Once I returned to my room, I turned on my used television set. There weren’t any news stories of monsters or reports of hunting fields on TV.
As I flipped through the channels, there was nothing that could explain what had happened to me.
Could I be dreaming?… No. There was no way this was a dream.
I could remember everything clearly. Those nearly tangible memories were still in my head.
If it were a dream, there was no way I could clearly remember everything.
“If it isn’t a dream…just what happened here? I know I jumped into the Sea of Reset. It’s not that special of an action. There are a lot of people that have jumped in other than me…”
Besides the act of jumping into the Sea of Reset, there was nothing really special about it. Anyone who could use the reset jumped in.
There were even people waiting nearby as I jumped off the cliff, crying to God to turn back time.
“There’s no way…did my prayer to return to the beginning come true?”
There was nothing else special other than that.
“How could that wish come true?”
Anyone can dream of winning the lotto, but it would still be a dream. No, it was more of an illusion that would never become reality. But it did.
I began to worry. But soon that worry turned to euphoria.
My heart raced as I grew more and more satisfied with my situation. Because now I had a chance to be ten, no, eleven steps ahead of everyone else.
I already gone through that Hell on Earth for eleven years.
I alone had already experienced what no one else could ever imagine. But that euphoria was competing with the uneasiness that came with not knowing why this had happened in the first place.
Not knowing why the Sea of Reset sent me to the past made me tremble with worry.
It felt like someone would come out of nowhere and tell me that this was all a nightmare.
I was afraid to even attempt to do anything.
I felt I would awaken from this dream if I stubbed my toe against the wall, trying to move. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything.
I felt like I was a piece of fragile glass.
And like that, one, two, three days passed while I tried to come up with some sort of answer to this predicament. I realized that not even spending an eternity worrying about this would do me any help.
They say time heals all wounds. Soon the bruises that the worry left on my body disappeared.
The thought that no dream would last one, two or three days eased my worries and fears altogether.
“OK. I don’t know why I came back in time. I don’t know how it happened, either. No matter how long or how many times I think about, I won’t come up with an answer. There is one thing I do know. If I don’t utilize this chance, I will royally screw this up. I would be a complete idiot!”
I balled my fists tightly.
I rose from my bed, sat down at my desk, and started to write down everything I could remember.
I only drank water for three days straight, but I didn’t have the time to feel hunger or fatigue.
I remember it was Korean Standard Time, 9AM, 7/17/2023. I remember it exactly. How could I forget…the day the world seemed to have ended.
That day was like any other… except for the voice that echoed through the heavens.
-Ah, ah! Can you all hear me? Inhabitants of world 1455! The test is now over…-
On that day, I was getting ready for work at a small factory near the Uijeongbu suburbs that I had worked at for just about two years and had just gotten into my uniform.
But when the voice spoke, I and everyone in the factory came out and lifted our heads towards the sky. And it wasn’t just the people in the factory.
People in the buildings surrounding the factory; the truck drivers making their rounds stopped their trucks; everyone came out to look at the sky.
-I won’t explain again so listen carefully.
At first I thought someone was speaking through a megaphone nearby, but the voice sounded too clear and reverberated everywhere.
It also spoke in a language I had never heard before, but I realized that I could fully understand it.
-The World number 1455 that you all live in…no, you call it Earth. Earth’s test has completed. It will now move on to the next stage, the Otadolon.
I didn’t know then, but everyone on Earth was staring at the sky, without a clue as to what was going on.
-Anyway, first off. You will all now use the Genenian language to communicate. What is Genenian, you ask? It’s the language you all are hearing right now. You will all now be able to use it naturally.
-Second, once you enter the Otadolon stage, you will be prohibited from having children. Ah, but not to worry. Current fetuses will be acknowledged!
-Third, when you enter the Otadolon Stage, you can use the token of knowledge to obtain immortality. Of course, if you don’t use it, you will remain mortal. That will be your choice. Don’t use the token of knowledge and die a natural death, or use it to ascend as a deva and live an immortal. Those unborn will be born with a token so do not worry.
-Well, that’s about it. It’s up to you to figure out the rest of it. You will all be granted a token of knowledge. Oh, one more important thing. You can only use the token of knowledge at the Don Gate. Where is the Don Gate? You will have to find it yourselves.
At that moment, everyone on Earth, without exception, received a token of knowledge on their wrist.
Even infants just born a second ago received one, as well!
Then all 6500 recognized languages turned to one single language.
We were able to speak, read, and write Genenian as if it were our mother tongue all along.
“Phew…now that I think about it again, it really doesn’t make sense.”
I had stopped writing and read it over once more before heaving a big sigh.
I wrote down what I had experienced myself, but it was still hard to believe. I could only sigh at the fact that it was all true.
The being we called the Scientist (Well, at first we called him God, but we called him the Scientist later on because he referred to the world as a test, and we felt it was more accurate. Really, we felt that by calling him God, we were worshipping him, and calling him a Scientist seemed better) had explained less than one percent about the new world.
The most important thing the Scientist told us about was the token of knowledge. We could neither steal it nor lose it, and it could only be used at the Don Gate.
Only one token could be used at one Don Gate, and the Gate would disappear and reappear at another random location.
There was only one requirement to using a token and that was age. You had to be at least nineteen, an adult, to use a Don Gate.
At first only a few Don Gates appeared, but as time went on, more and more started to appear. However, there were still not enough for everyone to use. After ten years, only two billion or so people were able to become devas.
Those that used a Don Gate were no longer human. Rather, they looked like avatars from a VR game. Perfect, never-dying, never-aging avatars.
A Don Gate was about two meters wide and three meters tall, barely, and using a token at one felt like you were physically leaving your current body and entering a new one.
It didn’t matter if you were a youth in your twenties, or an elder over eighty. You would look the same, but the condition of your new body was perfect.
To be exact, it was like taking a durable, strong, but empty shell of a body, and putting your appearance over it.
Those with terminal stage cancer or diagnosed with AIDS would use their tokens at the gate, and be completely cured, without exception.
Those that became devas would keep their stats, skills, and inventory items.
Fields and dungeons had formed all around, filled with orcs, kobolds, ogres, and trolls.
Killing monsters leveled you up and granted you bonus stats that you could put into strength or stamina, making you stronger or tougher, respectively.
“Should this much be enough? Now what? Would anyone believe this were I to show them?”
No. No one would believe it. Even I think I’m crazy, and I’m the one who wrote it all down. No one would ever believe it.
“But it will happen. Even if it doesn’t, it’s fine. It’ll end with just me being crazy. I have to properly prepare myself. I survived for eleven years after the change. I know way more than anyone else.”
I clenched both my fists, and looked through my notes in front of me.
“In order to be prepared for the future…the most important thing is the Don Gate!”
The Don Gate was the priority!
I had to use my token at the gate! I had to be the first one to do so!
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