Chapter Text
Kim Rok Soo ran from his rear position, bolting towards the figure near in the distance. He had never felt so panicked in a long time. He snatched a lone metal board off the ground and leaped in the figure's direction, blocking a blow from a horrendous creature- a monster- most likely the second strongest he had ever seen in his whole set of records. He heard a screeching sound as the blow connected with the board. He stumbled, hitting his arm with the jagged edge of the ground.
Kim Rok Soo sucked in a sharp intake of breath as he felt his arm get snapped like a flimsy twig. The metal board he held up couldn't withstand the pressure and dented from the blow. His arm was searing and it couldn't move properly. But he kicked himself back up. He spared a quick glance at the man behind him, Choi Jung Soo. He gritted his teeth as a deep shade of red painted the ground and the makeshift shield. Jung Soo was distracted by something- Kim Rok Soo could see it in his eyes, but before he could snap Jung Soo out of it, he felt warm liquid suddenly gush out, his right arm- completely crushed under the pressure.
Kim Rok Soo, already realized he had no hope- even if he did live, he would continue to live painfully. But he persisted, aiming for the monster's joints, watching as its disgusting bodily fluids splatter across the ground and his already injured body, the contact making his injuries fizzle as if rubbing salt and poison roughly into his wound. Yet he felt a small amount of pride fizz up at the thought that he managed to save Choi Jung Soo.
Although he knew living was best, he believed that if he were to pick between Choi Jung Soo's eventual demise or his, he would no doubt choose the latter. He felt his consciousness slowly slip through his fingers as he dropped to the ground in close proximity to the monster corpse. He knew even though he did not finish it off, somebody else had.
And that guaranteed that his two friends would not die this year. He felt a warm feeling embrace him as he finally succumbed to death, the sounds of Jung Soo and Team Leader Lee Soo Hyuk's shouts dulling and drowning out, a ringing noise replacing them instead.
Then, all went black.
"Gasp-" , the light molded into a humanoid shape took a sharp intake of breath. They heard someone muttering barely audible things - they could pick up some words, albeit barely. The man in front of them, across a mahogany table, with other people sitting across the being of light, was furrowing his brows as he muttered about "Reckless child" - "Blocking like that-" and more. The being of light made a noise, alerting the white-haired man and the others in front of them. The white-haired man and a lady with shining golden hair let out a small gasp before the man split into a grin and snapped his fingers, and the being was tumbled back into unconsciousness again, suddenly dissipating into the shining silver dust with several color undertones.
Back at the man's table, the others whom had watched the interaction let out nearly inaudible snickers at the man who hadn't noticed the being until the noise was made.
"Ruslan, I must say, you must've been in deep thought to not have noticed the child waking up." a young person with pure sleek black hair commented, and they were backed up by the golden-haired woman. "I agree, even I noticed before you- I was going to tell you but it seems the child beat me to it." she commented.
The white-haired man, Ruslan scoffed. He shot back with a retort of his own, of which the conversation changed to a flurry of verbal attacks from sides of the table. Nobody minded to intervene. After all, this was a normal day for the gods. The only difference was that the child, the being of light, was a special guest of theirs. They all were able to communicate to the child- albeit some decided it would be improper for many gods to do so, so they chose only specific gods to communicate- only when it was absolutely necessary.
However, what they would soon come to realize was that the being of light would not want to get even remotely involved with any god- or any powerful being of any kind. The being of light would dream to be a slacker and reject all their advances.
----------------
Kim Rok Soo took in ragged breaths. He felt grainy and boiling hot sand under him. He felt pain- but it wasn't in his right arm, nor any of his earlier injured body parts. He groggily forced his eyes open, hoping to see the familiar faces of his two friends- Choi Jung Soo and Lee Soo Hyuk, just to be slapped in the face by the burning hot grains of sand. Even the air in this desolate seeming place was boiling hot. What he sees, instead of a white ceiling of a hospital of sorts, is sand, in a deep shade of blood. Sand dunes as far as he can see and a sea of red and blue that makes the sand dunes stand out.
Perhaps he was dreaming. He grabbed his own hand to pinch it- but stilled upon seeing it. He had his old injuries from his uncle in the past. And he seemed impossibly tiny. He looked down at his own legs, realizing he had indeed become tiny- it wasn't his mind tricking him. He pinched himself, more convinced he was indeed dreaming, trying to convince himself that he hadn't de-aged somehow, just for the hope to be crushed when he felt the familiar pain in his arm. He felt his hair and realized it was the same length of when he was around ten.
He opened his mouth like a fish and closed it again, no noise coming out from the sheer shock hitting him. He quickly knocked himself out of the trance and looked around, taking note that he was in a desert, barefoot, with a long sleeved jacket draped around him- who in their right mind gave him long sleeves and send him to a desolate desert? He scowled- a manly scowl- definitely not an adorable pout, and got up.
The hot desert grains made it feel like jumping on hot coals. He winced at the pain in his feet. He was bound to get blisters soon. But then, a light, breezy cold feeling enveloped him. He noted with much appreciation that his feet cooled down at the feeling. He looked around, trying to find the source, just to find nothing. He then heard a faint voice- no, faint voices- in his ear, and they told him to keep walking, promising safety. But then the voice was cut off by yet a quieter voice that sounded like a woman shouting, except the volume was considerably decreased. He spun his head around, trying to find a source.
Perhaps his actions had come off as amusing or endearing- because he heard light laughter, like a chiming wind bell. The voice was sweet and it brought a feeling of security when he heard it speak in his ear. It told him to keep going, to trust them. Perhaps Kim Rok Soo had lost survival instincts with his past death, or he had become unafraid in the face of danger, he trekked on.
Soon enough, the burning red sky had dropped to a cold dark color, and he didn't pay it any mind as he had zoned out since several hours ago, his body on auto-pilot, walking as he made conclusions and came to them in his brain with the speed of a machine gun. He felt cold, and while zoning out, he had become warmer- unbeknownst to him, which of course, was also a work of whoever had also cooled him down earlier in the heat. But his brain was too busy too pay attention.
While walking, he had realized, it was quite similar to the description of one of the forbidden regions in a novel he had read before ending up here- it was called 'The Birth of a Hero', where a young highschooler named 'Choi Han' who had ended up in this world after something had happened. The young seventeen year old spent decades in one of the other forbidden regions- the Forest of Darkness.
The youth went to a village called 'Harris Village', just to end up with the villagers and the village being massacred and incinerated to the ground. He had then went beserk, killing all the assassins, this was the first time, the (mentally) seventeen year old had ever taken a living human's life with his own two hands. He had killed monsters- but the boy had never killed people.
Kim Rok Soo frowned as he recalled the information. Although he had only read up to the fifth volume, he still had a pretty good grasp on most information. He shivered as he thought of ever meeting the main characters. 'No way.' he thought, promising himself that he would try to keep away from them. He had been so caught up in the thoughts that he didn't even notice when someone ran up to him, shouting. He only snapped out of it when someone gently grabbed his shoulder.
Kim Rok Soo flinched, looking up at the man with wide brown eyes. The man had dark skin- it reminded him of a black pearl. But the man's attitude did not match the comparison at all. The man seemed panicked and fidgety upon seeing Kim Rok Soo. The man stuttered out something- which Kim Rok Soo couldn't make out. The ringing hadn't faded in his ears, he noted. But then, he thought, how come he heard the faint voices earlier- but not this man's when this man was clearly in closer proximity than whoever was doing the faint bickering in his ears earlier? He watched the man wide-eyed, as the man's facial expression got even more panicked at his lack of reaction. So in hopes of calming him down, he told him, "Hm? Calm down-"
But instead of fully calming down- a confused expression went across his face, and he tilted his head. It was then when Kim Rok Soo realized that the man didn't know Korean. He inwardly screamed at whatever deity had sent him here without any experience with this world's language.
The man spoke again- this time it was more clear, "Prw? R wlm'g- understand you-" the man said with a stiff expression. Kim Rok Soo gaped at the sudden switch in the man's language. He felt a weird feeling surrounding him- first it was the cooling feeling, now he had a language barrier?