar yet unfamiliar woman in front of him. He still wasn't sure about his current feeling is, so he could only force a smile to the woman before him, "I'm okay, mom."

Seeing his smile, Luke's Mother feeling her heartaches more. She quickly suppressed the turmoil in her heart and embraced Luke once again.

Afraid that his injuries will get severe, Luke wriggled uncomfortably on her mother's embrace and said, "I'm sorry, Mom. But can I get more rest?"

With those words being said, Luke's Mother didn't dwell any longer and ordered him to have breakfast before he went to sleep. Luke didn't refuse her offer and nodded obediently.

Afterward, Luke's Mother returned with a tray full of food. This food was an ordinary meal that was always served in poor households. But Luke didn't care any of it since his stomach already grumbled all this time. At first, Luke rejected his mother's offer to feed him, but after failing to eat by himself, Luke eventually resort to his mother's help.

Finish with his breakfast. Luke's Mother used wet tissue to clean Luke's mouth. His face slightly became red after getting treated like a baby. Luke's mother didn't stay any longer and only left after saying she would report this incident to the school. Luke didn't persuade his mother because he knew that those bastards already made the previous Luke dead. He hoped that the school would punish the perpetrator accordingly to the law.

After Luke Mother left, Luke leaning his head against the headboard and closed his eyes to start rearranging his thought.

The present place that Luke stayed in is called Aine, and Aine is similar to earth in terms of appearance. The different things were this world technology slightly more advanced than the earth. Like a saying, every fortune had its misfortune; Aine also had its danger. That is the existence of another race.

Around a hundred years ago, a vast portal suddenly appeared on City Huegwell. Immediately many countries start to send their troops over there to investigate what's happening. Contrary to the expectations of many people who say there would-be invaders, the one who appears to turn out was only refugees seeking shelter. Although there's a language barrier for both races, Human Race could vaguely understand what's going on.

Apparently, there is a certain race that liked to invade other races. It's called the Notorn race, and the one who got attacked was Joyn Race. Joyn Race was living in peace when suddenly Notorn Race decides to strike them with their strong magical and technological power. As a race that loves peace, Jyon had no chance to retaliate against Notorn Race. In no time, Joyn Race was bound to get destroyed. So, in order to save some of their kinds, they agreed to do a ritual that would bring them to a safe place. That ritual brought them into Aine.

After years of studying the Joyn Race language, the two races finally could communicate normally. As along the language barrier's disappearance, both races decide to cooperate in magic and technology research. That research takes a time about five years before a thing called "Ability Potion" was released in mass.

As its name, the potion was making ordinary people able to release an extraordinary power. And those people who were successful in consuming the potion and gained a special ability would be called a Transcender.

Every potion has its grades, and the grades would determine how strong the power that person would possess, but luck is the most important factor in this thing. If one consumes an S-Grade potion but had a stroke of bad luck, it wasn't certain that a person would attain a powerful power. But if one were lucky enough, even an F-Grade potion would turn into an S-Grade potion.

Those who able to afford potions would become strong, while the ones who cannot afford would remain at the bottom. That's how the Aine world works now. Around 20 years after potions got published, Notorn Race tracked the trace of the portal coordinate of Joyn Race and successfully found it on Aine. Without a doubt, a war started to broke out between the Notorn Race with Alliance of Human and Joyn Race.

Because of the recent invention of "potions," the casualties were able to reduce at the most minimum possibility. This news brought joy to the Alliance Human and Joyn race. But as a race that has been through countless battles, surely Notorn didn't only have one way to exterminate its opponents. But their method was so ruthless that the whole Aine is dumbstruck because of it.

They ruthlessly transported their planet in front of Aine. Notorn didn't stop there and immediately formed a passageway between the two planets. As a result, the war started to broke out once again, but this time the war brought immense injuries to both sides. Without any choice, Notorn Race called back their troop. The same goes for the Alliance. Although both parties didn't look like will launch any attack soon, they both know that the next war would decide their fate.

This stalemate continued until Luke's generation.

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